Chapter Twenty-One

Sitting in lecture hall, it was impossible for Allison to hide the smile on her face. If she could have laid in his bed all day, that’s what she would have wanted to do. But Tony had practice and Allison had class, and life got in the way.

Allison knew she probably looked like a happy idiot to anyone looking in her direction, but she didn’t much care. Last night was the most amazing night of her life. It was the first time she really made love. Her only sexual experience before last night was with her high school boyfriend, also known as a jackrabbit in heat. Every time they had sex, he was just going for the goal with barely any foreplay. He just looked for his opening, and as soon as he found it, he was in and out like he was going for a speed record or something. Now she knew what it was like to be with a real man, someone who put her needs first. If she had any doubts before last night, they were gone now. She was head over heels in love for real. She just hadn’t told the object of her affection how she feels about him.

The two of them had a very emotional day yesterday, from visiting his grandmother and seeing the old neighborhood, to his reunion with Coach Samuels, to their fight in the SunMart parking lot, to the honest conversation about Tony’s past. At least the ten-thousand-pound elephant was dead. Everything was out in the open now, literally. It freed them to make love last night without any reservations.

During the night, they slept off and on and talked in between—but not about their feelings. Allison’s mother always told her not to tell a man she loves him in the heat of passion, and not to trust a man who says it to her. “Everyone’s in love when they’re having sex,” her mother declared. Allison cringed when she thought about how openly her mother talked about sex. Some girls had mothers who never talked about it. Her mother talked about it too much. Why couldn’t Allison have a normal mother?

Allison sighed. Her mother was full of parables and advice based on her idea of a perfect world. She wasn’t living in Allison’s shoes and she couldn’t possibly know how Allison felt. Making love to Tony solidified her feelings for him, but it wasn’t what made her fall in love. She fell in love with him long ago—she felt it deep inside when he asked her out on their first date amid a restaurant filled with tulips—and her feelings had only grown stronger ever since. How can you not love a man who compares you to fairy tale heroines?

When she opened her eyes during the night, his head was propped on his palm. He stroked her cheek with his knuckles. “Hey, Sleeping Beauty.”

She rubbed her eyes and laughed. “What do you know about Sleepin’ Beauty?”

“Too much.” He rolled onto his back and clasped his hands over his chest. “When I was about five, after my mother left, I used to ask Mamma where my mom was. Well, she made up this story about my mother living at the Princess Palace at Dream World in Orlando. I had like a million questions about the palace and instead of answering me, Mamma started renting cartoon movies of fairy tales to show me where my mother was.”

“You’re kiddin’,” Allison said with a laugh.

“No, true story.” He turned to face her. “I swear. When I asked my grandmother which character my mom was, she’d always point to whoever was in the cartoon at the time—Snow White, Cinderella, the mermaid.” When Allison’s expression showed skepticism, he frowned. “Hey, don’t look at me that way. I was a gullible little kid.”

Allison chuckled. “Sorry, sugar. I would never have pictured you watchin’ fairy tale movies.”

“I did. Not for nothing, I’d just sit on the floor in front of the TV hour after hour watching those movies.” He grew quiet for a minute. “I think I was seven when I finally realized my mother was never coming back.”

Allison had been thinking it was a charming story until that last part. That’s when she realized it wasn’t charming at all. It was heartbreaking.

Tony looked over at her. “Hey, I didn’t mean to make you cry.”

No, making love with Tony wasn’t what made her fall in love with him at all. It merely signaled the end of that shy, awkward period and the beginning of something deeper, stronger. For her, it wasn’t just physical. It was emotional, too. Her mother would say girls always get emotional about sex, but guys never do. She wished she could turn off the mom channel that played in her head because it was filled with stupid propaganda.

The professor’s voice cut into her thoughts, as he droned on about something or other. It didn’t take but a minute for Allison to refocus on last night and this morning. As tender and loving as Tony had been during round one didn’t prepare her for his more playful moves in the second and third round. Oooh. She tingled just thinking about it. She could hardly wait to find out what other moves he had.

Even though she was dying to tell him she loved him, she really wanted him to say it first. “Let the boy make the first move.” Her mother’s words rang in her ears. She didn’t agree with her mother about very much, but she felt like she’d made so many first moves in their relationship so far. She knew that a lot of his reticence was a reaction to those accusations he lived with, and that’s why he went overboard not to appear too aggressive with her. But this one was huge. It seemed like Tony loved her too, but she needed to hear him say the words. She needed to know he felt the same way before she bared her soul.