Jensen looked over briefly at me and then back at the road. "Yeah, she'll get over it. Are you OK?" He looked back at me and touched my cheek lightly with his fingers before returning his eyes to the road.
"Yeah, I'm just sorry I had that little outburst about our sex life. She really made me angry with her question. That was certainly not the way I wanted your parents to know we are being careful. And, I never would have confided in Jessica about that stuff,” I muttered angrily. “And I'm sure Karl wants nothing to do with that information, either." Jensen was smiling and not saying anything, which made me nervous. He finally chuckled and I was starting to get irritated. "What are you laughing about?" I demanded. We were at a stop light and he reached over and kissed my lips briefly before the light turned green.
"Karl will be OK, believe me.” Jensen laughed again. “He already knew you were on birth control, and I'm sure if he knows, Jess does, too. You know … the whole boyfriend-girlfriend code where you tell each other everything?"
What? "Did you tell him?" I asked in disbelief, not knowing why I was getting so upset all of a sudden.
"Well, he did ask. And … he is my best friend." Jensen looked embarrassed. "I'm sure you told Krissa?" I crossed my hands in front of my chest and raised an angry eyebrow at Jensen. Why was this pissing me off so much? Of course my friends knew. Shit, even Alicia knew.
"Not right away," I muttered under my breath. "And I doubt he told Jessica, otherwise she wouldn't have asked if I was pregnant."
"Maybe, sometimes Jess just likes to bring attention to shit that she shouldn't." Jensen looked intently at me. "Well, if it's any consolation, I think I saw my mom breathe a sigh of relief when you said we are responsible every time and that you’re on the pill. I could just see her having a coronary if she became a grandmother now." Jensen looked over at me with a half-smile for some kind of recognition that all would be OK, but he received only a sigh in return.
I stayed silent until we pulled into the driveway to his house and he killed the truck’s engine. Not moving the keys right away, Jensen turned toward me and asked, “Babe, what's going on? I know all this silence can't all be about tonight."
I sighed again, closing my eyes and trying to keep the tears from coming. He was right. I was an emotional wreck because he would be leaving in a few short days. I felt his hand on my cheek and opened my eyes, letting the tears escape. God, he must think I'm a baby.
"What? What's wrong? Are you having second thoughts?" he questioned, the panic evident in his eyes.
"No, nothing like that.” I shook my head at his silly worry. “I'm just having trouble with the fact you're leaving. I thought I was OK, but my emotions started up again at dinner when we were talking about it."
Jensen held my face in his hands and stared intently at me, wiping tears off my cheeks with his thumbs. His blue eyes were piercing. "Mia, I love you so much and I meant what I said tonight. I love you more than anything in this world. You are my everything. I know it will be hard, but you can think of our time apart as an extended vacation. You know we'll still talk all the time." He was trying to make me feel better and leaned his forehead against mine.
"I know … it's just hard. I need to work through these emotions I have."
"Not alone," he stated. I wasn't sure what he meant and knew my face held questions. "I just mean I won't let you go through this sadness alone. Either you're going to stay over tonight or I'll stay over at your place. In fact, from now until I leave we'll literally be glued together. Literally," he reiterated with a glint of longing in his eyes.
I felt my stomach do a somersault at his double meaning as he leaned over and pressed his lips to mine. Parting my lips, I felt his hot breath exhale deeply into me and his tongue pleasantly caress mine. Rooting my fingers into his hair, I held Jensen tightly as our breathing quickened and his hands found their way under my shirt, onto the planes of my stomach, and up to my bra. Shuddering lightly, I broke the kiss to take a deep breath. Our foreheads rested together as we breathed heavily and fogged up the windows to my truck. For a second I wondered if any of his family knew we were out there.
"I want you." Jensen's voice was barely above a whisper. "Maybe we’d better stay at your house tonight."
I crushed my lips back onto his because I couldn't get enough of him. Finally, he pulled away and reminded me that, even though we wanted to be somewhere else, we still needed to go inside and share a few toasts to our engagement before we could be alone.
"Don't worry, we won't stay long. I don't think I can keep myself at bay for much longer," he said with thick desire in his voice.
"Good, because I just may combust." My eyes flickered unconsciously to his groin, confirming how much he wanted me. Damn it felt good to be wanted so much.
We got out of my truck and stood for a few minutes collecting ourselves and allowing the air to cool us down before going inside. I thought it would take forever for Jensen to lose the erection he'd gotten in the car when we were kissing, but soon it was gone. Thank God for cold air! While I waited patiently, I felt a sharp pain in my abdomen and slightly bent forward, putting my hand over the area. Jensen looked at me in panic and asked what was wrong. Taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly, the pain subsided.
"I'm fine … a case of eating too much, I guess.”
"OK,” Jensen said as he wrapped his arm around my shoulder, “I think we're OK to go in now.” Guiding me toward the house he teased, “You don't look all flush anymore."
Shaking my head, I teased back that he needed to completely deflate the bulge still in the front of his pants. He briefly looked down, shook his head and laughed loudly, pulling me toward the door by my hand. Inside, Jensen's parents had already poured the champagne and were waiting for us to join them.
"It’s about time! What were you guys doing out there?" Alicia asked, handing us each a glass of light red liquid that seemed to bubble up from the bottom of the glass.
"Talking," we quickly said at the same time.
Alicia gave us a knowing look and called everyone to take a flute of champagne before wishing many happy years together. We all clinked glasses and sipped our champagne. The cool liquid was sweet and silky as it rolled down my throat. Jensen took a sip, swishing the champagne around in his mouth to get the full effect, and must have been thinking exactly what I had been when his mom answered that it was a red moscato champagne meant to be very sweet. Although it tasted wonderful, Jensen nor I took more than a few sips since we were underage and he still had to drive me home, although it was only a stone's throw away from his house. Karl and Jessica didn’t hang around for long after that, and taking a cue from them, Jensen announced he needed to get me home.
"Are you coming back?" Ashlyn wanted to know, something she hadn’t ever asked him before, at least not in front of me. I looked at Jensen and felt slight panic wash over me, anticipating how he would answer.
"Um, I wasn't planning on it," Jensen said, caught off-guard. "I just want to spend as much time with Mia before I leave."
"Yes, of course,” Jensen’s mother answered uncomfortably, “I was just curious if you'd be back so we could talk about your trip and some last-minute arrangements for college." Turning to me she asked, “Mia, I hope you don't mind if Jensen and I take some time tomorrow to do that?"
"Sure, it's no problem at all," I said, a little embarrassed that I was obviously being excluded.
"I'll
