Letting Go (Mitchell Family #1)(15)
Author: Jennifer Foor

“Oh. Do you think it is stupid of me to pretend like we are together even though he is lying in that hospital?” She asked.

We were so close and answering this could change things. We had already taken things too far. But, I couldn’t see her wasting away in that hospital room having false hope that he would ever wake up. It wasn’t fair to her. “You aren’t pretendin’, but if you ask me, I would say he wouldn’t want you to be miserable. When you love someone you want them to be happy.”

She smiled a little. “I do want to be happy again. I just think it is never going to happen. I don’t know if I can let myself go through with it”

“Well when the time is right you will know. You will feel it in the pit of your stomach and thinking that you will never have the chance will tear you up inside. That is when you will know for sure that you are ready to move on.” I said confidently.

I watched tears fall down her eyes. “I want you to kiss me.”

Her request caught me off guard. “What did you just say?”

She got even closer to me. “I’ve never kissed anyone besides Ty. I just want to know what it feels like and since I don’t have any other guy friends, I was hoping you would do it.” I opened my mouth but she started talking again. “Never mind, it was a stupid idea. I am so….”

I pressed my lips against hers, first gently while waiting for her to respond. I pulled away and looked at her. Savanna dug her hands into my hair and pulled my lips to hers again. I tried to be gentle with her busted lip, but she wasn’t even paying attention to it. Her tongue slid across mine for the first time and it was like fuel for the fire. My hands came up and grabbed her face as my tongue played with hers. I teased her lips with mine and licked them before sliding my tongue back into her mouth. When we finally pulled away we separated quickly, neither of us wanting to say anything.

I was about to turn over and go to sleep when I felt her hands touching my back, and then I realized it wasn’t just her hands. Savanna’s lips kissed the top of my back and I felt her tongue as she did it. “You asked for a kiss Savanna. You know we can’t do anymore than that.” I whispered.

I turned to face her, to make sure she heard me.

“Was I bad at it?” She asked.

“Are you kidding me? You were great Savanna. Please can we go to bed?” I begged.

“If you answer one more question.”

“Fine.”

“If I was never with Ty and my face didn’t look so bad, would you have wanted me then?” She asked curiously.

She was so close to me and I could still taste her on my lips. “Savanna, this is so wrong. We shouldn’t be here together. We shouldn’t have kissed.”

“Just tell me the truth.” She begged.

I looked at her again. In the dark it was hard to see her black eye anymore, not that it mattered to me at all anyway. I knew how she really looked and that it was just temporary. “Even if I tell you yes, it doesn’t matter because it can’t happen. So why do you need to know so bad? It is just going to make things harder.”

“I just haven’t been around people in a while especially a guy, but being around you has been so different. I feel like there is something happening between us. I just need to know if I am going crazy.”

Shit. Do I lie and break her heart or tell her the truth and throw caution to the wind? I wanted her, but the problem was she wasn’t like other girls. I had known her for so long. I spent my summers here as a kid and she was always a part of them. She wasn’t the kind of girl that you f**ked and forgot about. That is probably why my stupid cousin couldn’t seem to just let her go.

“I am going to say this once and I don’t want you to ask again. I think you are gorgeous. I don’t want to call you Van because you are a beautiful woman who deserves a beautiful name. If you were never with Ty, you would be all I thought about until I had you for myself. Now can I please go to bed?”

“Yes.” Was all she said.

Chapter 9

Savanna

There are times when someone drinks where they wish they could forget what their drunk self did or said the night before, but last night just wasn’t one of those nights. I remembered everything that was said. Mostly, I remembered every word that came out of Colt’s mouth. I was almost afraid to open my eyes to see if he was still lying in the bed next to me. I opened my eyes just as Colt stirred next to me. When I turned to look in his direction, he was already looking in mine.

“Hey.” He said.

“Hi.”

Obviously he was wondering what to say next. Something had happened between us and as much as I should be upset with myself over it, I couldn’t help but to feel happy.

“Your eye looks better.” Colt said as he reached over and pushed the hair away from my face.

“Is it still black?” I asked.

“Eh, it’s kind of like a faded brown and purple now. Your face isn’t swollen though, and your lip is barely noticeable.”

Since he was clearly looking at every aspect of my face, I started to blush. It was weird, being here like this with him, but at the same time, exciting.

I needed to change the subject. “So what are your plans today?”

“I don’t know. What did you have in mind?” He asked.

I was shocked that he asked. I figured he would be the first one of us to bolt out of this bed and drop me off at the dorm. “I am pretty comfortable right now.” I admitted.

“Me too.” He said as he looked at me and smiled.

I smiled back and we just lay there looking at each other for a long time before either of us said anything.

For the next two hours Colt and I laid in bed across from each other talking about everything under the sun. It started as a joke, but soon progressed to an intense conversation. I thought it would be awkward talking about such personal stuff, but after a while I realized it was easy. Colt hung on to my every word and he seemed genuinely interested in everything I was saying. Whenever he would ask a question, I would have to answer, but he would have to answer the same one too. After two hours, I felt like I knew so much more about him.

His favorite color was gray. He preferred Country music over any others. His favorite food was hot wings and anything breakfast. He talked about college and jobs that he had. We even talked about funny things we did as teenagers.

Colt only got out of bed because we were both starving. I offered to make pancakes, but he claimed he made the best in all existence. After they were served, I had to admit that they were pretty dang good. Not being around other people had become so normal to me in the past few months. I had shut everyone out in fear of being hurt or rejected. I honestly wanted to be around Colt. He made me smile and always said the right things. He made me feel like we were kids again and that it was alright to smile and want things.