Chapter 12
I woke up with Deacon snuggling into my backside like a big spoon, he had stayed over the night before. We didn't do very much but play games on the television in my room and catch up on the events from Hunter's version of a date. The sun was shining through my curtains; the window was still cracked from the night before, because we wanted to feel the breeze from outside. It was a lovely scene to wake up to, so I nestled myself more into Deacon and closed my eyes again to soak this moment in.
Another hour had passed before I could no longer keep my eyes closed, and I let out a sigh. Deacon let out a little chuckle of air through his nose. "You know I was awake the first time you woke up? I just wanted to lay here a little longer since you were as well. We most definitely could have gotten up," he said in a quiet, deep voice. A small smile formed across my lips, then wiggled my way around to face him. I dropped a small peck of a kiss on his nose and wrapped my arms around him. He burrowed his head in my chest and took in a deep breath as if I contained the air he needed to survive.
Today Deacon would start the day with me – unless Hunter decided otherwise. I changed into a cute, little sundress with strawberries littered all over it and red flats. I found the match ribbon that went with it and tied it into my hair like a headband, then I came out of my bathroom to show Deacon. He looked as though he was caught in a trance. He couldn't take his eyes off of me; even when I crossed the room to stand behind him and drape my arms over his shoulders. If he had a spirit animal it would have been an owl, because of how far he turned his body to watch me walk behind him.
Just as quick as he had turned to watch me, he pulled me onto his lap, cupped my face with his hands, and kissed me with much intensity. It felt as if someone had raised the temperature in the house, but I knew that was not the case. I started feeling the sexual tension rising between us the more he kissed me. He paused only for a second to catch his breath, then his arms began traveling to different parts of my body.
Small moans escaped my lips, which only riled him up more, and soon I could feel his hands traveling under my dress. In turn, I stroked the seam of his pants right above his crotch. We played around and kissed each other for another thirty minutes before there was a quiet knock at the door. It was Sadie, "hey, Hunter is at the door for you two." Deacon rolled his eyes. When they settled on looking at me, he saw the glare I had procured for him.
"Right, I gotta be nice," he chuckled to himself. We slid off of my bed and started down the stairs. When we reached the front door, Hunter was dressed as if he was going to the beach, swimming trunks, sandals, and shades. He had a gigantic smile on his face, then Deacon chimed in, "so, not only do I not get to take Elise on a date by myself, but it looks like this excursion involves water?" He didn't seem impressed as Hunter nodded, very proud of himself for thinking of the idea.
I ran back in and grabbed a bikini, and a few other items I could possibly need while we were out. I ran out the front door and over to their driveway where a new car was sitting. It had no top and was cherry red. The boys were already in the car, both in the front seats with their shades, laughing with each other. I hopped in the back seat, making sure when I jumped over the side that my dress didn't come up. Hunter turned his head back to only a little so he could still see where he was going, and asked, "Have you ever been to a hot spring before?"
"As a matter of fact, I have," I replied. We drove for some time before we arrived at a hot spring that I've never been to before. I could hear the calming music from the other side of the building and children playing somewhere off into the distance. The front of the building was enclosed in a group of palm trees – you could tell they were going for a tropical, spa-like vibe. We walked in as a group, then Hunter disappeared for a moment to one of the desks. He returned with three neon green wrist bands that had the name of the hot springs printed on it and pointed us towards our locker rooms.
I changed into my bikini, then threw my dress back on over it. Some snobby girls were over in the corner snickering to themselves; probably about me, but I didn't care. I had two gorgeous guys taking me on dates. Unfortunately, I could still feel a small pebble of doubt forming in myself as the girls continued giggling and now pointing at me when they whispered to each other. I locked my things into a locker and stopped at the front desk to ask if they would keep an eye on my things while I was enjoying the hot springs. I told the desk person about the group of girls in the locker room, and a big burly woman came down a set of stairs I hadn't noticed before. She grunted at me, then trudged over to the locker room I had just exited from.
I went out the glass doors that sat behind the room full of desks and stepped outside to a not so pleasant aroma of the hot springs, it was still mid-morning, so the sun was shining down on me. It felt nice. I found the guys over by the towel station picking some towels for us to dry off with after we got out of the pools. I skipped over to them, my hair now free from its ribbon, swaying with every skip. I landed in front of the boys, holding out my arms, and gently took the towel from them. They looked confused. "Why are you still wearing that dress," Hunter whispered to me.
"Because my swimsuit is underneath it? I planned on sunbathing too," I chirped. Suddenly, my stomach made a loud noise to alert me that we still hadn't eaten yet, and the boys chuckled. They led me to the food counter and told me today was on Hunter's tab and that I could get whatever I wanted. I picked a smoothie and a couple snack bars, then found us a table next to the pools. Hunter and Deacon picked out their own snacks as well and joined me. We made some conversation with each other about which pool we should go sit in after we ate. Once we made a decision, we ate quietly, soaking up the rays pouring down from the sky.