by Piper Frost
“Sorry,” is the first thing he blurts and it’s nice he’s finally using some manors. But the way they stare at each other makes me want to take him all the way home. “I’m Sutton.” Standing, he brushes off his hands.
I’m about to interrupt but she seems to want to talk to him so I walk back over to the ropes, keeping an eye on him every now and again. They stand next to the pen and talk the entire time I'm working. She kind of looks like Paige so I know she’s a Kenshaw and if her daddy caught her giggling like she is, I don’t think he’d like it much. But my brother’s finally stopped being a dick, so I don’t interrupt them.
When the sun starts to go down, Sutton walks up to me. “Can we leave yet?”
I look around for the girl he’s been talking to for the past few hours. “Yeah. Who was that?”
“Her name’s Leena.” He shrugs.
“Y’all hit it off,” I mention, cleaning up.
“She was okay, but she’s Kenshaw.”
“They’re all Kenshaws, Sutton. They’re normal people,” I mumble and he snickers.
“Yeah right.”
I roll my eyes, biting my tongue from telling him our dad’s wrong, ‘cause he’ll go back and tell my dad I said it. Not because he wants to get me in trouble, but because he’s confused. He believes everything my dad tells him, ‘cause we were raised that way, but I know everything my dad says isn’t true. Hell, most of what he says isn’t true. So Sutton wants to believe me, but was raised to believe my dad no matter what. He’s confused and shit got bad at home. That’s why I didn’t want to move out when I did, but I didn’t really have a choice. Even if I told my dad to fuck off, I’d still be moving out, or he would have beaten me to death.
I go looking for Mr. Kenshaw, but find Paige first. “Hey, you save the animals today?” I smile at her even though that was lame to say.
Sutton groans, hanging a few feet back but I don’t bother turning to look at him because he’ll just embarrass me.
“May have.” She grins and shrugs. “Definitely got to hang with some cute baby goats, so I can’t complain.” She pulls her hat off and reaches to her tiptoes to place it on my head and giggles. “I like you in a cowboy hat. If you’re gonna be working here you need to get yourself one.”
“I don’t know.” I chuckle and adjust her hat that’s too small for me. “I’m more of a baseball hat kind of guy.” Smiling, I try not to think about why I hate cowboy hats as I take it off and put it back on her head. “But you’re cute in it.” I let my eyes scan down to her boots and my smile gets wider.
Her eyes shine and she bites her lip, adjusting it back on her head. “I know.” She spins and heads back for the house. “You comin’ in for somethin’ to eat? My grandma makes a killer spread every Saturday night,” she calls behind her with a shake to her ass that wasn’t there earlier when she was walking towards her dad.
Even though I want to follow that shake until it stops, I say, “No. Uh, we gotta head back to my aunt’s. I gotta shower. We still hanging out tonight?”
“Yep!” She turns and starts walking backwards. “We usually meet up at the lake around nine after the sun’s gone down. You want to come here and we can go together?”
“Can I just meet you there?” I don’t want my brother around here anymore.
Her face falls but she hides it quickly. “Yeah sure. I’ll uh... I’ll have Gray text you directions. It’s pretty easy. Thanks for the help today, I know my dad appreciated it. I’ll see you tonight.”
“Hey, Paige.” I jog up to her. “Where is your dad? I’d like to thank him and let him know I’m gonna head out.” I keep my eyes on hers even though it looks like her tank top is a lot lower than it was earlier.
“In the barn probably finishing up with Tommy. He should be heading this way soon, it’s dinner time and he knows not to be late to dinner.” She giggles and nods across the field. “There’re my other siblings now.” I turn and see a few other kids racing across the field and grin then look back at her. She’s rolling her eyes. “You may want to go before you get bombarded with questions. They're not near as chill as I am.”
I don’t bother mentioning Leena and my brother seem to like each other, I just smile at her, trying to walk away. “Yeah. Okay. Cool.” I nod, still staring at her until she laughs. “I’ll see you later.” I laugh and force myself to walk away.
“I’ll see you later,” Sutton mocks me. “You’re so lame, Fen. That girl probably has like six boyfriends and you’re all.” He starts making annoying noises and flailing his hands around.
“Stop,” I grumble, shoving him away from me. “Go sit in the car. I’ll be right there.” I walk into the barn and take a deep breath. “Excuse me, sir,” I interrupt her dad and Tommy. “I was going to head on out if that’s okay?”
Mr. Kenshaw looks up before telling Tommy he’ll be back. He heads towards me and clasps my shoulder as he walks us out of the barn. “You enjoy today, son?” he asks as we stop just outside the barn doors.
“Yes, sir. Thank you for giving me this opportunity. I’d like to come back if you’ll have me.” I don’t want to come back, not that I minded the work, but I don’t want to come back here.
“I think we can make that happen.” He finally smiles at me. “Five thirty every Saturday morning, you and Gray can start in the fields if that works. Work until practice, then week nights we can play it by ear around your schedule. Pretty much if Grey’s working you’re free to come with him. Sound good?”
“Sounds great. Thank you.” I push on a smile and extend my hand.
He shakes it with a force that’s meant to tell me he’s in charge and probably warn me about staying away from his daughter. Mr. Kenshaw’s not a stupid man. It makes sense that he’d raise such good kids like Gray and Paige.
“Mr. Kenshaw,” I say before he walks away and when he turns back, I accidentally rub the back of my neck. I flinch slightly ‘cause that would get me hit at home, but I remember this isn’t my dad and I stand up straight. “Sir, uh, Gray...he uh, he was thinking...maybe.” I rub my neck again. “I was considering asking Paige to the dance and just want your okay first. Unless she has a date, but I didn’t ask yet. Ya know, if that’s okay?”
His eyebrows are on the top of his forehead by the time I quit rambling. When he looks me square in the eyes and clenches his jaw, I feel like I’m about an inch tall. Then he cracks a grin and a chuckle comes out of him. “I like you, Fenton Sterling.” He nods. “And I think you’re a good kid with a level head on his shoulders.” He clears his throat and steps closer to me. “That being said, I think it goes without saying she’s got a lot of people in this town looking out for her. So sure, try to ask her out. From my knowledge she doesn’t have a date...but I don’t think you need me to warn you about hurting my daughter.”
“Just friends at a dance, sir,” I assure because I don’t want him to get the wrong idea. I may like her, but we won’t be more than friends. “Thank you. See you Saturday.” I nod my head three times before jogging off.
***
I follow the light of a bonfire and take the path toward what I’m assuming is the lake.
“Just hang by me,” I tell Sutton and he rolls his eyes.
We get out and I look around, spotting Gray, but I keep looking around until I see Paige. When my eyes land on her, a smile hits my face but I head toward Gray and the other dudes.
“Hey.” I nod as I approach.
“Hey, man, I’ve got guys for you to meet.” Gray pulls me over to the group of guys he’s talking to and holds his beer out, silencing them. “Boys, this is Fenton and he’s taking our team to state this year.” Gray makes a dramatic gesture towards me then starts pointing out the other guys standing around. “Fenton, this is Bobby Hart, junior varsity football team captain and kickass cousin of yours truly. Then there’s Cooper, Dean, and over by the fire throwing on more wood is Ammo. He’s crazy, don’t fuck with him.”
I chuckle, having met a few of them in school already a
nd Gray knows that. “How many have you had to drink, man?”
“Enough.” He laughs. “Anyway, I knew you hadn’t met Bobby yet and he’s awesome, so that’s all that matters.” He takes a long swig from his bottle. “You want one?”
“Uh.” I stare at his beer. I’ve drank plenty of times, but I have to drive my aunt’s car back to her place tonight.
“I do,” Sutton speaks up and I huff, but when he steps forward, someone hands him a beer. I don’t want to embarrass him or cause a scene so I don’t say anything, I just take the one handed to me.
“Thanks. That’s my kid brother. Sutton.”
The guys mutter greetings and the guy who was putting wood on the fire walks up. “Sup.” He nods to me and I do the same. “Kenshaw, where’s your sister? I think I’m gonna ask her to homecoming.” He glances around and I step forward, but remember I didn’t ask her yet so I can’t say anything.
“She’s gonna turn you down just like she has every other guy that’s asked her, dude.” Gray laughs and I look at him confused because he said no one’s asked her yet. But when he looks over at me equally confused, I cock my eyebrow in question. “And I don’t know where she is. Maybe she ran back to the house for something.”
I glance around and spot her, but I’m not going to point her out. If she’s turned down other guys, she’ll probably turn me down too, but I told Gray I’d ask her, and I already asked her dad’s permission. I keep quiet and drink my beer, glancing back for my brother but I see he’s already wandered away and he’s hanging out with a group of girls. When the guys break out a beer bong, I try to say no but that’s not happening so I drop to my knees and let them pour two beers down my throat. Coughing and laughing, I stand and stumble to get away from them.
“I’m good,” I tell them when they try to call me back. “I gotta find my brother.” I head toward Sutton but spot Paige so I make a turn, walking up to her with three beer’s worth of liquid courage in my gut. “Hey, Paige.” I smile at her then nod to the two other girls I know by face but not name.
“Hey, Fenton.” She smiles and giggles when one of the girls whispers something to her. “Hey, nice beer bong-ing. That’s impressive.”
“You were watching me?” I laugh and rub the back of my neck.
“Always.” She shrugs and takes a drink of her beer and the girls next to her chuckle in a girly way that tells me they talk about me, and I like that as long as Paige is involved. “Wanna take a walk?”
“Yeah. Hey, you want to go to homecoming?” I blurt at her before we walk away and the other two girls start to laugh. “Sorry,” I quickly say because that was too loud and aggressive and I feel like an ass.
She plants her hands on her hips and looks at me with a smirk on her face. “You want to take me to homecoming? Or my brother wants you to take me to homecoming?”
I cock my head. “I do?” I’m not sure what she’s asking me here. “I already asked your dad and he said it’s fine by him.”
“You asked my dad!” she shrieks and the girls laugh louder. Huffing she grabs my hand and pulls me away from the giggle crew. “I... Oh my god, I can’t believe you asked my dad.” She laughs. “Was he mad?”
“Uh.” I rub the back of my neck with my free hand and glance at her, not sure if she’s upset I asked her dad. “No. Not really. He said I was free to ask you. Should he be mad? Are you mad?”
She laughs. “I’m not mad at all. I’m confused. You don’t have to ask me because my brother told you to. He said he was going to talk to you. That makes me seem so...” she growls. “So pitiful. I’m going to kill him!”
“Hey.” I stop her from walking. She’s not pitiful at all. “That’s not what this is about. He mentioned something about it, but I’m not asking for your brother. That’d be weird.” I chuckle and look down from her blue eyes piercing into me. “I’m asking ‘cause I want you to go to homecoming with me. As friends. But a date.” I shouldn’t have said that, but we’re friends.
She nods and searches my eyes. “As friends,” she mutters. “I mean yeah. Sure. Totally as friends.” She steps closer. “I’ve never had a...friend take me to a dance before.” Another step toward me almost makes us touch. “It should be a fun time.”
“But a date,” I say, my eyes dropping to her lips momentarily. “We’ll have to dance together at least once.” I smile and look at her lips again.
“I think I can handle that.” She licks her lips. “I like the sound of a date. Like a real date?”
“What’s your definition of a real date?” Looking into her eyes, I like how easy it is to talk to her.
She never looks like she’s judging me or expects too much. I’m not sure if she makes everyone this comfortable, but she’s the first person I’ve been comfortable around in awhile. Reaching up, I push the hair from her lip and tuck it behind her ear. I need to back off, but liquid courage is making me more courageous than I really am.
“Well from what I’ve read, dates consist of dinner, too. So you gonna take me out to dinner before this fancy dance?” She doesn’t step back like she should. But neither do I.
“We can do dinner. I’ll even get you one of those flower things.” I point to my chest. “Ya know? The flowers. A corsage?”
She giggles and it makes the hair stand up on the back of my neck as I envision her giggling like that when I touch her. “That’d be cool. So it’s a date, then.” The smile on her face seems set and that makes my already hardening dick get harder. I’m so turned on by how sweet she is, I’m having a hard time controlling getting a boner at a bonfire. Her brother would probably kick my ass if someone saw this shit.
“Cool.” I keep my eyes on her lips and start to lean down. It doesn’t have to go beyond a kiss, but I at least want my lips on hers.
“Paige!” someone yells and I quickly step back. “Me and you. Homecoming!” he calls our way and I look over to see it’s Gray’s friend Ammo. She looks at me like I’ll tell him he’s too late, but I keep my mouth shut. “You owe me anyway.” The way he grins makes jealousy race through me and I glare at him.
Owe him what? And why?
“I don’t owe you shit!” The left side of her mouth curves into a grin. “I’ve already got a date,” she hollers. Her eyes don’t leave mine as her grin turns into a full-blown smile.
“Who?” he asks in disbelief. “And tell them you can’t ‘cause you’re goin’ with me. I already cleared it with your brother. You know I can’t show up alone or Sage will talk shit and think I'm still hung up on her.” He’s still yelling from at least twenty feet away but the fact no one is paying attention makes me realize these two must be kind of close if this is normal.
“You’re too late.” Her voice falls and she rests her hand on my arm. “Fenton’s taking me.” She giggles then whispers, “I can’t stop smiling.”
I want to react to her but I can’t take my eyes from Ammo. When he realizes she means me, he starts walking toward us. I stand up to my full height and get ready for him to fuck with me. I’d rather not fight him but it seems like that’s what he’s looking for.
“Fenton?” He points to me, his eyes on mine.
“Yeah?” I turn to face him.
“Shit, dude. Why didn’t you tell me you were goin’ with her back there? Didn’t you hear me talkin’ to Gray about it? You coulda said she’s your girlfriend or somthin’.” He looks annoyed but I don’t care. He called her my girlfriend.
“We’re going as friends, asshole,” she jabs, stressing the word friends. “I wouldn’t have gone with you anyway. You know my rule. You’ve dated one of my friends. That’s a no-go zone.”
“It wouldn’t be a date, Paige. Just you doin’ me a solid. But whatever.” He sizes me up once before looking at her again. “Next time speak up,” he says to me and we stare at each other a minute before he starts to walk away. Thankfully. I can hold my own but I don’t need attention on me and causing bad blood between me and the Kenshaws.
“Everything okay over here?
” Gray walks up, looking between the three of us.
“QB here is takin’ your sister to the dance,” Ammo says, his eyes on me.
I look at Gray, annoyed Ammo interrupted me and Paige, but now I feel under attack and I don’t know what to say that won’t cause trouble between us.
“Nice.” Gray walks over and fist bumps me then looks at his sister and grins. “Congrats, little sis.”
“I’m going to hurt you,” she says like she’s trying to sound evil but it just comes out cute.
Gray smiles wide. “So you two joining our group, then? I think we’re all meeting here beforehand.”
Paige looks at me for the answer.
“Uh, I was gonna take her to the city for some food first.” I glance from her to Gray and notice Ammo roll his eyes before he walks away.
“Oh man.” Gray chuckles. “Wow, so like a real date then?” He nods, his eyes moving from me to her before he takes a swig of his beer. “Alright. Cool.”
“He asked dad already,” Paige blurts. “So it’s all cool. Not a secret or anything.”
“Good. Good, man.” He pats my shoulder. “Come on, let’s get you another beer.” He looks at his sister as he pulls me away from her.
I reach back and grab her hand, not wanting to leave her so far away from the group. I don’t think Gray realizes she’s at my side with her hand locked in mine while he wraps his arm over my shoulder and starts talking about football. When he keeps walking past her friends, I let her hand go, giving her the option to bail. Her hand grips mine tighter and she tucks her body closer to mine as we keep walking. Gray goes for more beer and I sit on the ground next to an open log before looking up at Paige, wondering if she’ll sit. With that pretty smile still sitting on her lips, she takes the log, resting her bare legs next to me before moving her hand to the back of my head and rubbing slow circles on my neck.