Accepted Fate (14 page)

"I think we have a scary movie or two. Is that alright? I've been dying to see that new movie, The Conjuring. I missed it in theaters. Me and Presley can take the floor and you guys can utilize the couch. Will that work for you?" Only I know that tone is Ryland's form of sarcasm. To everyone else it sounds genuine. If I didn't like the idea of getting her close to me I'd slap him in the back of the head for doing her that way.

Her eyes widen and she looks unsure. Ah hell, I can't do this to her. I'm about to just tell him to put on Pacific Rim when Presley rolls onto her back, props up on her elbows with a big smile on her face and says, "You'll be fine Kinzleigh. You're staying at my house tonight so you shouldn't have any nightmares. I haven't made you watch one since The Ring. A little fear is good for everyone every now and then."

"Okay then, I guess it's settled." She turns back toward me and I set her plate in front of her as well as a glass of ice.

"What do you want to drink? Soda or water?" I set my plate down beside hers and start to walk towards the refrigerator.

"Water please." She suddenly looks a little embarrassed. "Do you have a fork?" I begin to get a little puzzled.

Grabbing a water and soda, I shut the door and set them down, my brows coming together. "A fork?"

She smiles slightly. "I don't like getting the grease on my hands. It makes me feel gross. Sorry, it's a little strange I know."

I love when she gets embarrassed. It's adorable. Usually girls that look like she does end up being a complete bitch, but not her. "I'll have to admit, I don't usually witness someone eating pizza with a fork, but I'm always game for something new." A smile spreads across my face. Ryland comes over and grabs a plate for him and Presley while she gets their drinks.

Presley stops before returning to the sitting area. "You have ten minutes to get over here or I'm coming to get you, finished eating or not." If she didn't have a goofy grin on her face I would think she was a bitch.

I look at Kinzleigh. "We can watch something else if you don't want to watch a scary movie. Don't listen to Ryland; he can watch it later. We did get other movies."

She begins cutting up her pizza, making me smile. She looks like she is having to put some muscle behind it to get through the crust. "It's okay. I'll never hear the end of it if I don't. Plus, I'd rather watch it first and get it over with. That way, by the time I go to bed I'm thinking of something else. Stick around long enough, you'll learn there is no use in arguing with Presley."

I'd love to stick around long enough, but there is no way I'm going there with this conversation. I may have the hots for this girl, but I'm not a pussy. I don't like to sit around and talk about my feelings to a girl; trying to fill her head with garbage in hopes of getting laid, it's not my style. We finish eating and head over to the couch, just as Presley is skipping through the commercials.

I finally remember I'm still not wearing a shirt. I'm not used to having to worry with covering up. Ninety percent of the time this is how I'm dressed around the house because I never have girls over. Usually when in the presence of a female, I'm at a party or in my truck and I'm removing clothes, not putting them on. Her pattern of barely looking at me and constantly blushing begins to make sense.

I walk to the back bedroom to grab a black sleeveless shirt and pull it on. When I return to the living area, Kinzleigh is sitting on the couch, barefoot, with her legs criss crossed. I grab a couple of pillows and a blanket from the stack Ryland brought in, placing them on the couch beside her.

As she notices I put on a shirt, a smile takes up the lower half of her face. She takes a pillow and places it in her lap. "Thank you...on both counts." I begin to pull the bottom of my shirt back up my stomach toying with her. That smile quickly fades and her eyes go wide. I begin to laugh because she is so adorably cute that I can't help myself. Her cheeks turn a soft shade of pink. I'm about to sit down when she smacks me in the face with the pillow she is holding.

She begins to laugh softly when she sees the startled look on my face. I love that laugh. "Behave yourself or you can sit on the hard floor," she says with a playful look in her eyes pointing to the floor. I knew she had a feisty side; it just needed to come out.

I hold up my hand, index and middle finger pointed upward in unison. "Scouts honor," I say in return. "Is this seat taken?" I point beside her, only joking, because I'm sitting there whether she invites me or not. She looks down the vacant couch and back to me, sucking her bottom lip between her teeth, shaking her head. "Good because I was prepared to vacate it if necessary," I say smiling.

I take a seat beside her and Ryland pops his head up from the bed he has made with blankets on the floor that he is sharing with Presley. "Dude, are you going to turn out the lights? Last one standing gets the job and you know it. Hurry up we're waiting for you two to start the film."

"Could you not have told me the last ten minutes I've been standing here," I ask sarcastically as I get up to turn off the lights. As I sit back down the opening credits start to come on. It has that creepy music always used in horror films. I look over to Kinzleigh and she has pulled her knees to her chest and spread a blanket over her body, the top clutched in her hands right below her nose. She is staring at the television with one eye open and one eye closed. I have to bite my tongue to keep from laughing.

I grab the side of the blanket and lift it, scooting underneath it closer to her. "You really don't like scary movies do you?" I talk low trying not to be too loud. She looks at me shaking her head. I scoot close enough to her that our sides are touching and put my arm around her shoulder, pulling her toward me. "I promise I'm not going to try anything," I whisper against her ear. "It makes it less scary, feeling another body close to you."

She looks up at me and raises a brow, questioningly. "Whoever told you that?" She doesn't believe me, I can tell in her tone.

"I used to have nightmares when I was a kid. My mom would come and sit beside me when I woke in a sweat, screaming. I think they are called night terrors. She used to sing and pull me close enough I could touch her. She said as long as I could feel her near, the nightmares would go away. It always worked," I shrug nonchalantly.

Her face softens. She grabs her hair in the fist of her hand and pulls it to the opposite side, laying it to rest over her shoulder. She places her head on the top of my shoulder. "Okay, I'll give it a try. I just have really colorful dreams; always have. That's why I avoid scary movies."

I can't describe the feeling I have with her body touching against mine; peacefulness maybe. I've never wanted to be this close to a girl before, aside from sex and that's just long enough to get off and get her dressed. For the first time in my entire life, I actually just want to be near her and do nothing but talk to her. Don't get me wrong, I'd love nothing more than to experience all of her but it's not a priority with her. I feel the need to make her mine in every way possible; somehow, some way. Only thing wrong with that picture is, come Friday we'll be on two different coast lines. Maybe I can somehow get out of her where she is moving.

We are about forty five minutes through the movie with nothing major going on. Kinzleigh is still buried beneath the blanket folded into my arms. Out of nowhere, an image jumps on the screen causing Kinzleigh to scream and bury her head into my side. I bite my lip in an effort not to laugh out loud at her burst of terror. I bite down so hard I can taste blood on my tongue. I can't help it though; I love her nestling into my side. I love the feel of protecting her.

Ryland and Presley did not even budge. They haven't come up for air the entire movie. From the sounds of it and the look of the movement under the cover they won't be anytime soon. I look over to Kinzleigh barely peaking out of the blanket. I can tell she is really bothered by the movie. "You want to go to the other room? There is another television in there. We can put on Pacific Rim or We're the Millers." She looks like she is about to decline when a moan escapes from Presley's mouth, causing her eyes to widen as big as saucers.

I don't know what it says about me that I like she is uncomfortable in sexual situations. The thought of her making sounds like Presley from another guy sends my blood boiling. "Okay, will you grab the movie?" She keeps eying the mound of blankets moving in different directions and the doorway to the other room.

I nod and before I can even get up from the couch she grabs the pillow and bolts in the direction of the bedroom door. I shake my head in laughter and get up to grab the DVDs.

When I walk in the bedroom, she is lying on her stomach with her legs crossed behind her in the air. She has her phone in front of her and doing what appears to be texting. I begin to wonder if she is texting a guy. The thought plagues my mind and suddenly I want to grab it and find out. I really want her for myself; to claim her so no other man can. I begin rubbing my hand through my hair. I have to get a grip.
What the hell is wrong with me? Is this what jealousy feels like?
I have never cared who a girl talks to. Usually I only need them for one thing and the type of girls I usually hang around, it's understood they are easy and get around. I don't like this at all.

"What will it be?" I hold up the movies standing in front of the bed.

She lays her phone down in front of her, looking up at me. She props her chin on the heel of her hand wiggling her fingers above her upper lip as if thinking. "I think Pacific Rim is the better option of the two. Konnor said it was really good and we usually like the same movies."

"Great choice," I say putting down the other DVD so I can open the cover and put it in the blu-ray player. "Will you see if that remote is in the drawer by the bed?"

She sits up on her knees and turns toward the drawer. She bends over, resting on her right palm, rummaging through the drawer of the nightstand. Her shirt comes up slightly, revealing the bottom of her back. Just above the band of her jeans, sit two perfect dimples. I can't help the way my eyes lower, lingering on her perfect round bottom. I need something to take my mind off of her before I start undressing her in my mind. I've never been turned on so easily by a girl before. I look down and notice that it shows. Quickly adjusting myself, I try to think of something to calm my raging thoughts. "So Konnor is your brother?" If talking about another guy isn't an erection kill, I don't know what is.

She pulls out the remote and turns around, sitting criss crossed on the bed. She points the remote to the television, turning it on. "Yeah," she sighs and pulls her knees against her chest to wrap her arms around them, dropping the remote on the bed. "He's going through a lot right now. He just told me he's at the tattoo shop picking out a new tattoo. He asked if I wanted to come and watch."

I remember Ryland telling me about his ordeal but I don't want her to be mad at Ryland that I know, so for now I'll keep it to myself. "You don't like tattoos?"

She is kind of spaced out as she stares down at her knees, lost in thought. "It's not that," she shrugs. "I don't know, it's his second one in a month. At this pace he's going to be covered in a year from head to toe. They aren't small ones either. He's never been the 'bad boy' type. He's just becoming very...different and fast. Each tattoo represents something different and it's not really the happy reason to get a tattoo. He and his girlfriend recently broke up after three years of dating. What's going to be next? He turns into the rest of the jocks at school and sleeps with everything that walks; breaking hearts along the way or becomes the bad boy rocker man slut seducing women with his voice. I'm just scared he's going to regret it, is all, when he finally gets over all of this. He really...loved her I guess." Her nose scrunches in disgust.

Lesson number one, she obviously doesn't condone sleeping around. Lesson number two, it's only making me want her all the more. I don't really know what to say because I've never been in that situation. I learned years back not to trust a woman with your heart. It will only kill you in the end, Beau being the instructor in that lesson; therefore, I have no idea what that feels like and from the looks of her she doesn't really want to go into any further detail. I finally got her laughing and having a good time so I'm perfectly fine with steering away from this conversation. I nod in understanding and turn to put the DVD in the player and return to the bed after turning the lights off. "Do you guys have a curfew?" It really isn't that late but according to what she said last night she's never out late.

She shakes her head. Her smile is slowly coming back. "As long as Presley's mom knows where she is and it's someone's house she can pretty much stay out until two in the morning. Anywhere else and she has to be home by twelve." She leans back against the pillow and starts to shiver. Ryland usually keeps anywhere he stays pretty cold.

"You can get under the cover. I promise I'll keep it PG-13," I grin because I couldn't help myself. I love messing with her.

She raises her brow at me and begins playing with her curly hair as a smirk begins to form. "I think you better keep it G rated or I'm kicking you off the bed. I know how to fight." Oh would I love to see that. I might just give it a go for that reason.

"I might like to see you try," I say playfully. I can't imagine her tiny body being able to do much damage.

"My parents wanted me to learn self defense so I had to take classes when I was fourteen. I'm quite experienced in taking down an attacker. Don't let my size fool you." She pauses and then smiles, "Didn't your mom always teach you not to judge a book by its cover?" She is really starting to relax around me and I like the sassy side that seems to be trying to break through.

I place one knee on the bed followed by the other. Feeling playful, I grab her by the ankles and pull her across the bed to meet me. Kneeling between her legs, I release her ankles and grab her hands in mine pinning them to the bed. "Is that a challenge?"