Friday seemed an age away, but thanks to David and Estelle keeping me occupied at work with long lunches and games programmed into Microsoft Excel, the weekend finally arrived and I was both eager and excited for my weekend away with Justin.
We had never spent any extended amount of time together and he was right in saying that this was either going to be just what we needed or very much the opposite.
I practically flew home, wanting to make sure that I had time to shower and get Barney ready for the weekend.
Estelle had my spare keys and was going to look after Bowser, and I was so excited at the prospect of going away for the first time in years, albeit for only a weekend.
I had a hot shower, dried my hair and pulled on some jeans and a sweatshirt and re-checked both Barney’s and my bag to make sure I didn’t forget anything.
Seven came and slowly ticked by a minute at a time, Justin finally showing up about fifteen minutes late because he lost his keys.
“I thought they were on my kitchen bench, but then I thought they were in my gym bag...anyway, I’m sorry I’m late,” he said catching breath and giving me a quick peck on the cheek.
“Are you sure you want to drive all the way out to Cranberry Lake? It’s like six hours away,” I asked but he was determined.
“Yeah, I slept all afternoon, I’ll be fine I promise,” he said crossing his heart.
“You ready to go?”
“Yes, sooo ready!”
“What about Barney, does he need a leach?” Justin asked looking down at the excited Beagle with the wagging tail.
“No he’s okay, I have one, but he’s a good boy he won’t run off,” I assured him.
“Okay, let’s scram!”
We loaded up Justin’s very comfortable car and Barney was standing in my lap wagging his tail and staring out the closed window.
As we started out of the city, narrow streets widened the further we drove out and things started to space out a bit further apart.
We talked, laughed, sang, stopped for food and enjoyed the comfortable silences that passed between us, sharing a smile every now and then happy in the company we were keeping.
“I’ve felt a lot better about our whole situation since we had that talk,” I said after Barney had finally fallen asleep in the backseat and was no longer bothering Justin by leaping into his lap and trying to chew the steering wheel.
“I’m glad…I do to, and I’m glad you were honest with me about the whole Adrian thing,” he replied, turning to me briefly before fixing his eyes back on the road, “How’s all that going by the way?”
“I haven’t really thought about him to be honest,” I smiled, placing a hand on Justin’s leg and he reached over and held the back of my neck, pulling me over to him for a quick kiss.
It was the last we spoke of Adrian for the rest of the trip and shortly after we were arguing about whether or not pineapple had any place on pizza.
It was a long drive but the traffic out of the city wasn’t as bad as we’d anticipated meaning we made it to open roads sooner.
By 11pm I was starting to feel the pull of sleep so I talked to keep myself awake.
“Do you know someone out at Cranberry Lake?”
“Not really, just the old lady that owns the house I rent.”
“How did you find it?” I asked curiously.
“Sometimes, I used to just get in my car and drive. I’d drive for hours, just following the roads north for miles you know?” I smiled to myself thinking that was so him.
“Sometimes I’d find some great things and sometimes I wouldn’t find anything at all, sometimes I wasn’t even looking to find anything, I just wanted to drive.”
“How’d you meet this old lady?”
“I drove out late one night and made it to Cranberry Falls, but I was too tired to drive back, so I Googled bed and breakfasts in the area. I didn’t find one though, just a ranch out by the lake and I was too tired to try and find anything else so I paid to stay the night and ended up coming back a few times.”
“Did you ever bring anyone else out here?” I asked and I knew he would be honest if he had. “No,” he said shaking his head, and I turned and looked out the window watching the darkness pass by, the odd car heading back in the opposite direction the only signs of life out there besides us.
“How much longer?” I asked resting my head on my fist with my elbow leaned against the window. “Another two hours or so,” he responded steering with one hand and navigating through his iPod with the other. I turned to stare back out the window and suddenly a light flashed in the sky and a big droplet of water hit the windscreen, and then another.
“God damn it,” Justin cursed and flicked the window wipers on as slowly, a steady rain started to pour outside.
“Well that wasn’t supposed to happen,” he sighed looking at me sheepishly and I just smiled sleepily not minding one bit. The rain was pleasant, right up until Justin passed the sign that read “Welcome to Cranberry Lake, NY USA” and then it turned torrential.
Stopping to collect the keys from the owner of the rented ranch we’d be staying in, the few steps from the car to her porch were enough for Justin to get soaked and track mud all across the mats on the floor of his car. After another short drive we finally arrived at the ranch and by then it was raining so hard, I couldn’t even see it.
It was a matter of getting out of the car and carrying our bags and Barney up onto the porch as quickly as possible, but as fast and efficient as we were, we were still soaked to the bone by the time we made it up to the porch. Justin sighed and unlocked the door, both of us eager to get inside and warm up from the cold rain.
I carried Barney and though he was a little wet, he wasn’t muddy, so I put him down and let him get acquainted with the new surroundings. I looked around at the beautiful inside of the ranch which was modern, but still cozy, lacking none of its rustic charm.
The floorboards were immaculate, the colors were warm and the couch looked soft and inviting, sitting next to a fireplace and windows that went almost all the way around the room.
“Why don’t you go have a shower upstairs and I’ll get the fire up and running,” Justin suggested dumping his bag down where I stood at the hallway taking in the Ranch.
Since it was too dark to do much exploring and also that I was tired as hell, I took his advice and swung my backpack up onto my shoulder and headed upstairs with Barney close behind. There were two bedrooms upstairs and all the furnishings were beautiful mahogany and the beds were inviting with bright white, crisp linen pulled tightly at the edges. The bathroom had a bath and a double shower and a rack full of soft fluffy towels hung on a rack beside a coat stand that held two white bathrobes.
I smiled as I looked around, finding nothing amiss. Soaps and shampoos lined the window sill and there were even expensive brands of razors placed by the sink awaiting use.
“Pretty nice huh boy,” I asked Barney who promptly collapsed in a head on the bathmat with a sigh.
“Yeah, I hear ya barkin’ big dog,” I said and yawned, remembering that Justin probably wanted a shower too, so I should probably make it quick.
I turned the shower handles until the shower head started sending jets of steamy water out of the showerhead undressing quickly and stepping into the double shower. I mostly just wanted to warm up so I stepped under the water and closed my eyes and letting the water fall from the top of my head, down over my face and over my cold shoulders. I liked the sting that a slightly too hot shower gave my skin and the sound of the water passing over my head and crashing down onto the tile was sending me into deep relaxation and I knew I would sleep well that night.
I didn’t hear him come into the shower behind me, but I felt his hands at the back of my head, stroking down and grabbing the mid-lengths of my hair and pulling it over one shoulder as I smiled and leaned back against him. His arms encircled me from behind and we stood under the jet of hot water warming up and letting the steam cloud up the bathroom and send a haze throughout the dimly lit space.
His touch was slow and deliberate as his hands stroked the length of my arms following the water down as it fell over my skin. I opened my eyes as his lips rested on my shoulder and dropped my hands by my side to find his thighs and held on while he touched all over my body, leaving trails of kisses down my neck and shoulder. I turned in his arms to face him pulling him under the stream of hot water to wet his hair and face and he closed his eyes and tilted his head, letting the water wash over him. My hands cupped his temples and pushed his wet hair off his forehead, only to be washed back down as my hands slid down the sides of his face and down his neck and onto his chest as I watched the water follow my hands on his skin.
I studied his tattoos while his eyes were closed and appreciatively took in his arms, chest and stomach. I smiled to myself as my eyes traveled lower on his body and then quickly tore my eyes away before he caught me, focusing instead on wrapping my arms around him and burying my face into his chest, his hands resting at the back my head as I kissed the space between his pecs and all over his chest until he pulled my face up to meet with his lips. Kissing under a stream of water was more difficult than it appeared to be in movies and on television and water kept getting into our mouths and as delicate as we tried to be about expelling it, we just ended up laughing as the logistics of kissing under water got the better of us both.
“Let’s say we take this to bed,” he suggested and I nodded in approval as he reached behind me to turn off the shower.
He took my arm and we forwent the towels and robes leading me out into the main bedroom where he guided me to the bed not concerned about the trail of water we’d left across the wooden floors or drying off before getting between the crisp sheets.
He peeled the covers back and ushered me in, the sheets instantly soaking up the water from my skin when it made contact. Barney sighed from the rug at the foot of the bed and Justin didn’t bother with the lights, climbing into the bed and making a spot for himself between my legs and throwing the heavy duck down duvet over our bodies. His hand felt across my brow and swept back my hair that stuck wet to my forehead and I could barely make out his face staring down at me in the dark as I rested my forearms on his shoulders. This was more than what I had hoped for when he’d told me he would be taking me away for a weekend.
It was just the perfect moment in time with the rain falling hard against the window and roof and a comfortable bed to lose ourselves in for the night.
He started with a soft kiss on my forehead and then another on the bridge of my nose and then another on my chin. His palms rested over my ears as his thumbs stroked the sides of my face as he planted two kisses on each of my flushes cheeks.
This was different.
This wasn’t the ravenous, needy, wild drunken night of gratuitous, shameless sin we’d started off with.
He swallowed hard and rested his forehead against mine for a moment, still holding my face and I waited, enjoying the tickle of his breath on my lips in the meantime.
I smiled at him encouragingly feeling his back beneath my hands.
I lifted my chin slightly, just enough for our lips to barely graze over each other.
I watched his face, his eyes closed and his breath shallow, and lifted my chin again letting our lips touch and he responded by parting his lips and closing them around my bottom lip and instantly my heart quickened at the way he caught my lip in his.
I kissed him again and he opened his mouth a little wider sucking slightly on my lips this time and now my breath was as shallow as his.
The next time his tongue dipped into my mouth and met with mine for a brief second, making me kiss him again because I wanted to taste more of him, but he was careful to keep things slow going despite how much we felt like we needed to rush right into oblivion, because we already knew we felt good together, but this was an exercise in patience and it was only through his restraint that I was able to hold out and make our exchange last.
I fell in love with him a little that night.
I fell in love with his curiosity, his eagerness to please, his gentle smile and earnest stare. I fell in love with his taste, his touch, his sounds and the feel of him beneath my hands.
He was playful and inquisitive and it was sugar sweet the way his eyebrows knitted with concern if I even so much as flinched with any kind of discomfort.
It was a side of him that I wish I’d seen sooner, but quickly told myself that it was better late than never.
We’d only been alone together in the ranch for two hours, and I couldn’t wait to see what the rest of our time alone together would be like.
The next morning I woke to the sound of more torrential rain outside and some beautiful piano work going on downstairs.
I’d never actually seen him play the piano in his apartment and curious, I got out of bed and padded over to the staircase, sitting four steps down where I could see him through the guard rail, watching where he couldn’t see me.
His fingers grazed over the tangents, looking down at the black and white, softy singing with the melody, cocking his head and listening intently until a tone that didn’t quite fit made his face twist at the out of place sound and then he’d switch until he found one that fit and then play the piece again from the beginning.
It was a diamond, not yet cut and polished, but I could hear where he was trying to go with it.
I couldn’t bring myself to interrupt yet, so I just sat and watched and after a while, he got stuck on one point and I could see he was getting frustrated, sighing deeply and scratching at his thick hair, shooting out a couple of swears before trying again only to stop at the same part.
I smiled watching him talk himself through it, humming along when he was playing expressing his approval or disapproval.
“What the fuck was that…no…no…hmmm…yeah, don’t love it, what about this one? How about…urgh…fuck, fuck, fuck.”
I laughed quietly feeling kind of privileged to be able to witness the master at work.
He was now pacing and walking around before going back to the piano, then repeating the whole thing once again, and I had been watching him for about forty minutes and realized I couldn’t stay up there forever.
I stood and started down the staircase, and when I reached the bottom and he saw me, it was as though for a moment my presence made no difference whatsoever.
He just stared right at, or right though me and continued to play, for just a few moments until he finished his piece and then his shoulders relaxed.
“Did I wake you?”
“With that infernal whiny singing and plucking of the poor piano, no not at all,” I said dryly and he grinned and watched me pour myself some black coffee.
“Looks like the rain wins again,” he commented getting up from the chair and walking slowly behind me into the kitchen
“Yeah, it would have been nice go outside for a while today,” I sighed ruefully stirring sugar into my cup and looking out the window.
“We can come back when the weather is better.”
The rain was loud and distracting, slowing for quick moments every now and then before pouring again.
“You don’t have to stop playing,” I said motioning to the piano in the hallway, “I was just kidding about the infernal noise thing, you’re okay with a piano. And the singing” I said flippantly and he sighed.
“Why do you always have to be so salty?”
“Justin, I was kidding, don’t worry I don’t have the capacity to give you as much crap as you give me.”
“Well I just think we could stand to be a little nicer to each other now…you know? We’re in a ranch…it’s raining outside…” he trailed off and I smiled a little.
“You mean…romance?”
I was teasing him a little and he knew it.
“Yeah…yes…romance,” he responded, his frustration at my indifference, albeit an act, very apparent in his voice.
The truth was, I had a very awkward time with the whole “romance” thing.
I guess last night could have been considered to be romantic, but he was running that show.
I wasn’t the kind of girl to drape myself in lace in a candle lit room waiting for my man to come home.
I was the kind of girl that tried to do stuff like that and ended up getting too close to a candle and setting herself on fire.
I was spontaneous and off the cuff.
I just did things, I didn’t plan them.
I suddenly didn’t know what to do with him and we sat very awkwardly in a silent kitchen.
I turned and looked out the window.
The rain was literally blanketing down in the kind of way that makes you wonder about flooding.
I put down my coffee and headed out of the kitchen door that lead out to the back porch.
I opened the wire door and stepped out onto the wooden deck, looking out at the torrential deluge and the puddles of thick almost black mud it was making in the paddock.
I took the steps down onto the grass and the rain was cold, but my feet sinking into the mud made me smile.
I was getting soaked and I laughed at myself thinking how juvenile I felt, but in the best kind of way.
I took no less than twenty seconds for me to get soaked right through and when I heard Justin’s chair scrape back on the kitchen tile, I pulled my feet out of the mud and ran to the side of the house, stopping to scoop up a pile of mud into my hands.
As soon as he came out onto the porch looking for me, and was at the edge of the deck, I flung the mud at him.
Black mud splattered his pristine white t-shirt and grey sweatpants as he stood shocked for a moment and then laughed.
“Oh! Ooh okay!”
I giggled and beckoned to him mischievously as he stepped down the stairs and down onto the muddy grass in the rain with me and we stood for just a moment grinning at each other.
He bent to scoop up mud, and I did the same and before we knew it we were in a full blown mud fight.
We totally covered each other from head to toe, rubbing thick, black goop into each other’s hair and faces.
He even tackled me down into a giant mud puddle, much to Barney’s disapproval, but we laughed heartily and fell all about in the mud like two ten year olds until we literally could move anymore.
I was still laughing as I swiped my mouth with the back of my hand staring up at Justin who sat beside me in a mud puddle catching his breath and I grabbed his shoulder to help pull myself up out of the mud.
“Here, help me up,” he said holding out his hand and I took it and braced myself for his weight, but instead he pulled me back down into the puddle, laughing at how I stumbled awkwardly and landed on my belly in the mud.
“You’re a bastard,” I laughed rolling over onto my back, laughing too hard to be able to push myself up.
He looked back at me over his shoulder in the mud and I smiled and kicked him with my foot.
“Help me up.”
He took my hand and pulled me up and I shuffled up beside him wrapping my arms around his chest and resting my head on his shoulder.
“I’m cold,” I shivered, my teeth starting to chatter now that weren’t running around anymore.
“Come on,” he said wrapping an arm around me and pulling me up with him as he stood in the mud.
He kept his arm around me as we walked back to the house and it was moments like that, that I felt close to him and I felt that we were good together.
We took most of our clothes off on the porch so that we wouldn’t track mud through the house.
“Shower?” He asked and I nodded, shivering at the bottom of the stairs. “Together?”I smiled and nodded and he motioned for me to go ahead as we climbed the stairs to the bathroom to wash the mud off our bodies.
The shower was hot and instantly warmed me from the inside out and Justin couldn’t help himself from soaping me down, though there wasn’t any protest from myself.
When either of us had a trace of mud to be found anywhere on us, we finished up in the shower and the rolling thunder outside made me sleepy.
We dried off and climbed into bed, and Justin draped his arm over my waist from behind, shuffling up close behind me.
He kissed my shoulder and I smiled as we both closed our eyes and slept through the rest of the morning.
Story Tags: friendsturnedlovers celebrityj triangles
