Author's Note: Just a short chapter this week folks. I'm away on vacation and haven't had a whole lot of time for writing. As always, the follows, favorites, reviews and views are very much appreciated!
I stretch my arms and roll over only to hear a crumpling noise beneath my head. I reach under my tangled mess of hair and come up with a piece of notebook paper with one line scrawled across it:
You're even more beautiful when you're sleeping. See you in class tomorrow.
I close my eyes and clutch the paper to my chest. I'm going away with Dean in three more days! My reverie is interrupted when my phone starts buzzing on the nightstand. With a sigh, I reach for it and see that David has set up one last match before break, and it's tonight at 11:00. At least I won't have to worry about breaking plans with Dean since it's Sunday and he'll be out with Danny.
Just as I'm about to climb out of bed and grab some coffee, my phone buzzes again. This time it's a call from home.
"Hello?"
"How's my best girl?"
"Hi Dad," I'm sure he can hear the smile in my voice. I haven't talked to him in a couple of weeks, we just kept missing each other.
"I can't believe I'm actually speaking to you and not your voicemail. You've been a hard girl to track down these last couple of weeks."
"I know, I've been finishing up some last minute papers before break." Oh and I've been spending every free moment I've got with this amazing guy who I'll be alone with for five days, is that okay Daddy?
"Yeah, that's what Jay told me."
"Oh? What else did you and Jamie talk about behind my back?" I tease.
"Just how you're going to veg out with him over the holiday. I hope you two will find something fun to do. I promise Christmas will be ten times better, you know that. It's just hard to get everyone together."
"I know Dad, it's not a big deal. Honestly, it would just be a pain traveling all that way for a few days and having to spend another whole day traveling back. I'd much rather wait for winter break when we get a month to catch up."
"That's my girl. How was the boxing tournament last weekend? Did you get to fight?"
Shit. I haven't been keeping up on the team's progress and I hadn't even realized we qualified for a tournament recently. "Oh, it was good. The other girl in my weight class beat me out for this one though. But it's cool, I'll get back in it for the next one." I lie so smoothly it makes my stomach churn.
"You're keeping up with your conditioning right? Even if you don't have a match it's still important to stay in shape so they don't catch you off guard." He starts his age-old lecture and I can't help but laugh.
"Oh yeah, like you used to train for all your fights, right Dad?"
"Hey, we're not talking about me. That was different. I worry about you, ya know. You're my little girl."
"Yes Daddy. I know that, and I love you for it, but you really don't have to worry about me. I've been taking care of myself for a while. I've got it under control." I'm uncomfortable with where the conversation is heading so I try to steer us to another topic. "How's Pop?"
We talk for another twenty minutes with Dad filling me in on all the familial updates, including my grandfather actually having gone on a date with one of his neighbors for the first time since Gram died when Dad was a kid. Though he refused to call it a date, he insisted it was a friendly dinner with a woman he's known since back when he could still wallop Dad's ass. I laughed for a good minute after that one. We say our goodbyes and I head into the kitchen to see if there's any coffee brewed.
Score! I snatch a mug down from the cabinet and fill it nearly to the brim. Gotta love my twin. He makes the best coffee.
As I'm doctoring my mug with tons of sugar I see Paul tiptoeing out of Kelsey's room with his shoes in his hand.
"Wow, talk about role reversal. That's a sexy walk of shame you've got there Paul," I laugh and take a sip of my still-hot coffee, burning the tip of my tongue and swearing in the process.
"Serves you right for mocking a man who chauffeured your drunk ass around last night."
"Oh you love us." I take a seat on the couch and flip on the TV. "So where are you headed at the ungodly hour of 10AM on a Sunday?"
"Mandatory house meeting at the frat." Hmm, well that explains Dean's early morning exit.
"Have fun! Try not to think too hard," I tease as he closes the front door behind him.
Kelsey meanders out of her room with a shit-eating grin on her face and plops down next to me, stretching her legs across my lap.
"Looks like someone had an eventful sleepover last night."
"Oh yeah. It was more like a marathon than an event. But who are you to talk? I heard Dean creep out of here about an hour ago. I believe you've got some 'splaining to do Lucy." She raises an eyebrow and looks at me expectantly.
"Nothing happened. He just slept over," I tell her.
"Hmm, right. Try again," she says, not convinced.
"I'm telling you the truth!"
She folds her arms across her chest and gives me the stare-down, knowing I won't be able to hold anything back.
"Okay! So I may have ripped his shirt open, and we may have rolled around on my bed for a little while, but we stopped before it went any further than that. Er, actually, he stopped it," I explain.
"Wait, you basically pounced him and he's the one who stopped it? What the hell, is he a friggin' saint or something? That's gotta be painful."
"I doubt it could be considered an act of sainthood, but it did help me finalize my decision. I think…it might happen when we're on our trip to Carmel." I can actually feel my cheeks blaze as I admit it out loud for the first time.
"Shut up! Seriously? Seriously?! Oh this is amazing! I'm so happy for you! Let's go," she takes my mug from my hand, placing it on the coffee table and tugs me up off the couch.
"Where the heck are we going?"
"You're going away, with an absolutely delicious specimen of man, for five days and you just told me you might be sleeping with him for the first time, which will be your first time ever. Where do you think we're going? Shopping!"
Of course we are.
It's a good thing David scheduled a fight for tonight because after a day out with Kelsey, my debit card is smoking from excessive overuse. I've got five shopping bags filled to bursting with all of the 'essentials' as Kelsey described them. One bag contains nothing but undergarments. The lingerie store clerk's eyes lit up when we asked for her help, or rather Kelsey asked. I just stood there like a deer in headlights and let her wrap measuring tape around me and explain the virtues of underwire versus padding.
Now that I'm prepared, I'm starting to get nervous. Not so much about actually sleeping with Dean. I mean yes, that is cause for some slight anxiety. But I know that before I can let it get that far, I have to tell him about Will. If something happens and I freak out, he needs to know why. Plus, I need to let him know that I trust him. If I'm being honest, I have to be sure of that myself.
I pack all of my new things in my carry-on duffel that I usually use when I go home for short trips. It does make life a lot easier now that I don't have to sort through my belongings to figure out what to bring. Though I'll probably toss a few of my old things in before we leave on Tuesday, just for comfort's sake.
I pull a drawer open and take out a pair of shorts and a racerback compression top for the fight tonight. As I'm getting ready I realize that this is another part of my life that Dean really knows nothing about. It's not like I can go around announcing it to the world, but I feel like it's one more thing I'm keeping from him. Truthfully, I'm not really sure how he'll react. He doesn't seem like the type to get bent out of shape because his girlfriend doesn't need him to fight her battles. Girlfriend. We haven't actually discussed titles either. Now that I'm thinking about it, there's a lot Dean and I need to talk about. Maybe I'm rushing into this. Maybe I should take a step back and think before I go off with him. Maybe…
"Let's go girl! Ass-kicking awaits!" Kelsey bangs on my door as she passes by.
I guess I've got some thinking to do when I get home tonight.