I let him pull me closer to him, allowing our bodies to fold into each other and I close my eyes to simply enjoy being held by him. “Hey, don’t fall asleep on me,” he whispers into my ear a few minutes later.
With my eyes close, I smile and tell him, “No worries. I’m just enjoying myself.” Ten minutes later, I feel thirsty and ask if he would like something to drink.
He declines and I go to get a bottle of water. The doorbell rings and I wonder who it could be. “Jake? Could you get that?”
“Yeah,” he calls back.
I grab my water and walk back into the hallway to see Conrad standing in the doorway. Instinctively, I ran to him and wrapped my arms around him
“Oh my gosh! What are you doing here? How are you?” I squeal. He picked me up and hugged me tightly to him. I could feel the muscles I remember so well beneath me. I hear Jake clear his throat behind me and Conrad sets me down.
“Well, hello to you too,” Conrad’s voice that had a hint of tenor in it says. I step back and take a look at him. He’s pretty much the same as I remember. Sandy blonde hair that’s ruffled from where he runs his fingers through it quite often. Blue eyes that sparkle when he smiles with his gleaming teeth. Conrad looked older though. More…manly. While he was slightly taller than Jake and where Jake was more lean and muscled, Conrad was more built than that. His jaw was strong and outlined his face, something I found extremely sexy. At that though, I returned to Earth.
I turn to Jake who looks a little angry and say, “Jake, this is Conrad. Conrad, this is my boyfriend Jake.” I thought I saw a hint of disappointment and maybe jealously in Conrad’s crystal blue eyes. The men say a hello and shake hands. Jake wraps a protective arm around my waist. “Well, come in and have a seat.” Conrad shuts the door behind him and follows us into the living room.
He sits in my dad’s favorite recliner to the right of us on the couch. “How did you find me? What are you doing here?” He gives me a lopsided grin that used to make my stomach turn…it still does.
“I was wondering if I could talk to you privately,” Conrad saying, giving a pointed glance at Jake.
“Is it that important,” I ask feeling Jake’s grasp tighten in mine. Conrad nods. I bite my lip at loss of what to do.
“How long are you in town?”
“Two weeks.”
“Jake and I were enjoying the day to ourselves. Could I meet you somewhere tomorrow?”
The grin falls and Conrad says, “Sure. I can come pick you up around noon, if that’s okay?” I nod. Conrad stands and I do too. “I’ll see you then, okay?” I nod. “I’ll see myself out.”
“Bye Conrad,” I said to his retreating form. When the door closes behind him, I plop onto the couch. Jake is silence and just staring openly at me. All I can do is stare at the wall across from me as memories try to slam into me. I close my eyes and push those happy, love-filled memories away. “So that’s Conrad,” Jake says breaking the silence.
“That’s him,” I confirm, glancing over at him.
“What do you think he’s doing here?”
I shake my head at a complete loss. “I don’t know. I never expected to see him again, much less have him show up at my door.”
“Are you sure you should go out with him tomorrow,” he asks, pulling me to lean into him.
I rest my head on his shoulder. “Of course. Why wouldn’t I? He’s Conrad.” Jake takes a deep breath and I resist looking at him.
“Well, I mean, he’s part of the reason you were affected so much by your mother and you seemed so…happy to see him.” He struggled over the word happy.
“He had no clue, Jake,” I whisper.
“But he still dumped you out of the blue and broke your heart,” he said vehemently.
I rest my hand on Jake’s thigh. “I know. I have to see why he’s here, though.”
After a minute or two of silence, Jake says, “Okay” and kisses the top of my head. The rest of the afternoon is void of heated kisses, if any at all. We lay in each others arms on the couch and watch TV.
Conrad
I quickly make my way to her door, excited to see her again. I knock and Mike answers the door. A grin pops onto his face and he gives me a quick hug. “How are you doing boy? Emily mentioned that you were in town.”
“I’m doing really well. How are you,” I ask as Mike ushers me into the living room. I take a sit on the couch as Mike sits in the recliner I occupied yesterday.
“I’ve been doing well. Emily will be out in just a second.” I nod curtly and look at the room around me. Pictures of Emily and Mike are everywhere, along with pictures of Jake, Emily, and a younger boy.