The next morning, Amanda woke in A.J.'s arms. She crinkled her nose as the sun peeked through the curtains and shined into Amanda’s eyes. A.J. softly groaned in his sleep. Amanda knew he was close to waking up. She rolled over and kissed him lightly on the lips. His eyes fluttered open and he woke up with a grin.
"Good morning," she said.
"What time is it?" he asked while rubbing the sleep from his eyes.
"Around seven," Amanda said as she snuggled closer to A.J.
"Damn, I gotta be at the studio in a couple of hours."
"Well, I have a class at nine, so I need to get ready."
A.J. kissed her on the top of her head. "What do you need to get ready for? You're already beautiful."
Amanda smiled. "Thanks, but let me up so take a shower."
A.J. held her tighter. "Why can't we just stay here and cuddle?"
"Alexander James McLean, let go of me," Amanda said with a laugh.
"Only if I can shower with you."
Amanda slapped him playfully on the face. "You bad boy."
A.J. let out a playful growl. "You know it," he said.
Amanda grinned. "Well, Mr. McLean as much as I enjoy being with you I have to get ready for class."
A.J. let go of Amanda and rolled over on his back. She gave him a quick kiss and went into the bathroom. A few minutes later, Amanda came out with her robe on and a towel on her head, humming softly as she opened her closet and flipped through her clothes. She felt A.J. wrap his arms around her and nuzzle his nose against her neck.
"Mmm you smell good," A.J. said as he kissed her neck.
"Thanks, I like it too," Amanda said as she pulled out a light blue dress. She turned around and kissed him on the lips. “I’m going to be late if I don’t get dressed now.”
"I love you," A.J. murmured, obviously not letting her go.
"I love you too."
A.J. raised his eyebrows. "Say, you got anything on under that robe?"
Amanda gave him another kiss. "You're terrible," she said then pried his arms from off her waist.
She went back into the bathroom to finish getting ready. She closed and locked the door behind has as she turned on her boom box and applied her make up. When she finished getting ready, she found A.J. in the kitchen eating a bowl of cereal. He grinned at her from the table. She laughed as she pulled the orange juice from out of the refrigerator.
"So you wanna do something tonight?" A.J. asked.
"Well, I have a test to study for, but I guess we could go somewhere,” she said while pouring the juice. “What do you wanna do?"
"Let's go out to dinner tonight. No, better yet, I'll make you dinner."
Amanda smiled and nodded. "Sounds good to me,“ she said while looking at her watch. "I better get going or I'm gonna be late," she continued then gulped down her orange juice.
"I'll walk you out," A.J. said as he stood up and walked with her to the door.
Amanda grabbed her purse while A.J. took her book bag. They walked out to her car and A.J. put her bag in the passenger seat. "Do you want me to drop you off at your place? I've got time," she said as she got into the driver’s seat.
"I don't wanna make you late."
"You won't make me late. It's on my way. I have time to drop you off."
"Okay," he said then got in.
Amanda drove to A.J.'s place with the windows down and the sun roof open. A.J. linked his fingers with hers and smiled at her. Amanda smiled back and pulled into his driveway.
"I'll see you tonight," she said as she stopped the car.
A.J. gave her a quick kiss. "Call me when you get home."
"Okay," she said with a smile.
“I love you,“ he said as he got out of the car.
“I love you too,“ she echoed then blew him a kiss.
A.J. smiled and tapped on the top of her car. Amanda put her car in reverse and headed over to UCF campus. On her way to class, she ran into Nikki.
"Hey," said Nikki.
"Hey!" Amanda said with a smile.
"I assume things are cool with you and A.J."
Amanda grinned. "How'd you know?"
"Well, for one you're smiling. And I know that A.J. didn't come home last night."
"How did you know that?"
"Howie told me he tried calling A.J. on both his cell phone and home number. He assumed he was with you last night," Nikki said suspiciously.
"Yes, A.J. was with me last night, but it's not what you're thinking."
"I wasn't thinking anything," Nikki said innocently.
"Yeah sure, whatever," Amanda said with a smile. "I gotta get to class. I'll see you later."
"Bye," said Nikki.
"Bye," said Amanda as she headed off to her class.
