up my bed.”
“You’re sleeping up here, silly.” I reach behind my head and pat my mattress.
“And you’re sleeping…”
I pat the mattress a second time, just to watch her eyes grow ten times their normal size. I chuckle at her shock and bump her shoulder again. “Don’t worry. The couch is very comfortable.”
“You’d sleep on the couch.”
“Better than the floor.” As much as I’d like to stay in here with her, the carpet is so worn that it’ll be like sleeping on a boulder. With a sigh, I leave the warmth of her side and push to my feet. I extend a hand to her. “Want me to tuck you in?”
I’m teasing, and she knows it, but she slaps her hand in mine and says, “Yes, please. Bedtime story, too.”
I pull her to her feet and then shove her just hard enough to tip her onto the bed. She bounces on the mattress with a squeal that hits me square in the chest.
“Once upon a time there was a big pain in the ass who kept bugging everyone she worked with about tucking in their shirts.”
She grimaces and slides to the pillows. “I change my mind on the story.”
“You sure?” I smirk. “It’s a good one.”
She rolls her eyes, but there is amusement resting in her tired irises. “Goodnight, Pete.”
“You’re just gonna fall asleep while I wait for Maddie?”
“Yep.” She cuddles under my blankets, tucking in tightly. Her eyes drift shut.
I let out an exaggerated sigh. “Fine then.”
The tiniest of smiles perks at the edge of her mouth, and I watch the shadow from my lamp cast over her sleepy form. It’s amazing how tempting it is to climb in next to her but also how content I am to just let her be. She looks good in my space, like she belongs here. She’s a rich, uptight mess, but she belongs in my world somehow.
I wonder if she feels that way about me. I’d like to think I’ve wriggled my way in somehow, too.
Not a minute later I get the okay from Maddie to come out of my room, and with all these rabid thoughts running loose in my head, I make a break for it, gathering all the presents I can. I set them up under the tree with the ones already there, and they are completely haphazard and clumsy, but there are presents, and that’s all that matters.
Demi’s gonna wake up thrilled. Mad’s gonna love the decals I got her. And Candace… Well, I hope Candace is just happy to be with me, even if I’m not the guy she really wants.
Candace
The weather has dropped to thirty degrees, and there is no doubt in my mind that Pete is still running around on that death machine.
I pull into the Troublemakers parking lot, my heater on full blast on my lower half. These holey jeans do nothing against the December air except invite it in.
With it being winter break, my art class doesn’t start up again until January, so the only way I can send invites is to spread them around social media.
So my profiles need some revamping.
After spending way too many hours deciding whether or not to even create the event, I realized that the moment I invite Zach, he might take a gander at my profile page. My pictures. And holy wow, they have my good girl reputation all over them.
Me with my 4.0 report card, pictures of perfectly arranged food on my parents’ china, posing in front of the Mormon temple in Illinois with the caption “Friday Night Out!”
He will take one look at that and think, “I knew it.” And I’ll never get that motorcycle ride he sort of promised, let alone a date.
I pull in next to the motorcycle I knew would be here and put my car in park. A happy flutter briefly overtakes the desire to erase all evidence of my good girl self when I take in the new bike cover I gave Pete for Christmas. His face was so darn cute when he tore the wrapping off. He let out this frustrated sigh and scrunched up his nose, his eyes pinching shut. He didn’t look at me once when he muttered, “I was joking about this, Candace.”
“I know,” I said, but I didn’t care. Gertrude needed some coverage in this weather, and I needed to express in some small way how grateful I was that he let me into his world for a bit. I’ve never been invited into anyone’s