She gives a small, indifferent shrug. “I was thinking your room.”
“Really?”
She nods. “Please?”
“Yeah,” I whisper. “Let’s go.”
We attempt to calmly collect ourselves and get out of the car, moving quietly, like we might get caught, though we aren’t doing anything necessarily suspicious. When I open the door to the house, it’s eerily quiet. The only sounds are coming from the small den with the glowing lights reflecting off the TV.
“Everett! Is that you?”
“Yeah, Mom.”
“I left some pizza in the kitchen if you want some.”
“Okay. I’m just going to head up to my room. I’m kind of tired.”
“All right.”
Teeny grins at me, following my quiet steps up the stairs to my room. Once inside, I lock the door. “You think she’ll be mad if she knows I’m here?”
“Nah, don’t worry about it,” I tell her, though I’d probably get a small lecture on bringing Teeny over this late and how her parents would react if they assumed my mom allowed it.
She looks over my room, catching a small box that was once neatly wrapped in paper meant specifically for a birthday with the colorful balloons and party hats printed on it. The torn paper now sits messily on my desk, and she peers into the box, poking her finger inside the nest of tissue paper with inquisitive eyes. “Was there…a special occasion?”
I walk over to her, picking up the box and taking out the iPod still wrapped in its packaging and plastic film. “My dad gave it to me while I was visiting,” I explain to her. “Early birthday gift.”
Her eyes round, and a smile cuts across her face. “It’s your birthday?”
“Not for a few months. In March,” I tell her shyly. “My dad…I think he just feels guilty about this year. Us being down here and all of that shit. Probably why he got me the new car.”
She nods. “Well, happy early birthday.”
“Thank you,” I answer with a smirk.
We stand there, our bodies tentative and shy, very much unlike how we were just minutes ago in my car. Until she makes the first move. She reaches for my hand and leads me to my bed, guiding me as if this isn’t my room. We lay down, side by side, and she kisses me. With the way she touches me without a beat of hesitation, it feels like she’s moving in a single sweeping fluid motion. No pauses. No moments that make me wonder if she feels the same flicker of nerves crawling under my skin. All I feel is how deep her love runs, and I can’t ever imagine a time when I’ll question how much she loves me. Or how much I love her. All of this…it feels like a sure thing.
Teeny pulls away, her breathing desperate and loud. “Do you have…”
“What?”
“Um…you know,” she continues, her chest pressing against me. “Protection?”
“Oh.” I huff a nervous laugh. “Um, yeah. Actually, I do.”
Her timid laugh matches mine. “Yeah?”
I nod. “My mom…she got me some.”
“What?”
“That’s totally weird, isn’t it?”
“A little,” she responds through a laugh.
I tuck my chin toward my chest so that my forehead leans against the crook in her neck, snuffing my embarrassed chuckle. “I swear, I didn’t ask for them or anything like that.”
“So, she just…gave them to you?”
