Wishing for Someday Soon (13 page)

“No problem, it’s only my nose,” he pretended to grumble.

“Seriously, I am,” I laughed, climbing into his Navigator, anxious to get out of the frigid temperatures that had come out of nowhere. The newscaster on TV had said that it would be too cold to snow which completely confounded me. It just sounded like an oxymoron. As far as I was concerned, if it was snowing, it was cold, so being too cold to even snow seemed crazy.

“How was your day?” Max asked, cranking up the heat as he backed out of our drive.

“Good. I found the perfect dress right away,” I said excitedly.

“Wow, that’s amazing. You must have radar senses or something to find one that easily. My sister, Trish, would drag us from one shop to the next, for hours, and then settle on one she had seen at the very first store. I personally think she did it to torture me.”

“I’m sure,” I agreed, not bothering to tell him I only had the option of one store.

Max slowed the SUV, turning down a dirt path two miles from my house. Right on cue, I began nervously tugging on my bottom lip at the thought of meeting his parents.

“You know, it’s very distracting when you do that,” Max said, putting the vehicle in park between another SUV like his and a dark blue pickup truck.

“What is?” I asked confused, turning to look at him.

“Tugging at your lip like that,” he said, reaching over to caress my bottom lip with the pad of his thumb.

His hand slid to the side of my face and I sighed uncontrollably, running my tongue over my lip where his thumb had previously been. His eyes darkened as he watched. He slid a hand behind my neck, anchoring me in place.

I shivered in anticipation as he leaned toward me with clear intentions.

Suddenly, headlights flickered behind us, breaking the spell.

“Well crap,” Max said, dropping his hand reluctantly. “The others are here,” he continued, clearly disappointed.

I sighed, having a hard time curbing my own disappointment.

Max smiled. “Later for sure,” he said, climbing out of the vehicle.

He pulled my door open and reached up to help me down, pulling me in for a quick hug. “Is it later yet?” he asked huskily, voicing my own desire.

“I wish,” I said, pulling back as our friends joined us.

Together, we headed toward his house. I kept my gawking to a minimum this time, though I was pretty awestruck at the entire structure. Where Clint’s house had a formal Victorian feel to it, Max’s looked like a large ski resort lodge I had seen pictures of in the past. Multiple hand-carved wooden rockers lined the porch that overlooked a small frozen pond off to the right of the house.

The interior was warm and inviting with large rooms filled with honey-colored wooden furniture and plush leather couches and chairs. Fireplaces burned throughout the house keeping the wind that howled outside at bay.

We entered the kitchen as a group and I saw an attractive couple cooking dinner together with obvious affection.

“Mom, Dad, this is Katelyn,” Max said, introducing me.

“Katelyn, this is my mom, Karen, and my dad, Maxwell Sr.,” he said.

“Katelyn, it’s a pleasure to meet you,” Karen said, reaching in to give me a quick hug. The delicate smell of the perfume she wore enveloped me. I held myself rigid at her touch, unaccustomed to another female hugging me. By the time I thought to return the hug, I found myself in a crushing hug by Maxwell Sr.

“Something smells good,” Max said, moving around the large island to peek into the stock pot sitting atop the stove.

“Sweet, chili and cornbread,” he said, sneaking a look into the oven.

“Hey, out of there,” Karen said, taking a swipe at him with a checkered oven, mitt.

“Aww, come on Mom,” he said, dancing out of the line of fire before placing a quick affectionate kiss on her cheek.

“Ladies first,” she admonished him, shooting me a warm smile.

“Yeah, ladies first,” Alicia piped in, moving to grab a deep ceramic bowl off the counter.

The rest of us followed suit and filed past Max's dad as he ladled oversized spoonfuls into each of our bowls while Karen pulled the cornbread from the oven.

The enticing aroma of the spices wafted through the air as I sprinkled shredded cheese over the top of my chili.

Max and I were the last two of our large group to leave the kitchen. He led me down the hallway toward a large room bustling with chatter and good spirits. I sighed with pleasure, seeing it was my kind of room. Several loveseats and recliners were scattered about, along with the largest bean bag chairs I had ever seen, that easily would sit two people.

“These are great,” I said, sinking into one of them while Max held our bowls.

“I know, right?” he said, handing both bowls to me so he could join me. “My mom found them online last year and ordered like eight of them.”

“Nice,” I said appreciatively.

Karen came in and passed out chunks of homemade cornbread once we were all settled in while Max's dad handed out sodas. They took the time to talk to everyone and I could tell all my friends genuinely liked them.

“Your parents are great,” I whispered to Max after the movie had been on for a while.

“I guess they’ll do,” he said, trying to sound nonchalant. “Okay, they’re pretty cool,” he finally admitted. “Just don’t spread it around that I like to hang with my parents,” he added, shooting me a wink.

“I don’t know, what's it worth to you?” I teased.

“Hmm, I'll have to think about that,” he said, arching an eyebrow at me suggestively.

I swallowed hard and couldn’t stop my eyes from drifting to his lips.

“You need to stop looking at me like that,” he whispered in my ear.

“Why?”

“Because, I don’t want the first time we kiss to be in front of my bonehead friends.”

“Ah, I see,” I said, grinning at him as I gently licked my lip.

“Grrr,” he growled, surging to his feet before he could act on my dare.

“Who’s done with their bowls?” he asked, pausing the movie.

Laughing at his frustrated tone, I stood up to help him gather the dishes. I followed him down the hall, still chuckling slightly. Karen was in the kitchen cleaning up when we walked in. I joined her at the sink and started rinsing out the bowls.

“Katelyn, I have this. You go watch your movie and have fun with your friends.”

“Are you sure?” I asked dubiously, looking at the stack of dishes. I couldn’t remember the last time Lucinda had washed a dish, let alone insist that I have fun. I felt a knot form in my throat as I got a glimpse into how it worked in a real family with an equal amount of give and take.

“Of course dear, go have fun,” she said, giving my hand a gentle squeeze.

I was lost in thought as Max and I headed back to our friends, so it took me a moment to comprehend when he veered off into an empty room.

Taking in my surroundings, I looked at him puzzled.

Without saying anything, he pulled me into his arms. Finally understanding the detour, I smiled, looking up into his eyes as he ran his hands up my arms, making me shiver.

“I’ve wanted to do this since I first laid eyes on you two weeks ago,” he said, bringing me closer to him.

“Really?” I asked breathlessly, dragging my lower lip between my teeth.

Max groaned, running his hand up to the side of my face so he could run his thumb over my lip once more. “I can’t tell you what that does to me when you do that,” he said, dragging in a ragged breath.

“Show me,” I whispered, more daring than I had ever been before.

Needing no further encouragement, he crushed his lips to mine. My knees turned to putty as he anchored me more firmly to him. His lips were as soft they looked and I couldn’t resist touching them with the tip of my tongue, making him groan. Misreading his groan, I retracted my tongue, sealing my lips.

“Uh-uh, open them please,” he whispered against my closed lips.

I parted them slightly, giving him the access we both wanted. Time lost all meaning as our mouths became one. Finally, after what could have been mere moments or eternity for all I knew, he finally pulled back, reluctantly.

“We need to go back,” he said, still breathing heavily as he rested his forehead against mine.

I nodded, trying not to stare at his lips that were still within reach. His eyes darkened with need as he saw my stare.

“You're driving me crazy,” he said, pressing his lips to mine for a quick searing kiss that made my head spin.

“Is that a bad thing?” I asked as he reached for my hand.

“No way, that’s a good thing,” he said, pulling me snugly against the side of his body as we joined the others.

“Hey, what took so long?” Clint complained. “Dude, you dog,” he added, seeing my flushed look and kiss-swollen lips.

“Shut it,” Max said, chucking a pillow at him.

Clint plucked the pillow out of the air before it could hit him and threw it back at Max with precision.

Alicia and Shirley giggled as my cheeks brightened with color.

“Let’s get back to the movie,” Max said after throwing the pillow back at Clint.

Alicia dimmed the lights as Max and I settled back on our bean bag chair.

My eyes met Rebecca’s before the lights dimmed, and I felt awful for the pained look she tried to disguise.

I sighed unhappily as the movie came back on.

“What?” Max asked, draping an arm across my shoulder.

“Rebecca,” I whispered back simply.

“I know, but trust me, it was never like this with her,” he said quietly in my ear.

I nodded. With so few kids at one school, someone was bound to get hurt as couples switched around. At least at a larger high school, you could move on and wouldn’t necessarily have to see your crush with someone new so frequently.

“Don’t worry about it. I’m sure she’s happy for us,” he stated, trying to make me feel better.

I snorted at his words. “I doubt that,” I said, smiling at how oblivious guys could be at times.

“Well, it was worth a shot,” he said, shooting me a half smile.

“Whatever helps you sleep at night,” I teased quietly.

All further talk was put on hold while we watched the movie. Max kept his arm around me the entire time. Occasionally he would slide his hand up my arm and toy with my hair lightly, twirling it around his finger. His touch was distracting, and half the movie slid by in a mindless blur as I counted down the seconds until we would be alone again.

“Thank God,” Max said when the movie ended after an action-packed sequence.

I was relieved that I wasn’t the only one that had been suffering.

Karen and Maxwell were reading in the living room in front of the fireplace as we all filed past. They stood up to say their goodbyes, giving everyone hugs as we left.

“You come see us again soon, okay, Katelyn?” Maxwell said, giving me another bear hug.

“Well, she can’t if you crush the life out of her,” Karen teased him as she gave me a much more delicate hug. “But you must come back soon,” she said, smiling at me warmly.

“I will,” I said, touched by their easy acceptance of me.

We called out goodbyes to our crew as we all piled into separate vehicles.

“Well, that was torture,” Max said, cranking the heat.

“What was?” I asked with false innocence.

“Sitting that close to you for two hours after the kiss. It was all I could do not to haul you off for a repeat,” he growled, not buying my innocence.

“Well, I’m glad it wasn't just me,” I said with more honesty than I normally exhibited.

We drove silently for a short time until Max abruptly turned down a narrow dirt road before throwing the car into park.

I looked at him questioningly.

“When I kiss you good night, I don’t want to be interrupted,” he said, undoing his seatbelt.