Labeled Love

by Danielle Rocco

  I reach up and kiss him. I can’t help it. At the same time, I hear the camera snapping. “Okay, Melody. That’s enough,” Dad says.

  “Wait! We need a family picture.”

  Jace looks at Mom, telling her, “I’ll take it, Mrs. Stark.”

  She gives him a soft smile. “No, Jace, you need to be in the picture, too.” Everyone gathers close, and I focus on Jace. He swallows hard, looking out of sorts. Mom calls over Cole, of all people. “Cole, honey, will you take a picture of all of us?” Cole looks at everyone, but then stops. He looks straight at Jace with a very mischievous smirk.

  “Sure, Mrs. S.”

  A bad feeling Cole is up to something washes over me. Jace holds me firmly; I know Cole unsettles him. He snaps one picture, hands the camera back to my mom, and starts to walk off quickly. “Wait!” I yell. “Stay together, everyone. I think I blinked.”

  My mom says, “It’s fine, Shay.”

  “No, I totally blinked.” I’m adamant. Walking away, Cole looks over his shoulder with a sneer. I turn to Jules who just walked up to us. Rushing out of the group, I ask her, “Jules, take a picture of us, please.” I hurry back before my family gets impatient.

  She takes the camera. “Say cheese, everyone.” We all say, “Cheese,” and she takes several pictures. She scrolls through them as Tristan starts complaining again to my parents. “Aw, Shay, these are so cute.”

  Mom grabs the camera. “Let me see.” I stand there as she scrolls through the pictures. Jace is holding my hand while he talks to Beau and Dad. When Mom gets to the first picture Cole took, she exclaims, “He didn’t even get us all in the picture. Jace is totally cut out. Thank God you took some more for us, Jules. Cole is a terrible photographer.”

  Jules glances at me, and I roll my eyes. Looking back at my boy, he looks so handsome in his jeans and the dress shirt I bought him. He’s wearing his Converse just like me. My boy dressed up.

  My mom hands me the camera as Tatum and Tristan bug her. Jules leans into me. “Cole’s such a jerk. He totally cut him out of the picture.”

  “I know. Thank you for taking these.”

  “You’re welcome. Your boy looks sexy.”

  “He always looks sexy,” I say.

  “Well, yeah, he does… but you know how I like a well-dressed guy.”

  “I know. I saw you melt over Beau.”

  Her mouth flies open. “I most certainly did not ‘melt over Beau.’”

  “Yes, you did, Jules.”

  “You are sadly mistaken. I’m surprised he didn’t bring Mila.”

  “Why would he bring her?”

  “Aren’t they ‘dating’?” She air quotes the last word.

  “Jules, you should know not to believe everything you read.”

  “Whatever,” she says, waving me off.

  My parents interrupt us. “The twins need to eat, or they’re going to die,” Mom says.

  “We’ll meet you there,” I tell them. I look over at Jace. He nods his head with the cutest smile. Beau is talking his ear off. I love that my brother likes him.

  My family leaves, and Jules takes off with her hers. Jace grabs my hand, kissing it. “I want to take you somewhere first.”

  I give him a curious look. “Okay.”

  He leads me to his bike. I grab my helmet as he asks, “Are you good in that dress, baby?”

  “Yes.”

  “By the way, you look really pretty,” he says, causing me to blush. It never gets old hearing him say that.

  I get on the bike after him. He makes his way out of the crowded streets. Wrapping my arms around him, I press my chest fully against him. With each turn, I feel his muscles under his shirt. I feel so safe with him.

  Life is a funny journey, isn’t it? Who would have thought I would have found the love of my life at twelve years old?

  Stopping at a red light, he takes my hands and puts them on his lap. As he softly caresses the tops, I want to cry. I’m so emotional. I don’t know if it’s the fact that I just graduated or the fact that this boy is still in my life after all this time. I remember when I drove away that first time, thinking if I would ever see him again. I lean forward.” I love you so much, Jace.”

  He squeezes my hands. The light turns green, and the direction he turns tells me right where we’re going. He pulls into the center, parks the bike, and gets off. I stay on the bike and look at him. “What are we doing here?”

  He swallows hard and tightens his jaw. “This is where we started,” he says quietly. “I just wanted to come to the place I first saw you.” I start to cry. “Don’t cry, baby. This is a good thing. I just want you to know…” he trails off, shaking his head. “I just want to give you your graduation present here. I’m sorry it’s not in a box.”

  “That doesn’t matter to me, Jace.”

  “I know it doesn’t.” He reaches into his pocket and brings out a petite charm. “I’m glad you have your bracelet on.”

  “I don’t take it off, unless I’m showering or at the beach.”

  He walks up to the bike and straddles it, pulling me into him. “Give me your wrist, baby.” I hold up my wrist. Opening his hand, he lays the charm in my other hand. “This is an infinity charm.” I look down at the little gold charm. As I lift my eyes to his, a tear falls down my cheek. “I want you to know I’ve loved you ever since that first day. No matter what we go through, good times or pure crises…” I lower my head and smile. Lifting my chin, he continues. “No matter what, I will love you forever, Shay. You are the most important person in my life, and you always will be.”

  “More than anything,” I say.

  “More than anything,” he repeats as he puts the charm on my bracelet. “Don’t ever forget that. I will always fight for us. I will climb mountains for you, baby.” I grab his strong jaw. “Give me your lips.”

  I don’t know about everyone else on graduation night. All I can say is my love story is better than anything anyone could ever dream of. I’m sitting on my boyfriend’s motorcycle as he kisses me slowly and speaks words of forever. That’s dreamy.

  WAKING UP IN a cold sweat, I sit up and wipe my face, trying to clear my head. My breathing is ragged, and sweat is dripping down my face. It’s hotter than hell in my room. Looking around, I see the room I’ve slept in for the last nineteen years, and nothing’s changed. It was only a nightmare. “Only a nightmare,” I say to myself. Taking a deep breath, I run my hands up and down my face again, ridding the thoughts.

  They were taking Shay from me. God, it felt so real. I couldn’t see their faces, but she was struggling, and I couldn’t get to her. I couldn’t get to her. I need to see her. I need to hold her in my arms. I feel a pit in my stomach, like loss. My heart is beating a hundred miles an hour. It was just a fucking nightmare.

  I lie back down, grabbing my phone to check the time. It’s only after seven. She’s probably still sleeping. I stare at her picture like I always do. The first day I met her, I woke up staring at this same dirty ceiling, and all these years later, she’s still here. She still wants to be with me.

  Shay has never looked at me like I wasn’t good enough. She’s only looked at me with love. I hate feeling trapped in this place of nothing. I want to have a life with my girl. I want to close my eyes and feel her warmth next to me. I want to smell her all over my room and wake up holding her.

  I sit up quickly. Tomorrow morning, I’m waking up with her in my arms, dammit. I have enough money to rent us a hotel room. I need this. That nightmare felt so fucking real. Grabbing my cell, I scroll to Shay’s number and hit Send.

  “Good morning, baby,” she says in a sweet sleepy voice.

  Yeah, I’m waking up to that tomorrow.

  “Good morning, pretty girl.”

  “Is everything okay? You never call this early,” she asks, concerned. She makes me smile. She cares so much.

  “Everything is fine, baby, but I was hoping we could figure out something.”

  Her voice sounds more alert. I can hear
her moving around. “What do we need to figure out?”

  “I need to wake up with you tomorrow. I dream about you every night, and I just want you in my arms. I want to hold you all night. Do you think we can make that happen? I have money. I can pay for a hotel room.”

  “We don’t need a hotel, baby. We can stay at our condo downtown.”

  “You have a condo downtown?”

  “My parents do. Dad bought it years ago. They’ve always kept it, but it doesn’t get used often.”

  “They would let you use it?”

  “Let me take care of that. Just make sure you’re ready to hold me all night long. I’m kind of a spooner.”

  “What’s a spooner?” I ask, confused.

  “You’ll see.” She laughs.

  She has no idea how much I need this.

  I END THE call with Jace and lie back down. Closing my eyes, I can almost picture him tugging at his hair in frustration. I don’t know; he seemed stressed and restless. I could hear the struggle in his voice.

  I know he needs me.

  I need to figure out how to use the condo. I’ve never lied to my parents, and I really don’t want to start now. Honestly, the thought of being wrapped up in Jace all night is worth whatever consequence I might get if they found out we spent the entire night together.

  Getting out of bed, I walk over and open my curtains. I can see out into the city. Where is my boy? I just want to go to him and comfort him. All these years and I’ve never been able to do that. I’m going to tonight. I’m going to wrap myself around him and feel his warm skin all over me. I want to make love to him and fall asleep in his arms.

  I walk out of my room and go down the quiet hallway to the kitchen. My mom has just walked in from the backyard with a basket full of oranges.

  “You’re up early. I didn’t want to wake you, but I’m glad you’re up. Your dad and I decided we’re going to take Tatum and Tristan up to Santa Barbara. There’s a wine festival, and Marla is going to come and bring the girls. We’ll be home tomorrow.”

  Well, this might be easier than I thought. “That’s sound nice. Do the twins want to go?”

  She gives me a side smile. “Do they have a choice?”

  “Nope.”

  “We’ll be back tomorrow afternoon. Make sure you’re good, Shay. Why don’t you have Jules stay the night?”

  “I will probably stay at her house. She’s been wanting me to watch Gossip Girl.”

  “Didn’t that show go off the air?”

  “Yeah, but she’s been watching it on Netflix.”

  “Sounds fun,” she says happily as she walks out of the kitchen.

  Man, that was easy. Heading back to my room, I grab my phone to send a quick text to Jace.

  Me: I can’t wait to sleep with my baby.

  He texts me right back.

  My Boy: I can’t wait to hold you in a bed. When can I be with you?

  Me: Give me a couple of hours. My parents are going out of town until tomorrow. Talk about perfect.

  My Boy: You’re always perfect pretty girl.

  I bite my lip and send him a kiss face. Now I need to see what I will bring with me for my first night away with my boy. Going to my dresser, I grab my cutest underwear and tank to sleep in. Picking up my body spray, I give it a couple of quick sprays. I smile to myself, thinking about Beau and his distaste for my paradise smelly stuff. Jace loves the way I smell, and I want to smell good. I grab a few more things, along with my toothbrush. I walk into my closet to grab one of my beach bags. The box I keep all my notes Jace has sent me catches my eye. I open it up and grab one of his love letters to me.

  Shay,

  Do you know why I love you, baby? I love you because you’re pretty, sexy, sweet, and you have long, sun-kissed legs and a mouth that was made for kissing. That’s pretty much why I love you...

  I’m just kidding, baby. I’m just staring at all the pictures of us you sent me. Do you want to know why I really love you? I love you because my heart beats for you. Everything about you makes me happy. Your face, your voice, your touch, and your smell—all give me an indescribable feeling of completeness. You make my heart beat with purpose, baby. Oh, and all those things I said about your sexiness. They’re all true, too. I will always love you more than anything. I just want you to know how I feel, baby. I always want you to know how I feel.

  Jace

  I place it back with all the others. Grabbing my bag, I can’t contain my happiness. Taking a shower, I spend extra time getting my skin super clean and soft and ready to be touched. Smiling to myself with thoughts of Jace all around me, I get out to the sound of a knock on my bathroom door.

  “We’re heading out, Shay,” Mom says from behind the door.

  “Have fun,” I say, putting my hair up in a towel.

  “You, too.”

  Oh, I will.

  I look into the mirror and smile wide. I plan on having a lot of fun. I hurry up getting ready, wanting to get to the condo and make the most out of our night together. My family is long gone, so I text Jace.

  Me: Meet me at my house right now baby.

  He texts me right back.

  My Boy: On my way.

  Jace still has a simple phone, so I don’t want him trying to find the condo when he can just follow me there. Twenty minutes later, I hear him coming up the driveway. I go into my dad’s office and grab the condo keys that he leaves in his desk drawer. After locking up the house, I walk out the front door. Jace is just getting off his bike. It never gets old seeing him on his motorcycle. He’s just so sexy with his long, lean, muscular frame. When he looks at me, throwing his head back, exposing his eyes, my heart always skips a beat. I hit the Unlock button on my car and throw my bag onto the backseat. I shut the door, and Jace swoops me in his arms.

  “You look so beautiful, pretty girl.” He holds me close, twirling me around. “I love your pretty pink dress.” I’d straddle him like I usually do, but it would be hard with this sundress. He slows down and just holds me. My legs are dangling, causing my flip-flops to fall off. “You ready to spoon?” he whispers against my hair. Then he sets me down and looks at me. His hair falls in his eyes, and I run my fingers through it, bringing his face to mine.

  “Give me your lips, baby,” I tell him softly. Then I kiss him. “I can’t wait to spoon.”

  “Let’s get out of here. I need to be with you.”

  “Follow me.”

  “I will follow you wherever you go,” he says as he leans down and captures my lips one more time.

  “Go on, sexy boy. Get on that bike.”

  He laughs. “Okay, baby, I’m going.” He gives me a sly grin and gets back on his bike. I shake my head.

  It only takes about ten minutes to get to the condo. Even though it’s only a few minutes from our house, in California traffic a five-minute drive can take thirty. When we get to the condo, I park out front while Jace goes around the corner and parks. I wait in front of my car when I see him turn the corner holding a backpack. Leaning down, I grab my bag. He smiles at me. “Are you ready to have a sleepover?” I ask shyly.

  “You have no idea, baby.” We walk up the flower-lined path. The condo is located right in the heart of Los Angeles, but you would never know it. The street is lined with huge trees that give it a feel of a place much different. When we get to the porch, I put my bag down to unlock the front door. “This is really nice,” he says quietly.

  I unlock the door and turn to him. “Yeah, it is nice. It’s too bad it rarely gets used.” I push the door open and walk inside first. Jace picks up my bag and follows me.

  “Wow, baby, this is really nice,” he repeats, setting my bag down along with his backpack. He looks around, taking in the space. The crisp, white walls and big windows are impressive. You can see the beautiful trees along with lots of natural light that pour through every window. The furniture is all light with big, fluffy pillows everywhere. It has a beachy vibe, too, with exposed beams that give it a much bigger feel than it r
eally is.

  “My mom really has great taste.”

  “She sure does. I’m afraid to sit on the couch. I don’t want to get it dirty.”

  “Baby, you can’t hurt anything in here. It’s meant to be lived in.”

  Jace looks around the room and then brings his gaze back to me. I can see the look in his eyes. “How many bedrooms does it have?”

  “Just three.”

  “Show me the one we’re going to be sleeping in.”

  I take his hand and walk him down the bright hallway, passing the first two rooms and stopping in front of the last one. “This is our room.” As I reach to open the door, he stops me. He puts his arm around my waist, pulling me in to him.

  “I need you, baby,” he says softly.

  “I need you, too.”

  He shakes his head no. “I need to be inside you.”

  “I need you to be inside me.”

  He groans at my words and reaches over me, pushing the door open. With his lips on mine, he walks me backward to the end of the bed and stops. Grabbing the bottom of his shirt, he slowly pulls it over his head. After kicking off his shoes, he smiles and starts unbuckling his jeans. They drop to the floor. He stands in front of me, wearing only his boxers. It’s different this time—being in a house, in a bedroom, in broad daylight. Every time we’ve been together has been under the starry sky covered up. I can’t hide my flaws in the daytime. I feel self-conscious when he takes the spaghetti straps of my dress and begins sliding them off my shoulders. “What’s wrong, baby?”