Chapter 38: A Houseguest, S’mores, and a Pillow War
(Justin’s POV)
Elli should be arriving any second now. She’s staying with me and Trace for a whole week. I’m so excited I can barely stand it. Her mom is going to New York to meet Steve’s son. She offered to bring Elli with her but I’m sure ya’ll understand why she turned her down. So her mother called the house about three nights ago and asked for Justin and being the idiot that I am said that it was me. So she was talking to me as if I’m Trace pretending to be me. So I guess you could say that I was me, pretending to be Trace, pretending to be me. I don’t think she caught on though, thank the Lord, but she did ask me if I had a cold because I sounded different. And you know I’m really kind of surprised that her mom is letting her stay here…with a guy. I would have thought she would have insisted either Elli go with her to New York or have her stay with Liz or her Aunt Ellen. Well at least she doesn’t know that I’m sort of dating her daughter. By sort of I mean I still haven’t defined a definite relationship with Elli yet.
I plan to ask Elli to officially be my girlfriend tonight”no mater how fifth grade that sounds. I’ve mapped the entire night out. Since I can’t really take her out anywhere for fear of paparazzi or someone recognizing Elli and reporting back to her mother, we’re going to stay at the house. I’m going to set up a tent in the living room right in front of the fire place so that we can roast s’mores. Elli told me a way back that she had never had a s’more before because she wasn’t much of a wilderness girl and refused to go camping. She hates bugs and snakes and stuff like that. I guess one could label her as a girly girl. I think it’ll be fun or at least I hope it will be.
I just hope Trace leave us the hell alone. I don’t know what’s been up his ass lately but he seems incapable of leaving me and Elli alone. She’ll get here and before she can even sit down he’s in the room and ready to squeeze between us. Needless to say I haven’t been gettin’ much love. Elli is defiantly not one for PDAs and I generally am not either in public, like walking down the street or something. But when I’m just chillin’ with my girl around the house or even with friends or family I’m an affectionate guy. Some girls say I’m too ‘clingy’ and ‘touchy-feely’ but I just don’t see it. I mean what’s wrong with showing a girl I want to be close to her and making sure everyone knows she’s mine and there will be no sharing?
Anyway, back to what I was saying about Trace. He won’t leave us alone and it’s really starting to wear on my nerves. I can’t figure out if he’s jealous of Elli taking up more of my time now or that Elli chose me over him. They were pretty close before me and Elli started dating and he probably misses her running to him with her problems and feels some resentment towards me for taking that place. I don’t really know but it’s getting f**king old.
At the sound of the doorbell I take off upstairs and into my room to make sure I’ll be out of sight. If her mom or Steve find out I’m living here they probably won’t let her stay. I can make out the sound of Elli’s mom’s voice and Trace’s and another man’s. I’m assuming the extra voice belongs to the infamous Officer Steve. And what are the chances that her mom would start dating a cop. I mean it would be bad enough for just her mom to find out about our relationship but to have a cop find out would be….really bad”that’s putting it mildly.
“Which room?” I hear Elli call and from the sound of it she’s standing just outside my door. My stomach turns in nervousness. Please don’t let them come in here. I crack the door just enough to see Elli standing there with a small suitcase in one hand and a lavender pillow tucked underneath her other arm. Feeling extremely brave I reach a hand out and grab one of her arms. She gasps loudly, nearly screaming before turning to look at me with wide eyes. “What are you doing?” She whispers heatedly, looking over her shoulder to make sure no one is coming.
“Saying hello,” I grin pulling her towards me and pressing my lips against hers. I pull back after only a few seconds. As always, a deep blush is covering her cheeks. “Hi.”
“You’re gonna get me in trouble,” She mumbles through the smile she’s desperately trying to suppress. She pulls away from me and walks just across the hall to one of the many guest rooms. When we both hear heavy footsteps I quickly slip back out of sight, but leave my door cracked so I can see what’s going on”I’m just nosey like that.
“Wrong room,” Trace informs her, walking her farther down the hall. He ushers her into the room just across from his and two down from me. You see what I mean about him putting distance between us? Not that I need easy access to her room”I would never try to sneak into her room or anything”but I know he’s doing this on purpose. It’s like he doesn’t trust me or something. I roll my eyes and silently close the door. I really hope he’s not like this all week….
~*~*~*~
(Trace’s POV)
“This room is nice.” Ms. Montgomery smiles as her eyes scan the very neutral looking guest room. This isn’t the best looking room in the house but is the farthest one from Justin’s room without putting her on a different floor. What? I just don’t want to give him any ideas by having Elli stay in the room just across from him. Access would be just a bit too easy.
Elli smiles at her mom from her perch at the foot of the bed. She looks younger than normal today. I think it’s the clothes. She’s wearing jean overalls and a yellow collar shirt with her hair pulled back in a ponytail and matching ribbon. She looks”well, her age. I guess when she’s with Justin I try to forget her age and pretend she’s at least like twenty.
“Now are you sure you’re going to be alright?” Her mom asks in a concerned tone that only a mother can possess. “I wish Liz and her mother were in town.”
“I’ll be fine Mom.” Elli assures, “Don’t you trust Justin?”
Actually she doesn’t know Justin. She shouldn’t trust me. She doesn’t even know me. All I’ve done since the moment I met her is lie and that makes me feel like”shit. I hate lying.
“Of course I do.” Her mom winks at me as she starts to unpack Elli’s clothing into the dresser to the right of the bed. “I’m more worried that I’m going to leave thinking everything is alright when you’re really mad at me.”
“I’m not mad Mom.” She says with a guilty look masking her face. She must feel ten times worse than I do. I mean she’s not only been lying but she’s been lying to her mother. That’s the worst feeling in the world”when your mom catches you in a lie. I’ve had that happen more times than I can count. When I was a teenager I lied to my mom all the time, but she never really found out about it since I spent most of my time on the road with Justin. I still feel bad about it though.
“Now if you for any reason feel that you’re not okay with me being in New York or just miss me too much, you call my cell phone and I’ll be on the first available flight home.” Her mom sputters out in rush of breath.
“I’ll be fine, really. I want you to enjoy yourself.”
“Oh, my baby is growing up so fast,” Ms. Montgomery cries as she rushes to Elli’s side and buries her in her arms. She pets the Elli’s hair and kisses the top of her head lovingly. Elli hugs her back and they both exchange goodbyes and I love yous. “You better take care of my baby.” She says, looking at me over Elli’s head.
~*~*~*~
(Justin’s POV)
My head flicks away from the television when I hear the door handle click. Elli’s head pops in and my face is instantly covered with a smile the moment I see hers. Her mom must have finally left. I didn’t think she was ever going to leave and if she did she was going take Elli with her.
“What’re you watching?” She asks innocently nearing my bed. I turn back to the TV that has been on mute since her mother got here. It’s Patch Adams but I’m not really watching it. I can’t watch this movie all the way through because”don’t tell anyone”it makes me cry.
“Nothin.” I shrug my shoulders and pat the spot next to me. She stops, hesitating for only an instant before hopping up on the bed and settling in next to me, resting her back against some pillows. “You’re mom made it out okay?”
“Yep.” She smiles sweetly but I can tell she’s feeling guilty about lying to her mom so much. It’s hard and we’ve barely been at this thing we have going on. I know I hate lying to my Momma and I’m not too sure I’ll be able to do it if she starts asking questions. I mean the first time she asks me how old Elli is I’ll probably spill my guts. She’s always been able to see right through me anyway so what’s the use in trying to deceive her when I know it won’t work?
“You look cute today.” I compliment, playfully poking at her side. As one would expect, she blushes and bashfully lowers her head to stare at her lap. I slid one arm around her shoulders and nudge her just a bit closer so that her side is just touching mine. She curls her legs up and turns to face me a bit more but is still turned enough to watch the TV. Her hand seeks out mine and instead of holding it like I thought she was going to she steal the remote and turns the sound back on. I steal the remote back and toss it to the end of the bed before intertwining our fingers and resting them over my stomach. She sighs contently and rests her head on my shoulder.
This is nice. Look at how comfortable she is with me right now. For a while I thought she would never loosen up enough to just sit and snuggle with me. I should probably thank Trace for that. I mean if he wasn’t constantly around we wouldn’t have extended the just friends thing for so long. Also, I think that not being able to be close like this left both of us more wanting of it.
Oh we’re going to have to change the channel now. This is when the movie starts to get sad. I cannot watch this movie without crying. It doesn’t matter how many times I’ve seen it, I always cry. I can’t cry in front of her. I can feel it coming. My eyes are stinging. I sniffle and wipe my eyes quickly and quietly as the tears start to slide down my cheeks. Why does Carin have to die!
“Are you crying?” Elli asks in a small voice as she twists her body to get a better look at me. I lift both of my hands to cover my face in embarrassment. For once I’m the one embarrassed and she’s not. What a switch! “You are!”
A pout forms on my face at the sound of her laughter. “I am not.”
She bites down on her bottom lip to stop her giggles and reaches one of her hands up and wipes it across my cheek. When she pulls back she takes a moment to examine her fingers before holding them up to me.
“Those are tears on my fingers.” She smiles cutely. Wrapping my fingers around her wrist I lift her fingers closer to my mouth. Her smile falters the moment I insert the tip of her index finger into my mouth. She swallows nervously, but her eyes never leave mine. A grin breaks out on my face as I playfully lick her hand making sure to cover her entire hand with saliva. Her face crinkles in disgust and she tires to pull from my grasp. “Ewe, let go!”
I drop her hand and she immediately wipes it on the sleeve of my shirt. “You’re so disgusting.”
“Hey there are plenty of women out there who would pay good money to have me lick them!” I laugh.
“They’re nuts.” At her response my hands latch onto her sides and I being tickling her furiously. She is the most ticklish person I’ve ever….tickled. Even Jon and Steven aren’t this ticklish. I barely even touch her and she goes crazy. It’s the cutest thing I’ve ever seen.
“Stop it”please!” She screams through her laughter, kicking her legs and grabbing at my hands. After a few more minutes of torture, I finally relent and pull back to give her room to catch her breath. Instead of resting she jumps to her knees and attacks me.
She wiggles her fingers against my sides but lucky me, I’m not ticklish. Well except for my feet but she doesn’t need to know that. She frowns when I give no response and moves her hands to under my arms, but still gets nothing. She glares at me for a moment before turning and crawling to the end of the bed. She smiles evilly before yanking on one of my shoe laces. I kick my feet away from her and quickly grab a pillow from beside me and swat her in the side with it. She starts to tumble over but is quick enough to grab a hold of my ankles to steady her. She looks over at me with wide eyes and her mouth hanging open as if she can’t believe I just did that.
I wiggle my eyebrows and toss her a pillow and yell, “Pillow fight!”
~*~*~*~
(Elli’s POV)
We both fall onto our backs out of pure exhaustion. Man do pillow fights and the tickle monster take a lot out of you. I can barely breathe from getting knocked around so much. It was fun though.
“Damn girl you got one hell of a right hook on ya.” Justin laughs through is labored breathing.
“Yeah, there’s more where that came from.” I crack, receiving a pinch in the side. I squeal, smacking his hand away from me. “Leave me alone.”
I roll my head to the side when I feel the bed shift. Justin sits up and I watch him walk across the room and flip what looks like a light switch but actually lights the fireplace. Why is he lighting a fire when it’s like ninety degrees outside? I’m already sweating from the pillow fight.
“Come here.” He calls from the opposite side of the room. His back is to me as he fiddles with something. I wonder what he’s doing. Is it wrong to be a little nervous? Biting my lip, I slowly make my way off the bed and over to him. He turns to me with a sly smile and hands me a wooden stick thing with a marshmallow on the end. We’re going to roast marshmallows? “I thought we’d make s’mores. I remember you telling me you’ve never had one.”
I can’t believe he remembered that. This is one of the sweetest things anyone has ever done for me. I could just squeeze him to death. We both sit on the pillows he has set up in front of the fire and lift our marshmallows to the fire. He then instructs me on the proper way to roast mine in order to achieve the ‘perfect’ marshmallow. When I’m finished roasting he pulls out the graham crackers and Hershey bars which I grab up greedily.
“Good?” He asks after I take my first bite. I nod excitedly. These are really, really good. His fingers reach just under my chin as his lips seek out mine in a kiss ten times sweeter than any chocolate bar. He licks his lips after we pull back. “Mmm, that is good.”
“Hey, guys what ya doin’?” We both turn around at the sound of Trace’s voice. He has the best timing doesn’t he?
Justin groans and rolls his eyes as Trace comes to squeeze between us. He grabs Justin’s stick and begins to roast his own marshmallow. Justin leans back on his hands extending one arm so that his hand rests just behind Trace. He wiggles his fingers at me so I inch my hand towards his until our fingers touch. Just this tiny touch and my stomach flip-flops”I love that.
Trace turns to me with an enthusiastic smile and exclaims, “I love s’mores!”
TBC.....
Number of reviews: 478
Print:
Chapter or Story