Chapter Nine:
"Sorry about the change of plans, Cary." I apologized as I stirred the boiling
pot of Chicken and Stars soup.
"It's no problem." Cary replied nonchalantly. "Really, it isn't."
I smiled. Our plans to go watch Abby's play were dashed that afternoon after mom
and Watson decided to go to the Stoneybrook Charity Auction at the country club,
leaving me alone with three sniffling, coughing and aching children. Neither Sam
nor Charlie could do it because they were both invited to a party at a friend's.
So that left me. Of course KRISTY wouldn't have any plans. I had put up some
resistance, but I didn't want the kids to feel hurt that their big sister didn't
want to take care of them-even if their big brothers felt exactly the same way.
"We'll watch Abby's play some other day." Cary assured me. "The important thing
is that we're here together now."
He was much wittier than I ever gave him credit for. He knew just what to say. I
smiled and grabbed a hand towel from the rack and swiped him across the head,
ruffling his dirty brown hair.
While the tea for the kids warmed up, Cary talked about what we could do for the
rest of the summer. We still had a month and a half. As we got the bowls ready
we talked about our favorite music. He grew up listening to country and
bluegrass while I was pretty neutral about things like that, not caring what
particular genre a song was as long as it sounded good.
"Help me carry these trays up to the kids." I told him and Cary nodded as he
took one tray then took the second one that I was carrying.
He smirked at me cockily as he trudged forward like a jungle adventurer off to
find El Dorado. Shaking my head I followed him.
We carefully climbed the stairs, trying not to spill any of the soup or tea
(both of which were scalding hot-I made a mental note to tell the kids not to
eat it all at once). We reached Karen's room without too much trouble and I
knocked on the door.
There was no answer so I opened the door a bit to peek in. Karen was lying
almost comatose on her bed. Her light blonde hair spread behind her on her
pillow framed her tiny, pale face and made her look even sicker than she really
was. Her eyes which usually shone with energy no matter what were dull and
tired. This flu was affecting in the worst ways. It seemed she would never get
her original joire de vive back.
"Hey, Karen." I said, smiling my best. "How are you doing?"
She just barely managed to shrug her shoulders.
"Well... Cary and I brought you some soup and tea. Do you think you could hold
it down tonight?"
Another shrug. I sighed.
I set down her tray next to her on the little fold out table and picked up her
medicine.
"You should take this now."
Normally, the taking of any medicine would have stirred up a howl of disputes
but the sick Karen just nodded and sat up. I filled up one teaspoon in the
measurement cup and gave it to her to done it at her own pace.
She stared at it with a very sizeable grimace on her face. Suddenly I felt the
bottle leave my hand and Cary had it. He pretended to take a long swig. He made
a smacking noise with his lips and nodded.
"Pretty good year." He said the way most people would talk about fine wines. He
gestured the bottle to Karen as if to make a toast.
A small, unsure smile formed on Karen's face before she really did grin, a
little light coming back into her blue eyes. Cary tried a few more jokes and
when we left, Karen seemed a little like her old self.
If Karen's change of personality was a far cry from her usual disposition, I
thought Andrew and David Michael might as well have been from a different
planet. The flu that had made Karen far away and despondent made Andrew loud and
demanding and David Michael super bright and talkative. Cary and I must have
spent a total of an hour upstairs just trying to comply with the boys' needs.
By the time we retreated downstairs, my throat was parched and dry from all the
story-telling-Cary seemed to feel the same way.
"What do you want to do?" I asked as we headed to the kitchen for a drink.
Cary shrugged and looked undecided about something on his mind.
I opened up the refrigerator and pulled out a pitcher of lemonade. Cary pulled
out two glasses from the cabinet and set them down for me. We sat and drank in
silence for a minute or two when Cary cleared his throat loudly.
I looked at him questioningly but he was looking down at his lemonade glass.
When I looked down again, he spoke up.
"I want you to listen to something." He said seriously.
Before I could reply, he took my hand and lead me to the formal living, what
Watson called a Grande salon, and sat me down on a chair as he sat back at the
piano where he had played so magnificently just weeks before.
His tongue rolled over his lips as his fingers simultaneously ran over the ivory
keys.
"Cary?" I asked questioningly.
Taking a deep breath, he smiled at me and said, "I hope you don't think of this
as corny, but um, there are a lot of things that I want to say to you that I
can't just come out and say and then I composed a song." He said all of this
very fast; as if he were afraid I would argue.
My breath caught in my throat and my heart skipped a beat. Cary had written a
song for ME? That was... sweet. Bart had never written me a letter, let alone a
song. Sports had always seemed to be good enough for the both of us, or maybe I
had just allowed myself to think like that. That our similarities were what made
us a good couple. That we didn't need all that lovey-dovey stuff. We weren't the
usual run-of-the-mill couple, we were EXACTLY alike.
Then I found he was every bit like me and maybe that drove me away. I didn't
want a relationship where we were exact duplicates. What did Bart add to me that
made me better? Mary Anne had Logan, who made her a little stronger and
outgoing. Stacey had had nearly every boy on the east coast (okay, I exaggerate,
but I wonder sometimes about where her morals lie...) and that made her... more,
I hate to say this, higher in her own opinion. She was always a little snobby
from being from New York, but when she realized that she could have nearly every
boy she wanted, she became even more estranged from reality. None of the boys
she dated ever contributed much to the relationship (which I guess is why she
never stayed very long).
And Claudia had always had boyfriends that were considerate and tried to help
her and bring her down to earth.... But they never had guys that were exactly
like them in every way. Maybe that's why their relationships stood a chance.
Doing all this thinking, I wasn't saying much which I guess made Cary nervous.
"Well, maybe I could let you hear it later--" he said, getting up.
I touched his arm and smiled. "I'd like to hear it now."
Cary looked at me for a second and then nodded as he sat back down.
"The song is called..." He said. "Well, I never exactly made a title..."
"That's okay." I said.
Cary nodded again and took a deep breath, preparing himself. Then he played a
soft, but swift melody that took my breath away. It was beautiful, Cary was so
talented. I was sure that if he ever pursued a career in music that he was going
to get very famous. I really did begin to understand what the music was saying.
When he was finished I think I actually had tears in my eyes.
"Oh, Cary..." I whispered smiling, and then I leaned over and kissed him softly.
"It was very sweet." I told him later as we sat down in the den, in front of the
big screen. "I loved it."
"I'm glad." Cary said, looking relieved.
"Yeah." I said. We were going to watch Joe Dirt, which Sam had recently rented
and told Cary and I that I could watch it if we got bored. I had gone up to his
room and grabbed the first tape I saw on the VCR then returned.
I turned to channel three and popped it in then pressed play. I sat down next to
Cary and took some of the offered popcorn and saw a shocked look on Cary's face.
I frowned deeply then looked at the TV and saw why.
I turned a deep red at the sight of two people, wrapped in a heated embrace,
completely naked and... well, you could guess what they were doing... I had no
idea that Sam had these kinds of videos in his room. I was SURE mom would
disapprove of... of her children watching porn...
"I'm sorry, Cary." I said, trying to hide my embarrassment as I reached for the
remote, wanting to stop watching, but for some reason I couldn't get my eyes off
of the screen.
"It's all right." He said. "Um..."
We both were quiet for a second before he looked at me. "Do you want to shut if
off?"
I looked down then back up at him and smiled. "Not really."
He grinned widely. "Okay."
We sat back and I was surprised at why I said what I had. I knew it was wrong to
do this, but why couldn't I stop? WHY hadn't I looked at the tape before I took
it? I squirmed in my seat, my heart thumping. Watching this and sitting so close
to Cary was making me feel excited. I looked up at him and wondered whether I
should do something about it. But...
Then I felt his hand on mine. I looked at him again and moved closer to him
until I was practically sitting in his lap. My heart pounded and rattled in my
chest as Cary moved his hands down my back, over my hips, caressing my bottom
before feeling my inner thighs. I was scared, but more out of how his actions
were making me feel than of what he was doing.
"Cary..." I murmured softly.
"Kristy," He said in a dangerously low voice. "If you don't get off now I'm not
going to be able to stop myself... I'm not experienced when it comes to this
stuff..." I was surprised at how honest he was being, Stacey had always told me
that boys always pretended to be experienced-no matter what age. "It'll be like
we're on thin ice or something--"
"Shh." I hushed him, putting my index on his lips, amazed at how brave I was
being and how much I wanted this. "It's okay. Neither am I. And just slide."
"Slide?" He repeated and I nodded.
"On the ice." I told him.
We kissed, the electricity flowing between us like a storm and I started to
unbutton his shirt. He moved his hand between my legs and back up to my breasts.
I felt light-headed but I managed to get his shirt off and I started to kiss his
chest, his muscles tensing as I got lower.
Before I could get below his waist, which I noticed were already bricks, he
cupped my chin with his fingers and pulled me up to him again. He lifted my
white silk blouse over my head to reveal my lacy white bra. Cary seemed to
freeze and his face got red but I touched his cheek and kissed his forehead.
"It's okay." I whispered, wondering if we were moving to fast.
"I know." He whispered back. "But if you're parents come home-or Sam or
Charlie-or if the kids come in and see us..."
"So I won't get TV for a week. Big deal." My false show of bravado seemed to
impress Cary but he still seemed hesitant and his fingers fumbled with the clasp
on my bra so I reached behind to help him. He threw my bra to the side and
caressed my nipples before taking one into his mouth. I was shocked at the feel
of his tongue on me but I loved the rush he gave me.
We kissed again and Cary laid me down on the couch, thumbing my breasts and
caressing my entire body. He undid his pants and slipped them down around his
knees, I did the same with mine, the noises of moans and screams from the TV
cheering us on. Cary slipped my shorts off and threw them behind us, now the
only thing separating us was our underwear.
I was scared, excited and confused all at the same time. I wanted him so badly,
passion taking over every inch of me and when Cary pressed himself between my
legs, toying with the waistband of my panties. He slipped his hand into them and
touched me and I jumped. No one had ever touched me there-I had barely touched
myself there. I had wanted to once but I had been too afraid.
Now he gently stroked me as if it were nothing serious, he seemed so much older
now, and not as unsure as when we had first started. I moaned as he plunged his
finger inside, the feel of the penetration shocked me but I knew it'd feel much
more different when he... when he WHAT?
Suddenly I wasn't so brave. I had to stop this, I wasn't ready.
"Cary," I meant to say it forcefully, but it came out weak-as if all he did was
feeling good to me. Oh, and it WAS and I wanted more, but that was why I had to
stop.
He moaned in pleasure as I felt him harden. He pulled my panties down and
squirmed out of his underwear. His finger pulled out and he pressed himself
against my skin. I felt him there so quickly, ready to slip into me and I dared
to look down.
I was surprised at how big Cary was. He was so long, almost the size of a ruler
but much thicker. How was he going to fit inside me? I knew-just KNEW-that he
never would. The words of my health teacher came back to me, telling me that it
would hurt when we girls first did it; I was petrified to ever think about it
again.
I felt him, he was about to enter and I found myself screaming, "NO, CARY-STOP
IT!"
He was so shocked that he whipped away, fear in his eyes that he was doing
something wrong.
"Kristy?"
Tears filled my eyes.
"I'm sorry, Cary." I said softly, angry at myself for chickening out when I had
encouraged him. "I'm sorry, I really am...but...I-I can't. I'm scared."
Cary nodded, trying to slow his breathing. "It's all right, Kristy."
He looked down at himself and blushed, he was still erect and I could see jewels
of moisture seeping out from his head. The sight of it aroused me and made me
want to pick up where we left off but I couldn't. Even if this was just
first-time jitters, we still didn't have protection and that was stupid to even
start petting if we didn't have it.
On TV, the woman was sucking on the man hard, her head bobbing up and down. Cary
and I looked at each other and I blushed. Picking up the remote, I turned off
the VCR and TV.
"Maybe I should go." Cary said.
I nodded and we picked up our clothes.
As soon as we were dressed, I walked him to the door.
"Tonight was...fun." He dared.
I smiled and nodded. "It was..."
Cary looked down and shuffled his feet then looked at me, kissing me gently.
After it ended, he let his lips linger on my forehead and I breathed in his
scent.
"I wanted to do it, Cary." I whispered.
"I did too," He admitted. "But it's better this way. Next time we'll be more
prepared-and it'll be more special. Not on a couch and not on some babysitting
job. I promise." His words brought an even bigger smile to my face. "Next time?"
"Yeah, I mean, if you want to." He said. "Do you?"
I nodded after I had given it some thought. I did. I really did. Cary smiled,
happy at my answer and kissed me again before stepping off the steps.
"Cary, I--" I called after him.
He turned immediately and looked at me expectantly.
"I...I love you." I said, hoping he'd feel the same.
Cary walked back to me, took my hand over the porch railing and kissed it.
"And I you." He said.
"Sorry about the change of plans, Cary." I apologized as I stirred the boiling
pot of Chicken and Stars soup.
"It's no problem." Cary replied nonchalantly. "Really, it isn't."
I smiled. Our plans to go watch Abby's play were dashed that afternoon after mom
and Watson decided to go to the Stoneybrook Charity Auction at the country club,
leaving me alone with three sniffling, coughing and aching children. Neither Sam
nor Charlie could do it because they were both invited to a party at a friend's.
So that left me. Of course KRISTY wouldn't have any plans. I had put up some
resistance, but I didn't want the kids to feel hurt that their big sister didn't
want to take care of them-even if their big brothers felt exactly the same way.
"We'll watch Abby's play some other day." Cary assured me. "The important thing
is that we're here together now."
He was much wittier than I ever gave him credit for. He knew just what to say. I
smiled and grabbed a hand towel from the rack and swiped him across the head,
ruffling his dirty brown hair.
While the tea for the kids warmed up, Cary talked about what we could do for the
rest of the summer. We still had a month and a half. As we got the bowls ready
we talked about our favorite music. He grew up listening to country and
bluegrass while I was pretty neutral about things like that, not caring what
particular genre a song was as long as it sounded good.
"Help me carry these trays up to the kids." I told him and Cary nodded as he
took one tray then took the second one that I was carrying.
He smirked at me cockily as he trudged forward like a jungle adventurer off to
find El Dorado. Shaking my head I followed him.
We carefully climbed the stairs, trying not to spill any of the soup or tea
(both of which were scalding hot-I made a mental note to tell the kids not to
eat it all at once). We reached Karen's room without too much trouble and I
knocked on the door.
There was no answer so I opened the door a bit to peek in. Karen was lying
almost comatose on her bed. Her light blonde hair spread behind her on her
pillow framed her tiny, pale face and made her look even sicker than she really
was. Her eyes which usually shone with energy no matter what were dull and
tired. This flu was affecting in the worst ways. It seemed she would never get
her original joire de vive back.
"Hey, Karen." I said, smiling my best. "How are you doing?"
She just barely managed to shrug her shoulders.
"Well... Cary and I brought you some soup and tea. Do you think you could hold
it down tonight?"
Another shrug. I sighed.
I set down her tray next to her on the little fold out table and picked up her
medicine.
"You should take this now."
Normally, the taking of any medicine would have stirred up a howl of disputes
but the sick Karen just nodded and sat up. I filled up one teaspoon in the
measurement cup and gave it to her to done it at her own pace.
She stared at it with a very sizeable grimace on her face. Suddenly I felt the
bottle leave my hand and Cary had it. He pretended to take a long swig. He made
a smacking noise with his lips and nodded.
"Pretty good year." He said the way most people would talk about fine wines. He
gestured the bottle to Karen as if to make a toast.
A small, unsure smile formed on Karen's face before she really did grin, a
little light coming back into her blue eyes. Cary tried a few more jokes and
when we left, Karen seemed a little like her old self.
If Karen's change of personality was a far cry from her usual disposition, I
thought Andrew and David Michael might as well have been from a different
planet. The flu that had made Karen far away and despondent made Andrew loud and
demanding and David Michael super bright and talkative. Cary and I must have
spent a total of an hour upstairs just trying to comply with the boys' needs.
By the time we retreated downstairs, my throat was parched and dry from all the
story-telling-Cary seemed to feel the same way.
"What do you want to do?" I asked as we headed to the kitchen for a drink.
Cary shrugged and looked undecided about something on his mind.
I opened up the refrigerator and pulled out a pitcher of lemonade. Cary pulled
out two glasses from the cabinet and set them down for me. We sat and drank in
silence for a minute or two when Cary cleared his throat loudly.
I looked at him questioningly but he was looking down at his lemonade glass.
When I looked down again, he spoke up.
"I want you to listen to something." He said seriously.
Before I could reply, he took my hand and lead me to the formal living, what
Watson called a Grande salon, and sat me down on a chair as he sat back at the
piano where he had played so magnificently just weeks before.
His tongue rolled over his lips as his fingers simultaneously ran over the ivory
keys.
"Cary?" I asked questioningly.
Taking a deep breath, he smiled at me and said, "I hope you don't think of this
as corny, but um, there are a lot of things that I want to say to you that I
can't just come out and say and then I composed a song." He said all of this
very fast; as if he were afraid I would argue.
My breath caught in my throat and my heart skipped a beat. Cary had written a
song for ME? That was... sweet. Bart had never written me a letter, let alone a
song. Sports had always seemed to be good enough for the both of us, or maybe I
had just allowed myself to think like that. That our similarities were what made
us a good couple. That we didn't need all that lovey-dovey stuff. We weren't the
usual run-of-the-mill couple, we were EXACTLY alike.
Then I found he was every bit like me and maybe that drove me away. I didn't
want a relationship where we were exact duplicates. What did Bart add to me that
made me better? Mary Anne had Logan, who made her a little stronger and
outgoing. Stacey had had nearly every boy on the east coast (okay, I exaggerate,
but I wonder sometimes about where her morals lie...) and that made her... more,
I hate to say this, higher in her own opinion. She was always a little snobby
from being from New York, but when she realized that she could have nearly every
boy she wanted, she became even more estranged from reality. None of the boys
she dated ever contributed much to the relationship (which I guess is why she
never stayed very long).
And Claudia had always had boyfriends that were considerate and tried to help
her and bring her down to earth.... But they never had guys that were exactly
like them in every way. Maybe that's why their relationships stood a chance.
Doing all this thinking, I wasn't saying much which I guess made Cary nervous.
"Well, maybe I could let you hear it later--" he said, getting up.
I touched his arm and smiled. "I'd like to hear it now."
Cary looked at me for a second and then nodded as he sat back down.
"The song is called..." He said. "Well, I never exactly made a title..."
"That's okay." I said.
Cary nodded again and took a deep breath, preparing himself. Then he played a
soft, but swift melody that took my breath away. It was beautiful, Cary was so
talented. I was sure that if he ever pursued a career in music that he was going
to get very famous. I really did begin to understand what the music was saying.
When he was finished I think I actually had tears in my eyes.
"Oh, Cary..." I whispered smiling, and then I leaned over and kissed him softly.
"It was very sweet." I told him later as we sat down in the den, in front of the
big screen. "I loved it."
"I'm glad." Cary said, looking relieved.
"Yeah." I said. We were going to watch Joe Dirt, which Sam had recently rented
and told Cary and I that I could watch it if we got bored. I had gone up to his
room and grabbed the first tape I saw on the VCR then returned.
I turned to channel three and popped it in then pressed play. I sat down next to
Cary and took some of the offered popcorn and saw a shocked look on Cary's face.
I frowned deeply then looked at the TV and saw why.
I turned a deep red at the sight of two people, wrapped in a heated embrace,
completely naked and... well, you could guess what they were doing... I had no
idea that Sam had these kinds of videos in his room. I was SURE mom would
disapprove of... of her children watching porn...
"I'm sorry, Cary." I said, trying to hide my embarrassment as I reached for the
remote, wanting to stop watching, but for some reason I couldn't get my eyes off
of the screen.
"It's all right." He said. "Um..."
We both were quiet for a second before he looked at me. "Do you want to shut if
off?"
I looked down then back up at him and smiled. "Not really."
He grinned widely. "Okay."
We sat back and I was surprised at why I said what I had. I knew it was wrong to
do this, but why couldn't I stop? WHY hadn't I looked at the tape before I took
it? I squirmed in my seat, my heart thumping. Watching this and sitting so close
to Cary was making me feel excited. I looked up at him and wondered whether I
should do something about it. But...
Then I felt his hand on mine. I looked at him again and moved closer to him
until I was practically sitting in his lap. My heart pounded and rattled in my
chest as Cary moved his hands down my back, over my hips, caressing my bottom
before feeling my inner thighs. I was scared, but more out of how his actions
were making me feel than of what he was doing.
"Cary..." I murmured softly.
"Kristy," He said in a dangerously low voice. "If you don't get off now I'm not
going to be able to stop myself... I'm not experienced when it comes to this
stuff..." I was surprised at how honest he was being, Stacey had always told me
that boys always pretended to be experienced-no matter what age. "It'll be like
we're on thin ice or something--"
"Shh." I hushed him, putting my index on his lips, amazed at how brave I was
being and how much I wanted this. "It's okay. Neither am I. And just slide."
"Slide?" He repeated and I nodded.
"On the ice." I told him.
We kissed, the electricity flowing between us like a storm and I started to
unbutton his shirt. He moved his hand between my legs and back up to my breasts.
I felt light-headed but I managed to get his shirt off and I started to kiss his
chest, his muscles tensing as I got lower.
Before I could get below his waist, which I noticed were already bricks, he
cupped my chin with his fingers and pulled me up to him again. He lifted my
white silk blouse over my head to reveal my lacy white bra. Cary seemed to
freeze and his face got red but I touched his cheek and kissed his forehead.
"It's okay." I whispered, wondering if we were moving to fast.
"I know." He whispered back. "But if you're parents come home-or Sam or
Charlie-or if the kids come in and see us..."
"So I won't get TV for a week. Big deal." My false show of bravado seemed to
impress Cary but he still seemed hesitant and his fingers fumbled with the clasp
on my bra so I reached behind to help him. He threw my bra to the side and
caressed my nipples before taking one into his mouth. I was shocked at the feel
of his tongue on me but I loved the rush he gave me.
We kissed again and Cary laid me down on the couch, thumbing my breasts and
caressing my entire body. He undid his pants and slipped them down around his
knees, I did the same with mine, the noises of moans and screams from the TV
cheering us on. Cary slipped my shorts off and threw them behind us, now the
only thing separating us was our underwear.
I was scared, excited and confused all at the same time. I wanted him so badly,
passion taking over every inch of me and when Cary pressed himself between my
legs, toying with the waistband of my panties. He slipped his hand into them and
touched me and I jumped. No one had ever touched me there-I had barely touched
myself there. I had wanted to once but I had been too afraid.
Now he gently stroked me as if it were nothing serious, he seemed so much older
now, and not as unsure as when we had first started. I moaned as he plunged his
finger inside, the feel of the penetration shocked me but I knew it'd feel much
more different when he... when he WHAT?
Suddenly I wasn't so brave. I had to stop this, I wasn't ready.
"Cary," I meant to say it forcefully, but it came out weak-as if all he did was
feeling good to me. Oh, and it WAS and I wanted more, but that was why I had to
stop.
He moaned in pleasure as I felt him harden. He pulled my panties down and
squirmed out of his underwear. His finger pulled out and he pressed himself
against my skin. I felt him there so quickly, ready to slip into me and I dared
to look down.
I was surprised at how big Cary was. He was so long, almost the size of a ruler
but much thicker. How was he going to fit inside me? I knew-just KNEW-that he
never would. The words of my health teacher came back to me, telling me that it
would hurt when we girls first did it; I was petrified to ever think about it
again.
I felt him, he was about to enter and I found myself screaming, "NO, CARY-STOP
IT!"
He was so shocked that he whipped away, fear in his eyes that he was doing
something wrong.
"Kristy?"
Tears filled my eyes.
"I'm sorry, Cary." I said softly, angry at myself for chickening out when I had
encouraged him. "I'm sorry, I really am...but...I-I can't. I'm scared."
Cary nodded, trying to slow his breathing. "It's all right, Kristy."
He looked down at himself and blushed, he was still erect and I could see jewels
of moisture seeping out from his head. The sight of it aroused me and made me
want to pick up where we left off but I couldn't. Even if this was just
first-time jitters, we still didn't have protection and that was stupid to even
start petting if we didn't have it.
On TV, the woman was sucking on the man hard, her head bobbing up and down. Cary
and I looked at each other and I blushed. Picking up the remote, I turned off
the VCR and TV.
"Maybe I should go." Cary said.
I nodded and we picked up our clothes.
As soon as we were dressed, I walked him to the door.
"Tonight was...fun." He dared.
I smiled and nodded. "It was..."
Cary looked down and shuffled his feet then looked at me, kissing me gently.
After it ended, he let his lips linger on my forehead and I breathed in his
scent.
"I wanted to do it, Cary." I whispered.
"I did too," He admitted. "But it's better this way. Next time we'll be more
prepared-and it'll be more special. Not on a couch and not on some babysitting
job. I promise." His words brought an even bigger smile to my face. "Next time?"
"Yeah, I mean, if you want to." He said. "Do you?"
I nodded after I had given it some thought. I did. I really did. Cary smiled,
happy at my answer and kissed me again before stepping off the steps.
"Cary, I--" I called after him.
He turned immediately and looked at me expectantly.
"I...I love you." I said, hoping he'd feel the same.
Cary walked back to me, took my hand over the porch railing and kissed it.
"And I you." He said.