I never should’ve witnessed. He has no reason to lie.
“I don’t think you beat Gwen. But your idea of kinky sex is messed up and if you ever try that shit on me I’ll borrow Becca’s gun and shoot your dick off myself.”
He closes his eyes in relief.
“Is there anything else you have to tell me?”
“You don’t want to know any of it. We’d probably have to move away from Jacksonville if you wanted to get away from the women I’ve slept with. There’s nothing special about me in that sense. Only what I do with you.”
He sighs when I don’t answer.
“Let’s go. I have to write my paper.” He reaches for his backpack from the backseat. Right before I leave he grabs my hand and pulls me toward him, catching my mouth on the first try. He kisses me so hard and so deep my panties dampen and my common sense is in the fetal position in the corner. “Thank you for believing me. I don’t know what I’d do if you didn’t.”
I kiss him one more time. One soft short kiss, when really I want to wrap my soreness around him in the front seat. “I can’t believe I like you. You’re disgusting.”
He grins at me. His smile this close is confusing. “I can’t believe I like you either. You’re a smart-mouthed, pissy wing-woman. Come on.” He reaches over and opens my door. “Let’s go study.”
The smell of books hits me immediately when we step inside of the library. I pause and stand there, inhaling deeply. The smell of old pages, words that change lives, and magic that exists only as far as you search for it—that’s what books smell like to me. Peace settles over me. My father’s screams fade away and the sound of my mother’s tears can’t penetrate the magical haze.
When I open my eyes Kent is staring at me. His mouth is slightly open and his eyes are lost.
“You’re kind of beautiful, Rain. You know that?”
His compliment tightens around my heart, where I’m adding more and more of Kent.
What will I be in a month?
Still beautiful or a memory?
Chapter Eight
“I’ll see you tonight,” Kent announces as he pulls up out front of the apartment.
“Are you going out after school?”
“Do you want me to?”
“I’d rather spend time at home. With you,” I add, looking out the window. “Unless you’d rather not. It’s okay if you don’t.”
“Rain.” He sounds stern. Still, I don’t look at him. “We can hang out together tonight. I think I want one last night with you before your sister gets here.”
I smile at my reflection in the window. “I’ll miss your penis.”
“Why?” he asks warily. “Because your sister’s going to shoot it off?”
I open my door and grab my purse. “Thanks for the pancakes.” When I turn to him he grabs my face and brings me back inside for a kiss.
“I’ll be seeing you and this smart mouth later.”
I nod against his lips, kissing him just a little more. “This smart mouth can’t wait.”
“Me neither. Now get out before I test out your backseat.”
I glance in the back and he laughs, shaking his head at me. “Go, Rain.”
I don’t want to admit this to myself, because it means things that might not mean anything after a month, but the second he drives away my stomach drops. Kent has a life and so do I. My mother’s revolved around my father’s and that means I’ll have to do the opposite. When I get inside of the apartment with his keys, I set my purse down on the coffee table and gasp. It’s still an atrocious mess. The smell has had time to ferment, creating a toxic bomb when I step further inside.
I immediately locate a garbage bag under the kitchen sink and set to cleaning. I turn the stereo on and flip through Kent’s CD’s, locating a Janis Joplin record. Becca loves her. I put it on and listen as I clean up the mess Kent’s friends left behind. Some friends…I wonder if they’re part of the problem. How can Kent change when his friends are still doing the same things he vows not to? He was tempted once. He may be tempted again. What if there’s someone else out there with a smarter mouth?
What if Kent isn’t done punishing us at all?
When the apartment is clean I decide to do laundry next. Most of my clothes are dirty and my sheets need washing after Samantha and Trevor made good use of