Love Me

"Why!? You don't want me anymore!?"

"Uh, no." He gives me a long sweet kiss. "I needed to see with Whitney, and you probably need to see if he really touches your soul. I’m confident that it isn’t going to go well. So go out with him. Get over it. Then come back to me.”

I lay my head on his shoulder and wonder how I could ever leave in the first place.

Sunday, October 30th

My little snuggle bu

9am

There’s a loud bang on the door. “Breakfast in ten."

I open my eyes. I'm exactly where I was when I fell asleep. Snuggled up in Dawson's arms, my head on his chest. I savor the feel of it. The way he smells.

"How's my little snuggle bu

"She doesn't want to move."

"It'll all work itself out, Keatie. I promise."

I run my hand across his stomach, down his abs, and then down a bit further. "You're hard.”

"As much as I’d like to again, I'm saying no."

"You never say no."

"Keatie, last night was perfection. That's what I want you to remember. Also, ten minutes means ten minutes."

"Are we eating here? Do I have to be dressed?"

"Well, I know I’d enjoy you being naked at the breakfast table, but my mom might not appreciate it."

“I meant do you wear your pjs or do I need to put on a dress or something? What will your mom be wearing?"

"Oh, she'll be fully dressed and ready. She gets up early."

"Shit." I start to jump up. He pulls me back down into his chest. "I love you.” Then he smacks my butt and says, "You better hurry. Right now you’re kinda a mess."

I pout.

"A hot mess. I love it. Your mascara is smeared and your hair is a wreck and I made it that way."

I jump up, throw on his robe, sneak out the door, and tiptoe down the hall to the guest room I was supposed to sleep in. I open my door and safely get inside.

But sitting on my bed is Braxton. "You're a mess."

"Shut up." I run into the attached bathroom and see he's right.

Shit.

I brush the tangles out of my hair, rub in some balm, and brush it again. It looks surprisingly good. I grab some eye makeup remover pads and get the smudges out from underneath my eyes, wash my face quick, and sweep on some powder foundation.

I grab my Nars blush. It’s a pale pinky peach called orgasm, which makes me smile. I run my big fluffy brush across the top of the blush, add a little sweep, use the blush as eye shadow, curl my eyelashes, coat on some mascara, and brush my teeth.

Braxton is sitting on the bed watching me.

"Why are you in my room?"

"Well, I was going to tell you it’s time for breakfast."

He gives me Riley’s naughty grin.

“I know it’s time for breakfast, so you can go now."

"I lost track how many times you and Dawson hooked up last night. Really, I was pretty impressed. You were kinda loud. You always that loud?"

"I'm not discussing that with you."

I grab clean clothes, run in the bathroom, lock the door, and throw them on.

I open the door, dressed and ready in record time.

Braxton licks his lips. For a little kid, he's pretty sexy. He’s going to break a few hearts next year, for sure. "So you'd rather talk about it at breakfast in front of the family? That's cool with me. Mom will probably freak, but whatever."

I stop and glare at him. "You say one thing, make even one little i

"I love to suck on things when I'm in bed."

“No girl will come near you."

He squints his eyes at me, sizing up my seriousness.

"Fine. But after breakfast, you're telling me what he was doing to you in detail. I wa

“You know, you haven't said a bad word once this morning."

He grins, pops off the bed, and says, “Come on, I'm starved."

As we're going down the stairs, he says, "You really go

"Were you listening?"

"Hell, yeah. Tried the glass up against the wall and everything, but it was best through the air vent. I had you on speakerphone too so my friends could hear. I had to stand on a chair for hours, but I didn't mind."

"Oh my gosh."

"Riley, Cam, and Dallas were in my room too. They were trying to figure out what he was doing to you based on the noises you made. I learned a lot. They made a drinking game out of it. Every time you moaned, they did a shot. They were all fucked up."

I follow Braxton into a huge su

Braxton pulls out a chair for me, I give him a surprised thanks and sit down.

"Did you sleep well, dear?" their mother asks me.

Riley and Cam both chuckle.

"Yes, thank you. This looks wonderful."

"This is the birthday boy's favorite breakfast,” his mom tells me, pointing at, well, everything. It’s a huge breakfast much like we ate in the Hamptons.

"He has good taste,” I say politely.

His mom puts candles in Riley's waffles and we sing “Happy Birthday.” Then the formal dining room becomes a feeding frenzy.

Braxton has four waffles. "I'm still growing,” he tells me.

The boys eat. And eat.

Then it's time for presents.

Riley opens a bunch of presents. Clothes, a new phone, a couple video games, and a tiny extreme sports video recorder from me.

When I think we’re all done, his dad slaps him on the back and hands him a small box. Riley gets the hugest smile ever on his face, opens the box, pulls out a set of keys, and goes rushing out of the dining room.

“Dawson, did he get a car? He already has one.”

“That car isn’t really his. Our parents just let him use it. If we get good grades and stay out of trouble, we get a cool car for our 17th birthday. Let’s go see what they got him.”

He leads me through the kitchen, a laundry room, and then out a side door.

Sitting in the little driveway is very flashy car. So different from Dawson’s badass, but subtle, BMW. Riley's present is a neon green Viper with big black stripes down the middle. It’s perfect for him.

There are a chorus of That's so sick, Tight, Hot-ass car. Riley hugs his parents, hops in the driver’s seat, and revs the motor.

Dallas slides up next to me and whispers, "I am so freaking hung over, and it’s all your fault. Hell, I might still be drunk.”

"Dallas, I don't know what I'm going to do."

"We heard him tell you to go out with Aiden."

“Aiden’s mad at me. He’s not going to ask me out.”

"I can see now why you're having a hard time deciding.”

"I'm mortified."

"No, you're not. That's why we love you. But seriously, I need to know what he was doing cuz I wa

"You're go

"Oh, we are. You're go

Now, I’m sitting with his mom in the living room, knowing the boys are upstairs discussing my sex life.

She says to me, “I’ve been trying to figure out who you remind me of since we met. It just hit me while we were eating breakfast. You had your fork out and were gesturing with it when you talked. There’s a scene in one of Abby Johnston’s movies where she does the same thing.”