Finding Bridgewater

Chapter 14-Truth or Dare

May 16, 2022

I sip my wine, scrolling through Disney+, waiting for James to finish his shower and come to the living room for our movie. I swear I've scrolled through this whole website and nothing sounds good to watch right now.

I throw the remote on the table just as James walks down the stairs. "What's wrong?" Worry coating the words.

I sigh, "nothing sounds good," I complain.

"Well we don't have to watch a movie tonight, we can just sit and talk," he says, taking his usual seat. This time I'm sitting across the couch from him, sprawled out and bored.

"Oh, I have an idea," I shout, jumping up from the couch.

James chuckles, "oh goodie."

"A good old fashioned game of truth or dare," I say, adding dramatics. James sighs but nods his head, agreeing to play. "You start, ladies first," I tease. That has him eyeing me, the playfulness growing in his eyes.

"Alright, truth or dare."

"Hmmmm, let's start easy. Truth." He rolls his eyes.

"Uhhh, if you weren't a teacher, what would you be?"

"A stay at home mom," I blurt out, surprising us both. He waits for my explanation and I give him one, even though I don't have to. "I've always wanted a ton of kids, but living in the city, it never really seemed like a good idea. Plus my mom always pushed me to achieve more, feminism and all, so I became a teacher. She would probably support me if I wanted to stay at home, but if she didn't, I wouldn't know what to do. The last thing I want to do is disappoint my mom. Plus I've never met a guy I've ever wanted to have kids with," I sigh with a shrug. "Okay, truth or dare," I smile, hoping to bring back the playfulness we just had going.

"Dare." Ohh, James has no idea what he's just done. I smile menacingly, but it doesn't seem to deter him.

"Let me paint your nails," my grin grows as James turns ghost white. "I'll only paint one...for now. That is unless you want to chicken out so soon."

"Nope. Go right ahead. But only one." I squeal as I run up the stairs to my room, grabbing the nail polish colors and running back down to the couch.

"What color do you want," I ask as I display the colors in front of him. The options are neon pink, army green, or a light blue. His eyes linger on each one before he answers.

"The blue. It reminds me of your eyes," he smirks. I try to remain cool, but something about that sentence does uncontrollable things to my heart.

I grab his hand, "what nail," I ask, not looking at him as I prepare to paint.

"The ring finger," he says. I don't look up to meet his gaze, too scared of what I might find, and I am certainly too scared to read into that answer of his.

I apply the first coat, blow on it until it's dry, then apply a second and repeat a few more times until the color is impossible to miss.

"There," I smile up at him, finally meeting his eye. "You look so pretty now."

"Ouch. Are you saying I didn't look pretty before," he fakes being wounded.

I laugh at that. "Oh you look a lot of things, but pretty isn't one of them," I smirk.

"Alright, alright," he sighs. "Truth or dare."

I tap my finger to my chin, "hmmmmm. Dare."

He taps his fingers together, looking a little villianesc. I don't doubt my decision though.

"I dare you to let me pick the movies for the rest of the week." I sigh but concede. There were worse things that he could have said.

"Truth or dare," I ask him.

"Truth." Oh yay! I really want to ask him this.

"Why does your grandma call you JJ?"

"My initials are JJB. James Jericho Bridgewater."

"Isn't Jericho a religious name?"

"Yeah, but that isn't why my mom picked it. It means moon child and my mother was always obsessed with that kind of stuff, like stars and planets, but she loved the moon the most. How it could control the ocean tides. She loved that every single person to ever exist has seen the same moon. It unites all beings-past, present, and future-in a way that nothing else does," he smiles, reminiscing.

"I love that. She must have been a wonderful person, especially if you are her son," I smile as he reaches for me. I crawl across the couch and grab his hand with mine. We stare at each other, neither of us saying a word, for a long time.

"Elle, truth or dare," he whispers, ending the silence, never breaking eye contact.

"Dare," I whisper back. He stares at me for a while, his eyes searching for something in mine.

"Kiss me." It's barely above a whisper, but I hear him loud and clear.

I lean forward, my eyes dropping to his lips, stopping not even an inch away from mine. My eyes drift back up to meet his, and everything in life seems to make sense. This makes sense. He makes sense.

He breaks the rest of the distance, slowly bringing his lips to meet mine. I match his pace, cherishing the feel of his lips against mine. He pulls me the rest of the way onto his lap so that I'm straddling him as our kiss heats up. I feel his tongue against my bottle lip, and I part them, allowing him access, our tongues clashing together. I move my hips against his, drawing a groan out of James. He moves his hands down my body, settling them on my hips. He pulls my hips toward him faster, building the friction. I moan into his mouth, feeling him bulging in his sweatpants.

We kiss until our lips are swollen and we are out of breath. I pull back slowly, a smile growing on my face at the look in James's eyes. He sighs, satisfied, "I've been wanting to do that since the moment I set my eyes on you." I blush and lean in for one more long kiss before getting off his lap and sitting next to him.

"So what movie should we watch," I state causally, grabbing the remote. When I'm met with silence I turn to look at James, who is staring at me with astonishment. "What?" I shrug my shoulders before bursting into laughter when James drags me back into his lap, taking the remote from me. I lean back against him, sighing with contentment as he puts on a movie.

"You really are something, you know that," James asks, kissing the top of my head. I don't have to turn around to know that he is smiling.

"Mhmmm," I smile to myself as James nuzzles into my neck. I bring my arms up to wrap around him, my hands brushing through his hair. Forget Disney, this is the happiest place on Earth.