Beautiful Sky (18 page)

He pulled me into his arms and we lay there for a few minutes until our breathing was normal again.  I felt so happy and safe with him and I wished I could have bottled that moment to keep it forever.

He looked down at me as he casually stroked my hair.  “I meant what I said earlier Sky.  I love you.”

His eyes were earnest as they searched mine and he made my belly flutter.  My fairytale was coming true.

I gently held his face in my hands as my eyes searched his,  “I love you too, Jonathan,” and I pulled him toward me for a soft peck.

We lay there silently for a couple of minutes, our fingers linked together, and then he asked me a question I did not see coming.

“I’ve been meaning to ask you something Sky.  What are your plans for Thanksgiving?”

I looked at him and raised an eyebrow, thoroughly confused about that.  He knew that I was going home.

“I’m going home, remember?  We talked about it after my parents left a few weeks ago.  I told you that I couldn’t wait to see them again at Thanksgiving.”

He hesitated and he looked really nervous.

What is going on?

“I want to invite you home with me for Thanksgiving.  I already asked my parents and they would love to see you again.”

Was he serious?  Go
home
with him?  I wanted to jump up and down and scream, I was so excited!  Of course I wanted to go!  But then I remembered my parents and they would be really sad if I didn’t come home.  Maybe if I reminded them that I would see them a few short weeks after for Christmas break, they wouldn’t mind so much.

I could not hide my happiness as a huge grin was stuck on my face.  “Really?”

“Yes.  I know you have to ask your parents, but I really want to spend Thanksgiving with you and I would love for you to meet the rest of my family.”

My stomach instantly dropped into my toes at the thought of meeting the rest of his family.  I was going to stick out like a sore thumb and I don’t know that I had it in me to be scrutinized by so many wealthy people.

“You know, I would love to go but I really think I should go home.”  I couldn’t even look at him as the words came out.

He must have sensed my hesitation because he placed his finger under my chin and I lifted my eyes to his.

“Hey, what’s going on in that gorgeous head of yours?”

I didn’t know if I should tell him what I was really worried about. 
We are so different out in the real world, but here in our bubble we are perfect, and I really like our bubble.
  I didn’t know how to tell him I was afraid that going home with him and meeting the rest of his family would make him realize that I didn’t fit into that world.  I wanted to hold on to what we had for as long as I could and I thought if I went home with him, it would all end.

“I think my parents will want me home with them Jonathan.”

“I know, but I think they might understand if you remind them that you’ll see them just a few weeks later over Christmas break.  I really want you to meet the rest of my family Sky.  I have never brought a girl home, ever, and I want them to meet you because you mean so much to me.”

I lay there mulling over what he just said to me and I could feel myself leaning toward giving in.  I did love him and it would be nice to meet the rest of his family, especially since his mom and dad were so different from what I had expected.  Maybe I was getting nervous over nothing.

“Do me a favor?  Will you at least ask your parents tomorrow?”

“Okay, I can do that.”

He smiled at me and kissed me.  “Thank you.”

As we drifted off a few minutes later, all I could think about was going home with Jonathan.

The room was extra bright the next morning and I woke up feeling more rested that I had in months.  Jonathan was still asleep and I was cradled in the nook of his arm, right where I wanted to be.  My mind wandered to last night as I stared up at the ceiling.  Being with Jonathan for the first time was better than I ever could have dreamt. 
He loves me.
  I couldn’t help but smile to myself as his words repeated over and over in my mind.  I was on cloud nine and then I remembered that he invited me home for Thanksgiving and I instantly had a pit in my stomach. 
Should I go?
  I was going to call my parents that afternoon and feel them out about it.  He began to stir next to me and his arm tightened around me, pulling me closer to him.

“Good morning beautiful.”  His hair was tousled all over his head and he had this sexy smile on his face.  I instantly smiled back at him and combed my fingers through his thick waves.  It should have been a crime for a person to look so gorgeous in the morning.

“Good morning.”

“How did you sleep?”  Sleep was still coating his voice.

“Like a baby.  You?”

“Ditto.  I’m starving, do you want to go grab breakfast?”

“Yeah, I just need to hop in the shower, but I can be ready in 20 minutes.”

“My kinda girl.”

“You better believe it.”  I winked at him as I hopped out of bed and put on my dress.

“I’ll come upstairs to get you.”

“Okay, see you soon.”  I rushed upstairs and got ready in record time.  I had just finished throwing my hair in a ponytail when he knocked on the door.  Katie was still sleeping so I quickly opened the door and quietly closed it behind me as I left.

We went to a diner off campus that Jonathan liked and had a leisurely breakfast.  When we were done we strolled back to campus in the crisp fall air, hand in hand. 

“What’s on your schedule for the day Sky?”

“I have two papers to work on and a ton of reading to do.  What about you?”

“I have a paper to finish that’s due Tuesday, a few chapters to dig through and we have band practice this evening.  I can meet you at the library later if you want.”

“Of course I want!  Seriously though, I’ll be there all day so just come find me in our usual spot.”

“Okay.  You’re calling your parents, right?”

“Yep, I’ll let you know what they say when I see you.”

We were back at the dorm and Jonathan gave me a wink and a quick kiss before we parted ways.

“See you later.”

Thankfully Katie was not in the room when I got there, I didn’t feel like sharing about Jonathan just yet.  I wanted to keep our special night to myself for just a little while.

I grabbed my books and headed off to the library.

I set up camp where Jonathan and I normally studied and then I went into the hall to call my parents.  My mom answered and it was good to hear her voice.

“Hi honey!  How is everything going?”

“Everything’s good, mom.”

“Classes going okay?”

“Yep, I have a ton of work to do, but nothing I can’t handle.”

“Good.  We can’t wait to see you in a couple of weeks.”

“That’s kind of why I’m calling.  Um, Jonathan invited me to go home with him for Thanksgiving.”

She was silent for a minute and then she finally spoke.

“He did?  Are his parents okay with that?”

“Yes, he asked them.”

“So things must be good with you two.”

“They are, mom.  He told me he loved me.”  I told her because I always shared big moments with my mom, and I wanted her to know that this wasn’t just a casual thing.

“Oh sweetie, I’m so happy for you!  Jonathan is such a nice young man.  Well, I’ll check with Jay, but I’m okay with it, especially since we’ll see you at Christmas.  But no spending Christmas with Jonathan, Skylar.”

“I won’t mom, I promise, I’ll be home with you guys.  Thank you, thank you, thank you!’

“Well don’t thank me yet, I’ll check with Jay and call you later.”

“Okay, mom.  I’ll talk to you later.”

“Okay, bye honey.”

I knew that she would be able to convince Jay to let me go, so I was already planning in my head which clothes I would bring as I walked back to my table.  Just as I rounded the corner, I saw Barbi, tits first, coming toward me.  She was wearing a super low cut black sweater, skin tight skinny jeans and tall black boots.  The outfit would have been cute if the sweater wasn’t so low cut, and if someone else was wearing it. 
Is she glaring at me?  What a ho-bag.

I slapped on a fake smile and tolerated a conversation with her.  She was a part of Jonathan’s family and he felt bad for her so I had to try to be nice, for him.

“Hey Barbara.” 
I had to stick that in.

“It’s
Barbi
and you know it Skylar.”  She ground out the words and I may have even seen steam coming from her ears.

“Oh, my bad.  So, studying hard?”

She snorted at me and turned up her nose as she tossed those cheap looking extensions over her shoulder.  “It all comes pretty easily to me, so I don’t really have to study hard.  I’m just here looking for Jonathan.”

I could feel the smirk coming before it was too late to stop it. 
He won’t be here for hours.
  “Good luck with that.” 

I walked away from her leaving her looking confused and I didn’t care.  I had just given up three minutes of my life that I would never get back and I had more important things to do.  I shook off bimbo Barbi, shut off my phone and immersed myself in the books.

My mom left a message a few hours later saying that Jay had also given the green light for Thanksgiving.  I sat there for a minute and let it sink in:  I was going to Jonathan Hunter’s house for Thanksgiving. 
This cannot really be my life right now.

I told Katie at dinner that I would fill her in on the Jonathan stuff later, and after dinner I went back to the library.  I spent a ton of time in the library so Katie knew that when I was deep in study mode she would have to wait to chat with me.  I had to maintain a high GPA to keep my scholarship so I wasn’t going to let anything jeopardize that.

Jonathan found me right on time and he set up camp across the table from me, in his normal spot.

He winked and smiled at me.  “It’s good to see you, beautiful.”  The whisper was soft so that he wouldn’t disturb others around us.

Have I mentioned that I still got butterflies around him?  Yeah, they were going crazy. 

“It’s good to see you too.  Hey, I talked to my mom and my parents said I can go home with you for Thanksgiving.”

A huge grin spread across his face.  “Really?”  He practically shouted the word and disapproving shhhh’s came from every corner of the room.  He widened his eyes and mouthed, ‘oops’, and brought his voice down to a whisper.  “That is so awesome, I can’t wait for you to meet everyone else; we’re going to have so much fun Sky.  You just made my night!”

We chatted for a couple minutes longer and then we turned to the books.  We packed up around midnight and Jonathan casually linked his fingers through mine as we waited for the elevator.  When we stepped off of the elevator, the bane of my existence was staring right at us. 
Why can’t I get away from this girl?

She looked from me to Jonathan and back to me and then narrowed her eyes as she looked down at our hands linked together.

Take it all in, Barbi, he’s with me
. 

She tried to hide it, but I could tell she was pissed.

“Hey guys, um Jonathan, I’ve been calling you and looking for you all day.”

“Sorry Barbs, I was swamped today.  What’s up?”

“My mom called and said our Thanksgiving trip to London is canceled because Ethan has to work, so we’re doing Thanksgiving at your place.”

What?!  I have to spend Thanksgiving with her?
  My mind went blank for a few seconds but I made myself focus on what she was yapping about.

“She wanted me to check with you to see if I could just fly back home with you.  If not, I have to book a flight.”  She threw a pathetic pout in there at the end and it seemed to work on Jonathan.

“Of course, Barbs, no problem!” 

Ugh, he was too nice to this girl and he was totally blind to what she was trying to do.  But I saw it, and I wasn’t going to let her think she had everyone fooled.

“Oh, well this will be fun!”  I plastered an enormous fake grin on my face.