Thirty-Six

Celina rolled over in the morning, slowly coming awake. The sunlight was pouring through the cracks in the blinds, leaving narrow lines of light along the baby blue comforter. She rolled over to find that Shelton was gone, a piece of paper on the pillow.

Celina, gone to get coffee. Will be back. Afterwards, we need to talk. Shelton.

She groaned and laid back on the pillow. She knew what Shelton wanted to talk to her about. She kissed him last night...and he seemed to enjoy it. A small smile crossed her face as she remembered the way his hand felt on the back of her head as their lips connected. She hadn't felt that kind of a spark in a long time. Sure, she had felt something for Reid. But the honest truth was that she didn't really feel all that comfortable telling Reid about things going on in her life. With Shelton, she almost felt like they were the best of friends, that nothing was too taboo between the two of them. She put a hand on her forehead. She was terrified. What if Shelton didn't want a relationship with her? What if she had just ruined everything, made things complicated?

The door opened and she propped herself up on her elbows to see Shelton make his way into the room, a box of donuts in one hand and coffees in the other. He kicked the door shut with his foot. Celina went to get out of bed and help him, but he motioned for her to stay put. Last night had thrown him for a loop, but he wasn't about to deny that he hadn't thought about kissing Celina. Hell, he was tempted to take things further with her the night before, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. Celina had been drunk anyway, and he was afraid of reading too much into the kiss.

"You want to talk," she said. "Talk."

"Celina, how much do you remember about last night?"

"I remember a lot about last night," she replied, a smirk crossing her lips. "How's your memory? A little hazy?"

"Celina, you kissed me. You remember that?"

"Of course. How could I forget something like that?" she smiled. "It was amazing."

Shelton couldn't contain himself. He started laughing. He made his way over to the bed and handed her a cup of coffee. She took a sip. "Did I cross the line last night, Shelton?" she asked, her tone becoming serious. "I don't want to fuck anything up, but I really like you..." She shook her head, running a hand over her hair as she sipped her coffee. "I forgot how fucking complicated this relationship shit can get." He chuckled.

"Same here," he answered. The room fell into a silence, but it wasn' that comfortable silence that she had become accustomed to with Shelton. It was definitely awkward. "So...you're digging the Gold Standard, are you?" Her head flopped back on the pillow and she burst into a fit of laughter.

"It's the hair," she retorted and his face took on mock hurt before he started laughing.

"The blonde's not that bad!" he told her. She nodded.

"I agree...it's awful!" He shook his head, a smirk crossing his face as he fought the urge to tickle her into submission. He took a deep breath.

"So where do we go from here, Celina?" he asked. Celina took a deep breath; she wasn't so sure either.

"What do you think we should do, Shelton? Should we forget this entire situation even happened?"

He shook his head. "I don't think that I can do that, Celina. Do you think that you can do that?"

"I don't know," she answered honestly, putting a hand over her face. She had really made things complicated. Smooth move, dumbass, she thought to herself bitterly. She felt Shelton's warm fingers on her hand, pulling them away from her face. Her eyes opened, finding their way to stare into Shelton's eyes.

"How about we just take it slow?" Shelton asked her. "I don't want us to rush and fuck everything up, and I'm pretty sure you don't want that either." She nodded. She didn't want that. She wanted him.

"Come on. Let's eat breakfast and you still have some more training today. Mark wanted to show you a few things." She nodded and he handed her the box of donuts. She took out a Boston Creme and stared at Shelton. She was so confused about the situation. But he didn't make her feel awkward for kissing him. She thought it was a good sign. But she knew that she really had to focus on her upcoming match with Michelle. Michelle was more experienced. Michelle may be more experienced, Celina thought, agitated, but I'm determined to kick her ass.