Forever and Always (3 page)

“
You should go to bed. I
don’t know if I can be a gentleman any longer.”

“
I don’t want you to
be.”

He pressed his forehead against mine
and sighed. “Please don’t say that to me.”

“
Sean, I want
you.”

He growled and moved away from me.
“Good night, Scar,” he said.

I pulled down my dress and got to my
feet. “I’ll grab you some blankets,” I said as I walked to the
closet. I tossed him a sheet and an extra pillow then stood in
front of him.

“
Thank you,” he
said.

I pushed him back and sat on his lap,
straddling his hips.

“
It isn’t going to work,”
he whispered.

I sighed, annoyed that I wasn’t going
to get any. I kissed him gently. “I love you.”

“
I love you too,” he said
as he cupped my face.

“
Good night,” I said as I
got to my feet.

“
Good night,
babe.”

I smiled at him.
“
Babe
?”

“
What?”

“
Why are you calling me
that?”

“
You’re my girlfriend—I
can call you whatever I want.”

I turned around and walked toward the
hallway. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

“
Good night,” he
said.

2

When I woke up the next morning, Sean
was still asleep on the couch. Instead of walking into the living
room in my pajamas with no makeup, I dolled myself up for my new
boyfriend, not wanting him to see me look so hideous. I had never
been happier in my life, and even though I really wanted to sleep
with Sean, knowing he was in the next room was enough.

I sat at the kitchen table and ate my
cereal quietly, letting Sean sleep as long as possible since he was
still acclimating to the time difference. Ryan came in a moment
later and spotted Sean on the couch. He poured himself a cup of
coffee and sat across from me, reading the newspaper like he did
every morning. Ryan didn’t strike me as a guy that cared about
local news in Seattle, but he read the paper every single
day.

I heard a loud yawn from the living
room and knew Sean was awake. He got up and stretched, and I walked
over to him, giving him a kiss.

“
Good morning,” I
said.

“
Good morning.” He smiled.
“Sorry I slept in so late.”

“
I’m glad you got some
rest,” I said. “Would you like some breakfast?”

“
I’ll just have coffee.”
Sean rose from the couch and entered the kitchen, pouring himself a
mug of coffee. He sat at the table with us while I had breakfast. I
was practically jumping in my seat because I was so happy. Ryan
smiled at me from across the table.

“
I’m surprised you slept
on the couch,” Ryan said.

“
I didn’t mind,” Sean said
quickly.

“
I would have given you my
bed,” Ryan said. “Guests should never sleep on the
couch.”

“
Thank you,” he said. “But
the couch is fine, really.”

“
I offered to let him
sleep with me, but he refused,” I said.

Ryan shook his head. “That’s because
Sean has some class—unlike you.”

I rolled my eyes at my
brother.

Ryan turned the page of the newspaper.
“Do you want to play ball with Cortland and I?” he asked. “We are
leaving in a few minutes.”

“
Sure,” Sean said before I
could reject the offer. Now that Sean was there and only for a
weekend, I wanted to spend all my time with him. “Do you have some
clothes I can borrow?”

“
Yeah,” Ryan
said.

Cortland knocked on the door just
then. “Come in,” Ryan said.

Cortland came into the kitchen with
the basketball in his hands. He smiled to me then nodded at Sean.
“You guys coming?”

“
Yeah,” Sean said. “We can
play teams.”

“
Yay,” I said
sarcastically.

Sean smiled at me. “I am yours for the
rest of the day.”

“
You better
be.”

“
I’m going to change,”
Sean said as he got up.

“
I’ll grab you some
clothes,” Ryan said as he followed him.

Cortland sat down next to me. “Did you
tell him?”

“
No.” I sighed. “And I
don’t think I’m going to.”

“
Don’t you think he has
the right to know?”

“
Well, we weren’t
together—or even speaking—at the time. I don’t think it’s any of
his business. Besides, it will just make it awkward between you
two, and since nothing is ever going to happen between us again, he
has no reason to feel threatened by you. I think it’s best if we
don’t tell him.”

“
Well, Ryan
might.”

I shook my head. “No, he
won’t.”

“
So, if he asks if you
slept with anyone, you’re just going to lie?”

“
No,” I said quickly.
“I’ll make up a fictitious person.”

“
If you think that’s
best.” He sighed.

“
I do,” I said. “I don’t
want to ruin my friendship with you. And that’s all we
are—friends.”

Cortland shrugged. “It’s up to
you.”

Ryan and Sean came back and we left
the apartment, walking to the courts a few blocks away. Sean held
my hand as we walked, and when we got to the basketball court, we
started a game of two on two.

“
I pick Cortland,” Ryan
said quickly. “I’m not going to be on my sister’s team—she
sucks.”

“
Damn.” Sean sighed. “Now
I’m stuck with her.”

I hit him lightly on the shoulder, and
he laughed at me. “You don’t want me on your team?”

He wrapped his arms around me. “Not if
I want to win.”

“
Come on, lovebirds. Let’s
play,” Ryan shouted.

I narrowed my eyes at him. “Well,
what’s more important to you? Winning this game or having a
girlfriend?” I asked.

Sean stroked his chin like he was deep
in thought, and I hit him again. “Okay,” he said quickly. “I’m
happy that I’m on your team.”

“
Good.” I smiled. “That’s
better.”

We started the game, but I lagged
behind the three men. Sean tried to keep me involved by stealing
the ball from Ryan then tossing it to me. Then he would block the
men from moving towards me so I could make a shot. The rest of the
game went that way. Of course, we lost, but we had a lot of fun
playing it. Sean and I were both sweaty when the game ended, so he
grabbed my shirt and wiped his forehead on it.

“
You’re so gross,” I
yelled as I pulled my shirt away.

He grabbed my face and kissed me. “You
are too,” he said as he licked his lips. “But I like it, so it’s
okay.”

“
Mega-Shake?” Ryan
asked.

“
Let’s do it,” Cortland
said.

We walked to the shop and ordered our
food. We all washed our hands before we took a seat in the
corner.

“
You guys come here a
lot?” Sean asked.

“
Yes,” I answered. “Ryan
and I used to come here almost every day as kids to get
shakes.”

“
Yes, my sister would drag
me here constantly,” Ryan said.

I threw a fry at my brother. “You
wanted to come here more than I did.”

Most of the time, my brother and I
would stay there and do our homework until we had to go home,
wanting to be out of the house as much as possible. My father
passed away, leaving us alone with a mother that hated us with
every fiber of her being. My mother used to hit me when she was
drunk, but Ryan would always intervene and take the beating
himself, protecting me with his body. I looked up at Ryan and we
shared the same thought. This place was our safe haven.

Ryan finished his food and pushed it
away. “Cortland and I are going to a comedy show tonight,” he
said.

Cortland nodded. “I got free tickets
from work,” he said. “I would invite you guys, but I only have two
tickets.”

“
What about Monnique?” I
asked.

“
She has to work,”
Cortland said sadly.

“
When are we going to meet
her?” I asked.

“
I don’t know,” he said.
“I don’t want to scare her off, and meeting you might make her run
for the hills.”

“
You are starting to act
like Ryan,” I said. “You are spending too much time
together.”

“
No,” Cortland said. “I
think you are just becoming my annoying sister, too.”

I looked at Sean. “You see what I have
to put up with?”

Sean smiled. “I feel bad for them,
too.”

I pinched his side gently and tickled
him. “I don’t want to lose you, too.”

He looked at me. “Well, if it makes
you feel better, I definitely don’t think of you as my
sister.”

“
I would hope not,” I said
with a laugh.

Sean finished his last fry. “I want to
order one of these milkshakes now. See what the big deal
is.”

“
You’ll love it,” I said
excitedly.

Sean stared at me for a moment. “I’m
sure that I will.”

“
I’ll go order them,” I
said as I stood up. Cortland was already on his feet.

“
So, three chocolates, and
what flavor will you be getting, Sean?” Cortland asked.

“
Vanilla,” he
said.

Cortland walked away to order and pay
for the shakes before I could even move. “That guy is such a snob,”
I said as I sat down again.

“
He seems like a nice guy
to me,” Sean said as he shrugged his shoulders.

“
And why did you get
vanilla?” I asked him. “That is the lame flavor.”

“
Well, I didn’t want
strawberry.”

“
You could have gotten
chocolate.”

“
But you guys all ordered
that,” he said. “I wasn’t going to conform.”

“
You are so weird.” I
sighed.

“
You’re the one that
doesn’t share milk products, pours the cereal on top of the milk,
and you eat hot dogs off the ground.” He laughed.

“
Don’t get me started on
that,” Ryan said as he shook his head. “Who doesn’t share milk
products? How is that any different than other
products?”

I shook my head as I thought for a
moment. “It’s just gross.”

Sean stared at me. “You’re the
weirdo,” he said. “Sharing a glass of water is just as
disgusting.”

I made a gagging face. “But milk is
thick and pasteurized—and—it’s just nasty.”

“
Okay,” Sean said
sarcastically. “Now it totally makes sense.”

Cortland walked back to the table with
our shakes when Ryan said, “You really ate a hotdog off the
ground?”

Cortland stopped and stared at me. “Is
that true?”

I felt all their eyes fall on me,
judging me for what I did. “Well, yeah, it was still
good.”

“
When was this?” Cortland
asked.

“
When she was in New
York,” Sean said. “She dropped it on the ground after the vendor
handed it to her, but she ate it anyway.”

Ryan stared at Sean. Now
he was judging him. “And you
kiss
her?”

Sean smiled. “Yeah,” he said. “She’s
gross, but I like it.”

Cortland stared at me for a moment,
and I knew he was grossed out because he had kissed me too. I
couldn’t help it. I started laughing at the look of disgust on his
face.

Ryan turned to Cortland. “And she
doesn’t share milk products,” he said. “Are you sure you want her
to be your sister, too?”

“
I don’t get it,” he said.
“Why are milk products different than other stuff?”

Sean laughed. “Apparently it’s thicker
and pasteurized—whatever the hell that means.”

“
You guys are all jerks,”
I said as I sat back in my seat.

Sean leaned forward towards Cortland.
“And she has to pour her cereal on top of the milk. She won’t eat
it if the milk goes on last. She claims that it’s too
soggy.”

Cortland started laughing. “So, let me
get this straight. You will eat a nasty hotdog off the ground, but
you refuse to eat a bowl of cereal because it’s too soggy? And you
won’t share a milkshake with your boyfriend because of all the
bacteria?” Ryan started laughing so hard that he was heaving with
breaths, and Sean was wiping the tears from his eyes. “That makes
absolutely no fucking sense, Scar.”

I couldn’t help it; I started laughing
at their jokes. My ridiculous habits were amusing, even to me. “You
made your point,” I said as I stopped laughing. I turned to Sean.
“Does this change the way you feel about me?”

Sean kissed my lips then pulled away.
“I think I love you more.”

Ryan shook his head. “Poor guy,” he
said. “Has no idea what he’s getting himself into.”