Chapter Fifty Nine

Boston

Aspen and I walk into our second-period Calculus class hand in hand. Her face is flushed, and her hair is a mess, making it more than obvious what we just got up to out in the parking lot.
My brother's chuckles and shit-eating grins tell me that they are more than aware of what just went down between Aspen and me—and let's just say that I *finally* got to find out whether she actually does have a gag reflex or not—not that I'm one to cum and tell. But, if I'm being honest, my girl definitely has skill.
A skill that I'm definitely hoping that it's a natural one.
I don't even want to think about the alternative.
I mean, I know that she said that I'm only the second guy that she's had sex with, but that doesn't mean she's that inexperienced *otherwise*.
"Hey, Boston." A female voice calls out, and I feel Aspen tense next to me. I just nod my head in greeting and lead Aspen the rest of the way to our desks and ignore the rest of our classmates—more specifically the other girls in the class.
The only girl that I need, or even care about, is sitting at the desk to my left. All the others, they're going to have to get over it and move on. I'm a one-woman man and Aspen has been it for me from the first moment that I saw her at the football game at the beginning of the season six months ago.
"Hey, so, what did we miss in Lit?" I ask, turning around and looking from Dal directly behind me, to Jax to his left and then Linc to his right. Jax is staring at someone or something on the other side of the classroom, not paying any attention. And Linc is busy typing something out on his phone—likely sending a text to Raleigh—or well, maybe not.
I honestly don't even know whether they've even talked or not after the whole baby revelation.
I know that he went to the hospital to see her after he found out that she was safe and her brother dropped the pregnancy bomb on him, but I don't know what went down between them when he did, or anything more than that.
"Nothing too much." Dal says, breaking me out of my thoughts of Linc and Raleigh, "We just did a review over everything that we've gone over the last few weeks. I'm pretty sure Jefferies is preparing for a big exam before spring break. Even though spring break is almost a month away."
I groan at just the thought of what the test will actually comprise of. "You know how Jefferies is—not to mention this is AP Lit and Comp that we're talking about. He's going to make it like another freaking midterm—as if the one we took before Christmas break wasn't hard enough."
"Shit, I know!" Linc says, jumping into our conversation. "I'm so ready to be done with that class. I seriously *hate* writing."
"Just think, you only have a few more months left," Aspen tells him with a cheeky smile, "and then you get to do it all over again when you take Comp Two in college." She chuckles at his groan and throws me a wink because she hates writing just as much as the rest of us. Although, she does claim that all of the reading that she does has actually helped her to be able to write better.
I'll just have to take her word for it on that one, because reading outside of what I have to do for school—yeah, you can most definitely count me out.
"Good morning class. Let's everyone quiet down and I will take attendance and then we can get on with our lesson for the day." Mrs. Parrish says once she makes her way into the classroom.
Drowning her out as she calls out students names, I think about college and the future.
It's only then that I realise that I don't know what Aspen's college plans are. I know that she plans on going for nursing, but we've not discussed where she plans to go or if she plans on taking a gap year after everything that has happened this year—really, we haven't talked much about the future at all.
The thought of her going off to some college out of state, or anywhere that isn't within close driving distance, makes me sick.
I just got her back. I'm not ready to lose her yet—even if it's six or so months away.
"Nice to have you back, Aspen." Mrs. Parrish says, interrupting my thoughts. I look up just in time to see her giving Aspen a kind smile, clearly pleased to see her back and not just saying the words because they're expected of her as a teacher.
"Thank you, it's good to be back," Aspen tells her, a smile of her own reflecting back to Mrs. Parrish. When Parrish moves on to the next student, Aspen glances over at me and I throw her a wink and smile back at her, deciding that for now, I'm going to enjoy just having her here with me. We can discuss college and the future, all that heavy stuff, later.
The rest of the day flies by. Lunch, surprisingly was uneventful, even if Whitney and her *merry band of bitches* kept casting glares over at our table, or more specifically at my beautiful girlfriend sitting next to me. Anytime that I or any of my brothers would catch their eye, their looks turned from glares to something much more innocent looking.
I know that she tries to act like it doesn't bother her, but Aspen had been on the squad with those girls for a short time and had considered some of them to even be friends, so to have them acting so ugly towards her has to hurt.
Alyssa graced us with her presence, catching Aspen up on all of the things that she missed while she was at Monument, things that apparently no one else had thought to tell her about. It's either that, or she was just being nice and pretending to have heard all of the gossip for the first time—which judging by the looks that I caught her throwing to Brooklyn a few times when Alyssa wasn't looking, must have been the case.
Mrs. Atkinson was elated to see Aspen back in her class, she even gave her a hug and Mrs. Atkinson most definitely does not seem to be a hugger. I kind of think that Aspen enjoyed the attention, though. French was one of the classes that she seemed to really enjoy before she left—and apparently, she was able to still take French class in Monument, so she's really not behind.
Now that football is over, Linc and I are in the weight room working out, and Aspen's out on the track running. Her cheer coach—who is also the track coach—seemed thrilled to see her back, but you could tell that she was slightly—frustrated, maybe—that Aspen was too late in returning to be a part of the track team.
“Well, I’d say that this was definitely a better first day for her than the last one that she had." Linc says as he steps up behind me to spot me on the weight bench.
"Yeah," I say with a chuckle, "I was such a fucking idiot to think that icing her out was the right way to go."
"We all were, but at least it all worked out." He tells me as I grab the bar, starting on my reps. He then chuckles to himself, a rare smile playing on his lips for perhaps the second time today that I've seen. "I can't believe she called us the Four Horsemen." He says when I finish my reps, helping me put the bar back on the rack.
"No kidding," I say, shaking my head as I stand up from the bench and go around behind it, trading Linc spots, "I knew that she kept calling me Pest, but I just figured that she was saying that I was being a pest because I wasn't leaving her alone."
"She is definitely going to keep you on your toes for the rest of your lives, you know that right?" He asks, putting his hands up, readying himself, but waiting for my response.
"I hope so, man. I don't even know what her plans for college are." I tell him, going back to my earlier thoughts, "But, I'll be one hell of a lucky man if I get the privilege of spending the rest of my life with her." I tell him honestly.
"Oh, come on." He says, smirking up at me from the bench seat, "We both know that now that you've got her back, you will do everything within your power to keep her by your side."
*I can't really knock him there, because he's right. Even if it meant going somewhere else for college and giving up ball. I'd do it if it meant staying by her side.*
"I wouldn't be surprised if you don't have a ring on her finger by the end of summer." He says, lifting an eyebrow as if I've been busted...and maybe the thought has crossed my mind a time or two over the last few days, but I'm not about to admit that to him.
"Are you going to lift, or are you just going to sit there and give me shit about the girl that I love?" I say, changing the subject.
"That's what I thought." He says, giving me a shit-eating grin as he removes the bar from the rack and begins his reps.