Pt. 3
Beep. Beep! BEEP!
Niki woke up almost instantly when she heard the sound of the alarm on JC’s cell phone. She found it on the floor of the jeep. It was then that she realized she woke up in the back of the jeep wrapped in JC’s arms. She didn’t want to wake him, so Niki let the alarm shut itself off. She relaxed back into his arms and watched as the sun started to show its face.
“Wow,” she said quietly as she watched the colors of the sky change from purple to a reddish orange. “That right there makes me not even wanna go home.”
“Then don’t go,” her boyfriend whispered in her ear. She rolled around to look at him.
“When did you wake up?”
“A few minutes ago.” He kissed her left temple. “I mean it, Niki. Don’t go back.”
“You know I have to go home, Josh.” She sighed. “Besides I don’t have a job out here.”
“I can help you find a school out here to work at. I’ll do whatever it takes to have you right here by my side.” She looked over at him again only to find that irreplaceable cheesy grin beaming back at her.
“You are so cheesy, but I still love you.” She gives him a peck on the cheek.
“Yeah…I know.” He squeezed Niki tight. “Come on. Let’s go home. We can talk about you moving here on the way home.”
“Or not,” she said while climbing into the front seat.
“But…,” he tried to protest before a pout came on his face.
She leaned over in front of him and kissed him before finishing his sentence. “But I will think about it,” she whispered. She settled back in her seat and strapped on the seatbelt. He just stared at her,
“Damn, woman. You can seduce me any time you want.”
“Yeah…I know. Now put this baby in gear, and let’s be on,” She snapped her fingers. “…our way,” she giggled. Josh let out a laugh as well. He has been so happy with Niki being in the same city as him. Maybe he did speak too soon when he made his suggestion, but he wasn’t ready to go back to the phone calls, emails, and IMing.
“Look, Niki. I’m sorry about earlier. Take as long as you want to think…” He looked over at her. “…about it.” She didn’t hear a word he said. She had fallen asleep about ten minutes into the ride home. Seeing that they still had another 45 minutes to go, he let her sleep. He popped in his favorite eighties compilation cd and enjoyed the drive.
A few hours later…
Niki rolled over. The first thing she noticed was the warmth of the blanket around her. Then there was the pillow that her braided head lay on. She loved the way it felt. She knew some how she was taking one from Josh’s bed home with her. She let out a deep groan as she took her “wake up” stretch. She turned her head towards the door before opening her eyes.
“You watching me sleep again?” She opened her eyes to see Josh’s body leaning against the doorway.
“How’d you know?” he blushed.
“Ancient Niki secret. Now get over here and give me some lovin’.”
A smile spread over his face as he walked across the room. He laid on the bed beside her and wrapped one arm around her. Resting a hand on her waistline, he used the other one to move the small amount of braids from her neck. He gently planted butterfly kisses on her caramel colored skin. Nikki let out a soft moan.
“I’m gonna miss you, angel.”
“I’m gonna miss you too, Josh. I’m gonna treasure this moment.” Josh nibbles at her earlobe. “Josh?”
“Hmm…”
“Can you please just hold me for a little while?” she said as sleep lingered in her voice.
“Don’t worry, mami. I’m never letting go.” Niki snuggled against Josh. Soon she heard his breathing even out and knew he was asleep. She soon followed suit.
