Love and Skate (18 page)

             
I got closer to her and pulled her arms around my waist and played with her new striking purple hair. 

             
“Begging sounds fun.” I let my hands travel a slow path down her back and made them stop at the curve that marked the beginning of other places. 

             
“
Who’s going to beg, me or you?” She looked up at me playing along.

             
“We’ll take turns.
” 

             
I reached down,
lifted her up,
pinned her against the wall and like a well-oiled machine she wrapped her killer legs around me.  Before we even got started, we both turned our head
s towards the front door, we heard
Amber co
ming in.  I quickly carried her
the few steps into her bedroom and shut the door behind us and re
-
pinned
her to another wall.  Our mouths met in a fury and when I heard her whimper in pleasure and tighten her legs around me I pulled back suddenly.

             
“Beg me.” I mouthed to her as she tried to pull me back down to her.
             

             
“
Please Owen,
”
she breathed more than said and it was exactly what I needed to hear.

             
We continued until we got to that ever present stopping point and I reluctantly tried to set her down but she claimed that her legs weren’t working.  I laughed and put her on the bed instead and went to take a shower, ice cold please.

             
Hearing the shower turn on was a relief in a way.  It gave me a few minutes to compose myself.  Merciful heaven if he didn’t stop being so damned sexy I was going to combust. 
             
And he had
as much trouble leaving me as I was letting him go.  I swear it got more and more difficult every sin
gle day.  He didn’t know it but while Sylvia and I looked at her
paintings in the bedroom whi
ch was just above the porch,
the window was open
and we could hear everything
.  Sylvia and I smiled like two teenagers at the conversation that took place below us. 

             
When he said he wanted to marry me I started to cry and Sylvia was there in an instant with tissues.

             
“You had to have known Nellie.  That boy of mine loves with every fiber of his being.”

             
“
I knew about it on my end, but I didn’t know about him.” I looked back out of the window where I heard those words from.

             
“I’ve known since he brought you into the restaurant.  I know that you know about Amy but what you don’t know is that he never brought her around here—never.  We met her once or twice when we saw them somewhere together but never on purpose.  He was ashamed of her.  She just wasn’t a good apple.  But the first time he had an opportunity he wanted me to meet you.  That’s the difference.”  A single tear ran down her face and it was my turn to hand her the tissues. 

             
“Quit dreaming about me in the shower and get your pajamas on woman.” His smartass remarks brought me out of today’s events with Sylvia and back to the present. 

             
I sat up and just looked at him for a moment.  Keeping this from him was eating at me and I had to let him know, even if he got mad. 

             
“What?”  He said and he sat next to me on the bed.

             
“I need to tell you something that happened today and I don’t want you to get mad.”

             
“As long as you didn’t kiss Falcon, I think we’re good.”

             
“So your Mom and I went up to see her paintings which are phenomenal and the window was open…”  He already knew where I was going with this.  I could tell by the white hue his face was taking on.

             
“You heard it all.” He said but he looked like he didn’t care.

             
“Yeah, I’m sorry.  We didn’t mean to.” I said.

             
“Are you sorry you heard it or are you sorry because of what was said?”
He sounded
the slightest bit
agitated now.

             
“I wish I hadn’t heard it that way.  I wish you would’ve told me to my face.  That’s what I want.
  But I’m not sorry I heard it.”  I got up and got my clothes and went to change.

             
I changed and brushed my teeth.  Until I said it out loud, I hadn’t realized just how upset I was about it.  I understand that he wanted to tell his dad but how could he ever think I wouldn’t want him. 
All of this deserving me stuff was a crock of crap.

             
I walked out and he was still sitting in the same place.

             
“Look, I’m sorry.  But how could you ever think that you don’t deserve me?
  You’re the best thing that has ever happened to me and you think that I don’t want to marry you as much as you want to marry me?  That aggravates the piss out of me.”

             
“All I heard is
that you want to marry me.” He was smiling like a goon.

             
“Oh no, you’re gonna have to do better than that.”  I crossed my arms.

             
He pulled me onto the bed and into his lap and brushed his knuckles down the side of my neck and across my shoulder.

             
“
Nellie
, I love you more than I’ve ever loved anything.  How could I ever have a life without you in it?  No matter what happens in the future, it won’t be worth a thing without you.  So, will you marry me?”

             
M
y face was on fire and tears trickled
down my face of their own free will. 

             
“I’ve got purple hair and piercings in my lips and I don’t act like a lady and
I beat up on girls in roller derby and…” I babbled of
f all of the reasons that I was insecure
just like he thought he didn’t deserve me.

             
“Hey, hey, all of those things make me love you even more.  You don’t give a damn what people think and it makes you that much better.”  I got a hold of myself and took a deep breath.

             
“Yes.” I said so quietly I didn’t think I said it out loud.

             
“Say it again. Just so I’m sure.”  He tugged at my waist.

             
“Owen Matthew Black I will marry you and be the most kick ass wife ever.”

             
“
Yes you will.  Now, I want to end this Thanksgiving laying next to my future wife, come on.”

             
We got under the covers and he took his shirt off.  I don’t think I would ever tire of the way his mere presence caused my body to react.  It was pure electricity. 

             
I laid on my right side and Owen put one arm under my head and one hand on my hip pulling me to fit next to him. 
He
moved his left arm and put it around my middle grazing the underside of my chest.  I stiffened a little and he
started to take it away.

             
I quickly
moved it back.

             
He kissed the back of my neck and within minutes his breathing slowed and deepened.

             
I rolled over half awake and heard and felt a crunching under me.  I turned to find a note that read:

Went to grab breakfast and coffee.

Love you.

Owen.

             
I got up an
d showered, got dressed and gathered laundry together to wash later.  I heard the door open and close and I put the basket on the bed.  I walked out into the kitchen and saw him unloading armfuls of white bags and travel cups of coffee. 

             
“Oh man those bagels smell great.” I said and he smiled at me and walked my way.

             
“You smell great too.  Come sit down and eat.”

             
We enjoyed the rest of the Thanksgiving break in the same way.  We only had three more weeks of the semester and then we had decided to spend Christmas with my parents.  Owen wanted another chan
ce at winning my mom over but I knew my parents
weren’t ones who were won over even if he or I was perfect.  Even perfection was criticized in that house.

             
I didn’t work the week of finals
,
Cindi
wouldn’t let me.  Owen and I studied separately knowing that if we were together absolutely no studying would get done.  I also took the opportunity to buy his Christmas present
and one for each member of his family
.  We texted and talked on the phone at night but other than that didn’t get to spend too much time together.  After finals were over we spent a few days
with his family at their home.  We put up the Christmas tree and exchanged presents early.  Sylvia made the most divine early Christmas dinner and she showed me how to make her lemon cheesecake.  Owen and I also announced to them that we were engaged which went over well with everyone but Falcon and Maddox.  They said it wasn’t real because Owen hadn’t bought me a ring yet.  Falcon even broke out into the ‘Single Ladies’ song to drive home his point. 

             
I didn’t want to leave their home after it was all over.  They gave me a family that I’d never had and treated me like I belonged there instead of a person who was just in the way.  Every time I thought about going to my parents
’
house my stomach somersaulted and almost revolted against me. 

             
It was a two hour drive to the Forrester mansion and I tried to enjoy
Owen’s
hand tangled with mine but my stomach wa
sn’t cooperating.  I must’ve dru
nk an entire bottle of the pink stuff trying to calm its nerves. 

             
“I’ve got an idea.” Owen said as he smiled over at me.

             
“What? Anything will help.”  I shrugged my shoulders.

             
“Let’s pull over and make out.”  He said and acted like he was turning off onto the exit.

             
“I’m right on the edge of vomiting so that might not be a good idea.”

             
“Look, your mom already hates me so let’s make sure Dad does and then Merry Christmas!”  He smiled a really wide creepy smile.

             
“You forgot the berating and constant tattoo and piercing comments.” I joked.

             
“Oh, my favorite.
Plus with you drinking all of that stuff—pink puke would really bring out your eyes.” He squirmed up his mouth trying not to smile
.

             
“Wow,” I said flatly.

             
A while later we pulled up to the gate and he looked at me weird.

             
“What?” I asked as I leaned over to key in the numbers that would let us in.

             
“Your parents live in a plantation, a huge plantation.” He said incredulously.

             
“So? I’d rather be with you in my tiny apartment anytime than to be here.”

             
“Good answer.” He said and smiled genuinely.

             
When we parked there were some other cars that I didn’t recognize but it wasn’t out of the ordinary for Mom to invite people over for Christmas dinner.  After all, eating with me and my boyfriend was going to give them a migraine or an aneurism. 

             
I opened the front door to the mansion and let the cold and empty foyer echo ‘Mom’ until she heard me.

             
She rounded the corner with my dad who was stiff as a board
and walked as if he was taking
the plank to his
sharky
death. 

             
“Nellie Michelle, you’re late.  You know that dinner is served at promptly noon and no later.  Yet here we are at twelve,” she looked at her watch, “thirteen and you are just getting here.”