When Our Worlds Collide (10 page)

Chapter Seventeen

-Kennedy-

Light, pain, and shame is the only words that come to mind
at this very moment in my life. I officially hate myself, like really despise
myself. I made poor choices last night according to my throbbing headache and
achy bones.

What happened last night? And where am I?
Too afraid
to physically open my eyes I reach out to try to get my hands on something,
anything that might give me a clue as to where I’m currently laying. I clearly
still have my dress on even though it’s hiked up to my hips. Maybe Violet
carried me out to her car last night and brought me back to her house. As
observant as I am, even I can tell that I am definitely in a bed with a down
comforter, not Violet’s familiar silk purple blanket. I take a moment to
collect my thoughts before daring myself to open my eyes. There’s only fear of
seeing what’s waiting for me on the other side of my eyelids.

“Oh god!” I whisper under my breath once I actually open my
eyes and see him lying next to me. What did I do? Luckily my crutches are
leaning against the nightstand. I grab them attempting not to make too much
noise in fear of waking him. With the morning light shining through the
windows, I don’t have the energy to face him without knowing how I got in his
bed to begin with. Violet’s going to die for leaving me at his disposal.

I get to the door before I hear his body wrestling around
under the covers. I turn back adjusting my dress to cover up my exposed legs as
much as possible. A strain smile was all I had to give when he opens his eyes
to look at me. His bare chest is excellently on display with the blanket
strategically covering right above where his mesh gym shorts land on his trim
hips. A girl would have to be blind to not notice an impeccable body like his.
The perfect V dip where his abs slid down into his waistband peeked out to
distract me.

What was that called anyway? Oh never mind. Just pull
yourself together, Kennedy. This is Craig Daniel’s for Christ sakes. Man whore
extraordinaire.

I may be innocent, but I am far from blind. I keep finding
myself saying that lately, don’t I? Craig’s the type of guy who knows that he’s
trouble and girls fall at his every word much like they did with Graham. Why is
it always the bad boys with the killer bodies and soulful deceiving eyes who
pull the girls in? You’d think females as a whole species would have figured
this out by now.

Craig ran his hand through his tousled blonde hair pulling
my attention back to his face. “Sneaking out? I’m usually the one doing that,”
he smiles trying to be playful, but it comes across as more threatening. It’s
too early for this kind of banter and my head is now pounding like there’s a
family of elephants taking up residency.

“I was just going to go find Violet is all.” I look around
the room at the mess that’s below my feet. It looks like a bomb went off in
here. There are piles of clothes and stacks of magazines. Not to mention the
heap of video game counsels and games stacked in the corner. Guys are
disgusting.

“Kennedy, it’s okay. I don’t need an explanation.” His grin
got larger with every word. I feel like I’m out of the loop on something. He
rubs his eyes to help force himself awake. I don’t know what to say now so I
keep my attention on anything but him. I’m not sure exactly what had happened
last night. The grin that reaches all the way to his eyes tells me that we
didn’t just fall asleep next to each other.

Oh god, please do not let me have lost my virginity the
same night I had my first kiss and not remember it. I don’t want to be that
girl.

“We didn’t…Umm…” I point between the two of us nervously
avoiding eye contact with him, fearful of what he might say.

He laughs at my awkwardness. “No we didn’t. Not that I
would’ve been against it, but you were pretty wasted and I try to avoid taking
advantage of helpless girls,” Craig explains with a sweet grin. “I brought you
up here once everyone started clearing out and Violet seemed pretty occupied
with Dan. I figured it was safer for you to sleep it off in here instead of
down there with the rest of them.”

“Instead I slept up here with you, which was much safer for
me how?” I attempt a joke. At least I thought I was joking. A small part of me
doubted how safe I was alone with someone like him. Craig’s face drops at my
obvious disapproval at my actions from last night. Maybe that was a bit too
harsh. I don’t know anything about Craig. I have no right to jump to
conclusions at the type of person he is when I don’t know firsthand.

“You’ll be happy to know that I was a complete gentleman and
that was extremely difficult for me.”

“I’m sure it was. Nothing happened between us?” I asked
again embarrassed that I can’t even remember getting up to his room.

“Oh no, I just said we didn’t have sex. We kissed,” Craig
explains with an excitement in his eyes. “A lot. Don’t sound too upset. We can
jump back into this bed and finish what we started if you’d like.” I didn’t
mean to, but I bit down on my lip and Craig’s eyes burned into my skin with a
sinful afterthought. “You know, biting down on that little lip of yours is
exactly what got us into this little predicament to begin with.”

Craig is flirtatious and I’m not sure what to do about him.
Last night is a complete blur. I can’t believe I had my first kiss and I don’t
even remember it. I need to find Violet and maybe she could fill in the missing
pieces of my night. She’ll find the humor in the situation with a lot of
laughter and accusing eyes.

“Did Violet stay here last night?” I ask turning to open the
door, attempting my best at a subject change from his proposition.

“Last time I saw her she was curled up in Dan’s lap. I’m
going to take a wild guess and say that they are probably sleeping on the back
deck.” Craig stands from the bed letting the blanket fall to the floor. He
opens the door further and gestures for me to follow him out. “I can help you
find her.”

I blush at the sight of seeing Craig standing in the hallway
shutting his bedroom door. It’s not secret he’s gorgeous with his dirty blonde hair
that looks way too perfect this early in the morning and perfectly tanned skin.
When he turns to look at me his deep blue eyes make me lose my balance. I
stumble into a decorative table that has a large gold mirror hanging above it.
I look up at my reflection to get a reprieve from his knowing glances. I’m
greeted by something that shouldn’t be seen by any one of the opposite sex. I
look like a complete train wreck.

“Holy crap! I look like…” I attempt to brush down my hair
and rub out the remainder of my eye makeup with my fingers that has smeared
under my eyelids. Craig comes up behind me and brushes my hair to one side
exposing my neck.

“You look just fine to me,” he whispers in my ear. I hadn’t
even noticed he has walked up behind me. Now I am too well aware of how close
his chest is pressing into my back from the heat of his bare chest creeping
through my dress. I tense up and he lets out a small laugh knowing exactly what
he’s doing to me. “Now let’s go find that friend of yours.” Craig smacks me on
the butt making me jump.

I let Craig walk in front of me. The view isn’t bad from
back here by the way. I have to keep reminding myself that whatever happened
was never going to happen again.  Once we make it down the stairs we are
greeted by the horrible stale smell of alcohol. There are red cups scattered on
every flat surface in the house. Girls are passed out in chairs with half of
the clothes disheveled. A girl even managed to pass out blocking the front
door.

“Is it always like this?” I step over a body that belongs to
the football player that confronted Graham the other day in the hallway.
Deacon, I think his name is. I debate on kicking him in the stomach, but fight
back the urge. Not exactly the way to make friends.

“I don’t know. Maybe you’ll come back to find out,” he looks
back at me and smiles. God he has an amazing smile. How have I never noticed
it? I shake the thought from my head. It only takes a quick second to remind
myself that I don’t belong with these people. 

“Maybe, but let’s find Violet. I’m sure her parents are
freaking out,” I lied. They probably didn’t even notice we hadn’t come back
last night. I just need out of Craig’s knowing stares. He’s looking at me like
he’s seen me naked.

 Craig walks out onto the back porch. I’m only a few steps
away and that’s when I understood the expression on his face. Violet’s laying
in one of the lawn chairs naked from the waist down wearing nothing but Dan’s
flannel shirt. Luckily she must have decided to put her underwear back on at
some point or else we all would have gotten a free show.

“Wake up slut,” I kick her chair. Craig stifles a laugh and
I glare back at him. I can’t stop myself from laughing when I see his face
though. He’s truly losing it. His laugh is the kind that’s contagious. You can’t
help the good mood it puts you in.

Violet blocks the sun from her eyes quickly. “Slut? Bitch,
I’m not the one who slept in Craig’s bed last night. Did he put the wood to you
good?” Violet opens her eyes fully as she speaks and looks at the both of us standing
above her. “I mean look at him. That’s not fair. He probably has a big dick. Am
I right? You have a huge dick don’t you because none of the rest of you would
make sense if you didn’t. The world would seem unfair if you were only packing
a smoky link instead of the kielbasa I’m sure is under those gym shorts.”

“Before you start cracking insults at your best friend you
might want to look down at yourself,” Craig intervenes trying not to laugh at
her obvious fascination with his kielbasa. I wink at him in thanks for jumping
to my defense against a very naked Violet. I’m surprised by the boldness of the
gesture. It’s clearly unlike me. I’m more of a gentle wave head nod kind of
girl. Violet glides her hands down her body and sits up a little bit straighter
realizing what Craig’s talking about.

“Not again. Where the hell is Dan at? He has my dress.” She
throws the middle finger up at Craig who’s now leaning up against the railing
smiling like the cat that ate the canary.

I glance back over towards him swatting him on the stomach.
“This has happened before?” I asked in shock.

“Every time,” he grins at me. “Violet, check the boat house.
I bet he’s passed out in there.”

Violet jumps up from the lawn chair prancing down to the
boat house leaving Craig and I alone again. I wish I had an ounce of her
boldness. I’m beginning to understand why I have avoided coming here with
Violet for so long. Parties like Craig’s are filled with low self-esteem and
debauchery.

I can’t believe I let myself drink that much last night and
slept in Craig’s bed. This is not something that I did and Craig knows it by
the way he’s looking at me from his spot against the railing. I feel corrupted
and a bit ashamed of myself. Those aren’t great feelings to start off the day.

“You’re never coming back, are you?” Craig leans forward
with his eyes intently on me. Every muscle in his abdomen flexes gaining my
attention. I had to fight back the urge to reach out and run my hands down his
body.
What has gotten into me?

“We’ll see. I don’t exactly belong here,” I smile at him and
this time it’s genuine. He doesn’t say anything and he doesn’t need to. We both
know it’s true. We sit in silence until we hear Violet shouting to Dan in the
boat house to get him to wake up. A few minutes later she walks out wearing her
dress and a big smile on her face. I can see the questions piling up in her
head. She’s going to have a field day with this.

“Oh girl, you and I need to have a much needed
conversation,” Violet winks at me in encouragement. She throws her hand up to
high five Craig as she walks by straight into the house without stopping. I
follow after her. Craig stays back, but I hear him say something about talking
to me later.

Doubtful
.

“Oh Kennedy, hold on a second,” Craig yells racing into the
house to catch up to us. Violet shrugs her shoulders in confusion as he tucks a
long strand of hair behind my ear then leans down and kisses me. I know I
should step back out of his reach, but I’m stunned stupid and if I’m being
honest, I don’t want him to stop. He pulls his lips from mine too soon.
“Violet’s right, you know. It’s huge.”

Craig leaves me standing in his kitchen while Violet laughs
her ass off uttering nonsense under her breath about how she knew he was bound
to have a big dick and that I was in so much trouble. The ride back to her
house is quiet. By the look on my face, she can tell that I’m in desperate need
of some food in my stomach. We walk into her kitchen and as soon as I have my
bagel smothered with cream cheese she starts rattling off question after
question.

“Slow down. One question at a time and you have to promise
not to judge,” I demand taking a giant bite of my bagel.

“I just had to exchange a flannel shirt for my dress with a
guy who I slept with last night. I am hardly in the position to judge you,” she
laughs pouring two glasses of orange juice handing one to me. “Now, what
happened with Craig?”

I let out a long breath. “That’s where my night gets foggy.
I remember playing beer pong with him. I also remember watching you play guitar
hero and him getting rather handsy, but everything after that goes blank.” I
pause to think about the night for a minute. Violet patiently waits for me to
piece it all together on my own. “Wait! That’s when we went upstairs.”

“Did you sleep with him? Oh my god! You must be sore. Becky
told me she could barely walk afterwards.” Violet’s eyes are wide with
excitement. I roll mine at her because what am I supposed to say to that?

“Pull yourself together. Nothing like that happened. He said
we only kissed and I’d hope I would remember losing my virginity. I was too
drunk basically to function on my own which is probably one of the most
embarrassing moments of my life.” I confess picking at the bagel in front of me
taking another big bite. “I’m never drinking like that again. This is your
fault.” I point at Violet who’s leaning against the counter across from me with
her eyes down casted towards me.