Healed (4 page)

About three months ago, Andrew and I decided we would be better off if we each kept some clothes and toiletries at each other’s places. We constantly looked like we were doing the walk of shame—even when nothing had happened.

I pulled the tray onto my lap and happily ate my bagel, images of waking up to this every morning running through my head like a dream come true. It seemed like such a fluke that I’d found Andrew. Our first date happened during a time when I was dating a different guy each week. It was pretty easy to weed out the good from the bad. If all a guy wanted from a first date was to get into my panties, then I knew he wasn’t the guy for me. There were only a handful of dates where the guys weren’t there for that. Most were looking for someone to have fun with, and they were okay with waiting until further into the relationship before I would have sex with them.

Some of the guys were straight up boring. Others didn’t like having to wait any longer than the second date.

Then there was Andrew. I could tell from the moment he asked me out that he was looking to get some, but I gave him a chance like everyone else. We talked forever that first night. We had so much in common. Something must have clicked for him too because he didn’t try anything when he dropped me off—except a simple kiss. Thinking about it, I realized just how chaste that first kiss had actually been. We’d gone out a few more times before things had gone any further. Things continued to progress at their own pace but at one point, things seemed to hit a rough patch and I really started to question my decision to take a chance on him.

Had choosing Andrew been a bad choice?

Imagine how glad I was to find out that Andrew was just really scared to tell me what was going through his head. When he told me he loved me, I knew everything was going to be fine. Andrew wasn’t the type to throw empty ideas or platitudes at people. If he told you something, you could be sure he felt it all over.

From then on things moved pretty quickly. We quit using condoms, letting my birth control pill take care of contraception, and although we hadn’t told any of our friends or family yet, we started apartment hunting. Really we didn’t want my dad to know since he was against me moving off campus until after graduation. He thought I would concentrate better on my work if I wasn’t living with Andrew. That didn’t stop us from looking and getting ready for the future. All of it finally leading to yesterday’s events.

Thinking about yesterday made me remember that I needed to call my mom and tell her all about it. My guess was Andrew wasn’t very forthcoming about how he was going to propose, since he’d seemed to have little idea himself.

Deciding to get to a quick shower and get dressed before calling my mom, I finished my coffee and bagel and went searching through the drawers for something to wear. I didn’t want to be tied up on the phone with my mother any longer than necessary. It wasn’t that I didn’t love my mom—quite the opposite actually, because my mom was freaking fantastic, and only had our best interests at heart—but I didn’t want to waste time I could be spending with Andrew.

Once I was dressed, I pulled out my cell phone. I probably had at least another fifteen before Andrew would be back. Could I have a fifteen-minute conversation with my mother? Probably not, but I was sure going to try.

Putting the phone to my ear, it started to ring.

“Hello?” My mom’s voice came from the other end of the line.

“Hey, Mom, it’s me.”

“Hey, sweetheart. What have you been up to?”

“Studying, but that’s not why I called. I have something to tell you.”

“Is it good or bad?”

I giggled to myself. For a woman who’d apparently told my fiancée that we had to have brunch with them once he’d popped the question, she was being extremely obtuse. Then again, maybe she was just afraid to give the surprise away.

“It’s good,” I said with a smile in my voice. “Andrew asked me to marry him last night.”

I had to pull the phone away from my ears for fear she would pierce my eardrum with all of the screaming that came down the line. It felt good to know that she cared about Andrew just as much as I did.

“Emily? Emily?”

“Yeah, Mom, I’m here. I just needed to hide from the screaming.”

“Sorry about that, I’ve just been waiting for the past two weeks to get this phone call!”

“Well, it took him a little bit to get up the nerve to ask, but it was wonderful and I’m so happy.”

Great gusty laughs came down the line. “Mom? Are you okay? What are you laughing at?”

The laughing continued and it took her a while to calm down enough to answer me. “My tough little Emily, filled with happiness . . . from a boy!”

“Ha ha. Very funny, Mom.”

“All right, all right, I’ll let it go. So tell me, how did he propose?

A smile crept across my face, the memory playing before my eyes. “Actually, we went to the park for a picnic and while I was swinging on the swings he got down on one knee and proposed.”

“You were on the swings?” She laughed.

“Mom, stay focused here.”

“I am, I just can’t believe what I’m hearing. You should listen to yourself. This is a side of you that your father and I have never seen.”

“Mom,” I said, exasperation clear in my voice. “Can you focus for one minute?”

“Oh, sweetheart, I am. Since you were born, you’ve always been so independent and that hasn’t changed in the last twenty-one years. But Andrew’s brought out a whole new side of you.”

“Are you saying that I’m not independent anymore?” I asked with more of a bite to my voice. I wasn’t sure exactly what point my mom was getting at, but I was getting frustrated trying to figure it out.

“Calm down, Em, that’s not at all what I’m saying. You don’t need a guy to take care of you, but he does balance you out.”

Huh? “Balances me out?”

“Yep. When was the last time that you really lost your temper?”

I tried to remember but I was coming up blank. The front door opened and in walked Andrew, the sweat dripping down his tanned skin making me shift in my seat. He caught me watching him and gave me a knowing smirk.

“Who’s that?” he mouthed at me.

“It’s my mom. Maybe you can help me?”

“Is that Andrew?” my mom asked.

“Yeah. Actually, Mom, I can’t think of the last time I lost my temper. I thought he might remember.”

Andrew grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and came over and sat down next to me. “Hmm . . . the last time you flipped out was the night at the club, I think. When Josh wanted to find Lauren.”

“Oh.” That was the night Josh had been doing his normal manwhore thing, making out with some skank he met at the club we were all dancing at. I’d gone there with Lauren to try and help her forget about her one-night stand a few weeks before that. When Josh realized she was there, he came looking for her, but she had already left, upset. He wanted to go find her and needed me to tell him where she had gone.

“Okay, I remember that. It was the night Josh wanted to find Lauren after being an asshole.”

“Language, Emily,” my mom scolded over the phone. I always cursed too much, and even at twenty-one my mother reprimanded me for it.

“All right, all right.” I turned back to Andrew. “But I didn’t flip out that night. I even agreed to help him after . . . oh crap.”

My mom was right. Two years ago, I would have ripped Josh apart for acting the way he did that night. Instead, Andrew had stopped me from getting in Josh’s face by kissing me, forcing me to calm down.

“Am I right?” Mom asked, a bit of a gloat to her voice.

“What’s wrong?” Andrew asked at the same time.

Shaking my head, I started to laugh. For a girl who was never going to let a man run her life, my mom was right—Andrew knew exactly what to say and do to calm me down when my temper threatened to get the better of me. He made me a better person—even when I didn’t realize it.

Turning to face Andrew, I smiled at him and placed a quick kiss on his lips. My eyes didn’t leave his as I answered her question.

“You’re right, Mom. Andrew does bring out the best in me.”

“You bet I do.” He winked at me.

I gave him a quick pinch. “Ow,” he yelped, rubbing his side. “What was that for?”

“To remind you that even though you do bring out the good in me, I will still set you straight when I need to.”

I could hear Mom laughing in the background. “Okay, honey, I’m going to let you go so you can spend some time together.”

“Wait, Mom. Andrew said something about brunch?”

“Oh yes. After Andrew left I spoke with his mom and she loves the idea. Are you two free next weekend? We can find a place in the middle of all of us.”

“I’m good.” I looked over at Andrew. “Does coach have you guys doing a workout next weekend?”

“Nope,” he said, wrapping his arms around me. “I’m all yours.”

It became hard to concentrate when Andrew began kissing up the side of my neck. Shivers raced down my body and all I wanted to do was get off the phone and go take a nice long shower with him.

“Andrew’s good too,” I said, proud that my voice came out normal, instead of all breathy.

“That’s perfect. I’ll call Sarah and we’ll get something set up for next weekend. I’ll call you later with all of the details.”

“Okay, Mom. I’ll talk you later.”

“I’m so happy for you guys. Give Andrew my love.”

“Love you too, Mom, and thanks.”

The minute I hit the “end” button on the phone, Andrew stopped kissing my neck and moved down to the soft juncture between my neck and shoulder, lightly sucking. At the same time, his hands slipped around to my stomach and below the hem of my T-shirt. Kissing his way back up he whispered in my ear, “Did you like your breakfast this morning?”

“I did,” I said, tilting my head, giving him better access.

“Have you showered yet?”

“I did, but that doesn’t mean I couldn’t use another one.”

He pulled his hands out from under my shirt and stood up from the couch. Reaching out a hand to me, he said, “Well come on then. I’m all hot and sweaty.”

Was he ever hot and sweaty. All I wanted to do was run my tongue all over those fine looking abs so, placing my hand in his, I stood up and led the way to the bathroom. The minute the door closed behind us his mouth was on mine, tasting every inch. He stepped back and turned on the shower. Without a second thought, I pulled the shirt over my head, taking a step forward, connecting with him skin to skin, his body still hot from the run. Our mouths connected in a kiss that created heat of its own. My tongue slipped out to taste his lips, only to be sucked into his mouth as the kiss continued.

Once the water was warm and steam filled the room, we climbed in. Our hands and bodies were everywhere. In fact, I was certain our time in the shower did more to steam up the bathroom than the hot water did.

Andrew

“I’M SO EXCITED TO
see everyone,” Emily said from the passenger seat of my truck.

“I know.” I reached over to place my hand on her leg. “We’ll be there soon.”

We were on our way to have brunch with both of our families. Emily had had a hard time getting out of bed and we were running late, so I was doing my best to make up the time on the highway. As much as I hadn’t wanted to get up before nine in the morning on a Sunday, I was excited to see everyone together. This was the first official thing we were doing as future husband and wife.

We were headed to a place about an hour from campus. Miraculously, even with our parents living in different directions, they’d managed to find a good place that was in the middle of all of us, meaning no one had to drive more than an hour.

Eventually Emily turned on the radio, neither of us awake enough for a full-blown conversation yet. And since there was no time to stop on the way up for coffee, we were just going to have to wait until we got there. Thankfully, it was early on a Sunday morning and there wasn’t much traffic on the road, so we were able to make pretty good time, pulling into the parking lot the same time as her parents and younger sister.

Looking around the parking lot, I saw my parents’ car already there, which really wasn’t a surprise. If she was on her own, my mom was always late everywhere, but my dad had this weird need to be early so they balanced each other out For as long as I could remember, my dad had made my mom leave the house fifteen minutes early so that they wouldn’t be late. Mom always grumbled about having to leave so early, but deep down I knew she appreciated it.

Emily’s mom hopped out of the car the moment her dad put the vehicle in park, running toward our car. Emily jumped out of the car just as eager to see her mom. They threw their arms around each other and began to jump around and squeal in the middle of the parking lot. While this was going on, Mr. Halliday and Emily’s little sister, Jamie, got out of the car and walked calmly over to where I was standing next to my truck.

Mr. Halliday reached out his hand to me. “Congratulations, son. Welcome to the family.”

I took his hand. “Thank you so much, Mr. Halliday.”

“Please call me Ben, or Dad. We’ll have none of this
Mr. Halliday
business. You’re family now.”