Chapter 9 Distance
“Have you been ignoring me Bree?” Summer pouted over the phone and I chuckled, turning over on my bed.
“What do you mean? I can never ignore my best friend,” I responded with a smile.
We had spent the last one hour on a video call and this is just what I needed. A time with my best friend that was hundreds of miles away from me.
Great.
“Well, I don’t know… but you feel distant.”
I sighed. “I’m so sorry, Summer. I just have a lot of things going on right now, I’m trying to adjust and all of that so it seems really hard.”
“Yeah,” She nodded. “I saw the news. I know what can cheer you up.”
“What? I’m up for anything at this point.”
“Well,” Her eyes glinted knowingly and I inwardly prayed that she wouldn’t come up with a crazy idea.
Summer’s ideas for fun were always crazy and foolish. How she always had me agree to them was surprising even for me. When we were kids, I remember I had a bully in middle school. During a school trip, Summer took a bottle of bugs and placed them on her bed the next morning, her face and hair were covered in gummy slime.
I grimaced at the memory.
“It’s Christmas in two days time and we always spend Christmas together. What if I came over to New Jersey this year? My parents won’t mind.”
My eyes widened with joy and excitement and I squealed. “Are you serious, Summer! Of course, I will inform my mom. I’ve missed you bestie!”
“I’ve missed you too! And you know, I can finally meet your hot step brother,” She whispered with a wink making me go quiet.
It’s been two weeks since the kiss and Barth has been ignoring me lately. Sometimes I don’t even see him at home or school which I take to be a good sign. The further I am away from him the better for everyone.
Noticing my silence, Summer became worried, “Bree, is there something wrong? I hope he’s not mean to you.”
“I can’t say but can we not talk about him on the phone?”
“Oh! Sure,” She replied with a raised brow. “If that’s what you want.”
We talk for a while before the call disconnects and I step out of my room to go downstairs. The whole staircase is covered in lights, the walls are covered with bows, and decorations and I could feel the Christmas spirit already.
Outside, the gardeners are giving a fresh new cut to the flowers and trees. The whole house is filled with the festivities already. This would be my first Christmas outside of Brooklyn.
Walking to the kitchen, I meet my mom handing out instructions to the maids on where to keep the Christmas tree. She looks so pretty, happy and relaxed now and I can’t help but heave a sigh hoping whatever happened two weeks ago stays a secret and doesn’t go further than that.
“Hey mum,” I call out, hugging her from behind.
“Hello sweetheart, are you okay?” She turns around with a wide grin and I nod in response.
“Summer says she would love to spend Christmas with us. You know it has always been a tradition of ours to spend the holidays together so we were thinking it would be a good time to get together again.”
“Of course, sweetie. I know how hard you have been on yourself lately and I’m sure having your friend around would brighten your mood.”
I giggle happily, giving her a peck on the cheek. “Thanks mom. You are the best!”
She chuckled, tucking my hair behind my ears. “I think we have been too preoccupied that we haven’t had a daughter mother time alone. We will do that soon.”
Before I could reply, a strong smell of after shave hits my nose making me wince and I turned around to be met with a break taking sight that make me gulp.
The room seem to have shrink on me, everyone disappearing for a brief moment as my eyes roam around his body.
Heavy chested abs.
Dark nipples that I would love to run my tongue around.
A well defined V line.
Black messy hair that felt very soft and silky the last time I ran my fingers through it and right now, I wanted to again.
Ripples of water ran down his tanned skin into his pants as he wiped them off continuously with the towel in his hand.
My heart was pounding fast in my chest.
Barth was undeniably hot and I was drowning and drooling at the sight!
“Barth, finally you are here,” My mum chimed beside me, making me blink as I snapped out of my trance.
“You sent for me, Valerie. What’s up?” He was looking everywhere but me and I couldn’t help but feel a pang of hurt in my chest but, I shouldn’t care right?
“We will be having a Christmas party soon so I would need you both to go into town to get the souvenirs for the guests. I have already preorder them but they need to be hand checked and brought her and I don't want the delivery service banging them around," She explained checking her watch. “The driver is busy with Aurick and I have to take care of things here. No arguing okay? Just consider it as a bonding moment for you two.”
My heart plummeted. Another car ride alone with him?
“Mom, I have things to do—” I started but she raised her hand and silenced me.
“Bree, it’s only for an hour and no one knows the city like Barth does. Now, hurry along, before the shop closes.”
Barth let out a sharp exhale, without looking back at us, he began to walk away. “Meet me at the car.”
He strode out the room, his footsteps sounded on the staircase a reminde that my two weeks of peace had come crashing to an end.