Page 63 of Wrapped in Red

CC laughed as he picked me up. “Yeah?” He pressed his warm mouth to mine.

“Yes, I’ll move in with you. But you have to let me help you decorate this god-awful prison. Color, baby, you need so much color, and you need—”

He stopped me with another kiss, this one with more need behind it, his tongue snaking between my lips and curling together with mine.

CC leaned his forehead against mine. “You can do whatever you want, Ezra. I don’t care. As long as you’re here with me.”

“Carson.” I stared into his dark chocolate eyes. “Baby, do you love me? Not in a best friend sort of way, but the way I love you? Like you can’t live without me or you’re going to die? It’s okay if you don’t. I have enough love for both of us.”

But it would still hurt if he didn’t. It would break my heart into a million pieces that I would have to brush into a pan and shove back together. I would recover like I always did. It was how I survived.

He smiled at me, his eyes crinkling around the corner. “Princess, I—”

A loud knock on the front door cut him off.

“Hold that thought.”

He placed me on my feet, and I trailed behind him as he went to go answer the door. Imagine my surprise when he opened it to find Noel standing there.

“Uh, hey,” CC said. “Everything all right?”

“I need to talk—Again?” He narrowed his eyes at me. “Can you give us a minute?”

I put my hands on my hips. “I live here, too.” Why did he keep coming back into CC’s life?

“Because, of course, you do.” Noel sighed. “Please, Ezra? This is important. I promise I’m not trying to get back together with Carson. It’s personal.”

CC pressed a kiss to my head. “Go check out your room again. Start making plans. I promise that I’ll be in there in a minute.”

I wanted to argue. I wanted to stomp my foot and say no, because I didn’t trust Noel at all. Instead, because I was an adult, I nodded and went back into the room that was going to be turned into mine. I chewed on my lip as I thought about paint. I could make it purple because, duh, it was the best. Hang up some fun, cool pictures. A few of CC and myself. That would be nice, too. Maybe find a purple desk for my laptop in the corner. Would CC want a cat? We should get a cat because they were sweet. Although if I went with him to races, who would take care of it? Could we bring the cat with us? Did other drivers have cats? I would have to ask about that.

“That’s not a good idea, Noel. We’re not together anymore.” CC’s voice was loud as it boomed through the townhouse. “I’m sorry, but no.”

“Keep your voice down,” Noel hissed.

I tiptoed over to the door, because I was a nosy shit like that, and tried to hear what they were saying. I mean, CC was my boyfriend, and this was my place, too. If Noel was upsetting him, I should step in.

“Who are you?”

I nearly jumped out of my skin at the sight of the boy before me. Boy, no, this was a teenager. He towered over my five-foot four frame and was all gangly arms and legs.

“Who am I? Who are you?” I shot back.Mature, Ezra.

“Leo.” He tilted his head to look at me with sky-blue eyes as he dragged a hand through his dark hair. He had one earbud in and the other hanging around his neck as music blasted from them. “Do you live here with Carson? Are you his boyfriend or something?”

I folded my arms over his chest. “Didn’t your parents ever tell you that you shouldn’t talk to strangers?”

“I’m not a baby. Besides, my brother used to date Carson until Noel dumped him. He’s so dumb for doing that. Carson’s cool. Said we could hang out, but I don’t think he likes me anymore. Are you wearing makeup? How do you get your liner like that? Could you show me?”

I took in his raven-colored hair, his sharp cheekbones. Leo was Noel’s brother? “How old are you?”

“How old are you?” he asked, then stepped into the space. “Why is this room empty? Are you going to paint it? It would look really cool if you made it like pink or orange or something rad like that.”

I chuckled softly. “I’m twenty-four.” I watched as Leo moved to the window.

“I’m fifteen.” Leo kept his eyes locked on the window. “Do you paint your nails? I painted mine once, but the kids at school made fun of me, so I took the polish off. Do you—” He turned around to look at me. “Do you think it’s okay for boys to wear makeup? I guess you must. I have some at home, but since the nail polish fiasco, I haven’t tried to wear it.”

Oh, my heart.“I love wearing makeup. You know...” I smiled at him. “Kids can be really mean because they want to have the courage to be themselves, like you were by wearing nail polish. I was always myself when I was your age.”