Remember When #featured #AllStars

Chapter 27

ANOTHER 48 HOURS

Lisa and I pulled up to the front curb of the rental house and almost died laughing. The place was a perfect, two-storied rectangle of brown. The roof and the siding were both covered in dark cedar shingles; the front door, the window frames and even the shutters were painted to match. The only bright spots on the entire façade were a ten foot, light blue smiling plastic whale over the front door and the row of pinwheels across the railing of the small brown balcony on the second floor.

Lisa got out of the car and stood on the sidewalk, nearly doubled over with laughter. "Holy Jesus, I can't even imagine what's waiting for us inside!"

But I had already decided I didn't care about that, because I had just seen what was waiting for me outside.

Sprinting up the driveway, wearing nothing but his swim trunks and looking as delicious as ever, was Trip.

He waved me into the driveway, miming where I should park. Before I could even put the car in gear, Lisa gave me the raised eyebrows and laughed, "I think I'll just meet you in the house."

The drive ran straight through to a garage in the rear, where the blacktop fanned out and took over half of the small backyard. I squeezed my car between Coop's Audi and Rymer's truck and got out. I was feeling a tad cautious, not knowing how I should greet Trip. I mean, was grad night just a fluke? A one-time thing?

I watched as he bounded toward me with the most elated grin, not even trying to hide how excited he was to see me. One look at Trip's face and I found myself vaulting the few steps that separated us and leaping into his arms. I wrapped my legs around his waist and landed a huge smooch against his smiling lips.

And then suddenly, the hello kiss took an entirely different turn.

He gave a brief look over his shoulder, before maneuvering us between the cars and backing me against Rymer's truck. I started to put my feet on the ground, but he buried his head in my neck and whispered heavily, "No, don't."

He caught me under a knee with his hand and hitched my left leg back over his hip. His other hand was tangled in my hair and his mouth opened over mine as he pressed his body against me.

His breathing sounded ragged and I could hear a low hum stirring in his throat, the sound making me catch my breath as well.

I could feel his rising need through the thin bathing suit, hard and insistent, driving against the bikini bottoms under my skirt. Wow. I guessed he really was excited to see me. Had I known this was waiting for me, I'd have violated every traffic law known to man just to get down in record-breaking time.

I almost melted into him, my body turning as gooey as the steaming driveway blacktop as I returned his kiss, running my hands along his neck, his shoulders, his bare chest.

It felt so amazing, his lips open over mine, his exposed skin under my palms, his demanding body pressed so intimately against me. I was half in a trance by the time he pulled his face back slightly and whispered, "Hi."

"Hi," I said right back, breathless and smiling into those gorgeous, ocean eyes.

"Took you long enough to get here."

Tell me about it. After an eternity of waiting, there I was, finally in the arms of Trip Effing Wilmington.

I laughed and said, "Yeah, it feels like it took forever."

* * *

Once Trip adjusted himself in his shorts and grabbed my bag from the trunk, we headed for the house. Turned out, the inside wasn't much better than the outside. Pickford was the first to greet us from his post in the kitchen, working an assembly line of sandwiches, apparently preparing lunch for the lot of us. Wow, that was pretty nice of him. Who knew he had a Betty Crocker streak?