Sparkling Hope (The Eastburgh Devils Series Book 1)

I was already awake with Weston lying behind me with his arm around my waist while he was still sleeping.

I stared at the bracelet with the red heart as a pendant that Weston gave me for my birthday tonight.

How could I not stare at this bracelet with his back number engraved?

It was the most beautiful thing I have ever received as a gift, and nothing would be reason enough for me to take it off.

Unless I would find the confidence to swim again and finally fill the vacant spot in the Eastburgh Sharks because wearing jewelry was forbidden during swim practice, and I would be too afraid to lose the necklace and bracelet in the water.

I swore to myself that I would hate my birthday from now on and live it like any other day. Only, because of Weston, that wasn’t even possible, and I started to enjoy the day after all and not give the negative thoughts any power.

My first thought on my twentieth birthday should be that I got the necklace and bracelet from Weston, and we were officially a couple.

Weston Sinclair, the boy whose name I initially preferred to swap for the word asshole, lay asleep behind me and asked me tonight if I wanted to be his girlfriend.

I turned to him and looked into his sleeping face. His thick black eyelashes, the slightly visible scar on his eyebrow, everything was so perfect about him.

Being around Weston felt so good. He was my best friend, the person I fell more in love with each new day. He brought out the best in me, and Weston was the best thing that ever happened to me.

Sometimes I wondered what my life would be like now if my Dad and I hadn’t had that accident back then.

My parents would have been divorced anyway because they weren’t together anymore before the accident.

Would Mom have moved to Eastburgh with me? I would have lived in a dorm room without her, for sure.

Would Weston and I be right here now if things had gone differently?

‘Stop staring at me like that. That’s creepy,’ Weston muttered with his eyes closed and a grin formed on his lips.

‘It’s not creepy. What’s creepy is that you can tell without having your eyes open.’

‘That’s the sixth sense that comes with having a girlfriend.’

‘Is that so?’ I smiled.

We really were officially together, and last night wasn’t a dream. It was my reality now. Weston was my reality, and this was the most beautiful reality I could have ever imagined.

Weston’s eyes slowly opened and adjusted to the bright light in his room. The sun was shining, and I couldn’t see any clouds in the sky.

‘Happy birthday, Hazel Bug,’ he kissed me on the forehead.

Forever.

‘You already congratulated me,’ I reminded him.

His fingertips ran through my hair, and he tucked them behind my ear. ‘And I’m going to keep doing that all day. Just like I’m going to tell you how beautiful you are every single day.’

I hid my face in the crook of his arm and couldn’t help but allow the broad smile on my lips.

I was so happy.

‘Wes?’

He had closed his eyes again. ‘Huh?’

I sat up straight in bed and tucked the second comforter around me because he always slept with the windows open, no matter what time of year, and after we shared a blanket the first night I stayed with him and he woke up in the morning without a comforter, we got my comforter out of the guest room.

‘Why do you call me Hazel Bug anyway?’

‘Do you always ask so many questions in the early morning?’

‘Maybe.’

Weston opened his eyes and turned onto his back, placing his hand on his naked torso, which slowly rose and fell.

‘Come on, tell me.’ I pressed my finger into the side of his torso.

‘You’re driving me crazy with your curiosity,’ Weston exhaled.

I jumped on his body with my blue and white striped comforter around me.

‘Come on, I want to know,’ I jibed on his pelvis.

 ‘If you keep doing this, we’ll have a whole other problem for you to deal with in a minute.’

‘I won’t stop until you tell me why you call me that,’ I continued to jiggle on his pelvis, tapping my finger on his bare chest to provoke him and find out why he gave me that nickname.

I had been interested in this for a while, and at first, I found it annoying that he called me that, but by now, I felt so special when he called me Hazel Bug.

Weston sat up straight and propped his forearms on the mattress.

‘Don’t play with me, Luna.’ He looked deep into my eyes.

I lifted my pelvis a little and let my hand slide between us, feeling his hard dick through the covers.

‘I don’t think I need to play with you anymore.’

Weston’s chest rose and fell faster as I stroked his hard dick through the fabric. Neither of us broke the eye contact we’d been making since my hand touched his boner.

Suddenly there were two knocks on Weston’s door, but we kept looking at each other.

‘Weston?’ I heard my mother call his name from behind the door.

‘I’d better answer, not that she’ll come in.’

My hand was under the covers by now, and only the thin fabric of his boxers was between my hand and his dick.

‘Just a minute, I’m coming,’ Weston tried to sound as normal as he could.

How ambiguous his answer was.

‘Okay, are you coming down then?’ My mother’s soft voice was heard muffled behind the door.

‘Fuck,’ he whispered, his visible abs tightening.

‘Yeah, I will.’

We listened to my mother’s footsteps until they grew quieter and disappeared altogether.

‘Come on, we need to get up,’ I said happily, taking my hand off his dick and pretending nothing had happened.

I would still find out why he called me that. I stood in the bathroom doorway in one of his t-shirts, leaning my head against the white wood paneled doorframe.

‘Are you done?’ I grinned cheekily.

‘Oh, Luna, believe me, you and I are far from done. You’ve got some finishing to do, and I’ve got to finish what I started in the bathroom yesterday.’

I would love to jump back into bed with Weston and let him do whatever he wanted to me, but for now, I wouldn’t give in, and besides, my Mom would wonder why Weston was taking so long.

I didn’t know to what extent my Mom knew about me and him. After all, Weston had found out my middle name Florence through her.

Florence was my middle name because my parents met in Florence, Italy, at that time.

My favorite country.

Mom was there with her sister for a short trip, and Dad studied there for a semester. When I was a kid, we used to go to Italy to Lake Como.

There was a massive villa at this lake with four towers, where nobody lived in. I was, and still am, so fascinated by this villa and swore as a child to live there one day.

Today I no longer want to live in this villa but somewhere in the mountains between grape plantations.

That was one of my dreams.

I freshened up in the bathroom before changing my pajamas into something neater.

Today at noon was only planned something with my mother and Ethan, and I would dress accordingly shortly before we would go.

The pancake cake with colorful cake candles was the first thing that caught my eye as I came down the stairs, and on the kitchen counter next to the pancake cake was a vase with pink tulips and three gifts.

Nervously, I played with the red heart on my bracelet because I didn’t know how I would react to Mom, Weston, Camilla, and Ethan standing in front of me and sang Happy Birthday, all cheesy.

Well, it was just Mom and Camilla who sang. Weston looked just as confused as I was, and my brother joined us with his looks.

‘Happy Birthday, Luni.’

My Mom ran up to me with her arms wide open and smothered me with a hug, whispering corny stuff in my ear.

‘I love your new jewelry,’ she whispered and smiled at me as we let go of the hug.

Camilla and my brother hugged and congratulated me on my twentieth birthday. As he always was, Mr. Sinclair was away on some business trip or new plans for renovations, and I wasn’t sad about that either.

Mom and I had talked the other day about what I said to Weston’s Dad, and so that I could ease her conscience, despite her agreeing with me, I said that I would apologize to him personally when he was back in Eastburgh.

‘Happy Birthday, Hazel Bug,’ he whispered as we hugged briefly.

He congratulated me for the third time, and after saying that it would go on all day, I was sure that this would not be the last Happy Birthday from Weston.

When Weston and I hugged, my Mom looked at me with a grin, and I was sure she knew about us. Whether Weston asked for my full name conspicuously or not, it was obvious from the look on her face that she knew.

I held my hair to my chest and blew out the colorful, thin candles from the pancake cake. There was Mom’s infamous pancake cake every year for my birthday, and there was no better cake I could have imagined.

It looked the same as every year.

There was white cream between the pancakes and colorful sprinkles and candles on top.

‘Unwrap already,’ Mom clapped her hands and handed me a small gift wrapped in white paper and a pink bow.

I unwrapped the gift, opened the box, and saw a note with  a reservation at my favorite restaurant.

This restaurant was in Italy.

I looked up at Mom and Ethan with widened eyes, and they both grinned broadly at me.

‘We’re going to Italy next year when Ethan and you are having a summer break from college,’ Mom said excitedly, as happy as a little kid to finally share the news with me.

‘Really now?’

‘Mhm,’ my brother nodded.

My cheeks tightened because I was grinning broadly from ear to ear. I hugged them both. ‘Thank you so much.’

‘Now unwrap the next gift,’ Camilla said, pointing to the large box next to the vase of flowers.

I tore the wrapping paper off the box and was met with a three-candle set and a gift card to a furniture store.

‘Rick and I figured since you guys can move into the house next week, candles and a gift card for a furniture shop would fit perfectly,’ she gloated and showed me her perfect teeth with a smile.

At the last sentence, I pulled away from the hug and looked at her and Mom, perplexed.

‘What, we’re moving into the house next week?’

‘Isn’t that great?’

You could tell Mom was excited to finally move into the house. I mean, I was excited too. To finally have my real own four walls and all my stuff back.

A few weeks ago, I couldn’t wait to get out of here but now?

Now I didn’t really want to leave here.

I looked at Weston, and he looked just as shocked as I was.

I couldn’t let it show, but my mood abruptly worsened.

‘Yeah, sounds good,’ I said rather forcedly and forced myself to smile.

The last gift was from Ethan, a pair of socks.

Socks.

The good thing about them was that they were white with red hearts.

‘Weston? Do you have anything for Luna?’ Camilla asked him as she pulled plates out of the cupboard.

‘Uhm…no. I forgot,’ he lied, and I saw him stifle a smile.

‘You’re lucky your Dad isn’t here. He’d be disappointed in you.’

‘I think I should cut the pancake cake,’ I deflected from the subject, and Camilla got a knife to cut the cake.

We sat down at the set dining table, and as we passed, I tapped Weston’s hand, which he held briefly and bowed down to me.

‘I just want you to know I’ve reserved you for tonight. Tonight, you’re all mine.’

‘Mhm,’ I nodded slightly, not looking conspicuous to the others.

This day can be good. Very good, in fact.