by Cassie Mae
“It’s in the shed,” he whispers and points to the back of the house.
Nate darts from bush to bush and Kaylee laughs at him. “Your parents aren’t even home from their movie date yet,” she yells across the yard and Nate’s arms slouch forward. “Okay, fine keep up the daring spy act. It’s kind of hot anyway.”
Nate tips his fedora then dives behind a planter. Kaylee giggles and joins him. Her pink dress flowing behind her.
What should have taken two minutes to walk across the yard takes ten. Nate unlocks the shed while Kaylee stands watch. I don’t move from my spot out in the open because Nate’s parents probably won’t be home for another hour. Also his parents wouldn’t care. But I let them have their fun. I just need to beat Ryan back to his house.
“We good?” I call out and Nate jumps out of the shed with the object in question in hand.
“We’re good,” he confirms.
Next stop is my house, and because Mom thinks I’m sleeping at Kaylee’s, I walk in with the intention of telling her I forgot something. I can push everything out my bedroom window to Nate and Kaylee.
I head down the stairs to our basement apartment and freeze at the laughter coming from inside. That’s definitely Mom’s laugh, but that’s not Roger’s. I press my ear to the door to try and get a better listen, but it only confirms what I was dreading. Mom is in there with him. My father.
“We had a lot of good times,” I hear him say.
I can’t go in there. Not tonight. Tonight is about me and Ryan and I don’t want to get all raging lunatic and ruin our evening. So I very quietly sneak back up the steps and head around to my window. I slide it open, jump onto my dresser, grab what I need and get the hell out of there.
“Everything all right?” Kaylee asks, when I come around the bend. “You look…”
“Weird,” Nate finishes.
“Fine,” I say, forcing a smile, and all the crap going through my head, to silence and disappear.
“Then let’s get out of here,” Kaylee says and bounces off.
Nate glances back at me and arches his eyebrow. He’s the brother I never had. And I love that he knows despite what I say there is something wrong. But I’m sick of the drama. Sick of my stupid life putting a damper on everything.
I toss my arm around Nate’s shoulder and give him a squeeze. “The bad guys are closing in,” I say. “What’s our next move?”
A huge smile spreads wide across his face. “Let’s make a run for it.”
“On three,” I say, then mouth the countdown. When I get to three we take off running. I wrap my arms across my boobs to keep the top of my dress from falling down. Nate doesn’t open the driver side door. Instead he opts to dive through the window landing head first in Kaylee’s lap.
The three of us laugh the entire way back to Ryan’s.
“You need help?” Kaylee asks.
“I got this. How hard can it be to set up a tent?”
“I don’t know. Never set one up. Nature and I aren’t the best of friends.”
I pop my head in between their seats and pull them into an awkward side hug. “Love you guys.”
Kaylee kisses my cheek and I kiss Nate’s then I grab my comforter, pillow and bag and head to the place in Ryan’s backyard where there are a bunch of trees and you can’t see from any of the windows in the house. Grams and Pop-pop will never know we’re here.
I dump the tent stuff out on the ground and oh crap. Why are there so many pieces? I hold up a stick looking thing and look at the others still on the ground. It’s like you need a PhD to put a tent together. The hip bone’s connected to the backbone. The backbone’s connected to the neck bone. Okay not working.
Something grazes my arm, and oh my God is that a spider? I throw the hip bones in the air and run around in a circle swatting at my arms. My heart pounds in my chest, and I can’t breathe. I’m going to have a heart attack and the spider is going to eat my dead body! I whack myself over and over again, jump and run and turn, desperately trying to flee the killer beast.
I bring my hand up, readying it for another swat when my eyes focus on a string from my dress.
I take a deep breath and search for the stick thingy I threw in my panic. Ryan is worth it. I will make this work, spiders be damned!
“Need help?”
I glance up and Nate is leaning against a tree, Kaylee right beside him. They aren’t laughing so they must’ve missed my freak out. Good. I’m taking that to the grave.
“Oh my God yes! This”—I hold up the pieces—“is not easy.”
“Let the Boy Scout handle it,” Kaylee says. “He’ll have it together in five minutes.”
“Four minutes and thirty seconds is my best time.”
“Well have at it,” I say and hand the stick thingy off to Nate. “We’ll time you. Maybe you’ll set a new record.”
I don’t know how long Brett will be able to hold Ryan off and I’m afraid I’m running out of time. So I know if I make this into a game Nate will have this thing together in a jiffy.
Nate doesn’t waste a minute. He grabs the parts and starts putting them together. Four minutes and twenty-eight seconds later, we have a tent.
“You did it!” I yell then slap my hand over my mouth, remembering Grams and Pop-pop are only a yard away.
“You should be set now,” Nate says and I give him the biggest hug.
“I love you guys. Have fun tonight. Just don’t tell me about it tomorrow.”
“Oh we will,” Kaylee says wiggling her eyebrows. “Breakfast in the morning? The four of us?”
“We’ll be there.”
Kaylee and Nate get in the car and head out. I take my comforter and pillow and arrange them in the tent, trying to make a comfortable bed. I check my makeup in my compact and reapply my lip-gloss.
I debate taking my dress off, but God forbid Brett walks back here with Ryan. Then again the boy walked in on us before. You’d think he’d learn his lesson by now and knock.
What feels like a lifetime later, Ryan finally pops his head into the tent.
“What’s this?” he asks and before he even gets the rest of his body in, my lips are on his. I press my hands to his face and pull him in all the way. He falls a little but never breaks our kiss.
His hand traces my bare back and up my neck until his fingers get lost in my hair. He pulls away resting his forehead on mine, our breaths mingling together.
“This explains it,” Ryan says and I cock an eyebrow. “Brett had me driving all over this damn town. When he told me he also needed a special kind of ointment for jock itch and had me go to five different places before he finally gave up, I should’ve known.
I stifle a laugh. I’ll have to thank Brett tomorrow. Buy him breakfast.
“Are you surprised?” I ask.
“Very. I thought we’d have a quickie in the garage, and you’d head back home. This is so much better. And I already checked in so Grams and Pop-pop are off to bed.”
“I set my alarm for five so we can have this all broken down and be out of here before Grams wakes up.”
He tucks my hair behind my ear and drags his finger down the length of my neck to my bare shoulder. “You think of everything,” he says and places a kiss where his finger is. Chills shoot up my spine and I ease back onto the comforter.
“God, you’re beautiful.”
“You’re not too bad yourself,” I say.
“Damn straight,” he winks, causing me to burst out laughing. “Shhh.”
I cover my mouth with my arm.
“I think I can help with that,” Ryan says, pulling my arm away from my face and pressing his lips to mine. The laughter fades as I lose myself in us.
We kiss all the time, yet there are still moments when I feel like I’m being kissed for the very first time. He does that to me, and I know no matter how old we are, or wherever life takes us, when I kiss Ryan, everything will disappear. And for the moment our lips are as one, life will be perfect. Just as it is now.
Chapter 8
Ryan
My phone buzzes on my kitchen table, and I pluck my head up, wiping the drool off my chin. I didn’t get much sleep this weekend. With the epic night in the tent—not complaining about that one—and studying last night for the round of tests that’s coming up, I’ve probably clocked in about eight hours in the last three nights.
I push my history book to the side and pick up my phone to see JIM’S GARAGE on the screen.
“Hello?”
“Hey, this Ryan?” a gruff voice asks on the line.
“Yeah.”
My new boss clears his throat. “You got a few minutes to come down to the shop? I want to get you set up on payroll.”
I pull the phone from my ear long enough to check my notifications. Kaylee wants me to head to her place tonight so we can plan the party, but she hasn’t texted me yet.
“Sure thing,” I say when I get back on.
“Make sure you bring two forms of ID. See ya soon.”
“Thanks.”
I hang up, yawn, stretch, and lazily make my way to the front door. A five minute nap is not long enough.
“Hey Grams,” I call out, then clear my throat. “I gotta head to the shop real quick!”
“Don’t you dare go get fast food while you’re out. I’m making vegetarian lasagna just for you, so be home to eat it.”
“Got it. Love you!”
“Love you, too!” mocks Brett from down the hall. I grab a shoe from the entryway and chuck it at his head.
The IROC is a thousand times more reliable than the Lincoln, but even thinking that makes me feel like I’m cheating on her. Rest in peace, Lincoln. I hope it’s okay if I move on because I really do have places to go, shit to do. I slump in behind the wheel, ready to pass out again. Had two tests today, then Kaylee pulled me to the library for free period and talked my ear off till it was smoking, then Nate needed a ride to his Magician’s Meeting—yeah, those are real things—since his brother had his car, and then Lex and I were supposed to chill tonight since it’s Tuesday and it’s become our thing to go see a movie. Though… I can’t remember the plot of any we’ve seen in the past two months. But Lex told me at lunch today that she should be home with her mom since her dad is still floating around. I’m tempted to set up bear traps around their front door.
Once I’ve graduated things’ll slow down. It’s just crazy because of finals and shit. Teachers wanna make sure we’re not SOL when we head out on our own. When summer starts up I’ll just have the nine-to-fiver and the rest of the time I’ve dedicated to Lex. Who knows how busy she’ll be with college. I’m hoping I can talk her into splitting a place with me so even if we don’t see each other a lot during the day, we get our nights.
Jim’s Garage is about ten minutes away, which isn’t so bad now, but if I plan to room with Lex near Colorado State, it’ll be about a half hour. Worth it, but I hope I make enough money for gas, rent, and all that other adult crap. When I pull into the lot, the garage is open and I can see a Dodge Caravan on the lift. A dude about ten years my senior and covered in grease rotates the tires on it. I nod in his direction and he nods back, and I can’t wait to get my hands under some of those hoods. The cars… not the employees.
The doorbell clanks against the glass when I walk in. Huh… maybe I should’ve worn a better shirt or a tie or something now that I think about it. But hey, I’ve already got the job, and it’s not like I’ll be wearing that under my coveralls.
The guy behind the counter doesn’t look up from his computer as he says, “Hey, you the IROC out there? What does she need?”
“Yeah, that’s me… but I’m just here to fill out paperwork.”
Dude looks up, and he gives me a half grin as he clicks his mouse. He’s got mechanic fingers—permanently darkened from grease. Mine are pretty messy, but his take the gold.
“Just printing it out for you. I’m Josh, by the way.”
“Ryan.” I shake his mechanic hand.
“Let me get Pop for you.”
Pop? Is that what they call the boss? I don’t think I’m up for that, but whatever it takes I guess.
I take a deep breath and turn to the window in the waiting area. The guy in the shop is checking stuff off on a clipboard, one pen in his mouth the other in his hand. I remind myself to get my own pens.
My text ring goes off—the sound of a six-cylinder engine—and the lady waiting for her van smiles at it. I pull it out and click on Kaylee’s name.
Kaylee: The bunny is out of its hat.
Me: Then put it back in.
Kaylee: Did you forget everything I said earlier?
Me: Nah. I’ll be there in a min. I’m at the garage filling out paperwork.
Kaylee: Hurry. The bunny will be back at nine.
I tuck my phone away with a shake of my head. It’s just past six. Like we’ll need three hours to plan this thing when she’s already gone over most of it during school hours. Though… I can’t remember what I was supposed to pick up at the store…
“Ryan Parker,” the gruff voice from the phone makes me turn, and I see my boss for the first time. I tilt my head up a bit to make eye contact. He’s huge. Giant. Eight feet at least.
“Uh, hi sir.”
“It’s Jim.” He takes my hand, which I thought was pretty strong and manly, and practically crushes all my bones with one shake. “Nice to have you aboard. Gerry gave you a great recommendation.”
Gerry… oh! The interviewer. “Yeah. Uh… can’t wait to get started.”
“Well, fill out what you can,” Jim says, snapping his fingers at Josh who puts a bunch of forms in his palm. “Josh’ll set you up so we can start you right away.”
“Oh, I haven’t graduated yet.”
“Can you work weekends?”
I nod a bit too vigorously. Filling my weekends with car repair seems like just the ticket to get me out of the school’s insanity.
“Great. We’ll have you start Friday evenings and Saturdays to get you trained.”
Friday evenings… well, maybe Lex’ll be okay pushing our date night to Sundays.
“Sounds good, sir.”
“Jim.”
“Right.” At least it’s not “Pops.” And looking at Josh standing next to Jim, yeah… nepotism alert.
Jim hands me all the papers and I plop down into one of the empty chairs with a good view of the garage. Bad decision because I’m too distracted watching them work to finish the forms in under an hour. When my text ring goes off again, I mutter a curse under my breath and quickly fill out the blank spots before Kaylee goes bat crazy on me for taking forever.
I finally start heading to her house at 7:45. I dial HOME and set it on speaker as I pull out of the shop.
“You, sir—”
“I know, Grams,” I say. “Sorry. Got held up, and I promised Kaylee I’d help her with stuff tonight.”
She sighs, and I hear the opening of the microwave. “How late will you be?”
“Just past nine.”
“I’ll put it in the fridge for you.”
“Thanks. I love you.”
“Don’t try to butter me up.”
I smirk and turn the wheel onto Kaylee’s road. She’s out in her yard, fiddling with the end of her ponytail. It’s wavy, like she just took it out of a braid, and her bangs are flying in every direction like she’s been pulling at it for the last half hour. She should chill.
“I know, I know,” I say, hopping out of the IROC before she has a chance to lecture me. “I’m here now and we don’t have time. Let’s just say I know you’re mad, and I’m sorry, and let’s do this before Nate comes over.”
She uncrosses her arms and gives me one sharp nod. “Yes, that.” Then she takes my arm and yanks me inside.
***
The best part of my bed is my pillow. I’ve got one of those microfiber ones that form to your face. Sometimes Lex sits on it and puts a butt print in the foam. I once told her that after she did that I fell aslee
p on it and it was the best night I ever had. Like, romantic and sappy good boyfriend stuff. And she followed it up with, “It’s because you’re a buttface.”
“So, you think you can handle that?” someone says. I furrow my brow and adjust my head on my pillow. The microfiber foam isn’t working its usual comfort tonight.
“For real? Ryan!”
Something sharp jabs me in the nose, and I bolt upright, arm wet from the drool I soaked it with. Apparently I have a drooling problem.
“You are useless to me!” Kaylee says, tossing her hands in the air. “How long have you been asleep?”
I wipe my arm off on my jeans and press the heel of my hand into my eyes. “Uh… when did you start talking about music?”
“Last week.”
I give her an apologetic look, to which she just shakes her head and lets out a breathy laugh.
“Go. We can do this another time.”
“Sorry.”
She shuts her “period journal” and walks me out. I’m glad I don’t live far because I’m not sure how effective the loud music and rolled down windows are gonna be with how tired I am.
The house is quiet when I open the front door. Grams and Pop-pop are cuddled next to each other in the TV glow in the living room, and neither acknowledges my entrance. At first I wonder if Grams is really pissed at me for bailing on dinner, but at closer look, I see they’re asleep. So I grab the throw blanket off the recliner and drape it over them.
Looks like Brett is still out, so I quietly take the dinner from the fridge, scarf it down without heating it, then head to my actual microfiber pillow for some much needed REM.
I gotta clean my room. Laundry’s overflowing and I trip four times on the way to my bed, fumbling in the dark because I’m beyond coherency. I don’t even unbutton my jeans… just yank them off, taking my boxers halfway down with them before pulling the underwear back up to keep my junk warm, and then I strip my over shirt. It’s not even ten and I’m beat. I’ve already turned into an old man.
My ass hits the bed, a hard lump occupying the spot, and I leap up with the girliest yelp. The lump shakes with laughter, and I whip the comforter back and see Lex fully clothed, taking head space on my luxurious pillow.