out his hand and waited for Leah to slip hers into his, and they walked down the stairs. When they got to the kitchen, Brad found five plastic grocery bags on the table.
“What do you want me to do?”
He looked through the bags and handed one to her. “That all looks like fridge stuff. Would you mind putting it in there?”
“No problem.” While she took care of the one bag, Brad put away the canned and boxed goods in three of the bags. As the two of them worked on putting away what was in the last bag, Brad’s mom walked in the kitchen wearing yellow scrubs.
“Oh, Leah. I didn’t know you were here. How are you?”
“Great, Mrs. Payne. How are you?”
She grimaced. “Busy, unfortunately.” She walked over to Brad and kissed him on the cheek, standing on her toes since her son was quite a bit taller than she. “See you tomorrow, bud.”
Brad smiled. “See ya, mom.”
“See you, Leah.” His mother grabbed her purse and headed out the door. Brad couldn’t help but smile as his mother walked out. He knew she was the reason he had the dark hair on his head. His father had light brown hair too, but his mother’s was almost black and so was his. In fact, he suspected he looked more like his mother all the way around in the face—dark eyes, dark hair, full lips. The facial hair changed all that, though. Body-wise, he was more like his father—tall and solid. Unlike both his parents, though, Brad was planning to be tattooed— a lot .
He turned to face his girlfriend. “So, where were we?”
She grinned. “You were playing songs for me.”
“Not boring you, was I?”
She shook her head, almost acting shy. He smiled and kissed her forehead, then took her by the hand to lead her back to his room. Leah sometimes had a tendency to act demure even when she didn’t need to, but it was one of the things she did that endeared her to Brad. When they got to his room, they sat back on the edge of the bed where they’d been before, but Leah held onto his hand. He was going to grab for his guitar but instead looked in her eyes. And he could tell she didn’t want him to play music for her anymore. Her eyes told him that much.
Still…she didn’t realize how difficult it was becoming for him to engage in hot and heavy make out sessions with no release. He would never pressure her, and he would find ways to take care of himself later, but every time they got involved in a heavy kissing session, he found himself worked up beyond control. The blow job last weekend hadn’t helped, because now his mind raced back to that night. He didn’t want to ask her to do it again, but it was all he could think about.
It didn’t matter. He couldn’t resist her, and he could do what he’d been doing—ta king care of himself when she was gone. So he leaned over and cupped her cheek in his hand. She tilted her head into his hand and closed her eyes. She inhaled a slow breath and then looked at him. She searched his eyes as he moved his face close to hers and met her lips with a kiss.
It was unlike any other kiss they had shared before. There was something about it that felt a little steamier, a little more intimate, and Brad tried not to think about it. It was then, as his tongue explored her mouth, that he finally let go and let the emotion wash over him, the one he’d been denying, the one he’d felt sure couldn’t be real.
He loved this girl.
Yes, he’d cared about other girls before, but not like Leah. Leah was beginning to feel like a part of him, like something he wouldn’t be able to live without, like air. He knew he was too young to feel that way, too inexperienced, but he couldn’t help the feeling. It was there, and it was strong, and there wasn’t a damn thing he could do about it.
So he just let himself feel it. He believed she could feel it too, because something tonight was different. He felt her hands on his