True Love and Magic Tricks (11 page)

“
I was actually talking to
Mr. Pippi. He’s a bit of a butthole.”

Nate takes a step toward me, and our
hands touch when I slide my gerbil to his palm. Mr. Pippi shakes a
little, but after Nate strokes his fur a few times he calms
down.

“
How long have you had him
again?” he asks, bringing Mr. Pippi closer to his face. I feel like
kissing his smile lines.

“
Couple years.” I pat Mr.
Pippi’s head, totally letting my pinky tumble over Nate’s knuckles.
“My dad bought him for me when my parents got divorced. He’s good
company even though he sleeps most of the time.”

Nate brings Mr. Pippi down and gives
me a half-grin. “Are you close with your mom?”

“
Sort of. We talk on the
phone sometimes, but she seems pretty busy. Really… I’m not close
with anyone.”

His brows pull in. “Don’t you have a
shit ton of friends? I’ve watched you for a while, and you’re
friends with everybody.”

I bolt out a laugh, scaring
Mr. Pippi so much he tries to crawl up to Nate’s fedora. “I’m
not
close
to
anybody.” My smile somewhat falters. It’s not for lack of trying.
I
want
close
friends. I suppose my personality hasn’t meshed. But I’m starting
to trust Lexie more. Ryan even.

And Nate. Definitely, definitely
Nate.

I shuffle closer just because I’m glad
he’s here. “I guess there’s a difference between being friendly and
having friends.”

He gives me a confused look for a
second, but then his eyes pop wide and his bottom lip drops. He
looks down at my gerbil with pure disgust.

“
He peed on me!”

Nate sticks his arms out, and I laugh
as I collect Mr. Pippi and put him back in his cage.

“
Aww, you are now
officially a member of our club.”

Nate cringes, holding his hand out. I
grab one of his belt loops and tug him to the bathroom—which is
tiny. We squish in there, bodies practically touching from knee to
shoulder, and for some dumb reason I think he needs help washing
up. I turn the faucet on and squirt the soap on his hands and force
him to scrub. He’s laughing at me, and when I catch his eye, he
shakes one of his hands off, reaches up to his fedora, and places
it over my blond braids.

“
I want you to be my
friend,” he says, then rinses his hands. My heart’s beating a
million miles a minute when I hand him the towel. My fingers won’t
let go though, and soon, I’m just holding his hand.

“
Good. Because I was going
to force you into it anyway,” I joke, but it comes out low and sort
of whispered. I’m having trouble breathing right.

His hand turns in mine, slick and warm
and still a little soapy, but I don’t think either of us care. My
eyes meet his, and suddenly his wet hand is on my neck.

It happens so fast I’m not
sure if I kiss him or he kisses me first. Doesn’t matter because I
don’t have long to think about it. Pretty sure I’m not
thinking
at all
anymore. Nate grips the back of my thighs, and I wasn’t sure
if he’d have the strength to lift me, but lift me he does, swinging
my legs around his hips and moving me toward my bed.

Oh gosh, my bed. It’s still
layered with almost every bit of clothing I own. But we slam down
on it anyway, and his lips pattern over my chin, down my neck, and
a low rasp bellows from my vocal chords, and I wonder if there’s
something wrong with my hearing because
no
way
did that come from me.

“
Nate,” I gasp, latching
onto his suspenders and ripping them from his shoulders. His mouth
moves back to mine, tongue not tentative any longer as he slides it
between my lips. He tastes like sour patch kids, and soda, and
warmth, and goose bumps. I can’t get a grip on my breathing. My
hands have a mind of their own as they grip, pull, tug, pinch, and
whatever else as I try to get closer and closer to him. We’re a
tangle of limbs and body parts, pushing against each other and into
my mess of a bed.

I cannot get enough. Every
time he breaks away, I pull him back. Every time I tilt my head
back to breathe, he keeps his lips on me
somewhere
. His whole body is in
contact with mine, yet I still don’t feel close enough. No wonder
people shed their clothes so fast in situations like this. There’s
a fire and hunger so deep it’s like you have to crawl into the
other person to satiate it.

My fingers dive for his shirt, rip it
from his pants so it dangles between us. It tickles the bare skin
by my belly button where my top has risen, making me giggle. Nate
smiles against my lips, a hand running over my stomach igniting my
already heated body. He leans back enough so I can see his eyes,
and I’m biting back a major grin, blush filling my
cheeks.

A small breath leaves his mouth. “Can
I say something?”

I nod, shifting a little underneath
him so his thigh is tighter between my legs.

He quirks a grin, but then falls flat
into the crook of my neck before mumbling, “You’re so damn
beautiful.” A kiss presses to my shoulder when a giggle passes
through my lips. “I’m like, in shock that you are into someone like
me.”

I wiggle so he looks up. When he does
I playfully bite at his chin. “Thank you. But you know I feel the
same way, right?” My hand slithers down to his back pocket, and I
laugh at his flamed ears as I squeeze his toosh. “I’ve been
checking you out since we were freshmen.”

“
Why?
”

“
Do you even have to ask?”
I laugh as a string of colorful handkerchiefs falls into my hand
when I pull it from his pocket.

He groans, taking the handkerchiefs
and covering his blushed face with them. It’s so effing adorable I
can’t help but push him to his back, straddle his hips, and go at
his mouth.

He’s hard. I figured he
was, but when he was the one on top I couldn’t feel it. There’s no
hiding it now, and my belly twirls and whirls because
oh my
, are we
going
all the way
? Something beats between my legs, and I’m wondering where it
came from or what it means because it’s both uncomfortable and
pleasurable. So out of curiosity I rub against him, sending bolts
and shocks and butterflies and shivers all the way up to the crown
of my head.

“
Kaylee?” he croaks around
my mouth.

“
Mmm?” I part from his
lips, but bury myself in his neck because for one, I don’t want to
stop making out, and two, I don’t want him to see my
face.

“
Did you hear
something?”

I laugh, and the movement makes our
bodies rub again.

“
If you want me to ease up,
just say so,” I say. “Don’t make up some noise—”

“
Kaylee bug?” my dad’s
voice floats up the stairs. Both Nate and I scramble to put eight
thousand feet between us, but our legs are tangled in a heap of
clothes and bed sheets. Dad’s voice is at the door now. “Do you
have a lint roller or something? Mr. Banks has a cat and there’s
fur all over my sui—”

His eyes lift, swivel between me and
my boyfriend as Nate falls to the floor and I barely have enough
time to adjust my shirt so I’m not flashing my dad.

“
Um, I don’t have one,
sorry,” I say, trying to act normal, but there is
no way
he didn’t see
what was happening. Nate gets to his feet, holding his fedora
expertly over his crotch.

Dad adjusts his suit jacket he has
over his arm and mutters through clenched teeth, “I think it’s time
for Nate to go.”

“
Yes, sir. Sorry, sir,”
Nate scrambles around my bed, looks like he wants to give me a kiss
goodbye but thinks better of it, and flinches as he passes my dad.
I wait till I hear the front door shut before I make a move.
Sliding to the edge of the bed, I close my eyes and prepare myself
for whatever humiliating conversation is about to take
place.

Dad clears his throat, and I pop open
one eye to see him scratching the greying hair on the side of his
head. “I’m going to bed.”

My other eye pops open.
“Huh?”

He steps backward into the hall, brows
pulled down to the center of his forehead. “No boys in the house
when I’m not here.”

And with that he swivels on his heel
and heads to his room. I tiptoe across my carpet and watch him
disappear behind his door. I tap on the doorframe with my
now-chipped nails and bite my lip. Guess he doesn’t know how to
handle these kinds of things without Mom either.

Chapter 12

I step out of the ice cold shower,
wrap a towel around my waist, and head to my bedroom. Just being
near Kaylee sets my body ablaze, so when she started grinding into
me, I thought for sure my body heat would set off the smoke
detectors. I’d prefer the blaring alarm over her father standing in
the doorway with a look of utter shock on his face. I swear his
biceps grew three sizes from the last time I saw him. I wonder how
much he can bench press? Probably two of me. Better yet, I don’t
want to know.

I go to put my pants in the hamper,
but first take my notebook out of the pocket and put it on my night
stand so I remember to grab it in the morning. I pull a pair of
boxers out of my dresser, step into them, and pick up my phone to
send Kaylee a quick text.

Me: Just when I thought he
was starting to like me :( Hope you’re not grounded.

Kaylee: Turn that frown
upside-down mister! He didn’t even say anything.

Me: Really?
Nothing?

Kaylee: Only you can’t
come over when he’s not here.

Me: Bummer

Kaylee: He didn’t say I
couldn’t go to your place *wink, wink*

Me: What are you doing
tomorrow?

Kaylee: Wednesdays Mr.
Pippi and I usually watch Project Runway

Me: What if you watch it
with me?

Kaylee: I don’t know…Mr.
Pippi is the jealous type.

Me: He did pee on me. I
think he owes me one.

Kaylee: You were peed on
by royalty. That’s like being knighted

Water spews out of my mouth and onto
my phone. Note to self: It is not safe to drink water when talking
to Kaylee.

Me: You’re
adorable.

Kaylee:
*blushes*

A smile spreads across my face, and I
recline onto my bed. I close my eyes and think of Kaylee’s body
pressed against mine. The softness of her skin. The taste of
strawberry on her lips and the way her braids grazed my cheek when
she dipped her head to kiss my neck.

It hasn’t even been two hours since I
left her house, yet I feel like it’s been days. An overwhelming
feeling that something is missing takes over my mind, but when I
look at my phone, Kaylee’s face smiling back at me from her icon,
it dissipates.

Kaylee: Are you
there?

Me: Sorry. Lost in
thought.

Kaylee: What are you
thinking about?

Me: You. And as crazy as
it may sound… I already miss you.

Kaylee: Not crazy at all.
I miss you too.

Just when I didn’t think my smile
could get any wider, it tugs so hard I swear my lips are going to
wrap around my head. This girl is so out of my league, and she
doesn’t even know it. But she has to. No matter how you slice it,
there’s no denying what I am. I’m a nerd who spends his days
practicing magic tricks. So far from any girl’s ideal guy. Which is
why my brother always gets the girl, and I never do. But maybe all
of that stuff doesn’t matter to Kaylee because when it comes to
true love, there’s no rhyme or reason. No explanation. Just a
feeling and a desire to be as close as you possibly can to a
person. I know I feel it. And even though she’s only been my
girlfriend for a short time, I’ve been in love with her since the
day I spotted her braids in the hallway.

Knowing that there’s a chance she
feels exactly what I’m feeling…well hell, it’s pretty darn
awesome.

Me: I don’t want to say
goodnight.

Kaylee: Then don’t. Lay
down, close your eyes, and I’ll do the same. We’ll fall asleep
together and neither of us has to say goodnight or
goodbye.