Yeah, that’d be fun. There’d be no point in their going if all they were gonna do was babysit me at the table all night. Hell, they could do that here.
“I don’t wanna go without Robert. He’ll be here for prom. We’ll all go then, okay?”
“Yeah, alright. Can’t believe you’re gonna miss it though.”
Eh. Fancy dress I couldn’t afford, my legs turning blue slushin’ through the snow, just to get there and not have Robert to warm me back up again? I had no problem skipping this one.
14
I had to admit, I loved coming to Sophie’s for Christmas each year. Her family had a large estate on fifty acres in rural Pennsylvania and it was absolutely idyllic. The air smelled like Christmas trees, the grounds were always covered in snow and the wildlife wasn’t afraid to come up to the window in the sunroom, where I loved to sit and read.
Unfortunately, since I was still a ward of state, her parents always had to send in a letter requesting them to allow me to stay with them for an extended period of time, but they were always happy to do it for me. It’s nice to know there are some decent, loving parents out there. Her mom even fussed over the hospital visit and kept apologizing over how she couldn’t come when it happened, since they were on the west coast for Labor Day weekend. And apparently, Sophie didn’t tell them until after I was awake and out of ICU anyways.
Heh heh. That got Sophie a scowl and a gentle smack on the back of the head from her mom.
I was curled up on the sofa with a cotton blanket over my lap, gazing through the thickness of falling snowflakes when Sophie came in. I tossed my dirty paperback aside and accepted the mug of tea with honey she brought me.
“So what’cha doing?” she asked, tucking her legs underneath her in the armchair.
“Nothing. You?”
“I’ve got a secret, and you know how bad I am at those.”
Yep. Ohhhh, so bad. But on the bright side, she never really kept anything from me.
“It’s only been a week and I’m about to bust. I can’t do this another week.”
“Spill, my fellow little beater.”
Her eyes sparkled upon hearing that cause Sophie never took ‘beater’ as an insult. “Well, Robert gave me your Christmas present.”
My eyes perked. Partly because the tea was so freakin’ hot it singed my tongue, but mostly cause I’d been dying to find out what I’d get. I gave him his present before he left – a ski cap with built in headphones for his mp3 player. I know, not too exciting. But hell, he could afford anything he really wanted and this was something he could actually use on his trip. He said he hadn’t gotten my present yet and that he was gonna pick me up something in Europe. I figured he was just trying to pull one over on me by buying something in a currency I wasn’t familiar with, just so he could slip in a more expensive gift.
That tricky little liar.
“Re-ea-lly?” I sang connivingly. “And where exactly would this little present be?”
I was actually kinda excited. Presents were rare for me and usually only ever came from Sophie.
“It might be upstairs, but you don’t really want it already do you? He was very specific about waiting until Christmas.”
I laughed. That’s cause he knew she’d never pull it off. He already got his, so I wanted mine too. “Gimme gimme gimme!”
She skipped off merrily and returned a minute later with a small wrapped package.
“Sneaky,” I said. “He knew if he stuck it in a bag, you’d be all over it.” I slid off the elaborate gold silk ribbon and ripped the glittery gold paper (awesome choice).
Sophie chortled as she twirled the ribbon on her finger. “I think he may have spent the entire fifty bucks on the wrapping alone.”
“Well, I didn’t specify if it included wrapping so I’m sure he didn’t count it towards his limit.” I paused once I had the box completely unwrapped. Sophie burst out in giggles. “Son of a…”
He got me a phone. And not just any phone. The exact same model he had, which was the most elaborate and ridiculously expensive phone you could possibly get. I shook my head and tossed it aside. Sophie picked it up, and confused, she shook the box.
“Jenna, open the box.”
“No! I told him not to get me a phone. What the hell am I gonna do with that? A phone is a complete waste on me.”
“Jenna, open the freakin’ gift!” And with that she hit me with it. “No way there’s a phone in there. It’s way too light. He’s just screwing with you.”
I was suspicious about her lying to me but I opened the box anyways. She was actually right. Inside were a small cardboard jewelry box and a folded note.
I sighed heavenly and passed the note to Sophie, thinking she would get a kick out of it.
“Oh, come on!” she cried. “I could’ve given this to you a week ago and he wouldn’t have been mad at me? I suffered all week with this secret!”
“You did very well considering,” I complimented as I opened the jewelry box. Inside was a wiry, bronze flower with a round gem in the center that hung off a matching, thin chain. The gem had a pale rosy color and was set deep, allowing the petals to shoot up and out, and curled in a way that only the tips of the petals would touch the skin. The petals looked like someone took the thinnest bronze wire they could find and randomly twisted an intricate design to shape them, making each wiry petal unique in its own way. It was delicate and vintage and I absolutely adored it.
“Aww. This is perfect.” I allowed the chain to dangle in my hands and the flower twirled back and forth for Sophie to see.
“I like that. And he stayed within your silly price range.”
“And I got a sensible gift out of it. So…” I said as I smiled toward Sophie, “can I use your laptop? It’s late for him but I think I can still catch him.”
She waved me off. “Yeah, yeah. Go.”
I practically ran I was so giddy. I had already spoken with Robert for the day but I was pretty sure he wouldn’t mind another call. I buzzed him, and after it rang about eight times on his end, the groggiest version I’d ever seen of him answered.
“Wow…You know, I’ve never actually seen this look before.”
I heard a strong puff of air burst through his nose and he rubbed his eyes down. “Scaring you off?”
“No. But would you rather get off until tomorrow?”
I could tell the blinding light of the screen was getting to him by the way his eyes kept squinting and his head moved a little to the side. “No, just give me a second to adjust my eyes.”
Instead of waiting, I went and pulled the curtains and the bedroom mostly blacked out. I flipped on Sophie’s bedside table lamp and crawled my way back to the laptop on the bed.
“Much better, thank you. So what’s up?”
I dangled the necklace in my hand for him to see. “I love this. Really. Thank you.”
He chuckled and ran his fingers through his hair before saying, “I thought she was in the clear. When you didn’t say anything the first couple of days, I actually thought she’d make it to Christmas.”
“Very sneaky giving it to her. I thought you were getting me something in Europe.”
“I still might. If I see something I really like. And before you get all huffy, you’re not allowed to tell me I can’t get you a side gift for no apparent reason.”
I waved it off.
Eh. It was Christmas. I’d let it go provided he didn’t go overboard.
“So…two more weeks?” I moaned, and stretched my body flat onto the bed, resting my chin on my hands.
“Two more weeks,” he repeated, then he lay back in bed and adjusted the computer on his lap. “Hey, since I’m already up and it’s cozy dark for both of us, you want to strip down with me?”
“What?!! No!”
“Oh, come on. The only difference is there’s a computer between us now.” He shot me one of those trademark winks I’d come to love these past few months. Just evil. It’s like he knew they caused the butterflies in my stomach to flit around. When I didn’t answer, he jokingly added, “Everybody’s doing it.”
Laughing, I said, “I don’t think you wanna use that as your argument.”
“So what does my argument need to be to get you to remove that top?”
I bit the side of my lip while I debated, but I quickly followed it up with a shake of my head. “Goodnight…” I sang. I heard him cry out in protest when I hit the ‘end call’ button. I had just rolled my way off Sophie’s king sized bed and made it all the way to the door when he called me back. I chuckled and shook my head for a moment, but for some reason, I still locked the bedroom door and pulled my shirt off as I went to answer it.
I screamed. Literally. Then I snapped my fingers and shook my head at him. “Nope. Get out of that damn bed already.” I threw his clothes at him one by one, trying to smack him in the face each time.
“What?” Chance exclaimed playfully, knocking down each bit of clothing as it neared.
“Out! I don’t know when we fell into this pattern of just staying in bed all the time, but no more. We’re backtracking to dating again. You know, back in the day when you used to take me to places?”
He pulled his shirt over his head and when it emerged his smile was just wicked. “You mean places like the camping site and BoJoe’s?”
“No,” I said, drawing out the word. “I don’t mean places we had sex. I mean the movie theatre, the park, the restaurants, the hiking trails.”
He threw the sheets off himself and very slowly pulled his bottoms on. Very, very slowly. Like, we’re talking absolute minimum speed here…freakin’ glacial.
“Well, we could have sex there too if you’d like.”
I screamed dramatically and stormed out of the room. As I pushed through the door, I heard him lightheartedly call out, “Oh, come on! It was a joke!”
On the bright side, we did hang out in the park for the rest of the dream. And since it was a public place, we lay out in the sun and he kept his hands to himself – mostly. He did try to wrap around me a bit while teaching me to bump and kick around the soccer ball.
FYI – I suck at soccer. I just trip all over myself.
The following evening my dream took me to the town square. I spun around, expecting Chance to be there like always, but was totally surprised when it was just me and a bunch of dream walkers hurrying about my make-believe world.
I shrugged and began window shopping down Main Avenue. I had already passed the fancy pet boutique, the scrapbooking place and was now gazing into a chic clothing boutique when I saw Chance’s reflection come to rest behind me. His arms wrapped around my stomach and he swayed me as he gently kissed my temple.
There was something different about his reflection and I turned with curiosity. Sure enough, the comfortable t-shirt and cargo shorts I was used to seeing had been replaced with a sensible pair of slacks and a nice button-down shirt.
Drool. Who knew that this sweaty soccer boy with tousled hair and baseball cap could clean up so nicely!
I exaggerated my smile as I looked him up and down with pleasure. “Wow. Wherever we’re going, I think I’m a little underdressed to be your date.”
“What are you talking about? You look great.”
I looked back down at my apparel, and sure enough, I was now wearing a short burgundy strapless dress that had a black sash cinched tightly underneath my chest and super cute black heels.
“See?” He leaned in and brushed his lips against my ear. “Beautiful.”
My heart warmed and melted right there on the spot. He took my hand and led me around the next corner and through a black iron gate covered with privacy panels. I gasped. Inside the gate was a small patio area filled with flowering vines that traced up the walls and wrapped around the wooden lattice up above us. Twinkling lights were twisted through and were the only source of light besides the candle on the table for two: a black bistro set with plump velvet cushions. Soft music sang from the speaker in the corner and a door led off to the adjoining restaurant. By the smell of it, Italian.
I sighed contentedly. “This is pretty.” He murmured his agreement and I asked, “Let me guess. You know the owner?”
“Nope. Just requested the best private table they had. Did I do good?”
I wrapped myself into his chest and whispered, “Beyond good. This is perfect.”
We spent hours there, the first just swaying in each other’s arms to the music, the second devouring the divine meal that our waiter brought us, including the tiramisu we fed each other, and then the last playfully dancing and indulging our lips with sweet, flirty kisses. Near the end, I found myself atop his lap in that metal bistro chair enjoying the shivers he created wherever his touch came into contact with my skin.
I closed my eyes and leaned my head back as his kisses climbed up my neck. When I reopened them, the twinkly lights that were blinking like the stars above us were gone, and I was now sitting atop his lap on our familiar bed, with flickering candle lights on the table beside us. His kisses reversed and went down my neck as if he didn’t even notice the change in location.
The zipper on my back released the snug hold the fabric had around my abdomen and I let out a light huff.
His lips curled deliciously and went to nibble my ear as he whispered, “Do you want me to zip you back up?”
By the way he bit passionately into my neck – my hot, will-turn-me-on-without-a-doubt, zone – he clearly wanted me to bend to his will. And my insides were screaming at me to let him do whatever he wanted. So I didn’t even object when I felt the silk travel north of my body.