Soaked

by Courtney Elliott

  When we pulled up in front and I moved to get out, she told me once more how pretty I looked. Then she reiterated that I needed to ‘just be careful’. I promised I would before giving her a kiss goodbye and getting out. Since the party was still an hour away, no one else was there yet. So, I went straight up to Katie’s room to drop off my bag.

  When I knocked on the door, no one answered. I knocked again, but still nothing so finally, I just opened the door. As soon as I flicked on the switch, I saw a blur fly across the room. It was Matt. He and Katie had been making out, and I had been the unfortunate one to walk in on them.

  I apologized repeatedly, but Katie just laughed and said she was happy it was me and not West or her mom. Matt made his excuses and left the room, his face an obvious deep shade of red. Once we were alone again, Katie looked me over and based on the look on her face, I’d say she definitely approved.

  “You look seriously amazing Lennon.” I beamed at her compliment.

  “Thank you.”

  “You’re gonna make all the boys go crazy tonight.” I laughed her off. “I mean it, you’re gonna have a line of guys that want to be the lucky one to kiss you at midnight. I’m so excited for you.”

  There was only one guy that I even cared about being near at midnight, and I couldn’t wait to see him.

  Two hours later, I couldn’t help the smile on my face as I watched my best friend dance with her boyfriend. They looked so adorable together and it made me incredibly happy that she had found someone so wonderful for her.

  “I feel like you’re trying to really test my self control with that dress,” he said as he came up behind me. I turned around and smiled as I finally saw West for the first time that night.

  Even with as long as I’d known him, sometimes I still found myself surprised by how good he looked. His dark brown hair was in it’s usual short slightly gelled style, and he was wearing a pair of dark well worn jeans and a light gray shirt that made his eyes look even stormier than usual. All in all, he looked absolutely delectable.

  I turned around to face him, and I didn’t miss the way his eyes did a slow scan down the length of me then back up again. He swallowed hard when his eyes met mine again, and they took on an intensity that made the butterflies in my stomach flutter wildly.

  “Dance with me,” he said. I wasn’t sure if he was asking or telling me to, but regardless, I raised my brows up in question.

  “Won’t that blow our cover?” I asked. He gave a half hearted shrug of his shoulders.

  “I don’t really care. You look stunning, and there is no way I’m not going to dance with you at least once tonight.” Then he offered me his hand. There was no way I wasn’t going to accept his offer. I smiled before placing my hand in his. He led me out onto the special floor Katie had ordered just for the evening. I did a quick glance around to see who was paying attention to us, but the second he pulled me in close, I ceased to care.

  His familiar citrus scent washed over me and we might as well have been the only two people around. He laced one arm around my waist while the other kept hold of my hand. We glided across the floor effortlessly and I was on cloud nine the entire time. He looked down at me like I was the most important thing to him, and I melted right then and there.

  Eventually, the dance had to end, and reluctantly we both pulled away from each other. I opened my mouth to say something, anything, but before I got the chance, I heard my name being called. I turned and saw Katie walking toward us with Matt at her side.

  “Len, you can’t spend all night dancing with West if you expect to make out with some hottie at the end of the night.” I cringed slightly at her words, and I felt West tense next to me. “You have to get out there and mingle.”

  “I don’t want to mingle,” I said honestly. She just waved me off.

  “Come on, I’ll help you. There is this nice guy that works with Matt that I think is perfect for you.” Before I could protest further, she was pulling me along with her and away from West.

  “Katie, I’m really not interested,” I reiterated as she continued to pull me through the crowd.

  “Why not?” She asked as we stopped in this little walkway that led up to the house. She turned to face me and had a look of pure confusion etched on her face. “I thought you said you and the texting guy weren’t dating.” I didn’t respond right away because I wasn’t really sure how to. Technically, I was now dating the texting guy, but I didn’t think it would be a good idea to tell her that. “Look, just come meet this guy. If you really aren’t interested, then I’ll let it go.”

  “I’m dating him,” I blurted out. Katie’s eyebrows both rose. “The guy I was texting. We’re dating. I didn’t want to say anything because I thought you might think it was weird.” Her face split into a happy grin.

  “Why would I think that’s weird? That’s great Len, I’m so happy for you. I told you I knew you liked him. An uneasy grin found it’s way to my face. While telling her I was dating someone took care of the issue of her trying to set me up, I knew I’d just given myself an even bigger issue. She was going to want to meet him, and I could only say he was out of town for so long.

  “Oh my gosh, I want to know everything,” she said before she pulled me over to a round table and dragged me down into a seat. “How did you meet? What’s his name? What’s he like?” She fired off question after question without letting me answer a single one. I was kind of grateful for that though because I seriously doubted my ability to lie that much convincingly.

  She finally stopped to catch her breath and looked at me expectantly. I looked around, hoping to see West so I could signal him over. Unfortunately, he seemed to have completely disappeared after our dance ended.

  “Uh…” I began without any real direction. “…his name is…uh, Sam.”

  “Sam what?” My mind raced with random words before finally landing on something I could actually use.

  “Ryland.” I figured at least that way if she ever caught a glimpse of West’s code name, she wouldn’t question it. Katie’s brows rose.

  “As in the quarterback at West’s school?” She asked. Crap. I should have figured she would know who that was. She watched her brother’s games as often as I did, and unlike me spent majority of it staring at everyone on the team that wasn’t her brother.

  “Uh, yeah.” She looked skeptical.

  “How do you know him?”

  “Uh…” I was so busted.

  “I introduced them,” West called out. I turned my head and saw him standing a lot closer than I had expected him to be. He gave me a look back that said he wasn’t all that happy with me.

  “You? When? How?” Katie asked. West pulled out a chair beside me and took a seat.

  “I skyped with her dad a while back. Lennon said hi, and Sam happened to be next to me when she came on the screen. He hounded me for a couple of weeks, and eventually I gave him Lennon’s number. Apparently, they hit it off.” His ability to come up with all that on the fly was actually pretty impressive. Even better was that even I almost believed him.

  I turned back and saw Katie watching me expectantly. I gave a nervous laugh. “Yep, he introduced us and the rest is history.” Katie still looked a little skeptical, but then finally she beamed back at me.

  “That’s awesome Len! He’s a catch.” I didn’t miss the way West rolled his eyes at that. “I’m just so happy for you. Now we’ll definitely have to go on a double date. I want to know if he’s as good looking in person as he is on the TV.”

  “I’m sure Matt would love that,” West added sarcastically. Katie gave him a look before she turned back to me.

  “I just can’t believe that shy little Lennon Cooper is dating Sam Ryland. It’s just crazy.” I nodded along.

  “Yeah, crazy.”

  “I have to go tell Mom, she’ll be so excited.”

  “No…” I started, but she was already on her way. I turned to West and he just stared back at me with a little smirk on his face. “Don’t look
at me like that. I panicked.”

  “Yeah, I got that. Seriously though, Sam Ryland? You couldn’t have just made up a name or something?”

  “I told you I panicked. She was asking me all these questions about who I was dating, and it was the first name that popped into my head. Besides, it kind of works because it’s your code name in my phone so if she ever catches you texting me then she won’t think anything of it.”

  “Wait, hold up a minute,” he said as his brows furrowed together. “You have me in your phone as Sam Ryland?” I shrugged my shoulders.

  “Well yeah. I couldn’t really put you under your own name. What if Katie saw?”

  “Once again, you couldn’t have just made up a name?”

  “I’m not that creative.” He just shook his head back at me.

  “I can’t believe my own girlfriend would use my rival’s name as my code name.” I grinned, and he noticed. “What?”

  “You called me your girlfriend.” He caught on and smiled down at me.

  “Yeah, I did.”

  “It’s the first time you’ve done that. I really like you calling me that.” That caused his grin to turn into a full fledged smile.

  “Well I really like being able to call you that.” He stepped forward closing the space between us. I looked around to see if anyone could see us, but it seemed like most of the guests were still inhabiting the dance floor. I turned my focus back to West just as he reached his hand up and tucked a loose tendril behind my ear.

  “What are you doing?” I whispered.

  “I’m about to kiss my girlfriend,” he answered before he lowered his lips down to mine and did exactly that. I wrapped my arms around his neck as he pulled me even closer toward him. I felt his tongue swipe against my bottom lip, and I slowly opened for him. His tongue slid sensuously against mine and it didn’t take long before things were starting to get a little steamy.

  Before we got too carried away though, West pulled back. His fingers were still digging into my hips as his forehead dropped down to mine. Then he planted a tender kiss on my forehead before he took a step back, putting even more space between us. I wanted to protest, but kissing in public like we just had was a big risk with all these people around. We were supposed to be a secret, after all.

  “Consider that our kiss at midnight,” he said with a playful smile teasing his lips. I grinned back at him. “Happy New Year Lennon.”

  “Happy New Year West.”

  Sixteen

  The following week, West returned to Houston, and I went back to school. Tryouts for the new track team took place the week after that, and thankfully, it provided the perfect distraction so that I couldn’t realize just how much I was actually missing him.

  From there, I had a few last minute preparations before I would be leaving for college that fall. The biggest one being, finding a place to live. I had checked a few of the universities social pages to see if anyone seemed to be interested, but most of those people already had something lined up.

  Dad suggested I take a trip out, and after a few more weeks of thinking it over, I decided it sounded like the perfect plan. I could leave right after school on a Friday, spend all day Saturday checking out prospects, and then Sunday, I could make a drive down to Houston and spend some much needed time with West.

  My birthday was coming up quickly, and I figured that would be the best time for my little trip. Dad tried to insist on coming with me, but thankfully Mom nipped that idea in the bud. She explained to him that I was about to be on my own, and I needed to see what that would be like rather than just being thrust into adulthood blindly.

  The plan was set. The only thing left was deciding whether I should actually tell West or just surprise him. That was the thought swirling around in my head as I sat on Katie’s floor drumming my pen on what was supposed to be my senior research paper.

  “If you were planning on showing up on Matt’s doorstep would you tell him or just show up?” I asked. Katie looked up from her own paper and quirked a brow.

  “What?”

  “Would you surprise him or let him have time to prepare?” She still looked confused. “I was thinking of taking a trip to Houston when I head down toward College Station.” A smile spread across her face, letting me know she finally got what I was trying to say.

  “Well, if I were you, I would buy the sexiest outfit I could find, and then show up in the middle of the night. Then let him have his way with you.” A blush rose to my cheeks at the thought. Katie had lost her virginity a few months before and since then; sex seemed to be her response to everything. At least where I was concerned. She was eager for me to join the club so she could have someone to talk to about everything. Even though, she talked to me about everything already, so I really didn’t see what my V-Card being intact had to do with anything.

  “I don’t think we’re there yet,” I said.

  “Len, what exactly are you waiting for?” I shrugged. I always hated it when she asked me that. She didn’t understand why I wasn’t more eager to have sex. I just didn’t have the same way of looking at it as she did. I wanted my first time to be with someone that I really cared about, and someone that really cared about me. While, I could definitely see West and me getting to that point with one another someday, I just didn’t think we were ready yet. We had only been dating four months, and in all that time, we had only actually been in the same city a handful of times.

  “I want it to be special.”

  “Are you scared?” She asked sincerely. “It only hurts for a second, and then it feels nice. Just make sure he’s gentle and you’ll be fine.”

  “We’ve only been dating a few months,” I reminded her. Even she had waited over a year before she finally slept with Matt for the first time.

  “How often are you gonna actually get the chance though? I mean think about it, you’ve been dating four months already and have you guys even kissed yet?”

  “A few times.”

  “Okay, so you’ve kissed. Have you seen some of those girls on the TV at his games? The signs they have?” I winced because yeah I’d noticed. While a majority of the signs did all mention my ‘boyfriend’, a few had a some suggestive things directed at West as well. “I’m just saying I don’t want you to get hurt.”

  “Why would I get hurt?” I asked, intrigued.

  “Len,” she said slowly. “Boys Sam’s age have needs. I’m just worried that he might take one of those girls up on their offer.” She cringed as she said it. I stared back at her blankly as her words settled themselves into my mind.

  “He wouldn’t do that,” I said, but the seed of doubt had been planted and no matter what I told myself, I couldn’t get that seed out. “He’s a nice guy.”

  “I hope you’re right.” She went back to her paper, but all thoughts of finishing mine had completely vanished. All I could think about was one of those girls approaching West after a game. He would smile that gorgeous dimpled grin of his, and she would bat her eyes. I felt sick.

  That night, I couldn’t stop thinking about what Katie had said to me. I just kept replaying the image of him talking to some stunning blonde over and over. Just before ten, my phone started to ring. I checked the screen and saw the name I’d been hoping for. I quickly answered. I just needed to hear his voice and this whole dumb idea would disappear. West would never do that to me.

  “Hey,” he said in that wonderfully low voice of his. I smiled into the phone.

  “Hi.”

  “What are you doing?” There was a whirring sound coming through from his side.

  “Where are you?” I asked, ignoring his question.

  “Just driving home.”

  “It’s late.” I couldn’t imagine him going out with his friends on a weekday. That little seed started to grow.

  “Yeah, coach kept us all a little after practice. He wanted to make sure we were ready for this weekend.”

  “What’s this weekend?”

  “Us against Bama. It’s the fir
st round of playoffs.” I tried to focus on if he sounded any different than usual, but he didn’t. He sounded like my West. Just a little more tired than usual, but that was to be expected since he just finished practice.

  “Oh,” I replied, feeling all kinds of foolish for ever doubting him.

  “You’re gonna watch, right?”

  “Of course,” I said not missing a beat. “I wouldn’t miss it.”

  “You don’t know how bad I wish you could see it in person.”

  “Really?”I asked with a goofy grin on my face.

  “Yeah, of course. Maybe one of these days I’ll be able to get you down here.” My smile widened because he didn’t know how close that was to happening. Just a few more weeks. In that moment, I knew I wanted to surprise him. I couldn’t wait to see his face when I knocked on his doorstep. “So, what’s new?”

  “Nothing really. I made the track team.”

  “Naturally. He would have been an idiot not to put you on. You’re the best runner in all of Leering.” My brow dipped.

  “You’ve never seen me run.”

  “Don’t need to. I know you’re the best.” My heart swelled in my chest. The rest of our talk was filled with idle chatter about what we had both been up to in the four months since he had left Leering. Just normal conversation and it made me feel completely at ease. West wasn’t like most guys his age. He was kind and caring, and I knew how he felt about me. He would never let some random girl come between us like that.

  Exactly one week later, I was in my little blue car driving down the highway, blaring my favorite Queen song. I was ecstatic about seeing where I would be attending college. I was also confident that I would find a place to live while I was down there. Then there was the fact that I was going to be seeing West. Nothing was going to bring me down.