Lex and Lu

by J Santiago

  A pair of arms encircled her waist and she almost jumped out of her skin. “It’s just me,” Pete said.

  Smiling sincerely, Lu turned and embraced him. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered as she hugged him harder. “So sorry.”

  He pulled back and looked at her. “I know. But I appreciate it. How are you?”

  “I’m OK,” she answered honestly.

  “Don’t worry; he’s talking to my mom. You’re safe for a bit.”

  He saw her visibly relax.

  “How are you?” she inquired, feeling remorseful for letting him see her worries rather than letting them go so that she could be there for him.

  “That is a very difficult question to answer. Too many emotions to wrap my head around one.” Drawing her aside, into the bar between the kitchen and dining room, they leaned back on the counter that housed the ice bucket and the open and empty bottles of wine. Because of their location, there wasn’t much hope for a private discussion, which neither of them really had the stomach for. Heads together, they chatted about any inane subject they could think of in an attempt to avoid discussions of death, reunions, and uncertainty. And that was the sight that greeted Lex when he came out of the den with his mother.

  His mom had spent the last thirty minutes giving him the rundown of the events over the next couple of days. Although she attempted to cover her annoyance with his schedule, tension had run through the entire conversation. Annoyed and overwhelmingly tired, Lex wanted everyone out of the house. He had managed to hide from everyone up until this point, but he had aunts, uncles, and old friends waiting to greet him and his mother. He opened the door for his mother and held it for her, allowing her to set the pace through the small gathering of people. He could see how tired she was, and while being with her family provided a soothing balm, she wasn’t up for a long night. Situated at the front of the house, across from the dining room, his father’s den afforded him an unobstructed view of the proceedings.

  As they prepared to leave the sanctity of the den, he bent toward his mother’s ear. “How long can you go?” Glancing at her watch, she looked vaguely surprised. “Tomorrow is going to be a long day. Maybe an hour? I think Amber will be ushering my family out of here in a bit, so we should be able to make that happen.”

  “We’ll make it happen,” he assured her.

  From his vantage point in the doorway of the den, Lex had an open view of kitchen and hallway. Without meaning to, he surveyed the rooms looking for Lu. He didn’t see her at first. Disappointed, he decided that both he and his mother needed a drink. “Want some wine?”

  Grateful eyes met his. “Absolutely. Pinot noir, please.”

  Attempting to take the most obscure way to the bar—not through the kitchen but backtracking through the dining room, Lex turned the corner and stopped as he got his first look at Lu.. The lighting in the bar was dim, but he could make out her features perfectly. Blue-black hair reached midway down her back falling in a straight line without an ounce of wave. Growing up, she had worn her hair either long or short. She would let it get long cut if off for “Locks of Love” and then grow it out again. But when he had left, it was short. She had always been tiny, but now, compared with his six-foot-two frame, her demure height of five foot two left her standing a foot shorter than him. She looked like a pixie, with her delicate features and her big, blue eyes.

  All the angst of seeing her evaporated in the midst of a rainfall of memories. She was what was good about his childhood. She, like his father, had molded him into who he was. Without any hesitation, he moved quickly through the dining room and grabbed her. Wrapping her up in his embrace, he lifted her off the ground.

  “Louisa May Knight, you have no idea how good it is to see you,” he said. Reveling in the feel of her, he noted the changes in her body. She felt delicate but by no means did she feel fragile. Curvier than her sixteen-year-old self, she had filled out in all the right places and his body responded to hers almost immediately. Holding her in his arms, he met his brother’s surprised look with the smile that made Lex Pellitteri Lex Pellitteri. But had he been able to process anything other than what it felt like to hold Lu, he would have noticed Pete’s expression of concern.

  Eight years fell away. Overwhelmed by the feeling of being in Lex’s arms, Lu sighed deeply, breathing him in. His scent was different from the sweaty boy smell she associated with him. His tangy, fresh scent wafted around her and she knew she would forever attempt to remember it. The sinewy feel of him disappeared under the hard-worked muscles he had developed over the last few years. This wasn’t Lex the boy she had known so well. This was Lex the magnificent man whose boyish angles had been traded in and up. Though she felt breathless in his embrace, there was a sense of relief when he set her down. Being in his arms felt too good.

  Lex looked much like she had envisioned when she was a little girl. His dirty-blond hair still sported two very blond spots at his temples. Just as when he was a boy, those spots on his head stood like beacons of his time in the sun. Sprinkled across his nose and cheeks, freckles lent a boyish quality to an otherwise chiseled man. Set perfectly and fringed in amazingly straight black lashes, his green eyes still twinkled with constant mischief and irreverence.

  “God, I am so glad that you are here,” he practically gushed, boyish in his enthusiasm. “I have to go say hello to everyone, and bring my mother some wine, but I want to have some time to talk to you before you leave.”

  “I’m actually headed out soon, but we can catch up tomorrow,” she said, too quickly.

  He looked over his shoulder at her as he poured two glasses of wine. “Absolutely not. I’ll deliver this to my mom and be right back. Don’t leave or I’ll show up at Willa’s in the middle of the night,” he said with a wink before he took off to find his mother.

  Horrified, Lu turned to Pete and said, “I have to go. Can you grab Willa for me and tell her to meet me at the house?”

  Pete, looking dazed, responded slowly, “Lu, you might as well just talk to him now. You know his ass will follow you to Will’s just because he’s Lex. Don’t force his hand on this one.”

  “I can’t, Pete. I just can’t tonight. I’m exhausted and confused. I can’t have a casual conversation with him. I need to fortify myself. Please just tell Will that I’ll be waiting for her.” With that, Lu made a break for the garage door through the kitchen—knowing it was the easiest and quickest way out. She hurried across the well-worn path between their two houses, yanked on their side door, and flew up the stairs to her room, where she grabbed her bag. She headed back downstairs and threw her bag next to the front door. Fighting against the pull of the past, she exited out the back door and followed their porch around to the opposite side of the house. From there, although hidden from view, she could see Willa’s approach.

  Sitting heavily in one of the white rocking chairs, Lu allowed herself a moment to catch her breath. Leaning her head back on the chair, she resisted the urge to rock. The big fat wooden planks groaned and creaked with the slightest movement. Paralyzed by her reluctance to give away her location, she sat stiffly, waiting impatiently, impotently for her sister to make a more graceful exit than she had. With a slight smile she remembered the look on Pete’s face as her panic blew up on him. He had to wonder how she managed to mother his niece when she could barely manage to control her emotions.

  Heaving a wavering sigh, Lu shut her eyes and concentrated on the night sounds all around her. She was searching for some quiet for her overactive mind. But the quiet allowed all of the memories in, and before she could stop herself from going there, Lu was remembering the moment she became friends with Lex. They had never attended the same school. Lex and Pete’s parents had sent them to the Catholic school down the street. Lu had skipped second grade and found herself at the gifted school by the time she entered fifth grade. That move had earned her the nickname Harvard—another moniker from Lex. It was right about that time that Lu realized that Lex was a lot smarter than he let on to everyone
.

  “Hey, Harvard, how was school today? Did you skip any more grades this week?” he had teased. The teasing from Lex was merciless but mostly harmless. On this particular day, though, Lu wasn’t in the mood.

  “Shut up, Alexander James,” she yelled because she knew the use of his full name annoyed him as much as the use of her nicknames annoyed her. “Why can’t you just be normal?” she screamed. God, she mostly hated him, she thought as she took off toward the wooden play set at the back of her yard.

  He juggled his soccer ball, flipping it up into his hand. With his other hand, he grabbed her arm, cocking his head to the side and said, “What exactly is normal?”

  It wasn’t that profound a statement. And being in the snit that she was in, she was surprised when her blue eyes met his green ones and she knew there was a lot more to him than she thought. Shrugging him off, she started to walk away.

  “Come on, Harvard. Whatcha got?”

  She kept walking toward the play set, Lex in tow. They sat up in the fort that day, just talking. Had anyone in the neighborhood seen the two of them, they wouldn’t have believed it. The two became each other’s confidant that day. And from then on, if Lex was in town and didn’t have a game, Lu wasn’t far away. She couldn’t help it as a smile spread across her face, lost in the memory. Distracted.

  It took him approximately twenty minutes to make his way back to the spot where he had left her. But when he got there, both she and Pete had left the bar. Looking around the kitchen, he located Pete but not Lu. Headed on a direct path to his brother, Lex was only waylaid once. He watched, fascinated as he saw Pete attempt to avoid him. He couldn’t figure out what the hell was going on, but he let Pete do his dance because he had spotted Willa engaged in a conversation across the room with her mother. Figuring Lu had fled the scene, he changed directions and headed for the garage.

  He knew exactly where she would be—which struck him as odd. When he rounded the corner of the deck, on the opposite side of the house Lex marveled that it didn’t seem like anything had changed. What was it about coming home that made you feel like you were still the child you were when you left?

  Spotting Lu in the rocking chair, he paused, taking her in. She looked tense, completely upright and stiff in the chair, not moving a muscle, with her eyes closed as if she wanted to shut out the world. But then a smile raced across her face. He wanted to know what brought that smile. So he crept, not really wanting to startle her, to the spot directly in front of her. As he sat down on the hard porch, he studied her. Luminous but guarded, her face caught the moonlight directly, almost an ethereal glow. And even though she smiled, she appeared stressed. He could have watched her forever, but his desire to talk with her overpowered him. So he moved, knowing that it would bring her around.

  Which is how he sneaked up on her. And how she suddenly felt the planks creak and her chair move with the vibration. And how she opened her eyes to find Lex sitting directly in front of her, leaning back on his elbows, with his legs outstretched.

  He cocked his head to the side, his laughing green eyes boring directly into her startled blue ones, smiling that smile. Left eyebrow raised, another Pellitteri trait, he said, “Louisa May Knight, I get the feeling that you are avoiding me.”

  6

  Caught off guard by his appearance and that smile, Lu sat up too quickly, right as the chair rocked back. In an effort to counterbalance the movement, she shifted forward at the wrong moment and found herself thrust upward in the air. Overcompensating, she leaned back. The chair was moving forward and nailed her in the back of the head. She grabbed her head and leaned forward again. But this time there was too much momentum and she found herself landing with a thump, on her knees, between Lex’s legs.

  Head hurting, knees smarting, pride wounded, and nerves fraying, Lu glared at Lex as if he had gotten up and bodily thrown her out of the chair. He looked at her, and although she could see him struggling, trying not to, he burst out laughing. He couldn’t help it. And maybe it was the release he’d needed, because he couldn’t seem to stop. His elbows came out from under him and he fell onto his back, flat and hysterical.

  “Ugh, Alexander James, why do I always manage to have embarrassing moments in front of you?” she couldn’t help but ask, indignantly.

  “Sweetheart, I’ve had a couple of women throw themselves at me, but not nearly as graceful as that,” he managed before the laughter overtook him again.

  Frustrated, and unwilling to give in to the desire to join him in his amusement, Lu smacked his leg. Attempting to disengage herself from him, she started to stand up and move away. But Lex’s long arm shot out, grabbed her wrist, and pulled her down on top of him. For one blissful moment, Lu let herself lie there, one leg on the outside, one leg trapped between his. Her hair splayed over his chest, his right hand finding its way underneath to rest lightly on her back. The heat of his hand on her, him between her legs, his left hand still grasping her wrist—she let it all wash over her. She could have combusted. She felt the heat creep through her body. Then he released her wrist and wrapped his other arm around her. She followed. The deck impeded her arms from fully engulfing him, but she held tight, savoring his warmth and her memories.

  “So, I’m intrigued now, Lu. What other embarrassing things have happened around me?” he inquired, wanting to keep the mood light. He needed light.

  “Right, Lex. Like you don’t know.”

  “I don’t,” he answered in his most innocent voice. “Tell me one, just one.”

  She giggled. God, she thought, I’m like putty. How does that happen to me? “No. I’m not going to relive my embarrassing moments just so you can have another laugh at my expense.”

  “Do you think that maybe it was the fart?”

  Mortified, she struggled to get off of him. But his arms tightened like steel bands. She could feel his laughter rumbling in his chest.

  “We are not having this conversation, Lex.”

  “Come on. I just lost my father. You are supposed to want to cheer me up.”

  “Really? Really? You are pulling the dead-dad card. You are horrible.” Again she struggled to get away, but the struggling started to do things to her body that were completely inappropriate. Ugh, I can’t do this, she thought.

  “Yes, I’m shamelessly using the fact that my father died. What could have been worse than the farting incident?”

  “You are such a bastard,” she said but even she couldn’t help smiling.

  “Oh, I just remembered.”

  “Lex Pellitteri, I swear if you even say it, I promise you I will hurt you.”

  “That day, I remember thinking that it must really suck to be a girl,” he teased. He loved being here with her. She was still so easy to goad.

  “I swear, please, Lex. I am not sure I ever got over that.”

  “Big deal. What’s a little blood—”

  “I hate you,” she said, cutting him off. “This is the problem with growing up next to boys. Please don’t say another word.”

  “Are you blushing, Lu?” he continued. “Lemme see,” he said as he grabbed her upper arms and lifted her up so he could see her face. Sure enough, the blush had crept up her neck and was staining her cheeks. He miscalculated, though. Seeing her like that, so beautiful and fresh, actually blushing from embarrassment about an incident that happened thirteen or fourteen years ago, bowled him over. And suddenly the mood wasn’t light anymore. I want her, he marveled. Before he could think any more about it, he pulled her up so that his lips could meet hers.

  It was merely a quick meeting of their lips. Not really even a kiss. But Lu pulled away from Lex so quickly that he had to wonder if she had a boyfriend, a significant other person in her life.

  “Don’t, Lex,” she pleaded as she tried to disentangle herself. “Please let me up.”

  Reluctantly, Lex let go of her, allowing her to crawl off of him. He closed his eyes, lying prone on the porch, trying to figure out how he had misplayed that. He rolled over qui
ckly and stood up. He walked over to grab another rocking chair from the front of the porch, angling it so that they could both sit and talk. Feeling the past thirty-six hours zing through his body, he sat wearily and patted the arm of the chair next to him.

  “Take a seat. Willa will be here in a bit. She’s helping clean up.”

  They both smiled, knowing Willa was hating that.

  “Great. She’ll be in a pleasant mood on the ride home,” Lu observed as she sat, albeit unwillingly.

  “You never answered my question.”

  Puzzled, Lu drew her brow together. “What question?”

  Smirking, he said, “Are you avoiding me? Why were you hiding out over here?”

  “Two.”

  “Huh?”

  “That was two questions.”

  “Lu, I’ve been up for almost two straight days and my dad died yesterday. At least I think it was yesterday. I’m not in the mood to play word games.”

  Acknowledging his comment with a nod, she leaned back in her chair. “I’m not avoiding you.” Shrugging, she continued. “Willa and I were trying to get out of here so we could get some sleep. It’s been a long couple of days for everyone. And the next two are probably going to be even more trying.”

  Although skeptical, he accepted her logic. Before he’d seen her talking to Pete, he hadn’t been itching to spend any time with her either. He hated to admit he was sorry that she didn’t seem to feel the same compulsion he did. She hadn’t been rocked by the sight of him. He silently acknowledged that he’d been spending too much time with groupies. She wasn’t nearly as impressed with him.

  “I know this will sound trite, but how are you?” he ventured, curious about her.

  She smiled. “I’m good. Things are good.”