When you're ready

21. You're always invited

Camila took a deep breath as she stood outside Shawn’s house, lifting her hand to knock on his door. He had texted her right after he left her house the day before, worried she would get in trouble for what her aunt walked into, but she told him a few times that wasn’t the case. She waited for about five minutes, but there was no sign of him, so she got close to the window to take a look at the living room. It looked empty, but if she was being honest his house had been looking like that a lot lately.

 She stepped out of the front porch and walked to the garage, thinking maybe he was there painting, but as she knocked, she once again didn’t get an answer. His car was there in the driveway, so she thought he was either asleep in the middle of the afternoon or he had gone somewhere close by. Maybe she should have texted him before walking there. It was a Saturday after all, so maybe he had plans she didn’t know about.

 Camila sat down on the front steps and waited for a few minutes to see if he would maybe show up and when she was about to give up, she recognized Brian’s car getting close. She immediately noticed Shawn in the passenger seat as the car stopped in front of the house and she couldn’t help the smile that formed on her lips. He was laughing with Brian and that was something she knew he hadn’t done much lately. It felt really good to see him happy like that.

 “ Hey, Camila!” Brian shouted, making Shawn notice her for the first time. He turned his head around to look at her just as she waved at them and his smile matched hers in enthusiasm. He looked sweaty and his cheeks were red like he had just run a marathon.

 Shawn got out of the car and Brian was gone almost immediately, obviously wanting to leave them alone. Now that he was closer to her, she noticed how sweaty he actually was. His white shirt was glued to his body and she only realized she had been staring when he laughed and finally spoke.

 “ How long have you been here?” He asked with curiosity.

 “ I don’t know.” She said quietly, looking down at her feet and focusing on her pink polish nail instead of him. “ Maybe ten minutes.”

 “ Sorry. Brian’s mom basically forced me to have lunch with them and then we ended up playing basketball with his dad.” Shawn explained.

 “ It’s okay. I mean, we didn’t really have any plans together. I just showed up uninvited.” Camila laughed shyly.

 “ You’re always invited, Camila.” Shawn said, stopping in front of her and taking both her hands in his sweaty ones. He pulled her up from the steps and they walked inside the house together. “ So, anything in mind for us to do now that you’re spending the day here?”

 “ I don’t know. I just wanted to see you.” She confesses as they stop in the living room, but then lets go of his hands. “ But maybe you should take a shower. You stink.”

 “ Oh, I do?” He laughed in surprise, taking her hand again and pulling her closer to him while trying to hug her.

 “ Shawn, no! You’re all sweaty!” She screams, getting away from him laughing, but not before he plants a kiss on her cheek.

 Camila waited as Shawn showered, stealing ice cream from the freezer and sitting up on the kitchen counter while savoring the strawberry flavor. When Shawn walked back all cleaned up and smelling fresh, she almost choked on her ice cream, couching a few times as he walked into the kitchen in sweatpants but no shirt.

 “ You okay?” He asked, seeming genuinely concerned about her coughing and trying to breathe.

 “ Yeah.” She said. “ I’m okay.”

 Shawn walked to her and took the ice cream from her hands as she quickly protested.

 “ Hey! What are you doing?” She asked, trying to take the ice cream back, but he placed it on the sink behind him and before she could comprehend what he was doing, his lips were on hers.

 “ Sorry. I had to do this.” He whispered over her lips.

 Camila smiled before kissing him back and letting her hands touch his wet hair, his hands going to her waist and pulling her to the edge of the counter as he stood between her legs. It was like they had just restarted from where they had stopped the day before, but this time she knew the possibility of someone interrupting them was very low.

 She gasped as she felt his cold hand entering her shirt and touching the skin of her back, which only seemed to make him kiss her more eagerly. There was no space between them and it took her a second to realize she was no longer sitting on the kitchen counter, but being carried to the couch. Shawn gently placed her down on the cushions, blanketing her body with his and getting a strand of her hair out of her face before kissing her again. His lips eventually were on her neck, making her breathless as her nails involuntarily dug on the skin of his shirtless back.

 Camila lost count of how long they’ve been there on his couch, but with her legs tightly wrapped around him, she had no trouble feeling the bulge on his pants. His lips were on hers before they traveled down and reached her collarbone, sucking on her skin and earning low whimpers from her. His lips went lower to the top of her cleavage, kissing the skin just outside her shirt as she spoke.

 “ Shawn.” She whispered almost in a cry for help. “ We need to stop.”

 His lips left her skin and he looked up at her before burying his head on her neck and breathing hard. She wasn’t ready for where this was going, but she didn’t have to say it for him to understand and sit up on the couch as she untangled her legs from him.

 Camila watched as he breathed heavily, chuckling as he closed his eyes and rested his head on the back of the couch. She tried not to look, but her eyes went immediately to his sweatpants and she almost regretted stopping him because now she was really curious about where they would end up if they kept going for a few more minutes. Her face burned in embarrassment when he closed his eyes and caught her staring at the bulge on his pants, so she quickly looked away and sat up as well.

 “ Sorry about that.” She said shyly, looking up at the ceiling.

 “ Trust me, you don’t need to apologize for that.” He said before both of them burst out laughing.

 They stayed side by side on the couch for a few minutes, the room quiet as Shawn reached for her hand and interlocked their fingers.

 “ Your aunt said something yesterday.” Shawn finally spoke.

 “ She was just teasing you. She’s not mad at any of us.” Camila told him.

 “ I know.” Shawn said quietly. “ But she said something about me not being your boyfriend.”

 “ And?” Camila asked, both of them staring at the wall across from them.

 “ And I was thinking that maybe we could change that.” He finally looked at her.

 “ What are you saying?” Camila whispered, still not looking at him.

 “ You know what I’m saying.” He touched her face and made her look at him.

 “ Are you asking me to be your girlfriend?” She asked with doubt in her voice, like she couldn’t believe this was happening. Shawn nodded his head and Camila couldn’t help the giggle that escaped her lips.

 “ Is that a yes?” He laughed.

 Camila kissed his lips without saying a word and she knew that was enough of an answer for him.