Chapter 16

"How does it feel to be 19?" Kade asked as I dried my hair with the towel.

I shrugged, a smile spreading on my face. "No different, honestly."

"Nah?" Kade asked, reaching for his shirt that was draped over the chair.

"Nah..." I told him, pulling the shirt out of his grip. "You don't need that."

"Oh I don't?"

I shook my head, slipping it over my head.

"I mean I need to wear something, yeah?" I winked, tossing the towel aside.

"Mm... Do you?" Kade laughed, reaching for my hips. "I don't think so." He said softly, starting to pull up the fabric.

"Kade, I leave in like five weeks." I said suddenly, putting my hands on top of his. "I don't... What are we doing?"

Kade sighed, resting his forehead on mine.

"Wanna go give the hot tub a try?" Kade whispered, nodding his head towards the back patio of the guest house.

I let out a sigh, kind of annoyed that he wasn't willing to talk about it.

"We just showered." I laughed even though I happily followed him towards the sliding glass doors.

I had no idea Peter's family was this loaded but if the guest house had this many amenities... I couldn't even imagine what the big house was like.

"So." Kade shrugged, pushing his underwear down his legs. "We can shower again." He winked before running towards the hot tub. "It's cold! Get in here!" He yelled, sinking himself into the steaming water.

I shook my head with a laugh as I peeled off the shirt that I had only just slipped on.

Kade was right, it was so worth it to get in the hot tub from the chilly October air.

"Wow." I laughed, sinking down so that the hot water was up around my shoulders. "This is nice."

"Isn't it?" Kade grinned as I moved closer to him. "The company isn't so bad either." He winked, putting his arm around my shoulders.

"Wow. Funny." I laughed, pressing a kiss to his shoulder.

I let out a sigh, leaning against him as I reached an unbelievably happy and content place in the comfort of the warm water and his arms.

If I could stay like this forever... Wow.

"I know you're leaving in a few weeks, because so am I." Kade said softly, kissing the top of my head. "And I'm not... I'm not gonna lie to you, I'm having the time of my life with you and if we weren't leaving..." He trailed off, kissing my head again.

"I know." I said softly, closing my eyes.

"But we've got five weeks." Kade whispered, trailing his finger across my shoulder and down my arm. "And let's enjoy them while we can."

"Sounds like a plan to me." I nodded, pulling away from him so I could look at him.

But he just pulled my head towards his, softly kissing me.

It was kisses like these that made my knees weak. They made me realize how much I was actually falling for this guy.

~*~*~

"I don't think I'm going to quit soccer, yet." I told Kade, closing my eyes as he started playing with my hair again.

"Yeah?" Kade asked, brushing his thumb over my forehead.

He was sitting up on the bed and I was laying across it with my head in his lap. We'd been like this for about an hour now, the sun was just starting to come up.

We were full of cake, relaxed from a long time in the hot tub, and just really content in each others presence.

"Yeah, I just... I'm not ready to give it up yet." I shrugged, opening my eyes again. "You feel?"

"I really do." Kade nodded. "You can always come play with me on Friday nights."

"Thanks." I grinned. "How come you didn't have a game last night?"

"I did, wanted to find you, though. Ashley said you'd be there." Kade shrugged, resting his other hand on my stomach.

My heart melted as I looked at him.

"I really am sorry about last Monday..." Kade sighed, resting his head back against the head board.

"Dude, seriously." I laughed. "It's alright. We all have our moments."

Kade just nodded, his eyes softening as he looked at me.

We stayed like that for a moment, just looking at each other, my stomach doing back flips the entire time.

"Hey, we never got high." Kade suddenly said. "Wasn't that the point of this whole thing?"

I shrugged. "I'm alright. Being with you was enough."

"Wow so sweet." Kade teased, rolling his eyes. "Ugh." He groaned, stretching his arms over his head. "It's so light out, dude."

"Yeah it's already half past seven." I laughed, sitting up to look out of the window.

"Holy shit. We stayed up all night." Kade's eyes widened as he started to get out of the bed. "What time do you have to be home?"

"Uh... Probably like 6 hours ago." I said honestly, suddenly realizing that I never told my dad where I was going to be staying. "Whoops."

"Bella!" Kade exclaimed. "I've gotta get you home!"

"No, no, no." I waved him off. "I'm fine."

But when I pulled my phone out of my jean pocket crumpled on the floor, I had missed calls and texts from my dad.

"Okay, so I'm not fine." I muttered, squinting to see. "Fuck, I need my glasses."

"You wear glasses?" Kade asked in shock. "What?"

"Sometimes, yeah." I mumbled, blinking enough so that I could see my dad's messages.

His most recent text was twenty minutes ago.

*You better be alive, Bella. Going to pick up food for tonight. Granny's flight lands at 1. Having people over 4ish for bbq. Text me?*

"Alright so I'm not in trouble, he's just worried." I told Kade as I dialed my dad's number.

He answered before the first ring ever finished.

"Dude." Was all my dad said. "What the hell?"

"Ended up crashing somewhere, totally forgot to text you. Dad, I'm safe." I laughed, tossing Kade's shirt towards him. "I'll be home in like 20."

"Where were you?" My dad asked and I didn't know how much I should tell him.

"Uh, some of us stayed over at Peter Ryan's guest house." I said honestly, not wanting to get caught lying.

"Oh, alright. As long as you're safe." He sighed. "I'm already on my way to Costco, I'll see you when I get home."

"Yeah, yeah for sure." I nodded, grinning at Kade. "What's this about Granny? Didn't know she was coming?"

"Yeah she's here for the week. I might've forgotten to tell you..." My dad trailed off, knowing I didn't really get along well with his mother.

She was very disapproving of everything I did... She was British and very stuck in her mid 20th century ways, while I was the loud obnoxious American granddaughter who liked to play soccer and get dirty.

"Alright, well..." I sighed. "I'll just see you later."

"Happy birthday, Bells."

"Thanks dad." I hung up the phone and looked at Kade with a sigh.

"So my Grandma is in town." I told him as I got dressed as well. "And she's a total stick up the ass."

"Yikes."

"Major yikes." I agreed. "Can you drive me home now? Gotta tidy up for the barbecue."

"Barbecue?"

"Yeah my birthday barbecue. You and your sister are coming, my cousins are coming, it's gonna be great."

"Cousins?"

"Austin Harrison." I told him. "You totally know him."

Kade's eyes widened. "Wow totally thought that was just a coincidental last name. So your dad and his brother both moved from England to the same city in America?"

"Oh yeah, together." I nodded with a grin. "They grew up basically inseparable and when my uncle got moved out here for his job, motor city and all, my dad came with. He had just blown his back out, didn't have a job, so thought 'why the hell not'." I explained, sitting back down on the bed.

I wasn't quite ready to leave yet. I enjoyed this time with Kade and I knew that as soon as I was back at my house, it was back to the real world.

"That's cool." Kade grinned, sitting down next to me. "So is Austin your only cousin?"

"Sort of. Got lots of second cousins on my dad's side all in England, my granny had 5 sisters who all had like 5 kids. But we don't see them much anymore. And I'm not really sure about my mom's side, she doesn't really talk to her family much." I shrugged, pulling my knees up underneath me. "What about you? Got a lot of cousins?"

"Nah." Kade shook his head, frowning slightly. "No idea about my dad's side and my mom's an only child."

"Oh, I'm sorry." I frowned, leaning towards him. "That sucks."

"I mean it's kinda fine, Jesse and I had each other growing up, ya know?"

"That's true, I guess." I nodded, scanning his face.

Kade took a deep breath, a smile spreading on his face.

"One more birthday present and then I'll take you home?" He asked softly, reaching up to cup my face.

"Depends, what's the present?" I smirked as he kissed the side of my jaw.

"Whatever you want."