“Why didn’t you wake me?”
“You were peaceful, and besides, Quinn needed me. Want me to grab you a cup of coffee?”
“Nah, I’ll get it.” He walks over and kisses my forehead before going to the kitchen.
“Shit! Do you think he heard me?”
“No, but I guess we can’t really come up with a seduction plan with him in the other room. I’ll think on it and get back to you.” She gets up. “Now, I need to get dressed and go to the airport.”
“Good luck. Want us to wait for you and all go to lunch?”
“Yes, that sounds good. Thanks for helping me get my mind off Dean. Your drama is always much juicier than mine.” She winks and then closes her bedroom door.
Bryce comes to sit down and pulls me into him. “What are we doing today?”
“Dean’s coming in early, so we’ll go to lunch with them later. With the traffic, I think we should leave for D.C. no later than three.”
“So, technically, how much time do we have until we need to be ready for lunch?”
“Few hours.”
“That’ll do.” He stands quickly and bends to pick me up. “I’m taking you back to bed for a proper good morning. We have six weeks of ‘frustration’ to work on.”
“I like the sound of that.” I giggle.
“Hopefully, you’ll do more than like it.” He gives me a look that sends a shiver through my body.
Two hours later, I come to the conclusion that if not having sex with Bryce is this good, finally having sex will be amazing.
Chapter 10
Getting to Washington took longer than we expected, and by the time we check into our hotel, there’s only an hour before we have to leave. The good thing about this is I’m so rushed, there’s no time to get nervous.
“Hey, will you help me with my zipper?” I ask, stepping into my shoes.
“Gorgeous,” he whispers against my neck as he zips the dress.
“Pretty good looking yourself.” I turn to him and admire how hot he is in a classic black suit. He opted not to wear a tie and left the top buttons of his shirt open. In my opinion, he looks like he walked off the pages of a magazine.
“Stop looking at me like that or we’ll be late.” Bryce helps me into my jacket and kisses my cheek softly.
We meet Dean and Quinn in the lobby and then get a cab to the museum. As soon as we arrive, butterflies flutter in my stomach. I see most of the other students mingling around. Professor Davis comes over to greet us and tells us where to find the programs with the layout of the exhibit.
Bryce and Dean grab us drinks, and we walk around admiring the pieces. There’s a section dedicated to the student work, but in my opinion, some of our projects are just as good as the professional works.
“Quinn told me about her story and picture, but tell me about yours,” Dean asks me.
“The day we came to D.C., I passed a woman and her children sitting in an alley crying. The woman was trying to sooth her two small children. They were hesitant of me at first, but once I explained I was a student working on a project, they relaxed. The reason I chose this picture was the tear-stained cheeks and look of pain on the mother’s face. You can clearly see they are Middle Eastern, Iraqi, but they are American citizens.
“Walking through the streets that day, the war protestors’ screams scared the children. They asked their mother about some of the things being said. Once they started crying, she took them into the alley to calm them down.”
“Were the protestors actually screaming at them?” Dean looks horrified at the thought.
“No, and in actuality, my project wasn’t about their experience. I chose to hone in and exploit the innocence of the children. That mother had to explain the concept of hatred and violence to her five and six year old that day. An outing to do Christmas shopping turned into a nightmare for this woman.
“I just gave you the cliff notes version, but my story was much more detailed. I fully respect the right to free speech but tried to spin how sometimes we get lost.”
“Sounds interesting.”