Choices (16 page)

“Put up with it?” I asked frowning, not understanding what he meant.

“Yeah, you know, getting all that lace stuck in between my teeth.” Well, if that didn’t make my stomach do flip flops and heat me up in a way a summer campfire never could and he had the nerve to guffaw again, even louder this time. I wasn’t sure if he was being serious so I asked.

“
Don’t laugh! I need to know! Are you being serious?” I was laughing too. God, it felt so good to laugh again.

“Yes, Laurel.”
He smirked and winked at me and stoked the fire some more. “I’m being serious. I saw the sexy women’s white boxer undies you had on. I watched you take them off and the white cotton underwear bra. You lost points though for matching.” He turned his attention back to the fire. “Does that answer your question?”

“Hey, you are not allowed to answer a question with a question. It’s against relationship rules.” I flopped my head back down and screamed a silent cheer inside my head and breathed an internally sigh of relief.
“Wait a minute!” I lifted my head up again. “You little peeping tom, you! You spied on me.” I flicked sand at him.

“
Ah, c’mon now. You aren’t going to hold that against me. I couldn’t control myself and I wasn’t spying. I wanted to get my snorkel gear and then decided against it when I realized you were getting changed. Jesus, I was so turned on listening to you taking your clothes off and mumbling to yourself about squeezing into a bikini that I had to peek.” I cringed remembering that little conversation to myself and he blushed, he actually blushed.

“You’re blushing.” I crowed.

“So shoot me for thinking you’re hot! Okay, spice girl, well, I’m curious, now. Did I pass the test?” He threw more firewood onto the fire.

“Let’s just say, I’m thrilled I won’t have to be wearing anal floss to bed. I really hate that! It’s a pain in the ass-literally.
” He guffawed again. A few minutes of silence passed as I listened to the roar of the ocean and the wind was soothing me, as if it was comforting me and telling me in its own special way that everything was going to be alright.

“
Wow, I’m so relaxed and not just from making love to you but just from being in your company. I feel that I can unwind and breathe and be allowed to feel what I’m feeling and be who I want to be and it will be accepted unconditionally. I’m not worried about whether or not a drunken man is going to come home and expect me to cater to his every whim and fancy, who’s going to expect that I’m nothing more than his sex toy. It’s such a relief to have a normal conversation again with a member of the opposite sex, someone who is not going to argue with me or deny he has a problem. I can actually just talk, talk about whatever I want to talk about. It’s a slice of heaven really.” I sat up slowly looking him directly in the eye crawled over to him on my hands and knees, with my breasts and my hips swaying, crawled right up into his lap and I firmly planted a sizzling kiss on his warm and welcoming lips.

“If you keep doing that we’ll
never make it back to the tent. So, what do you want to talk about Laurel; if you want to talk at all anymore? ” He cocked his brows and wiggled them.

“How about a penny for your thoughts?
” I said my voice soft and husky.

“I’m happy to find someone who is compassionate, warm, loving and not to mentio
n smokin’ hot and sexy as hell, with hair that makes my rocks ache.” He smoothed my hair back off my forehead.

“Aww, we can’t have aching rock
s now, can we?” I smiled seductively, tsked my teeth and rubbed a little south but, then had a sudden flash of how ridiculous I was being and being here with him. “But really Brandon wouldn’t you rather have some hot twenty something cheerleader throw her hair over your rocks and get you off?” I said sarcastically and shifted away from him a little but the whole time my thoughts were consumed by him.
God, I loved saying his name. It makes me think of being branded by him.
His eyes grew serious and clouded over.

“Are you ever going to take me seriously even after what we just shared? Isn’t that proof of how I feel about you?” He
lifted me off him, rose to his full height in one smooth, quick as lightening motion and flashed eyes that were once hot with passion, now filled with anger. 

“I’m not just being
charming you know; you’re not taking my feelings for you seriously!” He started pacing and raking his hand through his tangled mass of ocean drenched waves.

“
Alright you want to know what I’m thinking… this…” He spread his arms wide, twirled around and then pointed to me, took a deep breathe to calm himself and leaned down to kiss me, “this is what I’m thinking about - just you and how and who you are. I’m thinking I did the right thing by bringing you here. I had so many doubts…”

I cut him off, “See I knew it!” I shot up too, ready to gather my things and find the first bus home. “I knew you weren’t being honest.”

“Jesus, Laurel, you didn’t let me finish! You are a hot head.”

“Me!” I looked at him flabbergasted. “You were the one wh
o got angry first and shoved me off you and looked at me like you were ready to lay me out and not in a good way.” I shivered. It was cold being away from the fire; not the campfire, his fire.

“Yeah, you!” He laughed
. “You’re cold, come here.” He walked to me and gathered me in his arms to stop me from packing up.

“
Well, I am ready to lay you out again and I have a feeling I will always want to do that.” He chuckled. “Will you stop now and let me finish?” He kissed me and I nodded.

“
Most of the young women my age that I’ve met are dedicated to carving out a career for themselves. That’s fine. It’s just not what
I
want. I’m too impatient to wait for them to decide that I’m what they want. No, Laurel what I want isn’t something someone my age can give me. Only you can do that. Only you have the power to make me feel wanted and desired.” He closed the gap between us, hunched over to cup my face and gently traced the outline of my jaw and then my lips, sending exquisite shivers down my spine and clouding my judgment again as usual before he returned to his full height.

“I’m sorry Brandon. I have a feeling I’m going to be saying that
a lot.” I sighed as I leaned into him even more.

“Please, be patient with me. I’m not used to the attention and the praise. I’m sorry if I hurt your feeling
s again. I do believe you, I just don’t want to admit it or acknowledge it for fear that the universe will take it away. I just can’t believe this is happening. It’s so amazing! You’re so amazing-beautiful, smart, and sexy and you want me. I don’t know- go figure that one out.” He drew me close to him again and all I could really see was the gleam of his teeth and the whites of his eyes but I could feel the truth of his words through his smile, his body, the sound and conviction of his voice and the way his hands caressed my face.

“Laurel, I’m going to have my hands full with you aren’t I? That’s okay I have a lot of love to give because I’ve bee
n saving it for you. I like showing you how much you mean to me and I will be happy to show you over and over again and again. Except right now, the thought of getting into the tent isn’t too appealing to me right now but I want my hands all over your body again.”

“Last one in the water is a rotten egg!” I screamed as I dashed down to the water’s edge throwing my sweatshirt and my bathing suit top up and over my head behind me creating a trail for Brandon to follow. It wasn’t long before he joined me in the cold water and we were locked at the lips and the hips pulling each other down into the cool, black water waiting for our next adventure to begin.

I haven’t slept so soundly or exquisitely for such a long time. I could feel the rest truly replenish my bones. I was so peaceful.
I prayed that I could capture this feeling, bottle it and save it for a tense stressful time when I would need to re-capture these feelings of gloriousness again. To wake in Brandon’s arms was a small slice of heaven. My cell phone was ringing and I could tell be the sound of the ring it was my oldest calling. I had to swallow my guilty feelings, remember to stay in the present and answer my phone.

“Hi Vanessa, what’s doin’ sugarplum?”

“Hi, Mommy.” Suddenly I was Mommy when I wasn’t around.

“Hey
babycakes how are you? Are you having a good time with Aunt Liz? I’m sure she is spoiling you rotten, with movies, candy, doughnuts and pizza” I quickly stuffed back down the feelings of guilt that rose from the pit of my stomach and somehow was going to get caught at the back of my vocal chords.

“Yeah, we are having a good time. How about you? You sound happy. We called last night before we went to bed but we didn’t hear back from you. Are you alright?”  Boy, first it was I
who was always angry now; she’s picking up on the fact that I sound happy. God bless whoever was going to end up with Vanessa! You wouldn’t be able to slip anything passed her. “Yeah, pumpkin, I’m okay.”

“Are Aunt Kristy, and Aunt Bonnie and Joni there too?”

“Of course they are. I am at Aunt Bonnie’s house. Hey, what do you have planned today- the movies, shopping, swimming, out for lunch or dinner?”

“Aunt Liz says all of the above. We miss you. I can’t wait to go away for our summer vacation with Daddy.”
She’s just sharing her opinion, she’s not bringing down the axe - you’re doing that. Stay in the present.

“Hey, tell Brielle and Jake I said Hi and I will talk to you later this afternoon. Your aunts and I are getting ready to go to the beach. Yeah, we’ll have a good time at the shore this summer. I love you, sugarplum. I’ll talk to you soon bye”

Whew, I managed that conversation. Now if Paul calls….

Brandon must have noticed the contorted, disconnected expression I had plastered to my face because he swiftly took the cell phone out of my hands and began to place my hands on his body as his lips were on my body traveling to by now well exhausted places.

“Remember, here and now, with me.” He mumbled in my ear and on my face as he kissed me tenderly wiping away a small, salty tear that escaped. “Let’s see what I have planned for this morning.” He sighed and pulled me closer to him and chased away any feelings of remorse, regret or guilt and replacing them with desire, passion and hope.

Saturday was just fabulous. We jogged on the beach and then went for a swim. Brandon and I made it back to our campsite and we, or really he, made breakfast. He whipped out the portable stove and scrambled up some eggs he retrieved from the cooler while I managed to make toast from the fire with bread placed inside an old fashioned mini hot plate attached to a pole. I watched as he moved with grace and ease. He smiled a few times at me as he made breakfast. I just marveled at his physique in the daylight and now that I had tasted and felt his body it was even more spectacular now that I knew him intimately.
Was this even going to go anywhere? WTF am I doing? Really, this is so crazy! How can we possibly have anything together? Brandon’s so positive but that’s just his youth speaking. One of us has to be realistic. Honestly, this is just insane and wonderful and beautiful and loving but is there a future here?

“Hey, you’re getting that far off look on your face again
.” He flicked some sand in my direction to get my attention.

“Remember here and now.”

Right. Here and now.

I jumped up and threw myself at him and wrapped myself in everything Brandon.

“Let’s eat breakfast and then go chase some horses and then go swimming again and then come back and do what you do best.” I breathed into his ear and wrapped my arms around his stomach and pressed my chest against his back.

“It’s not what I do best. It’s what you do best and I like the way you think, so much so I could lick your brain.
” He turned around, planted his hands on my ass and hoisted me up to kiss me.

Once my breath returned back to my lungs, I responded with, “Lick
my brain? Wow, that’s priceless and I can honestly say I’ve never, ever heard that expression before.” I thought for a split second. “Hmph! I like it but then again I have a feeling I’m going to like anything you do as long as you do it to me.”

After a sunny day of swimming and chasing horses and making love we were resting on the blanket beside the tent in the quiet of dusk listening to the insects call their mates and sing their sweet love songs.

“You must be hungry.” He asked while he
lay on his side stretched out beside me and ran his fingers through my hair while I lay on my back gazing at the pale moon getting ready to make its appearance for the evening.

“Actually, I passed hungry a long time ago. I
’m famished.”

“Let’s see last n
ight was burgers, how about we make our own pizza. I have one of those cooking stones we can spread it out on.”  Brandon sighed as though it were too painful to be away from me, stood up and walked over to the cooler and pulled out frozen pizza dough and all the ingredients, chopped and ready to go. Man, he was prepared that’s for sure. Not only was I amazed that he was strikingly beautiful, interested in me, mature for his age but organized and prepared.