L E O N I E

Heath held the back of my head rest as he backed out of my underground parking space.

And no, that was not a sexual innuendo.

He slept over last night. His idea, not mine. Alright, it was mine. But we'd over slept a little bit and if the traffic was shit, he'd be late for his first lecture.

He was going to be driving past school, so I told him that he might as well give me a ride and I would catch a lift home with Bray. There was no other reason for wanting Heath to drive me to school, other than the fact that I wanted to spend more time with him. More time. All the time. I knew I'd be that sort of girlfriend. I mean, I was in the past and it was apparent that I still had that trait. Heath didn't seem to mind.

I watched him pinch his tongue between his full lips. His bicep was flexed and his hair was fluffed, damp after a quick shower. He was devastating. My stomach did some stupid shit whenever I looked at him and appreciated the fact that he was my boyfriend. Swoon.

"Baby," he exhaled a breath and shook his head as he put the car into first and drove through the underground lot. "I can not sleep over during the week. I can't. Apart from the fact that I need to be with Sarah, I'm going to get in the shit if I'm late all the time."

"Sarah was with Alex," I grinned, still watching his strong arms under his fitted T-shirt as he pushed through the gears and merged into the traffic. "And you were the one ignoring the alarm going off on the bedside table."

"Yeah because you woke me up with a blowie," he waved a frantic hand. "Don't get me wrong, I loved it. But I can not make a habit out of this. You're important but—"

"So is school," I nodded, understanding his logic. To be fair, it was one of his most captivating qualities. "Yeah I get it. Fine. No more weekday sleepovers."

He gave me a side on smile and reached across the console so that we could hold hands. This, among a lot of other things, was one of my favourite relationship perks. The hand holding. The couch cuddles. The phone calls. Someone who would join me at eleven at night when I had a craving for fries and needed to go and get some. Last weekend, I got out of bed and found Heath making breakfast in my kitchen. With no shirt on.

We burned the bacon.

"Sarah wanted me to double check that you were still on to meet her at the bridal store this afternoon?" Heath said with his focus on the road. His expression wasn't sour. But it wasn't relaxed. I think he felt a bit weird about the fact that his sixteen year old sister was getting married. Which would be fair in most circumstances. I don't even think that he realised he was doing it.

"Yeah. Wouldn't miss it," I grinned.

We'd booked a private fitting with one of the top designers in Miami. Her dresses were out of this world. Which Sarah deserved. It had to be the best and I'd made sure of that in all of the plans so far. I'd taken on the role of wedding planner. No one asked me to take on that role but I'm both generous and unable sit back and let this happen without my input.

So far we'd settled on a venue, a caterer, a makeup artist, hair stylist and of course, a date. New Year's Day. A new year. A new beginning. A new chapter. Sarah felt that it was appropriate and she was calling the shots. So while there was some disappointment about the fact that we wouldn't be celebrating how we usually would, everyone agreed not to get super ripped on New Year's Eve and spend her wedding in a zombified state.

They then decided to do the drinking at the reception. Whatever. I wasn't even thinking about that. I was a woman on a mission. I promised Sarah and Alex that I would cover all of it. She trusted me to make the right calls on the smaller details and when it came to the big stuff, we decided together.

Heath pulled into the school parking lot and I leaned down, picking up my backpack before I met him halfway for a quick kiss. He kept one hand on the wheel, his elbow on the centre console as I slid out of the car and bent down to smile at him through the open door.

"Need a ride after school?" He asked.

"No. Because the ride I'm thinking of doesn't involve this car."

He bit down on a grin and shook his head.

"No more weekday sleepovers, Heath. Remember?"

He nodded, lips pursed tight and eyes full of amusement as he stared out of his windshield. I had a feeling that he was regretting that new rule already. Especially when I lifted one foot and rested it on the car trim. My skirt slid up my thigh and I tugged on my thigh high socks that I'd decided to wear instead of stockings.

He inhaled a deep breath and gripped the steering wheel tighter. "How long have you got until you're meant to be in class?"

"You'll be late," I teased and bent over a little further so my school blouse exposed my cleavage.

"I don't care. I'm two seconds from taking you in this parking lot."

My stomach turned over. But before I could get back in the car, a hand slapped my shoulder and suddenly Bray was right beside me, leaning down so that he could wave at Heath who had turned red. "Can't do that," he laughed. "Sheridan is watching you two like a hawk."

I slapped him in the chest for scaring the hell out of me and then snapped my head up, searching the parking lot until I indeed saw our principal standing at the bottom of the building stairs. She was greeting students with a polite smile but her gaze continued to zero back in on where I was leaning on the car door with arousal between my legs. Dammit.

"Okay," I sighed and bent down again to talk to Heath. "I'll call you later. Get out of here before that old bitch gives us both a detention."

He laughed. "I'm not a student here."

"Do you think she cares?"

He shook his head with a light chuckle and I blew him a kiss before I closed his door. Bray and I started towards the school and he slung an arm around my shoulder. "Who's better in the sack? Me or Heath?"

"Your mom."

"Ooh. Avoiding the answer. Must be me."

"It's Heath you goon. And that's not biased. Learn your angles, Mr Jackhammer."

His brows pulled together and he frowned as if he was deep in thought over where he'd gone wrong. No doubt Jess would be in for a good time next time they were alone while he attempted to redeem himself. We passed Sheridan and I had planned on doing so without engagement. But no such luck.

"Leonie." She might have been frowning if her face moved. Still, her hands were behind her back. This wasn't a warm morning hello. "Care to explain who the older man in that car was?"

"My pimp."

Ooh her face twitched. There was definitely a frown under all of that Botox. Bray laughed beside me and we were about to continue on our way until she stopped me again.

"You'd do well to be mindful of the company that you keep while your mother is in London. I have her new number."

This time, I frowned. Was she for real? Well duh, of course. The woman wouldn't know what humour was if I slapped her in the face. Because duh, I'm hilarious.

"Go on and call her," I scoffed. "She knows my man. And she thinks he's fantastic. Because he is. For real. Call her."

I didn't bother waiting for a response. My personal life had nothing to do with school and I definitely didn't have to explain or defend myself. I was sort of hoping that she did call mom. In fact, just thinking about how that conversation would go, made me laugh.

Bray and I split off and headed to our home rooms. Jess was seated and waiting, reading her phone while she twisted a piece of hair around her finger. Amy was in the desk in front of her, staring out of the window with a contemplative look. She was such a bitch sometimes but I still felt for her.

"You good?" I stood beside her desk and raised a brow.

She startled, like I'd snapped her out of thoughts. "Yeah. I'm fine."

In the last two weeks, there had been a noticeable change in our group. Amy didn't sit with us at lunch. Ethan did though. I asked her to join us every single day but she had excuses. Or plans with her club or whatever. From what I knew, Ethan had spent both weekends with her. They were attempting to make an effort but she still seemed miserable. And he seemed distant. From her at least.

"I have known you for a super long time. Your sad. I have ears. Unload."

She pushed her shoulder length hair off her face and sighed. "I think Ethan is talking to another girl." Her lip quivered. Like she was fighting back tears. "I wouldn't say that he's cheating. But I think that he's like, confiding in someone else."

I didn't believe it for a second.

"What makes you think that?"

She shrugged. "He's just using Snapchat so much more now. There's a female contact on there that I don't recognise. He seems sort of distracted. I dunno."

"Did the female contact have streaks next to it? Or a smiley face?"

She stared down at her desk top and fiddled with her fingers. "No. I don't think so."

"You shouldn't be snooping. This is what I was talking about with the trust thing," I said, stern. I wasn't sugar coating shit. "But it'd be obvious if there was a lot of conversation going on. So don't stress. It's probably just a contact. I have tons of Snapchat contacts that I never actually talk to."

"Yeah I guess."

"You both need to do yourselves a favour and let go," I lowered my voice as our homeroom teacher walked in with a hot coffee in one hand and the roll in the other. "You're hanging on to something that doesn't exist. Just— let go."

She didn't respond, so I sat in the seat beside Jess and looked over to find her wincing at me. It was nothing that she hadn't said behind her back. So I shrugged and dropped my backpack on the ground.

The teacher started rollcall and I quickly remembered an important question that I'd had earlier. I wasn't sure what her answer would be considering her complicated relationship status, but I leaned forward and tapped her on the shoulder.

"Are you still doing secret Santa with us this year?"

Alex came and picked Sarah and I up after we were done at Ever After. The bridal store where high end couture dresses were designed and sold. She had no idea that we were going somewhere that sold the likes of Carolina Herrera, Vera Wang and Oscar de la Renta. Her objections died off once she stepped out of the fitting room with soft as silk material draping down her frame.

The dress that she'd settled on was almost perfect. But the seamstress and Sarah went back and forth on a few alterations that could be made to ensure that it was perfect. She had a final fitting just before Christmas and Jazz would go with us then. I couldn't wait for her to get a peep. Of course, that would mean more tears. But we could live with that. Personally, I hadn't seen someone cry so much since Claire Danes was in. . . well— anything.

We walked into the house and Sarah listened as I went over a few recent details that I'd organised. "The invitations arrived and I—"

"Invitations?" Sarah laughed, heading straight for the kitchen with Alex trailing along behind her. "There aren't a lot of people coming. I can do a group text."

"Not a chance," I hung back at the threshold and watched the love birds pulling ingredients out of the fridge. Alex swept his fringe back and chuckled when I defended my right to send out cute invites. "We're doing the entire experience girl. Remember. Just like you wanted."

"I don't not want it," she laughed. "I just know how much work you're already putting into this. You can skimp on details if it lightens the workload."

"Trust me, it's not too much."

Alex pointed a carrot at me. "Have you finished that paper on the cells and nerves? We also have that History paper due. The one on—"

"Leonie," Sarah leaned on the countertop and sighed. She looked disappointed for a moment. Like a mom that was about to go into full on lecture mode about keeping up my grades. But then she straightened up and smiled. "Babe, let Leonie copy your homework."

Alex frowned but I could see his smile fighting to come through. I was about to tell him to do one better and do the homework for me. But a light girl's laughter came from Heath's bedroom and I went rigid. Alex and Sarah looked curious but also wore the expression of 'that's none of my business.'

I spun around, too fast obviously because it made my stomach lurch for a moment. Of course, that might have had something to do with female voice drifting out from the gap of my boyfriend's bedroom. I lightly kicked the bottom of the door so that it swung open and found two surprised faces looking back at me.

Admittedly, Heath looked happy to see me. He was sitting at his desk with a soft smile. Adorable. But the girl standing beside his desk, with her dark red brown curls and big green eyes was giving me irrational bouts of envious rage. I took a deep breath and tried to recall something that I'd read on a Pinterest quote about not being a psychotic bitch because it's not cute. Or some shit.

"Hi," I said through a clenched jaw and a smile so wide that I probably looked like I stepped straight out of that damn Truth or Dare movie. I'd let them explain before I assumed. That was an example of stability. "What's happening?"

Heath stood up and walked toward me. "Hey," he put his hand on my lower back and gave me a sweet kiss. He made my knees weak. With a casual wave of the arm, he gestured at the girl who gave me a small smile. "This is Bianca. She's in one of my study groups. She just came to collect some lecture notes that she missed yesterday."

"Hey, you just be Leonie," she stepped forward, all long legs and perfect teeth. However, the fact that she knew who I was squashed some of my irrational rage.

I shook her hand. "Yeah that's me. I like your teeth."

Her brows shot up. "Uh. Thanks?"

"Do you whiten them?"

"No," she touched her mouth and looked to Heath who still had his arm around me. He smiled.

"Huh," I nodded. "Nice."

Suddenly, the front door slammed shut and Heath peered out into the living area when a deep voice started hollering for him. Bianca rolled her eyes and slipped past me just as a tall beef cake appeared in the doorway.

"Well hello." Dude scanned the room with obvious intrigue. "Busy man, Heath. How's it going B? You're looking beautiful."

"Eat it, Damien," she snapped and pushed past him, smacking him in the arm with her binder. 

Damien followed her with his eyes and let out a low whistle. "If you insist."

She was gone but we heard her call from the living area. "See you later, Heath." The front door slammed shut again.

Damien chuckled and turned around, folding his arms and leaning on the door frame. "She wants me."

"She doesn't," Heath laced his fingers with mine and wandered back towards his desk chair where he sat and pulled me into his lap. "She was picking up lecture notes. She couldn't make class yesterday because the person who babysits her kid was sick."

"She has a kid?!" Damien gawked. I shared his shock.

"Yeah a two and a half year old."

"Is the Dad around?" 

I felt Heath shake his head. "Hasn't been around at all. She's on her own."

Damien nodded with a grin so gross that I wanted to slap him. "Nice. MILF. I've always wanted to cross that off my bucket list."

"You know what I've always wanted to cross off my bucket list," I interrupted. "Murder."

Damien recoiled.

Heath's chest rumbled with laughter behind me and he pressed a quick kiss on my shoulder. "What are you doing here, Damien?"

I'd been trying to figure out how I knew this human when it clicked. He'd tried to shoot his shot at Jade's months ago but I'd turned him down. And then he'd said something about not wanting to mess with a girl whose boyfriend was in the Navy anyway. It was to save face. But I had no idea that he knew Heath.

"I know you," I pointed at him before he could answer Heath. Pieces were coming together. I twisted in my seat so that I could see my man's curious stare. "Did you tell Damien that I had a boyfriend in the navy?"

"He sure did," Damien laughed while Heath fixed me with a guilty grin. "Probably worried that we'd have a good time if I knew you were single."

"We wouldn't have," I countered with a flat tone. "Single or not. It would never have happened."

He shifted with a light laugh. "Yeah well. You'd say that now."

"Nope. I said it back then too. You're not my type."

I felt Heath's forehead lean against my back while he shook with laughter. I wasn't being funny. I was being dead serious.

He cleared his throat and looked past me at Heath. "Anyway. I came to ask if you want to go and grab a beer? We haven't caught up in a while."

I stood up and turned around, pressing a kiss to Heath's curious smile. "Go on. I'll get Sarah's fiancé to give me a ride home."

"Excuse me?" Damien stood up off the door frame. "Fiancé?"

"Yeah, she's getting married." Heath scratched his head. I adored how perplexed he always looked when he talked about the fact that his baby sister was getting hitched. "To Leonie's friend, Alex. Good dude."

Damien let out a breath and propped his hands on his hips. "Well shit. All grown up huh? Do I get an invite."

"I'd assume so," Heath looked to me. "Sarah's written the invite list. Leonie's taking care of the arrangements."

He shot me a wide grin and if it were up to me, I'd be telling him hell no. Bastard. But it wasn't up to me. So I gave him a sarcastic smile back and started to leave again. However, Damien looked at me like he had another question.

"Can I have a plus one invite?"

"To bring who?" Heath asked.

"Bianca."

Heath stood up to walk me out, his laughter loud. "Good luck with that dude."

I smiled and shrugged a shoulder. "Sure. As long as Sarah gives it the all clear. You can bring a plus one." I liked the idea of him getting rejected.