-Chapter Thirty-

“We’re home!” I announced as I unlocked the front door of this fabulous mansion.

“Oh yay. We should throw a party just because the queen has arrived,” Peyton came into view, clapping her hands together in fake joy.

I rolled my eyes at her. “Nice to see you too, Peyton. Where is Mom at?”

“Asleep.”

“And Dad?”

“Also sleeping,” she told me. “Everyone is sleeping except Danielle, Vicky, and Grandma. Might not wanna see Grandma, though. She’s in the living room doing squats. . . My worst nightmare. That’s the dream that I didn’t want to see come true. . .”

I laughed at her. “It couldn’t have been that bad. Right, Jake?”

“I don’t know. . . At least she’s not wearing a leotard with leggings and pink leg warmers.”

Peyton tied her light, brown hair up into a messy bun. “Oh, but she is. I’m warning you! Don’t go in there! Been there, done that.” Peyton shivered for dramatic effect. “Trust me on this one, sis.” She exited the foyer and went down the hall. I saw her shield her eyes as she passed the doorway to the living room.

I rolled my eyes at her childish personality. Grandma in a leotard couldn’t be all that bad. . . But, I won’t take any chances.

“So, I guess I should say goodnight now?” Jake asked after a few seconds had passed.

I turned around to meet his eyes. I didn’t want him to go. Reluctantly, I said bye anyways. “Yeah, I guess so.” I smiled at him. “Goodnight, Jake.”

“Night, Alex.” He returned my smile with one of his own million dollar ones. I span on my heel and started down the hallway. Three. . . Two. . . One. . . “Where do you think you’re going, missy?”

I grinned and yet again, turned around to look at my boyfriend. “Yes?” I gave him a teasing grin.

“Ah, so you want to play that game, do you?”

“I don’t know what you’re trying to say.”

“What I’m trying to say here is that you are not going anywhere without giving me a kiss.”

I walked up to him and laced my arms around his neck and stood on my tiptoes, just to give him a small peck on the cheek.

“You’re such a tease.” He scoffed. “You call that a kiss?”

“It was a kiss. Was it not?”

“I want a real kiss.”

I leaned in again, letting my lips crash against his. The feeling was back. My fluttering friends were in my stomach again, and my knees began to feel weak, making me thankful for Jake’s arms holding me firmly in his grip. He was right. I definitely feel something when I’m with him, when I kiss him. I have never felt like this before, not even when I was with Christian.

His arms tightened around my waist and he pulled me closer to him—something I didn’t know was humanly possible. There was absolutely no space between us, and trust me when I say that I was enjoying it. We fit so well together. My body molded into his perfectly, and our lips moved in sync slowly. I gradually lost my self-control.

Someone cleared their throat to the side of us. “Ehem.”

I jumped away from Jake like he was on fire and pivoted on my left foot to see my father on the bottom step of the staircase. “I thought you were asleep,” I said, clearly confused at this situation.

“I woke up for a midnight cup of coffee.” Dad’s gaze met Jake’s. “I think you should be going now, Jake.”

The sides of my face heated up in embarrassment. I should’ve known it wasn’t a very good idea to have a make-out session in the middle of the foyer. . .

“Yes, sir. Bye, Alex.”

“Bye.” I gave Jake a hug, feeling somewhat awkward with my dad’s eyes glued to the two of us. “Was that kiss any better?” I whispered into Jake’s right ear. I tried to make sure my dad couldn’t hear. I’ve been told before that I wasn’t a very good whisperer. . . Hopefully this time I did a little better than in my past experiences.

“Hell yeah,” he whispered back. I giggled and let go of his warm, well defined body.

“See you tomorrow,” I told him.

“That would be my decision,” Dad said. I had almost completely forgotten that Jake and I weren’t alone.

Jake smiled at me once again and gave my father a nod. “Nice to see you again, Mr. Turner. I guess I’ll be going, then.” Too soon, Jake was gone.

“Dad, I think that was a little mean, what you just did.”

“What did I do?”

“You practically kicked him out of the house! Don’t do that.”

“Do you really think I was being mean?” he questioned.

I face-palmed myself in the forehead. “No, Dad. I thought you were being as nice as a little daffodil-haired unicorn rainbow princess.” I rolled my eyes at him and continued. “Yes Dad, you were being mean.”

“Well, how do you expect me to treat your boyfriends after—”

“Don’t say it,” I told him. I shook my head, trying to clear my mind. “Just try to be nicer next time, kay? I don’t need you scaring off Jake any more than you already have.”

“Okay, sweetie. I was just trying to look out for my little girl.”

“I know, Dad. And I love you for that.”

“I love you too. Come here, I need to explain something with you.” Dad sat down on the steps and patted the empty space next to him. “Have a seat.”

“Okay?” I sat down next to him. “What do you need to talk about?”

“Where do I start. . . Ah, okay. Do you remember when I told you that babies come from eating scrambled eggs?”

“Oh God, Dad. No. Just. . . No. Please don’t try to explain the process if baby making to me.” I pinched the bridge of my nose and stood up.

“Thank you for making me not explain,” he said innocently. “I’ll leave that task to your mother.”

I laughed. “You’re welcome, Dad. I think I’ll go to sleep now, and you should, too. Goodnight.” I kissed his cheek and began my walk to the elevator.

“G’night, Sweetypie,” he called after me.

Oh, Dad. Clueless, clueless parents. . .

The elevator doors opened after I pressed the ‘down’ button. As I walked into it, I saw the backyard illuminated with garden and pool lights. I would go for a swim right now, but let’s face the facts: I’m awfully tired, and I feel like crap after wearing heels all night.

All of the landscaping around the house was really beautiful. I can’t believe Vicky designed this whole house. It only took ten years of making blueprints. Hey, at least it paid off.

The doors opened once again on the basement level, and I automatically made my way to Danielle’s bedroom to tell her everything.

Her bedroom door was wide open, and I heard more than one voice coming from the inside.

“I’m back!” I called, entering through her door.

“Hey, Alex!” Danielle cheered. “How was the date?”

“Keep your head still,” London demanded. She was French braiding Danielle’s hair from the looks of it.

“It was fantastic,” I answered Dan.

“Well, you better hurry up and get into all the details! Oh, how I love details.”

So that’s exactly what I did—explained every bit of information on our date, starting from when Jake told me to wear something nice, to when my dad caught us making out in the foyer.

“You two were making out in the foyer? And you didn’t let me watch!?” Dan exclaimed.

“Danielle! That’s gross.” London slapped Dan’s arm. “Kissing is bad.”

“Psht. Whatever.”

I laughed at Danielle’s enthusiasm to watch. This girl has some serious issues. “I wouldn’t let you watch even if my life depended on it.”

She scoffed at me. “Meanie. Speaking of kissing, who do you think Lily has been crushing on?”

“What does that have to do with kissing?” London asked her.

“Oh nothing, I’m just curious. Any ideas, ladies?”

“Not really. I hardly even know anyone down here, so I’d have a hard time guessing,” I told them.

“There is this one guy that she used to like,” London started, “but I don’t know if she still likes him or not. It’s been at least a year.”

“What’s his name?”

“Blake Miller.”

“And you think she still has a crush on him after a year?” Danielle asked her.

“Yeah, it’s a possibility, right?”

“I guess.” I sighed and lay down on Danielle’s rainbow colored bedspread. “So what are we supposed to do, now that we have an idea of who she likes?”

“Try and get them together? I love getting people together and forming new couples!” London exclaimed.

“We don’t even know if she likes him!”

“Then we shall find out.” London winked at me; her eyes were gleaming in with mischief.

An hour later, I was in a pair of grey Soffe shorts and a white camisole. I had taken a shower, brushed my teeth, and gotten ready for bed. London decided to spend the night here, with her ‘second family’. She would sleep in one of the five guest rooms. The Harrison’s apparently tend to have a lot of guests at once, in case you were wondering.

 I could hear Danielle’s TV on a low volume in the next room over.

I sighed and wrapped myself in a cocoon using my covers. I checked my iPhone and smiled when I saw I had a new text message from Jake.

“Goodnight, beautiful ;)”

I texted him back. “Right back at you, beautiful ;)” I couldn’t really expect him to reply, because he was more than likely asleep by now. He sent that message to me more than an hour ago.

Turning my bedside lamp off, I slowly fell into a deep slumber as fatigue gradually washed over my entire body.

* * *

“Come on, ladies!” London exclaimed as she walked out the front door. Danielle and I followed closely behind her. The three of us were on our way to the coffee shop down the street to meet Lily.

First, she was going to tell us who she liked, which she had already agreed on. Then, we were going to surprise her by finally informing her about my relationship with Jake.

The three of us climbed into London’s car and made our way away from the Harrison residence. I watched the passing landscape go by through the cold, glass window. After just a few, mere minutes, we were in the parking lot of the local café.

We filed into the building, one by one, and the familiar jingle of the bells went off above the wooden doorframe. London spotted Lily just a few tables away from where we were standing.

“Okay, so are you guys ready to know?” Lily asked us as we each took our seats in front of her. She was beaming. Her eyes were twinkling in excitement, like she was trying her best to keep this ‘oh so exciting’ new inside of her for just a few moments more. I truly am surprised that she hadn’t exploded yet.

“Yes! Spill!” Danielle commanded.

“Okay, well first you should know that it’s not just a little crush. God, no.”

“Okay, so. . . ?” I drawled.

“So,” She started, “I wanted to tell you that I, Lily Evans, am in love.”

My jaw, along with the Danielle’s and London’s, dropped. Us all being shocked would be an understatement. She just used the L-word! “You’re in love?”

“Yes! Indeed I am!” She smiled. “It feels so good to get that out!”

“Get what out? You haven’t even finished, yet! Who are you in love with? It has to be Blake, right? You’ve been crushing over him since grade eight,” London told her.

“Blake Miller? No, I got over him a year ago. And he was just someone I liked, nothing more. Are you all ready to know now?”

“Yes!” The three of us hollered in unison.

My wide smile that I had on my face faltered and my mouth had gone completely dry when Lily finally announced it.

“I’m in love with my best friend, the one and only Jake Carter.”

Hey, guys! I CANNOT BELIEVE I’M ALREADY ON CHAPTER THIRTY!!! I’m so happy because this story got 50,000+ reads! I love all of my readers, even if you are the silent ones, thanks anyways! First person to comment gets a dedication, and I will try to update again as soon as I can. Xx

      ~Storylover11~