Falling into Summer

Chapter 19

"Ok, call me after your lab," he requests, not looking away from what he's doing.

"But it could be as late as one o'clock, but hopefully closer to eleven," I insist.

"So, call anyway, I'll be up," he insists looking over at me.

"Ok," I give in, and say bye to Mark and Sarah before turning to walk out to my car. As I make it to my car, I hear the screened front door slam shut, causing me to turn around. Surprising me, I see Carter jogging out to me. "Hey?" I say, wondering if he forgot to tell me something.

"Will you call me when you're done with your lab?" he asks again, as he walks right up to me and hugs me as he did this morning. Still shocked by this blatant gesture of affection, all I can do is nod against his chest. "Have a good class," he says as he steps back with a smile, and turns to run back into the house, after having just left his parents in his room. Giddy, I get in my car and head to class, hoping to be back here in just a couple of hours.

"Are you sure it's not too late?" I ask, knowing Carter's family usually goes to bed around ten thirty. Even though my lab got out early, it's still eleven o'clock and I don't want to wake everyone up when Carter lets me in.

"No, I'm not even asleep yet," he assures, and I can't help but wonder if he was waiting up for me. "Just come straight here," he requests and because I'm eager to spend another night in his arms, I agree.

I'm not surprised to see the house is mostly dark when I park in the driveway. All I can see is the tv glow in Carter's bedroom window, and before I reach the top of the porch steps, Carter's opening the front door. "Hey," he whispers as he holds open the door for me.

"Hey, did you see me pull up or something?" I ask in a whisper as I walk past him. Always the gentleman, he grabs my book bag from my shoulder as he nods. After he locks the door behind me, I follow him back to his room. "How are you feeling?" I ask after I've set down my purse and removed my shoes, as he sets down my bag next to the dresser and then closes the bedroom door behind me.

"Alright. I'm still feeling really congested and my throat hurts, but the medicine's helping," he insists. He then makes his way to the closet, reaches down for something, and then hands me the pair of sweats I wore for bed last night.

"I guess this means I'm staying?" I ask, surprised but pleased by his boldness.

"Aren't you?" he asks with hesitation, unsure how to take my comment. When I smile up at him, he realizes I'm teasing. "I thought that was a given," he jokes with a flirtatious grin. I just roll my eyes at him, trying to hide my embarrassment at the pleasure of knowing we'll be spending another night together, and grab the sweats before making my way to the bathroom.

When I come back from the bathroom, Carter's already in bed watching tv, the bare skin of his chest exposed from the bed sheets. Eager to join him, I close the door behind me, and I make my way around the bed, dropping my jeans on the floor next to my purse and shoes. Crawling between the sheets next to him, I can feel his eyes on me. "What are you watching?" I ask. Just then he extends his arms out to me, signaling he wants to cuddle, and I fall right into them, resting half my body on him.

"The news, but it's almost over," he whispers, and I can feel his warm breath against my forehead and the vibration of his words under my ear. "We should probably go to sleep though since I have to be up early," he suggests.

When I nod in agreement, he pushes a button on the remote and the room goes dark. As my eyes are adjusting to the sudden darkness, I feel him stretch to put the remote on the nightstand. Then he relaxes and wraps both his arms around me, hugging me against his body as I hug him just as tightly. Unlike previous nights, tonight I'm keenly aware of every part of his body that's touching mine, and finally that he's only in a pair of boxers even though I'm in a pair of sweats, the same shirt I've been wearing all day, and even my bra. With this realization, I suddenly begin to feel uncomfortable and hot. Starting to fidget as my body temperature begins to climb, Carter notices. "You ok?" he whispers as he loosens his grip around me.

"Not really..." I reply as I roll onto my back and away from Carter's body heat. "I'm just hot." Shoving the covers back, I'm starting to feel perspiration gather at the back of my neck under my hair. Feeling Carter watching me, I sit up, reach for a hair tie out of my purse on the floor, tie up my hair in a bun, and stand up to slide off the sweatpants, letting them fall to the floor before I climb between the sheets. When Carter doesn't move from his side, I assume he's unsure how to react to my removing half of my clothing. Before I finally settle back down, I reach around and undo the clasp at my back and remove my bra without having to take off my shirt, tossing it on the floor between the bed and the window. "Much better," I sigh as I relax on my back putting one hand on my stomach and the other behind my head.

"You done?" Carter asks, and although I can sense him watching me, I can't tell if he's surprised or intrigued... Either way I don't care, I've been wanting to take the thing off all day! And if I'm going to stay here, I'm going to be as comfortable as possible...

"Yes, sorry. I just couldn't take it anymore."

"Of course... As long as you're comfortable," he insists. "Did you want me to leave you alone?" he asks, and I realize he probably thinks I was uncomfortable cuddling with him.

"I didn't say that," I insist turning to look over at him.

"I know but you said you were hot; I don't want to make you hotter."

"No, it wasn't you, it was the sweats. I'm better now," I insist, extending my hand on my stomach out to him. He rolls over on his side, putting his hand in mine, and when I pull his hand to rest on the fabric covering my stomach, he shifts closer to me. When I feel his skin against my arm and his legs against mine, I know he's just a breath away. Relaxed by the feeling of his fingers moving across the fabric on my stomach, I feel his fingertips move towards the bottom hem of my shirt. Remembering the feeling of his fingers on my skin the day we went jet skiing, I become eager to feel them on my bare stomach. Rolling over onto my side to face away from him, I feel his arm stiffen with uncertainty as I scoot back just enough to feel his chest against my back. I then guide his hand under my shirt to the bare skin of my stomach, and he resumes drawing lines around my belly button until I fall asleep.