Читать книгу Junior Year, 93-94 - Megan B. March - Страница 9

Alicia’s conservative driving from earlier in the day vanished on the way home. She appeared to be enjoying the peppiness of her new little car and needed to be reminded to watch for cops where they usually zapped speeders with radar because she was going a little too fast. Alicia just smiled, pushing down even further on the accelerator. After about fifteen minutes of dancing with the speed limit, she pulled into the driveway of the Meyers’ house and shut off the engine.

“Did you change your mind about staying to watch movies?” I asked, surprised that she didn’t just drop me off.

“No, like I said, James and I have other plans.” She gave me the same look again. “I just need to change and grab some stuff before going over to James’ house.”

Alicia dashed towards the house, taking the porch steps two at a time. I quickly followed her to keep up, and upon entering the house we were met by the sound of the guys playfully yelling and Alice in Chains drifting up the stairs from the first floor.

“Whoa! Sounds like testosterone city down there. I have to get ready to meet up with James, but you enjoy yourself,” Alicia announced with her voice trailing off as she dashed up the stairs to her room.

“You know I will,” I yelled up at her, rolling my eyes before making my way down the stairs to enter into what Alicia had described as testosterone city. There in the Meyers’ theatre room were Jensen, Gabe, Tyler, and Karl in various poses in front of the TV, playing a video game on the console. No one saw me right away because they were engrossed in the game and the music was blaring, which told me Jensen’s parents weren’t home. I made my way over to the couch, and when I was about half-way there they all noticed me. Karl was the first to ask if I wanted to play. Smiling, I shook my head no and watched as Tyler frantically worked the game controller while Gabe stood readily by. Both took a moment to turn and nod hello before immediately turning back to the game. Jensen abandoned his controller and came over to me.

“Hey, babe,” he yelled over the music. How was it?”

“Nothing special,” I said, closer to his ear so I wouldn’t have to yell above the loud music. “Are you guys having fun?”

“Always.” He kissed my temple and grinned. "I love that ensemble on you, by the way. It really hugs your curves." He looked at me suggestively and I elbowed him, feeling my face beginning to flush.

“Can I turn down the music just a little?”

“Oh, yeah, I’ll do it. Sorry about that.”

I sat down on the couch and just as Jensen went over to turn the stereo down, Karl and Tyler erupted into a loud yell, presumably because one of them had just passed a level they’d been working on for a while.

“Don’t fuck up my guy, Karl,” Jensen warned him. “It took forever to get that far.” Apparently he had been the one to pick up the controller Jensen abandoned, taking over the game. Karl saluted Jensen and went back to the game.

“What movies did you get?” I wanted to know.

“Oh, shit!” Jensen’s hands went to the top of his head. “Gabe was supposed to pick those up. I guess he forgot.”

“I live to serve. Any requests?” I asked sweetly before getting up from the couch. “And yes, I’ll grab some Bullwinkle’s Pizza while I’m out.”

Jensen got up and pulled me close, kissing my lips lightly and stealthily moving his hand around to my behind, cupping me lightly. “Definitely my favorite outfit on you."

I looked at his friends to see if they'd witnessed our exchange, but to my relief they were so engrossed in the game that our private moment remained ours.

"Which movies should I pick up?"

"Just get whatever is new. Let me get you some cash.”

“I can get it,” I protested, but Jensen shook his head and disappeared into his room. A moment later he returned with a wad of cash that I estimated to be close to a hundred bucks or so, most of it for the pizza.

“Guys, what kind of pizza do you want?” he yelled, quickly jotting down what the guys asked for. “And for movies?”

“Singles,” Tyler yelled.

“Candyman,” Karl and Gabe shouted out in unison.

Jensen wrote their selections on the same piece of paper the pizza order was on and handed it to me along with my purse that was on the couch. Turning to leave, I didn’t get very far before Jensen smacked my butt lightly. With a narrowed gaze I turned and instantly melted as Jensen looked at me and mouthed that he loved me.

With money and list in hand, I made my way upstairs away from the commotion. Karl yelled up after me that I was the best girlfriend ever, and the music steadily made its way back to the volume it was at when I first walked in. I made it to the top of the stairs just as Alicia was preparing to rush out the door. She skidded to a stop as we nearly collided and blinked in surprise when she saw I was ready to go.

“Why are you leaving? Too much?” she joked.

“Oh, no, they forgot the two most important things.”

“Movies and food,” we both said together, laughing.

“Come on, I’ll give you a ride to your house. You probably want to change, too.”

Alicia was right. Even though I had one of Jensen’s favorite skirts on, I really didn’t want to be watching movies all dressed up. Hanging with the guys definitely called for wearing more comfortable clothes. She dropped me at my place and sped off to start her night with James. I ran up the steps to my house and unlocked the door, racing back to my room where I found my favorite purple jeans and matching B.U.M. Equipment hoodie. After sliding a sleeveless turtleneck over my head and then the hoodie, I slipped into the pants and a pair of black Keds. Leaving my dress clothes on the bed, I grabbed my keys and purse on the way out and headed to the mall to pick up the pizza and movies.

After ordering five large pizzas and learning I’d have to wait at least thirty minutes, I headed over to the video store to pick up the movies. It wasn’t quite five o’clock, the time when people normally swarmed the joint, and I checked my watch to see I had at least a good ten minutes or so to browse the New Release section first. As I did so, I recalled the last time I had gotten movies. Jensen and I had taken the next big step in our relationship—adding me to his video store membership as he had his own membership that he opened once he’d turned 18. I recalled the day very well as it was the day after his senior graduation party, in the afternoon after we'd gotten some sleep.

“You don’t think it will be weird?”

“It’s not weird if you’re engaged.”

“But they don’t know that.”

Jensen and I had been having a back-and-forth whispered conversation in the middle of the video store. I caught a few stares here and there from other customers and figured they could only guess what we were talking about. Some probably thought we were planning to rob the place, I assumed as I followed Jensen up to the counter with our video selections. As the clerk scanned the tapes Jensen inquired about adding me. It was simpler than I had expected.

“Do I put your last name or mine?” I whispered to Jensen, unsure since we were technically engaged.

The clerk had looked at us funny. “Did you two recently get married?”

“Getting there,” Jensen covered and then whispered to me, “yours for now.”

My face burned as I quickly jotted down ‘Adams’ and then signed my name. After a few more minutes of standing there in embarrassment I was now a part of someone’s video store membership.

“That wasn’t so bad,” Jensen commented as we walked out of the store. He put his arms around me.

“That was totally embarrassing.” I shook my head. “I’m glad you know what to tell people.”

“Feel free to use that line anytime,” he chuckled at me.

I came back to the present and thought about what he’d said … Feel free to use that line anytime. It was like an epiphany and I decided when people asked about my ring and subsequent relationship status with Jensen, I would tell people we were ‘getting there.’

Feeling thrilled, I focused on the task at hand—choosing some movies for my boyfriend’s movie night with the guys; his last sendoff. Since the movies Candyman and Singles had come out the prior year they were easy enough to spot and pull off the shelf. The guys hadn’t suggested anything else, so I also picked up Sliver and Sneakers, also. Hopefully they wouldn’t mind that I wanted to see those two, but after all I was the one running the errands. After shelling out three bucks per movie, I headed back to Bullwinkle’s and waited another ten minutes for the pizza before being called to the counter to retrieve my order.

“Do you need some help out?” the server asked as I reached for the five large boxes.

“Nah, I got it. Thanks.” I put the movies on top the pizza boxes and carefully maneuvered the load toward the door, glad it was propped open already.

Heading to my truck, I had to set the pizza boxes down on the hood in order to fumble for the keys in my pocket. The pizzas and the movies fit well into the front passenger seat, and I used my purse to lodge the boxes in so that they wouldn’t slide to the floor on my way back to Jensen’s house. After pulling into the driveway where my truck blended in well with the other cars that were there, I got out and pulled the pizza boxes and movies across the seat to me, bumping the door shut using my behind. Carefully, I walked up the steps to the door and used my elbow to ring the doorbell. It took two more tries before Tyler, who was out of breath, answered it.

“Oh, hey, let me get that for you,” he offered seeing that my hands were clearly full, my head just peeking over the top of the pizza boxes.

I handed him the boxes and then grabbed the movies off the top. “Thanks!” I beamed. “I got Candyman, Singles, Sneakers, and Sliver.”

“Three movies that start with ‘S,’ that’s kind of cool,” Tyler remarked as I followed him down the stairs. “Hey, guys, the food’s here.”

“And the entertainment,” I added.

Jensen turned the music back down, which had been changed to Aerosmith. Livin’ on the Edge began to play and I found myself nodding my head to the beat and singing along. Jensen took the bag of movies from me and pulled them out to read what I’d gotten. He then set them on the coffee table.

“Are you guys done playing Sonic?”

“Yeah, we can start the movies as soon as everyone grabs their pizza.” He then kicked back on the couch and looked at me. “Babe, can you grab some pop from the fridge?”

“Are your legs broken? Who was it that went to pick up the pizzas in the first place?” I scowled at Jensen’s laziness. He was beginning to act a little too much like an ass for my taste.

“Yeah, squaw, go get our drinks,” Gabe joked. When he saw the surprised look on my face he quickly said, “Not really, you know I’m only kidding.” He got up from the couch. “I’ll help you since Jensen is kind of being an asshole right now.”

Jensen, who had been given back his game controller by a pizza hungry Karl, hadn’t heard a word Gabe said because he was too busy playing the game, trying to collect every ring.

“Don’t worry about him, he’s just preoccupied. Going away is a big fucking deal.”

Gabe and I were walking upstairs together and I found myself smiling at Gabe's use of the English language. Priceless. His choice of words had also rubbed off on Jensen.

“Won’t you be leaving for school soon, too?” I asked as we reached the top of the stairs and headed for the kitchen.

“Nah, I’m staying around here to save money by going to UAS. I may leave after I get my Associates, though.”

“I didn’t know you were staying here,” I said, pulling open the door to the refrigerator and seeing that someone had stocked it with multiple six packs of different kinds of pop. There were about eight six-packs of Dr. Pepper, Coke, Pepsi, and Mountain Dew. I handed four of the packs to Gabe, while I took the other four and the two of us made our way back downstairs to join the others. “So, Tyler is headed to some acting-type school in New York and Karl is moving closer to Jessica,” I reiterated, more for myself.

“Yeah, and you and I are stuck here in town. It kind of sucks that everyone else will be gone and starting new lives, so to speak. No more late pizza and movie nights. That’s when reality will hit.”

“Don’t remind me,” I complained, rolling my eyes.

“Well, we can be miserable together. I’m happy to hang out with you anytime. You’ve got my number, right?”

It felt a little odd having a conversation with Gabe about getting his number so we could hang out, but his face told me he was just being a genuine friend and I had nothing to worry about. I wish things were that way with Nate. Shit. Should I tell Jensen about Nate’s comment about my skirt? Or, what Alicia witnessed today at Heritage?

“I can get your number from Jensen. He’ll probably be happy you can keep an eye on me. You know … make sure I’m staying out of trouble and all. Also, you never know when I might need a handyman or a mechanic.” I laughed and the two of us walked over to the couch and set the pop down on the coffee table. Tyler and Jensen were still struggling it out, seeing who was best at playing Sonic.

“Who’s keeping an eye on whom?” Jensen asked as I sat down next to him and propped my feet up.

“Oh, Gabe. He’s going to keep an eye on me while you and everyone else are away at school. He’s staying here.”

“Oh, yeah, didn’t I tell you that?” Jensen asked, reaching for a can of Dr. Pepper.

I shook my head no and reached for my own Dr. Pepper to open. Although he'd gained back his short-term memory that he'd temporarily lost for a few months, every now and then he would miss something. Jensen opened his pop and handed it to me; he did have some chivalry left after all. I gave him my unopened can and leaned against him.

“Hey, no popcorn?” Tyler asked after pausing the game. I shrugged and he grabbed a giant piece of pizza instead and put half of it into his mouth.

I picked up the stack of movies and read the back of each trying to decide which one I wanted to see first while Gabe was checking out the game station trying to figure out how to turn it off. Unable to make up my mind, I began to ask the guys which movie they preferred to watch first when Jessica came strolling into the room. Karl’s face lit up like it was Christmas and he covered the distance between them with three large steps, grabbing her up into his arms.

“You made it! I’m so glad you got off work early.” Karl grinned like a love-struck fool.

“Hey, Jessica,” I said with a smile. “Glad I won’t be the only girl here—I was beginning to feel outnumbered.” She laughed, which seemed genuine for once.

Everyone else said hello to Jessica between mouthfuls of pizza. The way they were packing it in I’m surprised any was left for her, but she was able to slide a slice onto a napkin before snuggling up to Karl on the couch. I called out the choices of movies and got the biggest response for Candyman.

“Dim the lights!” Jessica commanded. “This one is supposed to be scary.” She moved in closer to Karl.

With the lights turned off, the only brightness that made its way into the room came through the shades that were in Jensen’s opened bedroom. Eerie music began to play through the speakers and everyone quieted down. When the movie started, I followed Jensen back to the couch and sat down right in front of where he was with my legs crossed underneath me. He rubbed my shoulders lightly and kissed my neck.

“You changed,” he whispered, “and I wish you hadn't. There go my thoughts of taking that outfit off you later." He squeezed my shoulder and I felt my stomach twinge in response. Turning around, I kissed him quickly and he told me that he loved me. “I don’t think I told you how beautiful you look today,” he whispered into my ear, his breath moving a few of my hairs and tickling my skin. “When your hair’s this way it does things to me—I love it.” His whisper was just low enough so only I could hear. I felt my face blush and was glad we were under dim lighting.

Moving his arms down to circle my waist, I snuggled closer and put my head back against his chest, content to just be close to him. We stayed that way through both Candyman and Sneakers, but by ten o’clock I decided to call it a night and go on home; Sliver and Singles would have to wait. I figured Karl, Gabe, and Tyler would more than likely spend the night with Jensen, whom they hadn’t spent a whole lot of time with since school let out. I’d see them all again in the morning. I hoped none of them thought I had monopolized too much of his time.

Jensen walked me out to my truck after I finished saying goodnight to his friends and his parents who had just come home. I hopped inside and let my legs dangle outside of the open door. A Scorpions song quietly played on the radio as I reluctantly said goodbye to Jensen.

“I’ll miss you,” he said as he nuzzled my neck with his nose and held me around the waist. His lips found mine and I held his face with my hands. We continued to kiss until Gabe's incessant yelling for Jensen broke the moment. “Be there in a sec,” Jensen yelled back, then turning to me he murmured, “Jesus, Gabe can be so impatient.”

“They probably want to play Sega. What else are you guys going to do other than stay up all night? You won’t watch Sliver and Singles without me, will you?”

“Well, we might, but you and I can watch them again tomorrow. Are you coming over for breakfast?”

“Well, I think you need to have time with your friends and I hijacked that tonight. I also have to register for school tomorrow. I’ll come over in the afternoon when I’m finished.”

“Deal.” He moved in to kiss me and I covered the rest of the distance between our lips.

Krissa’s last name starts with the letter V so she was scheduled to register before I was, and since I had to wait to register, I had to rely on Krissa to pick out a good locker. Krissa knew which areas to stay away from, so hopefully she was able to find one that we both liked, although I had completely forgotten to tell her that the locker sharing situation had changed. I looked for her after walking into the commons area after finding a parking spot that was a little too far away for my taste.

“Mia!” Looking to my left I saw Krissa running toward me with the chair she had been sitting in a moment earlier still rocking slightly from its near-miss with the floor.

“Hey! You been waiting long?”

“Well, sort of. I just wanted to let you know where we got our locker. Aria called me yesterday and said she was sharing with Nate while you and I would be sharing. She also said he got a locker in the English wing along with Alicia. I figured we’d all want to be close to each other so …” she trailed off, looking up to detract from the fact we would be in the English wing. She didn’t know that I was already resigned to that fact.

“Shit, sorry, I forgot to call you and tell you about the change in the locker situation."

"Jensen?" Krissa asked with a smirk.

"Who else?" I grinned. "About the English wing … look, Krissa, it’s OK. I figured that’s where we’d be yesterday when I was here with Alicia and Nate showed me his locker.”

“Oh, you were here yesterday?” She seemed surprised.

“Yeah, I came with Alicia and then we had senior pictures in the afternoon.”

“Oh, Aria didn't mention that."

"She didn't? We were all at Heritage together after Alicia and Nate registered." How odd of her not to mention to Krissa that she'd seen me yesterday.

"Do you want me to wait so we can check out our locker together?”

“You don’t have to. I mean, if you have somewhere to be.”

“Hell, I waited this long,” Krissa figured, “It’s probably just another fifteen-to-twenty minutes tops.”

“Alright, let me get in there and get this over with.”

After leaving Krissa and making my way to the first table, I then followed the rest of the pack through the gym saying hello to those I recognized and listening to the mumbles and groans of the typical end-of-summer complaints. Like many others students who were there, I shuffled my way through and forced a smile for my junior picture. I hadn’t done my hair like I did for my senior picture. Instead, I had just pulled it up into a ponytail. My clothes were also the normal everyday teenage outfit: jeans and the same B.U.M. Equipment sweatshirt I had worn to Jensen’s house the previous day. There was also a different photographer and I didn’t have to sit there for long—it was a ‘snap’ and get up and move out of the way for the next person. From there I went to the next station where locker assignments were given out and told the lady who greeted me I was sharing with Krissa VanKamp. I crossed my fingers that it was a good one.

Krissa was eagerly anticipating my return to the commons area and jumped up when she saw me emerge from the gym. I briskly walked over and soon we were off to check out our new digs that turned out to be in the carpeted area on the opposite side of where Nate and Aria would be sharing. I dialed the combination, and after a second of peering in I slammed the door.

“Alright, seen one locker, seen ‘em all.”

“I guess,” Krissa agreed.

“You probably want to get back to the few days you have left with Ryan. Jensen leaves in two days and it’s starting to really hit me,” I confessed, feeling sad.

“Yeah, Ryan leaves next week. I can’t imagine being at the tail end of my time with him, but I know it will come more quickly than I think. Aria is so lucky to have her boyfriend close by and she doesn’t have to deal with this goodbye shit.” I nodded in agreement as we started walking back to the commons area.

“Are you driving Kylie’s Talon this year or is she taking it to school with her?”

“Well, I have it today only because she was feeling extra-sisterly. But, she decided to take it with her. She leaves next week, too, a few days before Ryan.”

“Do you need a ride to school in the mornings? I’ll have zero-hour again if you can handle getting there early.”

“No, I’m actually doing some car shopping. I’m supposed to test drive this cute little Honda Accord later today. I’ll let you know if I end up getting it.”

“That’s cool. I’ll let you know once Jensen leaves and I go to pieces.”

Krissa put her arm around me and gave me a half-hug. “Oh, Mia, don’t be so dramatic. Besides, you’re going to be a senior! Aren’t you super excited?”

“That’s not going to be until after Christmas,” I reminded her.

“What are we going to do with you? Glass half-empty,” Krissa smiled and teased. Her face then softened. “You really should call Aria.”

What? Where did that come from? “That was out of left field. Did she say something? I mean, she wasn’t super friendly when Alicia and I hung out with her and Nate yesterday.”

“You know how Aria is, but I think it would mean a lot if you called her. Or, you could go to her house today. She registered first with me, so she should be home now.”

“Yeah, I guess I could do that. We haven’t spent much time together this summer. But, I won’t take responsibility completely for that. She was with Nate most of the time. And you know how much Jensen likes Nate.”

“Still? Damn. Isn’t he going to understand that Nate doesn’t have a thing for you these days?”

I shook my head and bit my lip, not feeling like going over little details that told both me and Jensen that Nate hadn’t moved on. The first time we met he made it clear that it wasn’t his style to remain interested once he was turned down by a girl, so I wasn’t sure why he was still interested in me. I guessed it didn’t help that we had made out on my couch on our Anti-Valentine’s Day when Jensen and I were on hiatus, but that was just one of those things. At least for me it was. Besides, wasn’t it Nate who helped me get Jensen back from Alyna in the first place? I couldn’t figure it out.

“Alright, I’m going to Aria’s,” I said, taking my friend’s advice. “I’ll call you later and tell you if we get along famously like old times.”

Krissa lightly punched my arm and we hugged before parting ways outside the building not far from where her car was parked. When I reached my truck and climbed in, I was feeling like it was the right thing to do by visiting Aria. I turned on the stereo, which began blaring 4 Non Blondes. As Linda Perry was belting out the chorus to What’s Up, I smiled to myself remembering just how much Jensen hated the song, but I was addicted to it for some reason and couldn't keep myself from singing along at the top of my lungs. He would have cringed had he been there.

Putting my truck in gear I headed to Aria's, and twenty minutes later, which included ten minutes of driving around before I finally found street parking close to her house, I arrived. For it being mid-day on a Wednesday there were no spots in front of her house and I was slightly irritated.

“Don’t people work?” I asked myself under my breath.

Walking up to her house I noticed that one of the spaces was taken by a familiar red Toyota truck. It was Nate’s. The thought of turning around crossed my mind, but then I figured that since I drove all the way there and then had to circle the block so many times to find a place to park I might as well walk up to the door and say hello. I knocked on the door and waited a minute for Aria to open it. Her hair was slightly mussed and she was in a nightshirt. Being in the middle of the day and the fact that she had just been at registration with Krissa, I was confused by her appearance and wondered if maybe this wasn’t a good time.

“Oh … hi Mia. I didn’t know you were coming over.”

Was that a look of relief? “Sorry, I should have called. I was down at school registering and thought I’d stop by and see what you were up to.”

“Come in. I thought you were one of my mom’s friends.” She opened the door wider and stepped aside.

Puzzled, I walked into the house and followed Aria through the living room to her bedroom. Remembering that the truck outside looked like Nate’s, I was about to ask where he was when I saw him bare chested and casually lying against the wall with blankets draped over his bottom half. I took in a sharp breath at the sight of him because he was just as cut as Jensen, if not more. He certainly hid it well under his clothes. Neither Aria nor Nate seemed to notice my surprise at his half-naked appearance. I felt even more awkward when Aria climbed into the bed and snuggled up next to him. Nate held up his hand and gave a slight wave. Was that a show of embarrassment?

“Hey, Nate. I thought I saw your truck out front. This isn't a bad time, is it? I don’t have to stay, I can go.” I fumbled for words and motioned toward the door, desperately hoping they'd send me away.

“No, no, it’s fine,” Aria cut in. “Mom’s out of town and Nate’s been keeping me company.” I couldn’t help but notice her slight smile.

Nate sat up taller and adjusted the blanket around him. “Yeah, for a second I thought I might have to hide under the bed, but you can imagine my relief when I didn’t hear our code word when Aria answered the door.” He put his arms around Aria and she reached up and kissed him. Awkward … this must be what a camera crew feels when they’re filming movie sex scenes.

“So, what do you guys have planned for today?” I asked, taking a seat on the bottom edge of the bed. Once I was there I realized I probably should have just sat on the floor, but I didn’t know how to move without creating a scene of sorts.

“Oh, we’ll probably hang out in here all day,” Aria stated, matter-of-factly.

“Yeah,” I said, looking for a way out of there, “I’m actually supposed to be at Jensen’s right now. He had the guys over yesterday and I think they’re probably still there. I, uh, told him I’d come by after I registered. He may be wondering where I am, actually.” I knew I was babbling and decided to shut up.

“Do you want to call him?” Aria pulled herself away from Nate and leaned over the edge of the bed, picked up her phone and handed it to me. As she leaned, the blanket moved a little too much for Nate’s comfort and he quickly grabbed for it with a harsh whisper, but not before I had confirmation that he wasn’t clothed underneath. I could feel my face burn red and looked down at the carpet. Not having any intention of calling Jensen before now, I didn’t know what else to do besides stand there and look as out of place as I felt. Reaching for the phone I dialed Jensen’s number and waited for someone to pick up, which turned out to be a long, long wait as I listened to Nate and Aria kiss. Finally, Alicia answered and wondered right away if I was broken down somewhere in my truck. When I told her no she said that was good because Jensen had been playing Sega all morning and probably wouldn’t leave to rescue me. She was about to say more when Jensen took the phone.

“Hey, babe, did you register yet?”

“Of course, it’s after noon. Right now I’m over at Aria’s … Nate’s here, too.”

“Are you going to be there for a while?”

“I don’t know,” I said, praying he would ask me to come to his house.

“You can hang out there if you want. I wouldn’t mind having you here to snuggle with while we watch the rest of these movies, but to tell you the truth I don’t think I really want to watch Sliver with the guys. I hear it has some pretty steamy sex scenes and there’s someone else I’d rather watch those with,” he whispered.

I wouldn't mind that, either. “OK, I’m on my way.”

I couldn’t have gotten out of there any faster than I did, telling my half-dressed friends that I’d see them later. They were probably itching to have me gone as well. Nate kept looking at me and then Aria—they both had the same look in their eyes. Aria giggled as I walked out of her bedroom door. She yelled out to me, asking if I could let myself out and lock the door. The voyeur in me wanted to pause for a few minutes and listen, but I pushed myself forward. Nate had been clearly naked under those covers and if I knew Aria … .

I couldn’t wait to tell Jensen about interrupting the two during a hot and bothered moment. I found my truck a block away and climbed in, revving up the engine, peeling out and driving a little over the speed limit in the direction of Jensen’s house. When I arrived I noticed there was one less car in the driveway; Karl and Tyler were still there. Gabe must have gone to work or had something else to take care of. Not knowing if his parents were home, I knocked on the door. A lightly wrinkled Alicia answered and I noticed James was in the family room on the couch. He waved and then turned back toward the TV. His normally scruffy brown hair was in more disarray than usual. What is it with everyone today?

“Hey, Mia,” Alicia whispered, “Thank God you’re here! Gabe left, but Karl and Tyler are still here and they won’t leave!”

Laughing, I asked, “Where’s Jess? She could easily take Karl out of the equation.”

“Getting some last-minute stuff before she and Karl take off in a few days. They’re taking her car and together their hitching a ferry to Seattle and then driving to UC Davis. Karl is shipping his stuff, but I’m not sure what he’s doing with his car. Probably leaving it here so he can have something to drive if he comes back to town,” Alicia explained.

“Leesh, you comin’ back in here?” James called.

Alicia squeezed my arm and then glided to the other room and gracefully fell over the arm of the couch and into James' lap. I turned and went down the stairs to find Karl, Tyler, and Jensen sprawled on the couch watching Singles. They were laughing hysterically about Spam, the canned meat, and I wasn’t sure why. Jensen perked up immediately when he saw me, and everyone else gave me a hello. I sat down and snuggled up to Jensen, trying to catch up with the movie.

“So, how was Aria’s?” Jensen whispered in my ear.

“Awkward.”

He looked at me, puzzled. “What do you mean?”

Just then we heard from the guys. “Hey, if you two are going to whisper to each other through the whole movie, then at least hand me the remote so I can turn up the volume. I can’t hear what the hell is happening!”

“Sorry, man.” Jensen tossed Tyler the remote and he turned it up just enough to drown out our whispers.

I moved a little closer to Jensen. “I walked into a very interesting scene today.” Jensen looked at me with raised eyebrows and leaned in closer yet. “So, I got to Aria’s house, right?” I paused and he nodded. “Well, she met me at the door barely wearing anything and her hair was all messed up. I was kind of surprised since she had already been up for the day because she registered with Krissa. Anyway, Aria was really relieved that it was me and not one of her mom’s friends.” Jensen nodded again but wasn’t getting what I was saying. “Oh, I left the part out about whose car was parked outside. It was Nate’s truck.”

Jensen pulled away from me with raised eyebrows. “Are you kidding me?” Now he got it.

“Not at all,” I giggled. “Now that I think about it I’m positive I interrupted them, but the worst part was knowing Nate was naked under the covers!”

Jensen’s jaw tensed and his eyes seemed to harden. I thought he would have found that funny, but I figured wrong and was suddenly very aware that what I said bothered him.

“How do you know?” he asked cautiously, trying to keep his anger in check, but I knew better. He always talked through his teeth when he was pissed.

“Let’s just say he didn’t do a great job of keeping the covers in place when Aria moved to get her phone for me to call you. I was completely embarrassed,” I added.

Jensen’s temperament seemed to subside slightly and he moved my ponytail away from my face. “Wait.” He paused and looked beyond me. “I’m getting a mental picture of this interaction.” He smiled as he talked and then he looked at me and chuckled. “I can only imagine what that was like for you.”

“Yeah, it was weird. And when I left, Aria asked me to let myself out and to lock the front door! I swear, the minute I shut her bedroom door they jumped each other. I heard her giggling.”

“Too funny. Don't let the door hit you on the ass on your way out, right?”

“I guess! I'm so glad I didn’t stick around.”

“I’m sure they were, too. I know I sure am glad you didn’t. I missed you.” Jensen moved in and pressed his lips lightly to mine for a moment.

“Even with the guys to keep you occupied?”

“They’re not you and they don’t snuggle.”

Jensen gave me that smile of his because he knew it always melted me and he would get his way. Giving him an elbow to the side, I snuggled closer and he played with my ponytail as we watched Singles. After about five minutes of feeling the incessant pulling Jensen was doing with my hair, I loosened the ponytail and let him run his fingers through it, which for me was almost too relaxing. I felt myself nodding off when Jessica and Karl returned with a few bags of last-minute items. Joining us, they watched the ending of Singles before Jessica whisked Karl away, and Tyler, deciding that being a third wheel wasn’t fun, took off as well.

When Jensen and I were finally alone, we chose to watch Sliver together the rest of the afternoon. At the first racy scene, Jensen was moving my hair away from my neck and lightly sweeping his lips across my skin. I shivered at his touch.

“I’m glad we’re watching this without everyone else,” he whispered in my ear.

I turned toward him and smiled in agreement. His lips moved faster than I was expecting as they roughly met mine. In one swift movement we were both lying prone on the couch. I laced my right leg around Jensen’s left and tried to pull myself as close to him as possible, noting that he was ready to go. Perhaps it was the sex scene in the movie, or maybe it was our kissing, but I found that I, too, was a little hot. Our hands began to frantically explore one another and soon he lifted up my sweatshirt, tossing it onto the floor. Before Jensen’s lips could find mine again, his shirt met the same fate.

“Jensen?”

“Mmmm … hmmm?” He continued to kiss my neck softly.

“I think Alicia and James are upstairs.”

Jensen stopped kissing me, sighed, and fell to the side. “You’re right. We probably should have started this movie at your house.”

Reaching for our discarded clothes, I handed Jensen his and put my sweatshirt back on. I agreed that we should continue the movie at my house, as well as other things, and watched as Jensen put his t-shirt back on at breakneck speed. He was almost as fast grabbing his keys and ushering me out to my truck to drive to my place. As soon as we walked through the door my phone was ringing off-the-hook. I reached for it as Jensen sagged down into the couch.

“Hello?”

“Mia! Hey!” The familiar voice of my friend boomed through the receiver. “I wasn’t sure you’d be home.” Jensen looked at me and I mouthed that it was Krissa.

“Oh, hey! How’d the test drive go?”

“It went really well. I ended up buying the car! Can you believe I actually own one now? Crazy.”

“That’s great, Kris.” I put my hand over the receiver and quickly told Jensen that Krissa had bought a car.

“So, did you see Aria?”

“Oh, shit … yeah, I did.”

Krissa couldn’t help but hear the humor in my voice. “What?” she asked, sounding irritated that she was missing the punch line. I shared the same story I had just previously told Jensen, which had Krissa giggling right along with me.

“Oh-my-god. I can’t imagine seeing Nate naked.”

Huh? I thought for sure she and Nate had been that serious. “That’s funny, since you two went out. I thought you would have at least seen him without a shirt.”

“Well, that. Yeah, I guess I did see that.” Krissa paused for a moment. “Doesn’t he have the most amazing chest and abs you’ve ever seen? Aside from Jensen, of course,” she was sure to add. “If you share that I said that I’ll deny it to my grave.” We laughed.

“Yeah, and it was totally unexpected because of what Nate wears.” Jensen’s head jerked up and he had a questioning look on his face. Realizing that he was probably thinking about a different part of Nate’s body, I mouthed chest. That didn’t really put him at ease, though, but I imagine it was better than what was on his mind.

“So, just how much of his bottom half did you see?”

“I prefer not to relive that image,” I confessed, laughing and watching Jensen’s face.

“Well, I hope they’re being safe.”

“Yeah, me too.”

“Alright, I need to get going. Ryan is waiting for me. We’re going to get my car insured.”

“Have fun with that. Talk to you later … and congratulations on being a car owner.”

After Krissa said goodbye, I hit the button on my phone to hang it up, put it back in the receiver, and went over to the couch and straddled Jensen, putting my arms around his neck. I was ready to pick up where we had left off, but I could tell something was wrong. His jaw was a little tight with stress and I was sure we’d be having a somewhat serious discussion. Not only was he giving me a bit of the cold shoulder, I could tell he must be fuming on the inside.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, moving in to kiss him. He allowed a quick peck, but that was it.

“So why were you and Krissa talking about Nate's body?” Jensen asked matter-of-factly.

“We were talking just about his chest and abs; nothing south of his stomach. Like you, he’s pretty cut. I never would have guessed because of the clothes he wears.”

“So, he’s pretty cut, huh?”

I rolled my eyes. Oh man, here we go. “So what? He’s not you,” I whispered, moving in and kissing Jensen’s neck, trying my best to get him back into the mood.

As my lips moved up to nibble on Jensen’s ear, my hands went up underneath his shirt and traced the planes of his abdominal muscles. He sighed and placed his hands on my hips, moving them up and down before reaching up and taking my face into his hands. I reared back a little so I could look into his eyes, which were a deep blue. He was smiling, which surprised me.

“Sorry for being so fucking jealous.” Jensen shook his head. “I don’t know what it is about that guy. I mean, I know he’s with Aria, but something about the way he acts around you has me believing otherwise.”

“So what can I do to take your mind off of him and back onto me … and us?” I looked intently at him and ran my fingers through the back of his hair.

“Oh, I have some ideas.”

In no time, Jensen pulled my face to his and glued his lips to mine. Together we lifted off the couch and made our way to the bedroom and over to my bed where I sat down while Jensen stood before me. Slowly, I unfastened his belt buckle and the fly of his jeans before pulling them off completely. My mouth trailed down his stomach to the little trail of hair just south of his navel. My eyes gazed up and Jensen knowingly reached over to the bedside table to pull a flavored condom from the drawer. He handed it to me. A rather large grin and look of anticipation filled his eyes. Smiling at his adolescent excitement, I looked at the wrapper and saw it was grape-flavored, which took me back to the first time I experienced oral sex with him.

It was in the early morning hours of the Fourth of July. We had just come back from watching the fireworks and, unbeknownst to his parents, I'd stayed over. They thought I had gone home. Jensen and I were kissing and shedding clothes, and, like usual, I was certain it would lead to us having sex. Especially since Jessica and Karl had chosen to camp out up on Mt. Roberts after the fireworks and she wouldn't be back that night to sleep in her room, which was next to Jensen’s. However, on this night, he had stopped and stared at me and I could tell something was on his mind.

"What?” I whispered in a slight panic. “Why did you stop? And why are you staring at me like that?"

Jensen hesitated a second and then bit his lip. "Do you want to try something we've never done together before?"

Intrigued, I nodded, but just to make sure he knew I was game, I confirmed it with a definite yes and he continued to kiss me, moving slowly down my neck and then to my abdomen. It didn’t take a genius to figure out where he was going. Pulling off my panties, he asked me to relax and began to kiss around my legs, slowly moving inward, flicking his tongue and sucking down there. It was like nothing I’d ever felt before. My body responded automatically as I moved my hips ever so slightly and rhythmically to Jensen's delicious torture of my sexual center. He brought me to climax quickly and I had to pull a pillow over my mouth to stifle my cries so the whole house didn't hear them. I didn't remove it until the tension in my body eased considerably and I felt his kisses moving up my abdomen and back to my neck again.

After tossing the pillow aside, I held his head in my hands. "Wow, that was … unexpected." I didn’t know how else to voice what I felt.

"Unexpected?"

"No, it was amazing. I meant unexpected in that I didn't know what that would be like. I'd like to try it on you." I felt inspired to try something new and different with him.

"You don't have to, really. I don't want you to think I expect you to reciprocate."

When I insisted, Jensen and I traded places and I began kissing him down his chest and abdomen, running my tongue between his chiseled stomach muscles. He shivered a little as I got down to his briefs and pulled them off. The Calvin Klein’s he usually wore looked so hot.

Tossing them aside, I immediately wrapped my hands around his most esteemed body part. Just as I was about to circle the rim with my tongue, Jensen slightly moved and I could hear him open his drawer and rifle around. He then handed me a small package that turned out to be a grape flavored condom. I eyed it and then eyed him. What was this for? Did he want to have sex instead?

"Do you want me to stop?" I questioned out of confusion, feeling a little awkward.

"No, why?" Jensen cocked his head, not understanding my question at first. He laughed quietly when I touched the condom in his hand. "This is for you in case you don't want to swallow, or you want to taste something familiar."

I felt my face burn with embarrassment as my mouth turned into a little ‘oh.’ I eyed him tentatively.

"Emery once told me that some girls don't like to do it and need some kind of an incentive." I raised an eyebrow and he shrugged. "Even though I haven't run into that, it just seemed like good manners to have something and to offer the option." Although I knew he'd had other sexual partners, I certainly didn't want to dwell on them going down on him, so I focused only on me being with him at that moment.

"I'm beginning to think this may have been pre-meditated," I teased.

Jensen shrugged. "Believe it or not, it wasn't. I've always had those available, like I said," he explained.

I took the condom out of his hand, knowing that I would probably use it, but not at first. I wanted to know what skin-to-mouth was like, and he deserved it as well since he hadn't insisted on using anything when he had gone down on me. Wait, was there even something he could have used? I'll ask him later.

Turning on my listening and observation skills, I took him in my mouth and noticed a small amount of liquid at the tip that tasted a little salty. His skin was soft, yet firm, and I tried different things like licking him slowly from base to tip, and sucking and taking him as deep into my mouth as I could. I found when I spent the most time at the tip, sucking, flicking, or swirling my tongue around it, that it elicited the response I was going for: a full body shudder, a few moans, or his frantic whispering of “yes."

Jensen held my head carefully, pulling my hair back into a makeshift pony tail with his hand as I worked, and when I knew I had him close I opened the wrapper and took the condom out. It certainly smelled good. I put it on him and took him back into my mouth. Mmmm … it tastes good, too. I sucked hard and went as deep as I could go, moving faster to mimic nearing the end of our regular sexual encounters. He buckled in half, holding my head softly.

"Oh, fuck! Yes!" he intensely whispered as he cradled my head in his hands. That was my cue he was there, and seconds later I felt the tip of the condom fill up as he lightly pulsed in my mouth. He fell back onto his pillow, breathing rapidly. "Jesus, that was … fuck!"

I made my way back up his body slowly, kissing the entire way. When I got to his lips, he kissed my forehead and motioned to the condom, saying that he’d be right back after taking it off. There was no wastebasket in his room and he often had to leave his bed right after we had sex to throw it away. I didn't mind this time, though, because it usually only took a second and it gave me time to crawl under the covers. However; I did make a mental note to pick a wastebasket up at the store. A few seconds later, Jensen came back and climbed underneath the covers with me. I laid my head on his shoulder and had my left arm across his chest.

"So, how did you learn to do that?" he asked. "Have you ever done it before?"

"No, you were my first. Was it OK?"

"‘Was it OK, she asks.’ Did you not hear me? Holy shit it was hot!"

"Hot. I would have settled for great," I giggled. "If you must know how I learned, I read up on it. My mom had some sex books in her top drawer. They were very informative." I continued to giggle. "In all seriousness, they were helpful. I figured I'd probably do it sometime, so I studied. I also paid attention to your reactions and figured out what you liked. What about you? You've done that before, haven’t you?" I said, more than asked.

"What makes you think I didn't read up on it like you? I am totally into the Kama Sutra."

"Ha! I don't believe that for a second. Do you even know what Kama Sutra is?"

"Actually, you're right … I plead the fifth. That wasn't my first brush with oral sex."

The mood changed in that very moment and we were then talking about something I had already sensed anyway. We pick the most inopportune times to talk about his past sexual history.

"You and Alyna," I said softly.

"Yes, and a few of my other girlfriends. Mostly I was on the receiving end, but I did give it to a few other girls besides Alyna."

I was quiet as I regarded his honesty. I wondered why we hadn't ever talked about his oral sex partners, just his sex partners. Weren't they the same?

"Why are you so quiet? Does that upset you?" he asked after a moment of pause.

"I guess I'm just curious why you didn't include the 'few other girls' you gave oral sex to in your count of people you've had sex with."

"I did. There were only two others besides Alyna. Anne-Marie and Savannah, the girl I lost my virginity to."

"Oh! Sorry, I misunderstood."

After that night, although on the menu, we seemed to save oral sex for special times together, or when we really needed to focus on each other. I made sure I kept a supply of flavored condoms in the drawer at my house, especially for those special times, and Jensen kept his usual stash.

Back to the present, Jensen’s thoughts were now off Nate and had definitely returned to what was going on between the two of us. He stroked my head as I continued to follow his happy trail south. After that, there was no need to watch the rest of Sliver.