Fifteen:

I stood there watching him pace the kitchen, occasionally running a hand through his hair. “Pat, you know that you can talk to me,” I said in an attempt to soothe him. He looked over at me before releasing a sigh. I stood there for a moment before walking over to him and placing my hands on his shoulders, “what’s wrong?”

He lightly wrapped his hands around my waist, “Cole,” he hesitated for a minute, “your brother is threatening to send you home… which I’m guessing you probably already know that…”

“Yes, I do.” I replied.

“An-and, too many people here don’t want to see you leave… including me.”

“So…” I paused, “what are you getting at?”

He exhaled heavily, “you should break up with Jon.”

I shook from his grasp, “I can’t do that. I finally have the chance to actually be with him and now my brother has to ruin everything by telling everyone he knows to get us to break up. No. Sorry Patrick, he can go ahead and try to send me home, because I’m not going to do it.”

“You really like him that much?” he asked.

“Yeah I do.”

We stood there in silence for a moment, “well I’m only looking out for your best interest Cole, I don’t want to see him hurt you again.” He said as he snaked an arm around my waist.

“Well thanks for that, but I think everything is okay now.”

“Okay, well know that I am always here… even if you do end up moving…”

It looked like the still had more to say to me, but I didn’t push it. “Thanks Pat.” His grip around my waist tightened so I laced my arms around his neck. And after a minute or two, we broke apart and re-entered the living room. Adam was sitting up on the couch, his eyes glued to the TV screen. “Hey,” I greeted him as Patrick and I sat on either side of him. “Hello,” he replied.

“So, how are you feeling this morning?” I joked.

“Just lovely,” He said sarcastically.

“Oh I bet,” I said with a laugh.

When I heard footsteps on the stairs, I knew that my brother was making his way down. He entered the living room, “hey boys,” he said, making it obvious that he was still pissed at me. I rolled my eyes before standing up and heading upstairs into my room. I grabbed my cell phone off of my bedside table.

1 new text message.

Hey babe, the teams leaving on a road trip tonight, so I wanted to see you before I leave. Call me.

“Hey,” he greeted me on the second ring.

“Hey babe.”

“What are you doing?”

“Just about to hop in the shower to come see you.” I replied.

“Hey that’s what I was about to do, why don’t you just come over and join me. It’ll save water.” He joked.

“Haha funny.”

“Aw, come on babe, you don’t wanna shower with me?”

“Not really.” I joked.

“Oh, you’ll be making up for that when you come over.”

“Really? How is that?” I asked with a laugh.

“You’ll just have to see…”

“Alright, well the sooner I can get ready, the sooner you get to punish me.”

“Okay, okay, I’ll see you in a few.”

“Alright,” I laughed. “Bye.”

“Bye.”

Fifteen minutes later, I stepped out of the shower and quickly readied myself. I grabbed my phone and purse before heading downstairs, telling Adam and Sharpie goodbye, and getting into my car.

When I pulled into Jon’s driveway, I got out of my car, and invited myself inside his apartment. “Hey,” I called from the doorway. No reply. I stepped out of my shoes and entered his living room. I looked around and I noticed that his bedroom door was closed; I walked over and opened it. “Jon?” I questioned from the doorway. He stepped out of his closet with just a towel wrapped snugly around his waist. He smiled smugly as he watched my eyes roaming over his muscular chest. “Hey,” he greeted me before making his way over to me and placing a quick kiss on my lips. “Hey,” I replied. He grabbed me by the hand and pulled me into his closet with him while he finished picking out an outfit to put on. “So… what did you do last night?” He asked me.

“Well Pat had a bunch of people over… so I just hung out with them all night.”

“Haha figures he wouldn’t invite me.”

“Yeah, whatever. What did you do?”

“I spent the majority of the night at the gym, but I came home, showered, watched some TV, and went to bed.” He replied while grabbing a pair of jeans out of a drawer and leading me out into his bedroom.

“Ah, building up that stamina I hope.” I joked.

“Please…” he said sarcastically, ”I could go all night.”

“Haha right.” I said with a laugh.

“You really want to test me right now?” he asked.

“It’s a possibility.” I replied with a smirk.

He just shook his head at me, while attempting a ‘disappointed face.’

I sat down on his bed and watched him as put his clothes on. Enjoying the view, I might add. Once finished, he grabbed me by the hand and pulled me off of his bed. Wrapping an arm around my waist, he asked: “So… what’s the plan for today?”

“Well that depends on what your in the mood for…” I replied with a wink.

“Hm… I am going to be gone for five days…”

“What are you hinting at here?” I teased as I slowly pressed my lips to his.

“Oh I’m not hinting at anything,” he said, running a hand along my thigh.

I slowly backed up, the backs of my legs quickly finding the edge of his mattress. I fell back and pulled him on top of me. I began pulling his shirt off when I heard his front door open. We stopped what we were doing, recomposed ourselves, and Jon grabbed my hand as I cautiously followed him out into his living room. I gazed in shock when I realized who was standing in the doorway.

“Marie… what are you doing here?” Jon asked.