***
I woke a couple hours later to find Luke gone. As I walked to the bathroom to shower, I looked out the window to find him and Ryan working on his springboard. They would be leaving in a couple days for the next competition. I found my phone and called Rachel. With everything that had been happening, I hadn't had a chance to call her and let her know how things had progressed.
“Morning, sunshine.” I could almost hear her smiling through the phone.
“Good morning,” I replied.
“Well, don't you sound chipper this morning? Oh my goodness. You finally had sex with him!” She yelled through the phone. “Charlie, she had sex with the lumberjack.” I heard her yell through the phone. “You owe me a massage and thirty minutes of oral!”
I busted out laughing. “You guys had a bet on when I’d get laid?”
“Not so much when, but with who. My money was on the lumberjack. Now, tell me everything.”
The phone went silent as I tried to find the words. “I don't know what to tell you.”
“Please. Spill it girl.” She laughed.
“It was... amazing.”
“And,” she prompted.
“I don't know. It was different than any other time I've had sex.” I smiled, thinking about this morning.
“Which was what, with one other guy?”
“There have been two,” I protested. “Okay, so I don't have a lot of experience, but that doesn't mean I don't know great sex when I have it.”
“Elaborate.”
“It's just different. When I had sex before, it was more a means to an end, with Luke it's more of a means to a beginning. I don't know how to explain it. I just want to be connected to him all the time. When he kisses me even a simple peck, I want him so much it hurts.”
“You got it bad, girl.”
“I think I might,” I sighed. I knew this would happen. I knew I would fall hard and fast for him and then it would end up being a disaster.
“That's how it is with Charlie. I know I tried to explain it to you, but until you’ve been there, you don't understand.”
“You're right, I didn't.”
“So give me all the gory details.” I heard her clapping through the phone. I went on to tell her everything, and she tisked at me when I told her that we had sex this morning without protection. I was on the pill, so I wasn't worried, but to be connected to him like that was sex on a whole other level. She oohed and awed. I told her about everything.
“I may or may not be a little jealous of the orgasm count.”
I heard Charlie say something in the background.
“Yeah?” She giggled, and I knew I’d lost her.
“I'll talk to you later, Charlie just promised me a few to make up for my jealousy. Love you.” And then she was gone.
***
I worked on my research for the better part of the afternoon, taking the samples, putting them in the appropriate envelopes, and gathering everything I needed so I could send it all off Thursday in Portland. I changed my plans so that I would be in Portland while Chris would be gone from the office as well. Maybe I did it on purpose, and maybe I was adjusting my life to suit Luke’s a little more, but I wasn't sorry for it. And, I actually felt bad for giving Rachel such a hard time when she did the same things. As the month went on, I felt like I saw less and less of Luke, but we were both super busy. I had wanted to try and make his final competition of the year, but with everything going on at work, it just hadn't happened. He wasn't upset but seemed more annoyed that work was getting in the way of us. I was trying so hard to make time for everyone, but I couldn't, and it was starting to show.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Luke
I finished the Spring Board and it put me in first place. I also was sitting in first place in the underhand chop and standing chop. If my times held, I’d be a champion for the first time.