Suddenly Sunny

Rollercoaster

The family lets me settle down in a room at the end of the hall upstairs and I take a nap. The dream returns. This time we're acting like a couple. It's weird. I hear Rowan calling for me from downstairs and I perk up.

"Coming!" I holler down to her.

"Help me cook!" She hollers back.

I help Rowan cook dinner and the little girl comes stomping into the kitchen.

"Mom, Sunny still hasn't asked my name and you haven't told me why she's here." She crosses her arms and scowls.

Rowan just laughs and shoos her out of the room. We set the table and I catch a glance of Kai as he comes in the front door, covered in sweat. His white t-shirt is sticking to his chest and it's almost see-through. I feel my face heat up and turn around pretending to grab another plate. I don't hear what Rowan is saying to him and just squeeze my eyes closed.

When I open them, I see a large hand with long fingers resting on the plate mine is resting on. I gulp and start to step back, only to bump my back into a hard chest behind me.

"Mom told me to help and you wouldn't move out of the way." His voice is low and deep. His breath is warm against the tip of my ear.

"Oh, uh, sorry." I turn to move, but he doesn't budge.

I find myself touching his warm, sweaty chest and I look up at his face. He has a smile that looks almost evil. As if, he's thinking of something dirty. It makes me feel weird, so I duck under his arm and move away from him.

He just laughs and places the plates and cups on the table. I watch his large hands gently set down fragile, glass plates. My mind begins to wander and this hunger fills me all the way to my core. I shiver and continue making sure everything is ready for dinner.

Rowan comes back into the room and smiles.

"Okay, let's sit down. Eli, Natalia, Levi, dinner!!" I watch as they all come rushing into the kitchen to sit at the table.

One big happy family that I've infiltrated. I sit in the chair in front of me and watch the family laugh and tell each other about their day. I smile at Eli when he looks at me, but inside, I'm missing the way my family used to be. I feel a tear escape my eye and I swipe it away.

A large hand rests on my thigh and squeezes.

"You okay?" Kai looks at me, concerned.

"I'm fine. Just ready for bed," I look at Rowan, "Thanks for letting me cook with you." I get up and put the food in the dog bowl for their husky before putting my plate and silverware in the sink.

I head upstairs to my room and sit on the bed, glaring at my cell phone in my hand. Then, I call my dad.

*ring ring*

"Hey, Sunny. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, Dad."

"Well, what's up? It's 10pm, shouldn't you be getting ready for bed?"

"It's 8pm here, Dad. We're two hours behind you."

"Oh, yeah. I forgot. Is everything going okay?"

"Yeah, I just wanted to say goodnight."

"Okay, good night, Sunshine. I love you."

"I love you too."

The phone goes silent as he hangs up and I lay back on the bed. The tears threatening to roll down my cheeks suddenly start overflowing and I'm a blubbering mess. I lay there, crying for a few minutes before I hear a knock at the door.

"Sunny, can I come in." Kai says quietly through the door.

*sniffle* "Yeah." I hear my voice break a little and violently wipe away my tears and snot.

The door opens and he steps in with a sweet, sad smile. He sits next to me on the bed and pulls something out of his pocket. I look down at his hands and see something I haven't seen in forever.

"Mr. Hops!!" I smile at him and snatch the fluffy brown bunny from his hands.

"I found him behind the old playhouse a few months ago. He sat there for 12 years." He's picking at his nails as he talks.

I glance at the face that used to be so dorky and see a tint of red on his tanned skin.

"You just left the playhouse alone since that day?" I try to see his eyes under the hair falling in front of his face.

"Yeah. I had no one to play with and the other kids at school were afraid of me because of who my dad is. By the time Natalia was born I was already 11. I had a couple of friends at that point and as the years went on, I was always going to parties and being invited to everything."

"It probably had something to do with your looks." My eyes widen as I realize what I said.

He looks me in the eyes and smiles his dorky smile from ear to ear. The lip rings make his smile sexy, though. I try to look away, but I can't.

"You think I'm cute?" His smile turns devious.

I stand up from the bed and take the bunny to the bedside table.

"I didn't say that. I mean, you're definitely attractive. I was just saying I'm pretty sure the reason why you suddenly gained popularity is because you hit puberty and that made you tall, physically...fit, and just attractive. Also, the piercings and the tattoos you try to hide help it along. You should cut your hair if youre not wanting to look even more like a bad boy. Girls love bad boys...." My breath catches in my lungs when I feel him pressed against me like he was earlier.

"You ramble a lot." He says, barely above a whisper.

I turn to face him and I barely have room to press my palms against his chest. I back up a bit and find myself partially sitting on the table behind me.

"I ramble when I'm nervous." My voice trails off.

"So, I make you nervous?" He looks at me like he's imagining a million other ways to torture me.

"Yes." My voice is breathy and my hands slide up his chest to clasp around his neck.

He closes the gap.

"Good. You should be nervous." He pulls my hands off his neck and leaves the room.

I sit there for a moment wondering what the f**k just happened. I grab my bunny and squeeze him into my chest. I rest my head on him and and breathe in deeply. He smells like Kai. Weird. He said he found him a few months ago, he never said anything about keeping it close to him all the time. That's the only reason it would smell like him.

What game is he playing?

Today has been a rollercoaster of emotions.