Tension

Snuck this one in just under the wire! I hope its length will make up for my lateness in posting it. Have a great week, see you guys on Saturday! 

*****

The next evening, Gavin and I met with our realtor, Maureen, who was a friend of his mom's. Offers for the Winchester house had to be in by 6 PM on Wednesday. We decided to offer just over the asking price, which basically put us at the top of our budget.

"Well, this is a very generous offer," she said as we signed the papers. "However, it's not leaving you with much wiggle room if there's a counter offer."

Gavin and I looked at each other. We had discussed this at length after leaving the open house. "Well, we don't want to risk missing out by low balling," Gavin said, parroting my words from the previous evening.

"Okay, well as long as we're on the same page," Maureen replied.

We finished signing all of the paperwork and pushed it back to her. "Wonderful!" she exclaimed. "I usually hear back an hour or two after offers go in, so I'll give you a call Wednesday night and let you know. Good luck!"

Gavin and I walked out towards our cars. "Do you want to come over to my place on Wednesday and order Thai while we wait for the news?" he asked.

"Yeah, that sounds good..." I started to say, before I realized something that had me groaning in frustration. "Shit, I can't. I have stupid mock trial prep with my group."

"Can't you skip it?"

"I wish I could babe, but it was really hard for us to find a time that worked with all of our schedules."

He sighed with exasperation. "This is a one time thing, Allie. Can't you just miss this one study session?"

My spine stiffened with tension. "Gav, it's not just a study session. The mock trial starts Monday and we have to prep for it. I can't just bail on them."

"But you can bail on me?"

I pressed my lips together and took a deep breath in an attempt to stay calm. "Gavin, I'm not bailing on you. These plans were made weeks ago. I can't just screw over four other people." I tried to put a conciliatory note in my voice. "Look, we are supposed to be done by 8. I'll try to cut out a bit early and come over -"

He cut me off, his jaw rigid. "Don't worry about it," he said in a cold voice. "I'll just text you or something."

With that, he slid into his car. He didn't look at me once as he pulled away. I know, because I watched until his headlights faded away in the distance.

I slunk into my car and closed my eyes, resting my head back against the seat. Frustration welled up at me, both at law school sucking up all of my time, and at Gavin for making me feel like shit about it. I pounded the steering wheel in frustration, accidentally hitting the horn and shocking the hell out of a pedestrian that happened to be walking by.

I stewed in my anger the whole way back to my apartment. When I got home I went straight to bed, leaving my phone on my dresser so I wouldn't give in to the temptation to call or text Gavin. Why should I have to call? I told myself. He's the one being unreasonable.

I tossed and turned half of the night. When I woke up the next morning, I had no new messages.

*****

I arrived at my friend Bridget's apartment at 5:24 on Wednesday, bearing books, binders, and cookies from a bakery around the corner from my place.

Lianne and Wyatt were already there, their notes and snacks littering Bridget's kitchen table. The four of us had met up during our first year in Contract Law class, and had formed an unofficial study group that had managed to stick together over the lag few years. Law school is kind of like high school in that way; once you find your clique, you stick with them.

I plopped my stuff down and Wyatt immediately began hoovering a cookie. I swear he didn't even chew it. At six foot five, with flame red hair and a physique often compared to a flagpole, Wyatt definitely stood out in a crowd. His striking appearance was only outshone by his ridiculous goofball sense of humour. "Fuck it," he groaned, already halfway through his second cookie. "Let's just bribe our fake judge with these cookies."

Lianne cocked an eyebrow. "That would require you to show enough restraint to actually leave enough cookies for someone else." She smiled, brushing a short lock of jet black hair behind her ear. Lianne was small and slight, basically a wisp of a person. Her size often led people to patronize or cutesify her... Until she shredded them to ribbons with her razor-sharp wit.

Wyatt paused, the cookie halfway to his mouth, considering this. "Fair point," he conceded. "Withdrawn." He popped the rest of the cookie in his mouth.

Bridget came over and pulled the box away.  "Try not to devour all of our snacks before Julian gets here," she said playfully. Her long, strawberry blond hair was pulled back off of her face, showing off her classically beautiful looks. Bridget was my closest friend in law school, and the only one I actually spent time with outside of school-related functions. She was kind and helpful, but was also one of the most hardworking and determined people that I'd ever met.

"Oh God," I groaned at the mention of the only member of our little group that o really and truly could not stand. "I was hoping he'd bailed."

The others exchanged looks. The animosity between Julian and I was not exactly a secret. "Allie," Bridget said in an overly patient tone one would use to reason with a kindergartener who didn't want to share the purple crayon, "Try to be nice to him. It's going to be a long night if you're constantly at each other's throats."

"I'm always nice," I replied in a bratty. kindergartener-like tone.

Just then, the Devil himself strolled in. Ugh. Julian Pierce. The name says it all. He was an obnoxious, arrogant, trust-funded, pocket square wearing, Harvey Specter-wannabe douche. Just all around ugh.

"Hey all," he said lazily. "Wyatt, Lianne, Bridge." He smirked at me. "Alexandra."

"Julian, so nice of you to join us!" I said in a sickly sweet tone. "I was worried something had happened to you, but fortunately it was just your complete disregard for our time."

He chuckled. "Looks like you upgraded the pine tree up your ass to a California redwood."

I opened my mouth to retort but, catching Bridget's eye, clamped my jaw shut and opened my book. "Now that we're all here," I said, "Shall we get started?"

We worked for the next few hours. Somehow I managed to refrain from vaulting across the table and scratching Julian's eyes out, swallowing my rage at every snide comment he threw my way. I caught Bridget's gaze every so often and roll my eyes in Julian's direction. She'd shrug sympathetically, but somehow didn't seem to find him as insufferable as I did.
Yet despite how much I despised him, I had to admit he was incredibly smart and a good asset to the group. Not that I'd ever admit it out loud.

As six thirty, then seven, then seven thirty rolled around, I subtly checked my phone under the table more and more often for news from Gavin. I'd barely heard from him since our standoff on Monday night, and I was tense waiting for the news.

I was checking my phone for the umpteenth time when Wyatt waved a hand in front of my face. "Hellooooo Allie?" he said.

"Sorry, what did you say?" I asked.

"We need the shopkeeper's testimony. Do you have it in your pile?"

"Yeah I think so, sorry." I started shuffling my papers around.

Julian's silky smooth voice had my hackles up. "Who has you obsessively checking your phone? Trouble in paradise with the blue-collar boyfriend?"

Ah yes, mocking Gavin and our relationship. One of Julian's favourite pastimes.

I willed down the annoyance that rose at his comment, which had hit closer to the mark than I wanted to admit. "I'm just expecting a call," I said, through gritted teeth.

"What's the thrilling development taking place? New laundry detergent? Boyfriend needs your help choosing between tube sock brands?" Julian mocked.

Wyatt seemed to sense my murderous feelings, or else he saw the steam pouring out of my ears. He quickly defused the situation.

Yet I couldn't shake the tension coiling me up my insides. Between Julian's perpetual smirk that I itched to slap off of his face, and the radio silence from Gavin, I was wound tight as a wire.

When my phone finally buzzed at 8:17, my jaw was aching from clenching it with tension. A tension that tightened and snapped when I read Gavin's message.

Another couple counter-offered. We didn't get the house.

The post...

Will be up tomorrow! I won't even lie - it was just too beautiful outside to sit in front of my computer.  Post is almost done but I'm heading to bed. See you tomorrow!

349 Winchester Road

This post is a little shorter, but in celebration of hitting ten thousand views (I mean, SERIOUSLY? You guys are amazing!), there will be another post up tomorrow! Thank you all so much for reading. It means more than you know. 

*****

The next day, Gavin and I went to check out the open house that I'd basically fallen in love with online.

As we were driving, Gavin tried to prevent me from getting my hopes up too high. "We just started looking, so don't be upset if this house isn't the one for us. Sometimes the pictures look a whole lot better than the actual house," he warned.

"Gav, I'm just excited to actually find something we might like after weeding through garbage for the last few weeks." This was partially true. I'd been getting so disheartened looking through the listings, and it was so wonderful to find a house worth checking out in person. But when I'd seen the pictures, I'd felt more than relief. It  had just felt.... right. Like slipping on a pair of jeans that fit perfectly. I wouldn't admit it to Gavin, but my hopes were high.

It took us roughly half an hour to get to the house from my apartment. ("That's with Sunday traffic, though," Gavin pointed out.) Despite Gavin's efforts to manage my expectations, I couldn't help but feel flutters of excitement as we got closer.

The neighbourhood was perfect. It felt so quiet compared to where I was living. There were a few families outside, with kids riding their bikes or being pulled in wagons. On the corner, there was a cute little park with a jungle gym and a swing set. It was so quaint that it made my ovaries tingle.

Finally, we turned into Winchester Road, and pulled up to a stop outside of number 349. It was an olive green stucco bungalow with white trim. I got a little nervous as I noticed many people coming and going, mostly young couples like ourselves.

Gavin took my hand as we walked up the cobble stone path. "Remember," he said in an undertone, "this is just the first house we are looking at."

I rolled my eyes at him and laughed. "I knoooooow," I replied, exaggerating my exasperation.

We stepped into the entryway and immediately all of Gavin's attempts to manage my expectations flew out the window. I was hopelessly in love.

As we walked through, I only became more certain that this house was the one. The kitchen and living room were open concept style, with hardwoods throughout. There was no dining room, but instead a bar with tall stools built into the kitchen island. The master bedroom was a fair size, and opened up onto the deck and a nicely landscaped yard. The basement was finished, with a deep pile carpet and a second bathroom. It wasn't the most opulent house, and most people might not have given it a second thought. I couldn't put my finger on why, but I just felt like it was home.

Gavin pointed out some imperfections and mused aloud about the wiring as we walked along, but I couldn't even really focus on what he was saying. All I wanted to do was kick the rest of these people out of my house, dammit!

We walked back through it twice more before Gavin finally convinced me to leave. We got into the car and he turned to face me. "Well, some of the electrical needs to be replaced, and the roof will need to be done in a few years..." He trailed off as he took in the smile on my face. He grinned at me. "You loved it, huh?"

I smiled even wider and shrugged. "I more than loved it. I want to live there."

He raised his eyebrows. "You do realize that would mean moving in the middle of the school year, possibly during your finals? I know we weren't really thinking about actually MOVING right away. I mean, this is only the first house that we've looked at! This was just supposed to help us figure out what we did and didn't want so we could look seriously in the spring."

"I know, but this house is just... Perfect. I could just picture us living there so easily. Couldn't you?"

He half-smiled, conceding. "I really could." His brow furrowed again as he asked, "You're sure that you're ready for this? It's not what we had discussed..."

I smiled and leaned over the console to press a gentle kiss on his lips. I pulled back slightly, brushing a piece of his hair out of his eyes. "Know how I know it's the one?"

"How?"

I touched my forehead to his. "I got the same feeling that I had about you on our first date. I just knew that you were the one, and I know this house is the one, too."

He laughed his low rumbly laugh again, his breath tickling my face. "Well, how can I argue with that?" he teased, planting a kiss on my forehead.

I leaned back into my seat. "You can't."

"Alright then," Gavin said, grinning. "I'll call the realtor tomorrow and we can put in an offer."

He started the car and pulled out of the spot. I turned back as we drove away, my hand on Gavin's knee as I gazed upon the house that I hoped would become our home.

Wham, Bam, Thank you ma'am!

Hey everyone! Looks like the whole blogosphere had a pretty crazy week. I'm sorry I didn't get a bonus up this week like I said I would. I don't want to break any promises about bonuses so I won't promise one for the upcoming week, but I'll try my best to get something up for you guys.

Also, I'm finding it hard to get the posts up by noon. I hate rushing and then realizing that I've left typos in there. Posting will still be on Saturdays, but I'm going to change the time to 5PM CST. 

I added a little extra onto this post to make up for the missed bonus. Let me know your thoughts in the comments! 

Thanks for sticking by me this week!

*****

"Heinous. Hideous. Heinously hideous."

It was a Saturday morning and Gavin and I were camped out on my bed, eating cinnamon buns and scrolling through listings together on my laptop. We had a pretty modest budget and were looking at buying a small house in one of the older suburbs. Close enough to downtown that everything was still accessible, far enough away that we could afford to eat something other than ramen for the rest of our lives. 

Or so we thought. Right now, the prospects  were looking pretty bleak. Everything in our price range and in the neighbourhoods that we liked seemed to be falling apart or looked like someone had died in it. We had yet to find even one listing worth checking out in person.

Gavin pointed out, "Okay this one looks alright. Two bedrooms, one bathroom, half finished basement... Needs a new roof and updated electrical though."

"Ugh," I groaned, flopping back onto the pillows. "I never realized how poor we are. How is it possible that a girl I graduated with who once asked me whether your body could melt through the holes on a trampoline if you fell onto it from high enough is living in a gorgeous new 5 bedroom house and we can only afford these crap piles? Life is truly unfair."

Gavin laughed. "Guess you should've married rich."

I grinned at him. "It's still not too late for that."

We scrolled aimlessly for a few more minutes. All of a sudden, something caught my eye. "Wait, Gav! Click on that one."

He opened the link to a set of photos depicting an absolutely adorable house. It was an 850 square foot bungalow with a fully finished basement. There were 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, and most of the house looked like it had been renovated in the last decade. My favourite part was the cute, tiny sunroom at the back which led out to a gorgeous deck that wrapped around one side of the house. I squeezed Gavin's arm excitedly. "We have to go see this one!"

He clicked out of the photos and read through the description of the house. "The electrical may need work, but it looks good otherwise. It's at the high end of our budget, but I think we could swing it." He paused, scrolling down, "There's even an open house tomorrow!"

"Perfect!" I exclaimed. For the first time since coming home from Greece, I felt genuinely excited about the idea of us moving in together. I reached over and closed the laptop. "Now, how about you come dirty me up in the shower before my game?" I hopped out of bed, shedding my silky robe to the floor. Clad only in a pair of panties, I started walking to the bathroom. I paused in my doorway, looked back over my shoulder and cocked an eyebrow at Gavin, who was lazily watching me from bed. "You coming?" I asked.

He unfolded himself from bed and came over to me, sliding his hands around my waist and up to cup my breasts. He circled one nipple with his fingertips and lowered his head to my neck. "Not before you do," he murmured, as he began to kiss and nibble a trail down my shoulder.

He nudged me into the hallway. With one of his hands, he trapped both of my wrists above my head against the wall. I leaned forward, grinding my ass back against his hips. With his free hand, Gavin stroked his way down and slid his fingers into my panties. I moaned deeply, grinding back into him even harder. 

By the time he slid my panties and his boxers to the floor, I was halfway to exploding. He slid into me gently, and began to rock his hips slightly back and forth. I pushed back against him and moaned, "Harder."

He picked up the pace, thrusting harder and deeper into me. He reached around and began to rub me gently, and that was my undoing. I came hard, my nails clawing the wall. Gavin leaned forward and bit down hard on my shoulder as he came.

We stayed like that for a moment, enjoying that wonderful haze that follows morning sex. He slid out of me gently and slapped my ass playfully. "Now how about that shower?"

I laughed and followed him into the bathroom.

*****

That afternoon was our first coed game of the season. Rachel and I got to the change rooms to find that most of the team was already there. 

"A-town!" One of my teammates, Josh, sprung up to envelop me in a huge hug. Josh was an amazing soccer player and a total clown. His personal life was kind of a disaster though. A few years before, he'd been engaged, when he discovered his fiancée cheating on him with one of her coworkers. The worst part was, she had begged for his forgiveness and he'd given her another chance, only to have it happen again with the same guy. Since then, he'd basically been indiscriminately banging random girls left and right. It was hard to watch but I guess you couldn't really blame the guy. 

I said hi to everyone and sat down. Just then, Ainsley came in with Reid and Sarah. I waved hello, and Ainsley introduced them to the group. I refocused my attention on changing from my bra to my sports bra without flashing anyone. It's an art form. I had unclasped my bra from under my sports bra, and was pulling it off when my eyes happened to fall on a deliciously shirtless Reid. 

I've been changing with the team for years and have never once felt self conscious or weird or anything. Suddenly I felt like a voyeur, and was simultaneously very aware that I was undressing in close proximity to a bunch of guys. I hurriedly threw my jersey on and changed into my shorts as quickly as possible. I tried to concentrate on making small talk with Rachel while I laced up my cleats, fighting the blush that was threatening to rise in my face. 

I had just finished up when we heard the buzzer from the field, indicating that the last game had ended. We filed out to the field. I warmed up and stretched with Rachel and Josh, while he amused us with his wild stories from his week in Vegas with "his boys."

Ainsley called us all in and gave us our lineup. "Okay, so Josh, Will, and I will start up front, with Allie and Reid in the back."

Reid held up his hand for a high five. "Let's go kill it, partner."

I slapped his hand and we went out on the field to start the game.

It was an exhibition game against a team that we had been playing for years. We had a friendly rivalry with them and the games had always been close and clean. Unfortunately, they seemed to have acquired a new player who didn't get the memo that this was beer league soccer. He was running full tilt into people, hip checking them into the boards, and even throwing elbows. 

I managed to avoid him for most of the first half, but then, when I had the ball, I could see him barreling towards me. I passed the ball away and braced myself for the hit that I knew was coming.

He plowed into me with so much force that I flew a few feet before I landed, hard, on my hip. I heard the whistle blow and was just pushing myself up when...

WHAM! 

Reid had charged into the guy and sent him flying into the boards. The ref whistled  again as the guy jumped to his feet and shoved Reid in the chest. Josh and one of the players from the other team quickly got between the two of them before it could escalate further. The ref was shouting, but he was being drowned out by both benches, where all of the players were on their feet, yelling. 

I stood and dusted myself off. Reid was being led to our bench by Josh, but was still turning over his shoulder to yell at the guy who was taunting him now. Josh finally managed to herd him onto the bench. Reid slammed the door to the change rooms hard against the wall and headed back there without saying a word to anyone.

I followed them onto the bench. "You good?" asked Will. "You took a pretty hard hit there."

"Yeah, I'm fine." I clapped Will on the shoulder and made my way over to where Rachel, Sarah and Ainsley were standing together. Sarah was shaking her head and rolling her eyes.

"So I guess that's the other side of Reid that you mentioned," I remarked lightly. 

"No shit. I can't believe he retaliated like that!" Ainsley added.

"Well he really hates it when guys play really rough at coed games," Sarah explained. "Still, I hate when he loses it like this. It's just childish to lose your temper over a rec soccer game."

"Yeah he seemed pretty upset," I said. "Are you gonna go check on him?"

"No, there's no talking to him when he gets like this," Sarah said, shaking her head. "I just give him space and let him cool off. He'll come back when he's ready."

Sure enough, ten minutes later, just as we were going back on the field for the second half, Reid came back onto the bench. He approached me with a sheepish look on his face. "Are you okay?" he asked. 

"Of course," I said smiling. "It takes more than that to keep me down! You know what a beast I am." 

He looked directly into my eyes. "Yeah well... I wish you wouldn't be. Sometimes when you go down, I worry that you won't get back up." 

He said it with such complete sincerity that I felt myself unable to formulate a joking response. Instead, I half-smiled and simply said, "Well I guess it's a good thing that you've got my back out there."

He smiled back and patted me on the shoulder. "Anytime."

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