by Magan Vernon
Was your family emergency to get those yearbook photos to the news? Txt me ASAP!
And then came the phone call from my mom.
“Um, I should take this!” I sprang up from the couch and darted to the front of the house. When I hoped I was out of ear shot, I finally answered.
“Hey, Mom.”
“Trey punched a guy and put him in the hospital for you?”
I groaned, I guess the situation didn’t call for a ‘hi, how are you’. “No, Mom, he didn’t put the guy in the hospital, that was just an exaggeration.”
She ignored my statement and just kept talking. “I swear we didn’t give the news those pictures of you. You don’t think they will start knocking at our door now, do you?”
I sighed. “I don’t know, Mom. I’m hoping it will all blow over soon. Maybe some congresswomen’s daughter or member of the royal family will have a sex scandal, and that will be the big news.”
“Is that really going to happen? Do you have insider information on that?”
“Moooom.”
“Okay, I’m sorry. I was just curious,” she said. “I was just calling to make sure everything was okay.”
I heard footsteps and looked up to see Trey in front of me, his hands in his pockets. He wasn’t smiling and he didn’t ask me to hang up, but I knew I needed to talk to him.
“I will be okay, Mom. But I have to go. I’ll call you tomorrow. I love you, bye.”
I hung up the phone and slid it back into my pocket. Trey took another few steps, closing the distance until we were toe-to-toe. “I’m sorry about that. I didn’t think all that would end up on the news. But you’re right. Hopefully it will all be over soon.”
I nodded, unsure of what else to say.
“Hey.” He put his fingers under my chin and lifted it so I met his eyes. “I meant it when I told my dad that you weren’t going anywhere anytime soon. As long as this didn’t scare you off, I want you to stay around.”
I sighed. “As much as this all sucks, I know even if I tried to leave you, I couldn’t. If any other guy dragged me to their parent’s house and I had to sit and watch myself on the nightly world news, I’d be running for the hills. But not with you. You’re the exception to all of my rules.”
Chapter 21
After all the excitement of the news and listening to Trey and his dad talk politics, I finally turned in for the night. Well, I tried to turn in, but I couldn’t sleep. I just ended up lying there and staring out the open window, watching the shadows cast on the wall by the light of the moon.
A soft knock came from the door. I didn’t know if it was for me or for one of the other millions of doors, so I stayed quiet. Slowly, the door creaked open and Trey’s head poked through.
I sat up, quickly, covering as much of myself as I could with the blanket. I didn’t know if he was alone or if it was a late night family meeting.
“Mon, it’s me. Can I come in?” He said in a voice barely above a whisper.
“Yeah.” I dropped the blankets slightly.
He slipped in, closing the door behind him. Once he walked closer to the open window I finally got a good view of him. I never saw him out of button-down shirts and dress pants, but this time he was in a plain, gray cotton shirt and plaid pajama bottoms. The shirt clung to the contours of his chest, and I realized that he definitely spent some time in the gym. The hint of biceps I thought I saw under his dress shirts were defined muscle.
He sat down at the edge of the bed. “I just came in to apologize for dragging you into all of this.”
I shook my head, dropping the blankets and crawling over to him. “You don’t need to apologize. You did nothing wrong. That guy deserved to be punched in the face.” I sat in front of him so that we were facing each other.
He sighed. “I meant I’m sorry that this had to turn into such a political fiasco. I wish it were simpler.”
“I knew this when we started dating. I knew that you weren’t just some run-of-the mill guy. I didn’t expect to be on the nightly news, but if that’s what it takes to be your girlfriend, then I’m up for the challenge.
A small grin crossed his face. Not his political one, but the one he had before he pounced me in the living room. “How am I supposed to have this conversation with you when you are dressed like that?”
I glanced down at what I was wearing, even though I knew very well that it was a pink tank top and some gray cotton shorts. I then looked back at Trey and traced my fingers along his abdominal line, over his shirt. “Because you’re wearing that.”
“Oh, Monica, what you do to me,” he whispered before leaning over and crushing his lips to mine.
I pulled him on top of me, deepening the kiss and sliding my hands under the back of his shirt. His back was warm and rippling with muscles that I didn’t even know existed. His kisses trailed from my lips and down my collarbone until they were at my chest.
I pulled back, sitting up slightly. “Here, let me help you.” I pulled my tank top over my head and tossed it on the floor. Since I wasn’t wearing a bra to bed, it left me completely nude from the waist up.
Trey’s smile broadened, and he cupped my breasts with his hands, gently running his fingers over my nipples while he brought his lips back to my neck. I tugged lightly at his hair and a muffled moan escaped his lips on to my neck. His breathing tickled at the sensitive area and still turned me on at the same time. He moved back and then sat in front of me before he pulled his shirt over his head and tossed it aside. I wasn’t disappointed by what had been hidden under his crisp white shirts for so long. His tanned flesh was well-defined and chiseled, not in the body builder sort of way, but in the way that every time he flexed there was actually muscle there. I ran my fingers over the lines of his six pack, wanting them against me.
He hovered over me, but his eyes trailed down to my shorts. “What’s this?” His fingers traced the ends of my tattoo of purple flowers barely visible over my shorts.
I yanked my shorts down, making my underwear come into full view, along with the rest of the vibrant purple flowers that rested just above each side of my pelvic bone. “They’re princess flowers. They grow out of volcanic rock. If something so beautiful can grow from such destruction, I figure I can survive anything.”
Not many people saw them and that was usually how I liked it. I got the tattoos right after I left Taylor as an inspiration to pull through. I never wanted another guy to see that part of me, but with Trey it felt right.
His fingers gently rubbed over the purple markings as if they were delicate silk. I didn’t want to be delicate; I just wanted him. I pushed my hand forward and rested it on his hip before I tiptoed down to the waistband of his pajama bottoms. Slowly I slid my hand underneath them and felt his sizeable hardness in my hands. He briefly closed his eyes while I ran my hand up and down his length.
Trey then put his hand over mine, stopping my movement. “Monica, before we go any farther, I need to tell you something.”
“What’s that?” I didn’t know what to expect. At that point I was so ready he could have told me he was actually part of an evil alien colony sent to destroy the world, and I still would have given myself to him.
“I’ve never done this before...”
“Done...?”
He sighed, his eyes holding mine. “Sex. I’m a virgin.”
I blinked hard, quickly pulling my hand out of his pants. “Oh, God, sorry I didn’t know. I just figured...”
“That I wouldn’t be a nineteen-year-old virgin?” He sat up, now sitting in front of me on the bed. The mood was definitely gone, and I scrambled to cover myself with a blanket.
“I guess...I just assumed...”
He blew a big breath out of his nose and raked his hands through his hair. He usually kept it cut neatly and gelled, but it was starting to grow out and he had slight case of bedhead. “I had girlfriends in high school, but nothing like my brothers. We were always lectured about making sure not to tarnish our reputations, and you kno
w my dad’s views on birth control with his abstinence-only education plan.” He stopped talking and scooted closer to me, taking my hands in his. “I’ve never felt like this with any other girl. You’re the first girl I’ve actually wanted to even come close to doing this with. After the couch this afternoon, and the way you worked your hands...well...it’s the closest I’ve ever came to the actual deed.”
Holy shit balls. He hadn’t actually done anything with a girl. That did explain his hesitation with moving to third base, but at that point I didn’t know what his next move would be. I didn’t think unprotected sex was an option, not another scandal we needed, and I doubt a conservative virgin carried condoms.
“So...are we just going to play chess now?” I asked, slightly raising an eyebrow.
Trey’s smile returned, and he crawled back over until I could feel his breath on my lips. “I’m sure you can teach me some other things that don’t go all the way...”
I dropped the blanket and put my hands on Trey’s back, pulling him down on top of me. His lips eagerly returned to mine; his hands back on my chest.
I didn’t even hear the door creak open, but I did hear Mindy’s voice loud and clear. “Trey?”
Trey broke the kiss and jumped off of me as if my body were on fire. I pulled the blanket over my topless self, and he quickly adjusted himself with his back to his mom and then picked up his shirt.
Mindy stood in the doorway, wearing a pink silk robe with her arms crossed over her chest. “I heard you two talking and wanted to make sure that everything was all right.”
Trey pulled his shirt over his head and moved a few strides to the door, keeping his head down. “Everything is fine, Mom.”
She nodded. “Well, I can see that, but I don’t think this is the time or the place. Your bed seems to be a better location for you to be at Trey Reagan Chapman, and I’m sure that Monica will be fine here alone.”
She turned to the door, with Trey right behind her, but she stopped, glancing back over her shoulder. “And one more thing. It would be better if the governor didn’t know about this talk. You two are very lucky it was me in here and not him.”
I nodded in agreement, watching her walk out the door. Trey turned slightly back toward me and whispered, “Sorry.”
All I could do was smile. Someday I would look back on the situation and laugh, but at that moment, I was just happy that I didn’t drop the blanket.
Chapter 22
A virgin. Trey was a freaking virgin.
I couldn’t get it out of my head. Not when I tried to get back to sleep and not when I got ready the next morning. Even worse, I had no idea how I would face his mom after she caught me with my shirt off and underneath her youngest child.
A knock came at the door just as I finished brushing my hair. I only had one outfit that was ‘meet the parents’ appropriate, and I hoped Trey’s family wouldn’t judge me for my khakis and gray sweater. The only time that I actually ever saw Trey wear jeans was the night of barn dance, so I had to grab my only pair of non-jeans and hope that it was good enough.
“I’m decent,” I said.
Trey slowly opened the door. As usual he was in a button-down shirt and dress pants. I couldn’t help but let my mind wander to what he looked like standing in the room only a few hours before in his pajamas and then in just his bottoms. If he was going to keep his virginity intact I would have to stop thinking about him naked every second.
“I was sort of hoping you would still be in your pajamas, and I could get a quick glimpse before church.” He winked, taking a few steps into the room.
“We’re going to church?”
Trey stopped only a couple feet in front of me. “Of course. Did you really think the conservative family that says grace wouldn’t go to church on Sunday?”
I gulped. “Uh, if I would have known that I would have probably dressed better.”
Trey closed the space between us, wrapping his arms around my waist and pulling me closer. “You look fine. You worry too much.”
Of course I worried too much. We’d been ousted to the world as a couple by the nightly news, and I was going to look like the pauper in khakis next to the beautiful Chapman family.
Trey let go of me and then took my hand, leading me out of the room. “Come on, Mom and Dad are downstairs. We wouldn’t want to be late.”
***
My family was Catholic, but more like the Christmas and Easter Catholics. We were never ones to consistently go to church. The Chapmans were the stars of their Protestant mega church.
The whole congregation seemed to stare at us as I followed Trey and his family down the long aisle and to the very front of the church. I did a quick Internet search of the church on my phone on the car ride over, mostly because I couldn’t make eye contact with Mindy. I found out that the church was actually used for a ton of major movies in the Chicago area. And with the brick facade and mounds of ivy, it did look like something out of a movie set. The inside was just as gorgeous and looked like something out of England with the high-vaulted ceilings, cylinder lanterns hanging from the ceiling, and the large stained glass window behind the pulpit.
I’d never been to another church other than a Catholic one, not even for a wedding, so I just followed Trey’s lead and refrained from doing the sign of the cross or kneeling. The preacher looked closer to my dad’s age with a hint of salt and pepper in his hair and a few laugh lines around his eyes. The priest at my parent’s church was ancient. Some days I thought the only thing that held him up was the pulpit. But this preacher smiled at the crowd and walked around the front of the room with a spring in his step.
“Good morning, today I’m here to talk to you all about love,” the preacher spoke with a slight southern twang.
Trey squeezed my hand, and I was able to get out a little bit of a smile.
“People are always throwing out that word. They say they love their family, love their God, and even love rocky road ice cream. But what is love?”
He walked from one end of the stained glass window to the other, never standing in one place for too long. “The Bible tells us that love is patient, and love is kind. But I think my wife will tell you that she isn’t always patient with me.”
A small bit of laughter came from the crowd.
The preacher put his hands behind his back and continued. “As Christians we believe these truths that The Bible tells us about love, and while we know that God had so much love for us that he sacrificed his only son, we know that isn’t the way everyday Christians show love to each other.”
The preacher stood in front of our row. I thought he was going to keep talking but instead he looked right at me. “Young lady, I don’t believe I’ve seen you in my congregation before. What is your name?”
I gulped, widening my eyes. I agreed to go to church, but I didn’t think I’d have to speak. “Um, my name is Monica,” I barely squeaked out.
The preacher smiled and pointed at Trey. “And Monica, is our church member here, Trey Chapman, your fella?”
“I, uh, guess you can call him that.”
Another muffled laugh escaped from the crowd behind us, and Trey squeezed my hand.
“Now, Monica, tell me what you love about Trey. Don’t be shy.”
I bit down on my bottom lip. I knew what I loved about him: all the ways he challenged me, the way he put his hands in his pockets whenever he was nervous, and the way he whispered my name whenever we were fooling around. But none of those seemed appropriate enough to say in front of a preacher, so I said the only other thing I could think of.
“When he knows one of my favorite reality shows is on TV he always records it for me, even though he says he hates the show. He still always has it waiting on his TV for me to watch.”
The crowd really erupted in laughter behind us. I kept my head down, hoping I didn’t embarrass myself too bad in front of his parents. Once the crowd died down, the preacher then turned to Trey. “And what about you, young man? What do you love
about Monica?”
I looked up just as Trey glanced back at me, locking my eyes with his. “I love it that when she listens to music she always hums along to it, like she thinks no one else can hear her, but it’s pretty loud and clear.”
I felt my face flush, and Trey squeezed my hand.
The preacher put his hands in the air, and walked back to his podium. “And you see, that there is love. It’s not about what we sacrifice or what we buy, it’s about the little things that show we care. Now when you leave here today, I urge you all to go off and show your friends and family that you love them. Whether it’s by recording their favorite TV show or listening to their music. Show them you love them.”
And as I kept my eyes on Trey, I knew that despite everything, I still did love him. And if he was willing to keep me around even after all the drama then there was no reason I couldn’t show him some love as well.
After church his parents asked us to brunch, and I refrained from jumping for joy when Trey declined and said we had to get back to work on homework.
Trey was saying goodbye to his mom when I felt the governor’s presence behind me. I didn’t know what to say to the guy that I had spent the past few months hating and also was the father of my boyfriend. Slowly I turned toward the governor, trying to plaster a smile on my face.
“Thank you for having me, sir.”
He nodded, his mouth in a straight line. “Thank you for coming on such short notice, Monica. I assume we shouldn’t be having any more problems?” He raised an eyebrow.
I swallowed. It was one thing to talk to Trey about what was going on, but the governor was another thing. “Uh, no sir.”
“Good.” He nodded. “Whether you like it or not, Monica, we are all in this together. None of us are out to get you. If you or Trey needs anything, don’t hesitate to ask.”
“O-o-okay, sir.”
A small smile finally appeared on his face as he patted my back. “And don’t forget to call me Kirk.”