Falling Stars (32 page)

"Are
you feeling well?"

"I'm
fine."

"Uh
huh," he said quietly. Then he didn't say anything else. We just sat in
silence for what felt like an hour. "I want to propose something."

Lifting
my head, I looked warily at him.  There was something in his eyes making me
cautious.

"What?"
I raised one eyebrow.

"I
want to try to talk about that night," his raised a finger stopped my
argument before I spoke one syllable. "I want to bring Mia here with you."

"Are
you fucking crazy?!"

"Christopher,
you trust her, she comforts you. It seems to be the only thing that helps you
deal. If she's here then maybe you can relax enough to talk about it."

"Fuck
no!" Standing from the chair, I was ready to leave.

"Sit
down!" The tone of his voice stopped me. I'd never heard him angry.

"Christopher,
at first, we'll try with her in the same hotel room, if that doesn't work we
can bring her into the same room. This way, if you feel too vulnerable or feel
out of control, she can help."

"There's
no way I'm using her like that. It's bad enough she already puts up with –"

"She
cares about you." His words not only cut off my argument, but also made
something else stir inside of me. My body collapsed back into the chair.

"What?"
My voice was breathier than I would've imagined it could be.

"If
she didn't care, Christopher, she wouldn't do what she's doing. You don't see
that?" His questioning look made me uncomfortable.

I
opened my mouth but closed it again, unsure of what to say.

"I'm
going to cross a very fine line right now, but I just don't know what else to
do with you." He took a deep breath. I braced myself for what he was going
to say.

"Christopher
you have feelings for Mia. You care for her and you care for her deeply. I won't
say love, but you definitely feel something more than just security and
comfort. Everything you've been doing is showing all the signs –"

"You've
lost your fucking –"

"You
aren't going to admit it to yourself, because that means someone else you care
about can be taken away from you." He paused and took a moment before
continuing. "Christopher, let's just try my idea and if it doesn't work
then 'fuck it' we stay with our current method and hope you make more progress."
He sat back in his chair.

I
couldn't hold back my chuckle from his use of 'fuck it'. We sat staring each
other down for a few minutes.

"Fine,"
shaking my head, I stood up. "Only if she agrees to it," I added and
left the room.

Jackson,
Jimmy and Elliott were sitting around the living area of the room. All their
heads turned to me when I walked in.

"Well
hello there," Elliott spoke first.

"Hey,"
Mumbling, I walked into my room.

Stripping
along the way, all I wanted was the shower. It only took five minutes before
someone broke into my silent solitude.

"Hey
man we're going to head down to the bar for some food and beers, you coming?"

"Yeah
sure, can you give me fifteen?"

"Cool."

"Hey
Jackson!"

"Yeah
man?"

"I'm
sorry about –"

"No
worries brother," and with that, he shut the bathroom door.

Stepping
out of the shower, I took a long look at myself in the fogged mirror. Did she
care about me? Did I care about her? Shaking away the plaguing thoughts, I got
dressed. Ten minutes later, I was slipping on my shoes and stepping out of my
room.

"Let's
roll! I'm fucking starving!" Elliott practically ran out our door.

Guilt
reared its ugly head. I ran and caught up to Elliott at the elevator doors.

"Elliott,
man, I'm sorry about –"

"Dude,
shut the fuck up! I do not do Doctor Phil moments." He stuck his fist out
with an expectant look. I bumped my fist to his. "See, now we're solid."
He smiled widely and took heavy steps onto the elevator.

I
didn't deserve their forgiveness so easily. It wasn't the first time they had
to deal with my shit, and yet they stuck around.

Sitting
around a table watching Elliott and Jimmy play pool, the sound of singing filtered
into the bar from the lobby. We looked at each other.

"What
the hell –" Elliott laughter broke off his exclamation.

Following
his gaze, the girls came into the bar. It was pretty clear that they had
already been drinking. Arm in arm and singing loudly, they strolled toward the
bar. At least they were in key.

"
Now
let me get this straight,

Put
the lime in the coconut, you drank them both up
"

Then
they burst out into laughter when they reached the bar.

Out
of the corner of my eye Elliott moved. He reached them and quickly wrapped his
arm around Serena. Mia walked over to the antique jukebox and turned on some
music. All of them started singing and dancing to the song that came on. My
thoughts reverted to Doctor J's comments about having feelings for Mia.

I
mean, I don't…I mean, I guess I like her but…it's not…I was brought out of my
thoughts by Jackson.

"He's
such an ass." Jackson said, motioning his head to Elliott flamboyantly
singing. I nodded in agreement and pulled my water glass to my mouth.

Elliott
walked back over to the table, grabbing his beer and smiling from ear to ear.

"Are
you seriously ditching our game?" Jimmy looked at him in disbelief.

"Dude,
see that amazing hot ass chick waiting for me over there?" He paused. "Now
take a look at you." He paused again. "I think you should now have
formed the correct response to your absurd questioning."

"True."
Jimmy nodded. "It would take her to be drunk to get with you," Jimmy
laughed and plopped into the seat next to me. Jackson and I joined in the laughter.

"Not
one of them are drunk you stupid fucks!" Elliott winked.

"Are
you serious?" The three of them turned and looked at me as if it were the
first time I'd ever spoke. Elliott shook his head.

"Yeah,
I'm serious. They just like to have a good time without worrying about what
people think. Something that you," he pointed directly at me "Mister 'Emo-Boy,
should give a try." He smiled and headed back, taking Serena and Kat under
his arms.

"He's
right." Jackson said, looking at me. I glared. "What?" He asked.

"He's
right?"

"I
told you pretty much the same thing the other night." Jimmy chimed in as
he got up and followed suit over to the group.

"Well
fuck me if I'm going to sit here with you when I could be over there."
Jackson punched my shoulder and chuckled.

Finishing
my water, I headed up to the bar for another when I felt a presence next to me.
Looking down to my right, my eyes landed on Serena, who was giving me an
intense look of despise.

"Can
I help you?"

"Don't
you dare hurt her."

"Excuse
me?"

"You
heard me." She poked me hard in my chest and turned away.

Looking
up, I locked eyes with Mia. She smiled warmly and then looked away. My chest
tightened up. I wanted her to look back at me again. Growling at myself
silently, I shook it off.

We
headed back to our rooms. When we reached the girls hotel room Laney wrapped
her arm around mine and pulled me into the suite with her. She sat on the couch
pulling me down next to her.

Everyone
sat around while Laney set up IPods for the 'Name that Song' game. Laney had
decided she would set everyone up with a partner. Serena and Elliott, Jimmy and
Kat, and then she put Mia and me together. I looked to Mia, but she didn't seem
bothered by it at all.

Why
did I let that fucking doctor make this so uncomfortable? His bullshit about
her caring for me and having feelings for her…now I'm over freaking analyzing
every damn thing!

Laney
began the game while sitting on Jackson's lap – deeming him the tiebreaker
judge. To my surprise, Mia and I were a force to be reckoned. She was good and
we complemented each other well. I wasn't big on hip-hop or rap and she didn't
have the classical background knowledge I did. In the end we dominated.

Soon
the beers and the late hour had gotten to everyone. Two by two, they started to
dwindle off to bed. Jackson took Laney with him by piggyback. Elliott quickly
followed Serena to her room, without invitation. Jimmy disappeared, as did Kat.
I didn't see them go together, but I assumed.

Mia
stood and walked into her room. Getting up from the couch, I was still amazed
that I didn't know what to do.

"You
coming?" I didn't say anything. "I'd prefer not to be woken up at
two, three or four in the morning if you don't mind." I tensed until I
heard her laugh lightly.

She
was teasing me.

Walking
into her room, I realized I didn't have anything to change into. While she was
in the bathroom, I stripped down to my boxers and climbed under the covers.

Ten
minutes later, she emerged from the bathroom and slid in next to me. My body
twitched all over to get closer to her. I brought my hands up behind my head to
prevent them from reaching out.

"Are
you okay?" Her voice was hushed but was enough to make me jerk in her
direction.

"Uh…yeah."

Nothing
else said. Laying there thinking about what the doctor said and how she was
going to react to sitting in one of my sessions with me. I was torn from my
thoughts when her warm body pressed against me.

Mia
had rolled over. Her arm around my chest, leg wrapped over me, and her face
partially pressed against my side. I could feel her warm breaths against my
bare skin. My body lit up as if electricity was coursing through me.

Angling
my head, I looked down at her. Instead of sleeping, I got lost in her again. By
the time I was finished watching her sleep, I think I'd memorized every line,
curve, freckle, the exact spot of her nose piercing, the small 'v' shaped scar
near her hairline, and any mark on her face. Wrapping my arms around her, the
calm and ease rush over me. Like the addict I was, I overdosed in her and drifted
to sleep.

Waking
up the next morning was something entirely new to our typical
morning after
.

Chapter
Seventeen

 Waking
up next to Christopher wasn't something new; however, this morning I woke up to
half-naked Christopher with me wrapped around him. Our bodies firmly pressed
into each other, my palm resting flat on his tattooed chest, inner thigh
pressed firmly against his
extra band member
and, Oh, Holy Baby Jesus,
he was sporting morning wood. It was overwhelming, his scent and the physical
contact. It'd been awhile and my body thought the drought was finally over.

His
left arm was snuggly wrapped around me with his hand flat against my lower
back. His fingertips were grazing the band of my pajama shorts. As I tried to
slide away slowly, praying he wouldn't wake up and see me draped across him, he
tightened his hold and rolled so we were chest to chest.

Our
chests pressed to the others, his arms around me tightly, his sudden roll
brought my leg up over his hip. My inner hooker slipped on her crotch less
panties and stilettos, ready to dance on his pole.

When
his right hand slid further down, now partially on my butt, I took a deep
breath to calm myself. Inhaling his scent did nothing but fill my body with
fire. The heat built between our bodies and I had to fight my inner hooker not
to press my hips forward into the large erection I knew was less than an inch
from me. I mentally slapped a chastity belt on said inner hooker, who scowled
with her hands on her hips.

Biting
my lip, I started to pull away. Just when I lifted my leg, his lower body
shifted forward. I gasped. His eyes fluttered open and widened. He looked down
at me, but didn't move. I couldn't speak and apparently, he couldn't either.

"Mia!"
Serena shouted from the other side of the door.

We
both jumped at her shout and our body smacked against each other in all places.
Both of us gasped and rolled away from each other.

"Yeah?"
In a shaky voice, I called out and sat up to the edge of my bed, my thighs
sought out friction against each other.

"We
need to get ready to go."

"Okay."
I yelled back and walked straight to the bathroom. My inner hooker threw an
internal tantrum, screaming and kicking as I walked away from the bed.

Thoroughly
showering, applying two layers of lotion, brushing my teeth twice and actually
doing my hair, I killed as much time as possible in the bathroom in hopes that
he bolted from my room first chance he got. I walked out of the bathroom and
sighed in relief that he had indeed followed our routine. Once dressed, I
started bagging and tagging my things.