Punctured, Bruised, and Barely Tattooed(59)

His lips turned up in a half grin, so she thought maybe he knew. When she smiled back, his grin got bigger, and he said, “Happy birthday, Kory.”

It was then that she felt her eyes squint as they filled with hot, salty liquid. She had never felt an emotion like this, something so overwhelming and pure, and it brought tears to her eyes. She blinked a few times, willing them away, and she swallowed. She couldn’t let herself be mute for life. She had to force words through her teeth. So she sucked in a breath and then, as though it weren’t enough, she drew in another and swallowed. “Today has been the best birthday ever.” She brought her face closer to his. “And that was because of you. Thank you.”

He acted like he wanted to say something but instead, as though he could feel what was in Kory’s heart, he kissed her, and she felt like the world was falling away. That was okay. Let it. Her whole world was Stone now, because she didn’t need anything else.





Chapter Twenty-two



KORY HAD ALWAYS found it funny that colleges and universities had three semesters—fall, spring, and summer. It was as if they were pretending winter didn’t exist. Even sillier was the fact that the fall semester started a month before autumn’s actual start date.

But there she was, sitting in a new class—another psychology class, no less. Now that she’d settled on a new major, she could tell it was going to be harder to arrange rides with her friends, because there were specific classes she needed to take that were only offered at certain times, so she’d bought a bicycle and was saving up for a Vespa.

She’d talked to her advisor, because she’d been toying with going into business, but Stone himself had pointed out that Kory didn’t seem the business type…and money wasn’t everything. Well, that was easy for a self-made…what was he? A millionaire, she supposed. And that was easy for a self-employed millionaire to say. But there was truth to his words…that she needed to study something she was drawn to. Again, easy for a guy who’d never finished school to say. But Stone was turning out to be one of the smartest guys she knew. His life experience had shaped him and he had learned how to use his art to communicate.

She’d changed her degree to psychology. An associate’s degree in psychology wouldn’t do dick, and she knew that, but she could transfer to any university in Colorado and get a bachelor’s, a master’s, even higher, and then she could do what Natalie did if she wanted. Or she could teach. She found that laughable. She was no teacher, but her advisor showed her that there were many different jobs she could move into, even if she chose to not go higher than a four-year degree.

For now, though, Kory saw the wisdom in majoring in psychology for herself. She didn’t know what tomorrow would offer, but she did know that—for the first time since her mother had died—she was experiencing a new type of healing. It wasn’t what she’d done before, which had been to acknowledge the pain and then stuff it down—deep. No. Now she felt as though something new was happening—she’d taken off the bandage and the wound, exposed to air and sunlight, was beginning to scab over.

It was beginning to heal.

That fascinated the hell out of Kory, that simply by telling her story to someone who cared…she was feeling better than she had in years. Maybe she’d never be the kind of person who could do that for someone else, but she was feeling pure and alive and she never wanted to let that feeling go.

So when Kory and her advisor talked, she told him she wasn’t sure if she would definitely want to pursue anything further after getting her associate’s degree, that her interests might take her elsewhere, and he told her that was fine. She could go on to a four-year school with her degree and major in something entirely different. In fact, he said, she wouldn’t be the first student to do something like that.

She quit worrying about it and followed her heart.

After class that late summer afternoon, she felt exhilarated, knowing she’d made the right move, and she hopped on her bike. She didn’t have to work for a few hours, so she wanted to stop by The Iron Maiden to see Stone. It was after noon, so she knew he’d be there.

She was thinking about him the entire bike ride there, how she’d never in her whole life expected to have any type of relationship—nothing meaningful, at any rate. Friends, yes. She didn’t know what she’d do without Tina…or Lacey, for that matter. But a guy? After Art and then especially after her experiences with—well, she couldn’t really call them dating—boys in high school, she figured she’d just have to be happy with companionship and sex.