Leading You Home

Seventeenth

Sunbeams flow through the curtains.

Lost in a sea of cotton sheets, I stretch my tired legs. His arms circle me as he kisses me again. Somehow, without either is us noticing, morning has arrived. We tried to ignore it, but no matter what, we still have responsibilities. There is a whole world outside this small bedroom and we have to venture into it.

Pulling the sheet over my chest, I look toward the window as the sun begins to rise over the town.

Bradley squints his eyes and groans. "Who invited that?"

"What? The sun?" I ask, nudging my face into the crook of his neck. "I'm pretty sure the sun doesn't require an invitation."

"Well, we were having a pretty good time without it," he says.

I lift my head to steal a kiss. Pulling away, I look into his golden eyes. "Last night was...."

"Amazing," he murmurs, resting his palm on my cheek.

I lay my head back on his chest, his heartbeat thumping against my ear. "I was going to say unexpected."

"Amazingly unexpected," he tells me, and I can hear the smile in his voice.

"That too," I say laughing, as he flips me over onto my back and hovers over me. His lips roam my skin as we twirl our bodies around in the sheets. With me laughing and him murmuring my name, I could live in this moment forever. We ignore the sound of the front door opening and closing, we ignore the muffled sound of conversation, and we ignore the sound of feet pounding up the stairs.

Just as his kisses trail their way up to my lips, we are startled by a loud knock on the door. We jump apart and stare toward it, but neither of us makes a sound.

"Code Red: Crazy Carrie is downstairs asking for Bradley. I repeat: Crazy Carrie is in the house!" Lou yell-whispers from the other side of the door.

Then there's a moment when Bradley and I just stare at each other, his eyes as equally as wide and panicked as mine. And the way he looks at me, like he's wondering what now? creates a sick feeling in my stomach, and I wonder if this is what it feels like to be the other women in a love affair. Always having to worry when the wife will show up and having to disappear when she does.

Lou yell-whispers through the door again. "I suggest you two get dressed. Now!"

My eyes widen. "Wait, how does he know that we—?"

"I don't know," Bradley interrupts, jumping up and shoving some clothes on. He turns to me once he's done. "I'm just gonna go see what see wants."

And then, he leaves the room.

After tossing the sheets away from my body, I anxiously search for my clothes. Pants here, t-shirt there, underwear in the corner, bra.....all the way over there. Once I'm fully clothed, I sit patiently on the bed.....for about five seconds before the side of my head is plastered against the door. All I can hear is muffled voices and footsteps.

What the hell is Carrie doing here anyway? I remember the conversation we had in the hallway Monday about how she was thinking about asking Bradley out again. Could that be this? Could she be begging for him back right now?

I rank my brain for anything downstairs that might link to me. First, my thoughts immediately go to my Beetle in the driveway and my heart almost stops beating before I remember I parked it in the garage last night because of the bad storm. Then, I think of my shoulder bag, and let out a sigh of relief when I see it sitting on top of my suitcase.

Leaning against the door again, I try to catch a little bit of the conversation. When I can't make out any of the murmurs, I crack the door open a tiny bit. With my heart hammering against my chest, Carrie's voice clears and I can hear her say, "But can't we just talk about this?"