Blame Gravity

Chapter 28*

I wake up to my annoying alarm at 6 AM, and I groan before freeing myself from James' arms. I quickly get dressed, brush my teeth, and do my makeup. I decide to go with a cat-eye look today, just for fun. After I'm done, I walk back to my bed and shake James' shoulders to wake him up. 

 "Wake up!" I yell, and he does, blinking intensely and smiling when he sees me.

"Good morning to you too, Canmore."

"You go get dressed, I'll wake Maya up, okay?" I say. Oh, no. Now Maya's going to meet James. I didn't think of that. Ah, well, I guess he must be good with kids if he could choose such perfect presents. I'll just ask Maya not to tell Mom and Dad.

He groans and stumbles out of bed. I run to Maya's room.

"Wake up, little one!" I say. "Let's eat some breakfast, okay?"

Maya jumps out of bed, excited. I don't know how she does it. It's six in the morning.

I tell her to go downstairs and I jell James to hurry up as I walk downstairs with Maya. After a few minutes, James sits down at the table. He says hi to Maya and introduces himself as I stand on my toes to get the Frootloops.

"Who are you?" Maya asks. I hold my breath.

"I'm James," he says awkwardly, and I hear he's smiling in the way he's talking. I decide to drink some water and fill a glass.

"Are you Lucy's boyfriend?" she asks. I spit out my water and drop the glass. James immediately jumps up to help, but I gesture him to sit down and I sigh while picking up the pieces.

"So, are you?" Maya asks.

"I mean..." James looks at me. "Not exactly."

"He's not," I state coldly and throw out the pieces of glass.

From the corner of my eye, I see James turn away, and I wonder if he's offended. I finally sit down at the table with three bowls, a box of Froot loops, milk, and spoons.

"Let's eat," I say strictly, not looking at James. Maya starts eating happily, and an awkward silence falls. I fill my bowl, but in the end, I sigh and push it away. 

"I changed my mind, I'm not that hungry." James doesn't eat, either. There's a lot of tension between us, and we make spiteful eye contact. 

When Maya's finished eating, I wash the dishes, and after that, I help Maya get dressed. Finally, James helps me drop her off at kindergarten by driving us there. We say goodbye to her and then James drives us to school.

"Thanks for helping this morning," I breathe when we're in his car.

"Of course. Anytime."

It stays silent for a while.

"Are you mad at me?" I whisper.

He shoots a frowning glance at me but turns back to the road.

"Of course not. Why would you think that?"

"You're kind of acting like it, y'know?"

We stay muted for a while. When I'm about to speak, we arrive at school. We quickly run to class, because class is almost starting.

Because Ms. Rodriguez is sick, we can go home 2 hours earlier. I run to James and decide to ignore Mike, who is staring at me angrily from a distance.

"So..." I say quietly. He turns around, and when he sees me, he smiled softly. 

"So?"

"So... Can we... Uh... Hang out today? Maybe?" I'm terrible at this, but I don't want to be alone this week.

He looks pleasantly surprised. "Sure, yeah. Uhm... Where to?"

"Your place?" I breathe.

He nods. "Yeah. Great. So, uhm, when do you need to pick up Maya?" 

"In, like, two hours, I don't know." 

He looks a tad worried but nods, and we drive to his house. When we're in his room, I kiss him passionately. I've thought about him all day. He kisses back. I start unbuttoning his pants.

He pulls away, seeming surprised. "I... You want to do that...? Right now?"

I suddenly feel incredibly embarrassed. Of course. He can't always keep up with my highly unpredictable libido. That's probably for the best, as well. "Sorry... I... I'm sorry." I turn away. I want to leave. I just made a complete fool out of myself. I should go. "I'll leave."

"No, don't. Please." 

I look at him. 

"Look," He grabs my hand. "I'm sorry for reacting like that. I..."

"Don't apologize. It's your boundaries. They're important." I turn away, readying myself to leave.

He suddenly kisses me. Why is he doing this? He just said he doesn't want to... I mean, not that I mind, of course. He picks me up, and I cross my ankles behind his back. He gently lays me down on the bed.

"Let me make you feel good," he whispers. He kisses my neck, then slowly moves downward. Finally, he looks at me for approval before taking off my skirt. I nod. He kisses my thigh, making me shiver, but, like, in a good way. He tugs at my panties, and I nod, nervous. He pulls those off, too.

He looks at my face, smiling reassuringly, then carefully pushes my legs apart. I try not to look at him, or I'll find it awkward. I look at the ceiling and take a deep breath.

I feel his tongue against me, but only for a second, because he pulls back immediately. After a second, I get worried, and I look at him.

"Is something wrong...?" I whisper. My mind is running wild. What if there is something weird about me? Or do I taste bad? I start hyperventilating.

"No, it's just..." He looks at me, seeming utterly confused. "You taste like fucking candy."

I stare at him, lost for a moment, then look back at the ceiling. 

He tastes me again, and I throw my head back and moan. This feels way too good. My toes curl and my knees buckle.

He keeps going, and when I'm almost finished, someone bursts through the door.

"James, did you do the dishes?" A blonde, middle-aged woman asks. When she sees us, she gasps. "Oh my God,"

I say the same thing, and James turns around while I quickly close my legs.

"Oh my God, Mom!"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" she says, covering her eyes and closing the door. 

James sighs and turns back to me. "I'm sorry, I didn't know she was home."

I nod and bite my lip. Damn it.

"Well, that's a bit of a turn-off," he says.

"No, it's okay. Just continue, please." 

He smiles slightly and puts my legs apart. 

"Will you come down for lunch when you're done?" his mom yells from downstairs.

"Mom! Shut up!" he yells.

"Okay, okay, no reason to get mad," I hear her mumble.

He sighs, closes his eyes, then resumes.