His Guilty Pleasure (FIRST DRAFT)

The Hamptons (3)

GABBY

I can't sleep. I've been an insomniac ever since mom left. Maybe it's because she left in the middle of the night. If I don't sleep, no one can leave. Not without me knowing, at least. I stare at the ceiling for a good two hours, lost in thought, before I finally give up on trying to get to the sweet, sweet paradise that is unconsciousness.

I usually sleep in only my underwear, but it was cold tonight, so I put on a flannel top and left it unbuttoned in case I got hot. I'm glad I have it on now, so I'm at least half decent when I go downstairs for a midnight snack. I vaguely remember Janice mentioning some ice cream cookies and I currently want nothing more in the world than to have those cookies inside of my stomach. I don't need to bother tiptoeing because the house is so large no one will hear me in the kitchen anyway. I open the freezer and silently thank God when I see there are two ice cream cookies left. Bless up.

Greedily unwrapping the gooey treat, I stumble to the game room. I plop down on the couch and use the remote to turn on a reality show that I'd never watch if I had Netflix handy. I hear stumbling and freeze. Who goes there? The Hamptons Serial Killer? I don't know if that's a real thing, but it feels real right now. I'm totally about to die.

A man steps out of the shadows and my shoulders slump in relief.

"Kurt!" I hiss at the boy in front of me. I look down and notice he has a joint in his hand. "Take it outside, at least."

"Relax, sis, I'm going to meet a chick I found on Tinder. If anyone wakes up and I'm still not here, can you cover for me? Say I went on a run or something."

I look at Kurt's lanky figure. I guess it could be semi-believable if he weren't a raging pothead.

"Whatever." I shrug. "Hope it's a serial killer."

"Love you too, sis." He calls from behind his shoulder, already halfway out the door. "By the way, nice tits!" The door shuts behind him and I look down, realizing that I left my flannel unbuttoned. I roll my eyes. It's not a big deal, he's my brother. If it had been someone else...

"I heard the word tits. Figured I should come check it out." Leo strolls in, phone in one hand and a beer in the other. When he sees it's me, he halts. "You're not--"

"My sisters?" I fill in the blank for him, realizing he was probably expecting the beautiful Bianca or the sexy Haley.

"--dressed." He finishes, eyes raking my body up and down. I get a sick feeling of satisfaction, knowing that Leo Hamilton of all people is checking me out, but then his face scrunches up like he's disgusted. Must be my fat rolls, go figure they don't turn a guy on! I raise an eyebrow at him. I'm not going to say anything unless he speaks again.

"You look...nice."

"Is that code word for fat?"

"It's code word for nice." Leo takes a few steps toward me, setting his things down on the coffee table and then hesitantly inching towards me. When I don't lash out and bite him like I'm sure he's expecting me to, he sits down on the couch beside me. "When will you learn that my compliments are genuine?"

"When will you learn that I don't want any compliments from you?" I lie. "And do you not remember how you treat me in school? Flabby Gabby? 'Watch out, she's sitting down! Might break the chair!' or 'She's running! Earthquake!' That hurts me, Leo. I'm human. That fucking hurts."

Leo blushes crimson. "I didn't mean any of that. I won't do it again, Gabby. I haven't gotten to know you that much over the past two weeks but from what I know about you...I know you're not as immune to me as you claim you are. It's in the little things, like how you watch me when you think I'm not looking, how you blink three times whenever you first see me, how you bite your lip when you see me shirtless, how your breath catches when I get near you...you might hate me for what I've said in the past, Gabrielle Hampton, but your body doesn't. "