Chapter Seven

Ebony’s eyes widened with shock as her gaze focused on the sole individual in Jay’s room. “Oh my gosh!” She exclaimed, quickly squeezing her eyes shut, but not before she had gotten a full view of Jay hurriedly pulling on his dark blue jeans. “I’m so sorry, Jay.”

No matter how hard she tried, however, she could not get the amazing image of Jay’s naked torso and his adorable Scooby Doo boxers. She quickly made a mental note to tease him about those at a less uncomfortable time.

“Geeze, Ebony.” Jay frowned, walking over to where she still stood at his doorway, her eyes firmly clamped shut. “Don’t you knock? Anyway, you can open your eyes now.”

Ebony slowly cracked open one eye and saw Jay standing before her, an amused expression on his face. She couldn’t help but notice that he was still shirtless, but she supposed he thought that he had covered himself up enough.

“Uh, sorry about that.” Ebony gulped, looking down, studying the pattern in the floor rug. “I, uh, didn’t think you were in here.”

“Why else would the door be locked?” Jay looked at her curiously, completely comfortable without his shirt on.

“Well,” Ebony found it difficult to keep her off Jay’s extremely toned chest muscles and arms. “I, uh, thought Ved might be in here.”

“Ved?” Jay scratched his head, looking at her curiously. “Why would he be in my room?”

Ebony shrugged, suddenly feeling really rather foolish. “Well, I thought I heard you come out of your room this morning shortly before me. So I went downstairs and started talking to Grandmum, then she told me that Ved was missing and she and I were alone in the house, and well, I thought that maybe Ved had gone into your room or something…” She finished lamely.

Jay stared at her, his dark eyes unblinking. “So you thought Ved was in my room.” He chuckled a little. “So you come kicking in my door?”

“Uh, yeah.”

“Geeze, Ebony.” He shook his head, his shoulders shaking with silent laughter. “You’re too much for me.”

Ebony felt her cheeks go crimson. “I’m sorry about your door.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Jay grinned, turning away from her to grab his black tee shirt that was laying on his bed, giving Ebony a full view of his equally chiseled back. Ebony sucked in her breath and quickly turned away, blushing all the way.

“So, is breakfast ready yet?” Jay inquired, completely oblivious to Ebony’s discomfort.

“I, uh, don’t know.” Ebony hurriedly told him as she began to walk down the hall, her cheeks still flaming. “I’ll, uh, see you later.”

After a rather long and uncomfortable breakfast consisting of just Ebony and Jay, she spent the majority of the rest of the day in her bedroom, working on her school studies. Both Jared and Elaine had been summoned shortly before breakfast to the county jail. Apparently some police officers had picked up both Josh and Ved sometime early that morning.

Ebony let out a heavy sigh, sitting Indian style on her bed, glancing down at her maths homework., but she found her mind far too easily distracted by thoughts of the handsome young bloke just down the hall – he too was supposed to be working on his schoolwork.

After the amusing and rather humiliating incident that morning, Jay had acted completely comfortable and relaxed around her, but he had not once mentioned their rather passionate kiss the night before. Ebony found that she couldn’t think of much else.

“What is your deal, Jay?” She murmured softly, looking down at her homework and for the first time noticing that she had spelled his name out several times over. “I just wish I could get inside your head and see what you’re thinking.”

Ebony closed her eyes and laid back against her pillow, allowing her mind to freely travel down the path she had been forbidding it to go down for weeks. She was infatuated with Jay. She couldn’t deny it any longer. But it was deeper than infatuation. She wouldn’t call it love, but there was more than just the physical lust (though there was plenty of that).

Ever since their argument in The Wood she had been obsessing over him. Watching his every move, trying to hear every word he spoke between the lines. It had begun to frustrate her more than anything had been able to frustrate her before. She had even stopped thinking about her old friends and what her old friends were doing, she was so consumed with Jay.

“Argh!” She suddenly exclaimed, clenching her hands into fists. “Obsessing over him is not going to solve anything.”

Ebony swiftly jumped to her feet and hurried out of her room, intent on confronting Jay with his strange actions as of late. Ebony stomped out of her room, but hesitated outside Jay’s door. The doorknob was still broken from her morning’s escapades.

Ebony summoned all her courage and knocked on his door three sharp rapid knocks. She heard him stirring on the other side and waited with baited breath for him to answer the door.

“You knocked this time.” He chuckled, opening the door, a grin on his face.

“Uh, yeah. Can I talk to you for a minute?” Ebony inquired, pushing past him, not waiting for a reply.

“Sure.” Jay shook his head, turning around so he could face her. He quickly closed the door, but obviously did not lock it. “What’s up Ebony?”

“I need to know about last night.” Ebony stated, locking eyes with him. “I need to know what it meant to you.”

“Last night?” Jay frowned, scratching his head. “What are you talking about?”

“Last night. When you came into my room.” Ebony scowled; annoyed that he would try and play stupid with her. She was much better at it. “Don’t tell me you don’t remember.”

Jay stared at her, a puzzled expression on his face. “I’m sorry, Ebony. I have no idea what you’re on about. Are you feeling alright? You look a little, uh, flushed.”

“Of course I’m not alright!” Ebony exclaimed. She was frustrated. She was beyond frustration. “I need to know what you meant by coming into my room last night and kissing me!”

Jay blanched, all the color draining from his face. “Wh-what?” He gasped, his voice a hoarse whisper.

“Don’t play dumb with me, Jay.” Ebony scowled, pacing back and forth in front of him. “You came into my room last night, talked to me for a moment and then suddenly you kissed me. You are not going to stand there and tell me that didn’t happen.”

Jay frowned, looking away from Ebony’s demanding gaze. “Ebony, I have to be honest with you. I don’t remember that happening.”

“So are you saying I made that all up?” Ebony spat, her eyes narrowing. “Because I know what happened, and I’m not going to let you stand there and lie to me.”

“I’m not saying that it didn’t happen, Ebony, it’s just…” Jay trailed off, his dark brown eyes looking far, far away. “It’s just, well, there’s a lot about me that you don’t know and can’t understand. And I can’t ask you to. I’m really sorry if I bothered you last night. I promise, it won’t happen again.” He finished sadly.

Ebony stared hard at him, a little taken aback but still very confused and annoyed. “Jay, you’re not talking sense.”

“I know I’m not, Ebony.” Jay turned and looked away, his face forlorn. “And I wish I could explain, but I can’t. I really can’t. I’m sorry.”

“What do you mean you can’t, Jay?” Ebony asked, this time her tone much softer and understanding. She couldn’t stay angry with him, not when her words had affected him this deeply.

“I-I, I just can’t, Ebony. You’ll have to trust me on this one.” Jay murmured. “Please.”

Ebony nodded, swallowing hard, though she didn’t really understand his words. But she found that she could trust him, that she had to. “Okay.”

“Good.” Jay stepped closer to her, less than a foot away, still towering above her. “Thank you, Ebony.” He whispered softly, then suddenly he lowered his head and softly brushed his lips against hers, holding them for one tender moment. “Thank you.”