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He drops his phone on the mat and his head descends, soft, warm lips touch mine. It sends a zing of intense pleasure through my body, but also a zing of intense confusion because I wasn’t expecting it.
I hesitate for a moment as his large hands span my narrow waist and his thumb pads dance across the surface of my skin. Goose bumps break out across my body and our tongues meet.
It’s so soft and tender, exactly like his touch before. A contrast to the boy who appears in everyday life.
“You’re trembling,” he whispers against my lips after parting a fraction. “Did you think I wouldn’t?”
His words bring my attention to my body and how it’s responding, the racing of my heart, the sweating of my palms, the dire need of the monster lurking inside of me.
“We should go.” I slide out of his grasp and his hands drop to his sides.
“I’ll take you home.”
“Do you want me to do the cycling this time?”
His brown eyes light up with humor. “Reckon you can?”
“Probably not. I don’t know how to ride a bike.”
Those eyes that lit up, lose their sparkle. “What? Seriously? Nobody ever taught you?”
“No.” I watch him dress himself and wonder if everything has changed now. Will he be nicer in school? Will he call off Presley?
He takes my hand as though it’s the most natural thing in the world, turns off the lights, and leads me out into the dark.
It takes me a few moments to adjust despite the stars in the sky.
“I never understood that saying,” I murmur as we clasp palms between us.
“What saying?”
“Stars in the sky.”
He looks up too. “But they are in the sky.”
“No, they’re beyond the sky, far beyond. In the sky is just too confining for something so incredible.”
He hums with thought and we both just keep looking up until we reach the fence.
He kisses me after we both drop to the other side, then he gets on his bike and takes me home as promised. This time he purposely rests his chin on my shoulder and I have a smile on my face all the way home.
“You left your phone behind,” Lane says softly when I walk in, still giddy, five minutes before curfew.
“Sorry, I just kind of left in a rush.”
“It’s okay, just don’t forget again. I tried calling you and when you didn’t answer I panicked. I’m new to this whole parenting thing.”
I smile apologetically. “Won’t happen again.”
“Did you have fun?”
I nod and race up the stairs. “I need to pee.”
“She back?” I hear Stanley ask and then I hear Curlyfry come bounding into the house, claws sliding on the wooden floor downstairs.
“Curly,” I call, patting my thigh and his paws hit the stairs next. He almost tackles me to the ground, making me squeak unattractively. But he makes up for it by waiting for me in the hall as I shower. Then he ruins it by trying to lick my damp shins as I skip across the hall to my room.
Flat dog tongue on bare skin is weird AF. No, thanks.
I lock him out while I put on clean pajamas, then let him in with a stern lecture on how to behave around people and check my phone.
There’s a knock on my door not long later.
“Come in.”
The door opens revealing Stanley, he covers his eyes playfully. “Is it safe?”
“Oh har har, very funny.”
“My name’s Bugs Bunny,” he finishes and confusion sets in. When he sees my face he clears his throat. “Didn’t your mom use to say that to you?”
I tense, pulling my knees to my chest. “I don’t want to talk about that bitch.”
“I can imagine.” He looks away for a moment. “I knew her back in the day.”
“Back in the day?”
“Before you were born, before I got deployed for the second time. Iraq.”
“Is that why you took me in? Out of some obligation to her?”
He steps further into the room and sits on the end of my bed. He looks tormented by something. “I wasn’t good to your mom.”
“Well, let’s call it backwards karma, she had it coming,” I grumble and look back at my phone.
He places a red card on the bed. “I got you a new sim card, unlimited texts and data.”
His gift surprises me. “Why? I haven’t earned my keep.”
“Well, maybe you can come and help out in the shop a little more?”
I smile at the thought. I really enjoyed it in there. The casual banter with his coworkers, annoying Stanley with a myriad of questions. “Can we drive again?”
“Sure.”
I pick up the card that holds my new sim card and smile. “Thank you for having me, Stanley.”
He pats my fluffy foot after hesitating for a moment, and then he leaves, closing the door behind him.
I fix my new sim card into my phone and send a text to all the people I want to have my new number.
