Children of the Boss

Chapter 38: Carmen

March 17th

I woke up with my head on Kenneth's chest. He was awake, looking through his phone. I held him tighter, nuzzling my head into his chest more. 

"Hey happy St. Patrick's Day," he said flatly, still fixated on his phone. 

I pinched him and he pinched me back. 

"What are you looking at?" I asked, peering up at his phone.

"Twitter."

I saw him scrolling through the endless tweets on his phone. "What do you want to do today?"

"We have to check out at noon."

"And then what do you want to do?"

He put his phone down and wrapped his legs around my waist. He rolled us over so he was towering over me. "Insert corny joke about doing you," he said, kissing my neck.

"What time is it?" I asked.

"Nine-thirty-seven," he said. 

"Kenneth."

He lifted his head to look at me. "Yeah?" he asked.

Kenneth was a very handsome guy, in an unconventional way. Dean was "stereotypically" attractive, but Kenneth was unique. He was a big guy, with big blue eyes, a big nose, big lips, big smile, big head, big hands. He was taller than Dean and Dad, almost as tall as Pop. He used to be the really lanky guy but now he was really filling into his body. We both looked older, and it made me wonder what our lives would be like next year, five years from now, ten years from now. What were we going to do? Would one of us get married? Would we ever have kids? Where would we be in just a few months from now?

"Come to Brazil with me," I said.

"I kind of missed the application deadline," he said, moving onto his side.

"No, I mean after graduation but before my classes. We can spend time together in Brazil, just us two. I mean, the family will probably come down the last week, but until then..."

He smiled at me, moving hair out of my face. "Yeah, I can do that."

Clara and Lorena lived in a really nice house that was on a hill overlooking the water. They were a wealthy couple and lived for finer things in life. Clara didn't have to commute too long to work, and she only had to go in four days a week. I could commute with her.

"You can help me with my room," I said. "Clara was going to clear out a guest bedroom and let me have it. So she was going to keep the bed and dresser in there but then let me choose colors and buy me furniture. She said it's a big room and has a view of the water."

"Is it the one we stayed in when we visited?" he asked.

"No, it's the one with the balcony, the one Dad and Pop slept in." The room had a balcony with stairs leading to the back patio which led down to the beach. 

"That sounds nice. How often can I visit?"

I shrugged. "As much as you want or can, but we'll both be busy." I sighed, closing my eyes. 

"Can't we just be spoiled brats the rest of our lives?"

I glanced up at him. "No...but can we kiss?"

He wrapped his arms around me tighter, and leaned down to kiss me. The way his hands felt on me made me feel safe, like nothing could get to me. He kissed me all over, rolling around the bed, making love until we had to pack up our stuff and check out. 

We went back to the townhouse. Dean was gone and Eve was in school but actually stayed home because she was sick. Gloria was in the kitchen, making her food.