Testing The Waters

Chapter Thirty-Five

I hear a knock, followed by the sound of the front door opening. I know it's Alex getting back from football practice.

I got back from the Friendship Center with Anna not long ago and am currently in the kitchen working on dinner. It's the last night before my dad comes home tomorrow evening, so I want to do something special.

I want to come clean to Dad about Alex. I've never had a boyfriend before, so I'm not entirely sure how he's going take it. There was a lot of tension between him and Alex that day in the hospital, so I'm anxious about it.

"Babs?" I hear Alex's voice from the foyer.

"In the kitchen," I yell.

I see him round the corner just as I'm snapping a Tupperware container shut.

"Hey baby," he says in a teasing tone, and I give him a scathing look. He knows how much I loathe that endearment from being called it one too many times in humor.

I have no clue how he's even standing, let alone found the energy to make it through a 2-hour long football practice.

He was up at the butt crack of dawn this morning so he could go for a four-mile run—something he apparently does six days a week, in addition to all of the conditioning training he works into his schedule. He tried—tried being the operative word— to coax me out of bed to go with him on said run.

Hilarious, right?

I guess I never really considered how much dedication the life of an athlete requires, and I honestly have a newfound respect for Alex's commitment to his sport. I've never actually seen Alex play football—something he wants me to rectify as soon as school starts—but from what I hear around school, Alex is a beast on the field. I'm honestly excited to watch him play.

"How was practice?" I ask.

"Brutal," Alex says grimacing. "My mind was definitely not on practice." He comes around the counter and pulls me into him. "I missed you," he announces before bringing his lips to mine.

Mmmm.

He smells good— like soap and the intoxicating smell of him. I deepen the kiss, because God, I really missed him, too.

Alex lifts me until my butt hits countertop. He steps in between my legs, grabs my hips, and pulls me against him. Almost in sync, my moan gets drowned out by the beeping of the oven timer.

Alex pulls away. "Do you need to get that?"

"Yeah," I say reluctantly.

Alex and I both sigh, and he steps away from me. I jump off the counter, turning off the timer and oven. 

"Are you hungry?"

"I'm actually starving," he says through a laugh.

"Well, dinner's ready, but I have a surprise for you, first."

He eyes me curiously. "What kind of surprise?"

I grin. "Follow me."

I grab his hand and lead him out through the kitchen until we reach the sliding glass door that leads out to the enclosed backyard area. I slide open the door and pull him out onto the patio that is now dimly lit by the fading glow of the sunsetting.

His brows are drawn as his eyes dance from the white, string lights I hung around the privacy fence to the orange two-person tent set up in the grass, finally settling on the bundle of firewood I placed next to the open fire pit.

I bite my lip nervously. "You said one of your favorite memories was camping with your dad. I hope it's okay, I just thought that—"

My sentence gets cut off as Alex's lips find mine. He pulls me in, deepening the kiss. Just as I'm about to climb him like a damn jungle gym, he pulls away, leaving me entirely breathless. He rests his forehead against mine. "I love it."