Shared & Protected

by J P Books

  “We can help,” Riley perks up immediately. Lucas looks at her in surprise, obviously not expecting there to be any question about his going at all.

  I have to admit, a big part of me wants this comfort cuddle to last forever. Another big part of me knows that the Zen is going to wear off soon, and then we’re all going to be laying here together, with all the thoughts and words filling up the air around us.

  Going to spend the day with Lucas and play with some kids sounds like a pretty good alternative. “Yeah,” I agree, “we can totally come and help. We love kids!”

  “Oh...Wow...Well, are you sure you want to take care of kids on your vacation? Isn’t that sort of the opposite of why you’re here?”

  I shrug. “We escaped the high school grind. Playing with a bunch of kids in an activity center is just as much a vacation from real life as laying on the beach is. Besides, I think my liver could probably use a day off,” I joke.

  Riley’s nodding vigorously, but I can’t quite tell if she’s agreeing with me, or having an animated conversation with Butch. Either way, she makes both Lucas and me laugh.

  “Alright, I’ll call mom back.”

  We reluctantly all pile out of bed and get dressed. Lucas gives us both sweet kisses and heads out of the room to make coffee.

  Riley looks at my dress and starts to giggle. I look down, trying to figure out what’s so funny. I give her a blank look and that just sends her into gales of laughter.

  Between fits, she manages to say, “I think we better stop at the hotel first.”

  I take another look at my dress and then look at her. A vision of her trying to play in a sandbox with a little Mexican boy pops into my mind and I catch her humor. I start to laugh right along with her.

  Lucas pops back into the room with three delightfully steaming cups of coffee and looks totally confused. Which, of course, makes us laugh harder.

  He just puts the coffees down and sets about grabbing his own clothes for the day, then heads to take a shower. Ten minutes later, he comes back, wearing clean slacks and a fresh button-down linen shirt, he takes another look at us, and it finally sinks in that we’re not dressed appropriately for school.

  What he’s thinking is so obvious to us that Riley and I both burst out laughing again, unable to stop ourselves. All the emotion that’s pent up in this room – the passion from last night, the comfort and feeling of love from this morning – is now bursting out of us in fits of hilarity.

  Finally, we get ourselves together and Riley says again, “I think we better stop at the hotel first.”

  Lucas agrees, shaking his head at us, and leads the way to his car. Until now, we had walked everywhere and hadn’t even realized he owns a vehicle. It turns out that he has a nice, mid-sized white SUV that he hardly ever uses. But the school is a 30-minute drive away, so a car is very helpful.

  We stop by the hotel and Riley and I run upstairs to change, both of us throwing on jean shorts and light floral tops that are cute, but casual and professionally appropriate.

  We run back downstairs and head to the school.

  During the drive, I feel an urge to keep the conversation light. There’s no way I want to start talking about last night before we have to entertain kids for 6 hours. So I just keep peppering Lucas with questions about what to expect.

  Apparently, the kids speak some English. They’re learning it in school as an immersion program, so we should be able to communicate with them pretty well. They mostly play by themselves, but there must be an adult present at all times. Having 3 adults – 2 of them American strangers – is probably going to cause quite the stir.

  Lucas’ mom will be there, but she has an important business meeting so she can’t watch the kids personally. We’re going to meet his mom, I think to myself, feeling butterflies in my stomach. I know this isn’t ‘meeting the parents’ but I can’t help but feel like somehow this is a meaningful step in our relationship. Our relationship that is going to come to a crashing end in 2 days when Riley and I have to get on a plane back to California.

  I put that out of my mind for now.

  We’ve arrived and Lucas leads us into the school. I look around, but we’re the only ones here. Lucas catches my eye and smiles, making my heart skip a beat.

  “They’ll be here, don’t worry. And then you’ll regret ever having offered to help,” he grins at both of us.

  Just as Lucas said, the kids start to arrive. It’s just one sweet little boy at first. He’s about 6 years old and has no shy in him. The second he sees us he runs over to start babbling questions in a mixture of 80% Spanish with a few words of English thrown in for good measure. Being so young, he’s very expressive, and he makes his questions understood with body language and absolutely no respect for boundaries or personal space. It’s the cutest thing ever.

  Within about 10 minutes, Riley and I are swarmed with a crowd of children ranging from 5 to 12 years old, all demanding to know everything about us and our American world.

  ***

  6 hours later, Lucas assures us that there have been only 8 children. It had felt like 80, at least. The time has gone by in an instant but also dragged every ounce of energy out of us. I have no idea where kids get it all from!

  Riley and I collapse on the couch, feeling oddly fulfilled and utterly exhausted. Lucas sits on the arm of the couch, beside me, leaning over both of us.

  Suddenly, a tall, thin middle-aged woman bursts into the room with all the energy we thought the kids had taken with them.

  “My girls, you were wonderful!” She throws her arms up into the air and strides across the room to plant a loud kiss on Lucas’ cheek. This must be the mom.

  As if in confirmation, Lucas introduces us. “Hi Mom,” he says, “This is Celeste and Riley.”

  Riley and I both murmur hellos and smile awkwardly.

  “The kids loved you,” she gushes. “You were so amazing with them! I popped my head in a few times to make sure everything was ok but you were both so busy that you didn’t even notice! Lucas tells me you’re teachers…I don’t suppose there’s a chance I can steal you away from your boring jobs in California and make you part of the family here?”

  I know that she means “family” as in the faculty and teachers at the school, but I feel a warm burst at the word, and glance instinctively up at Lucas. He just smiles and me and shrugs, neither confirming nor denying the implications of the word. I look over at Riley, and she’s got a wistful look on her face which is probably an exact reflection of mine.

  We look at each other for a minute, enjoying the beautiful daydream.

  Riley answers first, sadly reminding us both that we have lives back in Cali, and jobs that we had fought tooth and nail to secure.

  CHAPTER 7

  Riley

  Today has been one of the most strangely fulfilling days I can remember ever having. Playing with the kids brought back all the reasons I decided to become a teacher, and I start to wonder why I had ever made the decision to teach high school, instead of sticking with my initial plan of working with grades K-4.

  When we left the school, Lucas drove us back to the hotel. We were all feeling out of sorts, and now that I’m thinking about it, we didn’t really make affirmative plans to see him again. My stomach drops and I get a feeling of anxiety at the thought of not being able to see him every day.

  I know we just met him, and I can’t explain it, not even in my own head, but I feel like he’s meant to be part of my life. Every moment with him has been too easy, too perfect, to not mean something. I’ve never felt this comfortable with any man before…I can’t imagine ever feeling like this again.

  I look up and across the room at my best friend, who’s been just as quiet as me ever since we got back to the room.

  And then there’s Celeste.

  I think what’s happened between us is even more shocking than the idea of falling in love with a perfect stranger. Looking at her with memories of last
night playing through my mind is like finally being able to see all of who she is and all of what she means to me. As if, all our years of friendship were only part of what our relationship was supposed to be.

  There’s that phrase again, “supposed to be.” When did I become such a fatalist? But I can’t think about it any other way. It just feels like things make sense.

  If you had asked me a week ago if I thought it would be possible to fall in love with a handsome stranger and my best friend in the space of 5 days, I would have thought you were 100% loco.

  But here we are.

  “Celeste,” I say, hesitantly. I don’t want to ruin our friendship, the mere thought makes me feel sick to my stomach, but I also can’t just pretend that this didn’t happen. I have no idea how to make sense of this craziness that I’m feeling, but I don’t want to let it go either.

  She looks over at me and smiles. I can tell the same – or at least similar – thoughts have been running through her mind.

  “I don’t want this vacation to end,” I say simply. That’s a pretty soft and easy transition into a life-altering conversation, I think.

  “Me either.”

  “I feel like I’m a different person today than I was a day ago, and I like this person a lot more.”

  Celeste looks surprised but thoughtful. “I’ve been sitting here trying to figure out what I feel, and that’s a really great way of saying what I couldn’t wrap my mind around. It’s like the Celeste that was grading mid-terms before we got here doesn’t exist anymore. In her place, there’s this new Celeste…this new version of me that has a whole, exciting part of life that the old me didn’t even know existed, let alone was possible.”

  “You too?!?” I practically scream. She gets it! She feels the same way!

  But…maybe I’m reading too much into what she’s saying. She could mean a lot of different things.

  Calming myself down, I try to put my thoughts together in a way that won’t make me sound insane or freak her out, just in case she isn’t feeling exactly the same way.

  “I can’t imagine not sleeping beside Lucas tonight,” I make a start. I actually see tears spring to her eyes, which gives me the motivation to continue. “I can’t imagine not kissing you goodnight, every night from now on…”

  Her eyes lock on mine, and my heart stops as if waiting for permission to continue beating.

  It’s one thing to admit to her that I’ve fallen for a gorgeous man on vacation when I know she’s done the same thing. It’s another to admit that last night wasn’t just some passionate tryst between friends. Not for me.

  “I don’t know what we can do about Lucas,” she begins carefully, “but I do know that we will always have each other. I don’t want to ever go to sleep again and not have your face beside mine. I want to wake up knowing that my best friend is with me, in everything. I want to be able to turn to you, when something amazing happens, and not just jump for joy and squeal together like we used to. But to kiss you in that moment, and know that I can have you any time I want you because you want me too. Don’t you?”

  As she’s been speaking my heart went from not beating at all to threatening to pound out of my chest. She’s saying everything I’m feeling, and she’s saying it with the confidence of someone who knows that we’re supposed to feel like this. Right up until those last two little words.

  “Don’t I?” I repeat back at her. I take a deep breath as she waits for my answer. I stand up and walk towards her, putting my hand on her cheek and looking at her beautiful face. The face that I’ve always loved, but didn’t realize how much I wanted.

  Instead of answering with words, I lean down to find her soft lips with mine. She lets out a sort of gasping whimper and I can tell that she’s holding back sobs of relief.

  I can’t imagine anything having been so hard as to tell my best friend how I feel about her, or anything being so easy as accepting that she feels the same way, and we’re going to figure everything else out.

  Our kiss deepens as I put all my mental promises into our physical connection, trying to tell her with my mouth everything I haven’t yet figured out how to say.

  Her hands come up to pull my head closer, and I feel her response.

  I don’t know where that kiss would have led if there hadn’t been a knock at the door to interrupt us. We look at each other in confusion and walk together to answer it, hand in hand.

  Lucas is standing there, looking glorious. With all the emotion that’s running through us right now, I am immensely proud of both Celeste and me that we didn’t burst into tears and scare the poor man away.

  As it is, he’s looking a little hesitant, obviously sensing that he interrupted something important. His eyes roam over us and notice our hands, clasped tightly together.

  “I had to come back and see you,” he says, “I realized I didn’t even really thank you for all your help today. Not properly.” His blue eyes are getting darker, and a warm flush rushed through me.

  “Come on in,” I open the door wider. “We were just talking about you…sort of.”

  “Oh, yeah?” he asks with a glint in his eye. “Good things, I hope?”

  I laugh and nod but Celeste is the one to answer, “Good things,” she affirms. “And really, bad, bad things,” she finishes with a sexy laugh.

  We pull him over to the couch and sit him down between us. I don’t know if Celeste is feeling the same way, but I’m riding a wave of euphoria which is probably half due to the physical exhaustion and half due to the emotional relief of our previous conversation. I feel indestructible. I feel like everything in the world has to go my way right now, in this moment. I feel like if we ask him, he will tell us he feels the same way.

  But I don’t know how to ask him…

  I look helplessly at Celeste, but she looks like she’s just come to the same wordless conclusion.

  Fortunately, Lucas fills in the silence. His hands reach out to take one of each of ours in his own, connecting the three of us. “I’ve had a really great time with you both,” he says, looking meaningfully from Celeste to me, wanting his words to be believed.

  “Like, a really good time. When we met, I kind of thought you were both just American flirts, but the past two days…I didn’t know I could,” he pauses, testing his words.

  Taking a deep breath, he says, “Well, the truth is I didn’t know I could feel so much for two different people who I had met so recently and now I wish you didn’t have to go,” he says it fast, as if it would be less dangerous if he could get it out of his mouth as quickly as possible.

  I let out a laugh and, before he can get offended by my reaction, I lean in to kiss him thoroughly. Once again, I’m trying to use my mouth and my tongue to say everything that I feel, but without words.

  He’s too surprised to respond, and I let him go, grinning happily. He looks at me, stunned, and then over at Celeste, not sure what to do or say.

  “I think what Riley means is that we love you too, Lucas.”

  And just like that, the words are out there. It’s official now.

  He stares at us blankly. I’m starting to worry that we’ve misread the situation, but slowly understanding sets in and a smile melts across his face.

  He grabs the back of my head and pulls me into him for a hard, fast kiss, leaving me panting and breathless after only a few seconds. Then, he turns to Celeste and does the same to her.

  “You know you girls are crazy, right?” he speaks, grinning ear to ear.

  “Yeah,” I drawl, “but that’s why we fit so well with you.” I grin right back at him.

  “So…what does this mean then? You still have a flight back to California in two days, don’t you?” He looks like he’s trying to look brave and nonchalant, but I can see worry creasing his eyes. I feel that same worry.

  “We haven’t gotten that far yet,” Celeste answers.

  I laugh, “No, we like to start with the easy stuff like falling in love
before we discuss the logistics of how a relationship might ever be possible.” My joking tone sounds flat, even to me.

  “My mom hasn’t stopped talking about you guys,” Lucas starts, “she’s called me three times since we left the school with new ideas for programs that she could start if only you’d agree to stay.”

  He looks at us hopefully. Everything is happening so fast, I just wish the world stopped spinning for a second so I could process this all. I just can’t wrap my mind around the idea of moving to Mexico.

  As if she’s reading my mind, Celeste asks me, “Can you imagine going back to our old school, after all this?”

  No. No, I most certainly can’t.

  “My mom has already looked into getting your visas sponsored…”

  This is crazy, I think. This is batshit insane. Are we really dropping everything, giving up our entire lives and careers and…moving to Cancun?

  But my heart already knows the answer.

  EPILOGUE

  Three Months Later

  Lucas

  In all my years of bartending, I’ve never checked my watch so consistently as I’ve started doing in the past three months.

  I start work around 3 every day. By 4, I’m anxiously glancing at the clock because I know that, by 4:30, my girls will be here.

  Yes, my girls.

  They work for my parents’ school now, and everyone involved is ridiculously happy.

  Riley and Celeste relay every tiny detail of every single day to me which, you’d think would get annoying, but they’re both so enthusiastic that it’s impossible not to be drawn in by their joy.

  My mom hugs me. A lot. A helluva lot more than she used to. She says I brought her the best teachers possible. She kept asking me, though, how I managed to persuade them to move to Mexico.