Page 8 of The Homecoming

“Yes,” she whispered. “Need to…get back before nightfall.”

***

Autumn tossed and turned, unable to sleep because she kept thinking about that day, out in the water. She relived the feeling of his body pressed against hers and of his lips kissing her own. Sleeping with him would probably be disappointing. The only man she’d ever been with was her college boyfriend, Mark. He worked nights while attending classes during the day, so their dates were usually between his last class and his work shift. They’d go to his apartment after class and he would climb on top of her with most of his clothes still on, do his thing, and leave for work. He didn’t seem to notice that she didn’t even like it. Sex with him didn’t feel like anything. She couldn’t figure out what the fuss was all about. At the time, she’d wanted to be with him. He was cute, and they’d had good conversations, but there had been no spark. Clearly, there must have been something wrong with her. On paper, he was perfect. He’d said he wanted to marry her, but she wasn’t ready for that.

Now, she was alone, awake, and had royally inappropriate feelings for Dan. Although, kissing Mark had felt nothing like it did with Dan. When Dan kissed her, there were enough sparks to light a small country for a year. But Dan was a bad idea. He was her childhood friend, her brother’s best friend, and to top it off, he had a job where being killed was a real possibility. She didn’t exactly know what his Special Forces posts entailed; the list of options included killing people for a living—probably terrorists, but still. Yeah, he was brave, kind, and certainly good-looking.

She scolded herself for letting her mind wander back to Dan’s shirtless body.

Her phone buzzed from the bedside table and a message from Dan lit up the screen.

are you awake?

She didn’t respond. Before the logical part of her brain could kick in and take control, she got up, got dressed, and snuck quietly out of the house.

Daniel opened his motel door wearing nothing but a pair of shorts and looked surprised to see her. Without a word she walked past him into the room and tossed her purse down on the chair. The door closed and locked behind her. She almost lost her nerve when his strong arms encircled her from behind as he gently kissed her neck. Any trepidation that she had left was gone. Autumn turned around to face him, allowing his lips to meet hers softly, before the kiss deepened. The next thing she knew, he was sweeping her off her feet and gently placing her in the middle of the bed. She didn’t stop her hands from wandering over his muscular body as he set her down. Everything she wanted out in the water that day was now attainable. He removed her clothes while slowly kissing the newly revealed skin. When she was down to just her underwear, he stopped and curled up on his side next to her.

“Do you want me to stop?” he asked, kissing her hand.

She shook her head.

“Now, you know,” he continued, “when I took your top off, I kissed all over here.” He lightly dragged his fingers from her neck down to her waistline. “And when I took off your bra…” He caressed her breasts, highlighting the spots his lips had just touched. “Your shorts…” His hand ran up her thigh, sparking a reaction through her body. “Can you guess what happens when I take these off?” He ran his fingers under the waistband of her panties and Autumn’s breath caught in her chest. This experience was not going to be like anything she’d done before.

They lay entangled between the white bed sheets that were no longer tucked in while the rest of the covers sat in a heap on the floor. She’d discovered that whatever she’d had with Mark, this was not the same thing. Not even close. All energy had been spent and exhaustion had taken over; Autumn wanted nothing more than to sleep, but her parents didn’t know she had left.

Daniel appeared sound asleep. She needed to go, but his arm was wrapped around her, holding her in place. Her plan was to extricate herself from underneath his arm without waking him. Autumn slid toward the edge of the bed and as she moved, Daniel stirred and pulled her back but didn’t fully awaken.

She tried again, and this time he jumped. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” she replied. “I just need to get up.”

He relented and freed her from under his arm, allowing her to quietly gather her clothes from the floor on the way to the bathroom. She hoped he fell back asleep. As she got ready, she noticed that one flip-flop was missing. She quickly dressed and quietly eased her way back into the room to look for her missing shoe.

Dan sat naked on the edge of the bed. “You’re leaving,” he said. It wasn’t a question.

“They don’t know I’m gone and I need to get back before they wake up.” She scanned the floor and located her other flip-flop behind the door.

“I want you to stay,” he replied. He motioned for Autumn to come back toward the bed.

She smiled but remained across the room. “What am I going to tell them, I left in the middle of the night to come to your motel room? How much do you think they’ll like you then?”

He shrugged. “What are you looking for?”

“My other flip-flop is somehow behind the door. I don’t know how it got there.”

“Come here and I’ll show you.” Once again, he had that mischievous look on his face.

“Go back to sleep,” she replied. If she went near Dan, she’d only end up back in bed.

***

Throughout the entire drive back to her parent’s house, Autumn was sad she had to leave Dan. Had she done the right thing? Did this change things? Were they different now or were they still just old friends that got carried away? He tried to get her to stay with him despite the fact that her parents would have found out, and she wasn’t ready for that yet. Sure, they loved him as Jason’s friend and for his military service, but what would they think if they found out what he did to their daughter? They probably wouldn’t be too thrilled with her for going to his room in the middle of the night. Naïve as she was, she knew that one night in bed together didn’t make a relationship. She turned off her headlights and crept onto the driveway.

3.

Autumn awoke at ten o’clock in the morning to a rainstorm outside. Her phone had died before she’d returned home the night before and was now fully charged, but she left it off. She didn’t want to know if Daniel had already texted her. Maybe he was done with her? She laid in bed and watched the drops hit the window, hearing thunder rattle the house. Coffee sounded good, but getting downstairs to make coffee without being noticed would be an issue. She hoped no one was home, because the minute they saw her, they would somehow know she’d gotten laid. She also wasn’t in any hurry to talk to her mom about her life plans.

However, there was no sense in putting off the inevitable.

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