These Things About Us by Laura Beege Read Free Book Online Page B

left the apron on and weaved my way through the people into the narrow hallway and up the steep staircase. I let my fingers trail along the rough walls, concentrating on every bump and every sharp edge. I could concentrate the anger away, and by the time I reached our floor I was mostly cooled down.
    “Hey, are you already off?” As he smiled at me, Wes patted his jeans, checking his pockets.
    “Technically I still have a minute to work, but I couldn’t stand your brother anymore. He’s just so rude. All the time. And I don’t want to spend another second pretending that it doesn’t bother me.”
    “As much as I’d love to spend my night listing Trace’s many flaws, I’ve got to go. I’m meeting a… someone. A friend.” He shoved his hands into his pockets and flipped his hair to the side.
    “You can tell me if you’re meeting a girl. I loved our fake quickie, but we’re not dating.”
    “I know… Okay, see you tomorrow.” He leaned in to press another kiss on my temple, like the morning we had breakfast. I’d thought that had been a show for Trace.
    I shook my head and swiveled around, catching him just on the landing between the floors. “Wes! About tomorrow. Do you want to go dancing with Sierra and me? I guess her husband’s coming, too. You don’t have to. She said she’d find someone if I didn’t have anyone to go, but I thought you might want to come…”
    “Sure. But I really have to run.”
    “Okay, bye.”
    “Bye,” he laughed and sprinted off.
     
    I finally got to see a good dose of London rain the next morning. It wasn’t just the drizzle that had popped in and out over the last few days but heavy, thick drops of water hitting the windows like hundreds of tiny jackhammers. There was no way I was passing up my first chance to get into my first London rainstorm in order to so-not-stare at my phone screen and so-not-think about the box all day. I shrugged my favorite denim jacket over my long-sleeved dress and shoved my feet into worn-out ankle boots. I wasn’t dressed for rain and it was going to be awesome.
    “Umbrella’s in the lost and found box.” Trace didn’t look up from sorting the CDs next to the stereo.
    I didn’t know why he cared, but he was not going to ruin my mood. “I don’t need an umbrella.”
    “It’s raining.”
    “Yes.”
    His cocked eyebrow was pierced by a stud with pointy cones on each end today. “Do you know what rain is? Buckets of water pouring from the sky, soaking your perfect pretty dress and your perfect pretty hair.”
    “You can mock me all you want. I’m going outside, and I’m going to get drenched. On purpose.” I grinned at him and twirled out the door.
    The rain splintered and splashed against the concrete, and a girl had her jacket tugged over her head as she hurried past. The drops hit my skin, shattered and left behind a thin coat of water. I felt my hair flattening, giving into the weight of the water and within seconds my dress stuck to my body like a second skin.
    “You’re going to get yourself killed, Kitty.”
    Trace leaned in the door and glimpsed up at the grey sky. An umbrella dangled from his hand.
    “It’s just water,” I shouted over the drumming sound. Trying to look at him was pointless. My eyes wouldn’t stay properly open in this weather, always reflexively squinting shut. But I didn’t care. The corners of my mouth were stapled into a wide grin. “Where should I go?”
    “What?”
    “I want to go somewhere. Where should I go?” I glanced down the road in each direction. There wasn’t anything too exciting either way, so it was flipping a coin or taking Trace’s suggestion.
    He shrugged and stretched his thumb to the left. Left it was. I skipped in my steps and scrunched my nose at the lighter sky in the distance. Trace quickly caught up with me, the blue and pink umbrella opened above his head, and therefore mine, too. I jumped off the sidewalk to escape the umbrella. “What are you