“Now? Now we go down and spend the night playing board games with my parents.”
At that point, I would have done anything for Natalie, even play board games.
Chapter Nine
Natalie
I woke up feeling sore from the sex Jet and I had the night before. I liked the fact that things were getting a little kinkier between us. I wasn't going to go all 50 Shades or anything, but a little bit of spice never hurt anyone. I found Jet to easily be one of the sexiest men I had ever met. I think I would have allowed him to do just about anything to my body ... just about. I couldn't have been happier with our sex life, and I definitely had no complaints. I often wondered if there was anything he wanted that he never told me about. Although I pretty much allowed Jet free rein on my body, I found myself shy when it came to asking for specific things, or even to ask Jet if there were any fantasies he had that I could help to make come true. That's what a partnership was all about, wasn't it? Making sure you pleased each other in the best possible way. And I wanted to please Jet in any way I could. I felt it was my job as his girlfriend to do whatever I could to in order to make him happy. I also felt that he, too, should do the same for me. I loved him, after all. Yes, it was true, I had fallen madly and deeply in love with a boy who was probably all wrong for me, and yet I was completely okay with it.
I knew he wanted to make me happy, and I was sure he felt the same way about me as I did for him. Things had been going wonderfully between us, and the hiccups we had experienced before seemed to be gone now. I felt that there was nothing further to worry about.
I rolled over toward him in the bed, and kissed his shoulder. Her groaned and rolled over to face me. I kissed his sleepy lips and his eyes blinked open.
“Good morning, sleepyhead, we better get up and go. We have a long drive ahead of us.”
“Sounds good, baby. By the way, last night was incredible.”
“I think so, too, Jet, though I am a little sore.”
“A good sore, I hope.”
I smiled. “Yes it's a wonderful reminder of what happened last night.”
“Mmm, maybe we can try a little bit again on the way home. I promise I will be gentle.”
I giggled. “We'll see, now get up.”
We both got up out of bed and proceeded to get dressed and ready to go. We had packed our bags the night before, after we had finished playing games with my parents all night.
I finished brushing my hair and headed downstairs with Jet in tow. My mother was in the kitchen making breakfast. She knew we weren't planning on staying, so she had packed us up a breakfast basket of fruit and muffins for the road.
“Thanks, Mom, you didn't have to do that. We could have hit up a coffee shop on the way.”
“Oh, sweetheart, it was nothing. I also have a thermos full of coffee here for you.”
We hugged and said our goodbyes, and my parents welcomed Jet to come back anytime. He seemed genuine when he hugged each of them. We piled everything into the car and then settled in ourselves. We watched as my parents went back into the house, and I turned to Jet. “Hey, sweetheart, thank you so much for coming here with me.”
He smiled. “Anything for you, Natalie.”
I leaned over to him in the car and kissed him full on the mouth. When I pulled back I whispered, “I love you, Jet.”
At first, I wasn't sure if he had heard me, because there was a long pause after my declaration, and then he just kissed me back. I pulled back and leaned my head against the window, feeling confusion rush in. He seemed to be avoiding making eye contact with me, so I was quite certain he had heard me. So why didn't he say it back? Did he not think the moment was right, or did he not love me at all?
It was hard to believe that he wouldn't by now, but guys were different about these things, and maybe he just wasn't ready. I feared, however, that maybe he just didn't feel the same way about me, and that truly terrified me. What was even worse was that I worried that he wasn't even ready to hear I love you. What if he freaked or bolted because he wasn't in the same place as I was emotionally?
His lack of admission pretty much killed our whole trip home. Compared to the way we were when we travelled down, it was the complete opposite. We barely talked, we didn't laugh at all, and it got so awkward, in fact, that I finally just opened a book and read the entire thing on the ride home. At that point I knew for sure that he had heard what I said, because at no point during the trip did he ask me if anything was wrong. I asked him to forego the hotel this time around and just drive the full way home. It was very reminiscent of the drive home after Thanksgiving. It concerned me that we weren't able to communicate what was wrong. I was completely embarrassed by my admission, but I felt like I shouldn't be. I felt that it was the right time for me to have said I love you, and regardless of whether he felt the same way, he should have accepted my sentiment and not shut down for the entire trip home.
I had to fight off tears a few times on the trip, but when he finally pulled up in front of my apartment, I quickly kissed him on the cheek and exited the car. I grabbed my things from the trunk and ran into the building, without looking back even once.
Chapter Ten
Jet
Every year after the championship fights were over, the school hosted a parade for the community. It was a great way for the school to get out in the community and raise awareness for the MMA program, which was still fairly new in the area. The school had all the art students help with building and decorating floats, and when it was all said and done, everything looked pretty cool. All my teammates were there, getting ready to board floats and celebrate, and the mood in the air was very festive.
It was a cool winter day for the parade, but there was no snow on the ground that would affect the floats driving around. I was personally hoping that the parade didn't last very long, because I wasn't a fan of the cold, and the idea of being out in frigid temperatures didn't make me feel very happy.
I was the king of the show, of course, due to my win at the finals, so I sat in a special chair at the top of one of the floats as if I was homecoming queen. The whole thing seemed pretty absurd to me, but it was gonna be just the beginning of my fame. I had big plans for my future, and one day I wouldn't have to worry about being involved in community parades.