by Rhonda James
“You’ve been dreaming about me,” he asked, pulling slightly away from me and cocking his head.
“Well, yeah, just about every night,” I blushed, burying my face in the softness of his shirt. He chuckled softly, and his breath warmed my skin.
“I’ve waited a long time to see you blushing,” he kissed the top of my head as his hand now brushed long strokes up and down my back. “For the record, I’ve dreamed about this moment every night since I left you at the airport.”
“That was a hard day,” I admitted.
“One of the hardest of my life, I was afraid it would be the last time I saw you.”
I was floored by his honesty, not to mention flattered. I knew that we had shared a special bond while spending that week together, and since I returned home we have kept in constant contact, sharing heartfelt gifts and words of love, but hearing him tell me that he was worried that we may not see one another face to face is something altogether different. It’s hard to explain actually, I mean if you think about it I am just a young woman who spends most of her days in a hot kitchen with a bunch of sweaty men who banter back and forth endlessly. I’m happy with myself and my life, but I don’t feel particularly special. Then, there was Sebastian, a young attractive rock star that could probably have most any woman he wanted, he spends most days in a house that could hold at least ten of my apartments, or in a recording studio writing killer lyrics that will eventually make him more millions. He’s amazingly talented, sweet, and incredibly sincere, and in my eyes special is just not grand enough of a word to describe him. We were, by all accounts, worlds apart, yet here he was, lying next to me, kissing me, and telling me how much he loves me.
“Sebastian, please tell me you’ll stay with me tonight,” I whispered. “Now that you’re here, and I can finally touch you again, I don’t want to let you go.” Today had been hard, in more ways than one. Having him here somehow made it all better, and I wasn’t ready to let go.
“I was hoping you’d say that,” he replied hoarsely, covering my mouth with his, reminding me once again what I had been missing these past three months.
Sebastian~
Waking up next to Brooke is probably the best thing I’ve ever known, seeing her lying there on her side, her hair splayed around her sleeping face, her soft body pressed tightly against mine, it puts me at complete peace. I don’t think I moved all night, afraid of disturbing her and missing out on holding her all night. The chemistry between us is undeniable, just a touch of her hand makes my heart rate increase. Mom had always told me that when I met the one for me I would know, without a doubt. Lying here, next to this beautiful woman that I love with everything that I am, she was right; I do know. I kiss her tenderly, not wanting to wake her, and whisper another promise in her ear.
“One day, I’m going to make you my wife and then I can spend the rest of my life waking up to you like this.”
I hold her a little while longer before quietly slipping away and head into the kitchen, I smell coffee so I am assuming that Jade must be up already. As I round the corner, I hear her talking and realize that Dek must also be awake.
“Good morning sleepyhead, where’s the little missus?” he snickered behind his coffee cup.
“Keep laughing smartass,” I sneered at him. “For your information, the missus is still sleeping; she had a hard day yesterday.”
“Not to mention, the shock of her life last night,” Jade chimed in. “By the way, where did you end up finding her? Did you get to see the restaurant?”
“No, I found her sitting on a bench on Main Street.” I gave her a knowing look and her eyes immediately reflected realization.
“Oh crap, it totally slipped my mind yesterday. Damn, I knew that something wasn’t right with her when she left for work. Did she talk to you at all about it?” she asked, concern filling her voice.
“Yeah, she opened up a little more to me last night. It was important to her to be there, to honor his memory like that. You know, living with survivor’s guilt is incredibly difficult, unless you’ve been through it you have no idea. I just sat there with her and held her, let her take all the time she needed,” I shrugged.
“So, let me get this straight,” Dek started, “Brooke lost someone she loved in an accident too?” He looked at Jade and me, confusion clouding over his handsome face.
“Yeah, four years ago the man she loved was killed in a car crash on Main Street, he was on his way to pick her up from work. That very same night she was planning to accept his marriage proposal,” Jade said quietly.
“Whoa, you two are eerily connected, and you knew all of this Sebastian?”
“Yes Dek, she told me about it when she was staying with me, it was just another reason for me to love her. The way she handled her grief and how she allowed the pain to make her work harder and be a better person, she is an incredibly strong woman. Just being with her makes me want to strive to be a better person,” I replied, each spoken word dripping with pride.
“You make me sound like a saint, Sebastian. Surely, you must have found some faults in me by now,” Brooke teased, coming into the room with her face freshly washed and her hair piled loosely atop her head. She bent down to give me a quick kiss, and I took that moment to inhale her scent deeply, I had almost forgotten how pretty she was first thing in the morning. When she stayed with me we would wake up each morning and have coffee together on the patio, and I haven’t been back out there since, knowing that it wouldn’t be the same if she weren’t there with me.
“Only a few, but nothing out of the ordinary.” I grunted as she plopped onto my lap, nearly causing me to spill my coffee.
“Ooh, now you have to tell me what faults I have. Come on, spill it Miles,” she poked me playfully in the ribs.
“Well, if you must know, you eat all the crispy fries off my plate when we go out to eat, you listen to Taylor Swift,” I scrunched my face up at her, “and you steal all of the blankets when we are sleeping.” She rubbed her nose over mine and slipped her hands under my T-shirt, working them over my lower back, and a low groan worked its way from my throat.
“Is that all? Surely, there’s got to be more than that,” she laughed deeply, hands still working their magic over my skin, and I shook my head again.
“Nope, but there are other things that you do, good things. You take off all of your pepperoni and give it to me when we order pizza, you like it when I carry you around…”
“Yes, and you like that too,” she interrupted.
“Hell yes, I do. Any way, as I was saying, you like it when I carry you, and I like it too,” I raised my eyebrows. “Your lips taste like strawberries, and you let me kiss you anytime I feel like it,” I inched forward and gave her a sloppy, wet kiss, just to prove my point, “and you let me fall asleep holding you in my arms.”
“Sounds to me like you’re one lucky S.O.B.” Dek quipped smartly, hitting the nail on the proverbial head.
“You know it.”
“Good grief, you do realize that I have to live with her after you leave, stop blowing up her ego,” Jade replied, rolling her eyes and laughing, clearly not jealous of her best friend’s happiness.
“Jade, sweetie, I promise that I’ll only wear my crown when you’re not at home,” Brooke replied tartly, making all of us crack up. “So, what are your plans while you’re here? How long are you staying?”
“Well, we have to fly out Sunday evening in order to get back for an early rehearsal on Monday. I suppose we should find a hotel for tonight, we don’t want to put you out again,” I replied.
“No!” Jade shouted, probably a little louder than intended. “I just mean, we have room here. Dek slept in our empty guest room, and you’re probably settled into Brooke’s space. Just stay here again.” Her eyes pleaded with me to go along with her, and I couldn’t help but smile. The truth was, I wanted to stay, but I didn’t want to be presumptuous, last night had been different, there were extenuating circumstances involved. I looked over at Dek,
who nodded inconspicuously in agreement, and I watched as his eyes danced over Jade’s face, clearly showing that he was very attracted to her. Then I turned to Brooke, not wanting to make a decision until I heard from her that she was on board with us staying another night.
“I agree, there’s no point in you leaving, we have plenty of room now that Stacy’s room is empty, besides, I just got used to waking up next to you, I’d kind of like to do it again tomorrow,” she blinked a few times and smiled coyly.
“Then I guess it’s settled, we’ll stay here, but I’m taking you all out to dinner tonight and then we can go somewhere fun afterward.”
“Bowling?” Dek’s mouth gaped open as we walked in the bowling alley. “Bowling is your idea of fun?”
“Um, yeah, duh” Jade smirked. “Have you ever been bowling?”
“Yeah, I’ve been, like once, and I don’t recall there being anything fun about it,” he complained as they attempted to find the perfect bowling ball.
“Then you obviously weren’t experiencing it with the right type of people,” Brooke purred. “Jade and I always have a blast when we go bowling.”
“I know I can’t wait,” I growled, slipping my arms loosely around her small waist, eliciting a girlish giggle from her freshly painted glossy lips.
“Stop it,” she groaned, “we have to put our game faces on. What do you say, girls versus guys, winner take all?”
“I don’t know, what do the winners get?” I nipped at her ear.
“Hmmm, let me see…” she tapped the tip of her index finger against her shiny lips and my eyes were immediately drawn to the innocent gesture, how my body responded was an altogether different gesture.
“How about the winners pick out the movie we watch before we go to bed tonight?” Jade offered sweetly, a devilish smile spreading over her face.
“Dude, we’re in trouble, I’ve seen their movie selection, it’s chick-flick torture,” Dek’s face dropped into his palms.
“You’re on, but if we win, and we will, we’re stopping someplace and picking up an entirely different kind of movie, one where things get blown up or people are chased by a psycho killer,” I replied confidently.
“Game on sucker,” Brooke retorted, winking at me before bending down to pick up a pink bowling ball. “You are so going to lose this bet.”
“Dude, I think you’re supposed to aim for the pin in front, not the one on the end,” Dek shook his head as my ball took out the pin closest to the gutter. “We can’t lose to a couple of girls.”
“Cut me some slack, I’ve only done this one other time,” I mumbled, picking up the ball and lining up my stance. I looked down at the floor, mentally noting which arrow I used before to line up, and then side-stepping over two more, mimicking the same stance Brooke had been using to throw a strike each time. This time, when the ball releases from my fingers, I feel it, this will be the one, I watched as the ball connected just to the right of the head pin before they all fell like dominoes. I turned, bowing, celebrating my minor victory, before Dek’s sarcasm stole my thunder.
“Nice, too bad you couldn’t have done that eight frames ago.”
“I’m still proud of you baby,” Brooke gushed as I plopped down next to her, giving her a kiss.
“Hey, no fraternizing with the enemy,” Dek teased, but I waved him off and kissed her some more, maybe my kisses would make her head dizzy with desire and she wouldn’t be able to pull off this last frame as expertly as the other nine had been. She stood to line up her stance, sashaying forward and jutting her rear end out at the last minute, causing my breath to do a sharp intake, and I watched helplessly as the ball proceeded to knock down all but two of the pins. My strategy failed big time. She moved to throw another ball, and this time I was shocked as it slid quickly into the gutter.
“Oh well,” she shrugged, “they can’t all be perfect.” Then she came over and sat on my lap, straddling my seat.
“Uh, babe, I need to concentrate, I’m trying to win a bet here,” I groaned, feebly twisting my head to avoid her kisses, and making her laugh in the process.
“Give it up sweetheart, the game’s over and you lost, badly. Now shut up and kiss me.” Her mouth pressed firmly against mine, and we opened to the kiss, instantly getting lost in the moment. I felt her soft tongue moving against mine, fighting for dominance, both of us winning. My arms locked tightly behind her back, drawing her in, loving the intimacy of being pressed this closely to her.
“Get a room!” Someone a few lanes over yelled, and we pulled apart, slightly embarrassed.
“Yeah, get a room,” she teased in my ear, before we stood up and made our way out the door.
We ended up on the sofas in their living room, each couple cuddled together, watching a romantic comedy about a young woman returning to her childhood love interest in Alabama, it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. I’m lying on my back and Brooke is nestled against the back of the sofa, in the crook of my arm, with her head on my shoulder, and thanks to the blanket draped over us, no one can see my roaming hands. This girl makes my head spin and my heart race, but I can’t get enough of her.
I glanced over in the direction of Dek and Jade, only to find that they were snuggled together and watching the movie intently, still in the early stages of getting to know one another. Brooke pulled down on the collar of my shirt and placed a kiss on my clavicle; then her hands began to trail their way down my chest.
“What do you say we call it a night?” I asked when her hand reached the waist of my pants, this is exactly where we’ve gotten into trouble before.
“Okay,” she moved her hand away, “sure.” I rose, reaching down to pull her up, before leading her toward the bedroom. She hesitated before stepping through the door.
“Relax Brooke, I only wanted to be alone with you, besides, this gives those two a chance to be alone too. We can just stay here and talk.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Brooke~
“We can just stay here and talk,” he said. Talk? After what was just beginning to take place out on the sofa, was that really what he expected to happen once we shut the door, and no one was watching? I was nervous, and I knew he could sense it. I wasn’t one hundred percent sure of the reason for my hesitation in taking things further with him, well, actually I was, but when I looked at him, and when my hands made contact with his warm skin, all reasoning seemed to fly right out the window.
“I’m sorry Sebastian, I know this has to be hard on you too.” By now we were both sitting on the edge of my bed, and the nearness of his body heat makes my skin break out in goosebumps, and I can’t help but shiver in response.
“Are you cold?” he asked tenderly, wrapping an arm around my shoulders, as I shook my head.
“I’m not going to lie to you, Brooke, being this close to you, knowing that you’re feeling the same way, it’s hard. I know you have your reasons for wanting to wait, and I really do respect them, but please know that no matter how hard I try to put on a brave face, it’s killing me inside,” he nuzzled my jaw with his nose and lightly kissed my neck, and I swear I think I actually purred.
“Oh my…” I stammered. “I do want you, I mean I really, really, want you.” My breathing was shallow, and it took everything that I had to fight giving in to the desire. “But, you’ve had a lot of women over the years, you have a lot more experience at this than I do, I’ve only been with one guy, and that was a long time ago.”
“You mean there hasn’t been anyone since him? How is that even possible, I mean, you’re gorgeous, you must have to fight guys off with a stick when you go out in public.” I shook my head, disagreeing with him. “Come on Brooke, remember the guy at the nightclub?” I shivered at the mention of that horrible evening, and he instantly apologized for bringing it up. “I’m sorry baby, I didn’t mean to remind you of that, but you know what I’m saying, right?”
“My life isn’t like yours Sebastian, I don’t meet gobs of men that have sexual fantasies about
me, or that have posters and T-shirts of me to stare at. You’re surrounded by that nearly every day of your life. Until I met you, I never spent this much time talking with a guy, not even Devon.”
“I’d pay good money to have a poster or T-shirt with you on it,” he muttered. “Seriously, babe, is that what you think of me? That I have all these women falling at my feet on a regular basis? That may have been the case before I met you, even before I went into rehab, but that’s all in my past.” He took my hands in his before he continued speaking, making sure that our eyes were connected, and I heard each word he was saying. “I don’t care about any of that anymore, all I care about it being with you, and I’m not talking about just being with you intimately, I’m talking about you being a part of my life, my whole life, in fact, at this moment you are my life. I know that you are unsure, and I’m okay with that, I truly am, the way I see it is I’ve got the rest of my life to experience that moment with you. Just knowing that you love me and want it too is enough for now. Sex isn’t everything to me Brooke, having your heart means much more to me than simply having your body.”
“Ugh,” I groaned into his chest, “Isn’t it enough that you’ve got looks and money, now you’ve cornered the market on romance as well? You’re the best, you know that don’t you?”
“Well, I wouldn’t go getting too used to it, if I keep having to fight off these urges I’m afraid I’ll eventually run out of romantic comebacks,” he chuckled, drawing my lips to his.
I didn’t want Sebastian to leave without getting to see the restaurant, so that is how we came to be there bright and early the next morning, just as the first shift was arriving to begin prep.
“Hey Brooklyn, what are you doing here today, you’re not working again are you?” asked Marcus, one of our line crew.
“Not today Marcus, I’m just showing my boyfriend where I work,” I smiled proudly, holding onto Sebastian’s hand as if it were a small trophy.