Kiss the Sky (37 page)

I squint as I faintly recall this one. “Did you abbreviate?”
He hates abbreviating, and he must have done it to stump me.

“Maybe.”

I am about to call him a cheater, but he covers my mouth
with his hand and says, “I didn’t have to give you a second quote to help you,
Rose.”

True.

He kisses my forehead and then says, “Life’s but a walking
shadow, a poor player that struts and frets this hour upon the stage, and then
is heard no more. It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
signifying nothing.”

“
Macbeth.
” I
straighten in pride, and he actually shares it. Instead of sulking in the loss,
he grins at my win.

But then he adds, “Time is but a fool as we are to the mercy
of its hands.”

I frown. I don’t know this one at all. I glare, not taking
this loss as well as he did.

“A Connor Cobalt original,” he tells me.

I throw a pillow up at his face, and he catches it before
uncaging
me from this spot. I’d be more than okay
imprisoned on this mattress all day long by him, and only him.

But he climbs off the bed, his feet setting on the hardwood
with his phone in hand. “I’m going to call Frederick back and then we can watch
a city die together.” He jabs his thumb towards the television where the Black
Death has begun to ravage Europe.

“Are you going to talk about me?” I wonder.

“Yes,” he says. “I’m going to gloat, so I think maybe I
should go outside.” He motions to the patio.

“Tell him I said hi,” I say with a tight smile. I’ve met
Frederick once, and he was pleasant but short, probably worried he might let
something slip. He knows more about me than he lets on, that’s for sure.

Connor disappears out the sliding glass doors, and I find my
own phone on the nightstand. I’m about to dial Poppy’s number when I remember
it’s six in the morning in Philly. I invited her to the Alps, but she said
she’d rather stay home with her daughter. Poppy is only four years older than
me, but I feel like we’ve already grown decades apart.

She has her own family and has begun to distance herself
from Lily, Daisy, and me in favor of Sam and Maria. Is that happens when you
have children? You gain new family members but have to sacrifice the connection
of others?

It scares me. The fact that the relationships I have with my
sisters now could dissolve when we all get married and start “new” lives. Will
this be the closest we ever are?

I hope not.

A fist raps against my door before it swings open to a
crack. “
Shhh
,” Lily hisses. “She could be sleeping.”

I
fold
my hands on my lap and
cross my ankles like a lady, waiting for them to enter, my smile peeking
through. If we part ways in a few years, I might as well enjoy this now.

“No…I see her. She’s awake,” Daisy says, craning her neck
above Lily’s to look into my room.

Lily opens the door wider, and Daisy slips in front, holding
two mugs with marshmallows floating on top.

Lily cups her own red mug in her hands. “We made you hot
chocolate.”

“We thought it might help your migraine,” Daisy adds.

She hands me a dark blue mug while they plop on the mattress
by my legs.

A migraine? That was Connor’s lie? He could have done
better, but I suppose he didn’t want to worry anyone with a fib.

Lily nods to the television where dead bodies are being
thrown into big ditches. She looks mildly horrified. “What are you watching?”

I smile into my cup. “The Black Death.” I take a long sip
and then feel Daisy’s hand drift to my neck, examining the diamond pendant.

“Is this new?”

I nod. “A gift from Connor.”

“Pretty,” she says with sincerity, delicately placing it
back against my chest, but I see a lingering sadness behind her eyes. She tries
to conceal anything out of the ordinary by twisting her hair into a giant knot
with one hand.

“What’d I miss?” I ask Daisy.

“Besides Scott being a
douchenozzle
,
nothing,” she says easily.

My eyes narrow. “What’d he do?”

“He’s not the
douchenozzle
,” Lily
says, giving Daisy a strange reprimanding look that she rarely produces.

My mouth falls. “Are you defending Scott, Lily?” Did Connor
fuck me to another dimension?

She reddens. “No,” she says quickly. “I mean, Scott is still
an asshole. He keeps whispering
slut
when
he passes me in the hallway. But…” She shrugs. “…I’m learning to ignore him
like everyone else.” She sets her sisterly glare back on Daisy.

I stiffen. “What is it then?” I connect the dots faster than
Daisy forms words. “It’s Julian, isn’t it?”

Daisy shakes her head, but Lily nods and points a finger at
her. “He put his hand down your pants, in front of
Ryke
. That’s not nothing!”

“And I took his hand
out
of my pants,” Daisy says in a hushed whisper. “No harm done.”

Lily clues me in on the rest. “
Ryke
almost punched him.”

“I bet,” I say before sipping my hot chocolate.

Lily’s eyes form tiny slits as she scrutinizes me. “You’re
calm about this.”

“Julian has been marking his territory since we arrived in
the Alps. I’m not surprised he chose to do it by grabbing her ass.”

“
Underneath
her
jeans,” Lily clarifies.

“I’m right here.” Daisy waves her hand.

“You are,” I say. “Where’s the pepper spray I bought you? If
you don’t scald his eyes, I’d be happy to do it.”

“He’s my boyfriend. I don’t want to hurt him.”

“Is he really your boyfriend, Daisy?” I ask, a little too
icy. But I can’t help that.

“Yes.”

“Then describe what it’s like to kiss him.”

She cringes.

Lily points another finger at her. “Aha! You don’t like
him.”

Daisy’s shoulders fall. “I’m working on it.”

“Promise me you won’t
always
be working on it,” I say. “He’s older, and he shouldn’t be trapping you in a
relationship.”

“He’s not. I promise. I can get out at any time. I’m just
waiting for the right moment to strike.” She pats my leg, dodging quickly. “So
how are you feeling, anyway?”

I’ll take her distraction this time, only because that
conversation was going nowhere, not until she can reject Julian. And if she
can’t, I have absolutely no problem stepping in and burying his face in the
fucking snow.

I clear my throat and straighten my neck. “So…I have news…”
A few months ago, I made a promise to Lily that I’d tell her when I lost my
virginity, only if she agreed not to make it a big deal in return. I try not to
smile as I say it. “I had sex.”
 

“
Ahhhhhhhh
!
” Lily’s excited squeal sounds more
like a frightened scream.

The bedroom door flies open in response, unsurprisingly.
Both Loren and
Ryke
rush in while the patio door
slides for Connor’s quick entrance, his phone still in his hand.

“What the fuck happened?”
Ryke
asks first, looking between the three of us girls who have gone utterly quiet.
Daisy acts like she’s enthralled with a marshmallow in her hot chocolate.

Lo’s
cheekbones sharpen the longer
he stares at Lily in concern, trying to figure out what’s going on like his
brother.

The silence must eat at Lily because she grabs the throw
blanket, pulls it over head, and hides.

I’m about to explain, but Brett tries to maneuver his camera
through the door frame to capture a view of the bedroom—an area off-limits from
filming. His intrusion annoys
Ryke
enough to slam the
door
on
his face.

I hear the
oomph!
and
the cameraman stumble in the hallway. I’d be more upset if it was Savannah or
Ben. Otherwise, I don’t care so much by
Ryke’s
bout
of aggression.

When I look at Connor, he raises his brows, and a smile
plays at his lips. He knows I told my sisters.

Loren sidles to the bed and prods Lily’s blanket-covered
body. Even shrouded, I can tell she looks ready to melt into my mattress.

“What’s going on, Lil?” Lo asks. He rubs her back.

She shakes her head and then shifts her body so she faces me.
I think. Her nose sort of sticks out. I’m not sure how that helps since I can’t
see her beneath the plaid flannel.

“I’m sorry, Rose,” she says. “I was just happy for you.” It’s
like some blanket monster apologizing to me.

“It’s fine, Lily,” I tell her. “I don’t really care.” They
were bound to find out one way or another. I’m sure Connor would have told them
eventually. This current situation may be a little odd, but welcome to my life.

“You girls need to work on your fucking happy noises,”
Ryke
says angrily. “They shouldn’t sound like someone is
being assaulted.”

Loren pulls off Lily’s blanket, and her hair sticks up from
the static. “What are you happy about?”

She goes silent and a little pale.
For Christ’s sake.

“I had sex,” I blurt out for the second time.

All eyes immediately fixate on Connor, who has been very
quiet. His phone is gone and his hands are in his pockets. “Yes, it was with
me,” he answers the non-existent question. But it relieves some of the awkward
tension in the room.

“Really?” I feign confusion. “You were there?”

“Je
te
rappellerai
plus
tard
.”
I’ll
remind you later.
Words sound so much sexier in French.

“And that’s my cue to fucking leave.”
Ryke
disappears through the door, careful not to let any cameras in.

“Congrats, sis,” Daisy says with a huge smile. She gives me
a hug and follows
Ryke’s
footsteps.

That leaves Connor and me with Lily and Loren.

I wait for Loren to hit me with some insult. He’ll probably
talk about “becoming a woman” now as if having sex makes me older and wiser. It
doesn’t. It just makes me a little more experienced. So what?

He rubs the back of his neck before he says, “I’m happy for
you two.”

I wear my shock, and Lo rolls his eyes. “What? I can’t be
nice for once?”

“It’s weird,” I admit.

He nods to Connor. “You sticking around then?” He still
thinks Connor might ditch me now that he’s had sex with me?

“Yeah, Lo,” Connor says, his eyes tightening with a flicker
of hurt. I’m surprised he allows Lo to see it. “I’m sticking around.”

Lo nods again as he tries to absorb this as truth.
“Congrats, man, for a second I was worried Scott was going to beat you to it.”
He flashes a dry smile.

“The only thing he’s beaten me at so far is—”

“Rose,” Scott says, slipping into the room with his
cellphone in hand. He holds the device out to me, but I don’t make a motion to
crawl from my lady-like spot on this bed.

I have just announced my deflowering, and of course he’d
find this as an appropriate time to interrupt. He clearly wants to cut Connor
down from his highest achievement, and mine too.

But then he says, “Your mom is on the phone. She wants to
talk about the seating arrangements for the wedding.”

Connor steps between the bed and Scott before the producer reaches
me. My boyfriend’s eyes heat with malice that I haven’t seen before. He
snatches the phone out of Scott’s hand.

Before he presses the receiver to his ear, Scott adds, “Be
sure to tell Samantha thanks for the hour-long chat. I loved hearing about her
day. It was…informative.”

He’s fucking with him.

My mother is pliable, easily manipulated by sweet-talking
men with money. Hell, she likes
Loren
Hale
, who is only nice when he wants to be. I didn’t think any parent would
shove him on their daughter, but she’s been praying for a marriage between Lily
and Lo even before they were together.

I am starting to wonder how much the reality show has warped
her mind. If the rest of the public hates Connor with me—which they do since
he’s been snippy on screen and edited as a pretentious ass—then her friends
won’t support my relationship. They’ll vote for Scott, and my mother usually
goes with the majority.

Just lovely.

“Samantha…” Connor says as he puts the phone to his ear,
eyes never leaving Scott as he does so. “She’s unavailable…yes…of course…” He
drops his gaze and glances at Loren, silently asking him to stay in my room. He
nods, and then Connor seeks privacy on the patio again to talk with my mother.
The sliding door shuts, and I consider moving my pained muscles to join him.

“Get out,” Loren immediately says to Scott.

The producer raises his hands in defense, but his smarmy
gaze zones in on me, descending to my breasts, the tops visible in my low-cut
nightgown. “You’ve definitely left the nunnery, Rose Calloway.” He lets out an
amused laugh. “I’ll see you all later.” He pauses in thought “And you know, you
and your sisters should all put on that…gold top that Daisy wore at
Valentino’s. Great ratings with that episode.” He whistles. “You should see how
many people
reblogged
that picture. Side-boob sells.”

I am going to kill him. I picture myself crawling on all
fours towards his body and springing like a lioness, a wild cat, something
feral that will claw the eyeballs right out of his sockets. But then I imagine
him smirking at the perfect view of my cleavage during the assault. So I
regretfully stay seated. Like a lady.

“Get. Out. You
shitty
fuck,” Loren says slowly like Scott’s a moron.

Scott raises his hands in defense, but he still acts like he
holds all the cards. Maybe he does. He owns us and the townhouse we live in.
And he has footage to tamper with. We’re just marionettes in his play.