“You don’t?” I asked, afraid that Payton may be put out about this. It wasn’t as if he asked for my dad to die, so he could be put in the middle of an awkward situation with my brothers.
“No, of course not. But I have to ask, do they do this with all the guys you date?”
My face reddened. All the guys I date? I laughed nervously. “What do you mean?”
“You know, your boyfriends.”
I looked at Payton and then waited a moment before I spoke. “You’re serious?”
“Well yeah.”
“Pay, I haven’t dated anyone…ever.”
Payton looked at me as if he were in shock. “What about prom?”
“Skylar Johnson?” I asked, laughing softly. “Pay, you do know that he is gay, right?”
“What?” he asked, his ears turning a bright shade of red.
“Uh, yeah. He knew for a long time, too, so yeah I don’t think my brothers or my dad, for that matter were concerned.” I laughed as I tried to picture my dad giving me the talk while thinking of Skylar Johnson.
“What about Bill Freeman?”
“Oh my God! Bill Freeman?”
“Yeah, what’s so funny?” Payton reached for my hands and I held them out.
“Bill was Seth and Jack’s friend, and he was also the only guy I knew that would take me to Homecoming.”
Payton shook his head. “What about me?”
“What about you?” I asked, unsure of what he was talking about.
“Me, Keri. I’ve been here this entire time.”
“You liked me liked me in high school?” I couldn’t even imagine the possibility. It was hard to think of it really, knowing the amount of times that Payton and I hung out in this tree fort.
“Of course I did. I’ve lo…”
My eyes widened, and I felt as if I were trapped in some weird Twilight Zone episode.
“You’ve…?” I asked, bracing myself for what was to come next.
“Nothing, I just…I… I’ve got to get out of here,” Payton said, letting go of my hands. He turned around and started to crawl down the ladder.
“What did I say?” I asked, worried.
“My whole life has been about you,” he mumbled as he climbed down the ladder. He looked at me as he reached the bottom.
“I don’t know what to say, Payton,” I said, quietly, wishing that he would climb back up the ladder so we could talk about this.
“You don’t have to say anything,” he said, and then started to walk away.
I climbed down the ladder and yelled for him as he was halfway to the barn on his parent’s property. “Where are you going?”
“I need to get back to work.”
“Why now? I’m going back to school tomorrow,” I said, freaking out a bit. I have to admit that I’ve gotten used to having Payton to myself again.
“Because, Keri, not everything is about you.”
I know I shouldn’t be this ridiculous, but his words felt like a big slap. I even flinched for effect. He didn’t turn around to look at me, he just kept going, and I felt like something inside of me died. I just stood there, like a total moron, until he disappeared from sight.
I went to the tree fort a few hours later and turned on the lamp. I waited until sunup, falling asleep in the process. When I awoke, he hadn’t shown, and it was the first time that I could recall that ever happening. I felt weird, sad, and really disappointed. I was also super confused. I didn’t know how to have a boyfriend. I didn’t know how to date. I just knew that Payton had been my friend ever since I could remember, and it didn’t feel as if we were friends anymore. And that felt like shit.
Chapter Seven
*The Heart of it All*
I walked into the house and straight up to the bathroom. I stripped down, and got into the shower, turning the hot water on full blast, hoping to chase the chill from my body. The tree house, even though it had walls, and a door that could actually close, was cold as shit in October.
After staying under the spray for several minutes, I got out and dressed. I was leaving at noon, and only had a few hours of Mom and brother time until I had to go.
When I came out of the bathroom, I was accosted by my brother, Seth.
“And where were you all night?”
“In the tree fort.”
“You’re not even going to deny it?” he asked, watching me closely.
“No, what’s the point, you know I was out there. And, besides, it was just me.”
Seth looked at me oddly. “Seriously?”
“Yeah, seriously. So, what’s with you and the girlfriend? It’s serious?”
Seth saw that I hedged, but he took the bait anyway. “Yeah, it’s nice.”
“What’s her name?” I asked, happy that Seth had a serious girlfriend. I never thought I’d see the day.
“Cassie. She’s a senior, too. We met at school.”
“What’s she majoring in?”
“Early Childhood Education. She wants to teach fourth grade.”
I flinched and Seth laughed. “Remember Mr. Heron?” I asked, thinking of the old man and his famous paddle that he had on his desk. It had holes in it that he made himself. It also was filled with the names of the kids that got the board.
“Yeah that guy was nuts. I remember all the boogers on his desk, too.”
“That’s nasty, Seth.” I laughed, as I thought back to elementary school.
“What’s so funny?” Jack asked as he came out of his room. “You just now getting home, Florence Nightingale?”
“Not hardly. We were just talking about Mr. Heron.”
“Ah, old booger nose. Yeah, fourth grade will forever be etched into my mind.” Jack looked at Seth and his eyebrows moved up and down. “Remember Carly Simms?”
Seth laughed and his face turned crimson.
“I’d say he remembers,” I retorted. “So, are you guys ready to go back to school?” I asked, wondering if I was really ready to go back, too.
“Yeah, I’m ready,” Seth replied, “I really miss Cass, and I’m just ready to be done. I can’t miss much more, or I’ll have a rough time with exams.”
Jack nodded. “Yeah, exams are going to suck. I don’t have a girlfriend, so I really don’t care about going back, but I do want to be done in May, so… yeah, I guess I’m ready.”
I thought of Alexis and Todd and smiled. “I’m ready, too. I miss my friends, and I really want to get back.”
“You sound a little too sure of yourself, sis,” Jack commented. “What about your new boyfriend over there?” Jack looked toward the window, and then back toward me.
“He’s not my boyfriend,” I said, and then headed down the stairs toward the coffee maker. “And, I’m not sure if he’s my friend either.”
“What the hell happened last night?” Jack said to Seth.
I could hear Seth say something about how Payton must be a jackass, and then I stopped caring.
***
We all had lunch together one last time before I had to go. The twins weren’t leaving until around six, so they offered to drop me off at the airport, and I agreed, secretly hoping that Payton would just knock on the door already and offer to take me himself. He didn’t.
Mom gave each of us something of dad’s. The boys both got a knife, and I got a picture of dad from when he was a boy. It was one of my favorite pictures of him, and I had wanted it for a while now, but my dad said I couldn’t have it. Apparently it was one of the only copies of this photo that also had his mom and dad in it.
I gave my mom a hug, and she whispered into my ear before she let go. “Go talk to him.”
“I can’t,” I said, quietly. “If he wanted to talk to me, he would have come over.”
“There are two people here,” Mom said. “You be the bigger person and go to him.”
I shook my head, and a few tears came out. It was embarrassing. I swiped at them, and took a deep breath. “I don’t know.”
“I do. Go. You have twent
y minutes until you have to leave. Go talk to him. You’ll regret it if you don’t.”
I nodded, knowing that my mom was usually right about everything. “Okay.”
“That’s my girl.”
I made my way to the tree fort. The light was on, and I hoped that it was because he wanted to talk to me, but he was too chickenshit to make the walk to my house. I started up the ladder and I heard him.
He was crying.
Shit.
I stopped before making the rest of the way up and waited a few moments. I didn’t hear anything, so I peeked my head up. Payton saw me right away.
He swiped at his red-rimmed eyes and took a deep breath.
“I’m sorry,” he said, reaching for me.
I took his hand and he pulled me up the rest of the way. I went straight into his arms and he held me tight. “Me, too.”
“What do you have to be sorry about?” he asked.
“I don’t want you to hate me, Pay.” I put my forehead against his and opened my eyes. The view from this point was a funny one. He looked like cyclops. I smiled.
His lips trembled. “I’m sorry I didn’t stay with you last night.”
“You saw the light?” I asked, feeling stupid. Of course he did.
“Yeah.”
“Why didn’t you come up?”
“I couldn’t. I felt so…pissed off.”
I tensed in his arms, and he squeezed me tighter.
“Not at you. At myself.”
“Why?”
“Because I was too much of a pussy to ask you out in high school, and I’m too much of one now to do the same.”
I never heard Payton utter the “P” word, and it was kind of funny, and oddly sexy, for some reason that I’d have to look up the reason why in a psychology text book later. “Why?” I urged.
“You know why.”
“No, I really don’t. I never would have thought that you’d liked me. We never talked about it. We really didn’t talk about that stuff.”
“Didn’t you ever wonder why?” Payton asked.
I really didn’t think too much about it, but I have to admit a few times I did. Payton didn’t have a girlfriend in high school, but I just figured it was because he was painfully shy or something. Though he was never that way with me, I thought it was just because we had known each other for so long, so it didn’t really matter that he was talking to me.
“How long have you liked me?”
Payton smiled softly as he pulled back a bit to look into my eyes. “Ever since I looked up.”
I swallowed, and I could hear my heart beat in my ears. “What do you mean?”
“I’ve been in love with you ever since I looked up and saw you standing in front of your window.”
I gasped, and he took advantage of the moment by kissing me.
Payton Taylor loved me.
Two hours later I was back up in the air and heading toward Columbus, Ohio. I had a smile on my lips and my eyes closed, and I silently thanked God for the respite. Two weeks ago, I had come home, terrified, and now I was heading back to where I came from sad from my father’s death, but happy about a boy for the first time in my adult life. The mixture of happy and sad was strange. I felt guilty for thinking of Payton, but also relieved that I had something to occupy my mind, other than thoughts of my dad.
When the plane touched down two hours later, I pulled out my cellphone and texted Alexis. She answered right away, and said that they’d pull up to the American Airlines gate within thirty minutes. I then texted Payton:
I’m at the airport now. I’ll call you in a few hours.
*I miss you already.*
I miss you, too. It’s a lot colder here. What are you doing?
*Catching up on my work. Dad’s making me do his chores, too.*
I’m sorry that you have to do that. Will you have a few minutes later to talk?
*I’ll make time. Make sure you call me.*
I will. I have to call Mom now. I’ll talk to you later.
*Okay. Love you.*
I froze at his last text and smiled. I didn’t know how to answer that. Did I love Payton? Sure, I did. But did I love him like that?
“Hey!” came Alexis’s voice. Todd was driving and Alexis was already out of the car and running toward me. “Ohmygod, I missed you so much!”
“I missed you, too!” I said, and squeezed her tight. She laughed.
“Are you okay?” she asked, sad smile in place.
“Yeah. I’ll be okay. It’s hard, definitely.”
“What’s going on here,” Alexis said, gesturing to my face. “You’re different.”
I looked down at my phone and then back to her. She saw the name Payton at the top and the last text. Her eyes widened.
“You better tell me everything!”
I grinned. “I will.”
Chapter Eight
*Penpals*
I waited until Todd left to go to the bathroom before I talked to Alexis about Payton. She already knew about him being my friend, but the whole kissing thing was completely new and needed discussing.
“Holy cow, that’s hot!” she said, as I told her about our first kiss up in the fort.
“Yeah, it was. Now I know why you and Todd are always at it.”
“Wait,” she said, shaking her head. “You haven’t kissed before?”
“No.”
“I can’t believe this! No wonder you were always able to look away from us. I thought we were just gross looking,” Alexis said, laughing.
I shook my head. “No, you two are totally sexy people, I’m just not interested in watching.”
“Yeah, right. If you and Payton were in here getting it on, I’d pop some kettle corn.”
I laughed and swatted Alexis. “You’re ridiculous.”
“What? It’s like live action romance.”
“Yeah, and that’s pretty gross. Trust me, I know, I have this roommate that has a slurpy boyfriend.”
Just then, Todd walked back in and sat down on his and Alexis’s bed. “What did I miss?”
Alexis laughed, and I did, too. It was great being back around happy people. I felt guilty thinking it, but mom and dad’s house was very depressing. I frowned.
“How’s your mom doing?” Alexis asked, picking up on my scattered emotions.
“She’s okay. It’s going to take a while. She’s alone in the house now, and I’m really worried for her.”
“What about your brothers?”
“They’re back in Maine. They had a six o’clock flight.” That reminded me to look at the clock. It was now closing in on eight. I looked down at my cell phone, and then back at Alexis. “I need to call Payton, do you mind?”
Alexis grinned. “No, not at all.”
I laughed. “Could you, maybe, not listen?”
Alexis looked at Todd and she grabbed his hand. “Come on, slurpy, let’s go to your room tonight.”
Todd looked unsure. “But my roommates are there.”
Alexis gave him her best stare, and Todd sighed. “All right.” She then looked at me and grinned.
“Thanks, guys.”
“No problem. You need to tell me everything in the morning. I will be back by ten.”
“I know,” I said, and waited for the door to shut before I pushed Payton’s number.
“Hey,” Payton answered softly.
“Hey,” I said, nervously. It felt odd, talking to him on the phone in this capacity.
“How was your flight?”
I lay back on the bed and pulled the comforter over me. “It was quick. It felt fast…How was work?”
“It was work. How’s your roommate?”
“She’s good. She and her boyfriend are staying at his place tonight.”
“Oh, well that’s good. Is he usually at your place?”
Shit. I didn’t tell Payton about Todd yet. “Yeah, well, he’s my roommate, too, sort of.”
“What do you mean sort of?”
“Well,” I h
edged, “he’s…they’ve been going out for a while, and now he’s staying at our place a lot, so he’s just going to live here now.”
“How well do you know this guy?” Payton asked, his voice sounded somewhat miffed.
“Well, I met him last month. He plays stickball.”
“What the hell is that?”
“It’s this dumb game that you play with sticks and a ball, kind of like hockey, I guess.” I rolled my eyes, and was glad that he couldn’t see me. What the hell did he think stickball was?
“Okay, so that doesn’t really explain how you met.”
“Why does it matter?” I asked, not really getting where this whole stupid conversation was leading.
“Well, it matters, because my girlfriend is living with some guy that she doesn’t know and his girlfriend.”
I smiled and tried to calm my nerves. “Your what?”
Payton took a breath and released it, rather loudly, and then huffed. “My girlfriend?”
“I thought that’s what you said,” I replied. It was so much easier talking to him now. I loved having a boyfriend over the phone. The pressure was off, there wasn’t any way that he could see how red my face was right now, and I sounded brave. I kicked ass.
“Is that okay?” he asked, nervously.
“Of course it is. I like the sound of it. I’m somebody’s girlfriend.”
Payton laughed. “I like the sound of it, too, because the word my goes before it.”
I bit my bottom lip and thought of that last kiss in the tree fort. I sighed.
“What are you thinking about?”
“I’m thinking about that last kiss in the tree fort.”
“I’m thinking about that, too,” he confided. “I’m probably going to replay that moment in my mind a million and one times from now until Thanksgiving, and then after that until Christmas.”
“I forgot all about Christmas,” I said, excited at the prospect. And then I thought about my dad. I was quiet for quite a while after that confession.
“Talk to me.”
“My dad’s gone,” I cried. Tears started coming down fast, and I wondered if this was how my life was going to be. I’d be fine one moment, and then the next I’d be a mess, thinking of all the things that my dad would miss.
The Boy Next Door (Falling for You Book 1) Page 4