A LITTLE TOO
NOT OVER YOU
By
Lauren Pacaccio
DEDICATION
To Meghan and Simone.
Without you two, this book would not exist.
Thank you for telling me what made sense and what definitely did not.
Thank you for telling me that it was good.
I love you two.
Thank you – from the bottom of my heart.
A Little Too Not Over You
By: Lauren Pacaccio
This is a work of fiction. All characters and events in this book are products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblances to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead are entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2013 NexGeneration Digital Publishing
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book, or portions thereof, in any form without written permission.
Published in the United States of America.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Cry
Chapter 2: Love On Top
Chapter 3: I’m In
Chapter 4: You And I
Chapter 5: Don’t Stop Me Now
Chapter 6: Bad Moon Rising
Chapter 7: About You Now
Chapter 8: Here We Go Again
Chapter 9: How Bizarre
Chapter 10: Tongue Tied
Chapter 11: Foolish Games
Chapter 12: All For You
Chapter 13: Two Princes
Chapter 15: Roll To Me
Chapter 16: Lesson In Leavin’
Chapter 17: Scream!
Chapter 18: Hello Cold World
Chapter 19: Love Is Strange
CHAPTER 1:
CRY
I looked up at him, vision blurred by the tears that were to fall any moment.
His hands reached to cup my face like they always did. I didn't flinch away. But, I did close my eyes which made the tears fall instantly. He tried to wipe them away, but his gentle gestures only made it worse.
I backed away from him, hugging myself, and turning away.
"Paisley," he whispered into my ear, wrapping his arms around me from behind, "Every time we're apart, you're all I can think about. We can get through this. We always do."
He put his hands on my shoulders, but I shrugged them off. My back was to him, and my voice was getting a little louder.
"You can't know that, Hunter!" That came out as a scream. I took a breath, and spoke a little lower, "You can't keep saying that. You always say that." My tears started drying by then. I was finally calming myself down.
I took a deep breath and turned around. Hunter's blue eyes were magnified by his gathering tears. Trying to maintain his macho man persona, he blinked away the tears and wiped his face roughly. He ran his hand through his brown hair and cleared his throat.
"Pay, what do you expect me to say?" He was whispering at first, but his voice got louder as he went on. "I. LOVE. YOU. What do you not understand?!"
I shuddered at his voice. He was really yelling. He rarely yelled. Sure, he got upset, but raising his voice was very new to me. "Please, Hunter, stop." I tried to remain calm, but my voice was starting to catch again.
"I'm sorry, Pay, I really am. I just…I am so in love with you. Just please, please…give me one more chance. If I blow this one, I promise I'll leave you be."
My heart ached for him. My brain was screaming about how stupid I was being. But then, I realized that Hunter had never done anything bad. We just…got into stupid fights, yelled a lot, hurt each other, and then ended it.
It was hard to believe we were only 18. Just starting college. Life ahead of us, however, this moment felt like the end of the world.
"People never change." That's the advice my mother gave me during one of our many talks about the Hunter drama. I had mentioned something about how I was giving him another chance because he could change and that was all my mother told me right before she got up and walked out.
That's when I realized that another chance wouldn't help us. If we were to keep giving each other chances, nothing would change. My throat started to tighten again as I walked to him.
"Hunter," my voice was shaky, my throat burned, and the tears fell, "I love you. I do. But…"
He held up a hand to stop me. His face was hardened and almost unfamiliar. He held my face once again, wiped away the tears and said, "You don't have to say anything else, I get it."
He walked around me, to the door. I didn't turn around, though. I couldn't bear it. My legs couldn't hold me up any longer as I crouched down to the floor.
The door opened, and before it shut, I heard him barely whisper,
"Bye, Pay."
CHAPTER 2:
LOVE ON TOP
-4 Years Later-
"Hey, baby girl," I said, as my cute little puppy bounded towards me as I walked into the door of my apartment. Daisy yipped in excitement, licking my face as I swiped her up and wandered into the kitchen. I sighed.
"Guess who is coming over soon, Daisy?" The dog looked up at me, as if she could understand, waiting for an answer. Her tail wagged in anticipation.
"Braden!" I smiled as she wiggled so much that she almost fell out of my arms. "A little excited there, are we, girl?"
She yipped some more. I chuckled as I put her down and walked into my room. I would have to start getting ready soon. Our date was for 7, and it was about 5 now.
I chuckled to myself; again, remembering how it used to take me an hour tops, to get ready in the beginning of college. Now that I was out of it, with a job, and actually able to support myself - I spent a lot more time on me. I actually had a large amount of clothes to choose from before I could start getting ready. My hair was long enough now that I could style it however I wanted.
Even if I could get ready quickly, I wanted to take my time getting ready for tonight. It was Braden and mine's three year anniversary. He said he was taking me out to a nice place, so I had to wear my best dress. I was excited. Braden was so perfect, I could hardly contain myself.
So many people could see the change in me after I had met him. I smiled all the time, and I was always in the best moods. No one had ever treated me the way that Braden did. Like I was the greatest thing in his entire world.
Not only was he a great boyfriend, I smiled to myself as I thought, but he was a great man. He was on his first year of teaching French to 8th graders, and he absolutely loved it.
I opened my closet, grabbed my robe, and went into my bathroom. After I showered, I walked back to the closet, in my robe.
He had said to wear a nice dress. A really nice dress. "Think…prom, but without the poof," were his exact words.
I leafed through the clothes on the hangers. I finally picked out the perfect dress, shoes, and accessories. Now, onto my hair. My almost elbow length, light brown hair needed to be tamed. I dried my hair, and decided to do a braid, wrapped into a bun that rested on my neck. Now, onto my makeup. I did myself up nice and pretty.
I was about 6:45 when I finally could slip on my dress. It was perfect.
It was a red, floor length dress. There were cut outs on the sides and some of it was lined with diamond like jewels. I was going to knock him dead.
Speaking of knocking, right as I slipped my silver shoes on, there was a knock on the door. Little Daisy ran to the door before I could get there. I took a deep breath and opened the door, smiling.
Braden was standing there with the most amazing facial expression I had seen. Right when I opened the door, his chiseled jaw dropped, his emerald green eyes practically popped out of his head.
"And that's the best reaction I've ever gotten,
" I said, smiling. I looked down at his hands where there were about three dozen red roses. On his body was a very sexy tux. I whistled and said, "Wow."
"Why thank ya, sweetharrrt," he said, mimicking a gay guy lisp.
I took the flowers, smelled them and said, "Let me put these in water real quick and then we can go?"
He nodded and followed me in. He said hi to Daisy, like he always did. He was the one who bought her for me.
I got a vase, filled it with water, and put the beautiful roses, which represented passionate love, in the vase.
Before I could turn around from the counter, I felt hands slide around my waist. Lips were close to my ears and they whispered, "Tu es magnifique, Paise." He kissed my neck and I giggled.
"Ah, I love it when you speak French. You look so handsome. We might not even make it to the restaurant." I turned around to face him and put my arms around his neck. I ran my hands through his dirty blonde hair as I pulled him closer to me so I could get a kiss.
I loved his kisses. They were sweet, yet extremely passionate. We really were going to miss the reservations if we didn't get going soon. I giggled and sweetly pushed him away. He smiled, with his perfectly straight teeth and grabbed my hand as we walked out.
CHAPTER 3:
I’M IN
The restaurant was amazing. I was just finishing up my crème brûlée when the champagne came out. Braden was smiling like a crazy person and I suddenly realized what was happening.
Maybe I was wrong. How embarrassing would that be if it was just champagne that he ordered just because it was our anniversary? "Never jump to conclusions." Some of mother's advice. He poured me some champagne and I took it. He held up his glass, proposing a toast.
He cleared his throat. "Happy Anniversary, and to many more." I smiled, and said, "To many more," and we clinked glasses. I sipped the champagne.
Suddenly, Braden's fork flew off of the table. He blushed and looked very embarrassed. He got on the floor to pick up the fork, but when he put the fork on the table, he didn't get up. Instead, he was on one knee, with a little box in his hand.
I gasped. This was it. He really was doing it.
"Paisley Rose Johnson, I love you more than anything. We've been together for three years now and I have honestly never been happier. When I picture my future, no matter what, you are always in it."
I was crying now, with a huge smile on my face. I was nodding, but I didn't think he noticed it. He was looking into my eyes, holding my hands, smiling along with me. People in the place were watching with anxious anticipation.
He was still talking. "From the moment I saw you, studying your ass off in the library sophomore year, I fell in love. And I just knew. I knew you would be the biggest, most important part of my life. I knew I wanted to be your friend, your lover, and soul mate. Forever and always. Now, Paise…"
I nodded at him, happy tears rolling down my face, smiling like crazy, "Now, Bray?" I said, laughing.
"Will you marry me?"
I made a face, pretending to think about it. I looked down at the ring he had just presented to me. It was beautiful. Simple, but elegant.
"Braden Alexander Abernathy, of course I will."
CHAPTER 4:
YOU AND I
After that night, I was so excited, I could barely sleep.
I had to tell everyone I knew. But, for my family, I had to tell them in person. So, Bray and I would go down for the Christmas holiday. The holidays were only a few days away. I had talked to my parents and asked if we could stay with them for two weeks. I rarely get to see them, so me wanting to stay with them wouldn't give anything away.
I called work for the fifth time that day. Double, well fifth-checking that I was indeed off for the two weeks I had requested.
"Honey," Nancy, the desk assistant said, chuckling under her breath, "yes. You are all set. You can go and visit your parents for Christmas."
I laughed and blushed, looking down at my ring, "Nance, wanna hear a secret?"
I could practically see her looking around before replying, "Oh, honey," she said, "you know I'm always here to…well hear some gossip. What is it?!"
I laughed, "Well, it's nothing like bad, Nancy. It's just that…"
I paused, trying to torture her a little bit.
"Well, get on with it, girl!" She said, whispering.
"Braden and I are engaged."
There was silence for a second, but then some sort of noise came through the receiver. "CONGRATULATIONS, baby doll! Oh my gosh, well good gracious. I got so excited for a second. I had to put the phone down so I wouldn't scream. Oh, that Braden is such a good man, Paisley. Good, good choice."
"I was thinking the same thing," I said, laughing. "Nancy, you're totally invited to the wedding by the way."
She laughed, "Well, that's great! Have a great vacation, and tell Braden I said, 'Congrats!'"
We hung up and I got so much more excited, I couldn't even sit down.
I went into my room, where Daisy was taking a nap. I got my suitcases out and started to pack. I didn't know what we would be doing during the vacation. We could be going to dinners, church, or hell - we could be going in the hot tub one night. You never know with my family. I had to pack everything. And packed everything I did.
Braden came over that night. He wanted to tell me about his day and we would have dinner at my place.
"Babe," he started, his serious tone caught my attention. I looked over at him, making sauce for the noodles.
"What is it? Did something happen today?" I was boiling the noodles. They could wait. I walked towards him, and put my arms around him.
He exhaled slowly, "I have some good news and bad news."
Oh, Lord. That can never be good.
"Okay, what's the good news?"
"Since I am a teacher, I definitely get two weeks off for Christmas vacation."
"Okay?"
"However, since my principal has something up his ass at all hours of the day…"
I cringed. Here comes the bad news. He was right. His boss was some sort of Nazi.
"…he asked me to stay for three days during vacation to help him brainstorm his next 'big idea' for the school."
I frowned, "But…Bray, didn't you tell him why we were going out of town?"
He nodded, "Yeah, but like I said…the stick was firmly in place. He told me that after those few days, I could leave and do whatever I wanted for the rest of vacation, but if I wanted to keep my place in the school, I would have to stay with him, along with a couple of other teachers."
I was upset, sure, but there was nothing I could do about it. I didn't want to upset him even more by being too upset. It was only a couple of days. I could handle it.
"Well, that's alright, babe," I said, going back to the noodles to drain them, "I understand."
"I knew you would, but I really am sorry, hun," I felt his arms, once again, come up from behind me. I leaned against him and I felt him kiss the top of my head. "But I have some more good news."
"Oh, really?" I said, turning to him.
"The sauce is done!" He yelled excitedly, motioning towards the pot.
"Oh, goodie!" I chuckled and got some plates for us. We made our dinner and ate together.
We talked about all sorts of things like we always did. Our relationship had the most communication in it than any of my other relationships combined.
We already knew that we wanted kids, how many, and when we would start. We already knew where we would live after we got married. We had even talked about getting married before he proposed. "I am so excited to tell everyone," I said, smiling like crazy. We were watching a movie then on my couch. It was a movie we had seen a dozen times, but for whatever reason, was one of our favorites.
"Me too," he said, lazily tracing patterns on my shoulder. His arm was around me and I was nestled up against him. So comfortable and right. Just perfect.
He was tired, though. I could tell. You get his stomach full, and he is practical
ly done for the night.
"Hey," I said, sitting up quickly.
"Hi!" he said, laughing. He looked at me quizzically. I ran my hand through his hair, slowly. It was just so soft; I couldn't keep my hands out of it.
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