AllFreeNovel
Share Us
That wasn’t so bad to hear. It was in no way my first choice of haircut but, truth be told, it did sort of fit the aesthetic. That didn’t mean I was happy about it though.
“Yeah, I can’t wait for the year of regrowth.”
“Who would notice, Jo?” She lifted her eyebrows. “Oli and June? The four walls of your bedroom?”
“Don’t be rude or I’ll shave it all off.” I gave her a very serious look to punctuate my very real threat. “Then I’ll be even scarier and I really won’t make any friends.”
“Scary? You’re nothing but a big softie with a sharp glare and self-destructive tendencies. We all know that.” She crossed her arms at me from her horizontal position.
I rolled my eyes and signaled to the rest of the room. “So, what do you think?”
She ignored my changing of the subject and continued to tease me, lifting her fingers to the short side of my hair and rubbing the fuzz. “I think you’re almost kind of sexy this way.”
Fuck. I wanted to grab that girl, toss her up to the head of my bed, and wipe that grin right off her face. Her teasing was cute when we were kids, but we’d grown and, as we did, it simply became torture. One day I’d learn to bite back for real, but not yet. For the time being, sarcasm did the trick.
“I know that, but I meant the room.”
She surrendered and looked around. While I wasn’t as awestruck as she was about it, I had to admit, my room was pretty cool. The walls were a calm, pale green which, again, was not my first choice, but it was comfortable. It was a long rectangle with my bed lining one short end, and the door and closet at the other. On the left wall sat a futon, and on the right wall, directly in front of it, was my desk. There was plenty of space for my monitor, laptop, speakers, and all the gear we needed. What I was most pleased about was that there were no clothes piled on the ground for her to see, though my hamper was damn near bursting. Still, it was progress.
“I love it,” she said, turning her line of vision back to me. Good. I hoped she’d be staying here a lot more often, if not forever. The futon was hers, only because I knew she’d refuse to displace me from my bed, and I was determined to make her as content as possible so she’d never want to leave.
Selfish, I know. But what was a boy to do?
I pushed myself up from my seat and made my way to the closet. “All right, you. Shower. Do you need a T-shirt?”
She stood as well. “Oh, I don’t want the clingy clothes today. I want to feel the water.”
That meant she was overwhelmed, not sad. My first hint at what might’ve been going on. I turned around to look at her. “You know we’re all coming in there.”
Her cinnamon eyes widened sweetly. “It’s just a body, Jojo. It’s not like you’ve never seen one before.”
My mouth practically dropped open, but I mustered enough strength to let it fall only about a millimeter. She just stood there staring at me as if she hadn’t said anything out of pocket, as if she was completely serious.
Was this like…a healing thing? Nudity? Was it some kind of new kick she was on? I mean, no judgment. It would’ve been totally cool if she was…
“I’m just kiddin’!” she finally said, breaking the odd tension between us. She giggled and waved her hand down at me. Oh, that girl had it coming. One day. She had it coming. “I’ve got a bathing suit, you creep.”
She pulled a handful of red strings from the top of her suitcase. What she considered to be a bathing suit was hardly less intimidating than the image I’d had in my mind just moments ago when she implied she’d go naked. I cleared my throat and forced myself to get a grip.
“Go on, then.” I flicked my head toward the door. “You’ve got five minutes to wash up and put that on and we’re coming in.”
“Yeah, yeah.” She bounced out of the room.
To pass the five minutes I had before we barged in on her, I unfolded the futon and began making it up with sheets and an extra pillow from my bed. Fuck, how I wished I didn’t have a fucking futon. Or a couch. Or a floor. Or any other place that she could hypothetically sleep apart from my bed. Not that I’d ever make her sleep on the floor, but...you get what I mean.
We slept together all the time when we were kids. Oli too, though he was always less excited about it. It wasn’t surprising. He was much more independent, plus he required more space due to his stature. But Kai and I liked it.
While she was definitely teasing me and I promised myself she would pay for it one day, tonight I just wanted to sleep with her to be close like we used to. I didn’t know how long she’d be with me, and I didn’t want to let her out of my sight while I had her.
When I finally exited my room, I found Oli and June already waiting excitedly by the bathroom door. And I thought I was creepy. I stalled them for a few more minutes as I went to the kitchen and scooped a glob of peanut butter into a ramekin. I covered it in chocolate chips, made sure it was all mixed in, and returned to my friends.
“That’s five minutes!” I shouted through the bathroom door. “We’re coming in!”
The three of us entered the steamy room to find Kai sprawled in the tub like a mermaid, leaning on the edge with the shower curtain pushed to one side. She was entirely soaked, forearms stacked on the edge with her chin atop her flat hands. It was difficult not to dwell on the perfect slope of her body, her curves gliding gently downward from the top of her head to her painted toes.
I took my seat on the closed toilet and handed her the ramekin, watching as her face lit up when she saw it.
“You’re the best,” she whispered, reaching out to take it. The tub squeaked beneath her as she shifted into a more comfortable position for eating and chatting.
