Unraveling

I wouldn’t have known it was morning, save for the fact that we had slept for quite a few hours.

As I opened my eyes, they landed on the bare wall a few inches from me. If I moved my head forward enough, I could touch it. A body was snuggled against my back, the warmth breath of its owner tickling the nape of my neck with each exhale.

I rolled my body around, still remaining underneath the arm that had wrapped itself around my body. Tyler’s face was smashed against the pillow; his lips parted just the slightest. Beneath his eyelids, I could see his eyes move back in forth in his dream. I grinned, holding back a giggle.

My eyes moved further down his body to the amazing chest that adorned this person. We were separated by only a few inches. I wanted to pull myself close and eradicate the distance. But I stopped myself, letting him sleep.

I traced my finger down his chest, between his pectoral muscles and back up. Tyler shifted, pulling me closer.

“Stop that,” He whispered, his voice husky from the morning.

“Stop what?”

He squeezed me gently, but returned to his sleeping once more.

I giggled, pulling out of his grip and sitting up. Tyler was reluctant to let me go, but he did nonetheless. I watched as he shifted his body onto his stomach, sliding his hands beneath the pillow as he did. His back muscles contracted with the movement.

I slid off the bed, making my way toward the bathroom. Closing the door behind me, I pulled the bag I had left on the counter before me and inspected the insides. The gifts I hadn’t used were still in there, in addition to my day clothes and other accessories.

I pulled out my cell phone, checking the screen.

One missed call from my grandmother only a few minutes ago. Curious, I called her back, holding the phone to my ear.

She answered on the second ring.

“Avery?!” She asked in worried tone.

“Yeah…?”

“Oh my Lord, where are you?” She sounded both relieved to hear my voice, yet furious with me for some reason, “I most certainly know you’re not at Karen’s house. Where are you, and why didn’t you answer your phone?”

Shit.

I fabricated a lie, “I had it on silent, Grandma, I was trying to sleep. I already told you—I’m not at Karen’s tonight. I’m at Lisa’s.”

“Lisa? Who’s Lisa?”

“She’s the quiet girl?”

My grandmother thought for a moment before breathing a sigh of relief. “Well, I guess that’s good. I could have sworn you told me Karen’s.”

I did.

“Nope, Lisa. I think you’re hearing’s going, Grandma.” I forced in an awkward laugh to ease the tension.

“Maybe so.” She mumbled more to herself than to me.

“Why are you calling?”

“Well, I was calling to tell you that I needed you back by noon. I have an appointment at the doctor’s, and you need to drive me there.” She sounded irritated at that. She hated the doctor’s, “When you didn’t answer, I called Karen’s house, and she didn’t have a clue as to why you weren’t there.”

“Probably because I wasn’t at her house.”

“Next time, leave a note as to where you’ll be. You know how my memory is these days. I was about ready to call the police.”

I giggled, shaking my head softly, “Please don’t overreact. I’m only at a friend’s houses.”

“I know that now.” She gave a small chuckle at the end, “Alright, have fun there. I’ll see you when you get back.”

“I’ll be back around eleven.”

“Sounds good.”

“Bye, Grandma.”
“Bye, Avery.”

I hung up the phone. Slinking against the sink, a sigh of relief escaped my lips. While lying to my grandmother wasn’t my favorite thing in the world, if she had learned where I had really spent the night, I would never be allowed to go to college. She’d never met Tyler, save for the one encounter when she walked in on us.

I set my phone by the sink, turning to look at myself in the mirror. If Tyler and I were going to be a couple, I should at least introduce him to my grandmother.

But that would mean introducing him to Karen.

And I didn’t think I was comfortable with doing that.

Shaking my head, I stripped out of the clothes I had worn to Taco Bell, and slept in, and made my way into the shower. The water was warm as it beat down on my skin, sending a wave of chills throughout me. Tyler’s shower was much smaller than I was accustomed to, but I guess when all you did was stand under a stream of water, not having to worry about shaving legs or pits or other areas, space wasn’t a requirement.

As I ran a layer of conditioner in my hair, I thought about our unholy actions committed last night. To an outsider, we were rushing our relationship. But to me it felt the perfect pace. We had been in a relationship the moment I learned of his identity. Only yesterday had it become official.

He had asked me to move in with him, and now we had slept together. While we most certainly were rushing things, it didn’t feel rushed. It felt the perfect pace. Tyler did everything perfectly—no pun intended.

I heard the door to the bathroom open and through the shower curtain saw a dark figure approach. A grin crossed my lips when a hand gripped the end of the curtain, pulling it back to reveal the devious face of my boyfriend.

“Hello there, gorgeous.” Tyler’s eyes moved down my body, taking everything in. “Mind if I join you?”

“Not at all.” I grabbed his hand, giving him a gentle tug in.

He closed the curtain behind him, his hands slipped around my waist. I pulled him under the spray of water, giggling against his lips as he kissed me hard. Tyler ignored my actions, his lips moving with mine perfectly.

Our shower lasted longer than was necessary.

~*~

“How was Lisa’s?” My grandmother asked as we drove home from her appointment. The windows had been lowered halfway with the warm air blowing in quickly. I tucked a few strands behind my ear, keeping my eyes on the road as I responded.

“It was… good.”

“Next time you go to a friend’s house, make sure it’s one I know.”

“You know Lisa.”

“Not very well.” She argued defensively, “It was such a fright waking up to your empty bed and not knowing where you’d been.”

“It’ll be empty once I go away to college.”

“True, true.”

I didn’t respond after that. The remainder of the ride was silent with nothing but the sound of air rushing past our ears to fill the void. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see my grandmother nodding her head softly to an invisible beat as she stared out the window. I wasn’t sure how well her sight was, whether she could depict the scenery passing by or not.

Minutes later, we arrived at our home.

As we got out of the car, she decided to strike up conversation again.

“Do you have any plans for later tonight?”

“How much later?” I asked, grabbing my keys and opening the door for us.

She moved to the kitchen, waiting for me to follow after. “Six or so. Sylvia invited us over for dinner.”

“Is Peter going to be there?”

My grandmother pursed her lips, thinking, “She didn’t mention whether or not he would be. I would assume yes, but I have no definite answer.”

I nodded. “Casual?”

“Of course.” She said, “We won’t stay too late.”

“Sounds good to me.” I directed my body toward the stairs, hoping to end the conversation as soon as I could. I was still tired from the night I had had before, and my body needed some rest before I engaged in any more interaction with people. “I’m going to go take a cat-nap beforehand. I’ll be up around five.”

“Too much fun last night?”

Nervously, I laughed, “Yeah.”

“Alright, Avery, I’ll try to keep myself quiet while you’re asleep. Don’t forget to set an alarm to wake yourself up.”

“I won’t.” I gave her a soft smile before making my way up to my room. My limps felt sore from all the activity I had been doing. As I trudged up the stairs, I realized that instead of sleep, I simply needed to lie in bed for a few hours.

My mind scanned through the miniature library on my bookshelf in my room, trying to find a book that would satisfy me for a few hours while I relaxed.

I only had at the most ten different books that I had read a thousand times. There weren’t any that stuck out to me, but I knew that once I opened one, I wouldn’t be able to put it down until I was forced to.

I opened my door to a surprise.

The handsome figure was face up on my bed with his head angled toward my direction with a sloppy grin sprawled across his face. I raised an eyebrow and glanced behind me to make sure my grandmother hadn’t followed me up the stairs.

“What are you doing here?” I asked as I closed the door behind me, taking tiptoe steps over to where he laid.

He grinned, shifting his body so that I had room on the small bed, “I didn’t want to wait until nighttime to see my girlfriend.”

I giggled and sat on the edge of the bed, looking him over. “I’m glad you didn’t. I missed you too.”

His fashion amazed me. He wore the same general style as he had been with a plain tight-fitted black shirt with dark denim jeans. He had his shoes off and let his bright white socks hang off the edge of my bed. The necklace once again stood out against the darkness of his shirt.

“I really like seeing you without your costume on.” I said, running a hand up and down his chest softly.

“Oh yeah?”

“It’s nice to see what you’re fashion is like.”

He grinned.

“So why are you really here?”

“I want to do something tonight.” He said as he slipped an arm around my waist and held me captive to him. “Something adventurous.”

I bit my lip. “Problem…”

“What?”

“My grandmother’s friend invited us over to dinner at six… so I’m going there.”
He snorted, giving me an eye roll, “Please, what I want to do will be done after six. When you can back, we’ll go have a little bit of fun.”

I raised an eyebrow, “What are you talking about?”

“You’ll see.”

I curled myself on the bed so that I was leaning into him. My head rested in the crook of his neck perfectly. We seemed to mold together as if our bodies were made for one another. The steady pattern of his breathing matched mine. I could hear his pulse in my ear pumping blood steadily. The rhythmic beating could have sent me into a coma.

“Are you really that tired?” He asked, chuckling.

I shrugged, “What can I say? I had a late night.”

Tyler pressed his lips to the top of my head.

“But it was totally worth it, right?”

I nodded with a yawn, “Just so you’re aware, I don’t think my body can tolerate another night like last night so soon.”

His chest rumbled with laughter, “Don’t worry. I’ll let you recover a little bit before we go for it again.”

I giggled, “Thanks.”