I loved being held.
I loved falling asleep in the arms of a man.
But I knew a girl could do some very stupid things just to keep this feeling.
Do not get used to this, Ali,I ordered myself.
I needed to just enjoy the moment and use it for what it was. And I needed to take a mental picture of this moment so I could bring it up in my mind during my next lonely night.
Because therewouldbe another lonely night in my future.
There always was.
JP shifted slightly, then dropped a kiss on my forehead, making even more reservations sneak into my heart.Now he was giving me forehead kisses?This felt way too good to be true. I couldn’t fall for this. I couldn’t completely let myselflovethis.
It’s temporary,I told myself.Just one week, I internally screamed.
He probably would’ve cuddled and kissed any girl. And he might just be selfishly soaking up these cuddles as well.
He reached up and started stroking my hair, brushing it behind my ear. “Just so you know,” he whispered, “when I said let’s be together, this was what I meant. I’m not expecting anything else, okay? I just want tobewith you, ya know?”
And those words did it.
They squashed the last of my hesitation, and I fully melted into him.
He hummed his approval as I snuggled further into him. “I really like the tattoo by the way,” he said, lifting his head slightly to make eye contact with me.
“Which one?” I asked sleepily. The way he was petting and stroking me was putting me right to sleep.
His hand froze.
My eyes darted to his. “What?”
His grey eyes widened. “You have more than one?”
I rolled my lips to contain a giggle. “G’night!”
“What?” he burst out. “You’re just gonna go to bed?”
I giggled against his skin, and I noticed some goosebumps starting to rise on his arm, ensuring me that I wasn’t the only one feeling attraction.
“Oh my God.” He laid his head back down with a thud. “The anticipation is killing me. You have more than one tattoo?” he asked again.
“I live on a cruise ship, JP,” I said with a yawn. “You can’t be that surprised.”
“Well, I like this one.” He rubbed his thumb over the small rose behind my ear, lulling me right into a dream about the two of us when we were teens…
__________
2010
“Hurry up,” Piper said, throwing her head forward to gather up all her blonde hair in a messy bun. “We have to beat them to the pond. I honestly can’t believe Colt came up with this idea. I guess not all hockey boys are stupid,” she mumbled more to herself than me. “It’s just so dang cute, isn’t it?”
“It really is,” I said as I yanked off my left skate with a hiss. My right toe was bloody from working on so many triple flips today.
“Jeez, you need some lamb’s wool to stuff in the front of your skate, girl.” Piper unzipped the front pocket of her bag to retrieve hers and handed me some.
“Thanks,” I said with a wince. The thought of putting my skates back on tonight after three hours of practice was not appealing, but I wasn’t about to miss out on this. Colt, Mer’s boyfriend, organized a surprise 17th birthday party for her at the frozen pond a few miles outside of town. A group of us were showing up there to surprise her.
