‘Really?’ My mother claps her hands together and rushes over to him to give him a big hug.
Run, my dad mouths from over my mother’s shoulder with a grin. Run while you can.
He doesn’t have to ask me twice. I snatch ahold of Kayden’s hand and yank him out of the living room.
‘Oh my God,’ I hiss, guiding Kayden by the sleeve of his shirt across the kitchen and toward the back door away from my mother. Once we’re out of the house, I pick up the pace, hurrying across the driveway to the garage, worried my mother’s going to follow us. ‘I seriously think she’s like one step away from locking us in the house so she can keep us forever.’
Kayden chuckles, amused by my embarrassment as he pinches my cheeks, like my mom has done to me a thousand times. ‘What can I say? I’m super lovable enough to want to keep me forever.’ He’s quoting something my mother said to him earlier when we were opening presents.
‘You are lovable,’ I tell him once we get inside the guest room above the garage and the door is safely shut behind us. And locked. ‘But she doesn’t need to tell you that every minute.’ I flop down on my back onto the air mattress, which is the only piece of furniture besides the space heater and the bathroom. I’m not complaining, though, since the reason it’s so bare is because the furniture now fills our apartment.
‘She’s just being nice,’ Kayden says, gazing down at me. His hair is ruffled, his jawline is scruffy, and he looks so happy. ‘And it’s nice that she wants to be so nice. It could be worse than an overnice mother.’
‘Yeah, I know,’ I sigh, knowing he’s right, that it could be worse, that I could have parents like his mother. ‘I just wish she’d be just a little bit less embarrassing.’ I raise my hand and make a pinching gesture with my fingers. ‘Maybe just a teeny, tiny bit.’
‘Yeah, I doubt that’s ever going to happen.’ Kayden slips his shirt off and chucks it aside. His jeans ride low on his hips, giving me a view of his abs and chest that is crisscrossed with scars. ‘I did find it funny when she kept cracking jokes about us getting married all through dinner.’ He kneels down on the mattress, nudging my knees open with his until I spread open my legs for him.
‘Oh God.’ Shaking my head, I cover my face with my hands. ‘I’m glad you find it funny because I’m sure most guys would be running for their lives.’
The mattress moves as he leans over me and puts a hand on each side of my head. I crack my fingers apart and look at him. He’s been so much happier since the funeral, since he said goodbye to his mother, since he put the past behind him. He seems to breathe freer, smile more, and it’s probably the most beautiful sight I’ve ever seen.
‘Well, just make sure you really want this,’ I say as he moves one of my hands away from my eyes, ‘because you still have time to run.’
He shakes his head, his tongue slipping out of his mouth to wet his lips. ‘No running here,’ he whispers in a raspy voice I know only means one thing – he wants me. ‘Ever.’ He moves my other hand away from my face then pins my arms above my head.
A while ago, the movement would have sent my heart soaring and not in a good way. But now … well, it freaking soars like a bird high up in the sky, never wanting to return to land, ever. It soars because it’s free. It soars for him.
‘You want me,’ I tease as he leans down to kiss me.
‘You’re right,’ he says. ‘And then I want to give you your present.’
‘But you already gave me my present.’ I pat my pocket, inside which are the tickets to the concert he gave me. He said it was for a redo of a night that should have been special, but he couldn’t give it to me then. He was ready now to give me everything I deserve – his words not mine. My mom practically fainted when he said it. And me … well, I think I fell in love with Kayden even more.
‘Yeah, but that one was only the first part.’ He kisses me then softly bites my bottom lip before he leans back for air. ‘There’s more,’ he breathes against my lips, coming in for another kiss, ‘but you have to wait.’
‘Until when?’ I wonder, my heart skipping a beat as his hands wander to the button of my jeans.
‘Until we’re done with this.’ He gives me a wicked smile as he flicks my button undone.
‘That feels like blackmail …’ My back arches as his knuckles graze my stomach. ‘Good thing I like being blackmailed by you.’
‘God, I love that look in your eyes when I touch you,’ he says softly against my ear before nipping at my lobe.
I’m about to get lost inside him when I remember something. ‘Wait.’ I put a hand against his chest, pushing him back a little, causing him to give a sexy, frustrated growl that makes the area between my lips tingle. ‘Don’t you want your present?’
He pushes back from me and arches his brow. ‘What? I thought that sweater was from all of you.’ He’s totally amused with himself.
I glare at him. ‘You did not. I would never, ever be a part of giving you a sweater with an elf knitted on it.’
‘Hey, I like the sweater,’ he insists, actually being genuine. ‘No one has ever given me a sweater. Fuck, no one has ever given me a present before.’
Wow, I can feel the pressure. Maybe I should have gotten something better than I did.
‘Well, don’t get too excited,’ I say, scooting out from under him and rolling off the mattress. ‘It’s not much.’ I reach into my duffel bag to get his present.
He sits up on the mattress, looking about as eager as a kid sitting in front of a Christmas tree. ‘I’ll be happy with whatever you give me.’
I know he’s telling the truth, but still, when I hand him the small, rectangular present, I feel like it’s not enough. I hold my breath in anticipation and sit down beside him as he tears the paper off and chucks it aside. I wait for his reaction, but he just sits there, frozen, staring at it.
He stares.
And stares.
And stares.
With his head is tucked down and I can’t read him at all.
‘I told you I took pictures of us.’ I tap the frame that’s around the picture of Kayden and me kissing at the carnival we went to this summer. It’s actually a really pretty picture, the flashing neon lights and shapes of the rides behind us contrasting perfectly with the starry night above us. ‘Well, Seth actually took this one with my phone, but it’s a gorgeous photo of us. Totally wall worthy, I think.’
He just keeps staring at the photo and I feel like I’m about to lose my mind as I think of all the things that could be wrong. Maybe I’m reminding him of his past too much. Maybe I’m reminding him of everything he didn’t have.
But when I finally work up the courage to say something, a tear slips from his eye.
He’s crying and I’m afraid.
Maybe this was too emotional.
Maybe it was the wrong thing.
As my self-doubts wash over me, he lifts his gaze to meet mine and I realize that I was wrong.
He’s not crying because he’s sad.
He’s crying because he feels loved.
And good God do I love him. More than anything else in the world.
He doesn’t say anything. He just attacks me, his lips crashing into mine and stealing the breath right out of my lungs. But that’s okay; I’ll give him my air, my heart, my soul, whatever he wants. The only thing that matters is that he wants it.
‘You remember the last time we were in this room,’ he says through his panting as we finally come up for air.
I nod, gazing up at his swollen lips before allowing my eyes to rest on his. ‘I do.’ It was the first time we made love.
‘It was one of the most amazing moments of my life,’ he says softly, his body heat warming every inch of me. ‘Did you know that?’ he asks. When I shake my head, he whispers, ‘Well, it was. And even though I didn’t know it at the time, it was the moment I fell in love with you.’
His words sink through my skin and shoot straight to my heart. ‘I think it was when I feel in love with you, too,’ I whisper.
There’s a pause. A silent exchange that words can’t express.
Then we start ripping off each other’s clothes. Buttons fly. Fabric gets thrown. We’re laughing and smiling and he’s crying and so am I for reasons I can’t even understand. It’s like I’m feeling everything all at once and it’s so overwhelming and powerful, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world. And when he slips inside me, his body over mine, all I can think of is how safe I feel in a place that once felt like it was surrounded by thorns and vines. A place that felt so unsafe. A place where I lost it all, but now I’m being given it all back and more.
And no, Kayden is not my prince. Nor have I become a princess again.
I am simply Callie.
And he is simply Kayden.
And we are simply us.
And it’s the realest form of perfection that’s ever existed.
‘What are you doing?’ Kayden asks as I sit up from the mattress and stretch my hands over my head. It’s late, well past midnight, and I’ve been lying there for what feels like hours, trying to fall asleep, but it wasn’t working for me. My brain is on. And I mean, on. With words and sentence begging to be written.
‘Nothing.’ I reach for his shirt and slip it over my head. ‘I was just going to do a little writing because I can’t sleep.’
He rolls to his side and props up on his elbow as I move for my bag to get my laptop. ‘So when do I get to read this mystery story?’ he asks, tracing his fingers up and down my spine.
I consider what he said as I run back on the mattress, hurrying because the carpetless floor is freezing my feet. ‘When it’s finished.’
He glances from the laptop to me then cocks his brow. ‘And when will that be?’
I lean against the wall and position the laptop on my lap. ‘Probably tonight. I can feel the ending getting nearer.’ I open the computer and click on the screen. ‘Or at least the open-ending one.’
‘What’s it about?’ He leans over and reads the title on the screen. ‘The Truthful Fairytale.’ His gaze travels up to me. ‘It sounds like it’s about a princess and a prince.’
I shake my head as I put a pillow behind my back and stretch out my legs. ‘Nope. Just a boy and a girl.’
He gives me a curious look. ‘But you’ll let me read it, right? I love reading your stuff. I swear it gives me a little insight into what goes on in that head of yours.’
‘Which is sure madness.’ I do my best evil villain voice and he laughs. ‘And yes, I promise you’ll get to read it when it’s done.’
Seeming satisfied, he lies back down and gets comfortable. I only start really writing, though, when he falls asleep; otherwise, I feel like he’s watching me.
The first date was magical. They ate. They danced. They laughed. They smiled. By the end of the night, the air was so electric the girl had to glance around because it seriously felt like there were fairies hiding in the bushes, sprinkling pixie dust wherever they went.
‘I’m glad we did this,’ the guy said as they walked up a path they’d never taken before, side by side.
‘I’m glad, too,’ she replied. ‘I had a lot of fun.’ And it was the truth. She did have fun and it almost made the night surreal. Maybe she was dreaming. Maybe she’d fallen asleep and none of this was real. If that was the case, then she hoped she’d never wake up.
The stars and the moon shone above them and the houses around them were fast asleep. It was just them. No monsters. No expectations. No kingdoms and queens and kings and palaces.
It was perfect.
And for the first time in a long time, the girl felt safe.
Maybe even daring.
With every ounce of bravery she could summon, she reached over and took the boy’s hand in hers. She half expected him to recoil from the contact, half expected to do the same thing herself. Instead, the boy held on and she gripped tighter.
There wasn’t a spark or a zap from the contact, just a rush of energy as their flesh touched for the first time.
‘You know, I never would have been here if it wasn’t for you,’ he said so abruptly it threw her off guard.
‘What do you mean?’ she asked, stopping with the boy beneath a lamppost. It was the only light on the street and it surrounded them.
He looked down at her with such passion in his eyes, begging for her to understand. ‘That night when you came … when you saved me, it changed the direction of my life.’
The girl felt breathless. ‘How so?’
‘Because I’d given up,’ he said, daring to graze his finger down her cheek, causing her to shudder and her heart to skip a beat. ‘I thought the world was full of monsters and there wasn’t really a point in fighting them anymore. That wherever I’d go, they’d be there to break me, but you … you showed me not everyone was a monster.’
‘You showed me that, too,’ the girl replied. The boy looked at her, confused, and she wanted to explain, but she couldn’t just yet.
Maybe that was the key to all this, after all? Not the key to getting her back to being a princess. She didn’t want to be a princess anymore, knew better than to believe in such things. But what she did want to be is a normal girl who could hold hands with a guy without feeling ugly and disgusted.
She just wanted to be happy in her own little world.
‘I wish I could do more,’ he replied with a sad expression.