Her eyes sparkle. “That sounds perfect.”
“Until tomorrow then.”
She nods and climbs out of the car. I watch her all the way up to the front porch and wait until she is safely in the house. The entire drive home I spend thinking of all of the ways I can impress her at lunch.
Chapter 12
Seona
I try not to obsess over the picnic Jayceon’s taking me on today. All the dresses on my bedroom floor do not mean I’m freaking out.
“Why can’t I find a dress?” I groan, going through my closet again. I know Jayceon won’t care what I’m wearing, but I care. I want to look beautiful. I sink to the floor and play with the dresses scattered around me.
How did I get so lucky to find someone like Jayceon?
“Seona are you hungry…” Travis comes into my room and looks at the mess I made. “Ahhh, so are you cleaning?”
“Shut up!” I throw a shoe at him. “I can’t find what to wear. Why can’t you be a girl so I can have a sister?”
He sits down with me and looks around. “Why are you trying so hard?”
“Meh.”
“Meh isn’t an answer. Why are you trying so hard?”
“Because. I want him to like me.”
“Then be yourself.”
Be myself. He’s seen me silly and immature. He’s seen me serious and smart. I can be myself when we’re together and here we are.
“Thanks, big brother.”
He hugs me from the side and hands me a navy blue dress. “Wear this one.”
Travis gets up and walks out of my room. Cleaning up the tornado of a mess in my room, I change out of my clothes and put on the dress. It’s a flowy navy blue dress with thick straps. The dress is tight on the top and hits right above my knees. I turn from side to side and thank Travis for helping me pick out a dress.
Sitting down at my vanity, I put some makeup on, but keep it light. Heading downstairs, I grab a bottle of water from the fridge and go outside to hang out with Travis. He’s sitting on the porch like an old man, waiting for Jayceon to come get me.
“You need your shotgun or something?”
“Ha ha, you’re so funny.” He looks at me then to the road. “Will you be out for a while?
“Probably.” I sit down next to him, crossing my legs, leaning back on the swing. “He makes me smile.”
“I’ve noticed.”
“I’ve never had a boyfriend before,” I admit. “Back in Michigan, guys were a game I played and I didn’t care if I hurt their feelings. But with Jayceon, I don’t want to play any games. I want to be real with him.”
“That’s good. Jayceon’s a great guy and from what I could see last night, he really likes you.”
I blush. “I like him too.”
The roar of Jayceon’s truck hits my ear. He pulls into the driveway and climbs out with his stupid cowboy hat. “Seriously?” I mutter.
When our eyes meet, my annoyance with his hat goes away. His gaze starts at my face and down my body.
“You look beautiful,” Jayceon clears his throat and leans down to give me a soft kiss on my lips.
“Thank you, cowboy. You don’t look so bad yourself.” Honestly, who can make faded jeans and a white v neck tee look this good?
“Ready to go?” I nod. “Hey, Travis!” He lifts his arm to wave and I do the same.
Opening my door for me, he helps me up and I turn my head to give him a smirk. “You’ve never had to help me before.”
He flushes. “Well, I ah, you know.”
“Mmmhmm.”
The drive to the park is about twenty minutes long and I love seeing the excitement on his face. Studying his expression, seeing the biggest grin on his face, warms my heart. The tingly sensation of this beautiful boy next to me is overwhelming, but I love it. I love knowing I have someone who cares about me and is excited about making me happy.
“We’re here,” he announces, pulling me out of my thoughts.
I help him get the basket and blanket from the backseat. Hand in hand, we walk the path, up the hill, to a shady spot under a tree. Setting up our little picnic, I rest between Jayceon’s legs, listening to his heart beating against his chest.
“Are you hungry?” I shake my head.
“I like being here like this with you.”
He kisses the top of my head. “I like being like this with you, too.”
Grumbles come from his stomach and I can’t hold in my laughter. “Looks like someone’s hungry.” Getting up I open the picnic basket and pull out the sandwiches he made with the cut up fruit and chips.
“Did you do all of this?”
“Yeah,” he says, smiling. “I didn’t know what you liked on your sandwiches so I made one with turkey and the other with ham.”
“Turkey’s fine.” I give him a kiss and hand him the ham sandwich.
We sit in silence, eating our food, enjoying the sun beaming down on our skin. I try to think about things to talk to him about, but my mind is blank. I like sitting here with him, not talking about anything in particular; just having him next to me is enough.
“So, do you like cheese with your sandwiches?”
I blink a few times and look at Jayceon. “I’m sorry, what?” I can’t hold in my laughter. But it gives me an excuse to ask the question I’ve been meaning to ask him. “Jayceon, do I make you nervous?”
“No.”
I raise a brow and set down my sandwich. “I don’t.”
“Okay, maybe a little. You’re the first girl I’ve been on a date with and I don’t know how to act around you.”
His honesty is the best kind of torture. I love how freely he can admit he’s nervous or doesn’t know what he wants to talk about. This is new to both of us and we’ll learn how to be comfortable together.
“To be honest, I’m nervous too.” I admit, and his fingers entwine with mine. “I’ve never really been on a date either, so I don’t know what to do.”
“We’ll learn together. But I’m surprised, because you seem calm and cool. You always say the right things and it’s hard for me to keep up.”
“Keep up with what?”
“I don’t want to bore you.”
I touch his hand and move closer to him. My hands caress his face and I lean in to give him another kiss. “I promise you, I am not bored.”
“But why me? Why not Chaz or Brendan.”
“Because you’re you. I love how you make me feel. You’re different, in a good way, and I feel comfortable with you. It’s been a long time since I’ve felt wanted. You make me feel wanted.”
He leans against the tree and I take the opportunity to move closer to him. Straddling his hips, I soak in the feeling of his hands on my hips and meet his lips with mine. Brushing softly at first, before our tongues meet. He presses himself closer to me and a small groan leaves his lips. The kiss goes deeper as our lips move together, our tongues dancing in a slow dance. The kiss, this kiss, feels so right. This is why I want Jayceon and no one else.
Pulling away from him, he smiles and I see his chest moving up and down. Looking in my eyes, he pulls me in again. The feel of his erection against me causes me to slightly rub against him. His hands grip my hips tighter, moving up my back and into my hair. I wrap my arms around his neck, not feeling close enough to him, and deepen our kiss.
But I pull away.
“Did I do something wrong?”
I shake my head, “No, Jayceon. You didn’t.” I kiss him again and move from his lap.
I just want you to call me your girlfriend.
We finish our lunch and walk the park, holding hands, and he takes me back home. I don’t want today to end. All I want is to be with him.
“Thank you again for today.” I lean over and kiss his cheek. “I’ll see you tomorrow?”
“Sounds good.” He looks at me and neither of us move for a few moments.
“Bye Jayceon.” I get out of his truck and head inside. Before going in, I turn around and wave.
Tossing and turning throughout the night, thoughts of Jayceon hit me. Maybe I should ask him out. Girls do that. I mean, there’s no rule that says a guy should ask out a girl every time.
“Ugh,” I mutter, turning on my side. I need to fall asleep. Each time I close my eyes, I see Jayceon. Fuck! What the hell am I supposed to do?
My phone beeps. I turn over and grab it from my nightstand.
Jayceon: Are you awake?
Me: Yeah can’t sleep. You?
Jayceon: Same here. I keep tossing and turning. I’m glad you’re up though =)
Me: Me too =)
Jayceon: Do you want me to come get you tomorrow?
Me: Sure! If you want
Jayceon: I do want to come get you. We can make it an everyday thing
Me: On one condition
Jayceon: Okay?
Me: A skinny vanilla latte from Starbucks =)
Jayceon: Anything for you
A smile appears on my face. I grab the pillow and place it over my head, squealing and laughing.
Me: =) good answer
Monday morning, you can go ahead and die now. Dragging myself out of bed, I hop in the shower and let the hot water wake me up. Damn Jayceon for keeping me up all night with his text messages.
Deciding on slumming it today, I put on yoga capris and a white v neck. I grab my bag and phone and head downstairs.
“Why, good morning beautiful.” Quickly I turn around and see Jayceon walking out of my kitchen. He’s holding a Starbucks cup and my eyes light up.
“Good morning.” He hands me my cup of heaven and I slowly sip it. “Mmmmm,” I moan. “So good.”
Jayceon clears his throat and looks uncomfortable. His eyes are dark as he stares at me. I wonder what he’s thinking about.
“We should get going,” he croaks “Don’t wanna be late.”
Leaving the house, we head to his truck and he drives us to school. Thank goodness for my latte to wake me up. I am feeling giddy that he remembers to bring this to me.
The day really sucks and goes by slow. I have back to back tests and I’m not looking forward to dance.
Finally, it’s lunch and Jayceon texted me to sit with him and Alyssa. Getting my salad and water, I head to their table and sit next to Jayceon.
“Hey!” I say to Alyssa.
“Hey.” She gives me a fake smile and continues to eat her food. She eyes mine and pushes her pizza and fries to the side. Weird.
“So, why aren’t you sitting with Chaz and his posse today?”
“Alyssa,” Jayceon says in a warning tone, “Why are you being rude?”
“It’s a question,” she answers. “Seona am I being rude?”
I shake my head. “No. Jayceon, it’s fine. Well, I wanted to sit with Jayceon and get to know you.”
“Sounds cool,” Alyssa says. “Oh! Jayceon, are we still going to the movies tomorrow?”
“I forgot,” he answers. “Sorry. Can we reschedule?”
“I already bought the tickets though.”
Tuning out the conversation between the two, I watch how Alyssa immediately gets defensive and pushy. I know they’ve been best friends for a while and I shouldn’t care, but I also know that she likes him. The way her eyes rake over his face and the way she smiles. It’s more than friendly feelings. Sitting back, I analyze her body language and his. Jayceon’s neutral, while Alyssa has hunger in her eyes.
“Okay, okay. Fine, we’ll go. Seona, do you wanna come along too?”
Alyssa glares at me. “You know what, it sounds like fun. Alyssa do you mind?” I sweetly say.
“I only have two tickets. For me and Jayceon. Sorry.”
“Can’t you buy another one?” Jayceon says. “I can buy it for her. What are the seats?”
Alyssa rolls her eyes and looks at her phone.
“I’m gonna have to cut out of lunch a few minutes early to practice for dance,” I say wanting to get away from the whole conversation.
“Can I come with you?” I don’t answer. Instead I smile and nod. “Alyssa, we’re gonna head out. Lemme know about the tickets.”
“Um, sure.”
“Bye Alyssa!” I wave to her, looping my arm through Jayceon’s. We walk out together and towards the dance room.
Putting on I Could Be The One by Avicii, I dance. Jumping in the air, pointing my toe up, extending my arm, dropping down to the ground and slowly bringing myself up. Moving my body to the fast paced beat, I push it to the limits and back again.
When the song’s over, there’s clapping from behind me. “Wow,” he says. “That was amazing.” My cheeks turn pink and I have to look away. His hand rests on my shoulder and his fingertips my head back so I can look at him. “Don’t hide from me.”
“I’m sorry, I haven’t danced in front of a boy before. I mean yeah, in front of crowds, but never one on one.”
“A first?”
“Yeah,” I nod. “A first.” I look away again and I’m going to kick myself for saying this, “I don’t need to go to the show with you and Alyssa. But I do need to know. Do you like her?”
“What? No!”
My voice gets low, “I can tell she’s so in love with you. I don’t want her to hate me, even though I know she does. Did you see the way she treated me, Jayceon? I don’t want any enemies here. I mean, the way she looked at you and how she’s been since I first got here. It’s so obvious.” Actually saying that aloud is harder than I thought. It’s hard not to feel like I’m in a losing battle. He’s been friends with her for years and I’m the new girl who’s fallen for the boy who makes her smile and weak in the knees. Maybe this is why he hasn’t asked me out.
“She doesn’t have feelings for me. So, don’t worry. I don’t like her and even if she does like me, it doesn’t change anything.” He pauses and it looks like he wants to say more. Come on Jayceon, just tell me. “Come over after practice today?”
“Sure.” I look at the clock on the wall. “You should get to class. I’ll see you soon.”
Jayceon kisses my forehead and walks away. Before he walks out of the room, he turns around again. “I’ll have your dancing ingrained in my head for a while.” He winks at me and leaves me alone, standing in the dance room, feeling good, but alone.
Chapter 13
Jayceon
Having Seona around makes me appreciate being here that much more, plus it’s a hell of a lot easier to ignore Chaz when she’s around. I even skipped the movie with Alyssa to spend more time with her. One day in the middle of the week, I decide to just ask her. The worst she can say is no, right? Yeah, that would totally suck.
We have gotten into the habit of spending time at each other’s house doing our homework. Seona told me what her business teacher said to her and because her grades weren’t that wonderful in Michigan, she needed as high of a grade point average here as possible.
“Seona?” She looked up from her book.
“Yeah?”
“Can we stop doing our homework for a second? I want to talk to you about something.”
Her teeth sink into her bottom lip as she puts her pencil down and nods. My hands feel clammy. Rubbing them on my jeans first, I reach out and touch her hand, which is now resting on the table.
“We’ve been spending almost every day of the last two weeks together and I love every second of it.”
“Me too.”
“That’s good to know, because I want to know if I can officially call you my girlfriend?”
The corners of her mouth pull up in the most gorgeous smile she’s ever graced me with.
“I’d love to be your girlfriend.”
She gets up from the table to take a seat on my lap, pressing her lips to mine. The tingles that race through me set my body on fire. Her arms smooth up my chest to wrap around my neck and tangle in my hair. And just like every other time our lips touch--I’m lost.
It seems like hours before we finally pull away and get back to the work in front of us. Now that she’s finally
mine, I know I’ll eventually have to tell her that I’m still a virgin, but I’ll wait until I absolutely have to.
Things have been getting hotter between us each time we kiss. I’m not sure how much experience she has. I can almost guarantee it’s more than mine. Either way, I think I might deal with it over the weekend.
Friday’s game is away and I’ve never wished more that the cheerleaders and players could ride on the same bus. Instead of sitting on the bus alone, I could spend it talking to Seona. Right now, I’m using thoughts of her to block out the annoying asshole in the next set of lockers.
“I don’t understand why Coach doesn’t kick his ass off of the team. He’s nothing but a nuisance anyway,” Chaz spits out.
A locker door slams. “You may not like him, man, and I get that after what he tried to put you through last year, but ya gotta admit he can catch a ball.”
What I put him through? What a crock of shit. I clench my teeth together to keep from saying anything. They didn’t listen before, why would they start now.
“Who cares? We’ve got plenty of guys who can catch a ball. I bet he can’t catch everything.”
Finally, his voice stops its grating diatribe on lying teammates and disappears altogether. Collecting my stuff, I head to the door of the locker room, when someone grabs my arm and shoves me up against a set of lockers. Maybe he hadn’t left after all.
“You need to stay the fuck away from Seona. She’s mine,” he snarls at me.
“Yeah. I don’t think so asshole. Now get your fucking hands off of me.”
“You little snitch. Haven’t you realized your place in this school yet? You do not get the hottest cheerleader on the team. I do. Do you hear me? I do.”
That’s enough of this shit. I use the martial arts training my father had me take when I was younger and I grab Chaz’s hand; the one trying to pin me to the locker. I flip it around as I force it behind his back, changing who holds the power. I could hurt him, but that’s just not who I am.
“I said, get your fucking hands off of me. Did I not make myself clear?” I shove him away from me, grab my bag and walk out the door.
Beautiful Lessons Page 10