The Only Exception

CHAPTER 22

A virgin. Trey was a freaking virgin.

I couldn’t get it out of my head. Not when I tried to get back to sleep and not when I got ready the next morning. Even worse, I had no idea how I would face his mom after she caught me with my shirt off and underneath her youngest child.

A knock came at the door just as I finished brushing my hair. I only had one outfit that was ‘meet the parents’ appropriate, and I hoped Trey’s family wouldn’t judge me for my khakis and gray sweater. The only time that I actually ever saw Trey wear jeans was the night of barn dance, so I had to grab my only pair of non-jeans and hope that it was good enough.

“I’m decent,” I said.

Trey slowly opened the door. As usual he was in a button-down shirt and dress pants. I couldn’t help but let my mind wander to what he looked like standing in the room only a few hours before in his pajamas and then in just his bottoms. If he was going to keep his virginity intact I would have to stop thinking about him naked every second.

“I was sort of hoping you would still be in your pajamas, and I could get a quick glimpse before church.” He winked, taking a few steps into the room.

“We’re going to church?”

Trey stopped only a couple feet in front of me. “Of course. Did you really think the conservative family that says grace wouldn’t go to church on Sunday?”

I gulped. “Uh, if I would have known that I would have probably dressed better.”

Trey closed the space between us, wrapping his arms around my waist and pulling me closer. “You look fine. You worry too much.”

Of course I worried too much. We’d been ousted to the world as a couple by the nightly news, and I was going to look like the pauper in khakis next to the beautiful Chapman family.

Trey let go of me and then took my hand, leading me out of the room. “Come on, Mom and Dad are downstairs. We wouldn’t want to be late.”

***

My family was Catholic, but more like the Christmas and Easter Catholics. We were never ones to consistently go to church. The Chapmans were the stars of their Protestant mega church.

The whole congregation seemed to stare at us as I followed Trey and his family down the long aisle and to the very front of the church. I did a quick Internet search of the church on my phone on the car ride over, mostly because I couldn’t make eye contact with Mindy. I found out that the church was actually used for a ton of major movies in the Chicago area. And with the brick facade and mounds of ivy, it did look like something out of a movie set. The inside was just as gorgeous and looked like something out of England with the high-vaulted ceilings, cylinder lanterns hanging from the ceiling, and the large stained glass window behind the pulpit.

I’d never been to another church other than a Catholic one, not even for a wedding, so I just followed Trey’s lead and refrained from doing the sign of the cross or kneeling. The preacher looked closer to my dad’s age with a hint of salt and pepper in his hair and a few laugh lines around his eyes. The priest at my parent’s church was ancient. Some days I thought the only thing that held him up was the pulpit. But this preacher smiled at the crowd and walked around the front of the room with a spring in his step.

“Good morning, today I’m here to talk to you all about love,” the preacher spoke with a slight southern twang.

Trey squeezed my hand, and I was able to get out a little bit of a smile.

“People are always throwing out that word. They say they love their family, love their God, and even love rocky road ice cream. But what is love?”

He walked from one end of the stained glass window to the other, never standing in one place for too long. “The Bible tells us that love is patient, and love is kind. But I think my wife will tell you that she isn’t always patient with me.”

A small bit of laughter came from the crowd.

The preacher put his hands behind his back and continued. “As Christians we believe these truths that The Bible tells us about love, and while we know that God had so much love for us that he sacrificed his only son, we know that isn’t the way everyday Christians show love to each other.”

The preacher stood in front of our row. I thought he was going to keep talking but instead he looked right at me. “Young lady, I don’t believe I’ve seen you in my congregation before. What is your name?”

I gulped, widening my eyes. I agreed to go to church, but I didn’t think I’d have to speak. “Um, my name is Monica,” I barely squeaked out.

The preacher smiled and pointed at Trey. “And Monica, is our church member here, Trey Chapman, your fella?”

“I, uh, guess you can call him that.”

Another muffled laugh escaped from the crowd behind us, and Trey squeezed my hand.

“Now, Monica, tell me what you love about Trey. Don’t be shy.”

I bit down on my bottom lip. I knew what I loved about him: all the ways he challenged me, the way he put his hands in his pockets whenever he was nervous, and the way he whispered my name whenever we were fooling around. But none of those seemed appropriate enough to say in front of a preacher, so I said the only other thing I could think of.

“When he knows one of my favorite reality shows is on TV he always records it for me, even though he says he hates the show. He still always has it waiting on his TV for me to watch.”

The crowd really erupted in laughter behind us. I kept my head down, hoping I didn’t embarrass myself too bad in front of his parents. Once the crowd died down, the preacher then turned to Trey. “And what about you, young man? What do you love about Monica?”

I looked up just as Trey glanced back at me, locking my eyes with his. “I love it that when she listens to music she always hums along to it, like she thinks no one else can hear her, but it’s pretty loud and clear.”

I felt my face flush, and Trey squeezed my hand.

The preacher put his hands in the air, and walked back to his podium. “And you see, that there is love. It’s not about what we sacrifice or what we buy, it’s about the little things that show we care. Now when you leave here today, I urge you all to go off and show your friends and family that you love them. Whether it’s by recording their favorite TV show or listening to their music. Show them you love them.”

And as I kept my eyes on Trey, I knew that despite everything, I still did love him. And if he was willing to keep me around even after all the drama then there was no reason I couldn’t show him some love as well.

After church his parents asked us to brunch, and I refrained from jumping for joy when Trey declined and said we had to get back to work on homework.

Trey was saying goodbye to his mom when I felt the governor’s presence behind me. I didn’t know what to say to the guy that I had spent the past few months hating and also was the father of my boyfriend. Slowly I turned toward the governor, trying to plaster a smile on my face.

“Thank you for having me, sir.”

He nodded, his mouth in a straight line. “Thank you for coming on such short notice, Monica. I assume we shouldn’t be having any more problems?” He raised an eyebrow.

I swallowed. It was one thing to talk to Trey about what was going on, but the governor was another thing. “Uh, no sir.”

“Good.” He nodded. “Whether you like it or not, Monica, we are all in this together. None of us are out to get you. If you or Trey needs anything, don’t hesitate to ask.”

“O-o-okay, sir.”

A small smile finally appeared on his face as he patted my back. “And don’t forget to call me Kirk.”

It wasn’t until we said our goodbyes, and pulled out of the driveway, that I could finally breathe a sigh of relief as long as the Chapman mansion was in the background.

“So, that all went pretty well, I think,” Trey said, taking his hand off the steering wheel and placing it on mine.

“I guess it could have gone worse. Your dad could have said you couldn’t see me anymore, and your mom could have caught me with my hand down your pants.”

He shook his head slightly. “As embarrassing as that all was, it could have been much worse. They don’t seem to hate you for it.”

I sighed. “I just hope they don’t think I’m the evil liberal who is corrupting their little boy.”

He ran his thumb over my knuckles. “Is that what you think? That you are corrupting me?”

“Well, before me you never actually punched a guy out or got caught by a round of housekeepers and your mom for fooling around.”

“Mon, you didn’t force me to do any of those things. I wanted to do them. You’re just the first girl who has made me want to punch another guy and the fooling around, well, hopefully that doesn’t stop anytime soon.”

I caught a hint of a smile on his lips. Maybe things wouldn’t be so bad after all.