Effortless (Thoughtless #2)(37)
Author: S.C. Stephens

Kellan had hidden it well, maybe not wanting me to find it for a few months. And I’d come across it completely by luck. Once Kellan had started spending so many nights here at my place, I’d given him a drawer in my dresser, so he could store some of his stuff. And just because I loved him, I’d given him the top one. Wondering where the clever man would stash a note in my home, I’d rifled through his shirts and jeans. After checking all of his pants pockets, I’d started in on my drawer below it. Expecting him to leave something naughty in my underwear drawer, I’d been surprised to find it undisturbed. But then I’d heard a weird noise as I was closing it, like paper sliding against wood.

Taking the drawer out, I’d flipped it over and found the surprise taped to the bottom. I’d stared at it for a solid five minutes, barely even breathing. Kellan hadn’t left a note there. He’d taken a picture. It was black and white and artistically beautiful, but that wasn’t what made my breathing shallow. It was what he’d chosen to photograph.

It was his body…fresh from the shower.

I wasn’t sure how he’d captured the image, but it started around his jaw line and cut off just centimeters before his…intimate parts. Everything in-between was covered in beaded drops of moisture, rivers of it running across the curves and lines of his well-defined physique. It was the single most erotic thing I’d ever seen, and I flushed whenever I looked at it. I flushed a lot throughout my day.

I kept it in my purse with me, carrying it around everywhere I went. I pulled it out periodically, reading the inscription on the back whenever I did. In red ink he’d written, ‘I know you enjoy looking at me and I wouldn’t want to deprive you of anything that brings you joy.’ I usually fanned myself with it next.

Whenever Kellan and I talked on the phone, I’d always mention what I’d found that day. He’d chuckle at me, enjoying that he could entertain me, even while away. I suspected that was only one of the reasons he’d done it. First as a game, and second as a way to keep me thinking of him. Like I’d ever stop thinking about him. The night I’d told him I’d found his nak*d picture, he’d made a deep noise in his throat, then asked, "Which one?"

I couldn’t even answer him and he’d spent a good minute laughing. I had no idea if there were more nak*d pictures around, but I was determined to find out.

Sighing again, I shook my head to clear Kellan from my thoughts. I needed to think of other things today than missing him. I needed to think of other things than how he was doing and what he was doing. I needed to stop wondering why almost every time he called me there was a giggling girl in the background. No, those things could wait until later. Today, today I needed to focus on my last class before winter break. My last final before winter break.

And then…then I could think about Kellan, about finally seeing him again in a week, when we met up at my parents’ place for Christmas. I was trying to not get too excited about it, but it was too late, I already was. My parents…were not so thrilled. Convincing them that Kellan could join in our festivities had taken some work. It wasn’t as if they hated him or anything, they just didn’t know him yet. All they knew was what he did, and for my dad, that was enough. While he didn’t say it directly, I think my dad was expecting an STD-carrying, crack-smoking, foul-mouthed hooligan to show up. He always had been a little overprotective.

After throwing on a pair of comfortable jeans and the warmest sweater I owned, I bundled up in a thick jacket and grabbed my bag. Then I headed out to Kellan’s second baby. I’d started calling her Babe-ette. Kellan asked about her well being almost as much as my own. Starting the muscle car, I let the sound take me back to his smile. I couldn’t wait to see him again.

Once at school, I quickly found a seat and pulled out my notes. I had some spare time, so I prepared for a quick study session before my ethics final. I waved at some of the people that I’d gotten to know in group discussion periods. After Kellan had made it look so seamless and natural, I’d started speaking up in class. Surprisingly, people listened to me. Even more surprising, many people agreed with me. It was exhilarating, in a way, and I’d found myself piping up more and more. As a result, the girls that used to ogle my boyfriend every morning, while eyeing me speculatively, now gave me warm smiles of greeting. Some had even asked about Kellan. Like the girl currently sitting on my right, Cheyenne.

Perky and blonde, she was the sort of girl that men noticed. But she had a way of talking that made you like her, regardless of how attractive she was. Nearly every girl in the class was her friend, but she always tried to sit by me. She said just being around me boosted her test scores.

"Hey, Kiera. Think you’re going to ace this?" Cheyenne had a slight southern tang to her voice that made it even more adorable.

Smiling in the self-assured way that I’d often seen Kellan smile, I shrugged. "Sure, no problem." Then I grimaced. "I hope."

She smiled as she pulled out her own notes. "I’m sure you’ll kick my butt." Glancing over at the chicken scratches on my papers, she asked, "You heard from Kellan recently? How’s he doing?"

I sighed, trying not to think too much about those deep blue eyes that I missed, the impossibly sexy mess of hair. "Yeah, he called last night. They’re doing good, working their way to the east coast. He’s somewhere in Pennsylvania, I think."

Her eyes widened as she shook her head. "Pennsylvania? I’ve always wanted to head over there, see the history." Leaning back in her seat, her eyes got a little dreamy. "Lucky guy, he’s getting to see the world."

Tapping my pen against my notebook, I nodded. "Yeah…yeah he is." Chuckling softly, I added, "Well, this country at least."

Students around us filtered in as Cheyenne and I went over what may or may not be on the test. Candy and her friends came in, sitting as far away from me as possible. I still wasn’t sure what Kellan had said to them, but she’d certainly backed off after he’d said it. I knew Kellan had a temper sometimes; I’d been the recipient on an occasion or two. Maybe Candy had never been snapped at before.

As I was debating it, Candy twisted in her seat. Spotting me, she glared, then rolled her eyes. Twisting back to Tina, she said something that made them all laugh, then Tina twisted to look at me. I flushed deep, coming up with a list of insults that she could have said. I guess she hadn’t backed off as much as I thought. Maybe Kellan had been gone for long enough that her confidence had boosted back up. Oh well, didn’t matter. Candy could like me or hate me, it didn’t change my relationship with Kellan.

Noticing the look, Cheyenne commented. "Candy sure has evil eyes for you. What did you ever do to her anyway?" Leaning in, she smiled. "You’re far too sweet for anyone not to like."

I smiled at Cheyenne warmly, thinking that she should have seen me last year. I was anything but sweet then, constantly betraying Denny, breaking Kellan’s heart over and over. Shaking my head to clear away the memories, I shrugged. "She wanted to be the one dating the rock star." Looking over at Candy, I smiled even wider. "But the rock star wanted to date me." Wishing my dream had been real this morning, I sighed.

Cheyenne laughed and muttered something about Candy needing to get over herself. A burly guy walked down the aisle in front of us. He sat in the seat directly in front of me, making the entire thing squeak a little. As he shifted to get comfortable, I noticed something at the bottom of the chair. It was a scrap of paper, oddly stuffed into the edge of the seat, nearly invisible.

Smirking, I wondered if Kellan had shoved it there, one last impossible note for me to find. On a whim, I reached down and pulled the paper free. It took a second to jiggle it out of where it had been jammed. Cheyenne watched me curiously. When I finally had it, she pointed at it. "What’s that?"

Shaking my head, I sighed again. "Probably nothing." Probably just my overactive imagination.

Unfolding the wadded-up paper, I busted out laughing. I had to slap my hand over my mouth to not cause a scene in the starting-to-get quiet room. It was from Kellan. On the tiny piece of paper he’d written, ‘Quit thinking of me nak*d and study, it’s the ethical thing to do.’

Still chuckling, I shook my head. How did he know I was having erotic dreams about him? Releasing my hand from my mouth, I trailed a finger over the words he’d created. Sighing, I wondered if he was having erotic dreams about me, too. I sort of hoped he was.

Cheyenne beside me giggled. "That from Kellan? He’s pretty funny." She shook her head. "Gorgeous and funny, no wonder Candy hates you."

Laughing at her comment, my eyes swept over some of the other chairs. How had he known I’d pick this particular seat? I really had been extremely lucky to find this note at all. When I started spotting tiny corners of papers sticking out of some of the other seats, I reconsidered. I wasn’t lucky…Kellan had tucked notes everywhere. My God, that must have taken him forever. When the hell had he done that? And what did they all say? As the professor had just started class, I couldn’t start collecting them yet. I’d have to wait until after class to find out. My smile was huge all throughout the final exam…I’m sure I was quite possibly the happiest person taking it.

Cheyenne waved goodbye after class, wishing me luck on my scores. Smiling at her, I pretended to take forever gathering my stuff together. When the room was mostly empty, I began my note-seeking quest. It took me a while, but I eventually recovered every scrap that Kellan had tucked away. When all the chairs were clean, I ended up with about a hundred little messages. I immediately went home, to ponder them all in the privacy of my room. Some were hot, some were sweet, but all of them were a joyful surprise. He’d done so much to make sure that I wouldn’t forget him, almost like he was still scared that I would. Clutching the necklace around my throat, I shook my head. My eyes stung with tears. Like I ever could.

Tucking a note that merely said, ‘I love you,’ into my pocket, I started to get ready for work. Since today had been the last day of school for all of the college kids, we were expecting it to be pretty busy. Especially since our new band had started to gather a fan base around themselves.

I wasn’t too thrilled with someone else being up on Kellan’s stage, but I had to admit that the group was good. Evan and Kellan had signed them up for Pete before heading out of town. The Seattle music scene was sort of a small social circle, with everybody knowing everybody else, and Kellan had thought that this particular group of guys would be the best fit for the bar.

When I say guys, I should clarify…I mean girls. Yeah, Kellan had signed up a girl band. Don’t get me wrong, they rocked like any other male band on the planet, but, I smirked when I saw them for the first time. I had the distinct feeling that Kellan had picked a group of girls on purpose. Wouldn’t want me fawning over another male, moody artist.

Putting my stuff away in the back room an hour later, I was assaulted by my peppy best friend. Wrapping her arms around me, Jenny kissed my cheek. "Hey, Kiera. How was your last class?"

I grinned like a dopey idiot, thinking about the dozens of love notes currently sprawled across my bed. "Wonderful…" I exhaled, a little dreamily. Jenny looked at me like I was mental. And I supposed my love-filled sigh was sort of a strong reaction to taking a final. Laughing a little, I shrugged. "What can I say, I love school."

Smiling crookedly, she shook out her golden locks. "You’re so weird."