Heart Of Marley by T.K. Leigh Read Free Book Online Page A

ears turn red in embarrassment. “Maybe.”
    She grabbed my other hand and walked the rest of the way with us. “I think I did. I know you haven’t kissed before so unless you two were sucking face at the restaurant earlier…gross, by the way…I totally witnessed the first kiss.” She looked past me toward Brianna and winked. “And it’s about freaking time, Cameron Michael.”
    I shook my head and glanced at Brianna. “Sorry. I can’t do anything about her. She’s been harping on me to finally make the first move with you all year, even when you were still dating Mason.”
    “ She is right next to you…and he’s right. He’s liked you since freshman year. It’s about time he made his move, isn’t it?”
    Brianna grinned and nodded fervently. “Yeah, especially considering I had a thing for him since seventh grade Geometry class.”
    Marley laughed and the sound brought a smile to my heart. “The Pythagorean Theorem is a big turn-on for me, too. Oh, baby. The word hypotenuse does things to me.” The two girls giggled.
    At that moment, everything was perfect. I had a beautiful girl whose kisses lit my entire body on fire. I had a best friend and sister who was finally past all the trauma she had endured early on in life. And we were about to start our senior year of high school. I had a feeling that it was going to be a year I’d never forget…

C HAPTER S IX
F ORGIVENESS

    “C AMERON , CAN YOU GO make sure that Marley is up?” Aunt Terryn asked the following morning when I walked into the kitchen.
    “Sure. Where’s Uncle Graham?”
    She slammed the refrigerator door shut, startling me. “He is playing in a golf tournament today. He said it was for the church and was necessary.”
    I narrowed my eyes at her. “So are you taking us today?”
    She shrugged her shoulders, beating eggs in a glass bowl somewhat roughly. “I guess I don’t really have a choice, do I?”
    “I’ll drive us so that you don’t have to.”
    “No.” Her voice was firm. “Absolutely not. Out of the question.”
    “Okay. We can try to reschedule, maybe see if Uncle Graham can take us during the week or something instead. I’ll call Mama and ask her if she can take a day off.”
    Shaking her head, she said, “No. I appreciate your understanding, but I need to learn to move past this. It still pisses me off to no end that she abandoned you kids, but I can’t let that interfere with her attempt to make amends for her past and to form a relationship with you and Marley. You need a mother and so does your sister.”
    “We have one. Well, technically, two.”
    She smiled, standing on her tiptoes to kiss my cheek. “You’re a good kid. Whenever I get irritated with the situation, I just look at you and Marley and realize that she must have done something right before your father was killed.”
    “It was a group effort,” I responded, trying to lighten the tension in the room. “I’ll go wake up Marley, but I may need some of this.” I grabbed a mug and poured some coffee into it, fixing it the way that I knew Marley liked it.
    I excused myself and ran up the steps, knocking on her door. “Mar, time to get up.”
    A girlish giggle sounded from beyond the wall.
    “Mar, are you okay in there?”
    She giggled again.
    “I’m coming in so you better be decent.” Hesitantly, I turned the knob, surprised to see Marley sitting at her vanity, the biggest grin on her face that I had ever seen. “What are you so giddy about?” I asked. “Still on cloud nine after your kiss with Doug?” I set her coffee down in front of her.
    “No,” she said coyly. “I mean, yes. But that’s not what I’m excited about. And it’s none of your business anyway.” She spun in her chair, attempting to avoid my eyes as she pulled a piece of notebook paper out of her bag, her smile illuminating the entire room.
    “Did he leave a love letter in your purse?” I plopped down on her bed and lay back, placing my hands behind my