42 Hours (Time for Love 3)

“Just be careful,” she said. “I don’t want to see anyone get hurt.”

“They’ll be fine, Red,” TJ assured her, bringing her hand up to brush his lips against it.

She looked at him and nodded, a small smile on her lips.

They’d only been together themselves a couple months. We’d all been friends sinc

e junior year, but Sasha and TJ had always been just friends until he’d moved in with her for a few weeks after losing his job and apartment. They’d originally thought they could be friends with benefits, since they were both single, sexually responsible adults, but the rest of us saw right away that they were great together.

Although Sasha grew up in a family very similar to my own, more concerned with money than their child, and TJ had grown up pretty much on his own, with abusive druggie parents who eventually ended up in jail, leaving him to raise himself, together they gave each other what they’d both always wanted. Someone they could count on unconditionally, and would love them for who they were, and not who society wanted them to be.

The girls said they’d clean up, since I’d cooked, so I went upstairs. When I saw that Gaby was still sleeping, I went to my room to plan out what I wanted to make for our picnic, and how I wanted the day to go.

Chapter 16 - Gaby

I woke up to the sun shining through my window. I stretched lazily, smiling to myself as I looked around the rustically beautiful room. I could definitely get used to this.

I left my bed in search of coffee, surprised when I glanced at the clock and saw that it was almost eleven. I never slept that late. My body must have needed sleep, because, as I’d thought, I tossed and turned a lot before finally falling into a restless slumber. That kiss had me all worked up.

The house was really quiet. Too quiet, considering there were six adults staying in it. Two of them being TJ and Sasha, who, let’s face it, were rarely quiet.

There was coffee in the pot, so I poured a cup¸ then took it out to the back porch, where I could look out over the lake as the caffeine did its job.

I looked up as the screen door creaked, and smiled at Scott, who looked fresh in swim trunks and a T-shirt.

“Morning,” he said with a sexy grin.

“Good morning,” I replied as I yawned. I laughed and brought my hand to my mouth. “I can’t believe I slept so late. Where is everyone?”

“They headed into town, I think to do some shopping and people watching. They said they’d be back this afternoon.”

“Oh, I hope they weren’t waiting on me to get up or anything,” I said sheepishly.

“No … Actually, I was hoping we could have a picnic outside, then go swimming,” Scott said.

My stomach growled at the thought of food, causing Scott and I to laugh.

“That sounds great,” I said, standing up. I walked over to pass Scott and go inside, but he stepped forward and blocked my path. I looked up and caught his intent, right before his lips lowered to mine.

He kissed me softly and sweetly before pulling away and once again saying, “Good morning.”

I smiled shyly at him and said, “I’ll go grab my suit and get ready. Meet you back down here in ten minutes?”

He nodded and stepped back so I could move around him.

I made good on my promise, and ten minutes later I had a summer dress covering my bikini, and was downstairs ready to begin our picnic.

When I walked outside, Scott was out by the lake. He had a blanket laid out with a picnic basket on one side, and a bottle of white wine on ice on the other. I strolled over and kicked off my shoes, lowering myself to join him on the blanket.

“This looks great,” I said, pleased that he put so much effort into the picnic.

Once we were all set up and ready to dig into our lunch, Scott turned to me and asked, “You happy, Gaby?”

“Here?” I asked. “Yes, I’m having such a great time.”

“I’m glad,” Scott said, looking deep into my eyes. “But I meant, are you happy with where you are in life.”

“That’s a pretty deep question,” I teased him with a chuckle as I spooned some potato salad into my mouth. It was creamy and delicious.