A/N
Just thought I'd write a quick lil THANK YOU to all those who have taken the time to read this... IT MEANS A LOT!!
A special thanks goes to ellarose12 for my amazing cover.. you should check out her work, She is AWESOME!!
If there are any questions/suggestions feel free to comment or pm me.
Thanks again...
B xoxo
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Sunday morning came and went without incident. After a strained lunch with my parents, Connor and I spend the rest of the afternoon visiting the local home furnishing stores.
"I love this one. Oh hold on, what about this one?? Connor? What do you think??" I excitingly squeal while picking up two slightly different cushions.
"Um, oh. I, ah. Whichever one you think will go with the new rug you bought." Connor answers with a shrug, barely glancing up from his phone to look at the cushions in my out stretched hands.
This was the fourth store we had wandered around and Connors enthusiasm had quickly dwindled after the second shop to the occasional yes or maybe, or my favourite, up to you.
So far we had purchased a shaggy teal rug, a set of matching lamps and a large canvas print of a city landscape to go above the tv in the lounge. Currently picking out cushions for the sofa, I had completely lost Connors input. He was slowly walking towards me with his head lost undoubtedly in some lame game on his phone.
"I'll just get this one then." I say, dropping my chosen beige and teal striped ones and opting for a pair of shocking pink and lime polka dot ones instead.
"Hey Con's, can you carry these for me? I want to have a quick look at the throwovers." I half expect a huff and a grunt, but not a sound leaves Connor's silent but delectable mouth.
Turning around, I discover why. Connor has stopped in his tracks and is now fully engrossed in whatever the hell he has on his phone.
Letting my temper slip ever so slightly (heavy sarcasm), I launch one of cushions as hard as I can at his head followed quickly by the second one. The first one hits the side of his head catching him completely unaware. While he barely has a chance to lift his face to see what happened, I speedily release the second one catching him right in the mouth. Raising his hand up too late try and block my attack his phone is finally forgotten and drops to the floor with a thud.
"What the hell, Kal's?? What did you do that for??" Connor complains whilst bending down to retrieve his phone.
"Well it would be great if you could, you know, make some decisions with me on this stuff. It is your flat after all." I state with a heavy tone of disdain.
Looking around the store for any signs of security moving towards us, Connor straightens back up and runs his hands through his messy locks and rubs his jawline.
"Oh come on Kali. They're cushions for goodness sake. Does it really... What? Pink? I thought you wanted the blue ones??" Connor questions as he picks up the offending lime and pink cushions from my attack.
"It's teal, not blue and like you care! You're more wrapped up in whatever is on that god damn phone than what I do to your flat!!" My anger is building now and the harshness my voice hides nothing.
Picking up on my anger, Connor pockets his phone and closes the distance between us in two long strides. "Honey, its our flat now, and you can get anything you like." Connor wraps his arms around my waist while bending slightly to look directly into my eyes.
"See, that's exactly what I mean, you dont give a damn. I've had enough anyway, let's just go." I say in a huff, pushing myself out of his embrace, and marching my way to the exit.
Outside, the sun has made its way to the horizon, but the clear blue sky holds on to the last remaining streaks of peach and orange before unwillingly giving way to the night.
I make my way across the car park towards the car and await the click of the central locks, indicating that Connor has unlocked the car. But nothing happens. Irritated beyond belief, I spin around only to find myself alone. The carpark is deserted with the exception of a few remaining cars and abandoned trolleys.
I debate whether to wait or walk back in and demand the keys myself. Where the hell is he? I find my mind racing with thoughts of him chatting up the young perky blonde sales assistant inside, which only goes to push my anger up even higher.
Deciding on the former, I spot an empty bench by the bus stop on the opposite side of the car and make my way over to there. Sitting and resting my back against the cool metal, I close my eyes, tilt my head back and take a few deep calming breaths. The unusual warmth of the day is slowly fading as I pull my dusky pink denim jacket closer to my body. Thankful that I dressed for the late autumn weather with my black skinny jeans, white hooded sweater and my vans.
I can't remember the last time I lost my cool around Connor. My temper had always been volitile when I was younger, but my parents had taught me to somehow control it. Breathing in deeply and blowing away my frustration with each exhalation seemed to be the way that worked best for me. Repeating this cycle a few times, I already feel my anger eebbing away.
The chill of the early evening aides in cooling my once boiling blood, as I continue to focus on my breathing. In, out. In, out. Visualising myself lounging on an air bed in a pool. Tropical sunshine happily absorbing into my pores. A warm tropical breeze caress my exposed limbs, carrying a soothing melody of the gentle lapping of the water while sweet bird song whispers delicately in my ears.
After a few minutes in my sacred paradise, a shadow falls over my closed eyelids. Forcing myself to return from Isle Kali, I open my eyes slowly, Connor peers down at me with an uncertain emotion swirling around in his molten chocolate eyes.
"Mmm, I can't decide if I should be mad with you or not?!"
Standing up awkwardly from the cold bench, I can't find the willpower to look at his surely annoyed face. "Connor, don't ok? Im sorry for blowing up at you.."
I don't get to finish, my lips are seized in a searing kiss that has my knees threatening to give way. Connor's hand tangles in my loose brown locks, holding my head and lips securely to his. His tongue traces the outline of my bottom lip begging for entrance. Feeling my lingering anger dissipate, I oblige and deepen the kiss, wrapping my arms around his neck. All previous thoughts of perky sales assistants and mobile phones float away on the breeze.
After what feels like eternity, Connor pulls back minutely, draws in a huge breath and rests our foreheads together. "Shit Kali."
I let my arms fall to my sides and drop my eyes to the ground, while Connor continues to drag his fingers through my hair. "I was in the middle of apologising, look I know.." I attempt to finish my sentence but am cut off again as Connor's hands move from my hair to my cheeks, angling my face so I have no choice but to look at him.
"That has to be the hottest damn thing... EVER!!" Connor exclaims.
I look up into his eyes, and there's no doubt, his eyes are alight with burning desire.
"I don't think you have ever spoken to me with such, such, anger! Im not sure how I didn't throw you down right there and well, you can guess the rest!" Connor explains with lust dripping from each word.
"Oh. Really?" My self confidence rising. "Well, perhaps we should finish this discussion back at your place?!"
"OUR place Kali. Our place! And definitely!" Connor takes my hand and we swiftly walk back towards the car.
The drive home feels like forever, pulling his car into his allocated space, we hurridly exit the car and practically jog up to the flat.
"I'm gonna freshen up." I explain as I head to the bathroom as Connor heads to the fridge-typical, I think to myself.
Staring at my reflection, I run my hands through my hair, in an attempt to straighten out the tangles Connor added in the carpark. Washing my hands and face, I leave the bathroom and find Connor sitting on the sofa, bottle of wine on the small table and a twinkle in his eye. How did I manage to snag such a adorably sexy guy? The guy can make my heart rate rise just by looking at me.. jeez!
Walking towards him, never breaking eye contact, I feel my cheeks heat up, no doubt I am now a walking tomato. Connor lets out a little chuckle and my blush intensifies. Sitting down next to him, he breaks our eye contact to reach over and places a sweet kiss on my hot cheeks. He moves his arms around me and tugs at something behind me.
"Con, what are you.. ? What the..? Oh!" I gasp in agitation, then in wonder and finally in awe. "How did you? Oh hell Connor." I give up trying to form a coherent sentence and opt for actions. I throw my body against Connor and push him back down into the sofa, laying my body flush against his, hoping to convy my remorse, appreciation and love. Remorse, for thinking the worst when I should have had faith in him. Appreciation for doing what was not expected of him, then love. Love, for being the sweetest most generous of people and one of the most forgiving souls I know.
"Thank you. Thank you. For. Putting up. With me. And thanks. For buying. The cushions." I say whilst placing butterfly kisses over Connor's face and neck.
"You're welcome, babe. I was paying attention, sort of!!" Connor adds smirking. I sit up straddling his hips and grab for one of his old cushions and begin whacking his head with said cushion. My thanks and appreciation carry on as Connor lifts me up and carries me as we head towards the bedroom for a proper THANK YOU.
Later on in the evening and before settling down for the night with a film and popcorn, we spend the remainder of the day rearranging our new furnishings. Adding a much needed feminine touch to Connor's very minimalistic bachelor pad.
♡♥♡♥
Monday comes around too quickly for both our liking. On the plus side, living with Connor means that we are now just a short distance walk from the main university buildings. We take our time strolling hand in hand down to the campus. The sun is shining high in the cloudless sky, birds sing happily from their homes high up in the surrounding forest.
Settling in to what will be the same routine we will follow for the remainder of our time in university, we discover that all the tutors seem to have passed the welcoming speeches. We are bombarded with objectives to be met, essays to be completed, along with additional reading lists to be completed in our own time... great! There were no jokes or the usual smart ass comments from the slackers of the class. Everyone appears to be as stunned as myself.
By lunchtime, my concentration has been drained completely. We sit around the lunch benches in a trance like state. The lunch hall is a huge empty space with large arched windows helping to fill the room with as much natural light as possible. Outside, the sun sits low in the sky sending rays of beauty onto the drab wooden flooring. Long tables and benches run in parallel lines cutting the room into rows. Situated at one end is a small coffee stall, serving sugary treats and the most amazing coffee on this campus. Next to that, is a sandwich shop and opposite to that is the hot food counter.. buffet style.
"Oh my god," Emmy sighs, "this year is gonna be a nightmare. They weren't kidding when they warned us last week."
"I know what you mean." I start, "This is gonna be full on!"
Connor is sat by the side of me, unusually quiet and still.
"Hey Connor? You okay?" I ask concerned.
"Um yea babe, I'm okay. It's just. Jeez. I was hoping all that scaremongering last week was all talk. I don't think I'm gonna be able to keep up with all of this." Connor mumbles.
" We will be fine Con. All of us. We'll help each other okay?" I start trying to ease some of his and my anxiety. The coner of his lip pulls ever so slightly upwards. Emmy looks over to me and I nod my head."We will be fine!! Have a lil faith. We've managed to get here so, one last hurdle to jump over, and we are home free." Not sure whether I believe my own words but, the smile on Emmy and Connor's face says that at least they do. Silently, we finish our lunch and lazily make our way back across the square to our lecture hall.