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Shit! Did I really just wake up in Jagger’s bed? What kind of cliché am I, especially when it comes to his bed? I’m sure tons of girls have been in this position, except I’m clothed, 100%, still wearing my jeans and everything. Jagger’s voice is coming from right outside the room so I practically sprint to the bathroom and shut the door.
I stare into the mirror, thankful that I get a chance to brush my teeth, if he’s even thinking about going for it I have to be prepared. Hey, it’s not like Jagger’s special, I always have a travel toothbrush in my bag.
The talking from the kitchen means I’m safe for a second and it gives my mind a chance to wander back to the early morning hours when I woke up with Jagger asleep beside me. It was three something, I didn’t want to wake him up to take me home especially since I seriously doubt Karynn was even there. If he woke up he’d insist on taking me home and I didn’t want that. I really just wanted to crawl into his arms and not wake up until morning and okay, yeah, I really wanted to go pee. At some point he pulled the covers up around me, leaving himself on top where it was freezing cold.
He’s back in his room, humming a song I can’t quite place, but I don’t go out right away. It’s time for the tiniest bit of makeup, just enough that he can’t tell I’m wearing any, some concealer, that lip balm that tastes like cupcakes, a little powder. With the way he’s been staring at me, I know he’d be able to tell if I wear more. I slip off my shirt so I don’t pull a total Elli and spill powder all over myself. I run my fingers through my hair, kind of impressed that it looks halfway decent.
He’s moving around out there so I poke my head out, hiding my bare torso behind the door. A little part of me, okay, pretty much all of me, is hoping I’ll catch him without a shirt.
“You don’t have anything I can wear do you?” I’m almost too shy to ask. “I know Morgan will totally get the wrong idea if I show up wearing this.”
He laughs and I know he understands what I’m getting at. “I’ll see if my brother or sister have anything you can borrow.”
I laugh. “Jagger, nothing they have is going to fit me. They’re 12 and 14.”
“And you’re tiny,” he teases coming towards me.
I flinch involuntarily and he takes it as his cue not to enter, thank god. I’m standing here in my pink lace bra and unbuttoned jeans, it’s not the time for him to finally make a move. Maybe for him but not for me.
“Go, let me check your closet.” He doesn’t say anything and slips into the hall, closing the door behind him so I can peek in privacy.
I see a little speck of purple peering up at me from the closet floor. I have no idea what I expected to find but girl’s clothes weren’t it. The strapless satin top is something that looks like it was designed to wear in the bedroom and knowing Jagger’s reputation, it probably was. I kinda like it but there’s no way I’d normally leave the house in something so scandalous. Instead, I grab a concert tee and throw it on over my bra. Isn’t this going to be a dead giveaway?
I open the door and see Jagger sitting on the couch lacing up his shoes, a piece of cold pizza in his mouth. He’s laughing at me. “It comes to your knees, I could fit in there with you.”
He tries to climb inside and I literally shriek with laughter, the feel of his cold arms on my belly is electrifying. Should I kiss him? I want to so bad it hurts.
“You’re eating cold pizza slathered in bbq sauce and you’re laughing at me? Jagger, that’s gross.”
“I think it will surprise you,” he says and I’m almost positive he’s not talking about the pizza until he sticks it in my face. I cringe but take a bite against my better judgment. Something about being around Jagger makes me unafraid to take chances, what’s the worst that could happen?
“You like it, don’t you?”
Reluctantly, I nod my head. I know I’m not only admitting to liking last night’s leftovers but also any feelings I might have for Jagger. “Maybe. I’ll have to try it again to be sure. Now back to the wardrobe issue?”
“Go,” he says pointing towards his room, “it’s better to wear what you had on last night than this.”
I toss his tee on the bed and climb into that slutty top, no doubt left by one of his slutty-sluts. I have to admit it looks good, the built-in cups making my cleavage something more than nonexistent even without a real bra. The shirt doesn’t smell like tequila like most of Karynn’s shirts do after a night of partying with strange men. Maybe it’s not so bad.
Holding my breath, I step out of his room. This time he’s waiting for me, making me wonder if he could see in if he tried.
He’s probably afraid to make me uncomfortable so he doesn’t say anything but I can tell he likes it by the huge grin on his face. He’s trying not to say what he wants to even though I’m dying to know what it is. Instead, he grabs the tee I was wearing from the bed.
“Sorry, I meant to hang that back up.” I reach for it but he won’t hand it over. Without a word he strips off the basic tee he was wearing and climbs into the one I tried on. Wow, I did not expect him to have abs like that. They’re defined but not body builder chiseled. It’s sexy. He must do some serious crunches to counteract all the beer he drinks.
“Looks better, don’t you think?”
“Better than the one you had on or better than it did on me?” I flirt.
“Everything looks better on you Elli,” he responds, playing right into my hand. He gives me a tight hug, hands me my bag and we’re out the door.
*****
We’re ten minutes late to school and have to rush off in separate directions the minute we walk in. Who do I see first but Morgan, walking right towards me? She eyes my jeans and shoes from last night with a knowing wink. Obviously, she’s not in homeroom or she’d be grilling Jagger for the details instead.
“It’s not even like that, please don’t say anything.”
“Whatever you say Elli.” She just keeps walking, her curvy hips swaying side to side. “I’ll get the deets later.”
I breathe a sigh of relief. If she gets them from Jagger maybe she can tell me what the hell went down. It definitely felt like a date but he didn’t even kiss me and there’s no way Jagger Greeley would let a whole night and most of the morning go by without at least trying.
“Hey, I like your shirt,” says a girl I don’t recognize. “I had one just like it but I must have left it somewhere.”
Gross, it’s probably hers, meaning she’s slept over with Jagger too. I want to ask but I don’t dare. I’m not getting all possessive just yet, he’d kill me. Maybe I should have worn his shirt and let people assume I was a slut like this girl. Then again, he obviously doesn’t want me to be a slut or he would have at least kissed me. I really don’t want to know if curvy redheads are more Jagger’s type than skinnier than skinny sometimes blondes.
I can’t stop thinking about it as I make my way to English. Maybe Jagger thinks of me like a friend, someone he can tease and joke around with but not someone he’d want to make out with. Or the whole night could have been some kind of ploy to smooth things over for Eric, his best friend. I get a sick feeling in my stomach at the thought and pull out my phone to text Jenna as I almost run straight into the aforementioned best friend. Eric does a major double take when he sees my shirt and I can’t blame him. Sure, he’s seen me in less but nothing like this in public. I’m beginning to think I look halfway decent after all the staring. Everyone probably just wonders what came over me because I look so unlike myself.
Morgan’s sitting at my desk when I walk into English, not another soul in the room. I have to wonder if she shooed out some of the other nerds, who, like me, are always early for class.
“Okay, I’m collecting my details. Right this instant, spill,” she demands.
“If there were details then maybe I would tell you,” I laugh.
“Elli, that is definitely not your shirt. There are so details.”
I shake my head. What am I supposed to tell her, that he maybe, almost smooched me? I don’t think so.
“Fine, don’t tell me. We’re not gonna be friends ‘til you do.” She looks up from the ruffles on her shirt and right at me. “Everyone wants to be my friend.” She’s still smiling when she bumps into Jonah on the way to her seat, acting as if it was an accident. “I’ll get the details sooner or later.”
He sits down next to me. “You can’t be with Jagger. He’s not looking for a girlfriend, all he wants is sex.” He says it quietly but still louder than I would like.
“Is that what he said? That I was with him?” I’m whispering too.
Jonah looks confused. “I saw him ask for your number Elli, remember?”
He’s looking at me like I’m an idiot and I guess it’s because he has no idea Jagger and I went out last night. He thinks we’re still talking about Jagger getting my number on Thursday. Um no, you’re the idiot, we already went out and he didn’t even kiss me so I know he’s not just trying to get in my pants. Then it dawns on me. Jagger’s not trying to sleep with me. What is wrong with me? What did I do wrong? Was it something I said? The covered up clothes I wore? The fact that I wouldn’t let him see me in my bra? ‘Cause honestly I didn’t even do the bra thing on purpose.
“Jone, don’t act like my brother, I can take care of myself.”
“Fine, just don’t come crying to me when he drugs you.”
Now he’s just being heartless. We both know Jagger would never do anything like that and the fact that Jonah’s saying it is ridiculous. I’ve never seen him like this. He doesn’t complain when Jenna goes on and on about Sam, who we all know is a huge douchebag so why is he being so overprotective of me? I’m not even his sister. Maybe, I think and try not to gag, he’s jealous. Or maybe, I’ll find out why Jagger went from tolerating his presence to hating him practically overnight.
Jagger spots the agitated look on my face and looks like he might come to my rescue just as Jenna pops her head in the classroom. The bell rings and Jonah walks off to join his friends in the back of the room but I basically ignore it and hope Mr. Beardsley won’t mind one more second of chit-chat. We’ve been texting all morning and I think I’ve given her all the details she could possibly want but we haven’t actually seen each other.
“You woke up in his bed,” Jenna sings as she gives me a hug.
“Jenna, he’s staring.”
“Of course he is, Elli.” She’s eyeing the shirt I’m wearing but doesn’t say anything, knowing I would only get on her case for being the complete opposite, totally covered up in her boyfriend jeans. Why couldn’t I find something like that at the bottom of Jagger’s closet? I would kill for that outfit right now.
Mr. Beardsley clears his throat and I take that as my cue to wander back into the classroom and take the empty seat right next to Jagger without a second thought. Maybe just hanging out with him has changed me already. Never in a million years would I have done that yesterday, already I feel like I’m a different person.
“Elli, can I talk to you after class?” Eric whispers over my shoulder after he checks to make sure no one is looking. Typical.
Without telling it to, my head nods up and down.
So much for that step in the right direction, those few little words and I’m right back at square one.