AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You want me to turn around?” I know she’s going to say yes, but I have to at least give her the option to try something new.
“No,” she mutters.
“Really? I mean, are you sure?”
She looks up at me as she tosses the pajamas onto the rollaway bed. “Yes. I’m sure.”
She pulls off her tank top and I try not to smile too wide when I see her white bra and the soft curve of her breasts. I’ve seen her in a bra before, but it was in the heat of the moment, with our bodies pressed against each other. Not like this, with her standing before me, her body on display.
She reaches up and lightly touches her fingertips to the six-inch scar over her breastbone.
I step forward, keeping my eyes focused on hers as I pull her hand away from her chest. “You’re gorgeous. Every inch of you.”
She lowers her head as she reaches behind her back to unclasp her bra. “You don’t think my boobs are too small?”
She slowly slips the bra straps off her shoulders and her breathing quickens as she peels it off and tosses it onto the bed next to her tank top.
“Too small?” I reply, unable to take my eyes off her slightly pink nipples. “No way. They’re perfect.”
She chuckles as she reaches for her pajama shirt. She pulls it on, then she undoes her shorts and shrugs out of them. Her skin has a bit of a bronze sheen from spending this week on the beach. I’ve seen her in her one-piece bathing suit almost every day since we came here, but something about watching her change in front of me feels more intimate.
She pulls on her pajama pants and throws her clothes in the hamper before she gets in under the covers. “I know it’s a small bed, but I don’t know where the spare blankets are for you to sleep on the floor. So I guess you’ll have to sleep with me.”
“Are you sure?”
“Of course,” she replies, scooting over and patting the mattress for me to lie down with her.
I turn off the lamp and slide into bed with her. The bed squeaks under my weight, and for a moment I worry that this will wake someone up. But then Abby snuggles up to me with her head on my shoulder and her arm draped over my belly, and all my worries disappear.
I kiss the top of her head and give her shoulder a light squeeze. “Goodnight, sunshine.”
“Goodnight, turtledove.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
I OPEN MY EYES and the first thing I see is Caleb’s black T-shirt. I smell his warm skin through the fabric. When I look up, I’m not surprised to find Caleb is wide awake and watching me.
“How long have you been awake?”
“About an hour. I didn’t want to wake you up until 7:30 ’cause we don’t have to go to CVS until eight.”
“Are you saying I need all the beauty rest I can get?” I say as I push myself up onto my elbow.
“Exactly what I’m saying. Look at you. You’re hideous with that blonde hair tumbling over your graceful neck, highlighting the exquisite bone structure of your hideous visage.”
I shake my head as I sit up, but the bed is too narrow for me to sit cross-legged. “Is everyone else awake? You should go back to Ryder’s room.”
He chuckles at my suggestion as he sits up. “You know that boy is still asleep, but everyone else is awake. I heard Claire and Jimi arguing. Anyway, there’s no hiding this. Someone’s going to see me coming out of this room.”
“Wait. Aren’t they supposed to go to a music festival at Carolina Beach today?”
Caleb’s emerald eyes light up. “You’re right. And your mom said you couldn’t go.”
I roll my eyes at this. When I called my mom yesterday morning, I told her how the Knights were taking me to a music festival in Carolina Beach. She told me I couldn’t go because there would be too many people and I could easily overheat or get sick. Heart valve disease makes me more susceptible to endocarditis, an infection of the heart lining, vessels, or valves. I had endocarditis after the last surgery to reshape one of my leaflets, and my mom claims I almost died. Not that I don’t believe her, but I’ve come to realize that my mom will say just about anything to make me do what she wants.
Since endocarditis is caused by bacteria that enter the bloodstream, the chances of me getting it just by being around a bunch of people is ridiculous. But, as it is, she’s already overly skittish about me swimming at the beach in that “nasty” ocean water. I don’t want to press my luck by insisting on going to the music festival. Or she may drive down here herself and kidnap me.
“Well, I guess that means we have the house all to ourselves today,” I say, looking over my shoulder at him.
“Don’t get any ideas, Abby. I plan on holding onto my purity until my wedding night.”
“What about that girl you had sex with before we started going out? The one who tried to break us up. What was her name again? Bitch whore slut?”
“Abby!” He clutches his chest, pretending to be appalled. “That is one dirty mouth you’ve got there. Are you sure you’re a virgin?”
“As sure as I am that you’re going to try to feel me up today.”
He nods. “You’re pretty sure.”
“Should we go down there and have breakfast with them? Or should we just wait until they’re gone?”
Caleb swings his legs over the side of the bed and I feel a twinge of guilt to see him still in his T-shirt and jeans. “I wonder why they haven’t come in to check on us.”
“Maybe they don’t want to wake us? Maybe they figured you slept in here so you wouldn’t wake Ryder last night when we got back from the pharmacy? Maybe they’re actually cooler than we thought?”
As soon as I say this, we hear footsteps coming up the stairs. The footsteps pass right by Jimi’s closed bedroom door and continue down the hallway toward Ryder’s room. Junior yells at Ryder to get up and get his swimsuit on. They’re leaving early so they can find a place to set up their stuff on the beach.
“Let’s just wait until they’re gone,” Caleb whispers. “Then we can go to CVS and come back.”
I nod and sit perfectly still for fifteen minutes until they’ve all left the house. I shower in Jimi’s bathroom while Caleb uses the shower downstairs. Then we set off to the pharmacy. Once I have my prescription in hand, I dial my cardiologist’s emergency phone number and leave a message asking if it’s okay for me to take the pill on a Sunday.
“So what do you want to do today? Want to go swimming?” Caleb yells at me to be heard over the roaring rush of wind in our ears as we fly down Highway 74.
I tuck my skirt under my legs, then I close my eyes and the wind washes over my face, coaxing the moisture out the corners of my eyes and making my skin feel stale and tight.
“I want to stay in,” I shout back at him.
When we get home, I see I have a voicemail message from my cardiologist, Dr. Rosenthal. I get out of the car and listen to the message as Caleb puts up the ragtop.
“Good morning, Abby. This is Dr. Rosenthal. I received your message and I’d rather have you skip the dose than take it a day late. Just try not to engage in any strenuous activity this week and call 911 immediately if you have any symptoms of a blockage, such as numbness, speech problems, severe headache, or loss of balance. Hope you’re enjoying your summer at the beach. It’s important for a young girl such as yourself to have some fun. See you next month, Abby.”
“What did he say?” Caleb asks as we climb the steps to the back door.
“He said not to worry about taking it today.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, and he said it’s important for a young girl such as myself to have some fun.”
Caleb laughs as we enter the cool air-conditioned living room. “I guess we know what that means.”
“What does that mean?”
Caleb closes the back door then looks at me as if I should know the answer to this question. “Hel-lo? Monopoly!” He grabs my waist and pulls me close. “I’ll be the race car. You can be the thimble.”
I lay my hand
s on his chest and my stomach flips as he gazes down at me with a hungry look in his eyes. “So, because I’m a woman I have to be the thimble? How sexist. Now I want to be the boot so I can kick your race car in the—”
“Whoa there! No need for violence.”
He leans down and plants a soft kiss on my lips. I reach up, curling my arms around his neck so I can return the gesture with a bit more passion. His lips are so smooth and kissable. I suck on his top lip and he groans softly into my mouth. Then something prods my thigh and I realize it’s the erection growing inside his cargo shorts.
I pull my head back to look at him. To let him know that I can feel how much he wants me. And that I want him just as much.
“I love you, Caleb.”
“I love you more, sunshine.”
