Seventeen

Allison

It’s happening. Either that or I’m having a stroke and this is my way into heaven.

Since I was little, I used to see the way Cooper would kiss Mom. It would be like the Princes would kiss the Princesses. It’s the kiss that you read about in the fairy tales. It’s a kiss as a girl you wait patiently for. Each time you kiss a frog hoping he turns into a prince. And this moment right here with Max’s lips on mine, with his tongue dancing with mine, I know this kiss right here is what a kiss is supposed to be. A kiss that, if anything happens, I know will be the best kiss of my life.

My day started with me waking up with big red puffy eyes from crying. Crying for actually believing that we had something, crying because he showed up there after all this, poured his heart out, and then just left. He didn’t give me a chance to say anything, to tell him that it wasn’t just him, that it was me, too. That I was feeling the same thing he was.

After I closed the door I curled up in a ball and chills filled my body, so I shivered on the couch all night wrapped in the biggest blanket I could find in the house as I watched the night turn into morning. My body ached so much it hurt to stand up and as I stand in the kitchen and wait for the water to boil the doorbell rings. I don’t know who I expect it to be, but I’m not expecting a man holding a FedEx envelope. I sign for it and open it up and gasp out loud when I see two Ed Sheeran tickets.

I pick up my phone and call Matthew right away. “And you said you didn’t have pull,” I say as soon as he answers.

“What the fuck are you talking about now?” he asks, confused.

“The Ed Sheeran tickets I just got.” I slap them down. “Who the hell would give these? I mean, besides you and Cooper.” I slap my head. “Okay, I gotta call Dad.” I hang up and call him.

“Baby girl,” he says right away.

“Dad, how did you find tickets to Ed? I’ve been looking for ages,” I say.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, but if it makes you happy I did it,” he says and I stand here in the kitchen thinking about who the fuck could have gotten me the tickets. “Either way, you are going to bring mace with you, right?” he asks as I roll my eyes and tell him I’ll call him back.

The next person I call is Vivienne, who shouts with glee about going to see her future babies’ father.

The rest of the day, Max lingers in the back of my head. I need to go and see him, if anything to finish the conversation he started last night. I dress in all black that night, kind of how I feel inside. Vivienne of course gets there late.

“Why can’t you ever be on time?” I ask her the minute I got into the Uber she had rode in.

“I had to get the perfect outfit. You never know if he is going to see me and invite me backstage,” she huffs out.

“Let’s not hold our breath,” I murmur under my breath and she doesn’t bother answering.

By the time we walk in James Blunt is already singing. We are ushered to our seats as I walk looking down to make sure I don’t trip on anything. When I finally get to my seat, look up, and see him, I shake my head, trying not to smile. Of course he did. I’m in a daze till Ed comes out and I graze his hand with mine. His hot hand makes my fingers tingle, so I slowly do it again, wanting to hold his hand, and as I do it again I feel his hand move, turning his palm over as he takes my hand in his.

And now here I am in my office, lost in him, lost in the kiss. My back arches forward as I try to get closer to him. He moans into my mouth as he presses me deeper into my door as his hands move from my face to my side to cupping my ass and lifting me up, so I wrap my legs around his waist and he slams me back, his hand going from squeezing my ass to up my back to in my hair as his hand fists my hair, pulling my head back, my mouth leaving his, and he bites my neck. I moan out, my eyes closing as my nipples start to perk.

“Fuck.” He comes back up and kisses me. This time it’s even more hungry than before. When we finally let each other go, our pants are heard in the room as my chest and his go up and down as if we just finished running. “Angel,” he says and I whisper out, “Yeah.”

“Tell me this isn’t just me. Tell me it isn’t just me feeling crazy. Tell me it isn’t just my world knocked off.”

I use my hands to cup his cheeks. “Not just you,” I say, kissing him on the lips. My feet uncross and I slip down onto my feet. “I don’t want to leave this room.” I look down at my hands that are now on his chest, when he uses his finger to raise my face.

“Doesn’t matter where we go, Angel,” he says softly, “it’s me and you.” He grabs my hand and opens the door as we walk back to our seats, and now Vivienne and Denise are standing together as they look over at us, both pairs of eyes going down to our hands. But I’m not letting go, and neither is Max, it seems.

The concert finishes and we follow Max, who has his car here. He asks Vivienne where we are dropping her off, but it seems Denise and Vivienne aren’t ready to call it a night yet, so he drops them off at the bar. After we say bye to them, he pulls off and makes his way to his house.

“Well, I guess I’m coming over.” I smile at him and he takes my hand from the console and kisses it. When he lets my hand go, he keeps holding it in his lap. When we park the car, I get out and he waits for me at the back, grabbing my hand. I smile and try and keep up with him as he walks away. We walk upstairs and he takes out his keys and puts it in the keyhole. “You know,” I say with my back against the door, looking at him, “I really like kissing you,” I tell him and he leans his head down and I smile as he smiles at me.

“That’s a good thing because I plan on kissing you a lot.” He sticks his tongue out, licking me. I put my tongue out, meeting his, and he crushes me against the door as I use my hands, going to his waist, and this time I’m the one with my hands on his ass, pulling it to me. And he picks me up with one hand as he kisses me senseless and opens the door. He carries me in while I put my hand through his hair as he groans out and I feel exactly how ready he is on my stomach.

“Fuck, this better not be a fucking dream.” He puts me down on his island in the kitchen. I open my legs as he steps in the middle of them. Putting the hair behind my ears, he says, “Angel. Do you need to go home tonight?”

My hand goes to his chest and slides his jacket off of him.

“We leave tomorrow, but.” He kisses my cheek, then goes to my neck, and I move to the side, giving him access. “I want you to stay here tonight.”

I look at him as he looks up, his eyes clear as fucking day, and he smiles. Well, side smile, smirking. “Okay.” I put my hands on his waist. “We should talk about, um.” And I look down.

“None of that,” Max says. “No more hiding. I want to see your eyes, angel.”

“Okay, I don’t know what this is.” I put my hand up, pointing to him and then to me. “I mean, I know what I want it to be,” I stutter out.

“Yeah, what do you want this to be, angel?” He smiles.

“I want to date you,” I finally say. “This is stupid.” I push him away or at least I try to.

“Oh, I plan on dating the shit out of you. I plan on kissing the shit out of you, also. Just so you know.”

“Well, that’s good to know since I really want to do all of that.” I lean forward, this time kissing his neck. “What do we tell people?” I whisper. “I mean…”

He stops moving and grabs my face. “I want to tell the fucking world, but I want this to be ours for now.” He kisses me. “Is that okay?”

“Yeah,” I whisper, “but no dating other people.”

“I haven’t dated anyone in my life.”

I laugh at him.

“Banged, yeah.”

“Okay, asshole.” I push him away again or try, but he doesn’t even budge. “No banging anyone.”

“Deal. Now let’s go make out in my bed.” He grabs me. “Or the couch. The couch is closest.” He falls on the couch, I fall on him, and we make out for the rest of the night. I wake up the next day to little butterfly kisses on my neck. We fell asleep on the couch in the middle of the make out session. “We have to go,” he says. “I’m going to pack and we are going to swing by your house and get your things.”

“Okay,” I say, turning to my side as he gets up. I close my eyes and then my phone rings from somewhere in the loft, so I get up and walk to the kitchen, grabbing it out of my purse, and see that it’s Cooper.

“Baby girl,” he says as soon as I answer. “Where are you?”

“Umm, why?” I say, looking to see where Max is.

“Because I just checked and you didn’t take off your alarm last night.”

I gasp. “Oh my God, Dad, are you spying on me?” I say as soon as I hear my mother, “I told him it was a bad idea.”

“Well, I didn’t go home last night because I’m at my boyfriend’s house,” I say as my mother laughs and Cooper growls. I shake my head as Max comes in the kitchen and kisses my neck.

“Who the fuck are you dating? Why didn’t Matthew tell me?” he asks loudly, probably running his hand in his hair while trying to pull it out.

“Well, I haven’t told anyone yet. It’s still new. So we want to keep it private for now. Besides, I don’t need you two running him off. I really like him.” I look at Max, who puts his hands on his heart while I bow down at him.

“Do I know him? Have I met him? Is he on the team?”

“Bye, Dad, I’m hanging up. Love you. Mom, I’ll call you later,” I say and he argues with her about knowing who I’m dating.

“So your boyfriend, eh?” he asks, smiling.

“Maybe,” I say, shrugging and putting my shoes on. “Let’s go.”

I finish packing in record time and we are one of the last ones to get to the plane. “Okay, just so you know, I really like you,” I tell him.

“That’s good because I really like you, too.”

He smiles at me and I want to lean in and kiss him, but Matthew is there knocking on the window.

“Jesus,” I say, getting out. “What is your problem? You gave me a heart attack.”

“Dad says you’re dating someone?” he says with his hands on his hips while I laugh. “Don’t laugh, Aly, who the fuck are you dating and how don’t I know about it?”

“I date, Matthew,” I say, walking to the plane with Max by my side and Matthew on the other. “Is it so hard to believe that someone actually wants to date me?” I turn, asking him.

“Max, you picked her up at her house. Did you see this clown she is dating?”

He shakes his head. “Nope, got there and she was already outside.” He turns and walks on the plane.

“I don’t like this,” Matthew says. “Why the secrecy?”

“Because it just happened and I want to see where things go before my two hot heads scare him away.”

“Is it someone from the team? I swear to God if I found out one of those imbeciles touched you they’re dead,” he says, walking up the stairs. “Dead.” I hear him talking as I follow him on the plane and see that Max is sitting by himself in the front seat with his earphones in, watching something on his phone. I sit next to him as he looks at me sideways, then looks back at the screen.

Matthew is sitting across from me. “I’m going to be watching you, Aly,” he says with his two fingers at his eyes and then moving them to me. “Be on guard.”

And Max and I can’t help but laugh at him. “This isn’t funny.”

I smile to myself as I close my eyes and think back on the night before.