“I’m dying to see you too, Rosie. I’m sorry. And you’re right. I wasn’t thinking. I swear to you I will from now on. It’s just that in the past, I’ve done so much worse, so this didn’t seem like a big deal at all. But listen to me, babe,” his dumb-ass needed to get one thing clear “don’t you ever think it’s because I’m trying to sabotage my going to La Jolla. There’s nothing I want more than to be there with you. I’m counting the days—the hours. I miss you so much.”
She was quiet for a moment, and he squeezed his phone. Finally he heard her exhale. “Don’t take any more chances. Please. I don’t know what I’d do if they took the entire summer away from us.”
From that moment on, he swore, no more chances. It wasn’t even about his parents anymore. He still had Sal and Grace to think about. If he f**ked up, enough they could forbid him to come around all together. “I promise, Rose. For you—for us, I’ll stay out of trouble for good.”
***
As much as Vince was looking forward to spending time with Rose this summer, especially now that he had to make up for lost time, he also knew he had to put in extra hours at the restaurant.
Sal would let him use the restaurant car during the summer, but he couldn’t count on that forever. He needed his own wheels. Not only that, he knew Rose was ready to take their relationship further, and she just wasn’t a backseat girl, not to him. She deserved better. He already had enough saved up for a few times at a hotel, but based on how crazy it made him to just kiss her, a few times with Rose would never do.
Vince thought he had their first time all planned out. They’d go to dinner then maybe a walk on the beach and then get a room at one of the fancy hotels on the beach for the rest of the evening. He hadn’t anticipated how their extended time apart would contribute to the intensity of their urges. He’d only been in town three days when he’d gone over to Sal’s place to help Rose babysit Sal and Grace’s baby boy. Sal had agreed to let Vince hang out with Rose that evening as long as he behaved.
Of course Vince had every intention of behaving. He wasn’t about to get his ass thrown out of La Jolla after he’d already blown the first month. After watching TV in the front room with Rose as she cradled the baby to sleep, he walked with her into the nursery to put him down in his crib. They stared at the sleeping baby for a few minutes. His mom was right; sleeping babies did look like angels.
“Isn’t he perfect?” Rose whispered.
“Yeah,” Vince nodded in agreement, taking her hand in his.
They tiptoed out of the room quietly, and Rose closed the door all the way, taking the monitor with her, so in case he woke, they’d hear him.
“He’s probably out for the night. He’s real good that way. Sal and Grace lucked out. I’ve babysat other kids before, and most babies are not this easy.”
Vince stopped to kiss her in the hallway. He couldn’t wait anymore. Even while she’d cradled the baby to sleep, he kept slipping in a few kisses, but he had her all to himself now. Before things got too heavy, there was something he wanted to do.
Pulling a few inches away from her, he stuck his hand in his pocket and pulled out a silver bracelet. Her eyes grew wide at the sight.
“It’s nothing extravagant, Rosie, but it’s a promise.” Her eyes pinched in confusion. “A promise,” he said as he placed it nervously on her wrist, “that no matter how far you are from me, you’re always in my thoughts…my heart.”
She looked up at him, her eyes full of emotion and filling with tears.
“I thought of you every day, every night this past month, Rosie. And I know now that’ll never change. I just wanted you to know that. I love you.”
Rose shook her head wiping her tears away. “You’re too good to be true, Vincent.”
Vince had to laugh. “I am?’
“Yes, you are.” She lifted her hand up to admire the delicate silver bracelet on her equally delicate wrist then turned back to him, throwing her arms around his neck. “Not a moment goes by that I don’t think of you either. Thanks for making me see I’m not the only crazy person. I love you, too!”
They backed up into the wall, kissing deeply. As their kisses became more frantic, she tugged his hand and pulled him away from the wall. “C’mon.”
He followed her to her bedroom and stopped at the door. “Rose, I don’t think I should be in here.”
“Well of course you shouldn’t, but Sal and Grace won’t be back for hours. It’s their first night out since the baby was born. They’re on a very romantic dinner cruise, and then they’re going to meet up with everyone else and go dancing. They’ll be out until late.”
“Yeah but—”
Rose’s lips were on his, and there was no resisting them. Instinctively he sucked her lips and tongue back hard. She tugged his hand again, pulling him to her bed. She fell back into the bed, and he fell with her. Vince thought of the special night he’d mentally planned for their first time and then wondered if maybe it wouldn’t be better that their first time be right there in her bed. She’d think about it every time she went to bed, and that made him smile.
Within minutes her cotton top and bra were off, and he was sucking softly on her br**sts, but the longer he sucked, the urgency to have her completely naked became overwhelming. She arched her back, moaning a little louder with each tug Vince’s lips took of her ni**les. Sliding a hand into her shorts, his fingers grazed the warmth that awaited him as she spread her legs for him. He stopped and looked at her; both were breathing heavy as they stared into each other’s eyes.