Alice POV

“Oh, God… Caden!” I exclaimed winded.

The boy that was on top of me lifted the corners of his full lips up in a smirk and the all too familiar playful flames danced in his bluish-greys. He leaned down closer and whispered huskily:

“What’s the matter, little Alice? Am I going too fast for you?”

Oh, boy, was he ever! I could barely keep up with his movement. All this stirring around made me all sweaty and breathless and my heart was pounding so hard I was sure Cade could hear it. He spoke before I could answer his question.

“Now move on top of me!”

I hesitated. Was I capable of following his order? He didn’t give me much time to ponder on it as he commanded me once more:

“Come on, little Alice! Straddle me!”

Lying on my back, I moved my hands over his perfectly shaped body, feeling every hard muscle underneath his skin. I placed my arms and feet the way he had showed me before and reversed our positions.

“It worked!” I exclaimed in surprise, once I was sitting on the boy’s abdominal area.

“Told ya it will!” He laughed merrily. “Even someone your size can use that move to gain the upper hand in a fight. Now get off me!”

Somewhat reluctantly, I stood and reached my hand to help the boy up. He got to his feet but didn’t let go of my hand right away. We shared a look and something flashed into his eyes. It was one of those emotions I could not pinpoint exactly, but for a moment I thought Caden was going to pull me closer to him. Feeling a bit anxious at that thought, I retreated my hand from his gentle grasp and in an attempt to hide my feelings, I turned away, pretending to scan the surrounding area.

The weather was lovely, warm, but not too much, and provided the two of us with a chance to practice on the meadow where we first worked out. I closed my eyes, feeling the light breeze on my skin. It left me with a wonderful sensation, cooling my body after the intense session.

“So glad we decided to skip today! Although that was one hell of a work out!” I stated, stretching my body. God! My muscles would pain tomorrow.

“Hey! Don’t blame me!” Caden scolded. “I suggested we stop an hour ago. You were the one who kept on saying “Just a little more, Caden! Just a little more!”.”

I narrowed my eyes at the ridiculous tone he used to imitate me.

“I didn’t sound that desperate!”

“If you say so!” He said in a “yeah-right” voice.

“Talking back at me, huh?” I playfully retorted. “We’ll see about that!”

With that said, I took a swing at him. And of course I missed. So I took another but he grabbed my hand. I tried to hit him with my left one but he caught that one as well.

“You learn fast, but you have a long way to go before you can punch me, little Alice!” He teased.

I growled. Did he have to be so smug over my failure?

“Well… I can still smother you in your sleep!” I stuck my tongue at him. How very mature, not to mention intimidating!

“Tc-tc! Will you really do that to me?”

“Sleep with me and you’ll see!” I dared him in my best challenging tone. Caden’s face became unreadable the moment I uttered that.

Oh-oh! Of all the things I had to say that?! It only made it awkward between us again. And things were just returning to the way they were before.

Stupid, stupid Alice!

“I mean if you sleep with me like before, I mean…” I hastily tried to clarify, frantically waving my hands in front of me. Yeah, as if that would help! “With the two of us in the same bed just sleeping… And nothing else I mean… only sleeping… and maybe talking…”

“Alice, stop babbling!” He cut me off flatly. “And I think we should sleep together.”

I raised my eyebrows at him.

“You mean “sleep together” as in “just sleep together” or…” I gave him a meaningful look before I went on. “… “sleep together”?”

“I mean just sleeping without the sex part of course.”

Of course! That is how it was supposed to be. Why was I a bit disappointed?

“It might help to… You know…” He started not so sure of himself anymore. “Make things less awkward between us.”

“Okay…” I nervously wiped the palms of my hands on my blue jeans. “When and where?”

“How about tonight? At your place?”

“Fine!” I nodded. “A sleepover tonight at my place it is!”

*****

I fumbled through my bag in search of my keys. Why is everything you need ALWAYS at the bottom? Which law of physics was that?

I let out a victorious cry, as I finally reached them. I unlocked the door, my thoughts revolving around the certain black-haired, tattooed delinquent, who had just dropped me off a block away from my home. If we were supposed to patch things up, and I really wanted that to happen, then we both had to put some effort in that task. I could start by… Well… Actually what could I do?

Be careful not to make inappropriate and suggestive jokes while I was around him? No, I rarely made those in the first place.

Not wear revealing clothes around him? Nope. Revealing wasn’t my style. Although maybe I should put on some long pajamas when Caden comes over tonight. Then again, it was warm so that would seem kind of weird and he might get suspicious over the reason for my unnecessarily warm clothing…

 “Alissa! Come in here for a moment!” My Aunt Azalea’s stern voice summoned me from the living room as soon as I came home.

As I entered I saw her and her sisters sitting around the table with serious expressions. Well, Aunt Azalea looked as serious as the Inquisition and the other two looked concerned. Were Rose and Flora worried about me or were they uneasy due to their older sister’s stony expression?

“Sit down!” The eldest of my aunts pointed to one of the chairs and I did as she commanded me to. First Caden, now my aunt; I was all about following orders today! “We received a call from your Homeroom teacher today, Alissa. Do you know what it was about?”

“Yes.” I nodded calmly. What was the big deal? I just ditched a few classes. “About me skipping school today.”

“I wish that had been all!”

“What do you mean?” I questioned, somewhat confused. I hadn’t done anything else.

“What I mean is Mrs. Allen told us about what sort of company you’ve been keeping.” She shook her head in disenchantment. “At first I thought there must have been some mistake. I could not believe that you would associate with those worthless delinquents!”

“Worthless delinquents?!” I raised my voice at her. “Have you even met those “worthless delinquents”, Aunt Azalea?”

“Do not raise your voice at me, young lady! And no, I have not. But I’ve heard enough about them from your teacher. She was terribly concerned.”

“What about from me? Why didn’t you ask me about them before you came to any conclusions?”

“You are young, Alissa!” She waved her hand dismissively at me. “You are easy to fool! And Mrs. Allen is a woman with experience.”

“Glad to know you value my judgment so highly.” I snorted.

“Alice, honey,” Aunt Rose intervened, “Azalea is acting like this only because she worries about you. We worry about you.”

“And you agree with her?” I turned to Rose. I was really hoping that she and Flora would show me some support.

“Well, I think that maybe it will be wise of us to meet with the boys in question before…”

“Stop talking nonsense, Rose!” Azalea reprimanded. “Why would we meet them? Those boys have no business with the three of us or with our Alissa!”

“But Azalea…”

“No buts about it, Rose! My decision is final. Alissa is not to meet up with them any more!”

“I’m afraid you have no say on the matter, dear!” Aunt Flora surprised us all with the adamant tone she used. “Alice is no longer a child. If she decided that those boys are worthy of her trust and friendship, then there’s nothing you can do about it.”

I smiled gratefully at her. I knew she’d have my back, although I never expected her to do it in such an unwavering manner. It actually made me proud to see her being so decisive. My smiled washed off, hearing Azalea’s next words:

“I will not have her associating with that type!” Obviously, she was quick to get over her initial surprise. “Not while the girl lives under my roof!”

“I do believe it is our roof you are referring to, dear!” Flora countered just as firmly. “And I’m more than willing to trust Alice’s judgment. What about you, Rose?”

“Well, I think… I think you might have over-reacted, sister, dear…”

“So… Both of you are against me now?” Azalea got up from her seat, looking at her sisters with anger and disbelief over their refusal to support her. “Well, we’ll see what her mother has to say about this!”

Oh, no! She wasn’t going to call Elanor, was she? But of course she was! I could only guess what my mother would do once she found out about the boys.

With a final somewhat dignified glare aimed at the three of us, Azalea left the living room. Her absence did little to ease my nerves. I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. My head was starting to pound and I rubbed my temples, trying to ease the ache. It would probably be better if I made me some tea for that.

“Thank you!” I said, getting up and opening the cupboard, where we kept the tea. “For sticking up for me, I mean.”

“But of course we would!” Flora smiled warmly at me and poured some water in a teapot, which she placed on the stove. “Azalea was way out of line.”

“She was really doing what she thought was in your best interest, Alice.” Rose looked at me with concern and gently placed a hand over my left shoulder before giving it a reassuring squeeze. “I just hope you know what you’re doing, dear!”

“So do I, aunty! So do I!”