“Are you going to a fight?”
“Yeah, that was Paul.” I give her a hug and lean down to give her a kiss when she pulls her head back an inch.
“Can I come?”
“No, babe. This one is at a different place and the people there are a lot worse. I’ll talk to you later, okay?” She nods her head yes and I give her one last kiss goodbye.
All I can think as I am walking to the car is how much I hate having to do this. I just keep repeating to myself the thing my dad always told me, ‘tough times don’t last, tough people do’. Let’s just hope it’s really true.
Chapter Nine
Christen and I have spent every day of the last month together and it’s been great. Spring Break starts today and we decided to drive home together. I pull up outside her house and she comes out with probably the biggest suitcase I have ever seen.
I just laugh and put it into the trunk for her. “You know break is only for a week and not a month, right?”
“Shut up!” She nudges my shoulder and then climbs into the car.
“Are you excited to get home?”
“I’m excited to go to your house. I would be even more excited if we could skip mine all together.”
We had decided to go to my house for a couple of days and then stay at her house for the last part of the week. Christen has been freaking out all week about us staying with her parents, and I can tell it’s still making her crazy. “Relax, babe. We still have a few days to chill until we get to your house. Plus, I’ll be there with you and I really don’t think it will be as bad as you are picturing it.”
“I hope not. I’m going to stop stressing out about it, though. I’m really excited to meet your mom and dad.”
“They’re looking forward to meeting you, too. I only live about five blocks away from Carter, so we will all get to hang out. Did Nicole say if they were going home or not?”
“They aren’t. Jason’s dad is a total douche, and since he can’t go to Nicole’s house, they are just going to stay home.” Jason’s dad is really bitter about his mom leaving and has been anti-relationship for years. The last time Nicole visited, it didn’t go very well.
“That must suck, not being able to go home.”
“I guess, but sometimes being alone is better than being miserable.”
Chapter Ten
Christen
The ride to Shawn’s house is pretty short and it’s around lunchtime when we arrive. I’m really nervous about meeting his parents. I just want them to like me. We pull in front of his house and my nerves shoot through the roof. What if his parents hate me like Jason’s dad hates Nicole? Shawn is really close with his family, especially his mom, and I know if they don’t like me, I don’t stand a chance.
It seems so weird to me that I’m already going home to meet his parents after just being together for a month. It’s felt like so much longer, though, probably because we are constantly together. He hasn’t let me go to any more fights because he says he can’t concentrate when I’m there. I need to remember not to mention the fighting around his family, too. Apparently, his parents think he got some extra grants and is working a regular job to pay for school.
When we walk into his house, I can hear the TV in the other room.
“Shawn?” A woman comes out from one of the doorways and I can tell immediately that she must be his mom. Aside from his reaction to seeing her, they look so much alike. She has the same light brown hair as he does and their eyes are identical. She is about my height, so he towers over her the same way he does me. “I’m so happy you’re home!” She gives him a big hug and then looks around him toward me. She smiles and then comes to stand in front of me.
“Hi, Mrs. Matthews.”
“Please, call me Karen.” She gives me a hug which catches me off guard at first. “It is so good to meet you. I’ve heard a lot about you.” I look over at Shawn and he shrugs. “Your father is in the living room. Why don’t you two go in there and relax while I finish lunch?”
“Do you need any help?” I don’t know how to do much in the kitchen but I know enough that I should definitely offer to help.
“No, sweetheart. You just go in there and sit down. I’ll take care of everything.”
I follow Shawn into the living room. An older man is sitting in the recliner and gives us a huge smile when he sees us. He stands up and gives Shawn a hug. His dad also has brown hair, although it’s a bit darker than Shawn’s. They also share the same tall, muscular build, which makes sense because I know he said his dad does construction work for a living.
His dad walks up to me, and before I can even introduce myself, he gives me a huge hug. He turns back to Shawn. “So, this is the girl you’ve been talking my ear off about, huh?”
I laugh and look over at him, “Oh, really?”
I can tell he’s embarrassed as he runs his hand through his hair. “No, I might have said one or two things but—”
“One or two things? Honey, I probably know more about you than some of your own family!” His dad smacks him on the back as he rubs his face with his hand in embarrassment.
“Okay, Dad, she gets it.”
Shawn goes and grabs our bags from the hallway. Just then, his mother comes into the living room. “Aunt Donna and Angelina are staying with us while she gets back on her feet, so you and Christen will both be in your room. But I expect you to behave yourself.” She walks back toward the kitchen and Shawn motions his head toward the hallway in an attempt to tell me to follow him.
Shawn’s room seems like it hasn’t been disturbed since he left. There is all sorts of sports memorabilia on the walls and just the typical messy stuff you would find in any teenage boy’s room. He walks up behind me, dipping his head to give my neck a kiss. His hands slowly slide down toward my jeans but I pull away from him.
“What are you doing?”
He looks down at me as if he is confused by my question, “What do you mean, babe?”
He makes a move to grab me and pull me toward him again but I move out of his reach., “No, there is no way we are doing anything here. I refuse to disrespect your family like that.”
“Have you been talking to Mads, because she does the same exact stuff with Carter?”
“I know she does, but even if she didn’t, I would still feel this way. I wouldn’t even be staying in the same room as you if I didn’t have to and I don’t want your mom to get the wrong idea about me.”
I can see the irritation on his face, “Okay, I get it. Just so you know, though, I’m not too happy about it.”
I shrug my shoulders, “Oh well.”
We go back out to the living room and talk with his dad until his mom calls us in for lunch. “Nothing fancy, sweetheart, just sandwiches.”
“Thank you, it looks great.”
His parents seem so happy with each other, which is something completely foreign to me. At my house, my parents barely even look at each other, and when they do, I don’t think they really see each other. We talk with his parents during lunch about school and everything else. I hear the door open and a little girl who looks about five comes running in. She has blonde hair, blue eyes, and runs directly to Shawn.
“You’re back!” She situates herself on his lap before picking up his sandwich and taking the last bite of it. He laughs and gives her a big hug.
“Angelina, this is my friend Christen.”
She looks over at me, smiles, and then turns back to Shawn and whispers loudly, “She is really pretty.” I smile. Angelina climbs down off of his lap and comes over to me, “I have a lot of princess toys. Do you want to play?”
“Sure!” She runs off quickly and disappears down the hallway. I stand up and take my plate into the kitchen, thanking his mom for lunch on my way.
Shawn walks into the kitchen and wraps his arms around my waist, “I want to take you somewhere tonight, okay?”
“Okay.” Angelina is yelling for me because she’s ready to play, so I give him a quick kiss a
nd head off to find her.
***
Shawn refuses to tell me where we are going tonight, only telling me to dress nice. I brought a couple of dresses with me so I choose a black strapless one for tonight. It stops at almost mid-thigh and has some rhinestones scattered around the top of it. I like it because it’s really simple but still dressy. Shawn lets me get ready in his room and is waiting for me out in the living room. I obviously don’t do well with surprises because I’m going insane trying to figure out what we are doing tonight.
When I walk out of his bedroom and find him waiting for me, he looks amazing. Shawn is definitely not a guy who likes to dress up, but he’s wearing a dark blue button-up shirt and khakis. His shirt makes his eyes look mesmerizing and I seriously hate that we’re staying at his parents’ now because all I want to do is jump on top of him.
He walks up to me and places his hands on my hips, still holding me at arms’ length, and looks me up and down. “You look beautiful, babe. You ready to go?”
“How can I be ready if I don’t know where I’m going?”
He just smiles at me and leans down to give me a kiss. We walk out to his car and he opens the door for me. I love the little things he does. He gets into the car and then pulls away. “So do you know what you are going to do for the summer?”
“I always go away with my family. Usually it’s a trip that gets planned by my mother and it’s one mindless activity and party after another.” Last year we went to Hawaii and my mother spent the entire time commenting about what I ate, how my bathing suit looked on me, why I was wasting my time with school, and when I would settle down. She also always coordinates our trips with friends of my dad’s who have a son that she wants to set me up with.
“Why don’t you spend it with me then?”
“Really?” His suggestion takes me by surprise.
“Yeah, I mean, Maddy and Carter and Holly will be home. My mom even told Jason that he and Nicole can stay with us for a while.”
I would much rather be with my friends than be constantly nagged and judged all summer. My mom would flip out, though. “I don’t know, I think my parents would go insane.”
“Okay, well it’s up to you.” He looks away and I think he is disappointed.
We pull up outside of a restaurant, and Shawn gets out of the car and opens my door for me. The sign reads: Haven Brazilian Steakhouse. When we walk in, he gives the hostess his name and she immediately walks us back to a table. She leaves without even giving us a menu.
Shawn laughs and I look up at him confused, “I see you looking for a menu but there isn’t one.” What? How the heck can you order food then? “They serve you everything on their menu and you get to choose what you want to eat.”
I look up to see waiters walking around with all kinds of different meats on huge skewers that look like swords. They’re stopping at each table and serving it to the guests. Our waitress comes and takes our drink orders.
“So what do we do?”
He laughs again and I kick him under the table. “Ow, sorry. There is a little red circle in front of you; on the other side it’s green. When you are ready to eat, you flip the card to green, and when you need a break, you put it back on red.”
“This is so cool! I’ve never been anywhere like this. How did you find out about this place?”
“I have always wanted to come here, but I never had the money to. With all of the fights that have been happening lately, I have a little extra money. I just wanted to take you somewhere nice.” He shrugs nonchalantly, while I am in awe at the amazing person he is.
I lean over the table and kiss him, “Thank you. I’m really excited.” The food is absolutely amazing. Sitting across the table, looking at him, I can’t believe he’s real. I’ve never felt like this about anyone before. All I’ve really ever had were meaningless relationships, but it’s different with him.
When we finish dinner, we walk out to the car but he doesn’t drive back the way we came. “Are we not going back to the house?”
“No, I’m not done with you yet.” He winks at me as a huge smile breaks out across my face.
I try to figure out where else we might be going but it’s no use. We pull into a parking lot, but I’m really not sure where we are. As we are walking, I can see a building which looks really nice. It’s all brick with huge windows. It seems modern, and the doors are really tall, almost like what you would expect a castle to be like. The front is lit up with big spotlights and outside is a sign that says Midnight. When we are almost at the door, I notice Carter and Madison standing outside. When she sees me, she smiles and we give each other a hug. “What are you guys doing here?”
Mads smiles at me, “Shawn called us to see if we wanted to meet up with you guys.”
I feel him come up behind me and he wraps his arms around me, “Surprised?”
“Yes! But I still have no idea where we are!”
He laughs, “It’s a club, babe. Come on.”
When we go in, we head straight to the bar and order a round of drinks.
Mads leans in close to my ear, “Hey, Chris, I’m going to go to the bathroom, you wanna come with?” I nod my head and follow her. We walk in and even the bathrooms are really nice. “So, how is it going?”
“It’s going great. His family is so nice, and honestly, I’m really falling for him.”
She smiles at me, “I can tell. It’s crazy the way you guys look at each other.”
“Yeah. I just hope he feels it, too. I’m kind of scared that I’m going to fall for him and then it’s all going to fall apart.”
She shakes her head, “Trust me when I tell you he is just as invested. You can see it, it’s like you guys have been together as long as Carter and I have.”
“Really?” Mads and Carter were probably the most solid couple I have ever met, so that means a lot when she says that.
“Yeah, you know that on our first date, Carter brought me here? I can’t believe how much has happened since then.” Madison and Carter have definitely had it rough. I don’t know how she’s done it. “You ready to go back out there?”
“Yes!” We walk back out and find the boys by the bar where we left them. I walk up to Shawn, “Do you want to dance?”
When he looks down at me, he smiles and nods his head. We walk out to the dance floor and start moving to the dance song that just started. I’m standing with my back to Shawn and moving against him. I hate that we’re going to his parents’ after this because all I want to do is rip his clothes off.
I just might need to give up my morals for one night.
Chapter Eleven
Shawn
The way she’s moving against me has me going absolutely insane. She’s grinding and rubbing against me, and instead of enjoying it, it’s just torture. It might be enjoyable if I knew I could take her home after this and have my way with her, but that isn’t the case.
She turns to face me and the fire in her eyes gives me hope that she might change her mind. She lifts her hands and runs them through my hair.
“You’re killing me, babe.” She smiles and leans up to kiss me. “It’s a good way to go, though.”
Christen laughs and we keep dancing. After almost an hour, I’m absolutely exhausted and more than a little ready to take her home. I’m sitting at a table with Carter because we gave up on trying to keep up with the girls about twenty minutes ago.
“So, how is everything?”
I look over at Carter, “It’s going good. She is really down to Earth and we have been having a great time together.”
“Just good?” What does he want me to say?
“I don’t know. How did you know when it was right with Madison? I remember a couple days after you first met her, you were pissed because she said you couldn’t hang out anymore. Jason and I thought you had really lost it, but I get it now. It’s only been a little over a month but I would not be willing to just let her go.”
“Time doesn’t matter. People try to use
time to justify the validity of things, but the only thing that matters is the way you feel. I knew Maddy was the one because I would do anything just to make things better for her. I would sacrifice what makes me happy just to be able to take care of her. That’s how you know it’s right.”
Everything he just said makes so much sense. The girls come up to the table looking like they might finally be ready to leave. Christen sits down next to me and rests her head on my shoulder. “You tired, babe?” She nods her head and when I look over at Carter, he motions his head toward the door. “All right, come on, girls.”
I open the passenger door to let Christen in, and start the drive back to my house. “Hey, Christen, I—” When I look over at her, she’s sound asleep. I don’t want to wake her when I pull into my driveway, but when I open her door to get her, she opens her eyes. “Good morning, beautiful.” I scoop her up in my arms and she relaxes against my chest.
Maybe Carter is right. Maybe time doesn’t matter. I place her on my bed and grab her something to change into. I know she’ll be uncomfortable in what she’s in, and I also like seeing her in my clothes. I nudge her a little and she opens her eyes and smiles at me. She reaches up and grabs my face between her hands, pulling it toward her until our lips touch. When I pull away from her, I want to try to take things further, but I can see she’s in no condition for that.
I help her get dressed, although it’s more like dressing a doll because she’s barely conscious. She and Madison had a few too many drinks. When I crawl into bed with her, she relaxes against me and I kiss the top of her head, “Goodnight, beautiful.”
I love you.
Chapter Twelve
Christen
Today is the day we’re going from Shawn’s to my house and I’m not at all ready for it. I love staying here and spending time with his parents. I’m not ready to be back in my tension-filled hellhole.
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