Locked In Amber Ch. 14

Katelyn picked up her phone and brought up an app. "Here, you can see what it looks like," she said as she handed it to him.

As Spencer looked at it and made a note on his phone, the front door opened. "Hey, Hun, do we have company?" a male voice called from the entryway. "Was that Amber's friend's car in the driveway?"

"In here," Kat called out as the other two looked up. A moment later, Aaron walked in, his short, light brown hair slightly askew as his lightly bearded face lit up with a smile. He came around the table to kiss Katelyn.

"Hey, Amber," he greeted. "And... Spencer, right?" he said with a slight tip of his head. "Sorry if I got that wrong; it's been a long week. Corporate sent down a new layout at the warehouse, so we've been busy updating everything to the new model."

Spencer stood up and reached over to shake Aaron's hand. "No, you're all good."

Aaron nodded and smiled as Kat asked, "You're home earlier than I expected. What happened?"

Aaron moved over to the fridge. "Oh, Javier was willing to come in early so that I could finally break free. Said he was happy with the overtime. Who's winning?" he inquired, looking over at the table while he held the door open.

"I am," Kat informed him. "Or 'was', rather. We kind of stopped a little bit ago. I told Spencer about our app idea. He thinks he could make one, so we've been brainstorming."

Aaron pulled out some pizza and put it in the microwave, the plate clinking against the glass turntable. "Oh, cool! I look forward to playtesting," he said with a wink at Kat. As the microwave hummed, he stepped back out of the kitchen. "Hey, I'm going to go change real quick." 

Spencer handed Katlyn's phone back to her as Aaron disappeared around the corner. "Thanks. I think I have a grasp of the concept. Now we just need some content. Time for us to do some homework."

"Oh, now you're speaking straight to Amber's heart," Kat teased.

"Hardy har har," Amber said with a roll of her eyes just as the microwave beeped and the smell of pepperoni began to permeate the air.

"Do I lie, my beautiful little brainiac? You've liked homework ever since grade school. And...," Kat paused for a dramatic moment before continuing, "I'm guessing you'll have renewed interest in this particular topic." She winked at her friend across the table.

Amber glanced over at Spencer and smiled. "Yes, I suppose I might."

Aaron popped back into the kitchen wearing a pair of blue sweatpants and a faded t-shirt. "God, that smells delicious! I'm famished." He grabbed the pizza and was just about to take a bite when he paused. "Jesus, where are my manners? Does anyone else want anything?"

After Amber and Spencer politely declined, he turned back towards the hall. "I don't want to be a stick in the mud, but I'm exhausted and just want to get off my feet. Would you mind if I just went back to the bedroom to kick back? No need to stop your evening."

"Actually, I was just thinking we could call it a night myself," Spencer responded. 'I'm pretty beat too." He stood up and Aaron thanked them before heading back down the hallway.

"Late night last night?" Katelyn asked with a smirk as she too stood up.

Spencer paused for a moment in contemplation as he glanced at her. "Yes, yes it was," he said with a sly grin. "The heavenly bodies were a sight to behold." He looked back at Amber and held out his hand to assist her in standing.

Amber blushed as she stood up and Kat purred, "I bet they were." Oh God, Kat's decided Spence is fair game for teasing. Spencer just laughed.

Amber and Spencer began cleaning up the game when Kat waved them away. "Don't worry about those. I'll clean it up. You kids go out and enjoy the rest of the night." 

The group moved out to the entryway and the couple began grabbing their things and making the usual small talk before Amber hugged Katelyn goodbye. Spencer seemed like he was contemplating a goodbye handshake when Katelyn just leaned in and gave him a one-armed hug. "None of that. You're with my girl, so formality is out. Thanks for coming over. It was fun."

Spencer opened the door and the couple made their way to his car. As he was opening the door for Amber to get in, Katelyn called out. "Oh, hey, Spencer? Text me so we can discuss the app. Amber can give you my number. And Amber, if you ever want another opportunity for some extra creamy hot chocolate, just let me know." She closed the door, but not before the two saw her devilish grin.

"Ahh, hell, please tell me she doesn't know," Spencer groaned as Amber sat in the car.

"She knows." 

Spencer dropped his head as he went around the front of the car to get in. Once he settled himself, he turned to her. "How?"

Amber shrugged. "It's Kat," she said, simply, as if that answered it. Well, that and I might have confirmed her suspicions.

"I've gotta admit, I'm a bit embarrassed now," he said as he started the ignition.

"I'm sorry. But it is just Kat and it didn't change anything in the evening, did it? Well, beyond her now realizing you're totally fair game for being teased. Would you prefer I never do that again?"

"I... oh, uhh, well, no," he stammered.

"No, I shouldn't," Amber asked quietly, her hand gently stroking his arm. "Or, no, me never doing it again is not your preference?"

Spencer cleared his throat and took a deep breath. "No, it was hot as hell and I'm absolutely down with doing something like that again. Just surprised, that's all. You keep throwing me off guard." He began backing out of the driveway. 

"Good," Amber purred, "because I definitely want to try again and take my time with it." She dropped her hand and began gently stroking his inner thigh with small circles.

As Spencer began driving down the road, he looked over at her, his smiling face lit by the glow of the dashboard. "So... thoughts on the evening?"

"Well," Amber said, her hand continuing to lay on his leg, "I was thinking that, maybe, we could head back to my place. Or maybe yours? Watch a movie or something."

Spencer glanced back over at her. "Well, if it's not too soon..." He hesitated, mentally dancing around what to say next. "Would you like to stay over at my place? I could make you breakfast in the morning. Or is that too forward?"

Amber leaned over and kissed him on the cheek, the seatbelt stretching out of the door frame with a slither. "I'd love to!" 

A look of relief crossed his face as he looked back forward. "Whew! Me too! Obviously. I just wasn't sure if the timing was okay, you know?"

"Even after what we did at your cave?" Amber asked, teasingly. "You'll ravish me under the moonlight, but you're nervous about asking me to sleep in your bed?"

"Ah, well... when you put it like that. But sleeping over seems, I don't know... more than just physically intimate, I guess. I'm just trying to navigate the whole 'start of a relationship' thing." He reached down and moved her hand to her lap, but kept his fingers interlaced. "Plus there's, you know, your dad."

Dad. Yeah, there's that little hurdle. Despite her earlier conversation with her father, putting her independence to the test was another issue entirely. Her stomach had a slight pang of tension. "Yeah. Well, we'll see how that goes."

They passed the rest of the drive talking about ideas for the app. As Spencer pulled into the driveway, he turned off the ignition. Other than the porch light, the windows were dark. Amber opened the door and Spencer asked, "Do you want me to go in with you?"

Amber paused for a second, chewing her lip. "No. I think it might be best if I just do this alone. It may be something. It may not. I don't really know anymore. Although..." she peered up through the windshield at the windows. "I'm not even sure he's home. Or maybe he's in bed?" She glanced at her watch.

"Okay, whatever you think works best."

Amber stepped out of the car and made her way to the front door. She paused for a moment. Well, here it goes. With a deep breath, she slipped inside and closed it quietly behind her. A flickering light and muted dialogue emanated from the living room. As she made her way toward it she saw a candle burning on the mantle and the television was airing an old black-and-white movie. It looked vaguely familiar, but Amber couldn't recall what it was. Her father was sitting on the couch and Sophia lay snuggled up next to him. A blanket was pulled up over them and he had his arm around her, his hand gently rubbing circles on her shoulder. He glanced up when Amber entered the room.

"Oh, hey honey," he acknowledged softly. "Have a good evening?"

"Yeah," Amber replied, heading towards the stairs. As she did so, Sophia's eyes blinked open and she sat up, yawning.

"Oh, hello Amber. I must have dozed off."

"Hey," Amber responded, halfway up the steps. "Be back down in a moment." She continued up to her room and grabbed a small backpack. She was both excited and nervous. She realized this would be the first time she ever really stayed over with someone... well, someone on a romantic basis. I'm sure as hell not going to count that drunken night with Todd and his buddies.

Amber froze for a moment. Fuck! Not that again. Focus on the good stuff. She grabbed some clothes and quickly folded them into the pack. She then made her way to the bathroom and picked up some toiletries. As she started back towards the stairs, another thought crossed her mind. She returned to her room, grabbed a couple more items of clothing out of her dresser, and picked up her purse before heading back down.

As she stepped off the staircase onto the living room carpet, she attempted to be as nonchalant as she could. "I'm going to stay at Spencer's tonight," she stated, continuing towards the front of the house. Please don't let there be an issue!

The pause that hung in the air seemed to last forever. Amber quietly willed herself to keep going while not seeming like she was hurrying. She was nearly to the front door when her father finally replied. "Oh. Okay." There was another slight pause and then, "I guess... I guess I'll see you tomorrow." The knot released from Amber's stomach. As she opened the front door, she turned back and called out down the hallway, "I hope I'll see you tomorrow too, Sophia." She closed the door and made her way back to Spencer's car.

"Everything okay?" he asked as she settled in.

"Perfectly," she said with a smile and leaned in for a kiss. "Now take me home and show me your bedroom."

******

"Hmm, looks like we have the place to ourselves," Spencer said as he pulled into his driveway and shut off the engine.

Amber looked away from the house and saw that Elise's sports car wasn't in its usual spot. "How do you know? Could her car be in the garage?"

Spencer opened his door and got out. "Maybe. But it's Elise, it's Friday, and Nicolette's Jeep isn't here. They're probably out for a while."

Amber got out and followed him up the walkway to the house. The car alarm chirped behind her. As he opened the front door and she went inside, the house had that air as if to whisper, 'you're all alone.' She waited for him in the hallway as he disarmed the alarm. "So, what would you like to do for the rest of the evening?"

Spencer opened a closet and hung his keys on a hook. "Well, I was thinking that first I'd give you a tour of the rest of the house, and then we could just kick back for a bit and maybe watch a movie or something," he said as he took off his jacket and hung it up. He reached out for her jacket to do the same.

"Sounds good. Honestly, I'm pretty tired. It's been a wild week."

"Yeah. But a nice one." He smiled at her as he began to walk past.

Amber began to follow, but then stopped and placed her hand on her purse. "Oh, wait, Spencer?"

He turned around. "Yeah?"

Amber paused for a moment. "Um, there's something I need to give you." She reached into her purse and pulled out the wine goblet that she'd taken from the nightstand the previous Saturday. She just looked at it deeply for a moment before handing it over to him. "This is yours."

Spencer took the glass with a quizzical expression. "Okaaay," he said.

"I, uh, I took it. Last Saturday. For, umm... for evidence." She scrunched her face up. "Sorry," she said, clearly embarrassed.  "I had thought, uh... well, you know. And I just wanted to give it back and clear the air before the rest of the night. I kind of forgot about it before now." She peered up at him.

"Ah," he said, clearly understanding its source. He reached his arms around her and pulled her close. "Well, thank you. I'm glad you don't think I did something." He kissed the top of her head.

"No," she muttered in his chest. "And thanks for understanding."

A few moments later, they broke apart. "Okay," Spencer said, lightly, "let's just consider this in the past and not let it damper the evening." He stepped into the kitchen and set the goblet down on the stone counter with a clink. As he came back out, he took her hand and walked into the living room, and began ascending the sweeping stairs. "Well, as you know, Elise's room is that way," he said pointing towards the front of the house. "There's another bathroom here. And then back here, this is my office." 

He opened the door and Amber poked her head in. The room was clearly set up for someone in the tech industry. A large desk sat in the corner with three large, high-definition monitors flanking the comfortable-looking chair at the center. A nice set of speakers accompanied the usual hardware. Everything was neat and orderly, save for a well-worn manual on the desk, several pieces of paper flagging pages of import. In the corner, several other manuals and trade magazines sat on a bookcase. Some potted plants helped bring a natural feel to the otherwise tech layout.

As Amber looked around, her eyes were drawn to a picture on the wall. Three figures were walking in a hallway towards the viewer, their faces shadowed in the dim light. The surroundings were murky, but the deep purple lights sparsely placed overhead were obviously ultraviolet as the two flanking figures had fluorescent colors intricately drawn over their entire bodies and clothing. Other than some tattoo-like patterns on the feet, the middle figure was hooded and dark. This sharp contrast between darkness and color, as well as the mysterious nature of the image, seized one's gaze and held it there. As Amber studied it more, she could see that the figure on the left was a man wearing a long jacket that reached to his knees, knotted geometric shapes with an African flavor lined the fabric. The figure on the right was a woman with chin-length white hair. Her jacket only tantalizingly covered her bare breasts before angling back towards the waist in a tight V, her entire torso uncovered from neck to navel. The fluorescing reds and greens adorning her clothing and body were more finely detailed, bringing out the subtle shapes of her body. The central figure may have been a woman, but it was hard to tell. 

Well, I guess we have some input about whether he likes cyberpunk. "That's an interesting picture," Amber said, pulling her eyes away from the color and looking at Spencer.

"Oh, that? Yeah. I love the atmosphere and the color in that shot. The whole episode was fantastic. So I pulled a high-resolution image and had it printed."

"Episode? It's from a show?"

He looked back at her. "Yeah. 'Sonnie's Edge' from 'Love, Death, & Robots' on Netflix. Have you seen it?"

Amber shook her head.

"We should watch it sometime and see if you like it. The show is a bunch of animated short stories with some fantastic storytelling and cutting-edge graphics. It covers some pretty deep subject matter too though. Some are pretty violent, including that one." He nodded at the picture.

"That's fine. I'm okay with that. Sounds intriguing." She glanced back up at the picture.

"Cool. Anyway, one more room to go." He led her out of the office and down one more door. It opened into another master suite similar to the one on the other end of the house. The walls were a pale sage that contrasted nicely with the dark timbers framing a sunken ceiling. A queen-sized bed on the opposite wall had been neatly made and three large windows ran along the right wall. It was dark out, but, based on the orientation of the floorplan, she suspected they looked down towards the area natural area between the house and the pool.  As they walked in, Spencer opened a door in the left wall and said, "the bathroom is in here if you want to drop your stuff off. And the closet is passed that. Make yourself at home."

Amber stepped in and her eyes widened. The bathroom was not huge, but the quality craftsmanship was abundant. The theme of stone and wood continued from the rest of the house. A stone counter sat under the mirror on the left while linen storage and a window were on the right. On the far right corner, a slate-tiled shower sat darkly, its glass door framed in a tiled arch. To the left of the shower, another door opened into a closet.

Amber set her bag down on the counter and turned towards Spencer. "I love your house. It's so gorgeous."

"Thanks," he said with a half-smile. "Though not as gorgeous as you."

Amber blushed slightly and leaned in to kiss him briefly on the cheek. "Ahh, thanks."

"So," Spencer said, "I was thinking we could just wash up and then head to bed and maybe snuggle up and watch a movie or something. I know you said you were tired. And I'm tired too."

Amber nodded. "Yeah, I'd like that." 

As she began pulling out her toiletries, Spencer opened the cabinet behind the door and pulled out a towel and washcloth. "Here you go. I'm just going to grab my PJs from the closet and then you can have your privacy." He stepped past her and went into the closet, coming out with a bundle of fabric. He glanced around as if a bit unsure. "So..., uh, yeah, I think that's it. Feel free to put your stuff wherever and, umm, let me know if you need anything." He then went out into the bedroom and closed the door.

Amber stripped out of her clothes and realized they did smell a bit smokey from the barbeque. She then began to clean herself up and take care of all her hygiene needs. When she was done, she reached into her backpack and pulled out an item of clothing. Yep, glad I packed you along, she thought as she pulled it over her head. She then stepped out into the bedroom.

Spencer was sitting on the edge of the bed checking his phone. He had changed into a pair of flannel pajama pants, but his chest was bare. A hint of pine emanated from a lit candle sitting on the nearby nightstand. He put the phone down on the charger and looked up, his eyes widening. "Oh, wow!" was all he was able to manage.

"You like it?" Amber asked, looking down at her new forest green satin camisole. "I just got it the other day with Kat. She talked me into it."

Spencer stood up and reached over to caress the fabric at her waist. "Yeah, it's kind of a 'cute sexy'." At the slight pressure, Amber shivered and felt that familiar twinge in her lower gut. "Well, that and you're only wearing your underwear. For what it's worth, I strongly support your shopping trips with Kat. She's a good influence."

Not always! Amber smiled again. "Well, it just seemed like a good choice for cuddling at your house for the first time."

"Heh," Spencer smirked. "Make yourself comfortable. I'll be out in a minute." He passed by her and closed the door behind him.

Amber turned the lights off, sat down on the bed, and waited, the sounds of a typical evening routine permeating the door. The sheets were smooth and the mattress quite comfortable. As he opened the door, she lay down along the bed, her head propped up on her right palm. "I've changed my mind," she said huskily as he came into the room.