He Chose Me

Chapter 3: Kayla

I woke up the next morning feeling amazing. I couldn't stop smiling. I went through my morning routine with a little bounce in my step. When I went downstairs to grab some breakfast I found my sister at the kitchen table eating some yogurt and looking her phone. I walked past without acknowledging her. I was in such a good mood that I decided to make myself some french toast. It is my favorite breakfast and I felt like why not start off this beautiful day with something wonderful.

I felt my sister's eyes on me as I got out what I needed. I hummed to myself as I dipped the bread into the egg mixture and then put it in the hot pan. I inhaled deeply, taking in all of the wonderful smells.

When everything was finished I loaded it up my plate and sat across from Kylie. I smothered my french toast in syrup. Kylie watched me as I took a big bite.

"Do you really think you need that?" Kylie asked sounding disgusted.

"Need it?" I replied looking down at my food. "No...want it? Most definitely." I finished looking her straight in the eyes. I then took another big bite. "Yum."

"Ugh," Kylie said rolling her eyes and then returned to her yogurt.

I ignored her as I continued eating my breakfast. When I was about half way through my phone rang.

"Hey James," I answered.

"Hey Baby. What are you up to?"

"I'm just finishing up my breakfast. You?"

"Same. What are you having?"

"French toast," I said before stuffing another bite into my mouth.

"Yum. Will you save me some?" He asked.

"Nope. It's all for me." I said with a smile on my face.

"Is there anything I can do to persuade you to share," He said lowering his voice, presumably to sound seductive.

"Probably not, but I would enjoy watching you try."

Kylie got up and left the room.

"I was thinking we could change things up a bit and I would pick you up," James said.

"Is that even possible? I mean, do you know where I live?" I replied sarcastically.

"I think I've been in the neighborhood a couple times. I have faith in my navigational skills."

"Then I guess that would be okay. What time are you thinking?"

"About half an hour," James said.

"I will try to be presentable by then, but you aren't giving me much time," I said trying to be flirtatious.

"I will just have to lower my standards," James said in a flirty voice.

I laughed out loud. "See you in thirty," I said before hanging up the phone.

It was crazy how quickly we had gone back to our easy conversation. We hadn't been this comfortable with each other since high school started and I had missed that.

I finished up my breakfast and cleaned up. I headed to my bedroom to decide if I was going to change my clothes. I heard Kylie next door in her room on the phone. She was making plans for the day with the girls. I tried to ignore the pang of hurt I felt at her, once again, excluding me. I don't know why I cared, since it had been happening our entire lives. I tried to push that hurt aside and focus on the happy feeling I had when I woke up this morning.

I looked myself over in my mirror, trying to see if there was anything I could do to improve what was staring back at me. This was the same image that I had been looking at all my life, yet somehow this morning it looked different. The hips I had always wished to be a little bit smaller, looked like the sensual curves that I had once envied on others. The face that I had always considered too plain, now looked bright and full of life. The hair that I had always tried to tame, looked wonderfully curly. Was this James' doing? Or stranger still, was it mine? Had these features always been there, and I had just never noticed?

I looked over the jean shorts and t-shirt I was wearing, wondering if I needed to put more effort into my outfit. This was me; James had known me most of my life, and he had never complained about my clothing before. I quickly put my bathing suit on underneath my clothes and headed down the stairs. Just as I reached the bottom step the doorbell rang. I checked to see who it was before opening the door.

"And you said you didn't have time to be presentable," James teased. "You look beautiful." He pulled me into his body and gave me a deep kiss. I melted against him. "Mmmm, I can taste the syrup on your tongue. That's the best way to share."

I swatted at his chest and stepped back from him.

"I see you found the place okay," I teased right back.

"Thanks to GPS," James replied with a smile. "Are you going to invite me in?"

I stepped back and let James in. His hand brushed along my hip as he walked passed me. The corners of my mouth turned up slightly at this subtle gesture.

"So the guys want to go bowling after the beach. Are you up for that?" James asked as we walked into the kitchen.

"Most definitely. I'll finally have a chance to beat you," I said pulling sandwich stuff out of the fridge. "I am going to pack us some lunch and then we can head to the beach."

"I'll help," James said grabbing the bread.

We worked in sync putting the sandwiches together and putting them in plastic baggies. The task took half the time with James' help. We grabbed some drinks, and putting everything in a cooler, we headed out to James' car. As we loaded the cooler into the trunk a car pulled up in front of the house. They honked the horn and Kylie came running out. Loud music came pouring out of the car as Kylie opened the back door. One of the passengers inside shouted something and the entire car erupted in a fit of giggles. Then it quickly pulled away from the curb and drove off. I watched the car drive passed us, abandoning my task of putting the cooler in the trunk. I pulled my attention back when I felt the cooler leave my hands. James had taken it out of my hands and placed it into the trunk. He was watching me as my attention returned to him.

"You okay?" He asked.

"Yea...yea," I replied absentmindedly. I stepped back from the car so James could close the trunk. We both got into the car and headed to the beach. Everyone else was already there when we arrived. We got a couple of looks as we walked over to the group hand in hand. Some of the guys smiled and nudged each other, while the girls just shot me dirty looks; Kylie ignored us completely.

We spent three hours playing in the water, building things in the sand, and eating sandwiches while covered in sand. Some of the girls chose to head back to the mall, so we were a group of about ten heading to the bowling alley. There were two girls beside myself, both trying to worm their way closer to Sam. We split into teams of four, the other girls decided to just watch; it was easier to flirt if you didn't have to play as well. James and I chose opposite sides the first game, wanting to see who could win. Bowling is the one "sport" I've always been better at than James. He had the strength, but I had physics on my side. I dominated the first game, leading my team to victory. For the second game we switched up the teams and James and I were on the same side. He sat next to me while we waited our turn. He had his arm around me and lightly stroked my hip as we watched our friends bowl; occasionally he would whisper a funny comment in my ear, which had me laughing out loud.

We played one more game before people began leaving; it was getting close to dinner time, and some of us needed to be heading home. My parents were expecting me for dinner, and I assumed James' mom was expecting him.

"You ready to go?" I asked.

"Yea. Do you have dinner plans?" James asked.

"My parents are expecting me. What about you?"

"My mom is working late," He replied a little sad.

"Do you want to come over for dinner?" I asked as I tilted my head.

"Maybe," James said with a bit of a pout.

He looked so cute with a pout on his face. I couldn't help but smiling.

"Let me just double check with my mom," I said pulling out my phone.

I sent a text to my mom as we headed towards his car. She responded pretty quickly saying it was fine if James joined us.

"You're in luck. My mom has taken pity on you."

"Sweet!" James exclaimed as we pulled out of the bowling alley parking lot.

It had been a while since he had joined my family for dinner. When we were younger it had been a regular occurrance. His mom worked late a lot when he was younger, climbing up the corporate ladder, so he spent many nights at our house. Once middle school started, he was able to stay home by himself more and with Kylie constantly getting in the middle of our conversations, he eventually stopped coming over for dinner.

James dropped me off in front of my house before heading home to change out of his bathing suit. I had informed him that "not wearing underwear was not allowed at dinner."

The delicious smell of dinner attacked my senses when I walked into the door. I poked my head into the kitchen and found my father doing a little dance as he stirred something on the stove. I inhaled deeply and sighed when the wonderful aroma of garlic bread wafted up my nose. I hurried up the stairs to change. I was looking forward to dinner, and not just because it smelled so good.

James had already arrived when I got back downstairs. He was in the kitchen helping my dad by putting the salads together. They were talking football, because what else would they be talking about.

I heard my mom in the living room, so I decided to not interrupt their conversation and go talk to her.

"Are you kidding me? That's the answer you're going with," my mom shouted at the television. She was watching Family Feud and it always got her really heated.

"Hey Mom," I said joining her on the couch.

"Hi honey," She said patting my thigh. "How was your day?"

"It was great. How was-"

"Seriously?! That's not going to be up there! What are you thinking?" She interrupted me with her shout. "Sorry honey, what were you saying?"

"Nothing. Watch your show. I'll catch up with you later," I said getting up and leaving her as she shouted her own answers out.

I guess interrupting my dad and James was the only option. When I went back into the kitchen they had moved on to talking about college. Good, something I can join in on.

"Hello," I said walking over to the counter.

"Hey sweetie, how was your day?" My dad asked.

"Really good. How was yours?"

"Same old, same old. James and I were just talking about Notre Dame. Move in day is getting closer."

"I actually have to go earlier for football, so the summer is even shorter for me," James said. He had finished with the salads and had moved to getting out plates and utensils.

"I can help with that," I said holding my hands out for the dishes.

"We can do it together," James said handing over the silverware.

He came around the counter and we set the table together.

"How soon until you head down there?" My dad asked.

"I have another month before I go."

We finished up setting the table, and then my dad called everyone in to eat.

"You will not believe some of the answers these people give. It's like they are trying to sound stupid," my mom said as she came in and sat down in her usual seat.

My dad placed the food on the table and we all began digging in.

"Where's Kylie?" I asked just noticing that she wasn't there.

"She is having dinner with some of the girls," my dad answered as he loaded more garlic bread on his plate.

My mom gave me a brief look before asking my dad about his day. The rest of the meal went smoothly. My parents treated James like they always had. They didn't make any comment on the recent change in our relationship, which was fine with me. I didn't want them to act differently now that we were dating. They had always gotten along really well with James and I was worried it might get a little awkward. Perhaps Kylie's absence helped that.

After dinner we all went into the living room and watched television. It was my dad's night to pick what we watched, so we ended up watching a baseball game. Halfway through the game James said he had to head home.

"I'll walk you home," I said as I followed him out of the room.

When we go to my front door he stopped and turned towards me.

"You don't have to walk me home."

"Maybe I want to," I replied putting my hands on my hips.

James pulled my hands away from my hips and took them into his. "Good." He said before turning back around.

We walked in silence to his front door. His mom's car wasn't in the driveway, so he invited me in. Without saying anything he led me upstairs to his bedroom. He closed and locked the door behind us, then he grabbed me around my waist and pulled him into his body. My body melted as his lips pressed against mine. He sat down on the bed with me straddling him. His tongue swept into my mouth and caused a shot of pleasure to run straight down to my clit. I grounded my aching center against him. Our individual moans were mingled together in our mouths. He ripped his mouth away from mine in order to pull my shirt over my head. He then returned his lips to mine as he unhooked my bra. His kisses were so passionate it was overwhelming. We ripped the rest of our clothes off, somehow making sure our hands never left each other for too long.

"I don't think I am going to last very long," James said as he looked up at my body. He reached into his bedside table and pulled out a condom. He quickly sheathed himself and placed himself against my center. I slowly sank down onto him.

"Oh shit," I moaned as I became fully seated on him.

I braced myself on his chest as I began rocking my hips. James kept his hands firmly on my hips, but he was letting me set the pace. We were in a similar position last night, but being completely over him made me feel so much more in control. He felt so much deeper inside me; more than I thought was possible. I was trying to keep myself in control, but I looked down at James and the emotion on his face caused me to lose any semblance of control I might have had. It was like a dam broke; my hips started moving on their own and my moans reach a new level of loud. As I got louder so did James.

"Oh fuck...shit...Kayla..." James strangled out.

We were both right on the edge, two more rotations of my hips and we both crashed over. We clung to each other as our bodies were overcome with pleasure.

Once our breathing returned somewhat to normal we separated our bodies so that James could get rid of the condom. I laid back on the bed floating on a cloud of euphoria. The things he did to my body were almost indescribable. When he came back, we just laid in each others' arms for a while. I enjoyed just being in his presence, even if we weren't talking.

James ran his hand up and down my arm and sighed deeply. "Man do I love you."

My eyes shot to his. His eyes were closed and he had a goofy grin on his face. When I didn't respond, James opened his eyes and looked at me.

"I mean it," he said placing his hand on my cheek. "I love you."

The corners of my mouth crept up without any help from me. The biggest smile I've probably ever had appeared on my face.

"I love you too."

He lowered his lips to mine for a gentle kiss. We stayed in each others' arms for another hour before I needed to head home. We said one final kiss goodbye at the door. I walked back across our lawns with my feet leading the way, because my head was still back in his room, in his arms.

Epilogue: James

The rest of the summer was just as amazing. We spent days together, sometimes alone, sometimes with friends. We even got to spend a couple nights together. When it came time for me to head to school for football practice, Kayla helped me make sure I had everything I needed (her organizational skills are unparalelled), and drove down with me and my mom. Those three weeks without her were hard, but we spent every night talking on the phone. We were only a 2 ½ hour drive apart, but I wanted her to spend as much time as she could with our friends. It would be a couple of months before we were all back at home together. I told the guys to make sure she had fun.

When it was her turn to move in, I made sure I was on hand to help lift the heavy stuff (man, does that girl have a lot of books). That first night we stayed out on the quad, under the stairs, just enjoying our new freedom. We didn't know what the next four years would bring, but I was going to make sure that we experienced them together. No matter what obstacles came our way I knew that we would handle them together, because there was no way I was letting her go. I knew it when I was four years old, just as much as I knew it today. No matter what happened, I would always be there for her. I don't know how I got so lucky that she chose me.