Kaylee
I started up the paved driveway, ignoring the deadly glare Sawyer was shooting at me. "You get what you give."
"If you're such a firm believer in that, why don't you let karma handle it?" He asked, following reluctantly.
"Fuck letting karma handle it," I stopped in front of the maroon door. "As far as I'm concerned, I'm karma's good little assistant."
He continued to glare.
"So where's the key?"
"How should I know?"
"You dated--"
"Hooked up." He corrected firmly.
"Fine," I said dramatically. "You hooked up with this chick. If you don't know where it is, where do you think it'd be?"
His eyes darted over to the flower pots. The flowers were obviously fake, they were a horrific sight. I reached into the pot closest to us, felt around in the cheap dirt, and came out with a key. I grinned at his scowl.
"We're going to have a serious talk later." He said.
"This will be fun, I promise. Now grow a pair." I said, twisting the key into the hole. He grumbled under his breath, dragging his feet into the house when I pushed the door open.
I looked around for her bathroom, knowing Sawyer could point me in the direction, but it would ruin the chase. When I found it, no surprise, the whole thing was decorated in purple from top to bottom. There were about three or four shampoo bottles in the shower, I say three or four because the fourth was questionable. They were all girlie, flowery scents. Figures.
I grabbed the strawberry one, passing it over to Sawyer. "Start dumping."
He gave me a questionable look. I'd been getting a lot of those from him tonight. I took the other two bottles, spinning the caps off and holding them over the toilet. It was a slow process, taking up more time than I would have liked. When all of the shampoo had been drained out of the bottles, I grabbed the oil from the duffel bag.
"This is cruel and unusual."
"But not undeserved."
He didn't say anything in response. While I cleaned off all evidence of any spills or smears, he used the toilet brush to wipe out the bowl.
"Where's the bedroom?" I asked.
He visibly shivered, then pointed down the hallway on the right. I hooked the strap of the duffel bag over my shoulder and started toward my next task. Sawyer hesitated in the doorway of the bedroom, watching as I ran my hand over the corner of the bedspread.
"Is this where you got down and dirty?" I asked with a devious smile.
His lips curled in disgust. "That's not funny."
"Can you still hear her screams of pleasure?" I asked, enjoying every moment of his discomfort. I sat down on the corner, spreading my arms out across the duvet. "I bet she did some crazy shit to keep your attention."
He gave me a look of mock humor. "Would you like me to show you exactly what she did?"
I shivered at the images he was helping my imagination paint. It was just a joke mixed with lack of sleep, I told myself. I was reminded of the last time Liam told me he wanted to try a new position. Hard as I tried, thoughts and memories of him kept popping up. I pushed them aside, putting my all into the task at hand. Rifling through the duffel bag, I pulled out the bundle of large black garbage bags. This time he didn't question me when I shoved one of them into his hands and began throwing pieces of her clothing away. It didn't take long to empty her drawers and closet, a few minutes maybe.
"Hoist me up," I instructed, a pad of sticky notes in one hand and permanent marker in the other.
He gave me an odd look, but did as he was told. When my legs were around his shoulders, he placed his hands on my thighs to steady me. He was warm and smelt like aftershave and faint cologne. Liam never liked cologne unless it smelt like the forest. I shook my head, placing one sticky note after the other on the ceiling, writing out the word "bitch" on every single one of them.
"This is excessive, don't you think?" He asked with mild amusement.
"Nope."
"She's going to know it was us."
I paused for a moment to glance down at him. "Are you scared?"
His lips curled into a sly smile. "Honestly? No."
I lifted an accusatory eyebrow. "Really? Taking into account that she could very well call the police or go all psyco barbi on you?"
He laughed so hard his shoulders shook. "Do you think they'd let us share a jail cell?"
I pretended to ponder the thought, then shook my head. "Doubt it."
"All the same, Toni would have us in the dog house the moment she caught wind of this." He said casually.
"Hold still--" I began to say when he was adjusting my legs, only for us to go crashing towards the bed a moment later. I yelped, tangled between him and the sheets.
He was laughing, there was a mischievous glint in his blue eyes. This close to him, I could see the flecks of gray around his irises.
"Motherfucker--"
He shifted out from under me, quickly maneuvering to hovering over me instead. "I thought you wanted me to show you what Penelope did to keep my interest?"
Rather than answer, I scolded back at him.
He laughed quietly to himself, flopping carelessly down beside me. The bed bounced, sheets tangling around his legs even further. We stared up at the sticky notes for a moment, nothing but silence between us.
"Can I tell you something?" He asked, his voice low with apprehension.
"Sure."
"I've never been in love before."
I turned to look at him a little too quickly, my forehead smacking into his elbow.
His eyes widened and arm pulled back. "Are you alright?"
I nodded, waving off his concern. "What do you mean, you've never been in love?"
"Like, I've never really had feelings for someone." He turned onto his side to face me with a furrow between his brows. "There were times, brief flickers when I thought maybe--just maybe I could feel something for someone."
"But you didn't?"
He shook his head, twisting around to look back up at the ceiling. "It's stupid, I know. But it makes me wonder if I'll ever feel whole if I can't even do something as simple as fall in love. Is it my own fault I feel lonely most days?"
"No," I shook my head adamantly. If Liam taught me anything, it's that no matter how fucked up you are, there will always be someone out there that will accept you. They'll light a fire inside you that no one else can, and maybe it won't last, but it will be worth every second. "You just haven't found the right person yet."
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