Chapter 29:

"I missed you!" The girl exclaimed, her arms tightening around his neck.

This is a little awkward.

And seeing him hugging her back made me feel out of place. Clearing my throat, their heads turned in my direction. "Oh who's this?" She asked and she made no move to release Landon.

"That's Embre."

She brings her mouth near his ear and she whispers something and he gives a slight nod and she moved around him walk towards me. "Hi, I'm Lilly." She pulls me into a hug.

I stood in place with my hands going up to her back but I didn't wrap my arms around her. I wasn't quite sure of what to make of this, I look at Landon to see him shaking his head. "I'm Embre." I answered back carefully.

"Oh I know, that's such a nice name!" She pulled away only to hold onto my arms.

"Thanks?" I say back, more of a question, her personality was something I wasn't quite use to.

"Oh this must be awkward," She pressed one of hands to her forehead. "I'm Landon's sister." Everything clicks right away after she says that.

They both have hazel eyes and brown hair and to make it better their names start with in 'L'.

"Its nice to meet you, I wouldn't looked more decent if I would have known you were coming," I smiled before looking over to Landon in questioning.

"In my defense I didn't know she was coming." He raised his hands already on the defense.

Lilly then looks between us two and then her eyes seem to light up. "Are you two dating?"

My eyes widen and I look to her and to Landon again and he just stares like he wanted me to answer the question. Looking back to Lilly, I gave a shrug of my shoulders. "I mean I guess we are?" I answered, slightly confused I didn't want to say the wrong answer. I see him making his way towards us, and he stands next to me.

"We are," He confirms his sister suspiciousness.

"Wow that's great news! I wonder why you didn't tell me?" She slightly glared at her brother.

It was his turn to shrug his shoulders. "I told you about her, but you didn't ask for me to elaborate." She rolled her eyes at him.

So he told her about me?

"So anyways, are you going to the event?"

"You know I always go."

"I'm just checking." Then it seemed as if an idea popped into her head. "You know you can bring a plus one.. so are you going?"

I look up at Landon.

"Yes, I asked her to attend with me," He confirms. Her eyes seemed to have brightened even more.

"Great." She clapped her heads together and as if my stomach was listening, it growled on cue.

"Well.." I couldn't hide my embarrassment. "Are you guys hungry?"

"You cook?"

"Just a little."

"Well yeah, I can help you."

"Landon do you want to help?" I asked him, raising my eyebrows slightly. He fidgets clearly uncomfortable, and that tells me he never worked in the kitchen.

"Sure."

"Landon, you know you can't cook." Lilly reminded him, looking over to him like he had lost his mind.

"Yes I have." He fires back.

"Grilled cheese doesn't count."

Wow, she was making it hard for me to contain my laughter. I step around Landon, going into the kitchen to prepare dinner.

Deciding that I wanted to make something simple for Landon's first time cooking.

'This should be easy' I think to myself.

I grab everything I need to make... spaghetti.

Grabbing a big pot and I pour some water into it and I carry it slowly to the stove and I turned it on. Cutting my eye I see Lilly from the corner of my eye grab some mushrooms and a knife and she gets grabs a cutting board from inside a cabinet and she starts to dice it. I forgot that he said that she once lived her, so of course she knew where everything was.

I️ go to the refrigerator opening it to see if he has any meat I️ can add and sure enough it's half a pound of ground beef left the other half of it used for something else I️ suppose.

Setting it down on the counter and I️ grabbed a skillet and I️ place it on the stove, cutting on the heat in the process. Grabbing the meat I️ broke it apart into sections before putting it into the frying pan.

Opening the cabinet, I see seasonings that my mom used to use and I take them down. It was more than salt and pepper I can say that much. Finishing grinding it up I look to see Landon leaning against the opening of the kitchen.

Holding my hand out to him and he looks down at me before taking my hand, he was warily about all of this. "You're supposed to be helping."

"You were being serious?" I bob my head up and down telling him yes. Pulling him over to the stove and I see the water boiling. Grabbing the noodles and I hand them to him and he takes it and looks at me questioning what he should do.

Grabbing a small hand full and I break the noodles in half before placing them in the boiling water. "Like that. Now you try." I watch him roll up his sleeves- and I did my best to ignore my other thoughts- He does exactly what I did. Hearing a small clap come from behind me and I turn to see Lilly clapping. I look up at Landon to see him roll his eyes, clearly annoyed.

Putting the sauce into place. I go and grab two spoons- the other spoon I️ had to be mindful on the meat. I️ quickly get to work on that adding salt and pepper, basil, minced onions, and garlic.

I see that Lilly is down cutting the mushrooms and I grab the cutting board and I slide them into the sauce so they could turn soft. I checked on the noodles almost ten minutes later to see them almost done and grabbing the strainer and I place it in the sink.

Going back to the noddles and I was about to pick it up when I see Landon push my hands away gently and he picks the pot up and he walks to see sink pouring the noddles into it and I give a smile.

"I'll be right back," I hear Lilly say, her phone pressed up to her ear.

Turning back to the stove, mixing the sauce I feel someone wrap their hand around me. I stiffen a little but then relax, knowing who it is obviously. "So we're dating?" He asks me gently, placing his head on my shoulder.

I clear my throat a little, still stirring the sauce. "Didn't you confirm it?" I ask him.

He hummed while running his hand down my waist. I then turn around to see him straighten up and I take the time to run my hands through his hair I slowly lean up and he closed his eyes and I laugh at this in the inside, knowing what I'm about to do. My lips hover over his and I see his lips part but I pull back and I walk around him to check on my cooking.

I hear him groan. "You little tease."

"Who me?" I ask back, innocently. Turning on the water, he walked towards me and a grin formed on my face.

"Don't you dare," He warned me.

"Don't I dare do what?" I ask, as I slowly reach for the water faucet.

"Embre," He says again in warning. I slowly take the handle and he takes the opportunity to lunge at me and I squealed, as the water sprayed at him leaving him drenched in water. I see him wiping the water off his face and I placed the most sweetest smile on my face.

"Oops," I say innocently, laughing.

"Oh you're so dead." I then move to the opposite side of the counter.

"You have to catch me first."

"That's too easy sweetheart." He shifted a little, and I mimicked his movement.

"You know I'm going to catch you so what's the point?"

"How can you be so sure?"

And his eyes glint a little telling me he's thinking if something mischievous. "Oh I know."

I paused a little, knowing he had a double meaning, and he takes the opportunity to rush towards me and jump back into action. I tried to run to the other side but one of his arms circle around me and to breaking free was pointless as his other hand caged around me and he picks me up.

He starts for the sink, and it was really my turn to start struggling to get out of his hold.

"No Landon." If he could see my face, it was filled with horror.

He grabs ahold of the handle with one of his hands while the other is still around me and I still keep struggling in his hard grip.

I then feel cold water surrounding my face and I gasp trying to push the water away. "Okay! I'm going to drown!"

The force of the water stopped and I caught my breath before wiping the remaining water away from my face. I tried to push him away from me but he pulls me closer to him, both our shirts wet from the water. "Oops."

"You did that on purpose," I glared at him.

"You did the exact some thing," He reminded me, laughing and I shrugged my shoulders before deciding to laugh with him, after all it was funny.

"What in the world happened-!" I hear Lilly yell, but she cuts herself off when she sees me and Landon.

"Oh that's what happened."

I pull away from Landon, then I remember something. "The sauce!" I exclaimed. Quickly rushing to the stove- ignoring my soaked shirt- I cut it off and I sighed in relief, its not ruined.

I see Landon and Lilly whispering too each other but I don't pay attention to them. Well not that much.

"I'll be right back," I hear Landon comment. "Someone here ruined my clothes." I tried to sniffle my laughter at his side comment. He walks passed his sister and out of the kitchen. Leaving Lilly and .

I busied myself with mixing the food together before grabbing three plates to serve it on, I hoped they liked it.

All the while I saw Lilly grabbing some glasses and wine. She seemed unbothered while me on the other had was fidgeting, not really knowing what to say to fill in the silence with her. "You're special," I heard her comment. I snap out of my daze and I stare at her.

"Huh?"

"You're special," She repeats. "There is something special about you that my brother is drawn to you and to be fair-I like it. I finally see him actually being happy for once," She says, passing me a glass of wine.

"Thank you?"

"No seriously, how long have you known each other?"

"Uh.. two months close to three."

"Eh." She seemed to be processing something in her head. "I loved a guy in a time frame less than that."

"Love?" I almost choked on my wine. "Isn't that too soon."

"Honey, like I said." She took a sip of her wine. "Love doesn't have a time frame like most people think, you could know in a week, a year, six months." She shrugged. "Mine was four weeks."

"What happened?"

"His mother disapproved of me because I didn't seem his type so I left, it was hard but it was for the best." She changed the topic. "So what do you do?"

"I'm Landon's P.A."

Her eyes grow wide a little and then she let's out a laugh, and then she stops. "Well he didn't tell me that piece of information. How did you end up here?" She asks, twirling her finger, telling me she's taking about the house.

"Well my roomate almost set our entire apartment on fire but it left some damage and we had to evacuate, she left to go live with her parents and I had no place to go and Landon told me I could stay with him," I finish.

"Wow."

"Yeah.."

"You didn't think about renting a hotel?"

"I thought about it but he already-"

"Have you ever dated anybody before Landon? I'm sorry for all the question," She interrupted and it left me go play catch up- was I being tested? "Well I'm not it's kind of my job."

I laugh awkwardly as my cheeks grow warm again, "No its okay, and no I haven't dated anybody actually." That sounded embarrassing.

"Anybody? At least one person." She tried to make me feel better about being a single dried up raisin.

"No." My shoulders sagged, I don't know why that's so hard to admit to people.

"So you've just messed around? One night stands." She took a sip but at my facial expression she placed it down. "Oh.. does he know that?"

"He could probably guess by now, but no I haven't bluntly came out about it."

"He probably thinks he's on the 90 day rule." She snorted. "I'm finding this hard to believe, what were you doing in high school?"

"I wasn't a popular kid, I had one childhood friend." I shrugged. "I didn't start getting friends until college." Well one.

"Well, there's a first for everything." And after that the conversation died away after he walked back in.

I see that he changed his clothes into some black sweatpants and a white tank top.

The look he had on his face- looking almost perplexed about something- made me wonder what he was thinking about. "You ok?" I asked and he nodded his head before he came over to kiss me on my forehead but it felt different.. what was up with him?

We conversed and shared a few laughs before Lilly dismissed herself. "I should be going."

"I'll walk you out." Landon stood up from the dining room chair.

"It was nice meeting you." Lilly- ignoring my signal for telling her my shirt was damp-hugged me.

"Nice meeting you too."

"I'll see you later," She gave me another squeeze, and she released me. It made me happy that she wanted to see me again. Walking her to the door, Landon walked outside with her.

I finish up cleaning and I looked at the time to see it way past my bedtime, that's if I wanted to wake up and be able to function for tomorrow. Hearing the front door being re-opened, I look to see Landon once went to the stairs. "Your sister is really nice."

"Yeah, she's taking a special liking to you."

"Hopefully you're parents will feel the same." I teased.

"I'm pretty sure they will, if you passed my sister" He says, shaking his head. My thoughts went back to what me and his sister discussed.

Should I tell him?

"You're overthinking again." He caught me looking deep in thought.

"It's nothing." Wow, this shirt was beginning to itch. "I'm gonna go to sleep."

"What's wrong?"

"I'm just trying to figure things out." I touched the railing. "It's no big deal really." Yes it is.

"About what? Maybe I can help you."

Yeah you can do more than just help me for sure.

"You don't think we're rushing this do you? I can go to a hotel and we can be regular."

"First off." He walked over so we were eye level- I was on the first step. "You're not going out in the middle of the night just because you feel that this." He pointed between us. "Is going too fast, you can think about for sure but not tonight."

He continued. "Why are you thinking that?"

"I'm a..." I tried to tell him but the word wouldn't slip out on its own and I was tongue tied. "I'm a.." I sighed. "Just forget it."

"Tell me." He insisted. "Communicate with me here baby, it's the only way."

Why did he have to be so considerate all the time? "This is all just new to me that's all." You're still leaving out one important detail.

"And you don't think it is for me?" I could tell he knew that wasn't what I was referring to, but I was talking so it was a start.

Shaking my head, before the thought could leave my mind, I put my hands on his shoulders before bending down to kiss him. He was confused at my gesture because he was hesitant on kissing me back but once feeling my hands braid themselves into his hair, he groaned before giving in to me.

He let me lead, and there was a difference between his kisses and mine and I was thinking hopefully this would tell him.

Wrapping his arms around me before picking me up, I secured my legs around him before breaking the kiss to look at him. Please figure it out. My eyes were pleading with him and he took a deep breath before connecting our lips together again. I was hesitant..

"You've never been with a man before have you?" He broke the ice and the kiss and thankfully he didn't sound judgmental. "Tell me the truth."

"I haven't." It was a mere whisper. "I don't want you look at me any different."

"Why would I?" His grip on my thighs tightened. "That's nothing to be ashamed of."

"I'm not ashamed of it, I was scared of how you were going to take the news."

"Does it look like I'm taking it any type of way? I'm glad that you've kept yourself for that long but I wouldn't have had a problem either way because everyone is different. I lost mine at 17."

"How did it feel?" He sat me down back on the stairs and he laughed at my curiosity.

"You want me to tell you how another woman's body feels?" He was blunt and my eyes widen, the horror.

"No no." I shook my head. "Did you enjoy it?"

"I mean.. yeah." He didn't deny it to spare my feelings and I didn't want him to.

It felt good to get that off my chest to him and I felt like a weight was lifted off my shoulders. "So.."

"So what?" He was letting me make all the decisions for what's next.

"I don't know if I'll be ready yet and I don't want you to stick around just to be left with however why you deal with it."

"Oh this?" He gestured to his bulge. "It wouldn't take much." My eyes widen at him before I shook my head clearing that thought. "But seriously baby, I'll wait for you."

"You'll wait?"

"Yeah, I'm seven months celibate I think I know how to manage by now and besides that's not all that I want."

"What do you want?" Rhetorical question being thrown out again.

"I want this." His forefinger touched my breast right where my heart was. "And this." He pulled me to him and I threw my hands around him, giggling once he placed a peck on my lips. "I want you whole heartedly Embre Daniels. Mind, body and when the the time comes soul."

"You're a sweetheart." He couldn't be real.

"I'm not like this all the time." His hands went down to cup my ass. "But when the time comes.. I hope your ready." And if that didn't send a shiver down my spine..

"You're not going to be lonely tonight are you?" I asked and he was making me think of just doing it right now to get it over with and I wouldn't be complaining.

"I think I can manage." He knew I wasn't making a rational decision. "But if not I know where to go."

"Okay." I pulled away from him. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight beautiful." We both went to our room and I couldn't help but watch him, and the more he walked away my heart pulled as if it felt torn. It was crazy how he had that much affect on me.

His sister was right.

There was a First For Everything.