These Four Words

I wasn’t exactly happy to be up this early, and I definitely wasn’t happy to be up this early to exercise. I’m pretty sure the sun was up an hour after I was. Actually, I'm positive. When John woke me up at five forty-five, I thought he was joking. I mean we all just pretend to be morning people, right? Well not good ole Jonny boy. He was way too excited this morning. I mean drank the entire pot of coffee and took some speed, jumpy. Which is exactly the reason why he forgot to pack us breakfast and lunch. I obviously wasn't still focused on that. John, however, did not forget the coffee. I think I did something in my past life to be blessed for that.

I was savoring the last few sips of the great columbian brew when the ever so impatient John yelled over his shoulder. “Come on Erin!” He shouted a good fifty feet in front of me. “We are almost there!” I rolled my eyes in a playful manner. We were almost there twenty minutes ago when I asked for a break. We had been hiking for about an hour and a half now and while I did hot yoga and spin class to stay in shape, it was nothing compared to this uphill hike. I honestly thought this was John's punishment for me. I quickly jogged to catch up to Mr. Longlegs.

“Oh my gosh,” I breathed looking over the orange cliff. There was this huge waterfall that was completely deserted and it opened up into this small spring that was crystal clear. Even though the weather was barely pushing sixty-eight, I still wanted to jump in.

“We found this place when we were kids,” John told me smiling. “It’s become quite popular for underage drinking and high school parties in the past few years.”

I smirked, “I’m guessing it had something to do with you?” John just continued to gleam in response.

“Let’s go for a dip!” John yelled excitedly as he began to peal off his shirt.

“It’s too cold!” I told him as he moved to take off his joggers. “You’ll catch a cold!”

“It’s a hot springs,” John told me as if it was obvious. “Either you are coming in willingly or I’m dragging you in.” I held up my hands in surrender and began to undress myself. Once we were both in our undies, John took my hand and dragged me to the top of the falls. “On the count of three,” John told me smiling. I felt the adrenaline pumping through my veins. As a teen this was quite the normal for me. I would skip class and go on adventures, many that could have killed me. I lived for this feeling. I gripped on to John's hand a little tighter. “THREE!” He yelled and before I could protest we were both hurling ourselves off the rock. As soon as my body hit the water I knew it wasn’t an actual hot springs. While the water was warmer than a lake or a river this time of year, it was still freezing.The sharp pain on the cold water brought me to the surface as quick as my little legs could kick me.

“John!” I yelled with my teeth shaking. “You lying bastard, this isn’t a hot springs!”

He laughed swimming closer to me, “Oops.” His arm snaked around my waist and pulled me closer into his body. “Guess we will have to stay together for warmth.”

“You are a sneaky little boy,” I laughed wrapping my legs around him, loving the way he just melted into me.

“I’m not little,” He told me with a pout.

“Whatever helps you sleep at night.” John with a more determined face pushed me closer to him and I gasped when I felt his erection beginning to form. “Already?” I bit back a smirk. I loved what I did to him.

“I’m crazy for you baby,” His lips moved to my neck and I threw my head back. I enjoyed the way his lips could ignite my body.

“What about the whole ‘no sex’ thing?” I asked between moans. John pulled back and I tried not to whimper.

“Fuck that,” John scoffed.

“Thank god!” I pulled John back and crashed my lips on to his. We lost no time savoring the moment. We wanted, no we needed, each other desperately. This was cardinal desire, I reminded myself as John's hands moved my underwear to the side. I felt him poke at my entrance. John and I used each other for sex. There couldn't possibly be anything more. My thoughts became more jumbled as I felt him enter me.

"John," I moaned out wrapping my legs around him tighter so he could go deeper. I attached my lips to John's neck, which momentary stopped his actions before he began pounding into me even harder and faster than before.

"Jesus," He moaned out. "What. You. Do. To. Me." He breathed out between thrust. I was unraveling fast. With one final thrust, John pulled out and I came hard and fast. I floated up on my back to catch my breath.

Once we finished and calmed down properly, we clambered out of the water pretty quick and threw back on our clothes half-hazardly. John and I were both too cold to continue our walk so we decided that we would just head home and hang out until it was time to get ready for the big party tonight. I wasn't complaining because after our little exercise, I wasn't going to be able to make it much further. John and I made it back to the car in just under thirty minutes. He handed me a towel and I dried off quickly before hopping in the passenger side of his jeep. John climbed in seconds after me and started the car.

“I’m glad you decided to come,” John reached over the consul and grabbed my hand.

“Me too,” I shot him a grin. “I can’t wait to meet all of your friends.”

“They are a little insane.” He backed up and began the forty-five minute drive back to his place.

I giggled. “All the best ones are.” I looked out the window and a thought dawned on me. “What if they don’t like me?”

I saw John frown from the corner of my eye. “I mean it is possible but not likely. You are awesome and they will love you.” He gave my hand a reassuring squeeze. “I do have one question though.”

“Shoot.”

“Should I introduce you as Erin or Ophelia? I know I introduced you to my Mom as Erin but that was more out of reflex and it’s hard to lie to her. With the guys though, I want you to decide.”

I felt conflicted. On one hand I hand made a name for Ophelia. She was always more liked than Erin was and she was extremely successful. If the boys recognized the name Erin then I was done. They weren’t stupid, one of them was sure to recognize me and it was better to me honest about it then caught in a lie. “Erin,” I told him smiling. “I think it’s about time that I drop Ophelia.”

John shot me a million dollar smile. “I couldn’t agree more.”

I stared out the windowing realizing what this meant for me. I was giving up this safety blanket I had built for myself. The minute Erin returned I was opening myself up to attacks from loyal fans of Alex and even Kyle. I was going to have to face the decision I made. Was I ready? I couldn't tell. Nobody is really ready to lay in the bed they made. Sometimes running away was easier than fighting. Other times, like this, to be happy required me to stand my ground. If I wanted to be truly happy, I needed to fight my demons.