“There’s not a thing on this planet I could do to get her to be my girlfriend.”
Marky stares over at me, her hand still clutching the refrigerator door.
“Do I have to spell everything out for you?” She gives a huff of frustration. “You have to kiss her with your tongue if you want her to like you, stupid.”
“Says who?”
“Says my friends.”
“Get new friends.” Crap. The last thing I need to worry about is Marky getting boys to like her by way of her tongue. Shit. Maybe I can work out some deal with Edinger so that I get to stick around until Marky’s thirty. Edinger’s got to have a heart in there somewhere. Hell, I’ll volunteer to run a blood drive. The Counts can pull right up to my neck any damn time they please just to refuel. “Besides, Laken sort of already has a boyfriend.”
“She should kick him out of town.”
Out of town? I like her trajectory.
Marky pulls out the milk and a box of cereal from the pantry a little more aggressively than necessary.
“If Laken doesn’t pick you, I’ll hate you forever.” She snarls at me as if there were an underlying physical threat buried in her words—as if I’ve screwed things up simply by being myself, and, come to think of it, I probably have.
“If Laken doesn’t pick me, I’ll be damned.” Forever—in the Tenebrous Woods, but I leave that part out. Even if I was still on planet Earth, I’d be damned without Laken.
“You said a bad word!” She holds a spoon in the air as if she were frozen in time.
“I meant it.”
A pair of headlights illuminates the kitchen before cutting out. I glance out the window to find an unfamiliar SUV in the driveway.
“Looks like we’ve got company.” I step away from the window so they don’t see me squinting out into the night. It’s probably Wes coming to hack my dick off with a meat cleaver. Nothing could round out this crap evening more efficiently than getting either one of my heads chopped off.
“I’m scared.” Marky zips over and tackles me just as a light knock erupts over the kitchen window.
We look over to find Laken’s beautiful face smiling at the two of us as she waves.
“She’s here!” Marky pushes me to the side and makes a beeline for the door. “Laken!” She skips over and just about takes Laken down in her gorgeous red dress, her sky-high matching heels.
“I missed you.” Laken wraps her arms around my sister and buries her face in her hair, holding her like that a good long while. “What are you doing up this late?” She pulls back, her cheeks glowing from the momentary exchange.
“Nobody around here cares when I get to bed.” She makes a face, juicing it up to make my dad and me sound like a couple of wild apes. “I was just about to eat a big bowl of sugary cereal, and this one here”—she points to me—“wasn’t even going to try to stop me.”
“All right.” I pluck my sister back. “Why don’t you go brush your teeth? I’m about to implement a little tough love, and I have a feeling you won’t like it.”
“But what about the cereal?”
“I’ll eat it.”
“But—”
“It’s past your bedtime.” I give her a gentle shove toward the stairs. “Brush your teeth.”
“Nice move, Flanders.” Laken tilts into me. “You’re going to make a great dad someday.”
“Yeah, well, according to Marky I’ll have a bunch of toothless night owls.” I take a step into her and freeze. My natural inclination was to pull her in, to feel her body warm against mine, but tomorrow changes everything, even how I look at her tonight. “What brings you here?” I say it low, almost afraid to say it at all in the event I might make her feel unwelcome. But it’s the furthest from the truth. My heart soars just having her in the same room with me.
“I asked Jen if I could borrow her car to come say goodnight.”
A spike of adrenaline rockets through me. Laken drove a million country miles to say those simple words, and not for a second do I believe that’s all she wanted to say.
“You want to hang out for a little while? It feels kind of strange saying goodnight to someone who just got here.” Not to mention the fact I never want her to leave.
“Yeah, I’d like that. I had some of Jen’s muddy coffee earlier, so I’m wide awake.” Laken sweeps those unapologetic eyes over my features, dripping them down my chest before springing back to meet my gaze.
My heart drums against my chest. A smile twitches on my lips, but I’m afraid to give it—afraid that the kiss she offered the other night is still coming in grand style. There’s no way Laken came here to let me know she changed her mind. She’s a thousand percent convinced that it’s the one sure-fire way to get our families back in record time. And as much as I hate it, she might be right.
“What would you like to do?” I slap my hands over my thighs stupidly.
“Anything.” Laken steps in until I can feel the fibers from her dress tickling my shirt.
“Great.” My dick perks up as if it were being roused from a long slumber. “I’ve got a couple of board games, and I think I’ve got a deck of cards around somewhere. Or we could watch a movie.” My heart tries to bang its way out of my chest. You’d think I’d never been alone with Laken before, that she didn’t spend endless nights here just a few weeks back—that I didn’t hold her in my arms until sunrise. But tonight is different. I think we both know that.
Her perfect golden hair crests over her chest, and my insides grind because I’ve never wanted anyone the way I want Laken right now.
“The movie sounds good.” She shrugs.
“Great.” I take an unsteady breath. “We can ask Marky and my dad to join us if you want.” Crap. That’s not what I want.
“Or we can watch it in your bedroom.” She runs her fingers through my hair while grazing on her bottom lip with her teeth. “Just you and me—alone.”
“That sounds like a better idea.” Hell, that sounds downright brilliant.
Maybe Laken does want this with me.
God, I hope so.
I press into the small of her back and let her walk up the stairs first. It’s the last time this will ever happen, and it feels more like a final walk down death row than it does some nighttime jaunt to my bedroom with the girl of my dreams.
We get to my room, and I lock the door then proceed to barricade it with my backpack and its arsenal of textbooks.
“Here we are,” I say taking her in. Laken is a vision in red. I’m burning for her, and seeing her lit up like a flame isn’t exactly helping the situation. I go to reach for the remote, and Laken grabs me by the wrist.
“Remember that night we danced here? Do you think we can do that again?” Her eyes pull down with sadness, and there’s not one note of her trying to seduce me. This is simply the end, and Laken wants one more round before we call the fight.
I pluck my phone out of my pocket and cue up a slow song on repeat.
The music swims through the air just loud enough for the two of us to hear.
I hold out my arms, and Laken folds into my body. The sweet scent from her skin infiltrates me, and I start to lose it. I want her, all of her, tonight and forever.
“Come here.” I pull her in hard and press my lips over her hair.
Laken grips me as if we were about to blow away. She digs her fingernails into my back, and I memorize the pain. This is it—our entire future is encapsulated in this moment.
My hips press into hers, hard to the bone, and my dick stretches to life unrepentantly.
Laken lets out an uneven moan as her head rolls over her shoulders.
She crushes her chest to mine, and I close my eyes, soaking in the tender feel of her body.
Her fingers fumble to my chest as she works to unbutton my shirt.
“Laken.” I open my mouth to protest, and she touches a finger to my lips with merely a glance up at me. She lays her head over my bare flesh and sighs. We rock to the music that way for a very
long time with my fingers digging through her hair. Her cheek rubs over my skin as if she were trying to get a lifetime fill.
“We can’t move any further tonight.” I let out a heated breath right into her ear, and she nods beneath me. Wes would know. Hell, he probably already knows.
Laken looks up at me with her sad eyes, her downturned lips.
“What would make you happy, Coop?” She brushes her fingers against the side of my face, and I catch her by the wrist, burying a kiss in her palm.
“You, safe—right here with me.” My eyes pierce right through to her soul because there are no truer words than these.
She gives a steady nod, never taking her sweet eyes from mine, and we sway under the harsh light from above, examining one another with grievous hearts because we both know we’ll never be in this close proximity again.
“Don’t miss me.” I shake my head—my thoughts pigeonholed in the barricade my mind put up.
“I already miss you.” Her lips tug down, but she tries to fight it.
I wish this weren’t impossible. She shares the words through her thoughts.
I get it. It’s safer that way. There are some words you simply don’t want to own.
She glances up at me. I wish there were some other surefire way into those tunnels.
I rub my arms over her back. Sometimes in life there, are no words. Sometimes in life, people are incapable of consoling others because they, themselves, are hurting too damn much.
“I wish we could ask Skyla a few more questions.” She blows it out in one desperate breath. “There has to be something that can give us the upper hand.”
“There is a way.” My lips curve at the idea. “You in the mood to do a little interdimensional exploration?”
“Coop,” she says it low, seductive. “I’m in if you are.”
I close my eyes and bend my head back. “Paragon,” I whisper, and the room shifts and warps beneath our feet. “Take us to Skyla.”
The scent of damp soil fills the air. A periwinkle sky hovers overhead as a blanket of fog sinks around us. Laken and I find ourselves in a thicket—nothing but a field of evergreens to our left and right.
A house sits up ahead with the lights on.
“Stay here. I’ll run up and see what’s going on inside.”
“Go ahead.” She warms her arms with her hands while I make a beeline for the oversized cabin. I’m guessing this is Skyla’s house since Edinger all but dropped us off at the doorstep.
I hop up the wooden porch, stealth, trying to keep low to the ground, and peer in through the sliding glass door. A group of teenagers sit around the table. I spot Skyla looking distressed in the back. The Wes lookalike is there as well. He looks out the window at me, squinting as if he were unsure if I was just a shadow. I turn around and jump down the stairs before running over to Laken.
“What did you see?” She catches me by the waist as I pant into her.
“She’s got a bunch of friends over. I think we need to find a better time to speak with her.” I look up at the ever-darkening sky. “You hear that? Let’s try it again. Make it work this time.”
The sky spins in a dirty shade of navy. The world rebuilds itself, and this time Laken and I hold one another on a dance floor as dozens of people move to the music.
“Looks like prom.” Laken takes a breath.
“At least one of us is dressed for the occasion.” I pull back and marvel at how hot Laken looks tonight. “You’re downright gorgeous. I don’t need to see another soul to know you’re the most beautiful girl in this room.”
“All right, Flanders.” She bites down on her lip. “You can give me all the compliments you want once we get back to your room. Let’s find Skyla.”
A dark-haired girl bumps into Laken as she dances with her friends. “Sorry.” She snarls as if she’s anything but.
“That’s okay. You wouldn’t happen to know where I could find Skyla Messenger would you?”
“Skyla?” She elongates her body at the sound of Skyla’s name. Her lips stretch into a dark, brooding smile. “Why, yes, I do.” She cuts her eyes over to me. She swallows down a laugh as if she knows more than she’s letting on. There’s an inherent evil about her and instinctually I think we should run far and fast. “You guys aren’t from around here, are you?”
“Not really. I’m Laken, this is Coop.”
“Chloe Bishop.” She holds out a hand, her body still grinding to the music. “So what’s up with Skyla? You’re not holding back some life or death information, are you? I could certainly relay it.” Her eyes roll back a moment as if she were dreaming up exactly what that might be—filling in the blanks with her own life or death scenarios.
Some blond guy comes over with a girl who looks vaguely familiar.
“It’s the mermaid from Halloween!” Laken whispers.
“That’s right, the girl with two names.”
“Effing, Coop!” The dude slaps me some skin. “It’s me, Ellis. We were kicking ass and taking names in the faction war, dude.”
“Faction war?” Laken looks to me for answers, and I shake my head. I’ve got no freaking clue, but I remember Skyla mentioning it the last time we were here.
“Whoa!” The Wes lookalike jumps between us. “Coop.” He slaps my shoulder. “What’s going on?” He looks around nervously as if the last thing he’s in the mood for is small talk.
Laken steps into him, touches his face as if he were a statue. “Who are you?”
He gives a nervous smile in lieu of an answer. “I take it you’re here for Skyla. She sort of has her hands full at the moment.” He cuts a dirty look to Chloe who’s grinding her hips into his backside. “Look, I gotta go. There’s someone special here that both Skyla and I need to talk to. Can you guys come back? Say in a few weeks? Things are pretty tough right now.”
I take a breath. “Yeah, sure.” Not what we wanted, but I guess it’s not the right time.
Laken pulls him in by the arm before he takes off. “Do you have any relatives in Cider Plains—anywhere in Kansas?”
“No, I’m pretty sure I don’t.” He shakes his head apologetically. “We’ll catch up, soon, okay?” He taps a finger in the air as he takes off into the crowd—in a hurry to find Skyla and whoever that special guest might be.
“Looks like we’re out of luck,” I say as the music crawls down to a slow, melodic pace. “Or we’re very lucky.” I hold out a hand, and Laken latches on.
“It’s creepy here.” She lays her head over my shoulder as we sway to the music.
“Then by all means, let’s go home.”
The scenery shifts, the crowded dance floor is traded for my tiny, cloistered bedroom.
“We’re back.” Laken glances around at the humble surroundings. “Right here in my favorite place.”
My heart thunders against hers at the thought of my bedroom being her favorite place. It’s my favorite place when she’s in it. Anyplace she goes is my favorite. I never feel more alive than I do when Laken is around.
“Stay tonight.” I bounce my lips off her forehead. “I promise I won’t push things.”
She looks up at me with that tiny dimple digging into her cheek as if daring me to do exactly that. “Of course, I’ll stay.”
I kill the music and the lights before pulling Laken to the bed. We glide in next to one another, kicking off our shoes and smiling sweetly as I pull the comforter over us.
Laken scoots in and stares up at me with those wide eyes, and for the first time I see a level of hopelessness in them. A stabbing pain ignites in my chest because, deep down, I’m feeling it, too.
“Thank you for believing in me when nobody else would,” she whispers.
Here it is—one final moment to share our intimate thoughts.
“I still believe in you.” Somewhere in those words I was sending her a message, a code in plain text that screamed, pick me. I’ve reduced my heart and logic to that of Marky, and all I could ever want in this moment is for Laken to pick m
e.
“I know you still believe in me.” She burrows in close, her hands rubbing freely over my chest. “Would you do me a favor, Coop?” Tears light up her eyes like shards.
“Anything. I’d rearrange the constellations for you, Laken.”
“That’s awful sweet of you, Coop.” She tucks her chin, bearing into my eyes from under her lashes. “But what I really want is for you to forgive me.”
“There’s nothing to forgive.”
She nods as if she understands. I’m not accepting an apology from her.
“Whoever you end up with,” her words scratch out of her throat lower than a whisper. “Whoever she is, she’s a very lucky girl.”
My gut cinches because with all my body and soul I want that to be Laken.
I suppose this is the part where I tell her the same about Wes, that I wish them all the best and that I’ll be cheering for them the rest of my life, but my ego and my budding hard-on refuse to let me sing the accolades of some other guy when I know, with all my heart, I’m the only one for Laken.
“I’m not looking for anyone else.” Not on earth, not in the tunnels. “I’m sort of closing up shop in that arena of my life.” The future is a poem I wrote and buried in Laken’s heart.
“Please don’t.” She flexes a weak smile, touching the outline of my lips. “You are too beautiful. I command you populate the planet with at least a dozen mini-Coopers.”
“Mini-Coopers, huh?” My dick ticks like a bomb, but I resist where it wants to land next. “I think the world will be okay without them.”
“Not true.” She presses in until we’re a breath away. “Please, I love you so much. I’d die if you weren’t happy.”
I want to say, I’m already dying, so we’d make quite a pair, but don’t.
“I’m happy right now, and that’s all that matters.” I touch my cheek to hers until her breathing grows shallow and even.
The night wears on, but I can’t sleep. I’d try counting sheep, but I know for a fact they’d all morph into Laken.
Her thigh brushes over mine as she scoots back into me. “You asleep?”
“Are you kidding?” I wrap my arm around her waist and pull her in tight until we’re spooning. “And miss a moment of you by my side?” Way to sound desperate and sarcastic all rolled into one. I guess it doesn’t matter. She and I both know these moments are fleeting. But I meant it. I don’t want to miss a single minute with Laken.