And this—this is the moment that I forget my past. I forget that not everyone that loves you is out to hurt you. It's this moment—when I let it be okay for someone to love me. Because Amanda and I—we could. I don't think we do yet. But we could. One day—soon I think—we could really fall in love, with each other.

I got my phone out of my pocket, and brought up Jake's number. "What are you doing?" she asked, watching me.

"Sending Jake a text."

"Why?"

"To tell him to make up a reason why I'm sleeping in your bed instead of being at practice."

She made a squealing sound as she got back under the covers, making room for me. She wore a huge smile. I took my pants and shirt off and got into bed with her.

"Are you going to be able to get back to sleep?" she asked from next to me.

I put my arm behind her head and pulled her into me. Her head was on my chest, my fingers in her hair, and her body half on top of mine. "Now I will," I told her, kissing her on the head.

***

A few hours later we were in the living room, sprawled out on the sofa. We wanted to have a day to just be together, without really doing anything. I planned on taking her out to dinner tonight, and maybe a movie or something afterwards. As much as I wanted to, I was going to try to hold off on sex for a few more dates.

The keyword was try.

I was sitting down, with the laptop on the arm of the sofa, doing some homework.

She was laying down with her head on my lap, while she read on her e-reader. My fingers played with her hair.

We both looked up when Ethan walked in. He watched us for a moment, before sitting on the arm of the recliner opposite. "Hey, Dimmy, what's that girl's name, you know the one that's friends with Kara? The one with the big..." he trailed off but motioned his hands to indicate boobs.

Amanda snorted, "Kara," she answered, going back to her book.

"No. Not Kara," he said annoyed, "Her friend! Are you even listening to me!”

"Yes, asshole, Kara's friend with the big boobs is Kara. There's two Kara's"

"Oohhhh," he smiled, then got up and began to leave.

"Wait. Why?" She sat up now and turned to him.

"I'm picking her up later."

"What?" It was my turn to speak. "What happened to Kellie I E?"

"Don't even," he said, shaking his head.

"What happened?" I couldn't help but chuckle.

He sat back down in the recliner, "Dude. She was so annoying. She speaks Internet talk. Like it's an actual thing. I'm not joking. She never laughed. Ever. You know what she'd do instead?"

I could hear Amanda giggling next to me. "What?" she managed to get out.

"She'd say 'LOL' or 'ROFL'."

Amanda laughed harder.

"She said 'OMG' all the time. Every sentence, 'OMG'." He mocked her voice when explaining.  "Instead of acting or saying she was confused, she'd actually spell out 'w t f'."

Amanda was all out laughing now, and so am I. She scooted closer to me, and hugged my arm, plastering her face onto it to muffle the sound. My hand landed on her bare leg.

I saw Ethan's eyes catch the movement, but he didn't say anything, just smiled and continued to speak, "I twisted my ankle playing basketball, and when I told her, she didn't ask if I was okay. Guess what she said?"

Amanda shook her head, still laughing.

"Guess!" Ethan said again.

"What? I don't know." Amanda's giggle took over the room. All I could do was watch her.

Ethan answered, "She pouted and said 'Sad face emoticon!'"

She threw her head back in laughter, her eyes starting to water.

"She did not." She shook her head in disbelief.

"Swear it." He got off the sofa and started walking out of the room. He turned just before the door and took in our positions again. "You need to call Ma and let her know everything's okay."

Her face sobered but she nodded.

Then her head was back resting on my lap, and my fingers were in her hair.

And it was pretty damn close to perfect.

***

"I've got a good truth question today." She smiled big, excited. She sat up and got comfortable, turning her body towards me.

"Go for it." I told her, as I positioned us so were face to face, our knees touching.

"Okay. You get the chance to travel the world. All expenses paid. You get flights, accommodation, and food, everything taken care off. But you have to somehow make money to go sightseeing and buy souvenirs and stuff. You can bring three things with you to help you make money. So, you can be like, a street performer or something. Whatever. What do you bring?"

I watched her as she said all this, legs crossed, her hands clasped in front of her, eyes wide, waiting for my response.

And seeing her like this—I know what I want.

I want more.

I want her.

"I'd only need one thing."

"But you can bring three," she said, still excited.

I shook my head, looking her straight in the eyes. "I don't need three, I just need one."

"Okaaay...are you going to tell me what it is?"

"Honestly, I don't think you could handle it."

She rolled her eyes, "Come on! Tell me," she pled, her hand on my leg trying to shake the answer out of me.