She peeks over at me and laughs.
“I got a good bit of money saved up from these last few weeks of work. Hopefully, I can find a car soon.”
“Awesome. I’m waiting for Dad to give me Old Blue.”
“Think he will?” I ask.
She shrugs, “It’s in the air. He was pretty pissed about me lying to him so I’ve probably messed it up.”
“Nah, he’ll give in eventually.”
“Hope so. I’m tired of walking.”
I laugh. “Same here.”
*
After I get my smokes, Ellie and I stroll back toward the house, and I can’t open the damn pack quick enough. I slip one out and grab my lighter, lighting it and sighing once I inhale.
“Needed that pretty bad, huh?” she asks, looking up at me.
Like I need you around, I think to myself.
“Yeah.”
We don’t talk on the way home. I pass my smoke to her a few times and she gives me small smiles. The awkwardness from earlier is gone, and I’m glad I got my girl back. We lie in the living room and watch stupid movies before she calls her dad to come get her. But before he shows up, I’ve got to talk about that kiss.
Standing, I walk to the fridge and grab a beer as she walks in behind me. The girl I wish I could kiss more jumps up onto the countertop, and I gaze over her face as I take a sip of my beer.
“Something on your mind, boy?” She’s smiling and swinging her feet. I look down at the artwork she’s drawn around the outer edges of her navy Chucks before I peek back up at her.
“Yeah. That kiss,” I say quietly. She sighs and slides off the counter.
“Where you going?” I put my beer down as she walks back into the living room.
“My dad will be here any minute.”
“Hey,” I say, grabbing her arm and spinning her around. “Talk to me.”
“About what?”
“Ellie, I kissed you.”
“I know.” She bites her lip and looks down. “Let’s just act like it didn’t happen.” The prettiest shade of blue peers back up at me, telling me no secrets.
“That’s what you want?” I narrow my eyes, confused as fuck, because why?
“Yes,” she says, straight-faced.
I tighten my lips and feel my jaw tick.
“Okay, we’ll forget about it.” It’s not what I want, but her expression says it’s the only option. I hear a horn, and she backs up.
“Call you later.” She makes it to the door and walks out. I flop back on the couch. I’m fucked.
*
Weeks have passed since Ellie and I agreed to forget about that kiss. Things are back to normal now except for the fact I want to kiss her every time she looks at me. Hell, I want to kiss her every time she’s around.
After another long day of work, I climb into Uncle Joe’s ride, sweaty and dead on my feet. This job is kicking my ass, but I’m earning respect from Dan for working so hard and I’ve got a stack of bills under my mattress that makes it all worth it.
“Rough day?” Uncle Joe asks as I rest my head back against the seat.
“Every day is a rough day.” I look down at my phone and see I got a text from Hudson.
Can you run by and pay the water bill? I’ll give you some cash back later.
Why can’t you? I reply because I’m tired and nasty.
Busy. Won’t be home tonight. Can you do it or not?
Fine asshole.
“You mind stopping by the water authority?” I ask Uncle Joe.
“Sure.” He shrugs.
*
“Thanks for the ride,” I call back to Uncle Joe as I get out of his car.
“No problem. See you for supper?” he asks.
“Yeah, I’ll just get cleaned up first.” I run inside and pull this dirty ass shirt off me, tossing it over the stair railing as I jog up and into my room. I stop when I see Ellie lying on my bed. Her back is to me, and I realize she’s asleep. I scratch my nose and quietly walk to my dresser to grab some boxers and a T-shirt. Undoing dirt-stained jeans, I slide my boots off before heading to the shower.
After I wash the day off, I walk back into my room, running the towel through my thick hair. Tossing my dirty clothes into the hamper, I check out a still sleeping Ellie and wonder why this girl is so tired. I sit down on the bed beside her and watch her pretty face as she sleeps soundly. When she doesn’t move, I lie down too and breathe in her sweet shampoo. Her hair is spread out on my pillow, and the tiredness from my day takes over as my eyelids struggle to stay open. Sleep lingers near, and before I know it I’m out too.
*
I stretch my arm under my pillow and go to move but realize something is stopping me. It’s warm and soft, and when I open my eyes I see that it’s Ellie. I stiffen and she runs her hand across my chest. Peeking over at bright red numbers, I see it’s past midnight. Holy shit, her dad is going to flip.
“Ellie,” I say softly.
She moves her leg up and over my waist. My dick stirs, and I swallow. Does she realize she’s all over me?
“Baby.”
“Hmm?” She’s sleepy cute, and I wish I had this every night. She lazily moves, and then like I did she stiffens before she jumps up.
“Tommy, what time is it?” Her hand goes over her heart.
“Past midnight.”
“Shit, shit, shit! Where’s my phone?”
“I don’t know,” I say. She climbs over, and my left hand instinctively moves to her hip. She stops and looks down at me.
My bedside lamp gives her face a soft glow, and her lips part, her long brown curls hanging around her face. I’m in nothing but boxers and a T-shirt wishing she had on less than she does.
My right hand comes up to rest on her other hip, and I look to see her pulse beating against the skin on her neck. Damn, I want to kiss her, taste her, show her that none of this has to be scary. She moves her hair behind her ear.
“Fuck it,” I say as I wrap my arm around her back and lean up. My lips touch hers, and when she opens her mouth, I kiss her like I’ve wanted to for weeks. Her hands go to the back of my neck, up into my hair, and I can’t help what’s going on in my boxers or the fact that it gets worse when she moans into my mouth. I hear a loud bang, and Ellie pulls away and looks toward the bedroom door. The banging happens again, and I swallow when I hear Ronnie saying she’s upstairs.
“Holy shit, is that my dad?” Ellie says, quickly climbing off me.
“Quick, go to Hudson’s room and act like you’re sleeping in there. He isn’t here. He’s been staying at Rose’s house.”
She doesn’t hesitate to do what I tell her, and as soon as she shuts the door behind her, I throw some sweats on. I hear someone running up the stairs, and I open the door Ellie just closed.
“Tommy, is she here?” the chief asks me. He’s clearly worried. I grip onto the edge of the door, hoping he doesn’t ground her for life.
“Yes, sir. She fell asleep earlier on the couch. I put her in Hudson’s room because he hasn’t been staying here much.”
“She fell asleep?” he asks skeptically. Technically, I’m not lying; she did fall asleep.
“Yes, sir.”
“Where’s Hudson’s room?” The door opens, and my sweet Ellie blinks her eyes and rubs a hand over her hair, pretending she was just asleep. She’s doing well, and I’d crack a smile if this weren’t a scary moment. He could stop her from coming over here.
“Ellie, where’s your phone?” He scowls.
“Dad?” she asks, sounding groggy and playing dumb.
“Let’s go,” he says as he turns to leave. She closes her eyes for a moment before she exhales and walks toward me. I hear her dad make it to the bottom of the stairs so I grab her to me.
“I should have woken you up.”
“Yeah, you should have.” She tries not to smile, which causes me to. “This isn’t funny, Tommy Kingsley. The chief is going to lock me up and throw away the key.”
“I’ll
find it,” I say. Her lip lifts, and she looks down at our linked hands. “You better go.”
She nods and I drop her hand. She makes it to the stairs.
“Oh, my phone,” she says, turning around. She walks past me and into my room, moving pillows and covers.
“Gotcha.” I hear before she looks at the screen. “It’s dead.” She smiles. “So now he can’t say I was ignoring his phone call.”
“Go before he comes looking for you, crazy.”
“I’ll call you tomorrow,” she says, running past me.
She disappears and I walk back into my room. Taking a seat on the edge of my bed, I grab my pack and slide a smoke out. I flick my lighter and light my cigarette, looking up as Ronnie appears at my doorway.
“You fucking the chief’s kid?” he asks me. I hit my cigarette and glare at him through the smoke I blow out.
“Don’t make living here any harder than it needs to be, Tommy. You mess up with her, he’ll be on all of our asses.”
“I don’t need your advice, and no one is doing anything wrong but you.”
He smiles. “Son, take it from a guy who’s been around for a while. She’s only using you to get under her dad’s skin. Every girl wants to try a bad boy out just once, and then they always move on to the nicer do-gooders.”
I look away from him and suck my cheeks in, asking, “You done?”
“Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” he says before he leaves the doorway. I put my cigarette out and rub my chin, thinking who the hell wants Ronnie’s advice? My stomach growls, reminding me I never ate supper, so I head down to make a sandwich before I go back to sleep.
Chapter Eight
Ellie
“Dad, you can’t keep me here forever. I just fell asleep. It was harmless.”
“You think I’ve got brain damage or something, don’t you?” he asks, taking a long drag of his beer as he flips the steaks on the grill. Uncle Mark lets the screen door slam behind him.
“I’ve got the grill,” he insists. Dad doesn’t care. Mark is Aunt Leigh’s husband and my dad’s closest friend. He works at the hardware store downtown and helps Dad with repairs on this old house when it’s needed. He’s good with a hammer and a grill.
“What?” I ask with my hands on my hips. I look down at the smoke rising from the red meat and grab my baseball hat from the porch swing. I pull my curly ponytail through after I place the hat on my head as Bear opens the screen door and comes up to me. I bend down and pet his ears before I kiss his nose.
“You think I’m stupid, Ellie. I told you I was young once too. You ain’t got no business over at the Kingsley’s house at that time of night.” His ankles are crossed and so are his arms as he leans back against the porch rail.
“Uhhh,” I growl, standing back up. “I don’t know how many times I have to tell you. I was over there at a decent time of day. I fell asleep.” I toss my hands into the air and roughly cross them over my chest. Bear lies on my feet, and I wiggle my bare toes under his warm fur.
“Fine. You fell asleep. But for just a little while, if you and Tommy want to hang, you can do it here.”
“Whatever,” I mumble as I watch down the road. Hudson’s car appears, and my lip lifts. Hearing Uncle Mark put the top back on the grill, I frown over at Dad and he gives me a hard look.
“I don’t appreciate your back talk, Little Miss.”
Hudson’s car pulls up.
“We’ll hang out here,” I say with a sweet smile and hope that he will let my little whatever go. He puts his beer down and readjusts his hat.
“Go on,” he says, looking toward the Lincoln. I grin and move my feet out from under Bear.
“You need shoes,” Dad yells over to me.
“I’m good,” I call back as I dash off the porch. I hear him grumble something to Uncle Mark who only laughs in response.
“What’s up, Little Miss?” Hudson says playfully as he climbs out of the car.
“Shut up, Hudson.” I roll my eyes and peer down at Tommy who is frowning.
“What’s up with you?” I ask, opening his door and leaning against it. I lift my toes and nudge his jean-covered leg.
I look over at Hudson as he speaks, “Daddy Dearest stole his savings. He’s been gone for two days now.” He tilts his head and furrows his brow. I spin to glare back at Tommy with my mouth hung open.
“Tommy?”
“Yeah, L. It’s true. He stole every penny I had saved. Fucking Ronnie.”
I move when he climbs out of the car. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a piece of gum, popping it into his mouth and then asks, “Can we go walk?” He looks down at my bare feet as he chews.
“Yeah, we can walk.” I shut the door behind him, and we stroll up to Dad.
“Chief,” Tommy greets.
“Tommy, Hudson tells me your dad’s been gone for a couple of days now.”
“Yes, sir.”
I notice that Tommy doesn’t mention the fact his dad stole his money and neither does Hudson, so I keep my mouth shut.
“Any idea where he might be?” Dad asks.
“Nope, I’m not sure I care either,” Tommy says, sliding his hands into his front pockets.
Hudson looks over at me from the porch swing with an expression that reads I don’t give a shit either.
“Dad, can we go for a walk? We’ll bring Bear.”
The chief looks at me for a moment.
“Let the girl walk,” Aunt Leigh chimes in. I could hug her.
“Fine. Be back in time for dinner.” He doesn’t look happy, and I see the look he gives Leigh, but she smiles it off and winks at me when he turns around to take the steaks off so Mark can put the corn on.
“Sure thing,” I say. “Come on, Tommy.”
“You wanna put some shoes on?” Tommy asks, rubbing the back of his neck. I look down.
“Guess so.” I slip inside the house and put my feet into my Chucks.
“Sara never liked to wear shoes either,” Leigh says.
“Nope,” Dad replies.
I pull the heel of my shoe up.
“Shoes are restraining, right, Mama?” I mumble quietly. “Let’s go, Bear,” I say as the screen door slams shut behind me. Bear’s head pops up from the far end of the porch.
“Come on, boy.” I pat my leg. It takes his old bones a minute to stretch out, but once he does he jogs down the steps.
Out here there’s nothing but fields and woods except for Tommy’s neighborhood up the road a bit. I’m over the old farmlands myself. I’d like to see the bright lights, the busy sidewalks, and all the adventure the city can offer. Lately, I’ve been thinking about what I want to do when I get out of high school.
“What are you thinking about?” Tommy asks me. I look over at him. His hat is turned around backward, and he wears jeans and a gray T-shirt. He’s so cute, and I’m so confused.
“I’ve been thinking about when I graduate.”
“Oh, yeah? What are your plans?”
I chew on my pinky nail. “I definitely want to go to college.”
“I hear there’s a good one not too far from here.”
“Yeah.” I make a face and peer down. I feel him looking over at me.
“You don’t want to go to school around here?”
“Err, I don’t know. It’s a while from now so…”
“So you’ll be seventeen next month. It’s not that far away from now.”
“Just something I’m thinking, Tommy.”
“It’s not just something you’re thinking, Ellie. You’ve already thought it. You want to leave here. You want to leave all of us sorry fucks behind so you can go and find a nice guy who does great shit.”
“What?” I ask, totally confused.
He looks down and sighs. “Nothing. It’s not important.”
“It seems important to you.”
“What is this?” he asks, stopping. I look up ahead at Bear who’s sniffing a bush and then hikes up his leg and pees on it.
&nbs
p; “What is what?”
“This. Us,” he states, pointing between him and me.
“We’re best friends,” I say, directing my eyes toward my shoelaces.
“Best friends don’t make out, Ellie.”
“Tommy.” I sigh.
“Nah. You’re not pulling that let’s pretend it didn’t happen shit. It happened, L. We kissed. Twice. And you loved it just as much as I did.”
“I don’t want things to change between us.”
“They already have, Ellie,” he says. Moving closer to me, I swallow as he takes my hands, and I feel how much his have changed since the first time I held them. They are rough now and callused. He slides his fingers between mine and pulls me even closer. I have no choice but to smell him. Our bodies are inches from each other. He’s mint gum and all boy.
“What are you so scared of?” he asks, searching my blues.
I see everything.
“I told you already. I don’t want anything to change.”
“You’re a liar,” he murmurs.
I shake my head. I am lying. I’m lying to him and myself. I don’t want to fall in love. It cripples you. I’ve seen it happen.
“Stop, Tommy. I don’t want this. Whatever it is that you’re thinking…I’m not.”
He pulls back and looks over my face. “So, you don’t want me?”
I look down.
He lifts my chin. “Tell me, Ellie. Say you don’t want me, you don’t want us, and I won’t bring it up again.”
My heart is pounding, and I hope he can’t feel it through my hands. I swallow and feel my heart fighting against what my mind is going to say. My mind wins.
“I don’t want you.” My lies come out as smooth as butter. He scoffs and drops my hands, making me miss his immediately.
“Okay, best friend, have it your way,” he says with anger lining his tone. He turns his hat on his head and slides his hands into his pockets. “Let’s head back.”
“You okay? You know, about your dad situation?”
I see him smirk. “I’m fine, Ellie. Ronnie’s done worse. Let’s go before your pops gets mad.”
Chasing Ellie: A Chasing Fireflies Spin Off Page 7