By the time I woke up, we were pulling up to my mother’s house and the rain was falling heavier than before. We both made a dash for the front door—expensive cake covers and cakes in hand.
I set my cakes down on the porch and opened the door. We placed the cakes in the refrigerator and ran back out for the second set.
I held one cake cover against my hip and rummaged around in my pockets for the keys to put it away. Then it hit me.
“I think I locked the keys inside the house…”
“You did what?” Ethan’s eyes widened.
He heard what I said…
“What did you say, Selena?”
“I said I locked the keys inside,” I didn’t look up at him. “And I think the car is locked too…”
“Should I assume that you don’t have Triple A and that the locksmith won’t be able to come out until tomorrow morning?”
I nodded.
“Selena, Selena, Selena,” he walked over to the garden bench and motioned for me to sit down. “Do you want me to get us a cab?”
“I doubt one would come out here in this weather. I’m sorry...”
“It’s okay,” he put his arm around my shoulders. “I’ve always wanted to sleep outside on a garden bench. Let’s just wait for the rain to slow down. Maybe I can get us one later.”
The rain never let up. It fell harder and harder, dragging a harsh wind along with it. Each time it blew by, Ethan and I were splattered with a soft shower of mist from the awning above.
“Does your mother have a spare key hidden outside somewhere?” his teeth chattered. “Or is there a back window she leaves open?”
“No…Wait, there’s blankets and stuff in my tree-house out back. We could go up there until it slows down.”
“Is the roof sealed? Does it leak?”
“It’s completely sealed. I promise.”
He looked over his shoulder at the tree house and stood up. “Okay…On the count of three.”
“Why do you get to count?”
“Because I didn’t lock the keys in the house!” he shouted.
Oh…
“One,” he led me over to the steps, “two…three!”
We jumped off the porch and ran around the side of the house, letting the merciless raindrops drench our clothes.
I took my time climbing up the ladder, making sure my hands completely grasped the slippery metal rungs. Once I made it inside, I grabbed a blanket from the corner and wrapped it around myself.
“Here you go,” I handed Ethan a quilt once he shut the door.
I set my cell phone down on the dresser and he slammed his next to mine. I moved away from him and sat quietly in the corner, wondering how long he would be mad at me.
“I need to get out of these wet clothes,” he sounded annoyed. “Could you turn around please?”
“Why?”
“Selena…”
“Fine,” I took another blanket from my pile and draped it over my head.
Of course, I knew where all the holes in my old blankets were and watched him the entire time.
I already knew he had amazing upper body, but the sight of him peeling out his wet shirt still made me blush. I’d run my hands against his sculpted abs and playfully nuzzled his chiseled chest while we watched movies together, but I’d never seen him completely naked before.
As he turned around to take off his boxers and jeans, I stifled a gasp with both my hands. I immediately felt foolish for making that “measure up” comment weeks ago. That was definitely a huge mistake.
Jesus!
Once he wrapped himself in a blanket he walked over to me and tapped my head. “Did you enjoy the show, Miss Beauregard?”
Yes…
“What are you talking about?” I pulled the blanket off my head. “I wasn’t watching you…”
“Of course you weren’t. Your turn,” he actually went to the other side of the tree-house and turned his back.
I peeled out of my jeans and tank top, but decided to leave my bra and panties on—they were only slightly dampened by the rain, and I knew being naked around Ethan wasn’t a good idea.
“I’m done now Ethan,” I adjusted my blanket wrap. “Are you mad at me?”
“No…even though I think I should be,” he turned around and laughed. “I take it you used to come out here a lot?”
“Yeah, I practically lived in here when I was a teenager. I had a mattress pad and everything.”
“Did you have invisible friends too?”
I stood up and hit a few tap lights. “No. I had real friends.”
“Have you hung out with them since you’ve been back?”
I didn’t answer him. I hit another tap light and pulled all the quilts from the plastic bin. I unfolded them one by one and made a large pallet before sitting down.
He sat down beside me. “What did I say?”