What The Heart Craves (Complete)

Chapter 4 - Part 1

Lacey

I went to bed with a heavy and battered heart. Adonis' words echoed in my mind and kept me up for most of the night. Sometime around three in the morning, I finally fell asleep.

The next morning I woke up late morning feeling hung over. I rubbed my eyes and sat up in my bed. For obvious reasons, I had no desire to see Adonis today. I hoped he and my brother had already left.

I opened up my bedroom door and listened carefully for any sound that showed Adonis or my brother were still in my house, but the house was quiet. Still dressed in my pajamas, I wandered downstairs to see where my mom was. As usual, she was busy in the kitchen. My mom didn't work, and she'd stayed at home to look after my brother and I. She disliked the word homemaker; she preferred the title home executive.

We were now old enough to look after ourselves it was still nice having mom around during the day. My father worked as a chartered accountant and he worked long hours.

My mom was baking muffins when I walked into the kitchen.

"Mm smells nice." I walked over to her. She smiled at me as she took off the oven mittens and I pressed a kiss to her cheek.

"I made your favorite."

"And that's why you're my favorite parent," I teased with a wink. My mom's smile widened.

Chocolate muffins were my favorite. Actually, pretty much anything with chocolate was my favorite.

"Thanks." I sat down by the kitchen counter.

"Do you want something to drink?" my mom asked.

"Coffee, please," I said. She gave me a raised eyebrow.

From the time they had diagnosed me with migraines, she'd been trying to monitor my diet to ensure I ate properly. She'd hoped that by doing that it would lessen the severity and the amount of migraines I suffered from. So far none of it had worked, but I loved my mom for trying. She'd read somewhere that too much caffeine could trigger the headaches, so she was always watching how much coffee I drank. With a raised eyebrow studied me for a moment before she relented and made me a cup of coffee.

I smiled as I watched her. I had an exceptional mom.

"How are you feeling?" she asked as she handed the cup.

"I'm fine, just a little tired." It was hard trying to get any sleep when my heart hurt so badly. I took a sip of the coffee and savored the rich taste.

"The headaches seem to getting worse." Her mom studied her.

I remained silent, and I dropped my eyes to the cup I held in my hands. I didn't want to face what that could mean. It would definitely entail a visit to the doctor and scans.

"Stop, mom. Lots of people suffer from migraines," I said, trying to convince her that there was no need to worry.

She bit her lip as she contemplated what I said.

"Fine, but you're still going for your checkup at the end of the month." She made a point of giving me that don't mess with your mom look, and I nodded my head. There was no getting out of that.

"What are you going to do today?" she asked.

"I thought it might be time to get a part-time job." Slowly, I took a sip of my coffee. I'd been spending the last few months taking a break and trying to figure out what I was going to do next, but I still hadn't figured that out. A job would keep me busy and allow me to earn money until I could decide on a career.

"That sounds great," my mom said.

"What sounds great?"

My back stiffened at the sound of Adonis' voice. It was impossible to keep my eyes from finding him in the kitchen's doorway where he stood yawning. It felt like someone had hit me in the stomach when my eyes met his. I hated myself for my body's instant reaction to him.

Even though he made me angry, it didn't dampen the effect he had on me. Even first thing in the morning with his hair a mess. He wore his favorite Green Day shirt and sweatpants. Green day was his favorite band. The shirt was old but no matter how many holes it had; he refused to get rid of it.

In the last couple of days he had put me through so many emotions, hurt and betrayal. I pulled my eyes from him, intent on ignoring him. My mom gave me a curious look before she turned to Adonis, who'd walked into the kitchen and was about to sit down in the chair beside me.

"Lacey wants to find a part-time job," my mom told him. I felt his eyes on me, but I refused to look at him. It was childish, but I couldn't help myself. He'd hurt me and I would not play nice.

"That's great." He stood beside me, and I gave him a stiff nod.

I kept my eyes firmly on my mom as I tried to ignore Adonis beside me. My stomach tightened as I held onto my mug.

"Are you sure it won't increase your stress levels?" my mom asked.

I shrugged. "It might, but I have to do something." I understood my mom's concern, and I didn't want to do anything that would increase the migraines, but I couldn't just do nothing. I would have to learn to deal with my migraines while trying to move on with my life.

Maybe what happened last night had triggered something in me that was ready to move onto the next phase of my life and getting a job was the start of it.

At that moment Alex walked in, stretching as he yawned. It took the attention off me. He gave me a nod as he took the spare seat beside Adonis and my mom offered them coffee.

"So where were you thinking of looking for a job?" Adonis asked, and I wanted to ignore him, but with my mom and brother were watching.

"I haven't decided yet." I kept my answer vague before I studied my mug, refusing to meet his eyes.

Besides, I didn't know why he cared. He'd almost kissed me, and then he'd gone out and gotten a girl's number. Reminding myself about it increased the ache in my heart.

"So what's for breakfast?" Alex asked my mom still half asleep.

"Chocolate muffins." She set a basket of freshly baked muffins in front of us.

The boys grabbed a muffin each and shoved them into their mouths. I rolled my eyes at them. They could be so childish sometimes. My mom just shook her head at them.

My appetite had disappeared, and the muffins didn't look as appealing as they had before. I drank the last of my coffee and got up to put my empty mug in the sink.

"Aren't you going to have one?" my mom asked as I left.

"No, I'll have one later." I gave her a reassuring smile. "Will you give me a lift into town later?"

"Sure," my mom said.

I went upstairs to get ready. Tired of thinking about Adonis and the girl who'd give him her number, I pushed all thoughts of that from my mind and tried to concentrate on where I could go looking for a job. There were a few restaurants in town that I liked to eat at, so maybe I would try there. I'd never worked as a server before but it wasn't rocket science so I should be able to figure it out. I wasn't sure what other options I would have other than that, besides I feeling hopeful.

Later, when I was ready to go, I found my mom in her bedroom folding some washing on her bed.

"Can you give me a lift into town?" I leaned against the doorway, watching my mom.

"I can't today." She shook her head. "I forgot about some stuff I needed to do."

I felt disappointed, especially when I was so determined to organise my life.

"But don't worry, Gray offered to take you." She picked up a shirt and folded it.

"What?" I wasn't sure I'd heard right. I hated how my heart raced just at the mention of his name. Would there ever be a time I would be immune to him?

"Gray said he'll take you."

It stunned me. What the hell was he playing at? I felt resentful he had offered to take me instead of my mom.