Page 13 of Kiss and Makeup
Chapter Six
Xavier
At times like these, I wanted to work out or throw a football until some part of my body refused to keep doing that anymore.
I hated living with something on my mind. Not a nice thing, like the promise of entertainment such as a party or a sports game in a couple days. That was looking forward to something, which I enjoyed. This kind of thing weighed not only on my mind, but on my heart, reminding me it would happen whether I wanted it to or not and refusing to let me forget that.
I couldn’t tell which of these applied to dinner with Kristen.
Part of me looked forward to this evening with pure excitement, thrilled to think about all the places, mental and physical, that this evening could go. The rest of me dreaded the idea of carrying all my expectations and hopes to the restaurant, then finding them dashed when Kristen kept this dinner professional.
I certainly didn’t want it to be only professional. I wanted this to be the start of a second chance—almost like a second first date. First dates were a time to show each other who you are. This date would show the man I had become.
I should have just asked Kristen for a date. I should have owned my mistakes and faults in the past, asked for a second chance, and hoped she gave it to me.
Instead, I was sitting on my couch with the latest World Series game replaying on the TV, working from my laptop spontaneously when I remembered to work and not watch or lose myself in thought. After driving into Chicago to the office or to some location for filming every day for the past couple weeks, I really felt like I deserved a day to work from home.
Besides, I didn’t need to hang around the office, snapping at everyone and jittering at my desk all day. A cup of coffee, some snacks, and some background noise from the TV were much better for me right now.
Sometimes, when I glanced guiltily back at my laptop screen after spending too long watching the Cubs, I wondered if I was falling into old habits. Then, my determination not to pass up this chance would renew and I would get a lot done before my next lapse of focus.
Finally, I allowed myself a break. Not just a glance-up-at-the-TV-for-a-moment break, but a break where I closed the lid of my laptop and fixed myself a sandwich.
As I moseyed about the kitchen I’d become so familiar with over the years I had lived here, I suddenly realized something. Kristen had never seen this place. We owned the land when she and I dated in college, but nothing but an old, half broken-down house had stood here. Only a year or two after I graduated college had my parents built this place, a beautiful home with all the charm of a log cabin— but just outside the city limits of Chicago.
Would Kristen like it? She was a city girl at heart, but she had a tender spot for the country too. Since she had grown up in a small town, I could understand her lingering love for open countryside and winding roads. We had even planned a road trip together sometime, visiting places across the States we both wanted to see. I had a feeling she would love to go hiking in the mountains.
Not that my replica cabin had anything to do with mountains. In reality, it was just a house. Still, it had that outdoorsy feel of one of those secluded, unique houses you would find on the slopes of the Rockies.
I could see it now…. I could seehernow. Ever practical and careful with her money, Kristen had always preferred to cook dinner in the shared kitchen at her dorm than go out to eat. She would love the kitchen here. So much counter space, and the stove was gas, just like she preferred. Cabinets, drawers, pantry—nothing would go unopened until she had explored the whole place and mapped out exactly where all the utensils and cookware were stored.
It would be our little haven. Our escape from the metropolis of Chicago. Back when we went to college, it hadn’t been so easy to escape. I had lived with my parents, and she, well…
“Maria went home for the week,” Kristen told me after she let me into her dorm. I handed her grocery bags, and she set them on the counter and started putting things away. “You got more butter too? What would I do without you?” She paused with the butter in hand to give me a quick kiss.
“Have less noodles with butter and garlic,” I stated truthfully, seating myself on the couch. “The whole break?” I couldn’t hide my hopefulness. Since Kristen’s roommate was very reserved and adamant in the no-sex-before-marriage department, we had to either watch our volume or wait for those rare occasions when Maria was out.
Well, we didn’t have to wait.
“Yeah.”
“Are you going home?” Last I asked, Kristen still hadn’t decided.
“No. I really can’t afford the ticket out there, and I need to study. I don’t have time to be spending hours and hours with all our distant relations and pretending to remember them.”
“Sounds like an excuse to me…. I can pay for the ticket,” I offered, already knowing what she would say.
“No you can’t.” There it was. It had taken me months to get Kristen to let me occasionally stop by the store and get her some groceries without forcing me to let her pay me back. She wouldn’t let me use my money on her, except on rare occasions like her birthday or holidays. “Besides, if I went home, we couldn’t do this….”
The familiar, delicious scent of Kristen’s favorite shampoo enveloped me as she straddled me on the couch. I eagerly met her kiss as her knees squeezed my hips, holding us together. My hand crept down from her face, inching closer and closer to the breasts that rubbed against my chest under her T-shirt—
“No no no,” she admonished me, grabbing my hand and holding it to her lips. A slight tug was all she needed to guide me into standing up and following her back to the privacy of her room.
The instant the door shut behind us, I spun Kristen around, pressing her against it with my body and showering her neck with kisses. Her gasp of surprise faded into little moans of pleasure. Nails scratched my scalp as she dug her fingers into my hair, only to release me for balance as my teeth nipped, sucking, and nibbled rougher.
Then it was her turn. She kissed me backward toward the bed until my legs hit it and buckled. Slowly, sensually, she pulled off my shirt, following the brushing of the fabric across my skin with her tongue and lips. Every inch of my body felt every inch of her’s as she lay on top of me.
Her hand brushed my hard length, and her lips twitched in a smile against mine. “Do you want something?” Her whisper tickled my ear.
