With These Words

By the time Kyle and I meandered back into the bowling alley, we were hardly in the mood to bowl anymore.

“Where were you?” Caleb asked as he undid the laces of his bowling shoes. “I had to bowl your last three frames for you.”

“And how did we do?” I asked changing out my own shoes.

“We won,” he grinned.

“Barely,” Austin mumbled.

“Oh, settle down,” Haley patted his stomach.

He swooped in and stole a quick kiss from her cheek.

After Kyle slipped back on his Nikes, he glanced over at me and smiled.

I was smiling myself. It was becoming quite contagious.

After changing back into my own shoes, Caleb offered to take me rental shoes back to the counter.

“Thanks,” my heart was still on fire. “That would be fantastic.”

“What’s your deal?” Haley asked. She retrieved our matching pink bowling balls and lowered her voice so only I could hear. “You two seems awfully giddy.”

“What?” I pushed my hair behind my ear and grinned.. It was no use being coy, my face gave away that whole thing.

“The boy finally made his move, huh?” She placed the balls on the nearest rack. “How unexpected,” she joked.

I rolled my eyes. From day one she had been predicting this.

“Are we still getting food?” Austin asked coming up behind us.

Haley sighed. “You guys have fun with that,” she pulled her cell phone out of her pocket and checked the time. “I guess I should start making my way to my parents.”

“Do you need a ride?” Kyle asked pulling the keys to his jeep out of his pocket. “I can drop you off on our way to dinner.”

She waved him off. “I’ll call a cab. I need to make a quick stop back at my place first anyway.”

Kyle nodded and started towards the front desk, pulling some money from his wallet.

Haley looked at me and grinned. “For the record, I totally called this. And?” She pulled me into a quick hug and spoke into my ear. “I’m am so freaking excited for you guys!”

“Thanks?” I laughed when she pulled away. The weird feeling was still residing in my stomach.

She faced Austin. “Call me later?”

“Definitely,” he draped his arms around her and pulled her close. “Have fun with your parents.”

“Yeah,” She rolled her eyes.

He smiled and placed a kiss on her forehead.

She pulled away and moved to the carpeted lobby. “Bye, guys!” She called.

Kyle and Caleb waved as they rejoined us.

“You owe my ten bucks,” Caleb told Austin.

I reached into my purse in search of some money.

“It’s cool,” Kyle bumped his shoulder into mine. “I got it.”

I stopped digging around and looked up at him. “Thanks.”

“So who’s ready to eat?” Austin clapped his hands together. He seemed pretty oblivious to the obnoxious grins plastered on mine and Kyle’s faces.

“I’m up for anywhere that has pie,” Caleb voiced his opinion.

“Pie it is,” Austin made his way to the exit with Caleb in tow.

Kyle offered me his hand.

“Such a gentlemen,” I smiled and place my hand in his. His hand was rough and calloused from many years of drumming. I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.

::;::

“You sure you don’t want anymore?” Kent asked holding up a tray of mint Oreos.

“Sure,” I nodded and nudged the tray away. I’d consumed at least half of the package on my own while we waited for the rest of the guys to return.

“Alright,” he grabbed one for himself and set the tray on the coffee table in front of him.

“So where is everyone?” I looked around Kyle’s empty basement. “Usually you guys are pumped for monster movie night.”

“Yeah,” Jonathan yawned, half asleep on the other couch.

I sighed and leaned back into the familiar couch. Kyle had picked me up from the bakery and dropped me off here almost and hour go. I guess it was his turn to go pick up Austin, who refused to ride his scooter, and get the movies. Which meant I was left alone in his basement with Kent, Jonathan, and Caleb.

“Where’s Marc?” I asked looking at his vacant recliner.

“Date,” they all mumbled in unison.

I nodded. He seemed to be out a lot these days…but then again, so was Kyle. I smiled to myself. It had been exactly four and a half days since Kyle and I had officially started a relationship. Not like I was counting or anything though.

“What are you so happy about?” Jonathan started typing on his phone.

“Me?” I pointed to myself.

“Yeah,” he mumbled, his thumbs moving rapidly.

I wasn’t sure if Kyle had told them anything.

“Why wouldn’t she be happy?” Caleb took a sip of the water bottle he was holding. “She gets to spend the rest of her Thursday night in a stuffy basement with a bunch of guys.”

“I thought Kyle said he got the air conditioning fixed down here,” Kent unzipped his sweatshirt and propped his feat up on the coffee table. “It’s at least ninety down here.”

“Do you think he has a fan somewhere?” Jonathan set his phone on the empty seat beside him.

“We could check his room?” Caleb shrugged and took another drink of water.

“Yeah,” Kent snorted. “Dangerous territory.”

Caleb rolled his eyes. “It’s either that or die at this point.”

“Stop being a drama queen,” I took the water bottle from his hand and stole a drink. It was getting hot down here.

“Me?” He looked over at me and smirked. “Drama queen?”

“If the tiara fits?” I smiled and took another sip.

He opened his mouth to say something else, but Austin’s loud clomps down the stairs stopped him.

“We’re back,” He announced setting a stack of DVDs on top of the TV.

“Sorry we took so long,” Kyle followed him down the steps. His eyes found mine and he smiled.

“Seriously?” Kent looked up at him. “If you don’t do something about the temperatures down here, we’re totally going to have to find a new place to hang.”

“They said they’d come by Saturday to fix the air,” Kyle rolled his eyes.

While Austin slipped the first movie into the DVD player, Kyle looked around for a seat. I frowned, realizing that being squished between Kent and Caleb’s stretched out bodies didn’t leave Kyle room anywhere near me.

He instead took Marc’s recliner.

Kent picked up the Oreos again. “You sure you don’t want another one, Georgia?”

“Yes, Kent,” I laughed and took the tray from him, setting it in Caleb’s lap. Anything to get them away from me. “I swear if I eat one more, I will probably die.”

“Well we wouldn’t want that,” Caleb grinned and set the cookies on the floor.

Austin laid down on his stomach in front of the TV and started the first movie.

Somewhere between the opening credits and the first scene, Caleb’s arms found their way along the top of the couch, his right one, slipped casually behind my neck.

I took my eyes off the screen and glanced over at him. His eyes were steadily following the unfolding plot before him.

I returned my own eyes to the movie. It didn’t matter. On my other side Kent was practically laying in my lap and that didn’t mean anything. Caleb was a friendly guy.

::;::

“I should go,” I announced after the second movie. It was getting late and I was struggling to keep my eyes open.

“Huh?” Caleb looked down at me. His arm was warm against my skin.

“I said I should go,” I told him as Austin stumbled up to put in a new disc.

“What?” Kent shook his head and his eyes flickered open.

I laughed and pushed myself off the couch. “I have to go.”

“You’re leaving?” He yawned and sat up straighter. “Already?”

“You’re leaving?” Austin spun around.

“What?” Kyle stretched his arms over his head.

“Guys,” I put my finger to my lips, signaling for them to be quiet. Jonathan was asleep on the couch, and I knew from experience, he did not like to be woken up.

“You’re leaving?” Austin repeated in a whisper.

“Yeah,” I nodded. “Some of us have to work tomorrow.”

Kyle stood up from the chair and slipped Caleb’s moccasins on his feet, too lazy to find his own shoes.. “Let’s go,” he stumbled towards the stairs.

“Bye,” I waved to everyone else before following him. “Are you sure you’re in a good condition to drive?” I laughed as he wobbled up the steps.

“Yeah,” he gripped the railing. “My foot kind of fell asleep though.”

“I can tell…” I watched him move one step at a time. “At this rate I’ll be lucky if I get home in time to leave.”

When we reached the top of the stairs, Kyle reached for my hand.

“Foot feeling better?” I asked as he led me towards the door.

“Yeah,” he yawned with a chuckle. “Much.” He waited for me to grab my purse from the floor.

I slipped the leather straps over my shoulder and looked up at him, my back facing the front door. “You ready?”

“Mmmhhhmmmm,” He placed his palms flat against the door on either side of me and let his face hover over mine. “I’m glad you came tonight,” his voice was quiet in the dark foyer.

“Really?” I tilted my chin up so our lips were almost touching. “Because I could have swo---”

He dipped his head lower and covered my mouth with his.

I slid my hands into his messy hair and pulled him closer to me. He smiled into the kiss and pushed us both closer to the door.

Before this turned into a full fledged make out session, I gently eased him off of me. “I really do have to go…”

He groaned and took a step back. “I suppose I couldn’t just ask you to stay here?”

“Kyle…” My face clearly displayed my thoughts.

“You could sleep upstairs,” he began explaining quickly. “And I could sleep on the couch. I’ll even sleep on the couch in the basement. We’ll have a whole floor between us.”

“The only man I’m sleeping with is my husband,” I felt slightly embarrassed telling him, but I might as well tell him now so he’d know what he was getting into to. Or rather, what he wasn’t getting into.

“I know,” he smiled. “I want you to know that I respect that. And I want you to know that you can stay here with out feeling like I’m going to pressure you into anything,” He took my hands in his. “Because I’m not.”

I squeezed his hands. “Maybe some other time.”

“Ok,” he nodded. He placed a soft kiss on the corner of my mouth. “Let’s get you home.” He reached behind me and twisted the doorknob, opening the door.

I took a step into the cool Texas air.

He followed me and closed the door behind him.

I stopped and turned to face him.

“What’s up?” He smiled and tucked a few stray hairs behind my ear.

“Thank you.” I cleared my throat. “For understanding.”

He laughed and wrapped his arms around me, pulling me into a hug. “I’ll never make you do anything you don’t want to,” he promised. “I always want you to feel comfortable.”

I rested my head against his chest and felt my body relax. I was comfortable here.