“I love her,” Blue said. The words spilled from his mouth. It wasn’t a lie, but the complete and total truth, which also shocked him. He’d never been in love before, but that was exactly how he felt.
Her father paused. “In love?”
“Yes.”
“I’ve never seen or heard of you since yesterday. You expect me to believe that you’re in love with my daughter?”
“I know. I … I can’t explain it. I know what I feel when I’m around her. It makes no sense, I get that. On paper, with everything you know about me, you wouldn’t want me near your daughter. I’m not using her. I swear.” Damn it, he was sweating.
He was normally so calm and collected.
Her father continued to stare at her. He felt the assessment through to his bones.
Licking his lips, he tried to remain calm, but that was proving to be a little … difficult.
“No more cutting class. Laylah has a bright future ahead of her, and I don’t want some boy to interfere with that.”
“Yes, sir.” It was the first time he’d been considered some boy. Rather than argue, he offered a smile.
“Right, I think we’re done here.”
“We are?”
“Yes. Leave all in one piece before I change my mind.”
Blue nodded.
“Blue?”
He stopped and saw her father held his hand out for a shake. He moved toward him and shook his hand, aware of the tightness of the hold.
“If you hurt my daughter, you better make a run for it, because teenager or not, I will come for you. Got it?”
“I got it.”
“Good.”
The handshake was over.
He left the office with her father close behind him.
Laylah was in the kitchen, waiting.
“You can see your boyfriend out, Laylah, then you’re grounded until I say otherwise,” her father said.
She winced.
They left through the front door and Laylah closed it behind her, following him to his waiting car. She glanced up and down the street. “Well, I can say cutting class leaves a lot to be desired.”
He stepped up to her, kissing her. “I didn’t mean to get you grounded.”
“Another first.”
He groaned. “How about you leave your window open and I come and visit you tonight?”
“Are you serious?” she asked.
“Why not? It’ll be fun.”
“You’ll fall and break your neck.”
“You’ve got to learn to have some faith. It’s going to take more than that to get rid of me. If you want me to come to your room tonight, leave your window open. If not, and I see it closed, I’ll know you don’t want me to come.”
She laughed. “This is so … weird.”
“But it’s going to be a good weird.” He kissed her. “I better go before your dad gets a shotgun.”
“Is that what he said?”
“Your dad loves you very much.” He stepped away, already hating the distance between them. “I’ll see you tonight, or tomorrow.” He winked at her, climbing into his car. He pulled away from the curb, but he didn’t want to be apart from her.
He’d sat in class that day, alone, with Mitchell yammering on about another conquest, and all he’d wanted was for Laylah to be near him, to kiss her lips. Damn it, these feelings for her were deepening with every passing day.
He was going to have to talk to his father because this didn’t feel normal. Even now, his palms were slightly sweaty. He looked back and saw Laylah was still there. She lifted a hand to wave.
He waved back and it made him feel a little better to know he wasn’t the only one feeling it.
****
Laylah opened her window.
Closed it.
Opened it.
Closed it.
Did she want Blue coming to her room?
Her parents had given her the third degree and they had grounded her. She couldn’t hang out with either Becky or John. She’d already called her friends and apologized to them. This wasn’t supposed to be a big deal and yet, that was exactly what it had turned into.
She opened the window.
Stepped back, looked at it, and then closed it again.
“No, no. My parents will kill me if I let him in.” She shook her head.
Even as she stepped away, she wanted to see if he’d do that. If he’d try to climb into her window.
She went toward the window and opened it up, this time, stepping back and going to her bed, wearing her pajamas.
Her parents were downstairs. If she was lucky, they’d talk, watch a movie, make out, and have sex downstairs.
The one time she’d caught her parents had been lasered into her retinas from the image alone. They were still very much in love and often acted like teenagers.
She paused. She’d read the same paragraph six times in her textbook. Her parents acted more like teenagers than she did. She could imagine her father climbing into her mother’s bedroom window when they were younger.
Laylah glanced at the window.
Time ticked on by.
She got to her feet, intending to close the window when she heard some scuffling noise. In the next second, Blue’s head appeared and she rushed over to him, helping him fall into her room.