Before AJ, she had never stuck with one guy so long. She didn't allow herself to get attached. She had comforted too many of her friends after their boyfriends had dumped them. Her role was the comforter, not the comfortee.
Then she had met AJ and found out that it was true. When you fall in love, your entire world turns upside down.
It had been at his mom's house. Her and the rest of the group were over there. It was a couple weeks after AJ's relationship with Marissa had ended and he was staying at his mom's place for a couple days.
Amanda had come inside to get a couple of sodas from the fridge. She was searching threw it when he spoke.
"Who are you and why are you in my kitchen?" came the gruff, sexy voice that Amanda would fall in love with. It drawled out slowly, like oil over water.
"Getting some sodas! Do you have a problem with that?" she asked, jerking up to face the accuser.
Amanda instantly bit back her tongue to prevent herself from saying anything else.
He was standing there, mere feet from her. This allowed Amanda full view. He dark hair was tousled, sticking up all over the place. As her glaze slid down to his coffee brown eyes, she saw that he was checking her out too.
'Why didn't I put on any make up?' Amanda screamed at herself.
She allowed herself to keep looking, down the bare chest, muscular arms, and six pack. He was clad only in some old Florida State sweats.
"You must be Alex," she finally spoke. "Your mom talks about you a lot."
"I go by AJ," he told her extending his hand and they shook. "And you are?"
"Amanda."
"Oh. From the group?"
"Right."
They just stood there and Amanda shivered. That was when she realized she was standing in front of the wide open fridge door. She grabbed a few sodas and closed the door with her free hand.
"Um, I guess I'll see you around," she said.
"I can only hope," he said with a slow grin. Amanda blushed and left the house.
That was how it had started. Short, meaningless conversations that grew into long, important ones. The it Amanda had been dreading.
"What do you think about love?" AJ asked her one day. They were out in his mom's backyard on the hammock.
"Love?" Amanda repeated.
"Yeah. You know that feeling people get when they meet someone really special and that thing that I sing about a lot."
"Oh, that," Amanda joked. "What about it?"
"Do you believe in it?" he asked.
"Sure. I love my parents and my friends and…"
"Not that kind of love, AJ objected. "The kind that happens when you meet a total stranger and hit it off. Then you start spending more and more time together and then you can't get the other person off your mind ever and everything reminds you of them and you dream about them and think about them every minute that you're not with them and admire them every minute you are with them and wish the time would d last longer because there's so much stuff you want to talk to them about and so much you want to discover with them that you know you'll never be able to find it all in your life. But you try really hard to spend time with them and if you're lucky, you get to spend the rest of your life with them until you're old and gray and have great-grandchildren and live together sixty some years but are still head over heels in love with them," he finished with a flourish.
"Oh, that kind of love."
"Yes. Do you think it happens?"
"Do you think we could be some of those people?" he asked, moving closer to her.
Amanda's eyes widened and she frantically shook her head. "No, we couldn't," she said, getting up suddenly. This caused the hammock to tip over with AJ still on it. The back of his head connected with the ground.
"Oh my God! Are you all right?" Amanda asked, running over to him. She helped him up and frantically started to check his head for blood or bumps or anything. "AJ, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to get up so sudden. I'm sorry," she repeated, planting kisses all over his head to comfort him.
She would later think back and try to remember if she moved her lips to meet his or if AJ reached up to her, but before she knew it, Amanda was making out with AJ and they were rolling on the ground with their hands all over each other. He prodded open her mouth and she let him in and allowed him to explore her mouth.
Everywhere he touched her seemed to explode with fire. She could feel his body pressing against hers and it felt good. Usually, she felt suffocated if a guy's body weight was pressing her down. This didn't feel so horrible.
Then she felt AJ's mouth come up from her's and she opened her eyes to see his right there and she could feel him brushing back her hair. He was breathing hard.
"Come back to my place," he whispered, his eyes roaming her face. "Manda, I need to…."
"I know," she interrupted him. She pressed her lips against his. "Let's go."
They got up and AJ grabbed her hand and pulled Amanda up. He held onto it tightly until the reached the driveway.
"Just follow me," he told her, as the reached their cars.
"I will," she said and kissed him again. Then she broke away and got into her car. AJ got into his, started it and pulled out of the driveway. Amanda followed.
When Amanda woke up the next morning, she squinted at the bright sunlight shining into the room.
"You're finally awake," AJ said from next to her. She turned to see him propped up on his elbow and looking at her.
"Did I sleep late?"
"Nah; it's only 10:45."
"I never wake up that late. When did you?"
"Um, I guess it would have been an hour and a half ago."
"Why are you still in bed?"
"I was watching you sleep."
Amanda almost laughed until she realized he was serious.
"You watched me sleep for ninety minutes?"
"What's wrong with that?"
"It's just that no one's even done that before."
"Well, they're missing out. You look beautiful when you're sleeping. Peaceful. Like a masterpiece."
Amanda rolled her eyes and started to get out of bed.
"Hey, where do you think you're going?" AJ asked, wrapping an arm around her.
"Getting out of bed."
"I don't think so," he told her, pulling her back under the blankets.
"Why not?"
"Because I plan to make love to you a few more time."
"How many more?" she asked him as he started to kiss her collarbone.
"I don't think I can even count that high," he told her as his lips softly met his. She just kissed him back.
But they weren't like that anymore. They didn't even see each other. The plan had been to stay friends but that hadn't happened. They had broken up and moved on. Or at least it appeared like AJ had moved on.
Amanda had seen him on the Billboards, hugging the other brunette. He was dating. And it was pretty serious, or so she had heard.
One day, she was out driving and drove slowly past this park. She didn't know why she slowed down and she would never remember the name of the park but she came upon it and knew to stop. She pulled into a small parking lot and turned off the car. She looked around at the trees and deserted swimming pool.
Out of the corner of her eye, Amanda noticed movement. She turned and saw another young woman, about her age - running. Maybe ten feet behind her, following in hot pursuit, was AJ.
"I'll get you!" she heard him call out.
AJ caught up with the woman, grabbed her around the waist, and pulled her against him. He whispered something and the woman smiled. Amanda felt tears threatening at her eyes and she remembered all the sweet things AJ had said to her.
She watched as he lifted his hand to the woman's chin and started to move his face closer to hers. Amanda couldn't stand it anymore; she turned on the car and back out, all in one quick, fluid motion.
AJ looked up at the sudden sound of a motor and saw a familiar car pull out of the parking lot. Amanda. How much had she seen? Did she know about him? Did she know that he still missed her? That he still thought about her, late at night? That he had actually bought a bottle of her shampoo and a bar of her soap, just to remember her by? That he wished he could hear her voice and her laughter?
"AJ? Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," he said, and kissed her. But in his mind, all he could see was Amanda. And his only though was:
'I'm still in love with her. '
