Beatless by Amber L. Johnson Read Free Book Online Page B

“Want the grand tour?” It was something that my mom had said so many times to guests that I didn’t even realize that I’d repeated it until he accepted.
    We walked the halls and I showed him around, shrugging as I opened doors like it wasn’t a big deal and why had I offered to do this again ? We climbed the stairs and for the first time since we’d been at his house, I felt nervous to be alone with him. “This is mine,” I said quietly and opened the door to turn on the light.
    The switch was attached to the lights on the far wall, as well as my lamp, and the darkened walls glowed lighter blue around the bulbs. He leaned into the doorway, his eyebrows furrowed and hands digging deep into his jean pockets.
    “What? Did you expect pink and glitter and . . .”
    “No. I expected exactly this. It’s weird.”
    “What do you mean?” I wasn’t sure if it was a compliment or not.
    He slipped by me and walked to the window, peeking out through the blinds before turning to regard everything with a sweeping gaze. “I mean, when I imagined where you slept or did your homework – when I imagined what your room would look like, this was exactly what I had in my brain. Blue walls and everything.” He rested his butt on my desk and crossed his arms. “It’s just so Mallory.”
    “Wow. My entire name from your mouth.”
    He glowered. “I call you Mallory.”
    “No, you call me Mal. Not that I mind. It’s just weird to hear it.”
    Tucker nodded and looked away, his attention diverted to the bed for a second before he straightened up and sauntered over to my bedside table. He took liberties everywhere he went, so it came as no surprise when he shifted his shoes off his feet and started to play with the knobs on the radio. Music filtered through the speakers and I tried to remember the last time I’d actually used the radio on my alarm clock.
    He tapped his fingers against his pockets, something I noticed he did when he was trying not to come across as nervous.
    I stood awkwardly to the side of my desk, watching the way he was appraising everything, like he was trying to memorize my belongings. The song on the radio was one that I liked and I didn’t even notice I was swaying until he’d made a circuit around the room and was standing in front of me. He raised his eyebrows and reached over to place his hands on my shoulders, sliding them down the tiniest bit so that his thumbs rested just out of reach of my bra cups through my shirt.
    “What?” I laughed and uncrossed my arms letting them hang uncomfortably.
    The left side of his mouth lifted and he shook his head the tiniest bit before sliding his palms down my arms to my wrists until he had my hands in his. He shifted so that we were palm to palm and slowly lifted them to chest level, his eyes taking in how we fit together. How his fingertips sat at least an inch above my own. I stood still, held in place with rapt fascination. The heat from his touch was making my hands and arms tingle.
    He stepped into me, pressing our palms between us, and then let my right hand go to place his hand on my waist. I melted into him, allowing my eyes to close as he swayed and I followed. His fingers moved along the top of my shorts and when he’d found where my shirt started, they slipped upwards, softly caressing the skin above the waistband.
    I exhaled in surprise, never opening my eyes but trying to concentrate on getting a handle on the way my heart was thundering in my chest. He had to be able to feel it there between us.
    “Hey,” he whispered just next to my ear.
    “Hmm?”
    He stepped back and I followed, almost tripping in the unexpected space between us. Tucker let go of my hand and reached by me to grab something off my board. “You kept this?”
    My mouth went dry and I reached out to snatch it back but he held it above his head, just out of my reach. “So? I found it before school started while I was cleaning my room.”
    “But you kept it.”
    “On