(24) The Morning After

Around eleven in the morning, while the rest of the house was still asleep and the sun shone through all of Theo's windows to tell of the warmth of a mid-September day, Theo rolled over in bed and curled up against Makennah's side, laying his head on her belly.

"My head kills," he groaned.

Makennah snuggled into her pillow - er, his pillow - and sealed her eyes shut tight. Not yet. She didn't want to fully awaken yet.

"You're seventeen years old. You're way too young for a hangover."

Theo squeezes her sides and she kicked him away. Reluctantly, Theo sat up in bed and hung his legs over his side of the mattress. "Well I was fine until I started having mixed drinks because of this hot bartender."

"She pleads the fifth," Makennah mumbled.

Theo chuckled, pulled a bottle of pills out of his bed side table drawer and tossed three into the back of his mouth as well as a swig of water. "She's still guilty."

"To clarify, I never made you do anything. You asked for a drink."

The bed shifted in the absence of his weight as he padded off to the bathroom. "Whatever. Let's get out of here before anyone else wakes up."

When Theo returned after Makennah braided her hair back, cleaned off her face with a make up wipe and brushed her teeth in the bathroom down the hall, Theo exited the bathroom. Wearing glasses.

Makennah burst out laughing. "Aww, wittle four eyed Theo."

He readjusted his glasses and tugged on her braid. "Shut up. My contacts make a hangover worse."

She shoved him away. "What a cute little nerd."

Theo sought after her and tickled her sides. She almost screamed in laughter until he sealed a hand over her mouth. "Shh," He shushed, fighting back laughter himself. "If you keep making fun of me, you won't get any breakfast."

"What's for breakfast?" She asked, keeping her voice low. She comfortably stood in his space, their arms brushing up against one another, whispers of touches and secrets untold. The entire mystery surrounding their growing connection only made it burn faster. It was incredibly fun and equally as attractive hiding out in his room, whispering so no one would overhear, sharing glances and laughter and touches when no one was looking.

"Whatever you want," he whispered, looking down at her through his glasses.

Her heart fluttered at his undivided attention. His statement seemed to cover more than just breakfast.

"Pancakes?" Makennah asked.

"Definitely," he whispered back, dragging her out the door and down the stairs.

"Bacon?"

"And sausage," he promised, walking in bare feet through the foyer into the marvelous great room with a huge kitchen with marble top counters and a giant kitchen island that overlooked the living room and a small den area as well as a dining table made for a king.

"What about eggs?"

"However you'll take them," he said.

"Waffles?"

Instantly, Theo crossed the kitchen to the fridge and poured two glasses of water. He handed one to her. She gulped it down, quenching the alcohol-induced thirst.

"Waffles and pancakes?" He sneered. "That's a little greedy."

She shrugged. "Alright I'll let you decide."

Theo smiled as brightly as the sun. What perfection he was with tousled hair, sleepy eyes, a lazy grin and sleep clothes. Everything about early-morning-Theo made her want to curl up on the couch in the sunlight, lay her head on his chest, and watch cartoons like little kids.

His gentle smile faded a little as his gaze dropped to her lips. She had no clue what he saw in her but it couldn't be that great after a night of whiskey. However she turned her lips up in a smile and shared a moment of happiness with him.

Everything about last night recurred in her brain like a movie. Especially the part where he promised to kiss her in the very near future.

Her cheeks heated up and she looked away. Perhaps the same thoughts were swirling in his head because he spun around abruptly, cleared his throat, and said "Waffles, eggs, bacon and sausage coming right up."

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Letting out a guttural scream, Grace angrily threw her pencil across the room and lay her head down on her trigonometry book. "I can't do it anymore."

"Yes you can!" Makennah urged her onward. Turned out Makennah was pretty good at trig. Turned out Grace was really not.

"No. My soul is dying."

"It's not." Makennah patted Grace on the back.

"It's shriveling up as we speak."

It's a wonder Grace didn't join the drama club or the theatre program what with all her dramatics. "Okay let's take a break and then we will continue. We are almost done with this chapters review."

A light knock on Grace's dood alerted them to a welcome interruption which turned out to be Grace's mom, Lilliana. "Hey, girls. How's it going?" She inquired cheerily.

"Awful!" Grace bellowed. "Mom, I'm gonna fail this test tomorrow!"

Lilliana glanced to Makennah for confirmation. "Sounds like you girls need some snacks!" Lilliana gracefully retreated and shut the door behind her. All of Grace's snacking habits suddenly made sense.

With razor sharpness and concentration, Grace put on her investigating detective hat and drilled Makennah with a steady glare. "Alright start talking. What all happened between you and Theo last night?"

Makennah shrugged. "Nothing."

"Liar!" She yelled, pointing an accusatory finger at Makennah. "Every time you disappeared I found you again with Theo. I know the dude well enough to sense he was a little drunk and that could mean any number of things happened."

Makennah mulled over everything that happened, deciding how much to tell Grace. "He was just being a little flirty."

Grace's features lit up like a Christmas tree. "How flirty?"

"Just casual flirting you know."

"Like did he compliment you?"

"Compliment me on what?" She asked, pretending to be confused.

Grace slapped Makennah's arm. "Your hot outfit, dummy. Don't play stupid."

Alright the pretending-nothing-happened approach wasn't going to work. "Yes. He liked it....a lot." Her cheeks flared with heat recalling how he looked at her.

"What did he say?" Grace pressed for more details.

Makennah couldn't keep the smile off of her face. "He said that....he said that every guy was picturing undressing me in that outfit," she admitted quietly.

Grace's mouth fell open. "Okay he's totally right!"

"No." Makennah rolled her eyes and bit her lip to keep from grinning like an idiot.

"Okay what else?!"

Her persistence was wearing Makennah down. "We...danced a little bit."

Grace squealed. "No way! How did I miss that!"

"It was kind of..secretive and not planned," she explained.

"Oh that's hot." Grace fanned herself imagining it. "Is he a good dancer?"

Makennah nodded firmly. "Oh definitely. It didn't last very long but he's definitely good. Matched all my moves, but kept it simple. He wasn't all over me. Just...yeah." She has to stop talking so much. Bare minimum details.

Grace's eyes widened. "I would pay to have that man all up in my backside."

"You have a boyfriend," Makennah reminded her humorously.

She shrugged and flipped her hair over her shoulder. "Eh. He's alright."

Everything was hot and cold with this one. "Speaking of, where was he? He wasn't at the party, right?"

Grace shook her head. "Some family thing in Denver.  Back to you! I refuse to believe he secretly and very hotly danced with you and then left you alone."

The heat blazed in Makennah's eyes when she remembered she had beef with Grace. "Well somebody sent him a private video of me!"

Grace covered her mouth with her hand so that her laughter didn't spill out. "Ohmhhmyygossddd."

"That was not cool!" In all seriousness, she frowned and lightly punched Grace in the arm.

"I wish I could say that I didn't plan that. But I 100% did," she admitted with a sly smile.

Makennah readjusted in her seat and crossed her arms over her chest. "He basically saw everything!"

"Oh please!" Grace waved her off. "I was drunk but sober enough to know I didn't see any nips." Her eyes pointedly glanced downwards at Makennah's chest.

She slapped her hands over her boobs. "Stop it!"

"You know he enjoyed it!"

"Duh! So would any straight guy in the entire school! They're boobs!"

"Yeah, but only the one you like saw them!"

"I don't like him!" Makennah yelled.

Grace glared at her. "Yes you do! And don't even play dumb because I happen to know for a fact that you spent the night at Theo's house!"

Makennah rolled her eyes. "So did all of the Sinclair's. It's not like he specially invited me over!"

Grace leaned back in her chair and watched Makennah with considerate eyes. "Yeah? Then where did you sleep?"

A huge smile bloomed on her lips. "His room."

"On the couch?" Grace jokingly asked.

"No." Makennah sighed and bit her bottom lip. "His bed."

Grace smirked. "And where did he sleep?"

Makennah just couldn't keep it in anymore. She was way too giddy about this and she needed to tell someone. Her friend. Grace was her friend. "Not on the couch," she whispered, hinting at something else.

Grace punched the air in victory. "I knew it! Oh my god did you guys...?"

"No!" Makennah yelled with wide eyes. "A. I'm not the type. B. We barely know each other. And C. We didn't even kiss."

Groaning sadly, Grace empathetically touched her arm. "Aw sorry girl. Why not?"

"Don't be sorry. We almost did..." she started to explain.

"But you didn't?! Please explain!" Grace pasted on her listening face and turned her ears to Makennah.

"Well everyone found their own room and so it was just me and him. So I asked him where I was sleeping and he said with him." Grace let out a little noise like she might die of anticipation. "I argued of course because I wasn't going to be that girl. Plus there are other people in the house that probably wouldn't agree with that." Grace nodded her head in understanding. "But he backed me into his room and told me he had been thinking about me all night and my legs and my top..." grace gasped. "...and he backed me into a wall."

Grace interjected. "This is a freaking movie scene."

Makennah continued like she didn't say anything at all. She couldn't stop now. She had to get it all out. "And he put one arm around me and the other behind my head and he almost...almost kissed me..."

"Why did he stop?!"

As much as she wanted to spill all the beans to Grace, she kept to herself how he kissed his thumb over her lips. It felt too intimate to tell Grace and a memory she might like to keep to herself forever and always. "He was about to and then he pulled back and said..."

Again, Grace interrupted. "Direct quote?!"

"Basically direct...he said trust me I want you so bad..."

"Oh my god." Grace almost fainted.

"...but I won't because I know I won't be able to stop..."

"Holy frickin chicken nuggets."

Makennah continued. "And THEN he said he would kiss me in the very near future."

For a solid several seconds of dead silence, Grace sat as still as a statue with her mouth hanging open. Not blinking. Not breathing. Not saying anything. Finally, she gasped and laid her hand over her heart. "How...on earth...did you not jump his bones right then and there?!"

Grace yelled it so loudly that Makennah tried to cover her mouth. "Shh!! Your mom is right downstairs. I literally couldn't do anything but get ready for bed because I was stunned."

"Okay here we go! Cheese, wine, and snacks!" Lilliana welcomed herself into Grace's room with a tray of assorted snacks and two tall glasses of wine.

"Wine?!" Grace instantly grabbed the cup and shot her mother a glare after she tasted it. "This is grape juice."

At Grace's dead pan expression, Lilliana just tossed back her head and laughed as she excused herself to let the girls continue to study.

"How rude." Grace shook her head and distastefully sipped on her nonalcoholic drink. "So how soon do you think he'll kiss you?"

Sighing heavily, Makennah covered her face with her hands. "I don't know. The more I think about it the more nervous it makes me."

"Whys that?"

Makennah closed her eyes behind her hands. "Because I didn't come here looking for anything. He doesn't even know...about me," she said loosely hoping Grace would interpret.

Grace munched on some crackers and cheese. It all smelled very expensive like it was shipped straight from France. "Do you think he wouldn't like you if he knew?"

"For all I know, he does know. He's Matt's best friend after all." She shrugged and tucked her hands in her lap.

Grace downed half the plate in thirty seconds. "You'll never know unless you ask. If he did know, would that stop you from kissing him?"

What would actually truly stop her? She wasn't sure. By all accounts, Theo presented himself as a flirty yet gentlemanly man who wouldn't cross boundaries that she set and wouldn't hurt her purposefully. He was more man than all of her ex boyfriends combined.

"I guess I'm afraid he won't find me attractive anymore when he finds out who I am," Makennah admitted quietly.

She shook her head. "Not possible. Theo isn't that type of guy. If anything, your honesty will make him stay not drive him away."

Makennah chucked a chunk of cheese at Grace's Head. "You're annoyingly good with advice."

She giggled. "I know right?"

"Shut up." Makennah rolled her eyes and stacked together a slice of cheese on a cracked and chased it down her throat with some juice. "Shall we get back to work?"

"No."

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Kind of a filler chapter! More coming up soon! Will post an update in one or two days.

Much love!

Xoxo

W. Carolina