2:29 AM

Chapter Forty-Four

"This is Andy." I'm trying to be calm. "Who's this?"

"Madison." Oh, Jesus, it's that girl Bryce was with.

"Madison, can you put Colton on the phone?" I hear shuffling.

"Hello?" Colton asks. I don't think he realizes that it's me.

"Colton?"

"Oh, shit," he says. "Andy...I didn't expect to hear from you."

"Right. We need to talk." My voice is cold and even.

"Look, Karamel's my uh...cousin," Colton says.

"Oh," I say. "I thought you were with Madison." Great, he's having a threesome.

"Uh, Madison is Karamel's friend. They we're just visiting." He coughs and I hear more rustling followed by a moan and a laugh.

"We're done, Colton. We're over," I tell him.

"Andy, please wait-"

"I can't deal with you anymore. I won't and I can't. I will not allow myself to be treated like this." I pause. "Have fun with Madison and Karamel. I hope they enjoy your four and a half inches."

I end the call before he can say anything else. I sigh and turn my phone off. I walk back over to the couch and Bryce walks in with two mugs. He hands me one.

"You okay?" Bryce asks. His eyes are concerned. He's being so sweet.

"I'm...I'm good. Don't worry about it." I smile, but it's stretched thin. I take a mug from his hand and take a sip.

"You can talk to me," Bryce says, "I won't ask about what happened back at the movie theater until you're ready to tell me."

I sigh and look into my mug. I should probably tell him. "Look, it's not a big deal or anything, but that awful girl you were with? Madison? Colton was hitting on her and I finally realized that he's never really been interested in me. I mean, it's not like we were exclusive or anything...but right in front of me? I don't know. I just got sick of his shit and I left."

"Oh, that's..." Bryce trails off.

"Yeah. And I just called him, but as it turns out he was busy with girls. I broke up with him, but I think we wouldn't have made it to Prom anyways," I tell him. "God, what did I ever see in him? I get having a wandering eye, but you can't seriously think it's okay to hit on a girl when your girlfriend's sitting right next to you, right?"

"Colton's a dumbass," Bryce says. I nod and take another drink of my hot chocolate.

"This is really good," I say. Bryce grins sheepishly. I smile and go back to watching the movie. "I love Music and Lyrics. I've seen it probably fifty times."

"Yeah, I always watch it with my parents," Bryce tells me. My favorite part comes on when Hugh Grant's on the stage at a high school reunion and he starts dancing, thrusting, and then he pulls a muscle or something. I start laughing.

"Oh, my God, I love this part," I say. I look at Bryce and he's looking at me, there's a faint smile on his lips. I don't know how it's happening, or who's doing, but somehow Bryce and I are moving closer to each other on the on the couch. He sets his hot chocolate on the table, next to the end of the couch and puts his arm on the back of the couch. His hand brushes my shoulder and my breathing quickens. "Can you set this down for me?" I hold out my mug and the takes it.

He leans closer to me. God, he smells good. I shift closer to him so our thighs touch. He lets his arm slide down, so it's around my shoulders. I move my legs over his and look at him. He nods, like he's telling me it's okay, to go on. I breathe on and then rest my head against his chest, my hand falls on his thigh. I hear his sharp intake of breath.

Bryce has one arm around my shoulders and his other arm is high on my thigh, brushing my ass. I release the breath I'm holding and press closer to him. I'm not watching the movie, but it doesn't matter.

It feels so good being in his arms. I feel him running his fingers along my leg.

"The sweatpants don't really fit you, do they?" he murmurs, almost absentmindedly.

"I guess not. It doesn't really matter," I say. Time fades away and and my eyes get heavy, I'm trying to stay awake and I'm not sure why. Bryce's hands are tracing patterns on my legs and he's stroking my hair. I'm listening to the even sound of his heart beat. Every once in awhile, his heart beat speeds up. Usually it's when I press closer to him.

I blink a couple of times, trying to keep my eyes open. I'm not thinking about Colton or anything that's happened. I'm too focused on this moment, on Bryce.

"It's okay, sweetheart," Bryce murmurs. "You can go to sleep." I nod and press myself closer to him. My eyes flutter shut.

A while later I feel shifting but before I can wake up I'm sleeping.