The Line That Binds Series Box Set (45 page)

He unlocked our fingers, skimmed his hand up the length of my arm, and then spread his fingers into my hair. My skin tingled from his light touch. “I know that you fold your lips together when you concentrate and that your nose automatically wrinkles when anyone even mentions a bad smell.”

“Nuh-uh,” I protested, even though I knew he was right. The hand he had on my back pushed harder, forcing me closer to his body. That was something I wouldn’t protest. I molded to him, comfortable with how we fit together.

“Lying again,” he breathed. “I also know that your upper thighs are insanely ticklish, which I plan on using to my advantage more often because I love the way you scream my name.”

Oh.
My entire body flushed at his admission and a nervous giggle escaped my throat. He had used the “L” word too. Granted, he didn’t say that he loved me, but it still left me speechless.

He chuckled, low and husky, making my body shake.

“C’mon, guys,” Gavin groaned. They had moved away from the dumbwaiter and were spread out among the wardrobes and plastic containers. An armoire’s door hid Gavin’s head, but he obviously felt it wasn’t a good enough barrier. “I don’t need to see or hear that crap.”

Ben backed away enough to look into my eyes and smiled. “I need to get you alone later.”

“My dad will be home early again,” I said, though I didn’t want it to be true. I wanted time with Ben tonight, more than ever. I was worried that I’d get another phone call from Mom, or that Dad might want to have a more detailed chat about her possible visit. Dealing with either didn’t sound fun at all. I’d rather be wrapped in Ben’s arms, forgetting anything that hurt.

He sighed then leaned in and kissed me gently.

“I’m serious, knock it off already,” Gavin said and Izzy and Spaz laughed from across the attic.

“LJ, come here. I think I found some dresses,” Izzy said to pull me away, probably so we wouldn’t have to hear Gavin complain anymore.

I rolled my eyes at Ben for all the interruptions. He grinned before making his way over to Spaz.

Izzy stood beside a wooden foot locker and a matching armoire. There were no decorative engravings in the dark wood of either piece, only dents and scratches from years of use. She held open the armoire’s thin door, which had a slight warp in the center that bowed its ends. “Look at all of this,” she said, running her hand down the layers of plastic and canvas garment bags as she squatted to the floor. “I wonder why they aren’t hanging.”

I touched the top bag, unable to see through the tan canvas. “There’s a lot of weight on the material when it hangs. I think that’s why they’re stored flat.”

“Makes sense,” Izzy agreed. She stood beside me with wide eyes, ready to open the bags like it was Christmas morning.

“Dig in!” I said, answering her silent question.

And we did. She grabbed the first bag and I took the second. We laid them out on the floor and unzipped our treasures.

“Wow, this stuff really is old,” she said, holding up the short sleeve of an airy, green chiffon dress. It had embellished white stitching that ran up the sheer fabric, all the way to the neck.

“It looks like it’s from the twenties.” The one I’d opened was similar. It was two-toned, yellow and orange, with lace overlay and flowers stitched in a pattern down the front. I liked it, but the shopper in me wanted to press on. “Let’s keep looking.”

The remaining dresses in that armoire were of the same fashion, from the same era. As Izzy grabbed the last dress, I ran my fingers over the creases at the base of the armoire. I shook my head in Ben’s direction to let him know I hadn’t found any secret compartments, hidden stones, or an excessive amount of hope. He lifted one side of his lips and furrowed his brows while Spaz tried on top hats beside him.

“I’m outta here,” Gavin called out to all of us. “I’ve got a raid happening online at eight and I still have to call Taylor for a few so she doesn’t get mad at me.”

“Ah, you’re already whipped, good sir,” Spaz said in a confused accent that mixed British with French. “First the hair, now the phone. What’s next, man?” He swung the cane he was holding like a baseball bat, tapped it back to the floor, and then removed his top hat as he took a gentlemanly bow.

“I’m not complaining about being whipped. I’ll take whatever she gives me,” Gavin replied, running a hand through his hair before he moved to the ladder.

“My man!” Ben said with a laugh. Spaz and Gavin both laughed, too, then Gavin ducked out of the attic.

“Boys,” Izzy murmured next to me with a giggle.

After rummaging through the first armoire’s matching trunk—filled with shoes and bags—we moved on to a free-standing wardrobe that was hogging most of the wall space by one of the circle windows. That’s when we noticed the dress mannequins stashed in the low attic corner.

“Wow,” Izzy breathed out exactly what I was thinking. “These are hoop skirts, right?” She plucked one of the rings of the cage and the whole thing swayed when she let it go.

“That means there are dresses to go with these.” The idea of wearing Civil War era gowns was unimaginable. They wouldn’t even be replicas. This was real.

The wardrobe was unfinished, with a dark stain and no varnish. It had a few thin carvings along its borders, but overall it was as plain as the first. I opened it to more garment bags. The first few bags held plain, long-sleeved dresses that were for daily wear. We finally reached the last four dresses and found what we were looking for.

A blood red dress took me instantly. I placed the skirt to my middle and compared it to my waist. The silk fabric pinched on one side in the front, lifting it higher than the back. The bottom edges had some pleats and ruffles, but not overly decorative. The separate bodice had V-neck in the front and back, dipping low off the shoulders too. I reached back into the bag and found a petticoat, undershirt, and a corset.

Izzy chose one that was mint green. She held its skirt up like I had with mine. It was a multi-layered, tiered down to the floor. “This is unreal. Think they’ll fit?” she asked, stroking the material with one hand.

“It looks like they might, but there’s only one way to find out. Let’s pull the skirts over our jeans. It’s a good way to measure since the cage and petticoat will be underneath.”

“This is way better than cutting two eyes out of a sheet. Are you sure you’re okay with me wearing this?” she asked, stepping into the fabric. “I’ll try my best not to ruin it, but I never wear dresses so I can’t promise anything.”

“I don’t mind. They’ve been up here forever. We might as well have fun with them.” I knew they were relics and I should donate them to museums or something, but there were plenty of others. I wasn’t worried about two.

We both pulled the skirts up and let them rest on our hips. I needed to see the top too so I grabbed the bodice and tugged it over my T-shirt. Izzy did the same.

“Wow. That looks amazing on you,” she said.

“And that looks great on you!” I replied, admiring the way the pale green complimented her skin tone. With no cage, the bottom bunched at her feet. She lifted it and dropped it, enthralled with its beauty or simply entertained by the movement.

“Yes! I never thought I’d get excited about a dress, but that day has come. My mom will probably have a heart attack.”

I chuckled. “Well, it looks fabulous on you so you should be excited.”

She flipped her hair to the side and swept her bangs behind an ear. That’s when she looked down at the front of the dress, studying it with a worried look.

Pain sparked inside my head and I instinctively pressed my hands against my temples. Unlike school, I rarely had headaches at home. They always caught me off-guard here.

“I wish I had the guts to actually wear this,”
Izzy’s voice said inside my head.

I sighed at her wish. She was usually so confident. Why would she be intimidated by a dress? I looked across the room to Ben and Spaz. They were lost in their own jokes and laughter.

It wasn’t life or death, but she was my friend. What good is it if I can’t help the people I care for?

“Izzy, I have to tell you something,” I said, drawing her attention back up to me and beckoning her closer with a wave of my hand.

“What?” she asked, lifting her skirt and stepping toward me. “Should we keep looking through the others?”

I grabbed her forearm and let the curse take over. Now that I knew the process, I could feel it happen. And it was exquisite. It was always the same whether I was granting courage, endurance, or any other personal strength. It was like a rush of good energy, pulling from every nerve in my body. It was raw, emotionally and physically. It could’ve filled a year’s worth of feelings, yet it was all packed inside a few sublime seconds.

“No more looking,” I finally replied. “You have to wear this one.”

I was so relieved LJ calmed down after we’d come up here. She’d been tense ever since lunch, when I brought up searching the attic. That was why she invited Spaz and Iz to look for Halloween costumes. It was a way to keep the disappointment to a minimum. I watched her search through stuff with Iz. She was having a good time while keeping her eyes open for anything involving the well. This place was packed with clothes, bags, and other junk deemed too nice to dump in the basement, though it was coming up just as empty.

“Dude,” Spaz said from inside a deep wardrobe I’d already searched. He got caught up in something on his way out and took a nose dive through the doors, landing on his hands and knees with hats and suspenders toppling out around him. I couldn’t hold back my laughter. He straightened up like it never happened and asked, “Are we really dressing like this for the party?”

“That’s the plan. You thinking about something else?”

“I was going to go simple, like a devil or gynecologist, but Iz really jumped on this idea when LJ offered.”

“What happened to ‘Do it because you like it, not because of your girl’?” I repeated the words he’d said earlier to Gavin with a smirk.

“Yeah, yeah. You know I’m full of crap,” he admitted with a laugh. “This stuff is pretty cool, though.” He picked up another top hat and tried it on.

“I’m not thrilled about the suit thing either, but if it makes the ladies happy, I’m game.”

“Man, don’t get me started. There were a few girls you could’ve made happy with just your Jason mask last year, but no, you chose to keep things rollin’ with Emily,” he scoffed.

I glanced over at LJ. She and Iz had started going through the next wardrobe, pulling out more dress bags. “What can I say? I didn’t really care, and it was a sure thing,” I said, moving the suit I’d picked in front of me.

“Still not a good enough reason,” he joked with a laugh. “I’m glad that ship sank, though,” he added seriously, then tossed the top hat like a Frisbee.

I snatched it mid-air and placed it on my head. “Yeah, I’m glad too,” I agreed, looking over at LJ again. She was everything I could ever want. Without a doubt, the best thing I’d ever had. And I was pretty sure I’d felt that way long before she helped me let go of Harper. These feelings trumped everything else. She was
more
for me.

I watched her and Izzy talk for a moment before I noticed the blood running from her nose.

Dammit.

I jumped up, leaving a shocked Spaz behind.

“LJ, your nose is bleeding,” Iz said to her before I reached them.

“Oh,” she replied with a tiny smile, dropping the top of the red dress from her arms and slipping the skirt down to her ankles to pat her pockets for a tissue.

I looked around, not seeing anything I wanted to use on her face. In the last steps, I pulled my T-shirt over my head and placed it to her face. “I got you,” I said. I wasn’t thrilled with what she’d done, but I couldn’t be mad at her. Whatever the reason, she’d obviously felt she needed to help Iz.

Her green eyes were wide as I held her nose with my shirt. She was waiting for a reaction from me, but we both knew I couldn’t say anything in front of Iz and Spaz.

I let out a sigh and smiled softly. I felt the tug of her lips beneath the shirt and watched her eyes crinkle with her own relieved smile.

“Okay,” Iz said, breaking up our silent exchange. We both glanced at her and she was holding a tissue. “You guys must have one deep connection if he’s willing to strip it all off to stop a little blood.” She didn’t laugh, she just stared, confusion pulling her brows together.

I thought about the first time I gave LJ my shirt by the well. It was meant as a distraction, but I knew I’d felt a connection, even then. I laughed at her joke, perfectly comfortable with the raw truth of it.

Spaz walked over and stood beside Iz. “Are you trying to make me look bad, man?” He took the tissue from Iz’s hands and blew his nose. “Thanks, babe.”

This made the girls laugh. “Some gentleman you are!” Iz said then hissed at him. “I feel cheated. You better make sure you’re on your best behavior at the party Friday.”

“Best behavior?” he asked. “I can’t promise anything if you’re wearing that.” He pointed to the corset beside Iz’s feet.