Ever After Drake (7 page)

The door to my classroom
opens and in pops Drake’s head.

“
Uh,
sorry, Miss Ray,” he says, looking from my second period class to
me. “Could I borrow you for like, three minutes?”

I’m sure my eyes are wide
and surprised, I’m quite certain my mouth hangs open just slightly.
“Uh, yeah. Sarah,” I say to one of my more trustworthy students.
“Will you be in charge for a few minutes? Everyone, please start
reading through chapter six. This’ll give you a head start on
tonight’s reading assignment.”

Sarah nods and looks back
at the class.

But I barely notice, I’m
in such a hurry to get out into the hall with Drake.

The second I am out in the
deserted hall and the door shuts behind me, Drake takes hold of my
wrist and we dart down the hall.

“
Where
are you taking me and what is going on?” I hiss through a
laugh.

Just then Drake pulls open
a door and tugs the both of us into the cramped space.

It must be a janitors
closet. It smells of chemicals and sour mops. It’s dark and
tight.

But I couldn’t care
less.

The second the door
closes, Drake’s body presses me up against the shelves and his lips
are moving in frantic sync with mine. His hand slips under my shirt
lying flush with the skin over my ribs. His other hand pulls my leg
up and he presses himself into my center.

A small moan works its way
out of my throat and were my eyes open, they would have rolled
back. My hips press forward, trying to get all the closer to
him.

“
We
shouldn’t be doing this during school,” he says into my
mouth.

“
We
could probably get in big trouble,” I breathe
back.

“
Principal Riker would be most displeased.” His lips move to
my neck, having to bend far over since I am wearing flats today and
he’s got a good ten inches on me.

“
But
this couldn’t wait till next period,” I say as my thoughts start
going all blurry and glittery.

“
Nuh
uh,” Drake agrees, shaking his head. “But I also had something I
wanted to ask you.”

“
What’s
that?” I respond automatically. I’m heavily distracted by his hand
that has slipped from my thigh to my rear end.

“
Will
you come meet my family?” he asks. His kisses slow down. Instead of
being passionate and frantic, they are slow and tender. After a
moment, I feel him back away slightly, and if there were any light
in here, I’m pretty sure I’d find him staring at
me.

“
Drake,
I…” I start to say. He’s caught me by surprise with his question in
the heat of this moment.

“
You
don’t have to,” he quickly adds. “I mean, I know it’s way early and
it’s only been like three weeks since we met, but
I—”

I cut him off with a soft
kiss and bring my hands up to either side of his face. “I’d love to
meet your family,” I breathe against his lips.

“
Really?” he asks, and I can hear the smile I know is on his
face.

“
Really,” I say, smiling on my own in the
dark.

“
Okay,”
he says, his voice out of breath. “Everyone’s coming over for
dinner on Sunday at six. Sage is coming home from Seattle, so you
can meet them all.”

“
I’m
looking forward to it,” I say. I am, but suddenly I’m also nervous.
Meeting the rest of his family is a big step.

One I suddenly realize I
am so ready for.

“
Ask
your mom what I can bring to dinner and what I can help
with.”

Drake chuckles through the
dark. “She’s going to love you.”

I hope so. I hope so, so
bad and it’s startling how bad I do want it. This feels important.
Meeting his mother and getting her approval.

Why is it so
important?

It’s stupid, me asking
myself that question. Because I know the exact answer.

I press my lips to his and
cling to him in the dark for just a few stolen moments
longer.

I’ve had a total of three
serious relationships in my life. There was Patrick, who I started
dating in high school. We stayed together for a few months of
college, but eventually things fell apart. Then came Aaron for just
a few weeks my sophomore year. Then Alan for four weeks until it
all ended with that text that set me free.

Patrick’s family was the
only one I ever met. So I’m a little out of practice in the
meet-the-parents scene.

I’m scared, I’m nervous,
I’m excited, and way overthinking things.

What do I wear? I don’t
want to look like a total prude, but I also don’t want his parents
thinking I’m some kind of slut. I also want his sister to think I’m
cool—
what am I, back in high
school?
—so I need to wear something
cute.

In the end I go with a
dark blue dress that exposes my shoulders, but covers up my chest.
I do my hair in a French braid that trails over my shoulder and
keep my makeup moderate. It takes me longest to pick out shoes
though. I’m too nervous to wear heels, I’ll probably end up
breaking my ankles. But if I wear flats, I know everyone’s first
thought about me is going to be “short.”

In the end though, I go
with a pair of white flats and tell myself to stop overthinking it
all.

At six-fifteen, there’s a
knock on the door and I literally skip across the apartment to open
the door.

Drake stands there wearing
a denim shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, black
jeans, and of course, his Chucks. His hands are stuffed deep in his
pockets and he looks up at me from beneath those long
lashes.

“
You
look…” he starts, trailing off into a dot, dot, dot that leaves me
uncertain.

“
Overdressed?” I say, my brows furrowing together and breaking
out into panic. “I’m way over doing it, right? Just wait a second,
I’ll put on some jeans,” I turn away from him, and panicking in the
moment, don’t think about the fact that I am starting to undo my
zipper with Drake right there. “I knew this was too much.”

“
I
meant,” he says as he crosses the space to me. He pinches my
fingers and the zipper between his own and stops my hand. He leans
in close, touching the tip of his nose to my upper back that I’ve
exposed. “That you look absolutely beautiful.” His lips brush my
skin and instantly there are goosebumps covering my
skin.

“
Don’t
do that, or we are never going to make it for dinner,” I sigh as my
eyes roll back and slide closed. I relax into him as my female
hormones go ballistic.

“
Do
what?” he says as his hand drops down. I’m pretty sure he meant to
place it on my thigh, but considering our height difference, it
lands on my hip. And his hips press into mine.

“
Stop
it,” I giggle as I step away from him and turn around. “I don’t
want to be late for the first time I ever meet your family. It’ll
leave a bad impression. I can’t have that.”

“
Let’s
forget about them for a while,” he says, eying me up and down and
my face flushes red. “Instead, let’s stay here
and—”

“
No,” I
say sternly through my coy smile as I walk toward the fridge and
pull out the biggest bowl I own that is filled with salad stuff.
“And you may want to do something about that before we get there.”
I point between his legs and draw a little circle in the
air.

“
Oh my…”
he says in embarrassment as he turns away and presses two fingers
between his eyes. “That’s just…just great.”

“
Yeah,”
I say as I take a step toward the door. “It is pretty great,
actually.”

Drake chuckles and looks
back at me and shakes his head.

“
Now,
come on,” I say as I reach for the door and hold it open. “Let’s
get going.”

Drake takes two long,
awkward strides toward the door. He presses a kiss to my forehead
before going out. I lock the door behind me and follow him down to
his car.

The McCain’s house is
simple and older looking, but the yard is well manicured. The
garage door is open, revealing a minivan and a sedan parked inside.
In the driveway are two older looking cars. Drake parks on the
curb. He gets out, walks around to my side and opens the door for
me.

We walk through the door
and I am instantly surrounded by a multitude of conversations being
had throughout the house.

“
I know
it’s a worse car, but I made seven hundred bucks by selling my
other one,” a girl I recognize as Sage from the picture says to the
man I know to be their dad. “I’ve got this stock thing down, Dad.
Just wait and see.”

“
Lake!”
a woman yells from the direction I assume is the kitchen. “I told
you I need some help in here!”

Everyone is so busy with
life and talking they don’t even realize Drake and I have walked
in.

It’s completely different
from how my own house was growing up. For forever it was just Mom
and me and we’d eat together quietly, or I’d eat by myself while
she’d be on the phone trying to figure out how to be an adult. And
then there was Dick for a while and eventually baby
Skyler.

But this is wonderful.
This is what a home should look like.

This is what I hope my
home will be like someday.

Drake’s hands come up to
my shoulders. The gesture is calm and comforting. I relax back into
him a bit and take a deep breath.

“
You
ready for this?” he breathes into my ear.

I nod, and a smile spreads
on my face.

“
If
you’d all stop talking for two seconds, you will realize I’ve
brought someone by,” Drake suddenly says loudly. Loud enough it
makes me jump. My smile falters. I probably look
pained.

Sage and Mr. McCain look
up at us and suddenly a woman appears in the doorway.

“
You
must be Kaylee!” she says warmly. She crosses the entryway and
wraps strong arms around me. “It is so nice to meet you. Drake has
been talking about you non-stop since school started back
up.”

“
Is that
right?” I tease as I look back at him when his mother releases
me.

He shrugs his shoulders.
“Guilty,” he admits with a lopsided grin.

“
I’m
Robin,” his mom says. “Have you met Robert yet?”

“
I
haven’t,” I say as Robin takes the salad bowl from me. “I’ve seen
you from a distance at school though.”

He stands from the couch
and crosses to shake my hand. It feels awkward. Shaking hands has
always seemed cold. Hugs are so much better. I’m glad Robin seemed
to agree.

“
So
you’re the pretty little thing that’s got Drake acting like a fool
lately,” Robert says with a grin.

“
Guilty,” I mimic when he lets go of my hand. There goes the
first short reference.

“
Uh,
Kaylee,” Drake steps in. “This is my sister,
Sage.”

“
I love
your dress,” she says with a smile from the
couch.

“
Oh,
thank you,” I say, looking down at it. Score one for me with the
family points. I’m suddenly very glad I didn’t
change.

“
Kale!”
Drake suddenly yells.

“
What?”
someone from right behind us snaps.

“
Oh,
didn’t see you there,” Drake says as we all turn. “This is Kaylee,
my, uh…my girlfriend.”

“’
Sup?”
Kale says with a smirk and a tip of his chin that makes him look
way too grown up for his thirteen years. He wears a pair of
basketball shorts, but lacks a shirt.

“
So all
the McCain boys are relentless flirts?” I say with a smile that
shifts from Kale to Drake.

“
I
taught them well,” Robert says as he heads for the kitchen,
following Robin.

“
Oh,
stop that,” Robin chides. “Don’t encourage them.”

“
Gross,”
Sage says with a shake of her head as she stands and starts for the
kitchen as well. For the first time, I realize what she herself is
wearing. A black pencil skirt, simple white shirt, and five inch
black heels. She’s as tall as Drake with them on.

And looks nothing like a
starving college student.

Yeah, I’m defiantly a
little intimidated by her and she’s only said five words to
me.

“
We are
good at it,” someone says from behind. I turn to see Lake giving me
a smirk.

“
At
what?” I question, my brows drawing together.