Meant to Be (The Saving Angels 1)

“I promise we will take it slow. Truthfully, I always imagined myself waiting for my wedding night. I know that sounds old fashioned, but I’ve always wanted to save it for that special day.”

Relieved, she reached over and hugged me. “That sounds like a great idea.”

“I’m sure it does,” I said wryly.

She chuckled. “I’m your mom. You can’t blame me for wanting you to wait.”

I laughed with her, more out of relief that she was finally accepting Mark. I suddenly felt lighthearted. I hugged her for good measure and headed back to the living room. I found Mark lounging on the couch reading one of my favorite books. He set the book aside when I came back in the room.

“Everything okay?”

“Everything is fine. She gave me the sex talk,” I whispered with humor.

“Oh!” Mark said, flushing slightly.

“What did you tell her?” he asked, pretending indifference.

“I told her it was too late. We had already done it,” I said mischievously.

“What?” Mark said in shock, jumping to his feet.

“Got you!” I said giggling, while I backed away as he began to advance toward me.

“You think you’re funny don’t you?” He asked as he reached out and caught me. I giggled as he carried me back to the couch.

“You almost gave me a stroke. I didn’t know if I should hit the door running in case your mom was coming after me with a shotgun.”

I giggled again still tickled from the look he had on his face. “You should have seen the look on your face,” I said between my merriment.

“You are so beautiful when you laugh, your whole face lights up, it makes me happy just to see it,” he said as he stroked the side of my face with the back of his hand.

The laughter stuck in my throat as a new heat began to fill me. When he looked at me like that, I felt like the most special person in the world.

Chapter 11

Once Sam and Shawn came back from their walk, we decided to enjoy my newfound freedom and go out to dinner.

We picked a local pizza place downtown that Mark swore was the best around. Now that he was no longer working at my school, there was no reason we needed to avoid the restaurants around our school.

The pizza place was loud and crowded with students when we arrived. A hush seemed to fall on the place when we pushed through the doors. It ended quickly, as the gossip hounds turned away, trying to act like they weren’t staring.

I spied Matt in a corner booth with a bunch of his cronies. Mark spotted him at the same time, I had to swallow a laugh when he pulled me close and planted a sensual kiss on my lips, leaving no question that we were together.

Sam snickered beside me. She knew exactly what Mark was doing. Shawn looked a little confused, so we filled him after we claimed a table in the back. He slapped Mark appreciatively on the back as they got up to place our order at the old fashioned counter with swivel stools.

“You look so much better,” Sam said, studying me.

“I feel better, and now that I can do your breathing trick, I feel like I’m finally turning a corner.”

“I’m glad. We all need to be in tip top shape. I can’t shake the feeling that something bad is going to happen.”

The guys came back and I was happy for their intrusion. I was sick of worrying about all the doom and gloom. I just wanted to bask in the moment like any other teenager. Soon, we were all laughing at more of Shawn’s anecdotes and the conversation flowed lightly around our table. It was hard not to notice the envious stares directed at us from the gossip hounds, probably wondering how we had gotten so close and at ease with each other. Their conversations seemed superficial compared to the ones that our group was sharing.

The bell rang for our pizza and the guys went and grabbed it along with a pitcher of soda. The pizza was excellent. The cheese was melted a golden brown and oozed over the sides with each bite we took. I ate until I was filled to the brim. The guys ate us under the table; we teased them about how much pizza they had consumed.

“Hey we’re men. We need lots of food for our bodies,” Shawn said, sticking up for him and Mark.

Once we had our fill, Mark and Shawn told us about their trip.