Breaking Free

05

It felt nice waking up to the sound of the birds and the warm feeling of the sun bearing through the window versus the sound of my alarm. We only had a few more days at home, but I was definitely going to take advantage of them. I rolled out of bed, running my fingers through my hair. I made my way down the stairs and followed the sound of voices coming from the kitchen.

"Good morning, sunshine," Emmy said, flashing her bright white smile.

"Good morning," I replied, plopping down in one of the kitchen chairs.

"So, I was planning on going to the beach today to lay in the sun. You want to go?" Emmy asked. Before I could even say anything, another voice spoke up.

"Sorru, she's spoken for," Bryson said as he stumbled into the kitchen. It almost seemed like he had been drinking, but I knew that's how Bryson was in the morning. He must've just woken up.

"Am I?" I questioned, raising my eyebrow at him.

"Yup. You have no say in the matter," he stated, sitting down in the chair next to me.

"Well then. Care to find me in on what we'll be doing?"

"Nope," he said bluntly. I crossed my arms, giving him a pouty face. He knew how much I hated surprises. "You have fifteen minutes before we have to leave. I know how long it takes you to great ready, so you better get going." That caused Emmy to laugh.

"What are you laughing at?" I asked. "We both know you take twice as long as me." She shot me a death glare, and I chuckled, getting up from the table to go get ready.

~~~~

I made sure it took me twenty minutes to get ready, just to get on Bryson's nerves, and I knew it had worked when he was waiting by the front door with his arms crossed when I came down the stairs.

"Seriously, Riley? I said fifteen minutes," he said, not breaking his tough guy demeanor.

"I'm sorry. You can't rush perfection." That caused him to grin, but he quickly went back to not smiling once he realized his was grinning.

"What if we had reservations?" I busted up laughing.

"That's funny coming from the guy that is never on time." I stopped laughing when he started shooting me a death glare.

"Let's go," he said, going out the front door. I knew he wasn't actually mad. He just liked to make a scene. When we got out to the car, he opened my door for me.

"No need to be so serious," I said, giving him a peck on the nose. I saw him instantly relax. That was the key indicator that I had won. He got in the car, not saying anything. "So where are we going?" I asked, breaking the silence.

"You'll see," he said with a smile, putting the car into drive and taking off.

~~~~

About a half an hour on the road I had begun to get antsy. Bryson hadn't given me enough time to drink at least a cup of coffee, and that was asking for problems.

"Are we almost there?" I whined, knowing it would bother him. Maybe he would tell me where we were going.

"Yes, can you not whine? It's annoying." I rolled my eyes, laying back in my seat.

"Tell me how you really feel." I stared out the window, watching as the scenery flew by us. I was starting to recognize where we were, but I couldn't quite put my finger on why I had been here before, or why Bryson was taking me here. Finally, Bryson stopped the car. I flew out of my seat, excited to see where we were. The beach. He brought me to the friggen beach.