Bent

by HB Heinzer

  Julia called Micah to let him know what was going on. He wasn't thrilled with the idea at first, worried that Caleb would start asking questions. He'd been through a lot and Micah wanted to protect him from getting hurt. Once Julia reminded him how he had taken care of Adam when he wasn't much older than Caleb, Micah relented.

  "What was that all about?" Caleb asked when she got off the phone. Julia realized why Micah was concerned. His son didn't miss anything and he knew there was something being said between the lines of the conversation. Julia thought about how to approach the situation for a moment and then told him about her mom leaving them when she was sixteen. She left out the fact that she and Micah were dating at the time. Instead, she told Caleb that Micah had come over to make dinner for her brother when she and her dad worked late. Luckily, it was enough to satisfy Caleb's curiosity and they drove the rest of the way in peace.

  Caleb loaded the grocery bags onto his arms and was waiting on the back deck by the time Julia finished locking the car and checking the mailbox. She showed him to the kitchen and told him he could go relax for a while. When he asked if it would be okay for him to help in the kitchen, she eagerly accepted the help. She hated the veil of secrets but loved having time to see what type of man Micah was by watching how he'd raised his son. As Caleb helped layer the ingredients into a baking pan, he looked relaxed and there was a brightness in his eyes that she hadn't seen before. Whatever was going on, keeping his mind off of his problems was helping. At least for now. She had to remind herself that he didn't know her and it wasn't right to pry.

  Micah rang the doorbell shortly after seven. Julia pulled her hair back into a ponytail as she walked to the front of the house. Her heart melted when she opened the door and saw Micah holding a bouquet of daisies in one hand and a box from her favorite chocolate shop in the other. He brushed his lips across her cheek as he walked through the door.

  She saw him look past her to see if Caleb was within view. He set down the flowers and chocolates, freeing both hands to pull her close. After a lingering kiss he whispered, "Thanks for inviting us."

  Julia opened a bottle of wine to let it breathe and started taking food to the deck. Caleb had asked to eat out there and Julia agreed since it was his night. As she turned to get the garlic bread, Micah was coming through the sliding door with a glass of wine. The two collided, spilling red wine on both of their shirts. They fumbled, apologizing to one another as they tried to clean up the mess.

  "Caleb, go ahead and dig in. I'm going to change and pray this shirt isn't destroyed," Julia called over her shoulder. "Do you have a shirt you can change into? These need to get in the washer before they stain." Micah followed close behind as she walked to the stairwell.

  Micah went to his truck to find a spare shirt while Julia changed and composed herself. She pulled a fresh shirt out of the hamper and hurried to join Caleb outside. She hated that she'd tried to make this great dinner for him and now he was sitting out there eating alone because she and his dad could barely function around one another.

  As she came down the stairs, she saw Micah's hand resting on the banister. Her eyes followed his hand up to a sculpted arm and broad, bare shoulders. It didn't matter that she'd seen him shirtless several times in less than a week, he still caught her breath every time. "No spare." He shrugged, "If you can pre-treat this, I can wash it. It's not a problem."

  "No, we need to get it washed as soon as possible. Trust me, I've wrecked more than a few shirts with red wine." Julia's fingers tingled as they met his so she could take the shirt. "Really, it's not a problem."

  Micah laughed and his mouth curled in a signature smirk, "Drinking problem?"

  "Funny." He doubled over when she punched him in the stomach. After looking down the hall to see his son still sitting on the deck, he pulled Julia from the bottom step and into the living room. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close to him. For a moment, he simply rested his chin on the top of her head. It felt right. As he leaned in to kiss her, Julia turned her head to the side. "Micah, we need to get out to Caleb."

  His grip eased so he was able to look into her pale blue eyes. "Thank you." He leaned in and brushed his lips to hers. "I'm not sure you realize how much tonight means to both of us. I don't deserve you," he whispered.

  "No, you don't," she laughed trying to get out of his grasp. Micah brought his lips to hers again. The kiss that was meant to be short and sweet quickly became heated as he ran his tongue across her lips. His hands traveled under her shirt to feel the soft lines of her back and around to her waist.

  Breathless, she broke the kiss, "Micah...we...Caleb..." His tongue entered her mouth every time she tried to speak, hungry to taste her.

  He realized she wasn't going to stop stopping. "Okay, but this isn't finished."

  As they parted, she ran a single fingernail up the center of his chest. The touch was light and teasing. "Promise?" The side of her mouth perked up. She smacked his backside when he tried to lean in to kiss her again. "Go."

  Julia hoped the flush in her cheeks had started to recede by the time she got to the deck. She didn't need to create an uncomfortable situation and reminded herself that she wanted to talk to Micah about making sure they were respectful of Caleb when they were together. He had been right to tell her that they needed to take things slowly because of Caleb. Now she needed to keep reminding him of his decision. While Caleb might love his dad to pieces, it would be easy to see Julia as a threat to the status quo. They couldn't act like there was no one else around.

  She was surprised when she got outside and Caleb was reading rather than eating. He said he didn't mind waiting and felt it would have been rude to eat without them. Micah had obviously done something right raising him. Or Gran Turner was a good influence. Either way, it was a sweet gesture. Everyone chatted companionably throughout dinner. Julia felt a wave of sadness rolling in as she realized that had things been different, this could have been the scene every night. Caleb could have been hers. She stopped herself from that line of thinking. He wasn't hers, things weren't different. This was nothing more than a dinner with a good friend and his son.

  After dinner, Caleb asked if they could have a fire before heading home. He explained that Gran said the smoke was horrible for her lungs when the wind carried it into the house. Micah deferred to Julia, who wasn't about to tell the boy no. She wondered if she would be this much of a pushover with her own kids. No, she decided, she was only bowing to his wishes because he was the guest. She carried the dishes into the kitchen and watched out of the window over the sink as they carried wood to the deck and started the fire.

  She was still trying to work through her feelings towards Micah but the image in front of her was a reminder that there's a reason for everything that happens in life. If Micah hadn't left her, he might not have Caleb right now. There was no doubt things would have been different. There was no way of knowing if that would have been good or bad. Believing that they were all better off as it was made everything easier to deal with.

  "Penny for your thoughts?" Micah snuck into the kitchen while she was mulling over her feelings. He stepped close behind her at the sink and reached into the cupboard for a glass.

  "Just thinking." She thought back to when she tried to paint everything with a positive brush as a teen. She didn't want to tell him she was still the same glass-half-full girl she had been then. It wouldn't do anyone any good for her to admit that things happened as they should have back then.

  He wrapped his arms around her and placed a soft kiss on her neck. "I don't believe you." His voice was low and deeper than normal. This man hadn't forgotten anything in their time apart. He knew that breathy, low voice made her come apart. The kisses continued up the side of her neck until he reached her ear lobe. He grazed the lobe with his teeth. Her knees weakened and she leaned into him.

  "Micah, we can't." She didn't want to stop him. She wanted to pull him up the stairs and see just how many buttons he could push. She wanted
a repeat of Sunday afternoon. But one of them had to be smart.

  Glancing to the sliding doors, Micah turned Julia to face him. "He's got his nose in that book. We could set off a bomb next to him and he'd be oblivious." His hands tugged on the front of her tank top. His rough hands felt amazing as they worked their way up her sides. She stood on her toes and wrapped her arms around his neck. She needed to be sensible. It was a losing battle. Her kiss was a frantic release of emotion. Hard and fast. Hungry. She felt the hardening bulge pressing against her stomach. She wanted to give herself to him.

  The thought scared the hell out of her and she jerked away from the kiss. She had promised herself that she was going to tell him they had to be respectful and careful when Caleb was around and she sure wasn't keeping that promise. "Stop." Her voice was quiet and unconvincing but Micah eased his grip on her. "I can't do this. We can't do this when Caleb is here."

  "I told you --"

  She held up a finger to stop him. "No. I remember what it was like the first time I walked in and saw Dad kissing someone. I hated her. I hated him." She swallowed hard. Micah had been there through everything her family had gone through but it still hurt to put it into words, even years later, "I don't want that for you. I don't want that for us. Please, trust me."

  He leaned in and kissed her forehead. "That's why I love you." She saw the shock in his face that he'd said it and could only imagine what her own face looked like. "I mean--"

  Her finger pressed against his lips. He didn't need to say anything. "I know what you mean."

  Slowly, they broke their contact and went outside. For a long time, they sat in silence on the lounge chairs. Micah was right. Caleb hadn't noticed when they'd walked back outside. That didn't change Julia's mind about what they were doing. She had a feeling this kid caught on to a lot more than he ever admitted to and she'd do just about anything to make sure that he never felt uncomfortable around her. She turned to point out a shooting star to Micah to find him sound asleep on the chaise.

  "Hey Caleb, should we wake him?" She laughed as he looked up and rolled his eyes. Something told her it wasn't uncommon for Micah to fall asleep no matter what was going on around him.

  Caleb flipped through the pages of the book and looked back to Julia, "Can you wait until after I finish this chapter. Dad gives me crap for reading all the time. It's been nice to have the quiet."

  She laughed. She understood all to well what Caleb was saying. When she sat down to read, she wanted to be left alone. There'd been plenty of times as teens when she had been reading and Micah decided it was time for her to pay more attention to him than the book. He was merciless. Micah claimed to appreciate literature but said that he didn't have the time for it.

  "Deal. I'm going to do some stuff inside. Just wake him up whenever you're ready and let me know when you're taking off." She didn't want Caleb thinking she was keeping an eye on him and it was just strange to sit outside alone while he read. Plus, thanks to earlier, she had laundry to finish.

  "Hey Julia?" His voice was back to that of the sweet boy she'd met the first few days rather than the moody boy she'd walked up to earlier in the afternoon.

  "Yeah?" She leaned back to poke her head out of the open door.

  Caleb rolled out of the hammock and walked towards her. He motioned inside and she obliged. It felt strange to follow the lead of a child but she would continue giving him the reigns until he trusted her. They sat at the kitchen table. For nearly a full minute, he looked down at the table before looking at her. "Do you like him?" He looked at his dad, still sleeping on the deck.

  She nearly choked on her water. She shouldn't be surprised at the question. She'd warned Micah that he didn't give Caleb enough credit. "He's a good guy. And I can tell he's a good dad." She hoped the non-answer was enough.

  It wasn't. "But do you like him?" Apparently, subtlety wasn't a gift Caleb possessed. He was blunt and not giving up until he got an answer.

  "I don't know." It was the truth. Sort of. She knew her feelings for Micah were definitely back on the like spectrum but even she didn't know where. "A lot happened when I lived here before. We're trying to get back to being friends."

  "I think he likes you." If he'd picked up on something his dad said about Julia, it made sense why Caleb was short with her at the diner. She had a feeling that being the new girlfriend wasn't any easier than being the child watching their parent get involved with someone again.

  "He might. Like I said, it's not black and white." She stood and scruffed her hand through his hair before heading to the laundry room. When she came back, she asked him about Hunger Games to get his mind away from what was or wasn't going on with her and his dad. It worked and Julia came out of the conversation feeling like she didn't need to read the books to know everything that happened in them.

  She looked at the clock and noticed that it was almost ten. As much as she wanted to let Micah sleep, he needed to get Caleb home. While Caleb was in the bathroom, she went outside to wake Micah. She crouched next to him and ran her finger nails across his bare chest. He cracked one eye open and Julia broke into a fit of laughter. It was the same face he made when they were teens and he woke up in the morning after sneaking into her room.

  "I could get used to that," he whispered as he stood up. He extended his hand and brought her back to standing. Close. Too close with Caleb coming down the stairs. She backed away. Her eyes shifted in silent explanation. Micah understood and turned around. "Hey kid. Should we get out of here and let Julia get some sleep?"

  She walked them to the door and Micah told Caleb to head to the car ahead of him. "Thank you. Dinner was amazing." Desire filled his eyes but he held back, knowing they were being watched. He wrapped one arm around her shoulder and gently squeezed her arm. "I'll call you later." And with that, he walked out to the car and left.

  Once his taillights turned the corner, Julia allowed the open door to slip away from her fingers and close. She went to the office and tapped out an email to her brother.

  Hey Adam.

  I think we're going to need to have that talk you offered.

  Sis

  Within minutes, her brother replied.

  Hey sis.

  Do I want to know???

  A

  There was no doubt that her brother wasn't going to be happy about how deep Julia was getting so soon after moving home. She hoped she would be able to keep the conversation off her feelings for Micah and on the facts that Adam said he'd give her.

  Don't ask questions you don't want the answers to. You're staying here this weekend, right? We'll talk then.

  J

  Within a minute of hitting send, Julia's phone was ringing in the other room. Micah's number showed on the display, "Miss me already?"

  "What did you say to Adam?" Micah's tone was far more serious than she'd expected.

  She should have known better than to bring up anything with Adam before he got to town. It would have only been two more days. The problem was, the rate she and Micah seemed to be moving, they could wind up married before then. Julia laughed at the thought, forgetting the phone held to her ear.

  "Jules, this isn't funny. Adam just called me freaking out, wanting to know what in the hell I'm doing to his sister."

  "I didn't say anything, Micah. He'd made a comment when he emailed me bitching that I didn't tell him I was back in Brooklyn and I asked him about it tonight. I told him we'll talk about it Friday night when he gets here."

  Micah didn't seem calmed by her answer, "Okay, but you need to know, he sounded pissed." She heard two exaggerated breaths before he continued, "He's not going to be happy that we're trying to work things out, you know that, right?"

  "Yes. And I also know that I'm almost thirty-one and I don't need my baby brother protecting me. Good night."

  There was silence on the line before Micah spoke again. "Jules, I meant what I said earlier tonight."

  "I know," Julia whispered. She couldn't say what he wanted to hear. Not yet.r />
  Chapter Eight

  The atmosphere around town was electric on Friday afternoon. If there was one thing Brooklyn knew how to do right, it was say goodbye to summer. Every year, families who would always call this little town home came back for an all-class reunion weekend. This was the first year that Micah could honestly say he was looking forward to celebrating with his friends.

  So much had changed in the past week. He had walked into The Oasis last Friday for one beer after a horrendous week of work. The first time he walked out that night, he felt like an adolescent going home to ask permission to spend time with friends. At bar time, he sulked to his truck, certain that he'd pushed Julia away for good. And yet here he was, driving to Julia's house to take her to the first of several reunion weekend events.

  Family night was the event that Micah always avoided. He had contemplated skipping this year as well since Caleb seemed upset about the idea but Lizzie had begged them to come. It sucked being friends with the husband of the pregnant and moody organizer. Might as well enjoy tonight since she'd also managed to wrangle him into working a shift at the festival tent for tomorrow night. Luckily, Julia didn't flinch when he asked her to go to the family-friendly mixer with him and Caleb.

  When they pulled up to the curb in front of Julia's, Micah flicked the brim of Caleb's baseball cap, "Hey man, hop in the back."

  "Can I ask you something?" Caleb asked as he opened the doors so he could slide in behind the passenger's seat.

  "You know you can. What's up?" Micah was on edge. His son's mood had shifted drastically last night when he mentioned going to family night tonight.

  "You like her a lot, don't you?" The kid was so damned perceptive. Sometimes, that wasn't a good thing. This wasn't a conversation Micah was ready to have with anyone, especially not his twelve year old son. Julia had been right, they needed to be careful.