My Sweet Canadian Girl Ch. 03

"It's just past ten," I said noticing her wince as she sat up. "I brought you a bottle of water and you can have some of these if your head hurts," I said holding out the painkillers to her. Spinning in my chair I rolled over to the bed and handed them to her.

"Thank you," she said forcing a smile through her own hangover. "And thank you for last night. I had a great time from what I remember." She drank half her bottle of water with her pills and crawled under the blankets.

"Want some company?" I asked with a grin.

"Oh Rick I'm in no shape for sex yet," she said looking guilty for turning me down.

"Neither am I but I can still hold you," I said.

"You can hold me whenever you want my love," she said leaning back into me as I got in behind her.

We spent another hour in bed planning our day. The plan was to visit my college in the afternoon walking around campus so I could show her where I'd spent the last four years of my life. When we got back, she was going to help me get some things packed for the next few weeks. Tonight I was going to cook her a romantic dinner at home but refused to tell her what we'd be having. We went over what we remembered of last night and between the two of us we pieced the night together reasonably well. I was sure Miguel had ended up with both women last night because a good friend like him deserved to live a fantasy like that. Cassie said he would have ended up with Anita alone We made a bet with the loser owing the other a sensual massage before bed.

I took a shower first planning to go to the grocery store after and get what I needed to cook dinner. While I was gone Cassie was going to take a soothing bath in the tub that was now clean enough to soak in. I asked if there was anything she wanted to eat while I was out but just the thought of food yet threatened to make her sick. Before leaving I checked to see what we already had on hand and carefully made a shopping list to avoid forgetting anything. Cassie liked to drink diet Pepsi so I added that to the list too and made a note to buy a dessert because I hadn't learned any in my cooking classes yet.

When I got back Cassie has just finished her bath. I joined her in my bedroom and stared at her waiting for her to take her robe off. She smiled at me and shook her head as she proudly bared her body to me. I could look at her for hours and never get bored of her exquisite form. It was a warm, sunny day but she dressed in jeans that hid her knee scar from view. I wished she wouldn't worry about what other people thought of it but I knew it bothered her and didn't say anything. Downstairs I got her the glass of juice she wanted from the fridge to prevent she wouldn't see what I had bought for dinner.

None of the guys were up yet though there was a pair of strange shoes in the front entrance. Cassie noticed them right away and smiled at me. I wasn't foolish enough to tell her I thought they might have been hers when I first saw them and was proud of myself for knowing when to keep quiet for change. Again Cassie asked me to drive and said I'd probably need to stop for gas as she dug in her purse for her credit card. When she looked up and saw the tank was full she scolded me for filling it up for her before telling me how sweet it was.

I parked near the middle of campus. That allowed us to start the tour walking one big circle but if she got bored or tired we'd be reasonably close to the car regardless of where we were. As we started our walk I took her in a big loop to cover the places I knew best. We went by the athletic facilities, the student recreation center, and the library. I saved the business school were I'd taken the majority of my classes for the past year and the bookstore where I could buy her a souvenir until the end because they were right next to each other.

"So this is where you took most of your classes?" she asked as we entered the business school. There were quite a few students around the building studying for finals in little groups to keep each other company. I didn't run into anyone I recognized from my classes, but they were done with exams like me and had no reason to be there.

"Yeah four whole years in this place," I said looking around. It didn't seem like it until I stopped to think back and wondered where the time had gone.

"Look there's your name," she said pointing to the wall as we walked the halls. "Richard G. Kellogg. You made the Dean's List as a freshman," she said smiling proudly at me.

"That was a long time ago," I said trying to pull her past the others before she could see too much and starting asking questions that I didn't want to answer.

"You made it every year," she said reading my name. "Richard G. Kellogg and again Richard G. Kellogg. It says you're an honors student too."

"Does it?" I said feigning ignorance.

"Yes it does. Those job offers you turned down, they were for good positions weren't they?" she said looking at me with a serious expression. She looked hurt that I would have tried to hide my academic success from her but it was much easier that way.

"No," I said shaking my head.

"You must be near the top of your class they had to be good jobs," she said already showing signs of guilt instead of the anger I feared. The guilty look on her face made me feel just as bad though. Damn I'd been stupid to take her to this part of the building.

"They're not good jobs because they're not close to you," I said.

"This makes me feel horrible. We should at least look into staying here or moving to California or wherever you have job offers," she said.

"Cassie everything you want is in Vancouver. Your friends, your family, and the job you've always wanted," I said.

"What about you?" she said looking glassy eyed.

"Vancouver has everything I want too. It has you," I said.

"Oh Rick you're unbelievable," she said shaking her head in wonder. "I promise to do everything I can to make sure you never regret making this sacrifice for me. I have one more question though."

"What is it?" I asked.

"What does the G stand for?" she asked smiling. She'd been trying to get my middle name out of me for a while but I kept it secret up until now. I knew hers was Helene, after her father's grandmother who had passed away a few weeks before she was born. Now that she knew the first letter I felt like there was no point in hiding it any more.

"Gordon. It's my father's name so don't mention it around my mother. I think if you look closely on the first one you can see where she tried to scratch it off," I said.

"That's why you didn't want to tell me. I promise not to mention it when I meet your mom," she said. "I like it though," she added with a bright smile. "It's a popular name in Canada."

Disaster avoided, I led her out of the building before we could run into someone who knew me and might say the wrong thing. Crossing the street I took her to the bookstore next. Showing her around I told her to pick out a shirt for herself my treat. She picked out a pink tank top with our duck mascot on it but I insisted on getting her a classic green hoodie with yellow Oregon lettering too. Cassie spotted stuff for kids and picked out a cute little t-shirt for her nephew Matthew. I took it and paid for it along with the shirts for her despite her protests. Hopefully once we were living together she'd stop making such a big deal about it when I bought something for her.

By the time we got home after stopping for a late lunch the strange shoes were gone. Cassie wanted to give her roommates a call and rushed upstairs to use her phone. None of the guys were up yet or they could have been studying. I waited downstairs for Cassie until she came back down. She was relieved after talking to the girls. Her parents would sometimes stop by on the weekend if they came down to Vancouver but they hadn't been there today. They were ready with a cover story for her but she'd rather they didn't have to tell it. I didn't ask what was going to happen if they dropped in unannounced someday and found me living there.

We started packing up some of the things in my room focusing on my clothes and other essentials for now. It was amazing how much stuff I had accumulated after living in the same house since sophomore year. A lot of it I was planning to give away or throw out but it was quickly becoming apparent that I'd need to rent a truck to get the rest of my belongings up to Vancouver. I asked Cassie what her bed in Vancouver was like and she told me it was a single. That meant we could really use mine but there was no way to take it with us in her compact car. Another thing I worried about was the amount of space in her apartment. Cassie explained that Jana had accepted a job in her hometown of Red Deer, Alberta and was moving back there after graduation. It would be just us and Lei with plenty of storage space in Jana's old bedroom after she left. Once I had two suitcases and some boxes packed with everything I'd needed for the next few weeks we went downstairs for a drink and a break. Miguel and Tim were there but Greg was still upstairs sleeping off the partying from the night before.

"Hey guys," Cassie said with her usual warm smile. "Which one of you had the slumber party last night?"

"That would be our Brazilian stud here," Tim said looking at Miguel.

"Who was it? Rick and I made a little bet. I said you'd end up with Anita and he said both of them," Cassie said. "There was only one pair of shoes but if it was Wendy I'll declare him the winner."

"You were right Cassie," he said. "Thanks so much for introducing her to me." I could see from Tim's reaction that Miguel wasn't telling the whole story.

"I'll be collecting that massage tonight Rick," she said laughing as she went back upstairs for the can of diet Pepsi she'd forgotten to bring down.

"Why did you say that?" Tim asked.

"Because I wanted Cassie to win," he said looking at me with guilt. "Without her I wouldn't have gotten either one of them," he said glancing towards the stairs quickly. "The three of us went back to Wendy's apartment but that's when it got weird," he said in a low voice. "She had toys, lotions, handcuffs, and almost anything you can think of. After bring out one big box she went back to her bedroom saying she'd be back with the good stuff. I turned to look and Anita and she looked scared sober. I grabbed her hand and told her to follow me. We ended up running down the middle of the deserted street laughing until our sides hurt. When we came to an intersection she called a cab. It took a while for it to get there and by the time it did I had convinced her to come home with me by promising I didn't have boxes of freaky toys to use on her."

"Miguel you fucking dog you. Wait until Greg hears about this," I said grinning ear to ear at his good fortune.

"Shhhh... she's coming back," Miguel said. "Thanks again for setting me up with Anita. I'm going to see her again next week when exams are over."

"Awe that so sweet. I'm glad you like her," Cassie said smiling. "If you want to watch the ballgame or something I'll go upstairs and study for a few hours," she said looking at me.

"Sure sweetie," I said taking a kiss from her.

Technically she'd won the bet anyway but I was certain she would call it a draw if I told her the whole story. I kept my silence looking forward to massaging her before bed. We watched the ballgame and finally Greg joined us looking pale after bowing to the porcelain god when he got up. Miguel didn't want to tell Greg the whole story about last night yet in case he let it slip around Cassie so none of us said anything about it. Now that everyone was up I mentioned my dinner plans with Cassie for tonight and they agreed to leave us alone for a few hours.

I went upstairs to check on Cassie as they were getting ready. She looked unbearably cute as I watched her from the doorway. Lying on my bed with her books spread all around she was chewing the end of her pen and kicking her legs. Repeating things back to herself under her breath as she tried to memorize them for her exam, she blushed when she looked up and noticed me. I'd brought her another cold diet Pepsi and told her I was about to start cooking so she wasn't allowed to come downstairs until I came to get her.

Downstairs in the kitchen I started cooking her dinner for the first time. I'd been taking some informal pay as you go cooking lessons and had learned a handful of main courses thus far. The recipes were simple enough for a beginner like me but looked and tasted amazing. For dinner that night I was making roasted pork loin with a diced applesauce, sweet red peppers stuffed with rice, and steamed broccoli with lemon butter. Every time I learned a new recipe, I'd make it for the guys as practice and this one I'd prepared several times. Hopefully I had it down good enough to impress Cassie.

Everything was coming together perfectly as I focused on what I was doing. This was a small way of showing my love and appreciation for everything she'd done for me. When I first met Cassie I kept thinking that a sweet girl like her deserved someone much better than me. Now I was much better than the man she met on the slopes that day and it was all thanks to her. With dinner minutes from completion I set the table, opened a bottle of wine, and lit candles. When it was out of the oven and ready to serve I went upstairs to get her.

"Rick I can't see at all," she said giggling as she clutched my hand.

"Leave it on," I said when she started to tug at one of my ties that I'd used to blindfold her. "The stairs are right here now. Watch your step sweetie but don't worry I won't let you fall."

"Where are they?" she asked probing with her foot and smiling.

"Just one more little step," I said coaxing her along.

"Are you sure? Oh!" she said stumbling a little but with me a step in front of her she wasn't going anywhere.

"Last step now. There you go," I said smiling at her when she made it to the bottom.

"That was fun," she said.

"Follow me now," I said pulling her hand gently. "Okay sit down here but don't take your blindfold off yet."

"This is so exciting," she said touching the table in front of her looking for clues. In the kitchen I prepared a plate for each of us and brought them to the table placing one in front of her before sitting down. "Mmmm... it smells good."

"You can take it off now," I said.

"Oh wow it looks so fancy. You cooked all this for me?" she asked.

"I learned to cook this for you," I said. More and more often the first thing that came to mind was becoming the right thing to say to her.

"Come here," she said pulling on my wrist. When I leaned close she gave me kiss and then a grin that seemed to say she'd make love to me right now, right on the table if I hadn't gone through all this trouble. "You're such an amazing man Richard Gordon Kellogg," she said smiling at me. "I love you."

"I love you too Cassie," I said holding up my wineglass to clink it against hers.

"The food looks delicious," she said studying her plate. "And it smells really good too. I'm beyond impressed."

"You better taste it first," I said making her giggle. I watched her push her fork into the stuffed pepper on her plate and lift some of the rice to her mouth. After that she cut off a little piece of her pork and tasted it too.

"It's really good," she said smiling at me.

"I should have put on more. Here you can have mine or I can cook something else if you want," I said in a high voice meant to mimic hers. It made her laugh just like I hoped.

"Ugh. Was I really that bad?" she asked.

"You were worse but it made me realize how special you are," I said.

We chatted as we ate dinner together and drank just a little wine with hangovers still fresh in or minds. I asked her how the studying was going and she seemed very confident. As great as this weekend with her had been, I'd never forgive myself if it led to her bombing her exam. Once she wrote her last exam she'd be reviewing hospital procedure manuals and other materials specific to her department in preparation for her weeks of orientation. They couldn't officially hire her until she got her grades back but even a relatively poor mark on her final test wouldn't stop her from getting the job.

When we'd finished eating Cassie proclaimed it the best dinner she'd ever had. I called her bluff and she reconsidered for a moment before calling it the best dinner a man had ever cooked for her instead. I told her there was dessert yet when she stood up ready to rush upstairs to my bedroom by the looks of it. Sitting back down she waited for me to return with two slices of cherry cheesecake. She was amazed that I'd cooked it, but I admitted it was store bought. It tasted good either way and she ate her whole piece saying she really shouldn't. I told her a few extra pounds wouldn't hurt and she blushed. The exercise routine she'd gotten into while rehabbing her knee was a habit that stuck with her, though she admitted she didn't push herself as hard as she used to. She wasn't on the cusp of being a world-class athlete anymore but with her fantastic body she still looked the part.

After we finished our dessert, I told her to leave the dishes where they were and took her upstairs. Cassie headed for the bed with me in tow before I even had a chance to close the door behind us. I stopped and went to my CD player putting on one of The Hip CDs I bought for myself since returning to Oregon. Once I put on the song we danced to the night before I left her in Whistler I didn't even have to ask her to join me. Opening my arms to let her step close, I held her and whispered my love for her as we danced to our song.

That last night together in Oregon our lovemaking was full of tenderness. Cassie started to cry as we made love and told me she'd always feel bad for taking me away from my home. I kissed away her tears and told her it was my job to make her feel so good that it was impossible to feel bad. Inside I felt a little sadness too but I didn't let it show yet. Tomorrow I'd be leaving the city that had been my home for four years, the house that I'd lived in for the last three, and the friends who would be mine forever. It hurt, but nowhere near as much as leaving Cassie behind in Whistler did that morning our spring break together ended.

Before getting under the covers she lay down on top of them and looked over her shoulder with a grin. I gave her a puzzled look until she reminded me of the massage I owed her for losing our bet. Though I tried to look miffed over losing our bet I'm sure she could easily tell how happy I was to run my hands over her naked body. By the time I was done she was completely aroused again. Lifting her hips, she beckoned me to make love to her again and I took her from behind gently until we both came.

Afterwards she was lying half on top of me like she did after sex letting me stroke her hair. I laughed as she snuggled closer and said it was good practice for her single bed back in Vancouver. She gave me a good night kiss and closed her eyes to drift off to sleep. I couldn't get to sleep myself though because I worried about moving in with her. I knew it was the right decision and Cassie knew it too, but convincing some of the people in our lives was going to be a different story.

***

Initially I planned to end this chapter with part of the story from their arrival in Vancouver but it ended up being too long that way. This seemed like better place to stop for now. I hope you've enjoyed the story so far and will continue to read the following chapters. Look for the next one soon.