It was all she could do not to stomp her foot. “We are never drinking Old Fashioneds again. Look at us!”
“I know, right?” Matt giggled. “We’re awesome.”
Celeste sighed as Justin rubbed her back. “Fine. We are rather awesome. And one of us is most definitely still intoxicated and should not have continued drinking on the airplane. But if it were not for the multitude of cocktails, I would not be here with Justin, so I can thank alcohol for that. But from now on, we are staying away from it.”
“I think I should get to bed,” Matt said. “I feel heinously awful.”
“Well, for heaven’s sake go sleep in one of the expensive beds that you paid for.”
“I should probably get going…” Justin started.
“What?” Celeste said with alarm. “No, you mustn’t go. You can’t.”
“Well…” He tipped his head toward Matt.
“Matthew, may Justin stay for a bit?”
“Sure.” Matt pulled himself up. “On two conditions. One, if you ever tell Mom and Dad, I’ll disown you as my sister. Two, if anyone takes off even a single item of clothing, I—”
“Matt!” Celeste said loudly. “Honestly!”
“Yes, honestly.”
“I can go, really,” Justin said.
Matt yawned and got up, now squinting and shuffling to the far bedroom. “It’s totally fine. I’m just giving you a hard time. I was young and in love once, so I have a vague memory of it. I get it.” He leaned on the door jamb. “‘Night.”
Celeste couldn’t help herself. She rushed across the room and flung her arms around him. The sad, even bitter, edge in his voice pained her. “Thank you, Matt. Thank you for this trip. And for being with me.”
“Yeah, yeah. Calm down. Don’t be up too late. It’s four in the morning or something.”
“It is only one o’clock. Time change, silly.”
“Whatever. Stay up all night.” He shut the door. “But all clothing stays on; or someone loses an eye, and it won’t be Celeste!” he shouted from his room.
Justin dropped his head onto Celeste’s shoulder. “Really. I should probably go. I don’t want to upset Matt. And you must be exhausted.”
“I am tired. Very tired. But I cannot bear to have you leave. Please stay.” She hesitated, but then said what she felt. “I want to fall asleep with you. Would that be all right?”
“I’m so glad you said that.” He nuzzled his face into her and kissed her neck softly. “I would like nothing more.”
She smiled. “I believe that I must take a shower and brush my teeth. I cannot possibly smell anything less than questionable.”
“I’ll take you in any condition, but you may feel better after a shower.”
She led him into the second bedroom and then stopped short, causing him to crash into her.
“Ugh, sorry. I knew I couldn’t get through the night without doing something klutzy.”
“No, no. That was my doing. Justin?” She couldn’t look at him. “I am suddenly aware that I am taking you into a bedroom. And that may indicate… something… um, something…”
“I know. And I understand. I told you that I’m not like that, okay? And I can still leave now. I just want to be close with you. That’s all.”
“I want that, too.”
He zipped in front of her and jumped onto the bed. “But that doesn’t mean that I don’t appreciate a fancy hotel bed. It’s good for bouncing, see?”
Celeste left Justin to bounce and took a steaming shower in the luxurious bathroom before slipping into one of the hotel robes. “Justin, would you hand me my bag that I left out there?”
“Of course, doll.”
She cracked the door and took her bag. She looked through it for a moment and nearly screamed. “Oh perfect!”
“What’s the trouble?”
“It appears one should not pack for a trip after drinking. I have an unusual assortment of items, but we are in luck should either of us require knee socks with rainbows and unicorns. My mother thought they were a funny Christmas gift. Well, I’ll just have to make do.”
“But, but, but I might have interest in the unicorn socks!” Justin teased. “Unicorns represent purity, and truth, and strength, and stuff like that. I like to wear my value system on my feet.”
“You will do no such thing.” Celeste emerged in soft shorts and the All This Science Gives Me a Hadron shirt that Matt had given her. “Please do not acknowledge this shirt.”
Justin raised his eyebrows. “You want me to pretend it’s not there? That you’re not wearing a top? If that’s what you want…”
“Justin!” Celeste laughed.
He softened his look. “Come here, you. You’ve got to get some sleep.” He pulled back the bed covers for her.
“I do.” She turned off the lights so the room was barely lit by the lamp in the living room.
Celeste slipped under the sheet and Justin lay on his side, his head propped on his hand. He kissed her cheek, then her lips, very gently. “Sleep, baby.”
She was exhausted now. Drained and overwhelmed, and desperately needing to fall into a deep slumber. Justin started to move from the bed. “You’re leaving?”
“Call me when you get up, okay?” he whispered.
“Stay,” she said. “Stay.”
“Sleep here?”
“Yes. I want to wake up with you.”
He dropped his head down onto the pillow. “And I want to wake up with you.”
“I like that I can say that to you.”
“I like that you can, too.”
Celeste rolled into his chest, and Justin’s arm moved over her waist. And enveloped in each other, they slept, and they dreamed.
WATCHING PERFECTION
WAKING UP IN San Diego was less disorienting than Celeste would have imagined. That may have been because she was in Justin’s arms, he on his back and she with her body in the crook of his arm and her head on his chest. She felt whole and at home. It was odd, however, that she felt so physically comfortable with someone she wasn’t able to see on a regular basis. But she did. And she wouldn’t question it now because who knew how many times she would have this opportunity.
She glanced at the clock to see that it was just after eight. He had not moved from her all night, but was now under the covers, still close to her, with his legs entwined with hers. Celeste eased down the covers and slipped into the bathroom to brush her teeth. This may be the first time that she was waking up next to a boy, but she had common sense. When she had freshened up and run her fingers through her hair, she returned to her spot in bed and in Justin’s hold.
She placed her hand on his chest. In the early morning light, she watched the way her hand moved with his breathing. It was watching perfection. Her hand slowly moved over his shirt, up to his shoulder, down his arm as she explored the shape of his body while he slept. Celeste slid her hand down to his waist, accidentally catching the hem of his shirt. Then her hand was on his stomach, his skin hot and wet.
Never had she felt this way. She had to laugh at herself; this was by far the most intimate moment of her life, and the other person wasn’t even conscious. She hoped this wasn’t creepy, but touching him, feeling his body under her hand… Well, she didn’t know exactly what she wanted, but she wanted something. And she was scared out of her mind about what she might want. But nonetheless, she let her fingers inch up under his shirt a bit more. Justin sighed in his sleep and rolled to lie facing her, and she eased her palm over his waist to his lower back. His workouts must be more frequent than he let on, she decided, because she could feel how toned he was, the dip of his spine surrounded by muscle. She’d known he wasn’t so muscular that he was bulky, but it was only now that she felt how defined his body was.
Oh God, what was she doing?
Justin stirred, smiling even before his eyes were open. “Well, hello. This person reaching up my shirt better be who I think it is, or I’m gonna freak out.”
Celeste pul
led her hand away quickly. “Sorry.”
“Oh good, it is you,” he murmured. “Why is there stopping? Why is there no more hand being all cute and awesome?”
“Because you woke up.”
He considered this for a moment. “You can’t touch me when I’m awake?”
“I’m nervous.”
“About what?”
“What I’ll do. What you might do.”
“You don’t have to be nervous. Nothing’s going to get out of control.”
“It isn’t?”
“No. I’m not going to let anything happen.”
“Oh.”
He opened his sleepy eyes. “Not because I don’t want anything to happen, because believe me I am a perfectly horny college boy. But I’m assuming that since I was your first kiss, every step will be a first. And firsts are important. Or they should be. So we go step by step when each feels right. We don’t just jump down a staircase. Or jump up it. Whatever. My metaphor sucks. I’m not awake yet. The point is that I’m not about to rush ahead, and neither are you.”
“In that case, good morning.” She returned her hand to his back and moved her fingers over his skin.
“I can’t not taste you any longer.” Without saying anything else, he lifted his shoulders from the bed and leaned over her. His mouth grazed over her neck, the tip of his tongue running over her as he kissed slowly down to the top hem of her shirt. Her totally unsexy, geeky Hadron shirt, of all things! Celeste was going to kill Matt. He’d better improve his gift-giving skills by next Christmas.
Matt. She’d forgotten about him. The bedroom door was open. He had to be sleeping still, right?
She lifted her chin as Justin moved his kisses up one side of her throat and over to the other side. There was this one particular spot, she discovered, just below and behind her ear where she really, really quite liked having his mouth. That spot, the way he lightly sucked her skin, made her body tremble. She would have been disappointed when he stopped, except that his lips were then on hers, his chest barely touching hers as he held himself over her.
When he’d kissed her as deeply as he had assured her he would during last night’s texting, and when the outside world had all but disappeared, he stopped and rubbed his nose against hers. “We need coffee. We have a big day.”
Celeste liked coffee as much as the next person, but it was significantly less enticing than what they were already doing.
“Yes. Coffee is important,” she said halfheartedly.
“Don’t sound so sad.” He kissed her cheek and rested his mouth by her ear. “Believe me, I’d like to do this all day, but your protective brother is next door, and I want to keep both of my eyeballs. Besides, I want to show you the city.”
She nodded, trying to regain control of herself. Justin was right. They needed to get out of here.
“Hey, Celeste?”
“Hey, Justin?”
He continued to whisper in her ear, hiding his face from her. His breath and the sound of his voice were driving her wonderfully crazy. “Are you okay with what I said last night? When you were on the plane?”
She smiled. “Were you okay with what I said?”
“I asked you first, silly, but I was damn thrilled with what you said.”
“I was very much okay with what you said.”
“It’s all right if you want to change your mind. You might have felt pressured. I mean, not the cabin pressure, although that could have messed with your ears and made you dizzy and unable to think clearly. Have your ears popped yet? Did you know about popping ears? But, you know, if you felt emotionally pressured because I said something that—”
“Justin?”
“Yeah?”
“I did not feel pressure, cabin related or otherwise.”
“Good.”
It was another fifteen minutes before Justin insisted that they really had to get out of that room because he could feel one of his eyes developing a stabbing pain at the thought of Matt waking up.
“I want to take you to Barton, so you can see where I go to school. We can have lunch there and hang out. You cool with that? Is that all right? Do you want to wake up Matt?”
“Yes, I shall check on Matthew.”
“I’ll jump in the shower real quick. We can stop by my room so I can change, too.”
Celeste remembered her unsuitable packing job. “I may need to borrow a sweatshirt or something. I’m not sure what I have.”
“I would be more than happy to see you in one of my shirts.” Justin crawled out of bed, looking so dashingly sexy with his messy hair and rumpled clothing that Celeste actually checked to see if she was drooling. She didn’t know if that was just an expression or true physiological reaction that one could have when enamored, so she had to be sure. So far, so good.
Celeste had to stop herself from following her boyfriend into the shower. That was a crazy idea, of course. She wasn’t near ready for anything close to that, and yet there was a distinct pull for more contact with him. She took a deep breath and opened the curtains, trying to distract herself from the utter hotness that was now probably totally naked and lathering himself up with expensive hotel body soap—
She really had to stop this. Being flooded with outrageous sex-crazed thoughts was completely out of character. Of course, she’d never had a boyfriend before, or really even much of a crush, so reasonably, this was not abnormal. Just abnormal for her.
She stared out of the window. Okay, the view was extraordinary. Totally blue skies and full sunshine. As much as the whole idea of making out with Justin all day had sounded pretty fantastic, she simply had to get out to see this lush city. She found another pair of shorts, and tossed those on with a non-geeky layered, flowy cream tank top. It seemed that her drunken packing had not been entirely terrible. Her hair was unmanageable after having slept on it wet, so she yanked it into a high ponytail.
Matt’s door was shut, so she opened it just a crack to peek in. He was definitely still asleep. She checked the mini fridge and then left him a note pointing out that there was cold bottled water for him. When she opened the living room curtains, her need to get out into the city skyrocketed. She banged on the bathroom door. “Justin! I want to see the ocean! Can we see the ocean?” she said with excitement. “It’s sunny and wonderful outside. We must go!”
She heard him laugh. “Anything you want, love.” The shower turned off.
Celeste turned her back to the door and slumped to the floor. He called her love. What was happening? This was so much good, so much romantic, and so much categorically outside of how her life had been thus far. There was also the nakedness happening close by. That was out of the ordinary for sure. He was entirely unclothed behind that door! She had to stop herself from squealing. That would be undignified. One should be composed even in proximity of such a gorgeous showering boyfriend.
Her mind drifted. What he’d said about going step by step, she liked. He was right. That was important to think about, and it wasn’t a decision to make in the heat of the moment. The fact was that she was an eighteen-year-old young woman, and she knew it was perfectly normal to have such physical attractions. It was allowed; it was healthy. And she was responsible. It was good, though, that Justin was responsible too. He was so caring, so respectful, and so stunningly thoughtful. It only made her feelings more intense. Celeste closed her eyes, imagining what might be the next step, what she wanted, what would keep her comfortable…
Suddenly she fell back onto the tile as Justin opened the door, clothed, but dripping water from his hair. She looked up at him. “Hello.”
“Hello,” he said grinning as he knelt down over her, his head upside down to hers. “Whatcha doing?”
She reached up and took his face in her hands and pulled him in, sinking her tongue into his mouth with more assertiveness than she knew she had. When she was done, she continued holding him and said, “I want to see Barton. And I want to see the beach. And I want coffee. And more palm trees and sunshine. A
nd most of all, more you. More kissing.”
“I can give you all of those. Promise. You ready?”
“I have a fear, though.”
“What’s that?”
She hesitated, but being truthful with Justin always made her feel better. “Will we be speaking with other students? With your friends?”
“I don’t know. Maybe. I’m not sure who’s around today.” He paused. “Why?”
“You know that I have difficulty in social situations.” Her voice nearly disappeared. “I do not want to embarrass you.”
He kissed her again. “Stop that.”
“It is a legitimate concern.”
“The only legitimate concern I have is that you will be appalled by the unhygienic state of my dorm room. Now, come on up.” He grabbed her hands and pulled her up to a stand. “No Matt?” he asked.
She shook her head. “No Matt. I have hope he might contact us later and join in our adventures. Er, well, not all of them.”
“Yeah. Agreed.”
When they were finally in the car, Justin handed her one of the to-go cappuccinos he’d bought. She took off the top to sip the foam, but stopped. It was the most beautiful cappuccino any girl had ever received, because a perfectly symmetric heart was floating in the foam.
“Of all the foam coffees you have presented me with, I do believe it is fair to say that this is my favorite.”
“Usually I cheat because I draw with syrup, so I hired a pro for the important one. I have no idea how they make pictures out of foam like that, but as an architecture student I’m annoyed with myself that I can’t do it. I should be able to build foam sculptures for you. Anyway… You like?”
“I like.” She placed a hand on his cheek, running a finger over his lips for a bit. “I like very much.” She leaned over from her seat and kissed him. It was all too easy to get used to being able to touch him. To watch him. To simply be in his presence and the power that was Justin.
He revved the engine and took them toward the Barton campus.
As they drove down a road that ran beside the ocean, Celeste’s phone rang.