It was about eight at night when I got home. Before I left, I put my dress in my car so Dad would think I bought it while I was out. That way he wouldn’t ask where it came from if I brought it out of my room. I grabbed my things and went inside to show him.
“Wow, that’s a beautiful dress Emily. You’ll look great in it,” he comments as I hold it up for him. I show him the mask and he approves. I go to my room to put my dress and mask away. Suddenly, I have a crazy craving for ice cream. I head to the kitchen and start searching. YES! There is a pint of Ben and Jerry’s Chunky Monkey ice cream. I pull it out, grab a spoon, and go into the living room to watch TV.
I can’t help but moan when I take that first spoonful. I love this ice cream. Once, I left at midnight to run up to Wal-Mart and buy some. It was definitely worth it. Castle was on TV and I watched it with my full attention. At the end of the show, I went to dip my spoon in the ice cream only to discover there wasn’t any. Great. I’m a pig who ate a whole pint of ice cream in one sitting. Oh well. It was delicious.
I put away my trash and spoon and tell my dad good night. I dig fresh clothes from my dresser and go take a shower. The hot water pelting down my skin relaxes me. I take a long shower and afterwards feel refreshed. I crawl into bed and turn on my TV. Jake said he would call me once he got home, which could be close to midnight, so I was going to stay awake until then.
Well, that didn’t happen. I woke up and realized I had fallen asleep. I roll over to look at my alarm clock. Nine in the morning. The aroma of bacon, sausage, and more food found my nose. I threw off the covers, instantly feeling hungry and made my way to the kitchen.
“Wow, you really outdid yourself Dad,” I comment as my mouth waters from the food on the table. In addition to what I smelled was eggs, rice and white gravy, and biscuits. I retrieved a glass from the cabinet and poured myself a glass of milk. I sat down at the table with my father and dug in. It was delicious. “Thanks Dad,” I say as I put our plates away.
“I’ll get it. Call Jake. He’s been calling all morning.” I give my dad a kiss on the cheek and head to my room. I grab my cell and call Jake.
“Hey Sweetness,” he answers.
“Hey. How was the game? Sorry I fell asleep.”
“It’s okay. It actually went pretty well.”
“That’s great love!”
“Yeah. So you want to come over?”
“I’ll be there in a few,” I reply. I hang up and go take a shower. Squeaky clean, I find a pair of Capri’s and a light sweater to go with. “I’m heading to Jake’s,” I holler over my shoulder to my dad.
“Don’t stay out too late,” he calls back. I open the door to the garage and quickly make my way to Jake’s.
I rap on the door twice and a few moments later, Jake opens the door with a smile on his face. He pulls me to him and gives me a sweet kiss. “I love you,” he says, pushing a stray strand of hair behind my ear.
“I love you,” I reply.
He tugs me inside and before I can ask he answers my unspoken question. “They went out for another father-son day.” He leads me up to his room and wastes no time getting me in the mood.
I snuggle up to Jake under the covers. “What’s going on in that head of yours,” he asks twirling his index finger on my bare shoulder.
“Nothing much. Just thinking about all that’s happened since I met you last August,” I reply tracing his stomach.
“A lot has happened.”
“Seems we just attract trouble” I comment quietly.
“Maybe so. But think of all the good times. If we do attract trouble, we also attract happiness.”
I cuddle closer to him and close my eyes. “Not going to fall asleep on me, are you Sweetness,” Jake asks reading my mind.
“No,” I say with a yawn. He chuckles and soon I’m fast asleep.
“What in the hell?”
I groggily roll over at the sound of a voice. My eyes pop open when I hear Jake reply, “Dad, be quiet. She’s sleeping!” Oh my goodness. Thankfully, I’m facing the wall and Jake, who happened to not being looking down at me. I closed my eyes and I hear Jake tell his dad to just get out in a hushed voice.
“Jake, you have a naked girl in your bed with your brother across the hall!”
“She won’t be naked if you get the hell out!”
A few seconds later, I hear the click of the door. Jake flops back down and looks over at me to see my eyes open. I can’t help it. There’s so much tension that I just laugh. Jake gives a halfhearted smile. “How am I supposed to face him now,” I ask once my laugh calms down.
“Just like always. Confident.”
“I guess I better go,” I say reluctantly.
“You don’t have to go. Just get dressed.”
I look to see the alarm clock seeing that it was a little after five. Wow, I slept for quite a bit. “No, I should probably go.”
At this, Jake pulls me to him and holds me tight. “I don’t want you to go Sweetness. You’ve been sleeping the day away without me.”
“You didn’t sleep,” I ask. He shakes his head. “How about I stay longer next time?” He kisses my forehead and says okay. I roll over and sit up. I get up to find my clothes and start to put them on while Jake lays on his back with one hand behind his head, watching me. I pull the my sweater over my head and look at Jake looking so sexy.
I walk over and climb on the bed to straddle him. I lean down and place a long, sweet kiss on those lips of his. “I love you,” I tell him.
“I love you Sweetness.”
Sadly, I get off him and wave goodbye once I’m at his bedroom door. Somehow, I manage to avoid Drake and Mr. Benson. I don’t know how, but I’m grateful. I spend the rest of my evening doing schoolwork.
Jake
I wait a few minutes after Emily leaves to go find my dad. I can’t believe he just barged in. I take my time pulling on my boxers and shorts. I open the door to find my father standing outside with his arms crossed. “Why didn’t you just barge in,” I ask.
“Don’t start Jake. You shouldn’t have been like that in the first place.”
“You already knew that we were active! I said so after we came back from Uncle Roy’s! You should have knocked. No one was here. We did nothing wrong.”
“Bullshit. Look, you just better keep that out of this house. What if it had been Drake instead?”
“Drake knocks.” My dad shakes his head and storms off. I walk over to Drake’s room and knock. Drake opens the door and smiles. “How was your day buddy,” I ask walking in. I plop into a bean bag and Drake goes into extensive detail about his day out with Dad. “I’m glad you had fun. Want to race,” I ask. Drake grins from ear to ear and goes to set the racing game up. I picked my car and Drake picked out the track.
He decided to go with a really curvy one, proudly stating, “I’m beast as this game.”
I chuckle and say, “Let’s just race.” After an hour or two of racing (and me losing), Drake pauses the game and looks over at me. “One day this week can just me and you hang out and do something?”
“Sure thing. Let’s go eat supper. I think I heard Dad calling us.” We race down the stairs and into the kitchen. We slide into our seats and have a family dinner that is slightly awkward since my dad is still pissed about earlier.
After supper, I usher Drake upstairs to take a shower and I do the same. I slip on some pajama pants and crawl into bed. I text Emily sweet dreams and a smiley when she replies with the same message. Soon, I fall asleep.
The shrill ringing of my phone goes off from a text message. I pick it up and look through my sleepy eyes to see a text from Emily.
Midnight walk?
I throw my covers off and grab a hoodie from the floor. I slip on a pair of shoes and sneak downstairs and out the door. Standing at the end of the driveway is Emily. She’s wearing one of my hoodies and pajama pants. “Do you rummage through my drawers and steal all my clothes,” I ask.
She smiles and shrugs. “I like them.”
>
I greet her with a kiss and inquire about her reasoning for being out tonight. “I just wanted to see you.” She hooks her arm through mine before returning her hand to her kangaroo pocket. We walk down the road a bit and to our bench in the park. I sit down and Emily surprises me by straddling me.
She gives me a sweet, slow kiss before resting her head in the crook of my neck. I place my hands on her hips and wait. I know something is bothering her. That’s why she’s still awake. I just have to wait until she is ready to tell me. I get a little restless and slip my hands under her hoodie to discover she’s wearing nothing under it.
I slide my hands up and down her sides, relishing in the feel of her. “I love you Jake. I’m so happy that I met you. I’m so lucky that you were there to save me. It’s just that I’ve been thinking about our future and what your uncle said.”
I stop her and say, “Sweetness, don’t make this harder than it has to be.”
She sits up and looks at me. “I’m not. I’m just trying to figure everything out. I’m trying to figure out how we are going to take both of our dreams and put them together so we are both happy.”
“What do you want to do Sweetness?”
“I want to be a dentist.”
“Do you have any place in mind that you want to go to?” She shakes her head. “Then just come to Charlotte with me. I’m sure there’s a school there for you. See? Easy peasy.”
“You sure? You want me to come to Charlotte with you?”
“Of course. Why wouldn’t I want you there? I love you, Sweetness.”
A smile covers her face and she leans in to give me a kiss. “Sorry, it’s just one of those nights,” she says, referring to when she doubts herself. She rests her head back in the crook of my neck and kisses a spot over and over. “You don’t ever have to doubt yourself with me Emily. I’m always going to want you. I’m always going to want to love you, kiss you, and have you with me. I’m always going to want to hold my sweetness. Always.”
I feel her smile as she gives me another kiss. “Can I stay with you tonight?”
“Of course.”
She stands and hold out her hand. I intertwine our fingers and kiss her knuckles. We walk back to my house and sneak up to my room. Emily slips into my bed as I take off my hoodie and shoes. I set my alarm for 5:30 so she’ll have time to get home before her dad wakes up and climb in beside her. She cuddles up to me and I wrap my arms around her. In seconds, she’s asleep.
Over the next three weeks, Emily sleeps over every night. I ask her if there was an particular reason why, not that I minded. She said no. She just wanted to be close to me. I loved waking up every morning to see her sweet, beautiful sleeping face.
Drake and I spent more time together. Lately, I had been spending all my time with Emily, but since Drake mentioned hanging out, I had been spending more time with him. Dad doesn’t say much since our little encounter, but it doesn’t bother me.
Prom was tonight and I was beyond ecstatic to see Emily in her dress again. I wore the same tux and same purple tie. I ended up getting a plain purple mask too. I was waiting in the living room with Mike. What was taking her so long?! Finally, I hear the door to her room creak open and I pop up from my seat. So beautiful. She had ringlets of curls in her hair, the pretty mask, and perfect dress. “Wow,” is all I can manage.
Emily gives me a sly smile and I hear Mike let out a whistle. “You look beautiful honey,” he says walking over to kiss her cheek.
“Thank you Daddy.”
I walk over and stare into those beautiful brown eyes while I slip on her corsage. “You look amazing, Em.” A blush makes it’s way to her cheeks and I give her a kiss on the lips.
Mike takes a few pictures of us, but I keep messing them up by looking over to gaze at Emily. Finally, we get a good one. I usher Emily outside and open the door for her. She gets in and I rush to the other side. I slide into my seat and head to the prom, which is lamely being held in the gym. I keep stealing glances at Emily and finally, she turns to me and asks, “What?”
“You just look amazing. I can’t not look at you.”
A shy smile flits across her lips and she takes my hand. Soon we arrive at the school and I’m excited to show off my girl. We hand the teacher our tickets and she grants us entrance. Inside, I’m surprised at how the gym looks. It’s breathtaking and looks nothing like a gym with its soft lights and decorations. Bobby, one of my friends, catches sight of Emily and walks over with his mouth hanging open.
“Who is your date Jake? Where’s Emily?”
I wrap my arm around Emily’s waist and smile. “This is Emily, Bobby. Quit drooling,” I chuckle. Bobby blinks and continues to look Emily up and down. “You look beautiful Emily. Not that you didn’t before, but wow.”
“Thanks Bobby,” Emily says with a blush. A few of the guys make their way over and say hi along with their dates. When Claire comes up with her date, Henry, Emily just rests her head on my shoulder. The guys talk about their upcoming plans for college. Emily kept quiet, but would occasionally say something.
“Excuse me fellas, but I’ve got to dance with Emily.” I lead her to the dance floor and bring her close to me. “How’s it going Sweetness?”
“Wonderful,” she says placing her head in her favorite spot. We sway to the music, even when it changes to faster paced song. Emily kisses my neck and looks up at me with a smile. “I love you Jake Benson.”
“I love you Emily Johnson,” I say, placing a kiss upon her lips. We leave the dance floor to chat some more with the guys and Emily joins the conversation that the girls are having. Soon, prom is over and we are heading to the after party.
“Jake?” Emily questions as we walk up the steps to the house.
“Yeah?”
“Just a warning that I feel like partying. I know you haven’t seen this side of me yet, so be prepared for just about anything.” I chuckle and loosen my tie as we walk through the doors. Emily finds her way around easily as she goes to the kitchen to fix her a glass of vodka and cranberry juice. I follow her to get a beer. She chugs her drink and fixes another, but this time it’s tequila instead of vodka.
After that drink and another beer for me, Emily has really loosened up and drags me to where everyone is dancing. I never knew Emily could move the way she was. She must have felt how excited I was because she led me upstairs, full of giggles. She takes my beer and finishes it off before handing it back to me. I smile as she checks the rooms, mumbling sorry until she finds an empty one.
She pushes me back on the bed and takes charge of the situation. She slips out of her dress and soon she has me wrapped around her little finger so tightly that I would do just about anything to have her right that second. Who knew she was such a tease!
Emily
I haven’t felt particularly good today. Talk about being nauseous and just bleh. Probably didn’t help that we partied last night after prom. I didn’t get home until early this morning. I had a headache from my hangover. After me and Jake had some fun of our own, we went back downstairs and partied some more. We got a friend of Jake’s, who was sober, to drive us home. Jake was hanging out with the guys today and would go back to get his car.
I roll over and look at the date on my phone to see that it was April 30th around noon. Shit. I was two weeks late. No. That couldn’t be right. I bit my lip as fear rose high. I couldn’t be pregnant. We used condoms every single time.
Shit. Not the first time. But still, I was on birth control. If I was, what would happen to the baby since I drank like a sailor last night? Oh my. If I was pregnant, I was already acting like my mom. I would have already harmed the baby because of alcohol. My hands began to shake as I grabbed my keys from the nightstand. I walked down the hall and into the living room where my dad was watching TV. “Dad, I’m going out for a while.”
“Okay, honey.”
I walked through the kitchen and into the garage. It took three times to get my key in the ignition. I opened the garage and bac
ked out. I didn’t want to go to a store around here. Too many people would be curious about me. I drove the hour drive to Jacksonville. I stopped at the Target, which was one of the first stores that would have the test.
I grabbed my wallet from the console and hurried inside. Oh my god. Please. This can not be happening. I found the pregnancy tests easy enough and grabbed one of each brand. I had to be certain. The woman at the register gave me a look full of sorrow as she rang me up. I paid and went straight to the bathroom. I couldn’t do this at home. Twenty minutes and five tests later, I knew my answer.
Jake
Around five, I pull up at my house from a day with the boys. Emily is sitting on my steps and I’m so happy to see her. As I get out of my car and walk towards her, she looks up and tears are in her eyes. I sit beside her and pull her to me. “Sweetness, what’s the matter? What happened?” She just kept crying. I try to sooth her, but to no avail. “Emily, please. Tell me what’s going on?”
“I’m pregnant.”
I froze. My heart might as well have stopped beating. What? How? Images of our first time together smashed into me. Emily’s broken voice brought me to reality. “Jake, say something.” I looked at her and gulped. What was I supposed to say? The only thing I knew was that I couldn’t just leave her.
“Are you sure?”
“Five tests sure,” she answers.
“We’ll figure this out. I promise.”
I held her to me as she continued to soak my shirt with her tears. What were we going to do? I wasn’t ready to raise a baby. I wanted to go to college and play in the NHL. How in the hell could I do that with a baby? How could Emily accomplish her goals with a baby? Would we get an abortion? My throat constricted at the thought of killing an unborn baby. Would we give it up for adoption so we could go to college?
“Jake, what are we going to do?” Emily’s voice was desperate as she searched my eyes for answers.
“We need to go somewhere and talk, just us,” I tell her. I pull her up and take her over to my car. I have no clue where we will go. I just drive. Almost two hours later, we arrive at the beach where our first date took place. We get out and walk down the beach. “Jake, abortion is not an option,” Emily starts. “I just can’t do that.”
I'm Yours (Bold As Love) Page 7