Page 24 of From Me to You

Especially him. I remember how hurt I was over him this whole week. How much power he already held over me. I should try not to get too comfortable with all of them. Because, in the end, people would always leave. I knew my own mother left, and even Grandma left me. Sometimes I was terrified that Aunty M would have enough of me and leave me too.

“Hey, what’s going on in that pretty little head, sweetheart?” Jay cradled my cheek.

“Nothing,” I mumbled. “When is everyone getting here?”

“It will be an hour or so. Let’s get started with your room first.” He caressed my cheek. “Are you sure you are okay?”

“Yes, let’s go upstairs.” I reached for the paint cans and said, “I can help you.”

He took them from my hands. “Just get your cute ass upstairs. I will bring everything up.” He winked.

I blushed. “I am capable of carrying them. I am not a weak girl.”

“No one said you were weak. I don’t want you tripping with the paint cans and making a mess.” He smirked.

I blushed harder. “You are too much.” I really couldn’t argue with him, though. There was actually a huge chance that I might end up doing that. Just this morning, I hit my knee while getting out of my desk at school, so he was right.

“So which shade do you want for your room?” he asked, opening the cans. I looked up to see that he had brought four shades of pink. A bright neon pink. A pale pastel pink. A warm rosy pink. And a cool mauvy pink. I loved all of them, and it was so hard to choose. I was a Libra rising and Libra moon, so decisions were not my strongest skill.

“I love all of them.” I groaned. “Why did you have to buy four of them? I am very bad at making decisions. You pick one for me.”

“I like the rosy pink. I bought it because it is the exact shade of pink on your cheeks when you blush.” He grinned.

Dead. I died. I didn’t think I had blushed harder in my life until he said that sentence.

“There it is.” He pointed to my cheeks.

“Stop making fun of me,” I muttered, bringing my hands to my cheeks to cool it down.

We pushed my bed away from the wall and put an old blanket over it. I placed the rest of my things in my closet.

Jay carried my desk and chair and put them in the corridor outside and then we started painting the walls. Well, actually, it was mostly him painting, and me gawking at how hot he was. He changed into a pair of overalls, unzipped the upper half, and tied the sleeves around his hips. He was just wearing a black tank underneath. I screamed internally. I couldn’t believe he was in my room, painting the walls in my favorite color. Is this what heaven felt like?

“You know it’s going to take all night if you keep staring at me and not painting. Not that I mind spending the whole night here.”

“I am painting,” I mumbled, rolling the paint on the wall.

Soon enough, we were done painting the whole room, and since the room was pretty small, it only took like an hour to paint.

Jay even went back to his home to get a ladder and finish the upper edges that we couldn’t reach.

We opened the windows, letting out some of the fumes as the walls dried. Everyone was already here. Jay assigned Matt, Mike, and Lily to paint the living room. We chose the mauve pink. It was mostly Lily and Matt who were painting while Mike complained on the couch that he was too superior for all this.

Lan and Katy took Aunty M’s room, and we decided on the pastel pink for hers. Aunty M knew me and Jay would be painting the house, but I hoped she didn’t mind that we painted it pink.

After hours of painting, I ordered everyone pizza, which disappeared in the blink of an eye. I guess everyone was hungry.

Jay and I went upstairs after the pizza to assemble my bookshelf. He was currently following the instructions on my bedroom floor while I sat on the bed, eyeing him, pretending to arrange my books from the rest of the boxes.

“I can feel your eyes on me, you know.” He grinned, catching me. I gave up and went to sit next to him on the floor. I watched his hands expertly fix the screw on the board. I loved his hands—they were so big and masculine, the veins stood out against his tan skin. He didn’t say a thing as I watched him put the whole thing together.

We decided to place it near the desk, and I started to arrange the books according to my favorite genre.

“He tied her hands to the bedpost, drawing out a moan from her. He then gripped her hips as he plunged deep, hitting her walls in the right spot.”

Oh, God! I turned back to see him holding open one of my books with a grin on his face. “Give me that.” I tried to grab the book out of his arms. I was mortified.

Jay continued putting the book out of my reach. “She screamed as he took her in hard, deep strokes. It was too much for her, but he didn’t stop.”