Free Where I Need to Be by Kimberly Knight Page A

made my way to the
kitchen to start coffee and breakfast.
    Ryan joined me as I put the bacon in the oven.
“Whatcha makin’?”
    “Bacon, eggs, potatoes…you know, breakfast.”
    “Is Brandon still here?”
    “Yeah, and he’s still sleeping, so keep it down.”
    Whispering she said, “What do you
think of him approaching Trav Ass   last night?”
    “Dude, I thought I was going to pass out or die of
embarrassment.  But when he came back and told me what he
said, I wanted to jump and smother him with kisses,” I said,
whispering as well.
    “I wanted to do the same thing!”
    “Ha…well he's mine!”
    “I’m so happy for you, Spence… and really
jealous.”
    “You’ll find someone, Ry. I promise.”
    I continued to cook breakfast, hoping Brandon
wouldn’t wake up before I could surprise him in bed. Right before
everything was ready, Brandon walked into the kitchen.
    “Morning, ladies,” he said as he walked over, kissed
my cheek and hugged me from behind. “That smells really good!”
    “It’s bacon, nothing smells as good as bacon!” I
said, smiling as I continued to cook the scrambled eggs.
    “Hey, Spence, what are we doing for your birthday?”
Ryan asked.
    “What? When is your birthday?” Brandon asked in
surprise. 
    Somehow I had failed to mention to Brandon that my
birthday was in less than a week.
    “Um, this coming Saturday.” 
    “You weren’t going to tell me?” Brandon asked with
hurt in his voice.
    “No, not all. It just completely slipped my mind!”
 It really had.  I’d had a lot to keep my mind occupied
as of late.
    Usually every year I was excited about my birthday,
but after this last week with Brandon, I’m surprised I even knew
what day it was.
    “So what are we doing?” Ryan asked again.
    “I don’t know but I’m open to suggestions.
 Let’s discuss while we eat so the food doesn’t get
cold.” 
    *~*~*
    During breakfast we decided that for my birthday we
would take a day trip to the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. It seemed
the older you became, the more you just wanted to do kid things for
your birthday. A day filled with roller coasters, fried food and
cotton candy sounded perfect to me. 
    Brandon stayed over at my house all day and we spent
the majority of it lounging in bed while we watched TV. Okay in all
honesty, not a lot of TV was actually watched.  And I didn’t
even get dressed for the day.  I couldn’t remember the last
time I had felt this happy.
    “Will you tell me about your tattoo?” I asked Brandon
during a commercial as we lounged naked in my bed.
    “Oh, yeah…sure.” Brandon let out a long sigh then
took a deep breath. I immediately regretted asking him when I saw
how sad and serious he became. 
    “Remember how I told you the other
night at dinner that during my sophomore year at   Texas
A&M   I
got hurt and never played again?”
    “Yeah…?”
    “The guy who I was competing
against for starting quarterback had it out for me. He was a senior
and assumed he would be starting, but then our coach told the team
that it would be me instead. That night Jason and I went to a party
on campus and we were jumped by six guys… Actually, I should
say   I   was
jumped by six guys. They all attacked me while Jason tried to pull
them off of me. In the midst of everything, they managed to break
my back.” 
    “Oh my God!” I gasped, my heart breaking for him. I
couldn’t imagine going through that – couldn’t imagine the pain he
must have endured.  
    “Thankfully, there was no damage to
my spinal cord and to make a long story short, I had to do a lot of
physical therapy until I was able to walk again. It was later found
out that the guys who jumped me were all fraternity brothers of my
teammate. He was expelled, but since I was out of commission, they
had to find a replacement. Then in my junior year I still couldn’t
play, so I ended up never playing again... So… my tattoo just
reminds me that no matter what challenges I may