Shadow Keeper

by M. K. Yarbrough

“Mango scented sun block.”

  “Oh, great.” I let out a huff. “Just what I wanted to smell like.”

  Her forehead wrinkled. “Don’t you like it?”

  “It’ll do if it keeps my nose from burning.” I tried to gather my nerve. I wasn’t sure I could take her honesty. “Is there anything else you like about me besides my sense of humor?”

  She glanced down at her legs and smoothed the lotion over her thighs. “I like that you’re strong.”

  “That’s good, because it’s your fault I’ve bulked up more. The coach increased our workout schedule so the players wouldn’t be distracted during practice thinking about girls.”

  “Did he really?” She did that little giggle with the soft snorting noise. “But I don’t mean physically strong. I mean strong willed. You know what you want, and you’re determined to go after it despite any obstacles.”

  She nailed that. I wondered what else she thought. “Is that all? Not cute or sexy?” I joked.

  “You’re not cute.”

  Her remark hurt. Even if I wasn’t handsome, to have my girlfriend confirm it hit me hard.

  “Babies are cute,” she said, oblivious to my crushed ego. “You have a very masculine look.”

  “Masculine?”

  “You have a lot of angles.” Her finger coated in mango scented sun block touched at a spot near my earlobe and slid across the bottom of my cheek. “I like the way your jaw line drops down, then juts across to your chin. And your chin’s square, not pointed. Even your eyebrows have a nice arched angle to them.”

  “So masculine is good?” When she nodded, my ego swelled. She liked my looks. I pushed further. “How about sexy?”

  “I guess.” Her attention went back to rubbing lotion on her calves. “The girls in gym class think you are.”

  “What?” I blurted out.

  She glanced up and her eyes got big. “I’m sorry. Maybe I shouldn’t have said that. I’m always saying the wrong thing.”

  “No, that’s fine. It’s just that girls thinking I’m sexy is news to me.”

  “No one’s ever told you?” Her blonde eyebrows lifted. “All the girls think you’re hot.”

  “You’re kidding, right?” I asked, but with the expression on her face, she was serious.

  She nodded. “You’d probably have half a dozen girlfriends right now if you had a nice looking car.”

  “A car? Is that all it would take?” I tried to suppress my smile.

  “Well, not all. They think you don’t have time for them because you’re too busy with school and extra classes, plus you work at a job. But cars are important. Girls my age want a boyfriend with a hot car.” Her head was down, but she glanced at me through dark blonde eyelashes. “Guess I’m lucky I don’t care about cars.”

  “I’m the lucky one. I found a girlfriend who likes me for what I am, not for what I’ve got.” I smoothed a glob of lotion on the top of her foot down to her painted pink toenails. “Anything else you want to tell me?”

  “You’re brave. You jumped in the creek to rescue me.”

  “When was that?”

  “When that Carson shark tried to sink my ship.”

  “Ah, you’ve got a sense of humor too.”

  “Not like yours. You joke without being overblown like Carson.” She put down the lotion and glanced into my eyes. “So what do you like about me?”

  I liked everything about her. Her clear blue eyes. Her cute giggle. Her firm, warm body pressed against mine when I pretended to be a shark gobbling her up, but I didn’t think she could handle the honesty, so I tried to keep the answer light. “After everything you said about me, it’s going to be a tough act to follow.” I put my hand to my mouth to hide my smile. “All I was going to say was I thought you had a cute butt.”

  She sucked in a loud gasp before breaking into laughter. “Don’t make me take back my remark about having a good sense of humor.”

  “Sorry.” I tried to get serious. “Well, there’s the obvious. You’re smart, pretty, and have a great personality. But what I like most is you’re a little crazy.”

  “What?” Her nose wrinkled. “That doesn’t sound like a very good attribute.”

  “What I mean is, you’ve never been tubing before, but you were willing to give it a shot—even though we didn’t go. And you jumped off that rocky ledge on the other side of the creek. It’s got to be ten feet above the water.”

  “I knew you wouldn’t let me jump if it was too dangerous, so I’m not really crazy.” She made a little humming noise. “How about adventurous?”

  “Yeah, better word. And you’re definitely smart. You just turned a not so desirable word into something sexy.”

  “You think being adventurous is sexy?”

  “Not necessarily, but you are.”

  “What? Sexy?”

  “Of course. Why do you think I said you had a nice butt?”

  “You’d better be nice.” She smacked my arm. “Anything else about me?”

  “You’re mysterious.” I gazed into her eyes. “I can tell you have a lot of dark secrets. There. That’s what I mean. As soon as I said that, you looked away from me.”

  She kept her head turned. “Don’t you think people should have secrets?”

  “I don’t know.” I shrugged. “God knows my mother has enough of them about my father. But I don’t think secrets should be kept if it affects someone else.”

  “Your mother probably keeps secrets to protect you.”

  “I’m a big boy. I don’t need to be protected.”

  “How about you?” She glanced at me. “Do you have any secrets?”

  I shook my head. “Nothing important.”

  “Oh, but you do have something.” Her lips curved into an impish grin. “We’ve been together only a couple of weeks and you’re already keeping secrets from me?”

  “It’s not about me. It’s about a friend.”

  “A friend? Let me see if I can divine your secret from you.” She put both hands on the sides of my face and twisted my head so she looked directly into my eyes. “Your secret is about Paul. He’s cheating on his girlfriend.”

  I jerked my head from her grasp. “How did you—”

  She moved back from me, as if my quick movement frightened her.

  I softened my voice. “How’d you do that?”

  She stared down at her toes. “I’m part witch.”

  “I believe you.” I put my finger under her chin and forced her to look at me. “How’d you guess?”

  “It’s not that big of a secret. Sherry thinks Paul cheated on her. There’s this girl named Regina who’s been bragging that she’s going to sleep with every senior on the football team.” Her gaze locked onto mine. “You’re a senior. Have you slept with her yet?”

  “No.” Inwardly, I thanked whatever divine guidance prevented me from giving in to the urge. It could’ve put a serious damper on my relationship with Lisa.

  “Are you sure?” she asked.

  “Don’t you think I’d remember if I did?”

  “Maybe not—if it wasn’t that memorable.”

  I laughed at her remark. “You’re the one with a sense of humor. Besides, even if I did, I haven’t slept with anyone since I met you, so I’m not cheating if that’s what you’re concerned about.”

  “I’m not, but I am worried about Sherry. Her boyfriend is cheating on her and she doesn’t know it.”

  “I hope you’re not going to tell her.”

  “Are you trying to protect your friend?”

  “No, but finding out the truth isn’t going to help anything.”

  “Don’t you think she should know whether she can trust her boyfriend?”

  “She already suspects what he’s done, but she doesn’t want to believe it because once she does, she’ll have to deal with it. I don’t think she’s ready to break up with him.”

  “So you think she should live in ignorance?”

  “No. She should trust her instincts.”

&nb
sp; Chapter Seventeen

  Carson plopped down at the empty picnic table. “When is your mom getting here?”

  I pulled a couple soda cans from the ice chest. “I don’t have on a watch, but she should be here soon.”

  “But I’m starving,” he shouted as I walked away.

  “Have some chips,” I said over my shoulder.

  When I reached the blanket, I offered both sodas to Lisa. “Which do you want? Root beer or a cola.”

  “It doesn’t matter.”

  I sat on the blanket facing her. “Are you still mad at me?”

  “I’m not mad.”

  “Then what’s wrong?’

  She nodded to Sherry and Paul standing by the water’s edge. “They’re fighting again.”

  “They’ll work it out—one way or another.” I let out a heavy sigh. “They were friends for a long time before they started dating. If they break up, it’ll be hard to go back to being just friends again.”

  Lisa gave me a funny look. “That’s why I’m glad we didn’t start as friends because after I break up with you, it won’t be so awkward.”

  My breath caught in my throat. Lisa was dumping me?

  She put both hands over her mouth to smother her laughter. “You ought to see the look on your face.”

  I still wasn’t breathing. I sucked in a deep gulp of air. “If that was supposed to be a joke, it wasn’t funny.”

  Her hands still covered her mouth, but her eyes got wide and the laugh lines disappeared. “I’m sorry.”

  “You should be.”

  When she moved her hands, her lower lip quivered. “I really am sorry.”

  I grabbed her arms and started to lift her. “I ought to throw you in the creek and let the sharks eat you.”

  Maybe a change showed in my eyes, because I don’t think I smiled, but she started giggling. “Don’t throw me in. I just put on lotion.”

  I tried to stay serious, but her contagious giggles had me laughing. “Then you better be nice, or you’re going to be shark bait.” I released her arms and picked up the bottle of lotion. “Sharks love mangos.”

  “How do you know?”

  “I don’t.” I unscrewed the lid. “But I could always slather you up and see how many sharks attack you.”

  “Don’t.” She held up one hand when I squirted lotion into my palm. “I already put on a bunch.”

  “You might’ve missed a few places.”

  “I don’t think so.”

  “I see a spot.” I grabbed her ankle and pulled her leg into my lap. “Your kneecaps.”

  “No! Don’t touch my legs.”

  “Why not?” My hand froze above her bare skin. Had I crossed some invisible boundary?

  She put her head down so I couldn’t see her face. Her hands moved over her calves. “I didn’t have time to shave my legs this morning.”

  Her revelation brought back my laughter. “Then that makes us even. I didn’t shave my legs either.”

  Her head turned and her gaze brushed over my legs. When she looked up, her forehead crinkled. “You shave your legs?”

  “Just the lower half. I can’t afford an injury playing football, so I tape my ankles. It’s not as painful to pull off the tape if I shave away the hair.”

  She scrunched my wet sock down further. “It looks funny like this.” Her fingers skimmed up my calf and she pinched at the dark, curly hair. “Why don’t you just shave off all of it?”

  “I’m not a girl.” I pulled my leg away, embarrassed for the first time in four years of shaving around my ankles. “I do it for practical reasons, not vanity.”

  “Vanity?” She made that funny little laughing noise. “Are you saying girls shave because of vanity?”

  “Then why do you do it?”

  “Because of boys. Guys don’t want girls with hair on their legs.”

  “Are you telling me that if it wasn’t for guys, you’d never shave your legs?”

  “Maybe.” She nibbled at her lower lip. “Or at least, not as often.”

  “You don’t have to shave for me.” I ran my palm over her leg. “I kind of like this stubble. It’s soft and tickles my hand. And your hair’s not dark.”

  “You mean it’s not as bad as your beard stubble?”

  “I don’t have any stubble. I shaved this morning before church.” I lifted her ankle to my face and rubbed my cheek against her calf. “Smooth, right?”

  When I pulled at her leg, she fell back on the blanket and landed on her elbows. Her long braids dangled behind her. I glanced at her face. A smile didn’t show, but a strange glimmer appeared in her blue eyes. Her lips parted. She closed the gap by biting on her lower lip.

  My gaze brushed across her body and lingered at the swell of her breasts above the swim top. Her smooth skin glistened in the sunlight. I lowered my gaze and skimmed down her belly, past her navel, all the way to those loose fitting denim shorts. The leg holes gapped open. My vision zoomed to the top of her bare thighs and the dark shadows just beyond.

  Suddenly, I became aware of how we were positioned. Her heel rested on my shoulder with my hand clasped around her ankle. Her other leg was drawn up with her knee bent and her foot flat on the blanket. My body was positioned sideways between her thighs.

  The smell of the mango scented lotion heating from the sun’s rays wafted up my nose. I leaned forward, wanting more, but not the smell of an artificial perfume. I breathed in deeply, hoping to capture something real. The natural essence from her skin. The scent that would define her as woman.

  I placed my hand on the blanket near her waist to support my weight as I leaned closer. Heat radiating from her body rose up and glanced across my cheek. My senses spun out of control. Her scent, her warmth, her closeness brought out a primitive response in me. My hand skimmed up her leg as I bent over her. I wanted to cover her with my body and let her heat penetrate my clothing.

  “What are you doing?” Her hand pressed against my chest and she pushed at me.

  “I, ah…” I didn’t know. I glanced around at the blanket. Near my hand lay a soda can. “I’m getting this root beer.” When I moved back, she curled her legs under her.

  “I don’t think I’m ready for this.” She turned away from me and stared at the water. “My mom keeps telling me I’m too young. Maybe I am.”

  I popped the tab and took a deep swallow, hoping the cold liquid would calm my body. “Too young for what?”

  “For this. For you. I’ve never been alone with a guy before.”

  I glanced around at the twenty or more people enjoying the public park. This wasn’t a secluded beach with just the two of us. “I don’t understand, Lisa.”

  “My mom is so protective that she won’t let me go to parties alone. I want to be independent and make my own decisions, but I don’t want to learn the hard way by making bad mistakes.”

  “You think being with me is a mistake?”

  “No.” Her eyebrows creased. “But we’ve only known each other a few weeks and already you’re calling me your girlfriend.”

  “Don’t you want me calling you that?”

  “No, it’s all right. This way, I don’t have to wonder how you feel about me. But what you just tried to do...” She looked away. “I’m not sure what you were doing.”

  “I’m not sure, either.” I took her hand and pulled her around so she had to look at me. “Lisa, I like you. You must know that.”

  She looked into my eyes. “I like you too.”

  “People have been telling me we’re moving too fast. Maybe we are, but I don’t want to slow down.”

  “But, I can’t—”

  I held up one hand to stop her. “What I mean is, I like where we are. We don’t have to move forward right now, but I don’t want to go backwards to being just friends.”

  “Does that mean you won’t try to crawl on top of me again?”

  I cringed at the reminder of my lack of self–restraint. “Is that what I was doing?”

  “You don’t remember.�
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  I could’ve lied, but I didn’t want her to think I lost control around her. “I remember. And I’m not going to try that again, at least not for a while. A long while,” I added when her eyebrows rose. “We’re going to move slower from now on.”

  “Good.” Her smile returned. “So no more of what you were just trying to do.”