Free Believe in Me (Jett #1) by Amy Sparling Page A

like that?”
    I chuckle. “Our water isn’t like that. You can take hot showers in every bathroom all at the same time and it won’t matter.”
    She looks impressed. “Nice. Mom and I usually fight over who gets to shower first because the second person never gets any hot water.”
    “Not here,” I say, figuring I better hurry and get it over with.
    I shower quickly. Having Keanna in the other room is like Christmas morning, and I can’t wait to get back to her. After toweling off my hair and using what’s probably too much deodorant, I try to shrug off my nervousness and head back out into my room.
    Keanna has fallen asleep and the sight of it makes my heart hurt. She’s curled up on the futon, my supercross throw blanket covering her body. She’s using her hands as a pillow and although it doesn’t seem very comfortable, she looks serene.
    I bite my lip. I could go to bed and leave her here but I’d really wanted to be the gentleman and let her sleep in my bed tonight. I sit on the middle of the futon and lightly touch her arm.
    “Keanna?” I say softly as I shake her arm. “Wake up.”
    Her eyes burst open and she throws my arm off her with enough force that I wince in pain. She sits straight up, her chest heaving, but her eyes widen when she sees me and then she relaxes a little. “Oh my god you scared me,” she breathes, putting a hand to her chest.
    “I’m sorry,” I say, standing up. I offer her a kind smile. “You just fell asleep without a pillow and . . . well I was going to give you my bed . . .”
    She looks back toward my bed and then looks at me. “That thing is way too big for just me. You take it.”
    I shake my head. “I’ll sleep on the futon. You’re my guest, you get the bed.”
    She chews on her thumbnail and then sighs. “Why don’t we both sleep on the bed. It’s so big we won’t even know the other one is there.”
    Yeah tell that to my penis , I think. But I certainly don’t say it out loud. I can be a decent guy for one freaking night. “Sure, sounds good.”
    We climb into bed, me on my side with my nightstand and her on the side that’s always been empty until this very moment.
    My heart thumps like a jackhammer as I plug in my cell phone and set the alarm for one p.m. The lock-in doesn’t start until around four so I’ll have time to get food for Keanna and me and then leave her here until I get back from work.
    When I lie back in bed and turn around, Keanna is already asleep. Her chest rises and falls steadily and a few strands of her damp hair fall in her face. She is so beautiful when she’s not scowling at me.
    I slide over a little, reach out my hand and push the hair out of her eyes. She stirs, but stays asleep. And then her hand reaches up and grabs mine. I let my fingers lace in between hers and then I close my eyes and fall asleep.
     
    *
     
    Sunlight streams across my room when I wake up in the morning. I look over and find Keanna facing me, sleeping all curled up with my hand still laced in hers. She’s brought it up her chest, and I am so wound up in her arms that I couldn’t escape if I wanted to.
    Carefully, I slide my other arm out and pat around for my phone. When I grab it, I turn the screen on. Dammit. It’s three in the afternoon. How the hell had I slept so late? What happened to my alarm?
    And then I hear it, the sound that probably woke me up a minute ago. Dad’s calling my name.
    “You awake?” he calls out, just a few feet away from by door.
    “Yeah, be there in a minute,” I shout.
    But it’s too late.
    The door flies open, my dad looking annoyed as hell that I’ve overslept on a work day. I hold my breath as his eyes land straight on the sleeping girl in my bed.
    “It’s not what it looks like,” I say, feeling Keanna stirring next to me.
    Dad puts a hand to his forehead and shakes his head. “It never is.”

Chapter 13
     

     
    Oh my god. I’ve been embarrassed several times in my life. Getting bullied on the