Sequel: Weapons of War ›
Seven Year Ache
FIRST DATE
October 2002
Riley sat cross legged on the floor of her bedroom in front of the tall mirror on the back of her closet door. She glanced at the clock, it was nearly seven and Shea would be here within the next fifteen minutes. Just the thought of him showing up on her doorstep made her stomach erupt in butterflies, something she couldn’t help but roll her eyes at. Her body and her heart were betraying her head. She wasn’t even interested in him, in fact she had only agreed to the date to appease Lindsay and to get Shea to shut up and stop asking her out every time he saw her.
Still she looked back at the mirror and went through her very simple routine of mascara and lip balm. She ran her fingers through her curly mess of dark hair and let out a sigh, yanking her index finger through a knot quickly. She picked at a ball of lint on her thin, dark green sweater and then pushed her clammy hands into her light wash jeans. Pursing her lips Riley stared at her reflection wondering why she didn’t spend the hour straightening her hair, why she didn’t apply a little more makeup. She wondered why she even agreed to this, and she really, really wondered why she cared so damn much.
When the doorbell rang she was sure her heart stopped for a moment, and before she even felt it beat again she jumped up from her spot on the floor and went flying to the door. Her father was rounding the corner from the kitchen with a dish rag in his hands when she stuffed her runners on, grabbed her jacket and called out, “I’m leaving. Bye.”
She practically slammed into Shea as she left the house and yanked the door shut behind her. He couldn’t help but chuckle at this and step back to give her some extra room, and with her cheeks flushed Riley shot him a smile as he asked, “Ready?”
She nodded and followed him to his car, taking note of the fact that he both opened and closed the door for her. As he was making his way to the driver’s side of the car Riley glanced around, surprised to find that aside from the water bottle in the cup holder it was spotless. They sat in silence for the entire drive to the theatre, Shea was sure that going to the movies for a first date wasn’t ideal but there wasn’t much else two teenagers could do. What was he supposed to do, invite her for dinner with his billets? He didn’t think so.
As they were walking side by side into the theatre Shea glanced down at her and asked, “What do you want to see?”
Taking a moment to look at the movie posters Riley told him with a grin, “Sweet Home Alabama.”
Shea stared at her for a moment, both surprised and not surprised by her response. Riley had never struck him as a chick flick kind of girl, but maybe that just showed how little he really knew about her. Making the vow to change that he kept his groan to himself as he told her, “Alright.”
Riley let out a laugh at his reaction and told him, “I’m kidding. Barbershop?”
With a sigh of relief Shea lead the way to buy their tickets and Riley couldn’t help but watch him in both amusement and curiosity. There was a small part of her that was beginning to believe him when he said he was different, everything he had said and done thus far proved that. He definitely didn’t seem like every other hockey player she had met, and he hadn’t once let his eyes wander below her face, which now that she actually had breasts to stare at was a huge plus in Riley’s book.
The woman behind the counter gave them an odd look, and Riley could guess that they probably made an interesting looking couple, not that they were a couple anyway. Shea was so large that Riley was sure if she hadn’t had that miraculous growth spurt over the summer she would look like his kid sister or something. Hell, maybe she looked like that anyway.
Riley picked two seats in an empty row in the back of the theatre, something Shea noticed but didn’t say anything to. She turned her head to look at him and ask, “So why the movies?”
Shea grinned and told her, “It was my best option to not have to listen to you yap all night.”
Riley burst into a fit of laughter, even reaching over to slap his forearm that was resting on the arm rest between them. Once she stopped laughing she asked him, “Are you sure it wasn’t because you finally got me to go out with you and you don’t know what to say to me other than ‘are you busy tomorrow night’?”
“Possibly, but you’ll never know.” He stated with a shrug of his shoulders, making her chuckle t him. He turned to the screen as the previews but Riley kept her eyes on him, studying him.
His knees were practically touching the seats in front of them, a quick glance at their feet made her eyes widen at the size difference, his broad shoulders meant that his bicep was rubbing against her shoulder whenever one of them moved. He had one hand in his lap while the other was hanging off the arm rest, and he occasionally glanced at it as if he was trying to decide whether he should put it on her leg or not.
She turned her attention away from him once the movie started, but found herself unable to keep her eyes on the screen as time wore on. She could have jumped out of her skin when his large, warm hand slid into hers and his fingers intertwined with hers. Riley glanced down at their hands that were resting in her lap, her tanned skin creating a contrast with his much paler one, even in the dark theatre. Her eyes wandered up his arm, the muscles in his bicep and shoulder stood out even under his t-shirt. Her cheeks flushed scarlet as her eyes lifted to his face and found him staring at her as well.
Shea watched her look up at her, he couldn’t see whether she was blushing or not but he had to guess that with the way her eyes moved away from his that she was. He felt a sort of pride in knowing he could make her blush so easily. He gave her hand a gentle squeeze which pulled her attention back to him, and he brought his free hand up to her face, his thumb rubbing against her jaw gently. When she didn’t pull away Shea took the chance and leaned toward her, and surprisingly both of them Riley leaned even closer to him. They were practically touching, only a few centimeters apart, and finally Shea closed the distance, his hand never pulling away from her face even as their lips met.
They parted a few seconds later, much to Shea’s dismay, but when Riley smiled gently up at him that disappointment in how short their first kiss was dissipated. He wouldn’t have caught her smile if they hadn’t been so close, and that smile let him know that at the very least she liked kissing him. He could work on the whole her liking him part later.
He took another chance by leaning down to connect their lips for a second time. He couldn’t deny that he hadn’t been thinking of doing this the minute he laid eyes on her at the party a month ago. He had spent several private moments thinking about kissing her plush lips, and as she slid as close to him as their seats would allow, wrapping her hand around his bicep to grab hold of him he knew there was nothing as good as the real thing.
Shea had never so glad to sit in the back of a theatre before.
Two hours and a front seat make out session in the parking lot later Shea was pulling into the driveway of Riley’s house. When he put the car in park Riley turned in her seat to face him and he couldn’t help but ask curiously, “So did I pass the first date test?”
“That remains to be determined.” Riley stated with a nonchalant shrug of her shoulders.
He raised an eyebrow and asked her, “Anything I could do to help my case?”
She made a face like she was thinking; her head slightly tilted, lips pushed to one side of her mouth, and Shea decided right there that he’d never seen anything cuter. Eventually she held her hand up and curled her finger, silently telling him to come closer. When he did she curled her finger again to get him as close as possible, and when he was close enough she kissed him softly. So softly he barely felt it, but he knew it happened.
Pulling away she told him with a soft smile, “You can keep doing that.”
“What? Kissing you?” He asked her, and when she nodded he flashed her a wide smile and told her, “Done.”
He leaned over the console and kissed her again. One hand wrapped around her side, pressed into the middle of her back, while the other cradled the back of her neck, holding where she was as his lips moved against hers. She grabbed the forearm of the hand that was around the back of her neck while the other one pressed flat against his chest. He really was all muscle, something that didn’t go unnoticed or unappreciated. She practically sighed into his mouth and Shea couldn’t stop his lips from forming a smirk against hers.
A knock on the passenger door window caused them to pull apart, Shea immediately growing embarrassed to find an older man standing outside the car with a raised eyebrow. He knew it was Riley’s dad, but she didn’t seem so worked up about having been caught, unlike Shea. She simply leaned over and kissed his cheek before telling him, “See you later.”
With that she got out of the car and Shea watched her link arms with her dad and disappear into the house. He let out a large breath of air and leaned back into his seat, closing his eyes for a fraction of a second.
From inside the house Riley watched Shea pull out of the driveway and down the street before she turned to her dad, who was watching her in amusement, and asked, “What?”
He shook his head at her before asking, “Were you planning on inviting him in so I could meet him?”
“Oh dad, no way.” She stated, a little too quickly for his liking. When he raised his eyebrow at her response Riley explained, “What? It was one date.”
“One date with a boy I’ve never met who’s older than you.” He stated, pouring hot chocolate into two mugs.
When he sat down at the table across from her Riley wrapped her hands around the hot mug and told him, “It’s two years.”
“Still, maybe next time invite the boy in?” She could tell by the tone of his voice it wasn’t a question so she sighed dramatically.
“Fine, but just so you know I am so not impressed with the dictatorship in this house.” She stated before taking a sip of her hot chocolate.
Her father let out a loud laugh, ruffled her hair and told her, “We can revisit this conversation in a couple years.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” She stated.
“So, will there be a next time?” Her father asked, chuckling when she shot him a confused look. He simply explained to her, “I need to start preparing early kiddo. There isn’t exactly a manual on this you know.”
“On what? Your kid dating? Dad come on.” She muttered with an eye roll.
He shook his head at her, “I was once a seventeen year old boy, I know what goes on in their minds.”
Riley couldn’t help but grin, “So? What’s the issue with that?”
“I always knew you’d be a handful kid.” He told her with a shake of his head.
As he took a drink Riley told him, “But you’ve learned to love me.”
“Six days a week.” He stated, making Riley narrow her eyes at him. He chuckled and told her, “What? You’re not always sunshine and rainbows you know. I’m allowed to dislike you for a day.”
“I’m you kid, the best thing that ever happened to you. You’re supposed to love me every day of the week you know.” She told him with a pointed look that he responded to with a casual shrug of his shoulders.
“Well I didn’t love you very much when you drew all over the walls. Or when you left your bike behind my car and I drove over it. I especially didn’t love you very much when I had to replace a window after you locked yourself out, and I really don’t love you when you go on a date with an older boy and don’t let me meet him.”
“You’re so dramatic, and for your information I did not leave my bike behind your car.” Riley told him as she took their empty mugs to the sink to wash.
He turned to look at her as she did this before he mused out loud, “I guess you’re not a little kid anymore.”
“Nope.” She told him, turning to send him a smile.
“Just do me a favor?” He asked, making her turn to look at him again after putting their mugs away. She smiled when he asked, “Never get to old to talk to your old man okay?”
“Never.” She told him, leaning down to kiss his cheek before saying, “I’m going to bed.”
“Night.”
As she was climbing up the stairs she called out, “Love you.”
She heard him say it back before she closed her bedroom door and dropped onto her back on her bed. A smile forming on her lips as she thought about the way her small hand fit into Shea’s much larger one, how softly he kissed her, and that dimple. Good lord that dimple was going to be the death of her.
Riley sat cross legged on the floor of her bedroom in front of the tall mirror on the back of her closet door. She glanced at the clock, it was nearly seven and Shea would be here within the next fifteen minutes. Just the thought of him showing up on her doorstep made her stomach erupt in butterflies, something she couldn’t help but roll her eyes at. Her body and her heart were betraying her head. She wasn’t even interested in him, in fact she had only agreed to the date to appease Lindsay and to get Shea to shut up and stop asking her out every time he saw her.
Still she looked back at the mirror and went through her very simple routine of mascara and lip balm. She ran her fingers through her curly mess of dark hair and let out a sigh, yanking her index finger through a knot quickly. She picked at a ball of lint on her thin, dark green sweater and then pushed her clammy hands into her light wash jeans. Pursing her lips Riley stared at her reflection wondering why she didn’t spend the hour straightening her hair, why she didn’t apply a little more makeup. She wondered why she even agreed to this, and she really, really wondered why she cared so damn much.
When the doorbell rang she was sure her heart stopped for a moment, and before she even felt it beat again she jumped up from her spot on the floor and went flying to the door. Her father was rounding the corner from the kitchen with a dish rag in his hands when she stuffed her runners on, grabbed her jacket and called out, “I’m leaving. Bye.”
She practically slammed into Shea as she left the house and yanked the door shut behind her. He couldn’t help but chuckle at this and step back to give her some extra room, and with her cheeks flushed Riley shot him a smile as he asked, “Ready?”
She nodded and followed him to his car, taking note of the fact that he both opened and closed the door for her. As he was making his way to the driver’s side of the car Riley glanced around, surprised to find that aside from the water bottle in the cup holder it was spotless. They sat in silence for the entire drive to the theatre, Shea was sure that going to the movies for a first date wasn’t ideal but there wasn’t much else two teenagers could do. What was he supposed to do, invite her for dinner with his billets? He didn’t think so.
As they were walking side by side into the theatre Shea glanced down at her and asked, “What do you want to see?”
Taking a moment to look at the movie posters Riley told him with a grin, “Sweet Home Alabama.”
Shea stared at her for a moment, both surprised and not surprised by her response. Riley had never struck him as a chick flick kind of girl, but maybe that just showed how little he really knew about her. Making the vow to change that he kept his groan to himself as he told her, “Alright.”
Riley let out a laugh at his reaction and told him, “I’m kidding. Barbershop?”
With a sigh of relief Shea lead the way to buy their tickets and Riley couldn’t help but watch him in both amusement and curiosity. There was a small part of her that was beginning to believe him when he said he was different, everything he had said and done thus far proved that. He definitely didn’t seem like every other hockey player she had met, and he hadn’t once let his eyes wander below her face, which now that she actually had breasts to stare at was a huge plus in Riley’s book.
The woman behind the counter gave them an odd look, and Riley could guess that they probably made an interesting looking couple, not that they were a couple anyway. Shea was so large that Riley was sure if she hadn’t had that miraculous growth spurt over the summer she would look like his kid sister or something. Hell, maybe she looked like that anyway.
Riley picked two seats in an empty row in the back of the theatre, something Shea noticed but didn’t say anything to. She turned her head to look at him and ask, “So why the movies?”
Shea grinned and told her, “It was my best option to not have to listen to you yap all night.”
Riley burst into a fit of laughter, even reaching over to slap his forearm that was resting on the arm rest between them. Once she stopped laughing she asked him, “Are you sure it wasn’t because you finally got me to go out with you and you don’t know what to say to me other than ‘are you busy tomorrow night’?”
“Possibly, but you’ll never know.” He stated with a shrug of his shoulders, making her chuckle t him. He turned to the screen as the previews but Riley kept her eyes on him, studying him.
His knees were practically touching the seats in front of them, a quick glance at their feet made her eyes widen at the size difference, his broad shoulders meant that his bicep was rubbing against her shoulder whenever one of them moved. He had one hand in his lap while the other was hanging off the arm rest, and he occasionally glanced at it as if he was trying to decide whether he should put it on her leg or not.
She turned her attention away from him once the movie started, but found herself unable to keep her eyes on the screen as time wore on. She could have jumped out of her skin when his large, warm hand slid into hers and his fingers intertwined with hers. Riley glanced down at their hands that were resting in her lap, her tanned skin creating a contrast with his much paler one, even in the dark theatre. Her eyes wandered up his arm, the muscles in his bicep and shoulder stood out even under his t-shirt. Her cheeks flushed scarlet as her eyes lifted to his face and found him staring at her as well.
Shea watched her look up at her, he couldn’t see whether she was blushing or not but he had to guess that with the way her eyes moved away from his that she was. He felt a sort of pride in knowing he could make her blush so easily. He gave her hand a gentle squeeze which pulled her attention back to him, and he brought his free hand up to her face, his thumb rubbing against her jaw gently. When she didn’t pull away Shea took the chance and leaned toward her, and surprisingly both of them Riley leaned even closer to him. They were practically touching, only a few centimeters apart, and finally Shea closed the distance, his hand never pulling away from her face even as their lips met.
They parted a few seconds later, much to Shea’s dismay, but when Riley smiled gently up at him that disappointment in how short their first kiss was dissipated. He wouldn’t have caught her smile if they hadn’t been so close, and that smile let him know that at the very least she liked kissing him. He could work on the whole her liking him part later.
He took another chance by leaning down to connect their lips for a second time. He couldn’t deny that he hadn’t been thinking of doing this the minute he laid eyes on her at the party a month ago. He had spent several private moments thinking about kissing her plush lips, and as she slid as close to him as their seats would allow, wrapping her hand around his bicep to grab hold of him he knew there was nothing as good as the real thing.
Shea had never so glad to sit in the back of a theatre before.
Two hours and a front seat make out session in the parking lot later Shea was pulling into the driveway of Riley’s house. When he put the car in park Riley turned in her seat to face him and he couldn’t help but ask curiously, “So did I pass the first date test?”
“That remains to be determined.” Riley stated with a nonchalant shrug of her shoulders.
He raised an eyebrow and asked her, “Anything I could do to help my case?”
She made a face like she was thinking; her head slightly tilted, lips pushed to one side of her mouth, and Shea decided right there that he’d never seen anything cuter. Eventually she held her hand up and curled her finger, silently telling him to come closer. When he did she curled her finger again to get him as close as possible, and when he was close enough she kissed him softly. So softly he barely felt it, but he knew it happened.
Pulling away she told him with a soft smile, “You can keep doing that.”
“What? Kissing you?” He asked her, and when she nodded he flashed her a wide smile and told her, “Done.”
He leaned over the console and kissed her again. One hand wrapped around her side, pressed into the middle of her back, while the other cradled the back of her neck, holding where she was as his lips moved against hers. She grabbed the forearm of the hand that was around the back of her neck while the other one pressed flat against his chest. He really was all muscle, something that didn’t go unnoticed or unappreciated. She practically sighed into his mouth and Shea couldn’t stop his lips from forming a smirk against hers.
A knock on the passenger door window caused them to pull apart, Shea immediately growing embarrassed to find an older man standing outside the car with a raised eyebrow. He knew it was Riley’s dad, but she didn’t seem so worked up about having been caught, unlike Shea. She simply leaned over and kissed his cheek before telling him, “See you later.”
With that she got out of the car and Shea watched her link arms with her dad and disappear into the house. He let out a large breath of air and leaned back into his seat, closing his eyes for a fraction of a second.
From inside the house Riley watched Shea pull out of the driveway and down the street before she turned to her dad, who was watching her in amusement, and asked, “What?”
He shook his head at her before asking, “Were you planning on inviting him in so I could meet him?”
“Oh dad, no way.” She stated, a little too quickly for his liking. When he raised his eyebrow at her response Riley explained, “What? It was one date.”
“One date with a boy I’ve never met who’s older than you.” He stated, pouring hot chocolate into two mugs.
When he sat down at the table across from her Riley wrapped her hands around the hot mug and told him, “It’s two years.”
“Still, maybe next time invite the boy in?” She could tell by the tone of his voice it wasn’t a question so she sighed dramatically.
“Fine, but just so you know I am so not impressed with the dictatorship in this house.” She stated before taking a sip of her hot chocolate.
Her father let out a loud laugh, ruffled her hair and told her, “We can revisit this conversation in a couple years.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” She stated.
“So, will there be a next time?” Her father asked, chuckling when she shot him a confused look. He simply explained to her, “I need to start preparing early kiddo. There isn’t exactly a manual on this you know.”
“On what? Your kid dating? Dad come on.” She muttered with an eye roll.
He shook his head at her, “I was once a seventeen year old boy, I know what goes on in their minds.”
Riley couldn’t help but grin, “So? What’s the issue with that?”
“I always knew you’d be a handful kid.” He told her with a shake of his head.
As he took a drink Riley told him, “But you’ve learned to love me.”
“Six days a week.” He stated, making Riley narrow her eyes at him. He chuckled and told her, “What? You’re not always sunshine and rainbows you know. I’m allowed to dislike you for a day.”
“I’m you kid, the best thing that ever happened to you. You’re supposed to love me every day of the week you know.” She told him with a pointed look that he responded to with a casual shrug of his shoulders.
“Well I didn’t love you very much when you drew all over the walls. Or when you left your bike behind my car and I drove over it. I especially didn’t love you very much when I had to replace a window after you locked yourself out, and I really don’t love you when you go on a date with an older boy and don’t let me meet him.”
“You’re so dramatic, and for your information I did not leave my bike behind your car.” Riley told him as she took their empty mugs to the sink to wash.
He turned to look at her as she did this before he mused out loud, “I guess you’re not a little kid anymore.”
“Nope.” She told him, turning to send him a smile.
“Just do me a favor?” He asked, making her turn to look at him again after putting their mugs away. She smiled when he asked, “Never get to old to talk to your old man okay?”
“Never.” She told him, leaning down to kiss his cheek before saying, “I’m going to bed.”
“Night.”
As she was climbing up the stairs she called out, “Love you.”
She heard him say it back before she closed her bedroom door and dropped onto her back on her bed. A smile forming on her lips as she thought about the way her small hand fit into Shea’s much larger one, how softly he kissed her, and that dimple. Good lord that dimple was going to be the death of her.
♠ ♠ ♠
Wooot update.Their first date.
I love them.
That is all.
Also: drop a line. Thanks.