Lacey

The next morning it was quiet when I came down for breakfast, still dressed in my pajamas. The lack of noise made me aware I was the first one awake. My parents usually like to sleep in on Saturday mornings. I should have been sleeping, but after tossing and turning for most of the night, I’d given up on the idea of getting sleep.


I knew exactly what had made me too restless to sleep. The reason was sleeping on the sofa in the living room. My brother was curled up on the other sofa. Both were too tall to sleep comfortably, so their legs hung over the side of the arm of the sofa.

Adonis was sleeping with his arm flung across his face. I stood for a few moments watching him. Even in that quiet moment, I couldn’t help but think how many women had woken up to that view of him sleeping beside them. Jealousy burned in the pit of my stomach. Most people didn’t look decent until they at least got a brush through their hair, but that wasn’t the case with Adonis he looked even better with bed hair. I would know he’d been sleeping over regularly for most of my life.

Shaking my head to clear my thoughts of him, I headed back to the kitchen. I needed something to keep me busy so I would stop obsessing over him. It was going to be an impossible to task to get over him if I couldn’t stop thinking of him.

I browsed through the cupboards, trying to decide what I was going to make for breakfast. Then I had an idea. Pancakes. I got all the ingredients and mixed them.

“You need help?”

The voice sent a thrill right through me and I put a hand to my chest to steady my racing heart. I found Adonis standing in the doorway, leaning against the doorframe.

He was gorgeous. He yawned and ran a hand through his hair as he pushed off the frame and walked into the kitchen. I couldn’t pull my eyes away from him. He’d never looked sexier, and I swallowed. My eyes drank in the confidence that made my heart skip.

“No. I’ve got it handled,” I said, trying to sound normal even though my heart was still beating so fast it felt like it was going to break free from my chest.

I pulled my concentration back to the food cooking in the pan. I flipped it over and tried to keep my eyes focused on what I was doing and not who was leaning against the kitchen counter watching me.

“Thought your mom banned you from trying to cook.” He smiled, and I pinned him with a playful glare.

He was right. I’d set the kitchen alight twice, but my father had been there to extinguish before it had done extensive damage. My father got nervous when I tried to make a sandwich for myself.

After graduating high school, I had been contemplating what to do next, so I’d taken some cooking classes. Initially, my mother had lifted the ban only when there was someone else to supervise me, but I’d gained her confidence. Now I had free rein in the kitchen.

“I took some cooking classes.” I took the frying pan off the stove and slid the pancake onto a plate beside the stove.

“Really?” He sounded a little shocked.

“Yeah.” I poured some pancake mixture into the frying pan. “For the continued safety of my family and my future kids, I had to.”

He laughed, and I flashed him a smile. The sound of his laugh warmed my heart.

“You still want to help?” I was still smiling. Being around him lifted my heart.

“Sure, what to do you need me to do?” He came to stand beside me. My stomach flipped at the feel of his body so near to mine. I could feel a tingle across my skin at the slight brush of his arm against mine.

“Can you sprinkle them with some sugar and then roll them up?” I instructed, trying to keep my nervousness out of my voice. I ran my tongue across my bottom lip nervously as I waited for him to respond.

“Sure.” He reached for the sugar bowl and spoon.

It was hard to keep my concentration on cooking when all I watched to do was watch him as he carried out my instructions. There were millions of girls who would have killed to watch him perform the mundane task of sprinkling sugar over pancakes, and I was the lucky one who could.

I was busy flipping the fifth pancake when I watched Adonis shove a pancake into his mouth. “Hey,” I said just before I poked him in the side with my elbow. “You’re not supposed to be eating them.”

“Mmm.” He groaned as he shot me a smile with his mouth still full of pancake. I shook my head at him.

For a half hour, the two of us worked in silence beside each other, but it was becoming harder to ignore the feeling tugging at my heart. It was easy to be around him, too easy.

When I’d first seen the picture of him kissing some girl, it had broken my heart. I hadn’t wanted to know the identity of the girl because I knew myself well enough to know that I would have obsessed over her. What did she possess that I didn’t? I couldn’t help feeling inadequate. I gave Adonis a quick side glance. It wasn’t his fault that I’d fallen in love with him, so there was no way I could blame him. Seeing that picture had pushed me to accept that he would never love me and I couldn’t waste anymore of my life loving someone who didn’t love me back. The decision had been easy to make when he had been away. With him around, it was going to be much harder.

I slipped the last pancake onto the plate and I switched off the stove. Perspiration from the head had accumulated on my forehead that I brushed away with the back of my hand.

“I’m amazed,” he said while he rolled up the last pancake and set it amongst the other pancakes.

“Really?” My stomach did a somersault.

“Yeah, your pancakes are great.” He had the biggest grin. My cheeks heated under his gaze.

“Thanks,” I replied, trying to hide the effect he had on me.

“I’m surprised there are still pancakes left.” With a frown, I set the plate down on the small kitchen table and pulled up a chair. I’d caught him shoving a couple of them into his mouth when I hadn’t been watching.

I looked up to see him still smiling at me. His smile wasn’t as wide as it had been, and he had a more serious look in his eyes. He reached for something in his pocket.

“I got something for your birthday.” He handed me a small box. I felt like someone had pulled the carpet from under me.

He’d bought me a birthday present. My heart swelled with emotion as I looked at the small wrapped box in my hands. He’d wrapped my gift in white paper with a small red bow stuck on the top.

“You didn’t have to.” I lifted my eyes back to his.

“I know. I wanted to. Open it.” He inclined his head to the gift before shoving his hands into the front pockets of his jeans while he watched me.

I swallowed nervously as I unwrapped it. My heart was beating so loud it echoed in my ears. Adonis watched me quietly with anticipation when I discarded the wrapping paper on the table.

It was a jewelry box. I opened the box and gasped. It was beautiful. A thin gold chain held a small harp decorated in various sparkling stones. I swallowed the emotion that formed in my throat.

“Do you like it?” he asked, and I nodded my head, my eyes still transfixed on the delicate necklace. It was one of the sweetest and most thoughtful gifts anyone had ever given me.

“It’s beautiful.” I stood still, stunned by the touching present. He smiled at me and I felt my stomach flip.

“Thank you.” Emotion tightened my throat.

“You’re welcome.” He smiled.

How was I supposed to look at the sweet birthday present he’d bought me and talk me out of my feelings for him? This was going to be impossible.


**********


“The necklace is stunning,” my mom said when she saw it a little later that morning.

“It is.” I touched the delicate necklace. My heart fluttered every time I thought about what Adonis had so thoughtfully chosen for me.

We were sitting in the living room painting our nails. Alex had left with Adonis earlier and my dad had gone out, so it left me alone with my mom.

“Who got you that?” She concentrated on painting her toenail a deep red color with nail polish.

“Gray,” I said, trying not to sound breathless. I was pretty sure my mom already knew that I had a thing for him, but it wasn’t something I wanted to admit out right.

She stilled and looked up with a faint smile.

“That was nice of him,” she said, and I nodded my head as I surveyed my painted toenails. Instead of red, I’d gone for a baby pink color.

“Are you going out later?” My mom closed the nail polish bottle and set it down on the coffee table.

“Yeah, I’m going to Reece for the night,” I said.

We were planning a sleepover. We were going to watch all our favorite romantic movies while eating too much junk food.

“She’ll be picking me up soon,” I said as I finished painting my last toe.

“Have fun then.”

It surprised me. She had said nothing more about Adonis and my necklace. A slight pounding in my head made me rub my forehead. I was getting a slight headache.

In the kitchen I got some headache tablets before I heard Reece hooting impatiently outside my house. She was so impatient.

By the time we got to her house, my headache had eased slightly, and I looked forward to a nice evening with my friend.

“Where did you get that?” she asked when she finally spotted my new jewelry hanging around my neck.

I smiled at her as I touched it.

She touched the small pendant with a finger. “It’s beautiful.”

Her eyes lifted to mine. “He totally likes you.”

I rolled my eyes and pulled away from her. “No, he doesn’t.” I dumped my overnight bag on her bed.

“A guy doesn’t buy a girl jewelry unless he cares about her,” she said as she plopped down beside my bag.

“I didn’t say he didn’t care. I’m the little sister of his best friend, of course he cares about me,” I said with my hands on my hips.

Remembering all the times he’d defended me and looked after me when someone had tried to bully me, he cared for me. He just didn’t care for me in the way I wanted him to.

Reece smiled in response and shook her head at me.

“If he liked me in that way, why hasn’t he ever said anything?” I asked her, feeling like we’d had the same conversation repeatedly. “And why did his have his tongue down the throat of another girl?”

That had hurt the most. The intimate connection between him and someone else had been enough to make me see the situation without my fairytale glasses on.

“I don’t know.” She shrugged. “All I’m telling you is I see the way he looks at you when he doesn’t think anyone else is watching.”

I rolled my eyes at her. She was my friend, and a little biased. I believed she saw what she wanted to see.

“I don’t want to talk about him anymore,” I said, dropping to sit down beside her. “I came here for chick flicks and junk food.”

“Fine.” She wrapped an arm around my shoulders and gave me a gentle hug.

While we were watching ‘Sleepless in Seattle’ in Reece’s bedroom, I felt my head pound again. We’d showered and gotten dressed in our pajamas.

I closed my eyes for a moment and let out a sigh. Lately, I’d been suffering from more headaches that occasionally turned into migraines. My mother had taken me to the doctor and gotten some medication to manage them. The doctor had told me that stress could be the reason behind the migraines.

Finishing high school had been stressful, but trying to figure out what I was going to do with the rest of my life was even more daunting.

I rubbed my forehead as I opened my eyes and focused my eyes on the TV.

“You okay?” Reece asked, noticing my discomfort.

“I’m getting a headache,” I said, trying to concentrate on the movie even though the pounding in my head felt like it was worsening.

“You want some painkillers?” she offered, but I shook my head. The painkillers I’d taken earlier seemed to have worn off.

“No, it’s okay. I think I’m just tired.” I yawned.

Before the movie ended, I drifted off to sleep. I woke up with my head pounding so hard it felt like someone was hitting me on the head with a massive hammer. It was a migraine, and I needed my medication that was at home.

It was dark, but as I groaned and sat up. Reece woke up and switched on her sidelight.

“What’s wrong?” Still half asleep as she rubbed her eyes.

The sudden light seemed to hurt my eyes, I blinked a few times trying to adjust to the light. I closed my eyes as I held my head.

“Sorry, I’m not feeling very well,” I said. “I’ve got a migraine.”

“Do you want some painkillers?” she asked.

“Normal painkillers wont help. I needed my migraine mediation that I left at home.” I groaned when a sharp pain cut through my front temple.

“I can take you home,” Reece said, but I stopped her with a hand to her wrist.

“Call my brother,” I said instead. Alex could come and get me.

“Are you sure?” she asked as she reached for her phone.

“Yes,” I murmured. It was late, but he would be either out or at home playing video games.

“Hi,” Reece said while she held her phone next to her ear.

“Oh, okay...it’s Lacey...she isn’t feeling well.”

There was silence.

“Okay.” She ended the call. “Gray is on his way to pick you up.”

I wanted to ask why but when the pounding increased I didn’t care. All that mattered was dealing with the pain long enough to get home to take my medication.

It felt like forever before I heard Adonis arrive.

“Can you stand?” he murmured, and I opened an eye to look at him.

“I think so,” I whispered as I pushed the covers off and sat up before opening up the other eye. His concerned face swam before me.

“It’s okay,” he whispered before he reached for me gently and carefully scooped me into his arms. I buried my head against his chest just as I felt a sudden pain slice through my head at the slight jostle.

If I hadn’t been in so much pain, I would have reveled in the feel of the intimate action of being held so close in his powerful arms, but the only thing that mattered was the pounding in my head that vibrated through me.

He carried me to his car, trying his best not to cause me more pain. He eased me slowly into the back seat before he closed the door. I groaned and then I heard him get into the car.

By the time we got home, my migraine had worsened. Adonis helped me out of the car and I pushed away from him. I made it to the flower bed in front of the house and dropped to my knees as I threw up.

“It’s okay.” Adonis held my hair off my face. The soft tone reached the part of me that had loved him for too long.