Page 67 of Take My Kiss
“You’d better hope not or you have eighteen years of child support to back pay.”
“Damn, you’re right.” I grin at her playfulness. “Okay, now you. Who was your first boyfriend?”
“Damien Archer.”
I snort. “Sounds like a villain’s name in a superhero movie.”
“Pretty close. We met when I was thirteen at an all-girls summer camp.”
“How did you—” It hits me a moment later. “He was acounselor?”
“A junior counselor, so he was sixteen.” Her cheeks flush. “And then at the end of the six weeks—’cause god forbid my parents spend time with me durin’ my break—he told me he was movin’ to Washington, so we had to break up. I was devastated, as any hormonal teen girl would be, but then I saw him at school a few weeks later and realized how easily boys could lie. He pretended he didn’t know who I was and ignored me for the next two years.”
“He acted like he never met you?” I taunt, rubbing over my chin. “Hm…that kinda sounds familiar.”
“I dunno what you’re talkin’ ’bout.”
“Right, I’m sure. A complete coincidence.”
“Yep, so anyway…after him, I met Sam’s dad, Leland, when I was seventeen. After my parents kicked me out, I moved in with him, and we got married. I was only twenty, and he was twenty-eight. Then he got arrested, I had Sam and then filed for divorce.”
“Ah, so you like ’em older,” I quip at the realization. “That’s why you left the mornin’ after. I’m too young for you.”
She rolls her eyes. “That’s not true. You’re a year older.”
My head falls back with laughter, feeling so at ease around her. Even just talking like this, nothing physical, I’m so comfortable being in her presence, and I never want to be without it.
We continue going back and forth asking questions and cracking jokes. Once dinner is ready, the seven of us eat at the table and make light conversation. It’s nice after the emotional day we’ve had.
“You can stay with me,” Bodie tells Raven when she asks if there’s an extra room. “I can take the couch.”
“That’s not necessary,” she says, waving him off. “I’ll get a room at the motel in town.”
“I’m not sure it’s safe for you to be alone,” Amelia tells her. “We still don’t know who this guy is. He could be anywhere and use you as bait to get to Sam.”
Assuming this guy knows who her friends are, none of them are safe until he’s caught.
“I have a self-defense keychain with pepper spray, a taser, and knuckledusters. After what happened, I don’t go anywhere without them.”
I assume she’s referring to the incident with her ex-husband, but I don’t want to bring it up if she doesn’t want to talk about it.
“And it’s only for one night. I gotta get back to Bailey and relieve Mattie of babysittin’ duty. Pretty certain she’s ready to get her tubes tied after the last time she babysat overnight for me.”
“There won’t be any vacancy during the peak summer season. The resort’s fully booked, so that usually means all the motels in town and the surroundin’ towns are too,” I explain.
“You can sleep in my bed with me,” Amelia offers. “It’s big enough for two.”
Raven glances between her and me, then shakes her head. “Nah, that’s fine. I’ll crash at Bodie’s.”
“I have a bed big enough for two, too.” He winks. “We can make a pillow wall, if it makes ya feel better.”
I chuckle at his quick save. “Do you even have more than two pillows?”
His crooked grin tells me everything I need to know.
“I wouldn’t worry too much, Raven. He sleeps on dinosaur sheets, so he’s not much of a threat,” Bellamy taunts.
“That you bought me!” Bodie defends.
