Our Secret Moments (Drayton Hills Series)

CAT

I’M USUALLY PRETTY good at following through with my word. When I say I’m going to do something, nine times out of ten, I actually do it. Like with my dad, I’ve managed to sit through more than one conversation with him since the day at the hospital. We’ve come to some sort of normal and when he calls me, my stomach doesn’t drop anymore.

The situation with Nora is a whole other thing. Something is telling me that she purposely tried to busy herself so she wouldn’t see me today. After we had breakfast together this morning, she was in the happiest mood I’ve ever seen before she slipped through the door to set up her boyfriend’s party. I swear this girl falls more and more in love with him every day and I love it for her. I just hope that she’ll understand where I’m coming from when I tell her.

That’s if I can find her again.

One thing about Nora Bailey? She will never stay in one place for long.

Connor and I met at the party and he’s not left my side since. We’ve scanned every room in the giant house, walking in on more than one person fooling around and getting hit in the face with the gross smell of vapes.

When we push open another door to a group of twenty-somethings and still don’t see her, I turn back down the corridor, frustrated. Connor’s hot behind me, jogging to keep up with me. I brush my hair out of my face in defeat.

“I’m going to tell her,” I mutter to myself. Saying it aloud means I can’t chicken out, right?

“You’re going to tell her,” he repeats back to me, slinging his arm around my shoulder as we continue walking down the corridor. My hands are shaking just from the anticipation. It shouldn’t be a big deal. It isn’t a big deal.

“Yep. Me… You… We are going to tell her.”

He leans down, his mouth hovering over my ear. “Are you sure?” he asks.

“Yeah, I can’t keep hiding this from her.”

“Okay,” he murmurs, “As long as it’s soon, because I want to PDA all over you. You look fucking stunning tonight.”

I don’t think I’ll ever get used to the way Connor talks about me. I don’t think I want to. With every word that comes out of his mouth, I feel like I’m melting. He says the sweetest things so casually, validates my feelings without doubt and he’s just there.

“You’re not too bad, yourself,” I mutter, looking up at him. He shakes his head before pressing a kiss to my temple. We continue walking and I still can’t spot her. “Do you have any idea where she could be?”

He shakes his head. “No clue. She’s been here all morning, so she should be around here somewhere. Maybe she went back to your dorm to change.”

I bark out a laugh. “I think you’re forgetting she’s a theatre major. She can pull off a good outfit change wherever she is. She wouldn’t need to go home to do that.”

He hums. “True.” When we walk back into the living room where most of our friends are, he leans down to whisper. “Hey, just relax, okay? When we see her, we’ll talk. For now, just have fun.”

CONNOR

There is nothing sexier than Catherine rolling her eyes at me. She’s going to start to stress me out if she doesn’t stop worrying about Nora. We’re meant to be here having a good time since neither of us are busy.

I’m not necessarily here to celebrate the birthday boy. He’s good enough to Nora as far as I’m aware, but he’s not my favourite guy on the planet. He’s not made any effort to be a part of our friend group and I’ve never pushed him either. I’m perfectly fine with the distance between us.

My friends are the ones who argue on the floor in the living room aggressively arguing over whatever game they’re playing. Wes, Sam, Oli and some other guys from the team are sitting in a circle, an empty beer bottle in the middle as a few girls sit between the guys. I slip my hand from around Cat’s shoulder as we walk further in, trying to see what’s going on.

“What are you guys playing?” I ask.

Wes’s smile doubles as he looks up. “I honestly don’t know. We’re just spinning the bottle and picking up a card from this pack Sam has.”

I hum in response. “Sounds fun. Can we join?”

“Of course you can,” Wes coo’s. When I take a seat next to him, I flick him in the head as Cat settles beside me. “There’s spare spots anyway. Archer’s away brooding because he had to kiss Elle, but she said no.”

Catherine chokes next to me. “She said no? Why would she say no? I mean, respectfully, Archer is gorgeous.”

Everyone in the circle laughs. As much as he’s a broody motherfucker who doesn’t like to talk to anyone, everyone knows he’s model-level good looking. He’s built like a giant, too. I’ve tried to convince him to try out for the football team, or even the hockey team, but he sticks to his history books and one-liners.

“You hear that, Connie boy?” Wes mocks, leaning into me. “She said he’s gorgeous. How do you feel about that?”

“I don’t feel anything, Wesley,” I mutter. Catherine shuffles beside me, bringing her hand to my back where no one else can see it.

“He’s got nothing on you, Connor. Don’t worry,” she mutters, pressing a kiss to my shoulder.

I lean back into her, keeping my voice as quiet as possible whilst everyone around us talks loud. “I know, baby. He’s not the one who can make you scream the way I do.” Her breath hitches and I shuffle forward away from her, linking my hands together. “Alright. Let’s play.”

For the most part, the game is a good distraction. Instead of worrying about what my sister is going to say when she finds out, we’re too caught up with the way Wes changes the rules of the game every few minutes for his own benefit.

I have to painfully watch Oliver awkwardly make out with some girl called Chelsea. I’m getting the idea that he’s never made out with anyone before because each time someone has to make out with another person his whole body cringes. I can’t wait for the day some girl changes his life and he stops getting so uneasy at the idea.

When it’s Cat’s turn to spin the bottle, I should have known something ridiculous would be about to happen since Wes is suspiciously shuffling the cards. And of course, the bottle points right at me. She looks up at me, a mischievous smirk hanging on her lips.

“Oh, fun,” Wes chirps, beaming at the two of us as he reads the card in his hand. “You two have to recreate a sex position. Cowgirl.”

“Perfect,” Cat mutters, easily moving in front of me until she presses her hands to my shoulder, my back pressing into the edge of the sofa. She climbs into my lap, no questions asked, subconsciously rubbing herself against me. I bite the inside of my cheek to suppress my groan. “How long do we have to do this for?”

Wes lets out a cough when she moves again in my lap, her hands tightening around my neck. “Two minutes.”

She meets my gaze, a challenge and a fire in her eyes. “Shouldn’t be too hard, should it, sweetheart?” I murmur, bringing my mouth as close to hers without kissing her. She wets her bottom lip, the motion so simple and sexy my cock throbs.

“Are you sure you should be thinking about anything hard whilst your dick is pressing into me,” she mutters back. She rolls her hips slowly. So fucking slow. Everything else in the room disappears and she becomes all that I see. There’s something so erotic about the fact they have no idea about the two of us and we’re doing this more than just for the sake of the game. Her body moulds with mine perfectly.

“Don’t act like you’re not enjoying it,” I argue, dropping my head back to get a better look at her. Her beautiful curls are framing her face, the purple corset top she’s wearing begging me to see what’s underneath.

She’s good at pretending that I don’t affect her, but sometimes the pleasure takes over and she can’t help it anymore. I grip onto her hips and pull her into me again, her core contacting my dick.

Her head falls to the crook of my neck when my nails dig into her hips, rolling her over me once more. “Connor…” She whimpers and I swear I almost lose my fucking mind. Her voice is so quiet, but if someone tried hard enough, they could hear her.

“Shh, baby,” I whisper. “You don’t want people to hear how sweetly you say my name, do you?”

I don’t get to see her reaction before Wes’s shrill voice brings us both back to the moment. We’re in a room full of people, basically dry humping like it’s a completely normal thing to do. Well, at parties like these, I guess it is. What’s not normal is my sister suddenly appearing in the middle of the circle.

Wait.

What?

Cat stumbles out of my lap, quickly jumping to her feet when she sees Nora staring at the two of us and at Wes. Her eyebrows are knitted with confusion, her cheeks red. Not a sweet red that she gets from watching her favourite movie, but one filled with anger.

“Nora, hi,” Cat says, her voice way too high pitched. Nora doesn’t look at her, though, she’s looking right at me. Twin telepathy has never worked for us, but with the way she’s looking straight through me right now I’m having second thoughts. “We were just—”

“Playing the game, right?” Her voice is sharp as her gaze snags on Wes who is shuffling the cards, whistling like a fucking idiot as if he can’t see what’s happening. She nudges him with her foot, completely ignoring my existence. “Hey, I need you.”

What the fuck is going on?

Wes peers up at her before looking around him. He points to himself. “Me? What for?”

My sister rolls her eyes. “Does it matter?” She reaches out a hand to him. “Just get up.”

He slips his hand in hers. “Yes, boss,” he mutters, standing to his feet. He lets her pull him out of the circle, but Cat goes after them and I do too.

“Nora, can we talk for a sec?” she chokes out, gripping onto Nora’s arm.

“About what? I’m kinda busy, Cat. You know, with the party and Ryan and everything,” she whispers. My sister’s smile softens and I can tell how much it’s killing Cat not to say anything. There’s a time and place for everything. Cat lets go of her arm and Nora and Wes walk away.

The rest of the party is as boring as ever. I don’t mean to talk down my sister’s party-making skills, but since she disappeared, we haven’t been enjoying ourselves. Elle has stuck with me and Catherine for most of the night, but by the time it gets to midnight, we’re all ready to go home.

As we walk to the door, I spot Wes standing in the middle of the kitchen, his fingers hovering over his mouth. What has this idiot done now? Cat and Elle follow behind me as I make my way over to him, already knowing something stupid is going to come out of his mouth.

“Hey, Wes. Where did you and Nora go?” Cat asks, leaning against the counter. He doesn’t say anything, he just keeps his fingers pressed to his lips.

I shake his shoulders. I swear he should have majored in theatre instead of football because this guy is the most dramatic person I’ve ever met. He knows how to create suspense when none is needed. We’re in a sweaty house with shitty music playing and we want to leave, but of course he has to give an Oscar-worthy performance before telling us where my sister went.

“Wesley,” I press. He blinks, snapping out of his trance. His eyes connect with mine and he looks like he’s seen a ghost. “Where’s my sister?” I ask. He opens his mouth and before he can say something stupid, I stop him. “If she’s having sex with her boyfriend, please don’t tell me. You can just say she’s gone to the bathroom.”

He swallows. “She went back to her dorm. I think– I think something just happened. I can hardly think straight.”

“How long ago did she leave? Did she take a car, or what?” I quiz. There’s always been unwritten rules in our friend group that we don’t just disappear when we go to a party together. We always need to know where each other are if it’s late. “She can’t walk alone in the dark.”

“Yeah,” Elle agrees, “Didn’t Ryan go with her?”

“No.”

“Okay, well, we’re going to see if we can catch up with her. She’s been off all night,” Cat says, linking her arm in Elle’s. Before I can tell them both to be safe and to call me if they need anything, they’re already walking out the door.

I turn back to face Wes who is still as slack jawed as he was when we first came in here. “What have you done?”

He gasps. “Me? I’ve not done anything. It’s her boyfriend you should be worried about.”

“What the fuck does that mean?” He shrugs. I run my hands across my face, tilting my head up to the ceiling. “Come on. Get your jacket. We’re going.”

“Going where?”

“Where do you think?”

She can try to run away from her problems all she wants and she can hate me for all I care, but I’m not going to leave her alone to sulk whilst the party she planned goes on without her.