Barely Breathing (The Breathing #2)(10)

I stared at him. "Are you serious? Of course I have expectations. I've expected to have sex with you for about six months now."

"Okay then," Evan replied with a smile. "We obviously have the same expectation." I laughed, easing the nervous tension.

We left the car in the hands of the valet and made our way to the elevator. Evan held my hand the entire time, and my whole body was jittering so much that I couldn't find anything to say.

Before I opened the door, Evan turned me around and said, "Close your eyes." I obeyed. "Deep breath." I inhaled deeply and relaxed my shoulders with the exhale. I awaited my next instruction but felt his lips upon mine instead. Their touch surprised me. My calm breath faltered and my knees weakened. I opened my mouth to the rhythm of his, feeling the warmth of his tongue on mine. Fumbling in my pocket for the key, I tried to open the door while remaining connected. It didn't work.

I pulled away long enough to insert the key and open the door. Then I tugged Evan toward me, finding his lips again. Evan started to unbutton his jacket as I backed into the room. That's when I heard, "You're back!" I pushed away from Evan mid-kiss and spun around, slamming the door in his face.

"Sara, hi," I fumbled, trying to catch my breath. I cracked the door to find Evan rubbing his forehead, "So, Sara's here. Umm, I guess I'll see you in the morning."

"Uh, okay," Evan said slowly, looking at me like I was acting weird―only because I was. "I guess I'll see you in the morning." I shut the door before he could even kiss me goodnight.

"What's wrong with you?" Sara demanded. "You could've let him in."

"No, it's late," I said in a rush, taking off my jacket and tossing it on the chair, my face on fire.



       
         
       
        

"Oh, wait," she shot out. "You two thought you'd have the room to yourselves. Oh, Em!" She started laughing hysterically.

"Sara," I scowled. "It's not funny."

"Oh, it is," she countered. "For the first time ever, I like a guy and don't sleep with him. And you were finally about to have sex and didn't get to. Oh that's so fucking funny. Em, I'm so sorry."

I groaned and collapsed next to her on the king sized bed. "This had better not be an indication of how this year's going to be."

Sara rested her head on my shoulder and draped her arm across my stomach, "It's the end of our senior year. Then we're off to college. It's going to be the best year of our lives. Believe me."

I groaned, not sharing her optimism.





3. Still Loved



"Can we talk about what happened last night?" I asked Sara after leaving the small restaurant where we ate a greasy breakfast with Jared and Evan, surrounded by people who looked like they wished they'd never seen the New Year.

"What? That you were planning on losing your virginity finally, but I screwed it up?"

"No, I'm definitely not talking about that," I retorted. "You mentioned liking Jared. What happened between you two?"

"I'd rather not talk about it."

Something was off. Avoiding a conversation about a guy was not like Sara at all.

"I'm confused."

"Em, he lives in New York. I'm still in high school, forget about the fact that we're moving to California," she presented plainly, void of emotion. "I can't keep torturing myself. I need to forget about him... again."

I glanced over at her. She kept texting and wouldn't look at me.

"Thanks for driving," she said, slipping the phone in her purse. "I'm going to sleep most of the way if you don't mind."

"Sure," I responded, concerned by her reaction.

The quiet drive gave me time to think―which wasn't necessarily a good thing. Being trapped in my head for almost three hours could be a bit overwhelming―even scary. But at the end of it, I was content with my internal discussion. Whether moving in with my mother was the right thing to do or not, I was committed to trying.



"Let's just do nothing today and watch movies," Sara proposed as we unloaded our bags from the car.

"Sounds perfect."

Evan had to drive Jared back to school, so it was just Sara and me in front of the television the entire New Year's Day. I forced myself to get sucked into the sappy romantic comedies and awkward teenage humiliation. 

Sara responded to a beeping text. "Em, do you want to go to a party tonight?"

"Yeah, I don't think so," I answered without thinking twice.

"Are you ever going to go to another party again?"