Free The West Wind by Morgan Douglas Page B

comfortable, nor safer, in her entire life. She started to
lift her head, thinking about kissing him, when Zach’s voice called up from
below.
    “Xander, are you up there?” he asked, loud enough to be heard from
the bottom of the stairwell.
    “Yeah, I was just showing Hero the view.”
    “Can we have the lights on, please? You know I don’t really care,
but let’s do it for the sake of propriety.”
    “Propriety is a harsh mistress,” Xander called down.
    “And yet please her we must,” Zach yelled back calmly.
    “Alright,” Xander said, disentangling himself from Hero and turn
the lights back on.
    “Propriety thanks you, Son. I’m going to bed now, so keep her in
mind.”
    Xander laughed. “Goodnight, Dad.”
    Hero joined him, “Goodnight Zach, It was nice to meet you.”
    “Goodnight Hero. Make sure my son behaves.”
    “Of course,” she replied, but he was gone. Hero sat down on the
air mattress and found herself sitting on the floor. When Xander sat down next
to her his weight lifted her back up and she laughed. He grinned and kicked off
his shoes, then layed back. She lost her balance and let herself fall back on
him. She snuggled up close, her head pillowed on his shoulder and one arm
rested along the center of his chest. Her palm pressed against him and she
could feel his breathing and hear his heartbeat. She let herself linger in the
comfort of it.
     
    They talked for a while, about anything and everything. It was so
easy. Neither of them were particularly introverted, but their conversations
flowed as easily as their dancing. One lead, the other followed and then they
switched again. It was as if they were pieces of a puzzle, one that only had
two. As the night wore on the pauses in the conversation grew larger and larger
as Hero grew more comfortable and started to fall asleep. She knew she should
go, but didn’t want the feeling to end. She tried to wake herself up with a
final questions that she’d been wondering about all night.
    “Xander?” she murmured sleepily.
    “Yeah?” he replied.
    “Why haven’t you kissed me yet?” she asked with her eyes closed.
    She could feel him grin with her whole body as his muscles worked
together to turn the corners of his mouth up.
    “I don’t kiss on the first date,” he answered.
    “Mmm. . .” she responded, and fell asleep.
     
    ----
     
    Hero stirred and screwed her eyes shut in protest against the
light streaming in through the windows. She could still feel Xander close to
her and smell him. It was a dream she didn’t want to wake up from. She snuggled
up against him. When she realized it wasn’t a dream, her eyes flew open. He was
there. She was still there. She sat up violently, spilling out of the bed.
     
    “Oh my god!” she exclaimed. “I am so dead.”
    Xander sat up slowly and shook his head clear. “Huh?” he said
through the fog of sleep. His motion shifted the air in the mattress and Hero
used the momentum to help her stand up.
    “Can you take me to Jaimie’s house? Like, right now? What time is
it?” she fired off one question after the other without taking a breath.
    “6:30,” he said blearily. “And yes, and yes. Are you okay?”
    “Uh, no. If my mom finds out I spent the night with a guy she’s
going to kill me.”
    Xander woke up all at once as if a bucket of ice water had been
splashed on his face.. “Oh, shit. I fell asleep. I’m sorry. I meant to wake you
up, I was just enjoying having you here.”
    “And I liked being here, but if we don’t go, you’ll probably never
see me again in this lifetime.”
    He nodded and they rushed out of the house.
     
    Xander dropped her off outside Jaimie’s a short while later. She
leaned over and kissed him on the cheek before sliding out of the car.
    “Last night was wonderful, thank you. I have to go.”
    “I know. It’s okay, go. I’ll talk to you later.”
    “Thank you, I can’t wait, thank you.”
    He laughed. “Go, I don’t want to have to perform a