Page 25 of Meant to Be

“Everyone has seen Shrek, Jax,” Shelby replies with a sigh.

She walks off in front.

“Shelby,” I shout. Spinning around she bobs out her tongue and runs. I soon catch up with her, picking her up and throwing her over my shoulder.

“Put me down before you drop me.”

“No way. You won’t run from me.”

“That sounded creepy.” She laughs. Putting her down, her hand covers her stomach, and her eyes close.

“Everything okay?” I ask concerned as she steadies herself with her hand on me.

“Yeah, I went dizzy then.” She grabs the lapels of my jacket pulling me to her. “Okay how about we go to mine, mum’s not back until six’ish, we can watch it in my room.”

I like the sound of being in Shelby’s room alone with her.

“And if she comes back, I can hide you better.” She winks at me seductively.

The little minx.

Pulling back the sleeve of my leather jacket, I look at my watch and see it’s three forty-five now.

“We better get a move on then…” I pull her along with her hand in mine quickening the pace, so we can get some time together.

Shelby lets us in, and as soon as the front door is shut, I bend her at the waist, throwing her over my shoulder again, totally forgetting that it made her dizzy not long ago, and run up the stairs with her.

“Jax put me down...” she squeals.

She directs me to her room, and I drop her on the bed. She sits up suddenly with her hand covering her mouth and runs from the room. Standing at the door, I watch her run into the bathroom dropping to her knees with her head over the toilet bowl. I follow her in and squat down behind her and rub her back.

“You alright babe?”

She nods. I get up and pull some tissue from the roll on the wall, passing it to her once she’s emptied the contents of her stomach, she wipes her mouth.

“I’m sorry babe. I should have remembered not to do that.”

She flushes the toilet once she’s on her feet and brushes her teeth, washes her mouth out with the mouthwash and stands in front of me her forehead resting against my chest.

“It’s okay, don’t worry.”

“What happened?”

“I don’t know. As soon as you tipped me up my stomach rolled.”

Stroking my hand down the back of her hair, I kiss the top of her head.

“Come on let’s go lie you down.”

She looks up smiling, “Okay.”

Walking into the bedroom, she shuts the door turning the lock and puts the Shrek DVD into the player then lies on the bed.

“Come on then…” She pats the bed in the empty space next to her, and I lie down holding out my arm. Shelby snuggles into my side then presses play on the remote control. Tilting my head, I rest my cheek against the softness of her hair, and the last thing I remember is seeing a talking donkey…

‘Knock, knock…’

Her hair tickles my neck as she moves making me hold her a little tighter.

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