Princess & the Player

eighteen: two weeks ago, I didn't love you

a/n: Slight steam ahead.

Marco's POV:

I woke up at 8 the next morning and turned off her alarm. Snuck down the stairs and made her breakfast and even tried to cut up some fruit in decorative shapes. Then I realized I didn't have a tray or anything. I dug around outside and found a spare piece of wood to carry the food upstairs. I'm so frigging cheesy, now. 

She opened her eyes just as I hit the top stair. 

Then she smiled.

Damn. Worth it. 

After we finished eating, I pulled her into my arms and we just lay like that for a really long time. It was the first time I'd been that close to Maggie without being completely turned on. 

I meant to jump on her and eat her alive. But in the end, we drifted in and out of quiet sleep for almost an hour. 

In the shower, we washed each other slowly. It was erotic and gentle and when she came, she closed her eyes and gasped. We went back upstairs and made love almost silently. She climbed on me like our first time and we watched each other. Afterwards, she collapsed on my chest and tucker her head under my chin. 

Two weeks ago, I'd barely known Maggie. 

Not her last name, or how she liked her eggs, or her ridiculous love for Justin Timberlake, or her mainline addiction for over-sweetened coffee or how she quietly took responsibility - whether it was checking on her siblings every day and if they were doing their homework or doing the laundry. She didn't complain; she rolled with it. 

And she did it all without any idea how smoking hot she was.

Two weeks ago, I didn't love Maggie. 

But now?

No.

It doesn't happen like this. 

Right?

Maggie's POV:

We were on the road before 11. 

He picked a jazz playlist on Spotify. Really old stuff like Charlie Parker and Dizzie Gillespie and Ella Fitzgerald. I watched out the window.

"How far until New York City?" I asked when we stopped for gas. I grabbed the squeegee beside the gas pump and cleaned some of the bugs off the windshield. I couldn't reach the center so Marco grabbed the other squeegee and got that part.

He patted my ass as he finished. "Actually, I picked a different route to avoid traffic."

"Oh." I tried not to be disappointed. I wanted to see the Empire State Building. 

I cheered myself up with the Trolls soundtrack while he was grabbing soda in the convenience mart. As he slid back behind the wheel, he gave me a dirty look. 

I batted my eyelashes at him. 

"Fine," he laughed. "But just once."

Before the last song had even played, I began to see the blue of the water ahead in the distance. My heart leaped. "Marco! Is that the ocean?" I pointed.

"No...that's Lake Erie."

"That's a lake?"

"A great one," he reminded me. 

"Ha ha."

He picked more jazz next and I dozed off against his shoulder. I couldn't help it. I'm sure the music was really sophisticated or whatever but when it doesn't have words, I crash.