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Why did she have to be dressed like that? It was especially hard not to ogle her dressed in grey cotton shorts and a white men’s tank top. Her gorgeous blonde hair was pulled up with a clip. She was bustling around making sure she had everything as he leaned against the wall. If her father, who hated his guts, wasn’t a few feet away watching him as much as he was trying not to watch Erin, Dave would’ve surely tried to see how far he could’ve gotten with his girlfriend in her childhood bedroom.
“I don’t see why you have to go away for so long.” Erich Strauss was saying.
“Daddy, it was a tough semester at school and I'm really looking forward to this. I want to be on the beach with my friends…its going to be great.”
“There are beaches here, darling.”
“Oh God,” Erin rolled her eyes. “You wouldn’t let me near Howard Beach, or any of the others, and with good reason.”
“Your mother and I could take you to The Hamptons. It’s safe there.”
“Daddy, I'm going on a little vacation. I’ll be back and everything will be fine.”
“I guess I just watch too much Dateline.” Erich sighed. “I know what can happen when a beautiful young girl leaves home with people who may not have her best interest at heart.”
Dave’s jaw clenched. He fucking hated Erich Strauss. He hated his pompous, arrogant, prejudiced ass. He never came right out and said don’t date the dirty Italian bastard, but he didn’t have to. He surely hadn't said one kind word about Dave either.
It was much better when he and Erin were at school, far away from his influence. He feared one day she would have to choose between her beloved father and her boyfriend of six months. There was a strong possibility that he might not win the contest. It would hurt but he’d never hate her for it.
Where he came from family was first too. At least he had siblings to soften the blows life handed down. Erin was all her parents had. They were probably never going to let her forget it.
“I love you but you're being paranoid.” She grabbed her duffle bag but Dave immediately took it from her hands. For just a moment she smiled at him. She wanted to kiss him but her father was less than ten feet away. So she caressed his face instead. When Dave covered her hand with his, Erin shivered. “I’ll be fine, I promise.”
“Take this.” Erich walked over and handed her five $100 bills. “If anything happens, if you're not having a good time, whatever, just call me. I don’t care if I have to drive to South Carolina to come and get you.”
“I expect a first class ticket back home Daddy…no less.”
“You're being facetious.” He smiled.
“Yes I am.” Erin leaned to kiss her father’s cheek. “I appreciate the money. We need to get going.”
As she and Dave left her bedroom, Erich followed. Her mother, Joanna, began to walk down the hall at the same time.
“Your friends are going to be there, right?” her mother asked.
“A whole group of us are going.” Erin replied. She grabbed the car keys, her sunglasses, the snacks her mother prepared that morning, and a smaller bag with her toiletries and other needed accessories for a while away from home.
“Which friends?” her father asked.
“Um…Jill, Katie, Jason, Aaron Hotchner, Andi; I'm sure I'm leaving some people out.”
“And there will be no coed rooms?” Erich asked.
“Daddy, I'm sure there will be. But I'm staying with my girlfriends. I'm 20 years old now and I can handle myself like the woman you and mom raised me to be.”
“Leave her be, Erich.” Joanna put her hand on her husband’s arm. “She made Dean’s List this semester and is a finalist for The Hague Fellowship. A little breathing room will be good for her.”
“Alright.” He relented as if changing his mind at the last minute and saying he didn’t like it meant that Erin would have to stay home. “I want you to call home every other night.”
“I will.”
“I don’t want you drinking and getting involved in any debauchery.”
“I wouldn’t.” she shook her head.
“Please be careful.”
“I will, Daddy. Love you both so much.”
Erin threw her arms around her parents, hugging and kissing them. Then she and Dave walked to the front door of the Central Park West condo with the Strausses in tow.
“Drive carefully, David.” Joanna said.
“Yes ma'am.” He nodded, surprised for a moment that anyone bothered to address him at all.
“You have a valid driver’s license?” Erich asked.
“Yes sir.”
“May I see it please?”
“Daddy,” Erin interjected. “Is that really necessary?”
“The two of you are driving, alone, for nearly 12 hours. The safety of my only child is in his hands. Yes…it’s necessary.”
Dave cleared his throat as he put the duffle bag down in front of the door. He pulled his wallet out, handing his license to her father. Erich examined it thoroughly before handing it back.
“Please drive safely.” He said.
Dave thought he almost sounded as if he meant it. Of course he did, for Erin’s sake. Nothing would probably make him happier than Dave Rossi driving over a cliff in an SUV. He nodded, since attempting to speak would cause bile to rise from his throat instead of words.
“Bye guys.”
“Bye sweetie.” Joanna waved. “Have fun…be free.”
“Be careful.” Her father reiterated.
Erin waved once more, finally taking Dave’s hand when they left the house. Once they were safe on the elevator he was able to lean against the wall and exhale.
“I'm so sorry about the Spanish Inquisition back there.” she said.
“Hey, if my only daughter was going away for a week with some rogue cad to some beach somewhere I’d do the Spanish Inquisition as well.”
“Really?”
“Of course. Having said that, it makes your father no less of a douchebag where I'm concerned. Forgive me for that.”
“He doesn’t like you very much. I'm sure he wouldn’t like any boy I dated.”
“I'm sure its just me.” Dave replied.
“Why would you think that?” Erin asked.
“I don’t wanna spend another moment talking about your father.” he shook his head. “I’d rather talk about how you lied to your parents with the most beautiful, pure straight face I’ve ever seen in my life. You had the face of Sandra Dee.”
“Lie is a strong word.”
The elevator doors opened. The couple walked through the lobby and outside to their waiting SUV. Dave opened the back door, put Erin’s duffle bag on the seat, and then closed the door. He opened the passenger door for Erin. She kissed him and got into the car. Dave went over to the driver’s side.
“If lie is a strong word then which one would you use?”
“Well I was just easing their minds.” Erin put on her seatbelt. “The truth of the matter is my father would've adamantly refused to let me go if he knew it was just you and I. That’s not because he doesn’t like you. It’s because he’s never going to be able to shake the image of me as a five year old, or at least a 14 year old virgin. I can't be that little girl for the rest of my life. So if I had to insert some friends in to go on my trip, so be it.”
Dave couldn’t agree more. His parents didn’t mind at all when he said he and Erin were going away for a week to the beach. Eight days and seven nights in Myrtle Beach was going to be good for them after a long, hard semester. Dave’s dad slipped him a few extra bucks, told him he better use a condom, and to have a good time.
He didn’t have the heart to tell his father he wasn’t even getting laid. His mother wanted to know when they were going to meet this girl who had her son so smitten. Dave promised that it would be soon. They’d been dating for six months now and he really liked her.
He was just trying to ease her into the circus that could be the family Rossi. She surely had the spine for it but he wasn’t sure he did. The only thing stranger than Erin being completely uncomfortable with his family is her fitting right in. Dave didn’t know which would freak him out more.
“I loved it.” he smiled as he checked the side mirror and then drove into traffic. “I felt as if I was watching Shakespeare as it’s meant to be seen.”
“Oh haha.” Erin gave him a friendly punch in the arm. “I just want to go and have a good time. You gonna show me a good time, Rossi.”
“I’ll show you anything you want, baby.”
She wasn’t quite sure how to respond to that so Erin just smiled. When he called her baby it always gave Erin tingles in the best places. She’d been excited about this trip since Dave started planning it two months ago. She loved the beach and the ocean. This would be the first boyfriend-girlfriend trip of her life though, so Erin was nervous. They were going to be sharing a room for a week; sharing a bed. They weren't going to be able to hide any of the things they didn’t want the other to know.
As much as she wanted to, Erin was still afraid to take the relationship to the next level. She knew now that Dave wasn’t just looking for one thing since he’d been with her six months and she hadn't even hinted she’d give him sex. The couple had barely gone to second base. First base continued to be awesome and Erin was sure she wanted more. She just didn’t know how to go about it. Working up the nerve was going to take some time.
If it happened in Myrtle Beach she wouldn’t stop him. She wanted Dave…sometimes she wanted him so bad she couldn’t see straight. As smart as she was, Erin Strauss was completely uneducated in sex. There were some things you couldn’t learn from a book. The Joy of Sex had been an interesting read but she didn’t think it helped her much at all. In fact it overwhelmed her to the point of freaking out.
“Penny for your thoughts?” He asked.
“I think I over packed.” She replied.
“Of course you over packed.”
“What's that supposed to mean?”
“Tell me how many swimsuits are in that duffle bag.” Dave said.
“No.” she crossed her arms and shook her head.
“I rest my case.”
“I just don’t want to take up all the space and leave nothing for your stuff.” Erin said.
“I don’t care if I have to live out of a suitcase for the next week. I just want to be with you. I've been looking forward to this for a while now.”
“You got something up your sleeve, Rossi?” she looked at him with a raised eyebrow. Erin surprised herself how she stood up to him. She never planned to give him any idea how nervous this entire relationship made her. It was a good nervous but still.
“I'm wearing short sleeves.” He gave her the patented Rossi smirk.
“You're incorrigible.” Erin rolled her eyes.
“You love it when I am.” Dave replied.
“Maybe.”
It was his turn to look at her, sitting there next to him with crossed arms and the sexiest pout that he'd ever seen. He knew that Erin knew how damn beautiful she was. How could she look in the mirror and not? But she didn’t know the sex appeal that came off of her in waves that nearly knocked him down and drowned him. Well, maybe she knew that too.
Maybe she couldn’t control it, perhaps it concerned her. Or maybe she knew exactly what she was doing. Either way Dave was skating on thin ice with Erin Strauss. He was completely enamored, ensorcelled, enraptured, and possibly in love. This was a feeling new to him, as a grown man anyway.
Six months wasn’t a long time to date but it was practically a record on his end. Playing the field had always been a blast. Dave couldn’t remember the last time he seriously looked at another girl. Sometimes it was hard, he loved to admire a hot body, but there was one sitting right next to him. Erin didn’t have to flaunt her sex appeal in low-cut tops and a mountain of makeup and perfume. It jumped right out at you and gave you a sucker punch.
Those eyes, those lips, and that smile were amazing. She had this way of looking at him sometimes like he was the world’s biggest bullshitter but she liked him anyway; that really turned him on. Dave had no idea what star he’d been standing under when it finally came together for the two of them. And now they were going away together for the first time. They wanted to be alone…it was hard to truly be alone at school. He just had no idea what was going to happen when they finally were.
“Did you know that when you think too much you get the most adorable crinkles on your forehead?” Erin asked.
“I was unaware.” Dave shook his head.
“Are you alright?”
“We should probably put on some music. Let’s get in full vacation mode. No more thinking about anything but sun, surf, and each other.”
“I can handle it if you can, Rossi.”
He smiled as Erin reached into her bag and pulled out a CD. Dave let her coordinate all the music for the trip, another sign that he was an absolute goner. They didn’t exactly have the same musical tastes. He made her promise not to burn CDs with a bunch of stuff he’d hear on AM radio and she promised, but he thought she might have had her fingers crossed behind her back at the time. There was a little sigh of relief when Matchbox 20 started playing. They weren't even close to Dave’s favorite band but it was better than 12 hours of Carly Simon. Love or not, and it was he was almost sure; Dave couldn’t quite do Carly Simon.
“Myrtle Beach here we come.” he put his foot on the gas and drove into the passing lane.
“Woo!” Erin threw up her arms. It was time to throw all caution to the wind. She didn’t know what the results would be but she sometimes got tired of living for what might happen. Doing that meant that nothing ever would. She wanted to be free. With Dave that was exactly how she felt.
***