It All Started Here

Kara:

            “I can’t believe you’re really here.”

            Kara lost count of how many times Ethan had spoken those words. As soon as she passed through the gates of the airport he swept her in his arms and whispered those words. Since then, he’d repeated them often. He repeated them as he swung her in an excited circle. He repeated them in between kisses. While all the other passengers on the plane with her began to move toward baggage claim, he said them again.

            “I can’t believe it either,” Kara agreed as he offered her another kiss.

            “I’m so happy I could fly.”

            “Better not, Dracula.”

            He gave her a sly grin. “I won’t. So, are you ready to get your luggage and get the hell outta this place?”

            “Are you ready to let me go?” 

            Ethan’s grin faded. “I’ll never let you go.” 

            “I guess we’ll just have to stand here and kiss forever then.” 

            “Nah, let’s get your luggage and go back to my house. I’d rather stay there and kiss forever.”

            “I thought you’d see it my way.”

            Finally, he released his hold on her, sliding her carry on bag off her shoulder and tossing it over his. As they strolled toward the baggage claim area, young girls and old women alike gave Ethan long looks, and Kara knew why. Though he was only seventeen, his strong presence made him difficult to ignore. The fact that he was hotter than hot also probably had something to do with the stares. In the three years since she’d met him, he’d grown more than six feet tall. Along with that, he’d packed on some serious muscles. Add to that his jet black hair, perfect complexion and hypnotic amber eyes, and it was a very volatile equation.

            “Looks like we’re just in time,” Kara observed.

            They’d reached the baggage claim where the luggage from her flight had just been loaded onto the conveyor belt.

“Tell me which ones are yours, and I’ll grab them.”

            “Those three,” she said, pointing to a matching set of sleek, black suitcases.

            “Three?” Ethan repeated with a laugh. “Why do you need three suitcases and a carry on bag? You’re only going to be here three nights.”

            “I packed for cold and warm weather. Besides, I’m a girl. This is what we do.”

            Despite how heavy her stuffed suitcases were, Ethan lifted them with ease. Knowing it wouldn’t do any good, Kara didn’t offer to help him. Instead, she followed him out of the airport and out to his car. It was the first time she’d ever seen his car. The oversized S.U.V. was a typical boy car.   

“So, what do you feel like doing?” Ethan asked as he stacked her suitcases in the back of his truck.

            Kara didn’t need time to think. “Eating; I’m starving.”

            “You want to eat now? It’s only two thirty.” 

            “Yeah, but that means it’s five thirty in New York, and that’s dinner time.”