We Were Us (9 page)

It was a scary movie and once it was over, she and I decided to both just sleep in the living room on the couch. She didn’t want to sleep alone out here and didn’t want to sleep on the floor in my room. I didn’t blame her, what if a monster or a killer was under my bed? Irrational thinking was awesome.

We set up pillows and blankets on opposite sides of the couch and switched the DVD’s so we were watching The Little Mermaid. We needed a happy peaceful movie to watch so we could fall asleep.

***

The next morning my phone beeped at me from under my pillow. It was a text from Josh. Actually several texts.

How’s the night going?

Watching princess movies?

Talking about girly stuff

What are you guys talking about

Call me in the morning.

Let’s hang out again soon

I’m coming over tomorrow

I’ll be over shortly

The last text was sent less than five minutes ago. I rolled over on the couch onto my back. Lauren was still curled up on her end of the couch, snoring softly. I had to wake her up before Josh got here.

“Lauren,” I said softly. Nothing.

“Lauren,” I said a little louder. Still nothing.

“Hey,” I half yelled. She stirred and opened her eyes. One eyeball twisted to look at me then she sat bolt upright.

“Where am I?” she snuffed.

“You’re at my house. It’s Jenna. You stayed the night.”

“Oh yeah. Sorry. What time is it?” she asked.

“Um.” I glanced at my phone. “9:27.”

“In the morning?” Lauren said and yawned.

“Yeah.”

“Oh okay. Cool. I should probably get going, I have to work at 10:00.”

“Oh, wow. Do you want to shower or anything?”

Lauren yawned again. “Yeah that would be great. Thanks.”

She rolled off the couch and made her way to the bathroom. I’m not sure she was completely awake yet. I assessed my clothing situation and discovered that I’d slept in my street clothes for the second night in a row. Different clothes, but still not pajamas. I guess that Josh would be here soon so I went to my room and changed into a pair of jeans and a new t-shirt. I didn’t know what was in store for today, but at least I had clothes on.

  I walked back out to the living room and caught Josh at the front door before he even knocked. I opened it for him and let him in.

“Is Lauren still here?” he asked without saying hello.

“Hello to you too.” I said and folded my arms across my chest.

“Hey, sorry.’ He leaned down and kissed me softly on the lips.

“She’s still here. She’s in the shower. She has to work at 10:00.”

“Okay.”

An awkward silence fell between us. I felt as though he was here waiting for Lauren to leave more than he was to see me. I gathered up all the blankets and pillows and dumped them on the floor in my room.

Lauren was dressed and out of the bathroom before I returned to the living room. She and Josh was speaking to each other in low voices. I crept to the living room slowly so I could maybe hear what they were say.

“Don’t worry, I didn’t say anything about it” Lauren said. She sounded annoyed though.

“Okay. Good.”

“Why is that good? She should know.”

“Not yet.”

Lauren sighed heavily. What were they talking about? Was it something I should know about? About my mom? Or Michelle?

“You better get to work anyway. It’s almost 10:00.”

“It’s not like they’d fire me. There’s no one else to work there. They’d probably shut the store down if I didn’t show up.”

“You’re being dramatic.” Josh laughed.

“Hey guys,” I said louder than necessary.

Josh and Lauren took a step back from each other.

“I gotta go.” Lauren said quickly. “Thanks for having me over. Let’s do it again soon, okay? I had fun.”

“Of course. Text me.” I replied. We hugged and she left.

“What was that all about?” I asked Josh.

“What was what?” He asked feigning innocence.

“Nothing. What are you doing here? Don’t you have to work?” I asked.

“Nope. I have the day off.”

“I hope not because of me.” I’d hate to be the reason he misses out on a paycheck.

“Ah, kind of, but I was already scheduled to have time off soon, so I just took it now.”

“I’m not an invalid. I can take care of myself. I don’t need a babysitter.”

“I know, but aren’t you worried about that guy coming back? I know I am.”

“No, not really. He didn’t find what he was looking for while he was here so why would he come back?” My logic might be flawed, but he just didn’t seem like he’d come back again.

“Well, I also just want to hang out with you. Is that a crime?” He stood in front of me now. He’s six foot five inch frame towering over my five foot seven.

Not many people tower over me. All of my girlfriends are shorter than I am, and several guys I know are right at eye level or just above me. Not that I really mind a shorter guy, but I liked feeling small in Josh’s arms. As if right on cue, he enveloped me in his arms and pulled me tight against his torso. My arms were tucked against my chest so I couldn’t hug him back.

I felt safe.

CHAPTER TEN

“So what do you want to do today?” I asked into his chest.

“Hang out here? Or we could go to my place?”

“Your place?” I tried to pull back and look at his face, but I was still pinned to his chest. Not that I was complaining or anything.

We were currently curled up on the couch, my head was on his chest, and my legs were wrapped around his.

“Yeah. My mom is actually gone all day for something. I can’t remember now.”

“Some random thing?”

“Yeah, like a conference for baking or something.”

“They have those?”

“I guess.”

“Well, you need to let me go so I can get ready to go.”

“You look fine.”

“Yeah, well, I need to at least brush my teeth.”

“I was wondering what the smell was.”

“Shut up,” I yelled and wiggled my way away from him. “You’re mean.” And gave him a playful push.

“Nah, just honest.” I gave him a look.

I brushed my teeth and fixed my hair so I didn’t look like I’d slept on half a couch all night long, even though I had. Never doing that again. I secretly snagged my favorite movie from the DVD pile, there was no way I could sit through another action/car/robot movie. He’d just have to deal with my choice.

I locked the house up behind me and we made the short drive to his house in his truck with the windows rolled down. His house was quiet and empty when we walked in. No lights were on, but all the curtains were open so the mid-morning sun streamed in through the windows.

“Follow me,” Josh said.

I followed him through the living room and down a steep flight of stairs where we both had to duck to avoid a low ceiling at the bottom. We were in Josh’s room. The actual ceiling was only a few inches above his head, and if he wasn’t careful, he’d knock his head against the light fixture.

Josh flopped down on his belly onto his bed and looked at me like I should follow. The scenarios I’d thought up in my head of what Josh and I would do in his or my bed did not include movie watching or talking. I was suddenly nervous.

Josh and I dated when we were sixteen and while he wasn’t my only boyfriend, I didn’t date much after him. In fact, I didn’t have another boyfriend while I lived in Riverview. Most of the boys in school thought I was like my mom and wanted in my pants so I avoided them like the plague.

When I moved to Brookhaven with my dad, no one knew me. I was the new girl and I’d come for the last half of my senior year. It wasn’t really enough time to form relationships with anyone. I did fall into a small group of friends. They took me in my first day when they saw me looking lost in the cafeteria. I was soon introduced to Bryan. He was tall and quiet. We went on a few dates, we kissed, and we made out in movie theaters. We went to Prom together and at an after party we had bad sex. I never talked to him again after that. There were only a few weeks left in school and so I’d thrown myself into studying and finals and that was it for Bryan.

When I started in college, Andrew was the first and only boy I talked to. He and Stefani were the only two people I really ever hung out with last year. Andrew and I stayed platonic for a while until Stef found a boyfriend and begged us to double date with her. Sex just hadn’t happened between us yet.

I followed Josh’s lead and sat on the edge of the bed and crossed my legs. My heart skipped a beat and butterflies tried to escape my mid-section when the side of his body touched my back. It wasn’t even in a sexual way, but just the close proximity of our bodies was making my heart race, and my skin prickle with delicious goosebumps.

“So what are we watching tonight?” he asked and ran his finger up and down my bare arm. I involuntarily shivered at his touch.

“You okay?” he asked. It was a whisper in my ear.

“Yeah,” I barely whispered. I cleared my throat and said, “just cold.” Which was a total lie.

Josh sat up and joined me on the edge of the bed.

“We don’t have to do anything,” he said.

I was glad he’d said that. I knew I wanted to be with him, I just wasn’t sure I was ready to be with him in that capacity. My conversation with Lauren last night, and Stefani calling and bringing up Andrew had my mind racing.

“So what are we going to watch?” he asked, changing the subject.

I seriously contemplated forgoing the romantic comedy I had stashed in my purse and watching an action movie, but I hadn’t watched Notting Hill since I’d been back in Riverview and I usually watched it weekly. Okay daily. I reached into my purse and pulled out the movie and handed it to him.

“Notting Hill,” he read slowly. “What is that about?”

“It’s about a bookstore owner and a movie star who fall in love.”

“Really?” he did sound too enthusiastic about it.

“Yeah.” I looked at him.

“Really?” he said again but smiling this time.

“It’s my favorite movie. We had to watch XXX last time and it was awful.”

“What? That movie was awesome.”

“Well this one is too.” Josh sighed, but got up anyway and loaded the disc into his DVD player and switched on the TV.

“Want some popcorn?” he asked. He was already at the stairs so I just nodded my head.

Josh’s bed stuck out diagonally from the TV so the end of the bed was closest to it. I repositioned myself so that I was leaning against the head of the bed with his pillows behind my back. His pillows had the same woody, pine scent I always smelled on him. I wanted to roll over and bury my face in the bed and wrap myself up in the comforter. I didn’t though. He’d be back down with the popcorn soon and it would be awkward to explain why I’d crawled underneath his covers.

When he returned, he smiled at me when he saw me and joined me on his bed. We snuggled close to each other, eventually he had his arm around me, and my head was on his chest. It was kind of awkward and uncomfortable with his arm snaked around my back but I didn’t want to move and make him think I didn’t want to be near him. I know it sounded stupid.

The entire movie, I kept thinking about how easy it would be to just straddle him right now and kiss him passionately to get something started, but my body just didn’t move when I told it to. Before I knew it, the movie was over, Hugh and Julia were together, and I was still sitting uncomfortably next to Josh.

“So did you like it?” I asked when I flipped the TV to MTV after movie ended.

“I liked the weird Welsh guy. His shirts were funny.”

I just laughed. I was a little disappointed that he hated my favorite movie, but he tried to like it for me and that made me happy.

“Well at least you’ve watched it now and you don’t have to ever see it again.”

“I’d watch it again if it meant I got to be with you.” His face was dead serious. I almost laughed because it’s not like his statement was some life changing, sentimental statement. I just stared back at him, waiting for him to make a move.

“Jenna, I want to kiss you again.” This guy knew how to be serious. He could get me all worked up with just one sentence.

“I want you to kiss me again.” I breathed, because that’s all I could do. The anticipation was killing me.

He leaned over me, positioning one knee between my legs and the other leg was braced on the headboard. He loomed over me. I lifted my hands and placed them around his back and pulled him down to me. His mouth crashed down onto mine leaving me breathless immediately. I slip my hands down his back and under his shirt, pushing it up over his shoulders. He tugged it over his head, tossed it on the floor, and smiled at me. His hands were on my waist pulling my shirt up too. I leaned forward and allow him to pull it off. I usually wore two layers, a cami and a shirt, but today I just had a t-shirt on so now I was lying beneath him in just my bra and shorts.

Josh smiled at me again before he leaned down and kissed me softly on the cheek, then across my jawline and down my neck. I wrapped my arms around him again and let my fingers graze the smooth skin of his back. He moaned quietly and arched his back in response to my touch. I didn’t know if he wanted to touch me in the same way, but he slid his hand under me back and lifted me to him. I clung to him as he pulled me on to his lap so I was straddling him. He proceeded to lightly brush his fingers up and down my spine that sent tingles and sparks of desire to my core.

I cupped his face in my hands and straightened his face so he had to look at me, fully aware that while my back was arched, my chest was pressing into his. He glanced down a few times at my breasts and it made me giggle. I leaned in to kiss him and when our lips met, he closed his eyes.

“Keep your eyes open,” I whispered. His eyes flew open again and stayed on mine. “Don’t close them, I want you to watch me.”

I kissed him softly again on his lips and watched his piercing blue eyes darken with each pass my lips made against his. His breath quickened, as did mine until he slipped his tongue between my lips, meeting mine. I closed my eyes at this point and combed my fingers through his shaggy blond hair. I pressed his face closer to mine as he pressed my hips into his. I gasped at this motion and it spurred him on. He grabbed me behind my knees and pulled me closer to him. My foot brushed something hard at the foot of the bed, but I ignored it. All I could think about was being closer to Josh. His mouth left mine and trailed kisses down my neck and across my chest then down between my breasts. I threw my head back and let him hold me in place at my waist as I held onto the back of his neck. I readjusted myself when Josh’s hands found their way up to my bra. He fiddled with the hooks and I moved my feet under his thighs. My foot brushed the hard thing on the bed again and all too suddenly I realized what it was.

The volume on the TV cranked up to the max startling us both. My foot must have been pressing the volume button on the remote. I jumped up off Josh and the bed and pushed the power button on the television. I stood across the room from Josh, staring at him while I attempted to catch my breath. Not just from the volume of the TV, but from our steamy make out session. I was about to let him take off my bra and show him my boobs.

“You okay?” he asked.

“Yeah. Are you?” I asked back.

“Yeah.” He got up from the couch and met me by the TV.

He took my hand, pulling me to him and wrapping his arms around me. His skin burned hot against mine causing me relive the last five minutes in my head. He must be thinking about it too because he leaned in and kissed me once on the lips before retrieving his discarded shirt and pulling it on over his head. I looked around for mine too. He found it first and tossed it to me.

I can’t say I wasn’t a little disappointed to see his shirt slip back on. Stupid television.

“What now?” I asked.

“Another movie?”

“Sure. I guess. We can watch something about cars or robots,” I said playfully.

“I have robot cars,”

“Even better.”

We spent the rest of the day watching movies. He fixed ham and cheese sandwiches for lunch, and we snacked on chips and popcorn during the movies.

“Hey, remember when I said I wanted to take you out again?” he asked after the fourth car movie of the day. He did not have any romantic comedies, so I was stuck with his boy movies.

“Yeah,” I replied.

“Well, I want to take you somewhere.”

“Where?” I asked.

“It’s a surprise.”

“I hate surprises.” I shook my head and looked down. I really did hate surprises. When I was eight, my mom decided she wanted to throw me a surprise birthday party. It backfired epically-no one came. I half believed that it was because it was my mom and no one wanted their kids at our house, but in the back of my mind I wondered if it was really because no one liked me.

“Just let me take you out.”

“Okay, when?” I laughed.

“How about tomorrow? It’s Friday.”              

“It is Friday.”

“I want to show you something,” he smiled playfully.

“And what you want to show me happens on Fridays?”

“No, it can happen any night. I was just stating that it was Friday.”

I laughed again. “Okay. Well sure. It’s not like I have something else planned.”

“Great. I’ll pick you up around 8:00.”

“What should I wear?” I asked

“Whatever you want.”

“Well you’re no help.”

“Jeans and a t-shirt. You look sexy like that.”

He gripped the back of my neck with one hand and twisted his fingers into my hair.

“Is that right?” I asked.

I loved it when he whispered in my ear.

I kissed his forehead. When I pulled away, he pushed me back to him and captured my mouth in his. I guess he couldn’t wait any longer. I let out a groan. He smiled into the kiss and flicked his tongue over mine then kissed me again.

“You should take me home,” I said ending our kiss.

“Why?” He kissed me again.

“I just want to be home. I need to shower.” I kissed him again. I couldn’t seem to get enough of his lips. “You can shower here. Better yet, I need to shower too. We could save water.” As enticing as that sounded, I didn’t know when Mrs. Riley would be home, and having her find me naked with her son in the shower was not something I’d like to live through. I still remembered what she did for me a few days ago and I didn’t want to lose her trust and respect. Sleeping with Josh in my house was one thing, but doing it under her roof was unacceptable to me.