Judging by the way my elbow was smarting, I was going to have one hell of a bruise tomorrow.
When the pain subsided, I laughed, because as usual, my life was ridiculous. And as luck would have it, it was one of those half laugh half snort hybrids. We both laughed, gasping for breath for an entirely different reason now. My side was aching from where we hit the dresser. My earring was still attached to the curtain, and my legs were still around his waist. Between laughs, Garrick pressed a sweet kiss to my forehead.
Maybe ridiculous wasn’t so bad.
“Okay, let’s get you untangled. I’m going to put you down, okay?”
He lowered me gently the floor, and my stampeding pulse began to slow. He tried for a few minutes to free me, but his fingers were large and clumsy. Finally, I said, “Just undo the earring. I’ll get it out of the curtain tomorrow.”
Laughing, he did as I asked.
Whereas before, I’d felt like I was burning up in our kiss. Now, warmth spread through me that was different, sweeter. Candlelight instead of open flame.
He rubbed at the shoulder that had hit the dresser, and said, “We’re kind of a mess.”
I pinched my fingers together, and said, “Little bit.”
He curled a hand around my neck, and pulled me forward, pressing another kiss to my forehead. I closed my eyes, thinking that this was what perfection felt like.
“I think maybe the curtain did us a favor. Your legs in that skirt pretty much killed all my self-control.”
I smiled. “I told you that I never should have worn it.”
“Oh, I’m definitely glad you wore it. It’s a memory I’ll cherish for a very long time.” I slapped him on the arm, but I didn’t mind the cheeky smile. He said, “I should probably go now, before you make me lose my mind again.”
I let him go, even though a large part of me was screaming in protest. And when he was gone, I celebrated in much the same way I had when I learned I’d gotten cast as Phaedra.
I danced.
Because… finally… things were going right.
Chapter Twenty-One
Things were so wrong.
The first Phaedra read through was a disaster of epic proportions. Even after two weeks, Cade wouldn’t speak to me at all before we started, and it seemed everyone in the cast was on his side, based on the glares I was getting. And though read-throughs tended to be a bit stale since everyone was sitting around a table, this one was worse than week-old pizza.
Every once and while, Eric would shake his head, and I could practically see him thinking, what happened to the people I cast last week?
Each scene kept getting worse like a screw going in at the wrong angle, but we just kept going, trying to make something work that would clearly not.
When it was over, I felt deflated. I had been so excited about this play. I’d been waiting for something like this since freshman year, and now it was here and it was unbearable.
Eric faked some optimism, saying things would be smoother on stage. I don’t think anyone believed him.
And if they did, that misplaced hope dwindled when we had our first rehearsal onstage, which if possible, was even worse. The unease between Cade and I seemed to permeate the entire cast until everyone was stiff and on edge.
Classes weren’t much better.
Cade stayed far away from me, and Kelsey was still angry, so I was disproving that quote about no man being an island. I was totally alone.
Except for Garrick.
I was terrified by the depth of my feelings for him. Things were too good. Nothing in life was this amazing, at least not in my life. He stopped me after Senior Prep Wednesday morning, “Bliss, wait one second.”
I took my time packing up my stuff, waiting for everyone else to leave the computer lab. When we were alone I asked, “What’s up?”
He smiled, “Nothing.”
Then he pressed me into the computer table behind me and kissed me.
I gasped in shock, and his tongue stormed my mouth. I did nothing, but blink, and then he had me lifted up onto the table, his hips fitted between my open thighs, and his mouth burned against my own.
There was no slowness to this kiss. It was a frenzied, stolen moment, and I was spinning with want. I clung to him, certain I was about to fall to pieces in his arms, and then he pulled back.
I had to concentrate on breathing for several long seconds before it even occurred to me to be mad. I swatted his bicep, “Are you crazy? What were you thinking? What if someone walked in?” I pushed him several feet away, and hopped off the table, my legs unsteady against the floor.
“I was thinking that you looked entirely too sexy for this early in the morning.”
I steeled my glare, “I’m serious, Garrick.”