When she closed the door Luke and I looked at each other and burst out laughing. He pushed me down into the bed and pulled the covers over our heads, pressing his almost n**ed body against mine as he grinned at me in the semidarkness. “Your mom is so cool,” he said, kissing my cheek.
I nodded in agreement. I definitely had the best mom going, she was easy to talk to, supportive and never judged me for anything. She completely understood my decision to sleep with Luke a year ago and took me to go and get on the pill when I was ready to take the next step. She’d made everything easier for me, and I loved her for it. Luke wasn’t allowed to stay over, but I usually snuck him in for special occasions like valentine’s day or birthdays.
I was definitely lucky when it came to my parents, my dad was awesome too, but so overprotective that it was annoying sometimes. But I guess I could understand that, I was his little girl after all, and it mostly worked out in my favour too considering I was a total daddy’s girl and got spoilt rotten most of the time.
“You’d better get dressed and leave before my dad catches you in here though,” I suggested, giggling as he flinched. My dad didn’t have a particular problem with Luke, he would probably treat any boyfriend I had the same; he liked to test him and tease him to make sure he wasn’t going to run away and hurt me. You’d think that after a year and seven months that he’d finally give up and accept that Luke wasn’t going anywhere though.
“Yeah, good idea.”
He kissed me one more time and then pushed himself out of the bed looking a little reluctant to leave. I smiled and watched as he pulled his jeans on, looking around for his T-shirt that he’d taken off of me and thrown somewhere in a fit of passion. I spotted it on the sideboard on the other side of the room and giggled as I nodded to it. He grinned and slipped it on, before reaching for my hand and pulling me out of the bed so I could get dressed too.
While I threw on some pyjamas, I could feel his eyes on me. “You know, I think you look even hotter at eighteen than you did at seventeen,” he mused as I pushed my arms into my robe.
I laughed and slapped his chest as he went to wrap his arms around me again. “Come on, let’s get you out of here,” I suggested, taking his hand and heading towards my bedroom door. Easing the door open, I stuck my head out, looking everywhere to make sure the coast was clear. Lucky for me my bedroom was right at the top of the stairs and the front door was at the bottom. He just had to get down thirteen steps, cross the short entranceway, and then we were home free.
When I saw no one, I grabbed his hand and pulled him out of the room, both of us almost sprinting down the stairs. Just as I got to the bottom step, I saw a blond head appear in the doorway of the kitchen. I held my breath, skidding to a halt and Luke slammed into me from behind because I’d stopped so suddenly. His arm snaked around my waist quickly to stop me from falling on my butt as we both looked up with wide eyes.
Oh no, please be Alex and not Dad!
Of course, I wasn’t that lucky, it was my dad - but he hadn’t noticed me because he was studying the newspaper as he was walking through the door. My mom walked up behind him, smiling, when suddenly her eyes widened as she must have seen Luke standing behind me. I silently begged her for help with my eyes. Almost immediately she grabbed my dad’s hand, giving it a little tug. He turned around to face her, turning his back on us as she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. I gulped, a little grossed out. I should have been used to it by now though, they were always kissing like loved up teenagers when they thought they were alone. Unfortunately, parent kissing didn’t get easier to witness no matter how many times you were subjected to it.
I was stuck on the spot, wondering if she was going to take him back into the kitchen so I could get the front door open and get Luke out, or if she meant for me to get him out now while they were kissing.
They broke the kiss and Dad laughed. “What was that for, Riley Bear?” he asked, wrapping his arms around her.
“Just wanted to kiss you, that’s all,” Mom replied. She pointed her finger forcefully at the front door a couple of times behind my dad’s head, signalling for me to move. Luke squeezed my hand and we both crept forward towards the door, counting the steps.
“And you didn’t get enough of that this morning?” my dad teased, causing my mom giggle.
“Eww!” I hissed, cringing at the thought of what that meant. Luke’s hand clapped over my mouth, pushing me gently, making me walk faster to the door.
More sounds of kissing started from behind me again, and I shuddered. When I made the final step to the door, I opened it slowly, being as quiet as possible. Luke slipped through and I blew him a kiss as he squeezed my hand as a goodbye. He’d be back in a little while anyway to pick me up for school, but he had just really wanted to stay over so he could be the first person I saw when I woke up on my birthday. He’d always been adorable like that. I sighed dreamily and closed the door, forgetting to be as quiet as I should have been.
“Hey, what are you doing?”
I gulped at the sound of my dad’s voice. “Er, I was going to, um… get the paper for you?” I offered weakly.
He laughed and held the up newspaper in his hand. “I got it, sweetie, but thanks,” he chirped as he came bounding over and pulled me into a bone crushing hug. “Happy birthday! Oh man, my little girl a legal adult.” He shook his head, looking at me in awe.
I laughed and nodded. “Yep, so can I get a tattoo?” I asked, only half joking. If he said yes I was definitely getting one today.
He raised one eyebrow at me. “No,” was all he said, and I couldn’t help but smile. He grinned happily at me as he tugged me towards the kitchen and the smell of deliciousness that wafted through the house. “So, think you’ll get anything nice for your eighteenth?”
I grinned, thinking about the locket that was hanging around my neck. “I guess I’ll have to wait and see if the birthday fairy has been,” I joked, squeezing my arm around his waist. That was something he used to tell me and my twin brother, Alex, when we were younger and were too excited to go to sleep the night before our birthday, that if we didn’t go to sleep then the birthday fairy wouldn’t come. When we stepped into the kitchen I laughed as I took in the array of pink and blue balloons, the happy 18th banners, and the presents scattered over the dining table. “Well the birthday fairy’s been in here!”
My dad grinned, and I chewed on my lip excitedly. Today was going to be a great day, sure I was going to school, but I’d get to hang out with Luke at lunchtime. Tonight we were all going out for family dinner; both sets of my grandparents were coming too. I’d managed to convince my parents that Luke needed to come with us because he was part of my ‘extended family’. Then tomorrow was Friday, which meant that Luke was taking me to an all ages night at a club to celebrate my birthday. Saturday night would be even better though, because on Saturday Luke and I were going camping near the lake, just the two of us. I sighed contentedly. My life was just perfect, and eighteen was definitely going to be my year.
Chapter 2
I dressed in my usual casual attire of jeans and a plain fitted T-shirt, scraping my long brown hair back into a ponytail, the same as every other day. As usual, I didn’t bother with any make-up. I wasn’t exactly a girlie girl so things like that didn’t happen in my normal dressing routine. I skipped back down the stairs and stopped when I heard Luke’s voice in the kitchen. He was talking to my dad.
“Clay, it’s only camping, we’ve been before and you didn’t mind,” he stated.
I heard a heavy sigh. “Yeah, but Alex went then too, and other friends. All I’m saying is that you’d better take care of her. I don’t like the idea of you two being alone together all night, but I guess I need to accept that she’s an adult now.” Dad’s voice was a little gruff as he spoke.
“Honestly, you don’t have anything to worry about. I’ll always take care of her,” Luke answered. He sounded extremely exasperated so I wondered how long my dad had been grilling him for. I hadn’t heard him arrive so for all I knew he could have been subjected to the inquisition the whole time I was showering and dressing for school. Luke certainly put up with a lot from my dad, but other than the occasional threats and stuff they got on great.
“Look, it’s just that you two are moving on so fast, what with the whole applying for the same colleges thing… I just don’t want any mistakes to mess up your futures. You understand what I’m saying?”
“Yeah, of course. Maisie and I are always really responsible like that,” Luke replied easily, as if talking to my dad about our sex life wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. “I know we’re young but you knew you were in love at our age, you and Riley were already married by the time you were our age.”
“Riley and I are different, I’d known her my whole life,” my dad countered defensively.
“And I’ve known Maisie since we were thirteen.”
I decided it was time to put an end to this conversation before my dad started getting annoyed or anything. He honestly did like Luke, but he just hated the thought of his little girl growing up. He never seemed to mind Alex going to parties or hooking up with girls all the time, but a serious boyfriend for his little girl was something entirely different.
I cleared my throat as I walked around the corner, gaining their attention immediately. “I’m ready to go whenever you’re done with this little man-to-man chat,” I joked, waving my hand between the two of them.
Luke smirked at me and my dad grinned sheepishly, like he’d been caught in the act. “I was just telling Luke about the potential bear threat for Saturday night. Maybe you should just stay home to be on the safe side?” Dad suggested, laughing quietly.
I shrugged. “We’ll take anti bear spray,” I joked, playing along.
Luke laughed and stood up from the stool he was perched on, coming over and draping his arm across my shoulders. “Happy birthday,” he whispered, kissing the side of my head as he held up a bunch of daisies. That was his flower of choice for me. He always bought them because when we first started dating I’d joked and told him they were my favourite because they rhymed with my name. He’d since learned that they weren’t my favourites, but it kind of stuck, so daisies were his thing now.