“What now?”
I took my time before answering because I knew what she was asking. Some people give up after the chase, they change colors and shit, I don’t have any plans on doing that. As far as I’m concerned the best is yet to come.
“Now we plan for our future. The prom, graduation, that’s just the beginning.” I didn’t tell her that before the summer was over she was going to be my wife, I plan to propose better than that, but damn if I didn’t want to rush out and get the ring this second.
I needed to tell her about our living arrangements but now was not the time, I wasn’t quite ready to tell her about my involvement with Jace and the others so I have to find a way to break the news to her without spilling too much. “I like your dress, it looks beautiful on you.”
“Thanks, I can’t wait to go away to school then I can wear whatever I want.”
“Babe, when you say whatever you want, you talking about those other dresses that you tried on?”
“Well yeah!”
“Then we’re about to have our first fight.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean that you’re not wearing that shit.”
“Todd Henderson!” She picked her head up off my shoulder.
“What?”
“We’re not…we…you…we just barely became a couple and you’re already starting?”
“We’ve been a couple for four years babe, what just happened is that you went from being under your father’s care to mine.”
“Are you serious right now?” I just gave her a look because I know she likes to test me but I wasn’t about to give in on that. Some of those things showed way more than they covered. I might relent and let her wear shorts in public, maybe, but that over exposure shit is a no-no. “Babe, you don’t need to dress like that to please me and I’m the only one you need to please.”
CAITLIN
And that is when I realized I was jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire. I didn’t know if to be pleased or frustrated. Of course I was putting him through the paces because now that I was coming down from my earlier high, it was setting in that we were finally free to be a couple.
If I didn’t know what to do with myself these last few days since he’s been home, that has now been multiplied by ten. And now he’s beginning to sound like daddy. “I have a question.”
“Shoot!”
I had to hide behind my hair to put voice to the words I was about to say.
“Are you gonna wait until we’re married to have… you know.”
“Nope.”
“You’re not?”
“No I’m not, but I’m not having sex with you in your father’s house. He’d shoot me. And by the way, we’re never having sex.”
“What do you mean? You just said…”
“I’ll make love to you for the next eighty years, but we’ll never have sex. Sex is something you do with someone you’re not in love with, it’s too casual.”
He put his lips to my ear and whispered words that made me shiver. “Even if I say I’m going to fuck you, it’s still more intimate than just plain old sex.” My eyes widened and cheeks turned red. And even though he’d never spoken to me that way before, something about it made me twitchy.
Funny, it’s all I can think about since daddy gave the okay. Maybe something is wrong with me. He seems so calm about the whole thing, like he has all the time in the world and there’s no rush. And somehow all my excitement seems to be concentrated on that one thing. I wanna jump his bones.
Oh crap, I just realized, we’re both still virgins. “Todd, how are we going to know what to do?” I felt something approaching panic coming on. I don’t know the first thing about having sex. I mean I know what it is, but I don’t know what to do other than the obvious.
Mom had taught me about the birds and the bees but very sparingly. If daddy even knew she was telling me that stuff he would’ve hit the roof.
“Know what to do about what?”
“You know, sex, you’re still a virgin too right.”
“We’ll learn together, there’s stuff we can read, stuff we can watch, not porn so get that look off your face.” That’s what he thinks, but I’m gonna take my newfound freedom to the heights. Not that I resent daddy’s rules or anything, now that I’m getting my way I’m more than grateful that he’s been the kind of father he has been.
But giving me the okay to go away to college with my boyfriend is tantamount to calling me an adult. And there’s a whole lot that this adult wants to try. Ooh, I can’t wait, I can’t wait, I can’t wait.