Gem in the Rough

Chapter 25

I burst out into laugher at Kieran's words. It's just what was needed to break the tension.

"Well, if you mean talking then yes. The other dirty things have to wait until we aren't in your childhood bedroom. Speaking of that, your dad is seriously okay with us sleeping in the same room?"

"We're adults. He knows I'll be respectful," he shrugs and sits up, swinging his legs over the edge of the bed. He beckons me over to him with his arms open. "But seriously, come here."

I want to put this off as long as possible so I ask if I can change first. He sighs but smiles. He points to my bag and says, "be my guest."

I walk over to the bag and pick out my pajamas, which includes a long shirt and a pair of shorts. Before I can leave the room, I hear Kieran speak.

"One condition though. You have to change in this room. And I'm not looking away."

I grunt in response. "Seriously?"

"Seriously." He's smirking at me now, his arms crossed over his bare chest. I do my best not to stare.

"Fine." I grumble. Kieran smiles like a kid on Christmas now. He tells me to wait and then climbs onto the bed, sitting in the middle with his back against the headboard. He puts his arms behind his head.

"Perfect. Now I'm in the best spot. Continue."

What a perv.

I start to take off my clothes and instead of doing it slowly and seductively like I would usually try to do, I do it clumsily. I'm too nervous to look good changing right now. Still, Kieran seems to be enjoying the view. Once I'm naked, I bring a pair of panties up my legs, and they snap against me lightly. I hear a moan come from the bed and my eyebrow quirks up.

I quickly throw the oversized shirt and pair of shorts on my body and then put my old clothes in a neat pile next to my bag. I take a minute to fold them before stacking them. I turn around and notice Kieran still looking at me.

"You really have to have things organized, don't you?"

I blush.

"I'm not trying to embarrass you. I just want to know about you."

I nod and climb onto the bed with him, sitting in between his spread-out legs. I cross mine, facing him. I entwine my hands together and put them in my lap, trying to keep myself from touching him. If I touch him, talking will not be happening tonight.

I take a deep breath and look into Kieran's eyes, seeing that he's ready to listen to everything I have to say. I try to remember the plan I had told Stacey, about how I want to preface this conversation and being somewhere safe. I guess I feel safe wherever Kieran is, so that takes care of that issue.

"So, I'm nervous and it may seem like I'm making this into a bigger deal than it needs to be, but I don't tell anyone this stuff. Only Alice and Stacey, who is my therapist. I have a lot of things going on in this brain of mine and it gets a little overwhelming. I'm going to go on a long monologue here and I know if I stop, I might stop for good, so if you have any questions you may need to wait until the end."

Kieran nods and goes to touch my hands and I stop him.

"And no touching. Not yet. It's too distracting."

My face reddens at this as Kieran says, "Understandable. I'm ready when you are."

"I guess let's start from the beginning. My mom left when I was three, so I don't remember anything about her. I have like one picture but that's really it. I also have some of her records. My dad rarely talked about her my whole childhood. The only thing he said was that she had a love for music. That's something I've held onto for a very long time, hence my love of music and concerts. That's how that started. My dad has never really given me a reason as to why she left either. He tells me it isn't because of me, that it was their marriage. But how can that be it if she never came back to see me? She never once visited or sent letters or called. I don't know anything about her.