"Hey wake up," I feel strong hands shaking me awake.
"Mhmm," I moan out loud. "Five more minutes," I plead.
"Emily wake up before your dad finds us," I hear Cade clearly and what he says strokes the sleepiness away. I sit up and let the sheet fall to my waist revealing my naked glory and remnants of last night come flooding in my mind. I look to Cade and he's looking at me nervously. "I didn't want to leave you to wake up alone".
"Good I'm glad," I smile at him and he leans into kiss me. Eventually he's hovering over me with his large hands caving the mattress in. I move my hands to caress his face and his gruff beard. I never noticed how big his head was until I saw that my hand doesn't even cover ¾ of his face and I chuckle.
"What's so funny?" he asks.
"You have a big head," I say and he pokes my side eliciting a squeak.
"Shhh, we don't want to wake your parents," he scolds playfully.
"Don't poke me then caveman," I say pointing to his beard.
"You don't like it?" he asks.
"No…I love it," I smile and he returns the biggest one I've ever seen on his face.
"I am so happy right now, you make me the happiest man on Earth," he says kissing me before I get a chance to respond. The make out session turns into round two and by the time we're done I hear a knock at my door.
"Sweetie?" I hear my dad and Cade freaks out. I point towards the bathroom and he nods before collecting his clothes and rushing off.
"Hold on dad, I'm not dressed," I say through the door while pulling on clothes and doing my best to cover up last night and this mornings affairs. "What's up?" I ask as I pull the door open.
"Hey just wanted to know if you wanted to come for a run with your old man, I tried asking Cade, but he wasn't in his room," he says.
"Yeah sure, I think Cade might've went to town for some breakfast early this morning, I heard a door open and close," I lie easily.
"Alright, we'll leave in 15 minutes," he says and I nod before closing the door to get dressed.
"You can come out now," I say and Cade exits the bathroom. "Don't go back to your room until you hear us leave".
"Okay, when you get back, we can work on your core and go biking, and maybe we can talk about last night," he suggests the last part hesitantly.
"Sounds good to me," I say and stand on my toes to kiss him before rushing downstairs to get my father away from the house as soon as possible. I read on my IPod that its only 5:30 am so half the town is asleep. The run was relatively easy and filled with silence as I tuned into my music. We approach The Brew that has a few people scattered in their enjoying their early morning fix. After ordering our coffees we take a seat.
"So Emily, tell me how everything's really been," he demands.
"It's been okay I guess, just dancing, you know the usual," I say vaguely.
"Are you eating healthy?" he asks sternly.
"Yes dad, can we drop this?" I ask annoyed.
"I just want one less thing to worry about when I'm over there," he says and I feel the guilt trip coming.
"Dad it's no need to worry, I'm eating fine, I'm dancing and not pushing myself too hard, everything's under control," I say and he nods.
"So are you enjoying Cade being here?" he asks and I blush, hoping it has escaped him. "Oh I know that look! It seems as if he's found his way back into your heart," he smiles excitedly.
"He never had to find his way back, he's always had a place there, but yes our feelings have changed for each other, or more like mine has," I say with a slight frown.
"Listen sweetie, you know I support you whether your fall for a girl or boy and I know I'm slightly biased towards Cade because I've known him since he's been in diapers and his parents since I was a kid, but please be sure of your feelings before you invest time into his. He may come off as strong and tough, but he has a soft spot for you and I don't want you to ruin a good boy because you feel pressured to be with him," he explains and I feel tears come to my eyes.
"Thanks dad, that meant a lot to me. I mean I've always loved him, I just needed to see if I loved him as more than a friend without the aid of other people telling us we look great together and I don't know where this will go, but I think we might be able to try. It won't be easy with the long distance, but we'll talk about it later on today," I say and he smiles.
"I'm so proud of the woman you're becoming everyday," he says and we relax in silence before walking back home. It's almost 7 am when we get back and I see Cade in the driveway fixing up my BMX bike and his is already set to go.
"You ready to go?" he asks after locking the pegs on.
"Yeah, I saw a few spots towards town," I smile and he hands me the bike. We ride towards town doing a few minor 180s, 360s, grinds and tailspins. Since he's so big, he barely grinds or does park tricks, so when I ride with him I stick to flatland. Once we've found a comfy shaded spot we start to work on core exercises, again using each other as gym tools. Twenty minutes later and I'm exhausted and ready to go back home, but I knew we had to talk.
"So Nani, what do you want to do?" he asks.
"What do you want to do?" I ask back.
"I asked you first," he argues.
"Fair enough, I'd like to give us a try although it'd be difficult with the distance," I say honestly.
"I agree, but I'm willing to try," he says earnestly.
"I don't want to hurt you Cade, what if this doesn't work out?" I ask.
"Well then at least we know we tried, and if you do end up hurting me, I know it won't be consciously or directly and eventually I'd get over it because without you in my life, its like something missing and I hate that feeling," he says looking deep into my eyes and I'm compelled to believe every word that falls from his mouth.
"Then I want to try with you," I say and grab his face pulling him into me and kissing him roughly. His hands grab hold of my waist before attaching them to the back of my head where he slows down the kiss. His lips feel like silk against mine, ghostly painting a portrait of our love and all I do is follow his lead. I've always hated being out of control, but it feels empowering by giving most of it over to the one person who I trust the most.
"Let's go back home," he says and I nod before taking off my shirt to reveal a sports bra and he takes of his shirt, I'm really surprised he's lasted this long, he's been off the Island too long. We end up kissing each other a few times and almost falling but I feel free riding with the wind in my hair and the burn in my legs. I do a few McCircles once we pull up to the house, its one of my favorite tricks that took me forever to learn. I throw my bike on the pavement and feel Cade wrap his arms around my waist. I turn into him and he leans down to give me a soft peck on lips before grabbing my hand to lead me into the house. I turn back because I feel something or someone watching me and I see the girls and I wave to them before going inside.
Sorry it's such a short chapter but I'm back or at least trying to be and trying to defeat my writer's block.