Two months went by fast, and before Shana and I knew it, the boys were back from their tour. I laid in bed this Saturday morning, my eyes suffocated with deep lines of tears. I don't know what's wrong with me. I woke up with emptiness, and it wasn't coming from my stomach.
I hear the phone singing from the living room, and then Shana's heavy-footed self runs towards it. A few seconds later, my bedroom door squeaks open, and I shut my eyes. I sit still as some tears escape from my lower eyelids.
"Drea," I hear Shana say. I squeeze my eyes tighter. "Layne's on the phone."
Admitting to my role, I stir and slightly turn. I hear my door close after a minute of nothing. Finally. As I wipe my closed eyes, I hear movement in front of me. Snapping my eyes open, I see Shana standing beside my bed, staring me down.
"I knew your ass wasn't sleeping," she says. But then notices wetness on my cheeks, "Were you crying?"
"I just yawned," I lie. "What did Layne want?"
"Why don't you get your ass up and find out."
"He's still on the phone?"
"Yup, and it's rude to keep a hard-working man like him waiting," she says as she yanks my blanket off me. Bitch. Shana skips out of my room, leaving my door wide open.
I lay in the bed for another moment, trying to locate the energy to get up. Layne is waiting for me. I imagine him on the couch; a cordless phone pressed to his ear. Patient. So patient.
"Okay," I say to myself before getting up from bed.
Shana is nowhere in sight when I enter the living room. But our cordless phone lays lonely on the coffee table.
I cleared my throat before bringing the phone to my ear, "Layne?"
"Andrea."
"Hey." I quickly found myself smiling at his sweet voice.
"Hey, how are you doing?" Layne asks me. His question felt like the equivalent of "are you okay?" I couldn't handle the weight of it but tried to hide it from him.
I sucked everything in and stared at the ceiling, "Good...good. Wha-what about you?"
"I'm doing good. It feels so fucking good to be back home," he sighs.
"I'm happy you're back too."
"You are?"
I nodded but then realized he couldn't see me. "Yeah. I missed you," I smile, remembering how we left off.
"I missed you too...I'm sorry I didn't call you right when we got back. I've been exhausted."
"It's alright. You had a busy three months."
"True...anyways, I was hoping to cash in my second date coupon...if it's not expired yet," he adds.
"It's not," I chuckle.
"You sure?"
"It expires tonight. Spit it out."
"I'll pick you up in an hour."
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Dressed for my date, I sat anxiously on the living room couch and waited for Layne;
"You look nervous," Shana observes as she stands in front of me, applying purple lipstick to her lips.
"I hate waiting," I admit, my fingers fidgeting like crazy in my lap.
Shana laughs at my nervousness but comes up with a solution, "I think Layne is over at Mike's. Why don't you just come with me?"
I mentally groan. I didn't feel like going to Mike's, but I also didn't want to wait any longer for Layne.....
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Shana and I hear talking as we enter Mike's apartment. His apartment was, of course, unlocked; is that like a thing here or something?
Mike's back is faced towards us as we enter the kitchen. Layne is leaning against the fridge in front of him, drinking a beer. I can't help but smile once I see him...but it quickly fades.
"That fucking stripper was all up on you, man. I thought you were going to take her backstage for a second," Mike laughs out, obvious to Shana and me standing behind him.
Layne sends Mike a glare, clearing his throat. Confused, Mike turns and immediately makes an oopsy face once he sees us.
Layne quickly squeezes past Mike and walks over to me. "Hey, I thought I was going to pick you up."
"I didn't feel like waiting." I mentally cringed at the tone I was giving him. But I couldn't help it. I was jealous.
"Listen, about what Mike said-"
First of all, fuck Mike...is what I really wanted to say.
"It's okay. It's not like we're dating or anything," I shrug. I could tell Layne didn't like what I said. I focus on Shana, who's pointing a freshly painted fingernail in Mike's face.
Layne nods, looking at his boots. "You ready to go?" he asks the floor. Ugh, I don't like how this is starting.
"Yup," I say, turning on my heel. Layne and I say goodbye to Mike and Shana before heading out the front door.
Outside, I follow him in silence. Fuck fuck fuck. This is awkward.
"This is me," Layne softly says as we approach a blue Trans Am. hmm, nice. As Layne opens the door for me, I see a small box sitting on the passenger seat.
"What's this?" I ask him, hesitating to get in.
"Oh...it's for you," he says as he bends to grab the box. I lift a brow at him as he hands it to me. It has a slight weight to it. "I got you this for your birthday."
"You didn't have to," I tell him, shaking my head.
"I know, but I wanted to," Layne smiles. "Open it. I think you will like it."
I continue to stare at him for a few more seconds before opening the small box. A silver frog bracelet shines in front of me;
"Frogs," I whisper, loud enough for Layne to hear. I stare at the simple yet beautiful bracelet.
"During the tour, it seemed like frogs were everywhere I went." I place the bracelet on my wrist and admire it as it glistens in the sun."They also represent a lot of things...like abundance, wealth, rebirth, good luck."
"It's beautiful...thank you." Layne looks golden for a moment as the sun shines behind him.
"You're welcome."
"It matches my outfit, too," I acknowledge, squinting my eyes up at him.
"I know right, what a coincidence."
I want to give him something more than a thank you. I kiss him softly on the cheek, wrapping my arms around his neck. Layne's hands find their way to my hips, pulling me closer to him.
"How much was it?" I whisper in his ear, feeling guilty that he probably spent a lot of money on me.
"Shut up," Layne laughs as he kisses me on my ear.
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"Stop cheating," I playfully hiss at Layne.
"Stop sucking!"
"This isn't fair," I whine after missing another hole. "I haven't golfed since I was a kid."
Layne playfully rolls his eyes. He leans an arm against the fence, watching me. Tired of the bullshit of this game, I drag the club along the ground, pulling the ball with it and pushing it right into the hole.
"No, no, no," Layne laughs as he shakes his head, walking over to me.
"What?" I innocently smile at him.
"You know what," he says, bending down to pick up my golf ball from the hole.
"What are you doing?' I ask, watching Layne as he drops the ball in front of my club and moves behind me.
"I'm going to teach you how to play it the right way," he tells me in his gentle natural voice. However, his words played seductively in my ear. He stands behind me and begins to teach me how to stroke. "Slow and steady, just like making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich." I giggle at his goofy comparison that didn't make any sense.
His hands laid on top of mine as I held the club, practicing my swinging. Though, I had no intention of hitting the golf ball. I just wanted to feel him behind me...the heat from his body felt the same as it did the night of Chris's concert.
Layne drops his head to the crook of my neck. I squirm as his chin tickles me.
"Your skin feels good," Layne says before inhaling the shea butter drifting from my body. "And smells good too. What is that?"
"Shea butter," I tell him, smiling.
"Mmh," he sniffs again. Giggling against his touch, I lean back and look at him. I catch Layne in a slow blink, his blue eyes sparkling something inside me.
With his eyes locked on mine, he leans down and glides his lips to mine smoothly. Layne tastes sweet as his bottom lips capture between mine. It felt like I was sucking on a star. Our kiss is deep and more passionate than the last. I sway my body to stand directly in front of him, lips never breaking. Our lips never broke. Standing on my toes, I encircle my arms around his neck.
My shirt lifts, exposing my belly. Layne presses a palm to my belly button, his sweat sticking to my skin. Something mixes and stirs in my core again...I think it's because of him...until I hear my stomach growl.
"You're hungry," Layne says, pulling his lips away from me.
"I didn't eat yet."
Layne sucks his lips in, making a thin line. "What am I going to do with you?" he says, shaking his head.
"Feed me?" I said, suddenly craving a juicy cheeseburger.
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"Mini-golfing was cute." I smiled at Layne as he walked me to the apartment building.
"We're cute," he says, sticking his tongue at me. "I'm happy we did this. Today kinda started off shitty."
I give him a slow nod, remembering my morning, "So we both lied?"
Layne smirks at me, almost surprised at my admission. "You did sound a little off this morning, but I thought it wasn't my place."
I would have lied anyway.
"It was just one of those days, I guess," I shrug as we stop in front of the building.
"Yeah," he says, looking up to the stars. Though I want to continue our date through the night, I have to get up early for work. Ugh, adulting. "I'm thinking about bringing you to one of my favorite parks next time."
"So there's a next time?"
"Of course, there is...unless you don't want it to be."
"I want next time...it'll be our third date!"
"I know. We're moving a little fast, aren't we?" Layne steps closer to me, his fingers gripping my waist.
His ocean blue eyes lock me in again. Those eyes make you want to apologize for every wrong you ever did.
"I was a little mad at you earlier."
"I know," he says, landing a kiss on my forehead.
"So there were really strippers?"
"Just on stage...it was just a stupid prank," he says before leaning forward, about to kiss me. I lean backward, not satisfied with his answer. "Nothing happened between me and any stripper, okay?" Though he sounded amused, his words were genuine.
I nod, rubbing the stupid jealousy off me. "Okay."
"You're so cute when you're jealous."
"I don't mean to be."
"I know," Layne smiles before closing the small distance between us and placing a soft kiss on my lips.
"You taste like red popsicles," I moan against his lips.
"What?" he laughs.
"Shit, that was supposed to be in my head!" Layne releases a loud boyish giggle that I can never get enough off. I want it to stay in my ears. "Will you let me know when you get home?" I ask him.
"I will," he promised as he holds the door open for me but not without giving me a wet kiss that echos.
I waited and waited and waited. He never called.