by Sally Henson
“The trees around here are so pretty. I love the campus, Lane. It’s just like you described it.” She points her thumb behind us. “Did you see that couple sitting under a tree earlier?”
I shake my head. “No.”
“Too bad.” Her voice is light and dreamy as it is when she talks about living on the coast. She changes gears, telling me about all the lies she had to tell to get here today. It’s not right that she has to go through that. If Mr. Stone would let us go out, it wouldn’t be an issue at all. Her attempt to use Payten and Jonah was a good idea. She’s never really had to hide anything from her parents until this year. It started with her career plans and now it’s me. Who knows what’ll be next.
Regan stops before we reach our destination. “Our tree at the creek.” Her smile beams at me.
I nod and pull the small blanket out of my bag, so we can spread it out. Regan sits cross-legged across from me. A slight breeze blows the hair from her ponytail. The air wicks away some of the sweat hiding under my shirt. Ugh. There’s a stench in the air, and I think it’s me. This is one thing I didn’t plan for.
Regan pops a kiss on my cheek right off the bat.
I grimace and chance a sniff. “I think I stink.”
She shrugs. “You’ve smelled worse.”
“True,” I chuckle and realize this is a perk of dating your best friend. They’ve seen and smelled the good, the bad, and the gross. If she doesn’t care, I don’t care. I turn up the charm just in case, though, flirting and teasing her about riding the oil pump jack and all the crazy stuff we did this summer.
She’s more talkative than usual. And flirty. I like it, a lot.
Regan lets loose of my hands and scoots her body over the blanket to lean against the tree, patting the spot right beside her. I crawl on my hands and knees under the shade of the oak tree and settle next to her, dragging the backpack with me. I offer her a water bottle and pull out the bag of minty candy. She takes a handful of the peppermint patties, smirking at me. I do the same thing. We both know where this is heading.
She leans her head against me and unwraps the candies, eating one at a time.
I drop mine on top of her pile and put my arm around her shoulders. “Do you mind? Am I too rank?”
She shakes her head and snuggles closer, moving her legs between mine.
The air continues to move around us, just enough to rustle the leaves. It brings with it the noise of a barking dog somewhere in the neighborhood behind us. “Do you think we could have been this, last fall? More than friends, dating or whatever?” I ask.
The foil candy wrapper rustles in Regan’s fingers. She lifts the patty to my mouth and then tugs at the ends of another wrapper before she answers with a shrug. “I don’t know. Maybe.” She pops the candy in her mouth. “Maybe not since we saw each other all the time. It’s different now. You’re gone and I … I didn’t know I’d like to kiss you so much.”
“Oh yeah?” The alarm on my phone vibrates. My body slumps against her, knowing what that means. We can’t be out of time already. I look at my phone. “It’s Cam telling me we scored again.”
“Don’t respond, he’ll only start asking questions.” She leans her head back to look at me and pops another piece of goodness in my mouth.
“Thank you.” I kiss her lips with my eyes wide open. She keeps her eyes on me too. We don’t have a lot of time left, but I don’t want to ruin the mood, so I keep her close and don’t mention the time.
Regan shifts, angling toward me more. She gazes up at me, wearing a soft, contented smile. Her tongue brushes her bottom lip right before she rubs them together. “Would you kiss me already?”
A soft snort escapes me while the corner of my mouth lifts. It wasn’t really a question, but I’ll be happy to answer her. “Yes, ma’am.” The words come out breathy and low. The space between us disappears when I press my mouth to her warm lips.
Having Regan in my arms like this brings a calm I miss all week long when we’re apart. Her kiss fills me up, yet I can’t get enough. This lip tango gets better every time. She tastes like the peppermint the candies left behind. Chocolate mint was an excellent choice. She can’t seem to get enough of my kiss either.
She reaches her hand through the back of my hair. I’m loving every second of this. I’d drop out of school and wait for her back home if she asked me to. My hands find their way to her soft, silky hair.
The alarm on my phone vibrates in my pocket.
We both growl.
“That better not be Cam again.” She rubs her lips together.
I lean over and kiss them again as I slip the phone out of my back pocket. We both look at it. Earth sucks me against the ground, pulling my heart down with it.
We walk hand in hand back to the stadium. My tailgating friends have vanished along with a few cars from the parking lot. The game’s still going on, but people are trickling out to leave ahead of the rush. I press her against a tree near Tobi’s SUV, enjoying another kiss or two, talking about the next few weeks, holding on to what could be my future.
“There you are.” Rex tries to control the chuckle that accompanied his warning to us.
“Oh, if anyone asks, Ross needed a ride to get his car from last night. We took him over to Ted’s to pick it up.” I show her a picture of Ted’s from my phone. “You don’t know how you got there. It looks like a two-story warehouse.”
Regan pops her eyebrows up, chuckling at my scheme. “You certainly covered our bases.”
Cam will ask her why we took off. I’ll text him later.
I’m able to sneak one more kiss on her before she crawls over the seat, thanks to Tobi and Rex’s distracting Cam and Haylee.
She’s the gravity that grounds me and the lift that makes me fly. Dang, it hurts to watch her leave.
15
Regan
I finished stacking the wood in the fire ring twenty minutes ago, and I’ve been picking up sticks, pulling weeds, anything and everything to keep from going crazy. The weekend after the football game, Lane came home, but I haven’t seen him since. Two weeks apart feels more like two months. To say I’m a little edgy might be an understatement. Tobi and Haylee return from their last-minute trip into town—just in time to keep me from bouncing off the walls.
“Took you guys long enough. What'd you do—stop and get pedicures or something?” I tease, but it seems like it’s taken them hours to get ice.
“Yeah, mani's too. Tobi's hands were a mess.” Haylee opens the lid to the cooler and dumps the ice in.
Tobi joins us behind her house, pouring all her cowgirl swagger into her voice. “If you two weren’t a couple prisses, your hands would look like this, too. Here.” She shoves an ice-cold vitamin-B packed, tall green tea at me.
“Mm, I could really use this. Being a priss takes a lot of energy.” I open the drink and sit down.
Haylee pulls a chair up beside mine and plops down, resting her feet on the edge of the fire ring. “Guess who invited your favorite person to the party tonight?”
I jet my eyes to Tobi as she sits across from me. Her eyes flash at Haylee before she looks down in the fire pit. My heart threatens to plunge down to my gut. “You didn't.”
She keeps her eyes averted. “Not really.”
Haylee props her feet on the ring of the pit. “You did, really.”
“She kind of invited herself.” Tobi still won't look at me.
My head falls back against the chair. A bucket of cold water called Stacey Faniger has drenched the fire that was burning inside of me for Lane’s kiss. “How did she even know about it?”
Tobi leans over and rests her forearms on her knees, picking her cuticles. She takes a deep breath. “I decided to get some more chocolate and marshmallows at the grocery store. Stacey was in the same aisle. She asked when the party was. It just came out.” She finally meets my glower. “I didn't even think about it. It was a reaction.”
I look up at the bright, puffy clouds scattered in the blue sky, whi
le my heart sinks into a pool of acid and bile in my stomach.
“She asked if she could bring her cousins that were visiting from out of town. What was I supposed to say?” Tobi reels.
I clamp my mouth shut and shake my head. None of us likes Stacey; I don't know why she would even want to show up, except to irritate me and conjure up some new gossip. She’s not even here and she’s already ruining my night.
“She won't show up. Why would she? She doesn't even like us.” Tobi tries to convince all three of us.
“If she shows, I'm leaving. You know the gossip will be whirling tonight after she leaves and gets on her phone to her cronies. Remember the photos of me and Cam she hatched up and made sure found their way to my dad?”
Haylee’s quiet. Tobi’s quiet. They both know I'm right.
“Well …” I take a drink. “We better live it up before she shows up.”
“Maybe she won’t show. We can’t let her ruin things when she’s not even here.” Haylee speaks wisdom. “Deal?” She looks back and forth between Tobi and me.
Tobi and I look at each other and speak at the same time. “Deal.”
The guys will be showing up before too long. Cam’s been busy farming, with harvest going on. Lane and Rex are deer hunting. Lane went straight to his deer stand yesterday when he got home, and he’s been hunting all day. I haven’t seen him for two stinkin’ weeks! This anxiety from not seeing him for so long, and the threat of Stacey ruining the night has me short-fused and on edge. I’ve got to do something to keep Stacey’s dark cloud from overtaking me. It needs to be goofy and fun and maybe even a little unlike me. I look at the tall, pale-green can in my hand.
An idea begins to form. Only a few crickets are left, chirping off in the tall grass of the pasture as summer turns to fall. The silence from the three of us is becoming hard to take. We need action that attempts forgiveness of Tobi’s stupid mistake and combats the bad mood that’s doing its best to take over.
I stand and chug the rest of my drink. The thin metal crunches in my bare hand as my fingers squish it into a mangled mess. A plink sounds when the can bounces off the smooth river rock at my feet. I lift my foot and stomp on the can, creating a tiny crackle of metal meeting rock.
Haylee giggles. Tobi quirks a brow up.
My fists come together in front of my chest and then pull apart in a superman motion, releasing a super-belch at the same time. It’s so unlike me, but it works. Tobi ends up on the ground with her hands wrapped around her middle, and Haylee has tears streaming down her cheeks. Their reaction makes me laugh even harder. I sit back down to catch my breath.
Priceless.
When we finally gain our composure, we light the fire. My dumb antics have changed the mood, and we laugh about it the entire time we’re inside washing up and changing. Haylee and Tobi put on makeup and dust my face with some, too.
Cameron shows up first. He throws his arms out wide and yells as he crosses the drive. “Ladies!” He's been in the fields harvesting crops for the last month. His parents are a lot older than the rest of our parents, and they’ve had health issues. Cam doesn’t talk about their problems, but it means Cam has more work to take care of.
“As if you’re God’s gift to women?” I chide back.
He struts through the yard. “I am God’s gift to women.”
All three of us scoff at the same time.
“I’ll prove it, who’s first?”
“Sorry, Cam. I’ve got my own gift showing up tonight.” Tobi’s wearing her hair down tonight with a cowboy hat on. Normally she’d wear a baseball cap or put her hair in a ponytail if we’re having a fire. She’s looking cute for Rex.
I hold my palms up to him. “I’ll pass.”
He steps toward Haylee and leans down in front of her. “How ‘bout you, Haylee?” His voice is softer. Sincere?
My eyes dart to Haylee and then to Tobi. I’m pretty sure my mouth is hanging open, too.
Haylee looks down at her feet. “I have to get the brownies.” She turns and walks toward the house.
Cam trails after her.
My stare follows them to the house with my jaw still hanging in the wind.
Tobi bumps me. “She was embarrassed. Isn't that cute?”
An odd, deep cackle comes out my mouth. “I'd be embarrassed, too.” Tobi laughs, elbowing me in the side. “What?”
She bugs her eyes out at me.
I look at her sideways. We both hide our laughter.
“What’s with you, today? You’re never this funny.” She bumps into me.
“What do you mean I'm not funny?”
She cocks her head to the side, looking down at me.
Cameron asks where the guys are, when he and Haylee walk back to the fire. He’s carrying the brownies for Haylee.
Tobi lays it out in a mini-gripe. “Probably still in their deer stands.”
“They've gotta be on their way here.” I’m being optimistic, but I hope it’s true, just the same. “The sun’s about to set.” I can’t help but think of Lane at sunset ever since his exciting sunset science lesson at Tobi’s barn. Dang, I’ve got it bad for him today. Gravel pops, and I look to the drive. Ah, he's finally here.
Lane gets out of his truck and smooths out his jeans. He reaches in the cab for something—a sweatshirt. Shoot, I forgot to grab my hoodie out of my closet. It's already getting chilly in this T-shirt I'm wearing.
Tobi's elbow nudges my arm. A quiet gesture of encouragement. She starts a conversation with Cam and Haylee, who are standing across the fire pit from us.
Lane shuts the door to his truck. He's wearing an EIU T-shirt under a long-sleeved unbuttoned flannel. He cut his hair. It's still long on the top, but tight around the sides. Dang, he’s flames. Lane sees me—watching him. He grins, glancing down at his feet for a moment and shoves his free hand in his pocket.
The butterflies have come to visit my stomach. It’s been a couple of weeks since they’ve made an appearance. I would run and jump in his arms, but I’m wrapped up in watching him and don’t think I can move. Besides, I can’t do anything like that with Cam and Haylee here. We’ve made it this long keeping our secret, I just need to control myself and not blow it.
My heart picks up tempo with anticipation of his hand sliding into mine, lacing our fingers together. Ugh, we can’t. This secret thing is getting on my nerves right now. We were going to grab a burger at the diner last night with the gang, but his dad harvested a deer for one of his tags, and Lane needed to help him with it. So, Lane ended up hanging with his family all night.
Cameron turns to see Lane and shouts as Lane crosses the drive. “Dude, how’s it goin’?”
Lane gives a backward nod, a silent hello to Cameron. Cam turns back to Haylee. Lane takes the opportunity to wink at me while the attention is on Cam.
That wink sends a spider of electricity through my chest.
Cameron turns and gives a bro hug or whatever it is guys do, except Cameron full on hugs him. Tobi and I laugh when Lane rolls his eyes at Cam’s bear hug.
“Put me down,” Lane hollers at Cam.
“I haven't seen you in weeks. What do you expect?” Cam’s eyes are wide, pleading his case, defending his actions.
Lane holds his hand up as a barrier between them, signaling no more hugs to Cameron. “It's not like you don't text me.”
“It's not the same as seeing you in real life.” Cameron starts to hug him again, but Lane holds both hands up between them this time. He cackles and grasps Lane’s shoulder. His eyes flash. “Dude.” His tone turns serious. “Have you been working out? You're a little thicker than I remember.”
Lane shrugs his shoulders and glances at me before returning his attention to Cam. “Yeah, a little.”
“Keep it up! You'll have all those college girls lining up to wine and dine you.” Cameron pops Lane in the shoulder.
My arm presses against my middle and I clutch at my shirt. Cameron is such a jerk-face. Lane has hundreds of real women to choose f
rom at college, and he comes home to see me. The stupid green-eyed monster is trying very hard to rear its ugly head. Lane chose you, Regan. He wants you.
Cameron bellows because he's always loud. Too loud. Annoyingly loud. Shut-up loud.
Lane’s eyes find mine. His head shakes ever so slightly. Haylee wraps her arms around him quickly. Tobi takes her turn before he hugs me and whispers, “Hey”.
I hug him back. “Hey.” The weekend before I saw him last, we took his sisters to the movies. It was a date without looking like a date. That memory, even if it was a few weeks ago, squashes the monster down. It’s hard to let go of jealousy.
Lane looks around. “Where's Rex?”
Tobi pulls her phone out of her back pocket. “I'm texting him now.”
Lane keeps his arm on my shoulder, like a buddy would do. He leans in to whisper a rebuttal to Cam's dumb comment. I need to hear it.
He smells the perfume through my hair. “You smell different.”
“Tobi's perfume.” He’s still leaning into me.
“I like yours better.” He takes another whiff. “But this is nice, too.” His lips brush against my cheek as he pulls away to look at me. I tense, looking around to see if anyone is watching. I don’t think anyone noticed. My body relaxes.
Tobi's phone beeps. “It's Rex. Hm.”
“What is it?” Haylee’s expression turns into worry.
Tobi shows Haylee the picture Rex sent her and then passes it around.
“Oh, that's a nice one.” Lane admires Rex’s deer.
“He's on his way … finally.” She's happy for him but disappointed he's not here already. I get it. Lane was preoccupied with a deer last night, and I didn’t get to see him.
Haylee tells Cam and Lane about Stacey. They give Tobi a hard time. Neither believes she'll show up anyway. I’m not so certain of that.
Cameron gets started cooking the hot dogs over the crackling fire. The wood has burned down enough it’s ripe for hot-dog cooking. “I have an announcement.” Cam’s usual loud voice has a hint of uncertainty in it.