Silence.
More silence.
“Uh, Lex?”
“Yeah?”
The silence continues.
He clears his throat. “Nothing. I guess I’ll see you tomorrow?”
I open my mouth to say something, but I don’t have anything to say. “Yeah…good night,” I mumble and hang up.
What’s wrong with us?
***
The kitchen’s quiet the next morning. Dad eats toast while reading the morning paper, Mom leafs through the pamphlets Dr. Griffin gave her, and Rosie twirls her spoon around the alphabet bits floating in her bowl. Her hair is swept into pigtails.
It’s always like this at breakfast.
“I’ll see you guys later.” I pat Rosie on the head and walk next door to the Daltons. The twins have lived here all their lives, just as I have. I was too shy to befriend them when I was a kid, but once I did, the three of us became inseparable.
If only things were that simple again.
The garage door opens and Cruiser, dressed in jeans and an opened leather jacket, guides his motorcycle out.
I turn away from him. I can’t believe he’s back from New York. He dropped in with no warning a week ago.
He wheels the bike over. “Sup?”
I don’t look at him, just so I won’t stare at the way his brown hair curls over his eyes or how his abs strain against his tight T-shirt. He looks so different from the last time I saw him, a year ago. He’s been working out and grew his hair long.
Heat pulses throughout my body. I fist my hands to rid the feeling.
“Want a lift?” Cruiser asks, holding out his black helmet. I shut my eyes for a second. He sounds just like Rey. Though the twins aren’t identical, their voices are pretty similar. It was easy to differentiate them growing up, but now that I’m so distanced from him, I can’t tell anymore.
I swallow so my voice won’t shake. “No, thanks.”
“C’mon, you know you wanna.” He jabs the helmet into my arm, lifting his eyebrows.
I press my toes onto the sidewalk to hold back from hopping on behind him and wrapping my arms around his strong body.
I purse my lips. “Will Rey be out soon?”
“Yeah.” He climbs onto the bike, slides on his helmet, and raises the visor. “You sure about the ride?”
No, my mind yells. “Yes.”
He keeps his eyes on me for a few seconds before kicking into gear and zooming off. I pat my hair in place and fold my arms over my chest.
The front door opens and Rey hurries down the steps, pulling a vest over his white button-down shirt. Although the average temperature doesn’t fall below seventy during early December in Miami Beach, Rey wears a vest almost every day. One of those dorky things I love about him.
He smiles when he sees me, wrapping an arm around my waist.
“Hey.” I kiss his lips.
“Hey,” he says, leading me to his car. Once we’re pulling out of the driveway, he asks, “What are your plans after school?”
“I’m meeting Dani. I haven’t been spending much time with her because of you.” I punch his shoulder playfully. “I want to hang out with Rosie after that. It’s always hard for her to adjust to a new program and I just want to spend some time with her. Want to come over?”
He drums his fingers on the steering wheel. “Not sure. I should probably practice the violin. Only a few days ‘til my recital.”
“Oh. Yeah, good idea.” I rest my head against the window. “I’m worried about Rosie. Her therapist says she’s doing great, but she’s so…different, you know? Quiet. She doesn’t even want friends over.” Once when I asked her why she refuses to leave the house, she said, “Why? So everyone can stare at the Wheelchair Girl?”
I glance at Rey and find him concentrating on the road. “Rey?”
“Mm?”
“What do you think?”
“I don’t know.”
I watch him for a few seconds. “Why are you so quiet? I mean, last night—”
“Just got a lot on my mind.” He turns into the school lot and parks, then slips his keys into his pocket and grabs his schoolbag. “See you later.” He gives me a quick peck before rushing inside.
I know he feels uncomfortable when I bring up Rosie and the accident because he doesn’t want to choose sides, but I can’t help it. I want to be open with him, tell him everything in my heart, even though the topic makes him cringe.
As soon as I enter the building, my gaze jumps to Cruiser who’s standing at his locker. He’s surrounded by two giggling girls.
I don’t know why I thought things would be different—that he would be different. He left home a man-whore. He returned a man-whore. He slept with Christie Jennings the day before he left. He slept with her the night he came back.
I stop at the bulletin board a few feet away from him and his posse. I can feel him. Goose bumps crawl over my skin and my stomach does jumping jacks.
“Hey.” Dani comes up to me and looks at the flyers on the board. The pom squad tryouts poster that was put up the first week of school glares at me in neon colors.
She taps my shoulder. “You okay? Still got doubts about the squad?”
My fingers reach up to the sign and trace the lettering. I was so excited when I tried out for the team my freshman year. It was all I talked about. My parents threatened to call the coach and convince her to not take me because they were scared I’d never shut up. In my sophomore year, the drive and passion were still there, but started to dwindle. And this year? I feel like a robot, doing a routine.
“Yeah,” I tell Dani, fingering the big letters in the center of the flyer: We placed third in Nationals last year!
“What are you going to do? You—”
“Oh my God, Cruiser, that’s so funny.”
My head snaps to the lockers. Cruiser’s eyes catch mine. I whirl away from him.
Dani eyes me. “What’s up?”
“Nothing.” I shrug. “I’m being stupid, right?”
“About…?” She raises an eyebrow, and peeks at Cruiser.
“About quitting the squad,” I quickly say before she gets the wrong idea.
“Yeah, you’re being stupid. On both accounts.”
I don’t want to deal with that right now, so I focus on the poster and think back to yesterday’s practice. I was never that annoyed with my poms before. I touch the letters one last time, hoping they’d ignite a spark in me. They don’t.
“I’ll see you,” I say.
I have no choice but to pass Cruiser on my way to history. The girls’ giggles have magnified, like they’re holding mics to their mouths. The only thought running through my head as I walk by is don’t look at him, don’t look at him. But my eyes refuse to obey. His arms cross over his chest lazily and a lock of hair kisses his eyelashes. In the split second that our eyes meet, he flashes me a cocky grin.
I jerk my gaze away and enter my classroom.
Buy now from Amazon
About the Author
Dee J. Stone is the pseudonym of two sisters who write young adult and adult novels. The Keepers of Justice series, The Cruiser & Lex series, The Merman’s Kiss series, Falling for the Genie, Emily’s Curse, and Chasing Sam are now available on Amazon Kindle. You can email them at [email protected] or follow them on Facebook and Twitter.
Stay tuned for more titles, coming soon.
Falling for the Genie (Genie's Love, Book 1) Page 20