Koda

Chapter 7

Koda

She was avoiding me. For what reason I had no clue. Adrian had made it a point to drive her all week and since Gracie didn't seem to want me close I had kept myself busy with work. It wasn't hard to do. I had two of them so all I had to do was pick up some more shifts here and there or some more hours on my current ones.
On Tuesday however Adrian called me at lunch when I was working at the diner.
"Hey man, I forgot I have a meeting with a client until late tonight," he said before I had even said hello. Prick. "Can you pick Gracie up?"
The question was heavy but Adrian had no idea that she had been avoiding me since she woke up on Monday morning. At least I think he didn't.
"Yeah sure," I said back, running a hand through my hair. I really needed to keep one of Gracie's hairbands with me. I hated it when my hair was in the way of my work.
"Great, and hey Koda," Adrian said, becoming serious.
"Yeah," I said back, only half listening as I was flipping a burger on the grill.
"A thunderstorm is coming later," Adrian said and hung up on me before I could say anything else. The man really was an asshole sometimes. Yet I was glad to call him my brother even if it wasn't by blood.
As the day went on and I finished work at the diner and drove to Marshall high I found myself annoyed at the woman I was going to pick up. She had no reason to avoid me. If she did she would tell me right? I parked in front of her in the parking lot. I had seen her as soon as the parking lot had come into view. How could I not. I opened the door for her where I was sitting.
"Come on," I said. I properly sounded as annoyed as I felt. She jumped into the car.
"Where is Adrian?" she asked. It had only been a few days but it felt like weeks since I heard her voice. She sounded so normal, like she hadn't been avoiding me at all. It pissed me off more.
"Ian had to work so he called me and asked me if I could take you home," I said as I started to drive away from her school. I was going to fast again but the faster I could get her home the faster i could get away from her and calm the fuck down.
"Are you mad?" she asked and I looked over at her quickly before my eyes turned back to the road. Was I mad? She avoids me and then asks me if I'm mad. What the hell do I even answer?
"No," I said back. I stopped outside the house and she jumped out of the car. Instead of following her up the house like I always did if I dropped her off at home and I backed out of the driveway again.
"I need to go to work, see ya," I screamed out the window to her. It was a lie of course. I didn't have to work at the bar today but I needed to get away from her and calm the fuck down. I could see the house in the rearview mirror in two seconds flat and then I just drove to the park close to us and sat there looking at nothing on the hood of my car.
The first raindrop hit me on the cheek. The next on the forehead. Before I knew it the rain was pouring over me making me drenched all over. Then I heard it. The thunder. Shit. I had forgotten about the thunderstorm. I jumped back into my car not caring that I was wet and drove home at the same speed I had driven to the park. I jumped out of the car and ran into the house only to find it in darkness. Great. The power was out.
"Gracie!" I screamed into the house but I didn't get a response. I walked into the living room only to find her in a ball rocking back and forth. Shit. This was bad. Adrian would kill me.
I grasped her wrists making her look at me. For a second her beautiful green eyes didn't recognize me and they were full of tears. I reached out and let my hand stroke some of her tears away.
"I'm sorry," I said in a whisper. She gave me a weak smile back trying to be brave as always.
"It's okay," she said back. Her voice was shaking and she sounded weak.
"No Gracie, it's not," I said back and looked away from her. I was ashamed that I had left her alone like this when I knew better. Adrian had even told the storm was coming. "I was in a bad mood and I took it out on you. I forgot that Adrian had told me it was a thunderstorm coming today and that I should be close to you. I'm sorry."
I whispered the last words, not sure if I had the right to repeat them to her. I met her eyes again and her hand went to my cheek forcing me to face her fully.
"Koda, I know that you and my brother have a life outside of me. You shouldn't have to take care of me all the time. I'm your best friend's sister, maybe one of your closest friends but you have no responsibility to me," she said. Sometimes I forget that she is younger than me. Her words were so big and she was so sensible. Nothing like me or her brother for that matter. I wondered where she got it from. I relaxed into her touch. Her hand was warm against my cold, wet skin. For once I decided to be honest with myself and her.
"Gracie, you are the closest thing I have to family, you and Adrian. I will always come to your rescue and protect you," I said slowly as I looked at her.
"I..." she stated but then stopped. She looked shocked and I gave her a soft smile. I put a strand of hair behind her ear before I pulled away from her. Her hand fell from my cheek and I found myself wanting her to touch me again. I shook the thought away and stood up. I couldn't help myself as I did and mumbled to myself:
"Finally got you to look at me and now I have stunned you into silence."
I don't think she heard me. So instead I continued.
"I need to change clothes if I'm going to stay. Can you be alone for a moment or do you want to come along?"
I reached out my hand to her knowing she wouldn't want to be alone.
"I will come along but I do not want to see you naked," she said back in a huff as she grabbed my hand and I pulled her up. I gave her my most charming smile.
"Are you sure about that?" I asked her. I was playing with fire asking her that. As much as I wanted her in my bed naked she did not want me in that way. Hell, she didn't even see me as anything other than her brother.
"Samuels, are you trying to get me into bed with you?" she said back in a flirty voice and I could hear she was trying not to giggle. Good. We were back to normal.
"So what if I am Atkins," I hummed back at her, still smiling. She kept looking into my eyes and I found myself stuck there. I had to force myself to keep looking at her eyes and not her lips. However for a brief second I saw her eyes dart to mine.
"Your clothes," she whispered as she looked back into my eyes. I had lost track of what we were talking about. Seeing her look at my lips made me think about kissing her and that in turn had made me move a bit closer to her.
"Hmmm," I hummed back at her. I couldn't help it. My eyes finally darted to her lips and it took everything in me to not just push her against the wall and kiss her senseless.
A loud thunder made the house rock and Gracie covered her ears. It also rocked me back to reality. What was I doing? I pulled away from her smiling and took her hand again. I had no idea when I had dropped it. Shit. I needed to get a grip.
"Come on," I said instead as I tugged her up the stairs and into my bedroom. Gracie had been in here many times before and strolled over to my bed like she owned the place and sat down. My eyes were following her ass as she passed me. I stopped as she turned looking back at her face.
"Do you want me to change in here or can I go into the bathroom?" I asked her instead. I meant it. I didn't want to leave her alone when she was scared shitless but I didn't want her to feel like she had to see me change either. Not that I minded.
"I don't want to be alone," she said weakly and I smiled at her again. I turned to the closet and pulled the wet heavy shirt over my head and grabbed a towel next to me and started drying my hair a little with it. As I did I noticed Gracie staring at me in the mirror. Well, not really at me but at my body as I undressed and my arms as they were drying my hair. I couldn't help but smile a little. Hell, if she was going to stare at me I might as well give her a little show. I dropped the towel and started to unbutton my jeans. As I did I could see her following my movements with her eyes. She wet her lips a little and I don't think she was aware of it. If she didn't stop looking at me like that we would have a serious problem. I turned around.
"Gracie, if you are going to keep looking at me like that while I change I will jump you," I said, still holding a smile. She ripped her eyes away from my body and looked into my eyes instead. She didn't say anything as she gave me a look I couldn't read, turned around and threw herself on my bed.
"Sorry," she mumbled into the sheets. I couldn't help but chuckle at her antics. I finished changing clothes and looked at Gracie on the bed. She was laying on her belly and I couldn't help myself. Teasing her was too much fun. I crawled over her body, steadying myself with my knees and hands, hovering over her but not really touching her.
"Hey, you can look now," I whispered into her ear. She turned towards me and her green eyes were looking into mine again. She reached out for my hair and stoked it away from my eyes. Shit. This was a bad idea. I closed my eyes at the touch. When I opened them again she was still staring at me. Her eyes sparkled in the dark and her lips looked full. Having her on my bed like this made so many of my fantasies half reality and I wanted them to be true so badly in that moment that I almost kissed her. Almost being the word. She didn't want that. I shook my head and stood up from the bed pulling Gracie up with me.
"Do you want food?" I asked her. She nodded. That was good. Food would calm me and keep me away from her. More importantly it would stop me from doing something stupid. Like kissing her.
I dragged her back down the stairs and was just about to start cooking when the lights came back in and Adrian came in through the door. Thank god he hadn't walked in ten minutes before when I had his sister on my bed. Even if he was cool with my feelings for his baby sister I doubted he would be cool with finding her in a compromising position on my bed in the dark. Fuck, I needed a reality check and fast.