Chapter 9: The Morning After

            I pried my eyes open after what seemed like forever and only a few moments all at the same time. I glanced around in confusion and sat upright, holding the blankets to cover my exposed skin. Cain lay beside me, stirring slightly as I shifted around nervously. He rubbed his face with his hands and bumped against me, “Claire, what are you doing? Go back to sleep.”

            I lay back down beside him and said quietly, “Cain, what time is it? It looks like it’s light outside.”

            He mumbled inaudibly for a moment and then sat up to look out the window near his bed, “Oh, shit.”

            “What?” I tried to hide the panic in my voice.

            Cain rolled out of bed and pulled on his pants, “I slept through my alarm and I have a meet this morning. Good thing it’s only five, the bus leaves at six-thirty.  And it doesn’t sound like my parents are up yet either.”

            “Okay, so, what are we supposed to do?” I questioned.

            Cain continued scurrying about his room collecting things that had been strewn about carelessly last night and packing his wrestling bag at the same time as I sat there watching him from beneath the covers. His bare chest was still exposed and I could see his green and red plaid boxers poking out from beneath the belt of his pants. I couldn’t believe how attracted to him I was and how much I still wanted him, even after how satisfying last night was. The way his eyes had sparkled in the dim light made my breath catch in my chest and all I could do was sigh.

            It was only when Cain turned around to look at me that I realized I had actually done so aloud. He dropped what he was holding onto the floor and walked toward me, taking my face in his hands and firmly pressing his lips against mine. When he released me from his entangling grasp I felt somewhat dazed. He smiled and pressed his side against mine, running his fingers through my bed head, “I’m sorry, I forgot to ask. How did you sleep?”

            I looked down at the bed shyly, “I slept fine, wish it could have been longer, though.”

            “What, an hour wasn’t good enough for you? Sorry, I’m not Superman,” He joked and gave me a wink as he moved back to collecting his things.

            “I didn’t mean that,” I giggled childishly.

            I climbed out of bed and searched for my dress, “So, I’m just going to take you back to the club to pick up your car on my way to school to catch the bus, does that sound alright?”

            “Sure,” I said while pulling my dress on- abandoning all hope of finding my bra.

            The next half hour was spent in silence as we hoped his parents would not awaken before we had to leave. Finally, the time had come. His door creaked slightly as he opened it and we both looked around cautiously- no sign that anyone was awake. We quietly crept back through the living room and were met at the kitchen table by an unexpected sight: his brother sitting at the table eating a bowl of cereal. Any other morning, his brother would have slept in until noon, but apparently not today. The two of us just stood in his presence- the awkward silence growing larger and larger as the seconds passed.

            Cain reached up and scratched the back of his head, “Uh… We’re just gonna go to the meet, okay?”

            His brother shoveled anther spoonful of cereal into his mouth, “Mmmkay.”

            We made a quick escape and closed the door quietly behind us, praying that his brother wouldn’t say anything to his parents. After climbing into the car, the radio began blaring loudly from the night before- had it really been like that last night? Things seemed to blur together in visions of ecstasy and shadows and I smiled at the thought. I sang along to the music as he hummed and drummed his hand against the steering wheel- just like we used to do. We pulled into the parking lot and Cain shifted the car into park. His eyes met mine, “I’ll call you later, okay? Maybe we could do this again? I had a good time, at least.”

            I leaned close and pressed my lips to his. Just when he moved to reach for me I pulled away and grinned, “Call me.” I winked and stepped out of the car. My heals clunked against the pavement toward my truck as I heard his car stay idle. I hoped he was enjoying the view. One thing was for sure, this seemed to be the start of a beautiful friends with benefits.