Outside the Lines

by Lisa Desrochers

  I don’t rush. I dress slowly and Rob does the same, then we climb the path.

  He walks me to the T-Bird at the end of his driveway. “When will I see you?”

  I grab the front of his T-shirt and pull him toward me. “Right now. You’re coming with me.”

  He tips his head at me. “Where, exactly, are we going?”

  “Home. There’s someone I need you to meet.”

  He rubs a hand down his face in a weary gesture, and his focus clouds a little. “I should go check on Sherm.”

  “Are we doing this or not?” I ask, my voice sharper than I intended.

  His eyes focus on me, deep and clear—windows to his soul. “We’re most definitely doing this.”

  “Then there’s no choice. We need to clear the air.”

  He nods slowly. “You’re right.”

  We climb into the T-Bird, and when we get to the house, Sergeant Dixon is on his front porch. I wave on the way by and pull into our driveway. Rob is slow to get out of the car once I’ve stopped, and I wait for him. We move up the walk hand in hand, and I ask him to wait outside the door. I push through and find Dad in his recliner with the TV on.

  He stands and looks at me, his expression moving right through relief into anger. “Are you going to tell me where you were last night?”

  I take a deep breath. “Dad, I have someone I need you to meet. He’s very important to me, so I hope before you decide you don’t like him, you’ll get to know him and give him a chance.”

  I duck out the door, and Rob is standing there looking like he’s swallowed a porcupine.

  “I’m not sure this is the best idea, Adri.”

  “You two need to start over and there’s no better time than the present,” I say, holding out my hand.

  He rakes a hand through his hair, then gives it to me and lets me drag him through the door.

  Dad’s eyes widen the second they fall on him.

  “Dad, this is my boyfriend, Rob Davidson. Rob, this is my father, Carl Wilson.”

  Rob’s jaw is tight, and Dad looks like he wishes he had his gun. His face is red and I’m pretty sure he’s not breathing. But after a long, tense minute, Dad takes a deep breath and extends his arm toward Rob.

  “It’s good to meet you, son.” I breathe a relieved sigh until Dad adds, “Keep in mind that I run this town. If you hurt my daughter, I’ll have your butt in a sling so fast you won’t know what hit you.”

  “I wouldn’t expect anything less,” Rob answers, shaking his hand.

  Chapter 34

  Rob

  In the last two weeks, we’ve had sex on the beach at two in the morning five times, made love in various seats of the Lumina or T-Bird a dozen, and even fucked on Adri’s desk after school once, but we still haven’t gone public.

  It’s partly her—she’s still waiting to hear from the school board— but more me. I have no idea how to start this conversation with Sherm. Not that it would be an actual conversation.

  We’re all adjusting, each coming to grips with our new lives in our own way. As for me, I haven’t totally given up the hope that I’ll someday be able to bring my family home, but it feels less urgent. The part of my old life I’m struggling the hardest to let go of is Sherm. The shell has started to crack. He doesn’t shy away from looking at me, and when he does, the terror is gone from his gaze, but I still don’t have him back. Being with Adri feels like betraying him at the most fundamental level. I’m not ready to let go of the hope that someday Sherm will forgive me, but the more reasons I pile on for him to hate me, the less likely that becomes.

  Lee is the only one who knows about me and Adri, and she’s kept our secret. But today’s the day. I’ve invited Adri to dinner, and we’re going to tell the rest of them together.

  I stand in the sandy driveway next to the Lumina and watch her drive up. She slides out of the T-Bird, and I take her hand and pull her to me. “Hey.”

  “He’s going to be fine with it, Rob,” she says, sensing my apprehension.

  “You don’t know that. He’s in love with you, Adri, and I feel like he’s just starting to get past thinking I’m a monster.”

  She squeezes my hand, and her gaze is all heartfelt compassion. “You’re not a monster, Rob. Sherm still loves you. I know it. He’s been traumatized, but I think seeing your softer side might help him.”

  I give her a cynical smile. “I didn’t hear you say he wasn’t in love with you.”

  She shrugs and her mouth pulls into a pouty little smile that I want to lick in the worst way. “What can I say? I’m irresistible to the Delgado men.”

  “Oh, Christ,” I groan and she looks at me funny. “It’s just Grant. The kid’s an oversexed, hormone-riddled twenty-one-year-old. If Sherm and I haven’t been able to resist you, I don’t even want to think about what he’s going to do.”

  She taps her lips with a finger. “Now that you mention it, he did kind of make the moves when he was helping with the carnival booth.”

  I feel my eyes widen.

  She arches her eyebrows at me and gives me a sexy smirk. “Maybe I want all three of you.”

  “Uh-uh, sister,” I say pulling her into my arms and kissing her. “You’re all mine.”

  “Stop it!”

  Sherm’s yell from the edge of the bluff sends both of us spinning that direction.

  He and Burn charge toward us and he grabs Adri’s hand, pulling her away from me. “Let her go!”

  Adri grasps his shoulder. “It’s okay, Sherm.”

  “No!” he screams, tearing out of her grasp. He drops Burn’s leash and shoves me with both hands. “You don’t touch her.”

  Something twists painfully in my gut when I realize my every fear is coming true. Any bridges we were starting to build just collapsed. “I would never hurt her, champ. Promise.”

  He holds my gaze and what I see there isn’t fear. It’s fury. “You don’t touch her,” he repeats.

  Burn settles at Sherm’s feet and growls at me.

  Lee and Crash appear on the porch. “Everything okay?” she asks.

  Sherm takes Adri’s hands and pulls her so the T-Bird is between them and me, and that just about says it all.

  Adri turns and leans against the car and I hear her low, soothing voice, but I can’t hear what she’s saying to Sherm.

  Lee comes slowly down the stairs, Crash on her heels, where he always is. “Did you tell him?”

  “He saw us kissing,” I say, tapping out a nervous rhythm against the T-Bird with my ring.

  She flings me a disgusted glare. “Really, Rob? You couldn’t keep your hands off her for, like, five minutes until you could tell your little brother face-to-face?”

  There’s so much bitterness in her voice that she draws my attention away from what’s going on behind the car. “Are you okay?”

  She blows out a long breath and lowers her gaze. It’s obvious she’s not okay, but whenever I ask her what’s going on, she gets even more irritated and shuts me down. “It’s nothing anyone can fix, so let’s just drop it, okay?”

  There’s a whistle from the bluff, and I look to see Grant cresting the hill, sweaty from his run.

  “Your woman looks a little old for you, Sherm,” he says, moving to where he and Adri are still talking on the other side of the car, “but just about right for me.”

  She stands and holds out her hand. “We’ve met,” she says. “I’m Adri Wilson.” She shoots me an anxious glance, unsure of how to introduce herself. “Sherm’s teacher,” she finishes a little awkwardly.

  “And my girlfriend,” I say, moving around the car to her side.

  Sherm glares up at me, but doesn’t yell or pull Adri away.

  Grant’s eyes sweep over the three of us. “Seriously?” His jaw tightens and his eyes narrow, and I’m waiting for him to explode all over me. Instead, out of the blue, he cracks up. “This is just way the fuck too funny.”

  “Grant!” Lee chides.

  “Dinner’s on in ten!” Ulie calls
from the porch.

  There’s a tense minute where we all just stand here wondering what’s going to happen next.

  “What did I miss?” Ulie asks, stepping onto the top stair.

  “Rob’s fucking Sherm’s teacher,” Grant says with a grin the size of Florida. “This is just too fucking twisted.”

  “Grant, stop!” Lee says at the same time as Sherm yells, “Shut up!”

  Grant’s eyes lower to his little brother. “Hey, sorry, dude. I didn’t mean to dis your woman.”

  Burn twists into Sherm’s legs, nearly knocking him over. He grabs his leash and runs up the stairs into the house.

  “Well, that went well,” Adri says, stepping up to my side.

  Her arm brushes mine, and white lightning crackles under my skin. I curl my fingers into hers. “Still think he’s going to be fine with it?”

  Her lips purse and she nods. “In time.”

  She says it with such conviction I almost believe her.

  “I can’t believe you’re fucking Sherm’s teacher,” Grant mutters as he shoulders past on the way to the house. “What a hypocrite.”

  And there it is.

  I take a deep breath and watch Lee and Crash follow the others in, leaving me and Adri alone in the drive.

  “Do you want me to go?” she asks, turning to face me.

  “Hell, no,” I say, pulling all of her soft against all of my hard. “You’re the only sane thing around here. You leave, they’re going to padlock the house and call in the men in white coats.”

  “I really think Sherm’s going to be okay with us, Rob. It was just a shock, but he’s a good kid with a heart as big as his brother’s,” she says, laying a hand over mine. “I’ll talk to him after dinner. He’ll come around.”

  “Come on,” I say, taking her hand. “There’s about a sixty-forty chance that whatever Ulie made is edible. So the question is, are you feeling lucky?”

  She smiles and we walk into the house.

  Ulie serves dinner, and Grant mostly behaves. Lee picks at her food and listens as Ulie asks some questions: how long we’ve been dating, and if people at school know. Adri answers them all. Honest to a fault.

  Sherm is quiet, feeding most of his chicken Marsala to Burn under the table.

  When we’re done, Adri thanks Ulie for dinner and says good night to everyone. “Sherm?” she says. “Can we talk?”

  He stands and they go outside. I see them settle onto the love seat on the porch under the living room window.

  Sherm nods a lot as they talk, but I can’t hear what’s being said. After ten minutes or so, Adri pulls him into a hug and he wraps his arms around her neck and kisses her cheek.

  My heart squeezes into a knot. I just stole my brother’s first love. I can’t help feeling like I’m already screwing up this fresh start.

  Sherm lets her go and they come to the door.

  “I’ll see you Monday, okay?” Adri tells him.

  He nods and heads up the stairs.

  Her eyes find mine, and she gestures with a tip of her head that I should follow, then turns for the driveway. I find her in the dark next to her car, and she pulls me into her arms. “You have time for a walk on the beach?”

  “A quick one. I think I’ve got to square some things away with my little brother,” I tell her, my lips brushing her forehead as I speak.

  “I think that’s a good idea.” She grins up at me. “And I can be quick.”

  I tip my head back and let out a throaty groan when her hand comes to rest over the growing bulge in my jeans.

  We kick off our shoes and I grab a blanket out of the backseat of the Lumina. There’s almost no moon, so we take the path slow. When we reach the beach, she takes my hand and we stroll just at the edge of the water.

  “Do you ever think about how one tiny twist of fate changes everything?” she asks.

  “Sounds more philosophical than my typical train of thought,” I say, letting my hand slide from the small of her back to her perfect, round ass, “which generally involves getting you naked.”

  She smiles and strips off her light sweater. “I think about it a lot. It’s like our lives are on this path that’s totally out of our control, but totally meant to be. I think they call it predestination, where fate or God or something already has your life all sorted before you’re even born.”

  “So you think we were meant to be?” I ask, stopping and turning her to face me.

  “Don’t you?” she asks.

  I kiss her slowly. Her tongue twists into mine, and I feel her tug at my soul. No one’s ever been able to touch me as deeply as this sweet, beautiful schoolteacher. “There’s no question you are my meant-to-be. I just wasn’t sure I was yours.”

  She pulls the blanket out of my arm and spreads it on the sand. What little light there is catches her ivory skin when she lifts her top over her head and unfastens her bra, letting it drop to the sand. “You are the key to my soul. Electricity to my bulb. I was made for you, and you were made for me. I can’t think of anything more meant to be than that.”

  An electric current sizzles under my skin as she puts into words everything I’ve been feeling. “I want to be someone who you could love.”

  She traces a fingers along my lips. “You are.”

  I pull her against me. “I love you, Adrianna Wilson. I think I’ve loved you since the moment I first laid eyes on you.”

  Her smile is genuine, just like everything else about her. “I love you Robert Delgado, and I know I have since the moment I first laid eyes on you.”

  At her use of my real last name, I tense, remembering all the reasons this is wrong. “Your father was right to try to keep us apart. You’re too good for me.”

  She draws away and looks at me. “You’re better than you think.”

  Wrong or not, when I look into her eyes, I know there’s no stopping this. “I don’t deserve your love, but I’m going to do everything in my power to earn it every single day for the rest of my life.”

  We drop to our knees in the sand, and she weaves her fingers into my hair, pulling me to her in a deep kiss. She opens my fly as I lower her onto the blanket and pushes my jeans down over my hips, freeing the beast. As I sink myself deep into her slick heat, it’s like lighting a fuse. The fireworks that crackle under my skin leave no doubt she’s my meant-to-be. She opens up and gives me all of her, body and soul—an open book in every sense of the word. She trusts me with all of it and because of that, she makes me more. I love her thoroughly, trying to give her everything I know she needs from me, and as I watch her come apart underneath me, I know I’m home.

  Afterward, we lie tangled together on the blanket, slick with sweat and totally sated, fighting to catch our breath.

  I slip the ring off my pinky and roll it between my fingers. “I want you to wear this and know it’s my promise to do everything in my power to never let you down.”

  She holds up her hand and I slip it onto her slender ring finger, where it’s several sizes too big. “I love you,” she whispers, the faint moonlight catching the gleam of tears in her eyes.

  I kiss her eyelids, one then the other, then prop on an elbow and grin down at her. “I know.”

  She giggles and shoves me away. “I thought you needed to talk to Sherm.”

  I do, but I don’t want to let her go. Ever.

  We dress and I walk her back to her car and kiss her good night, then go to find my littlest brother. He’s in his and Lee’s room, huddled into the corner of his bed with one of the shark books from Adri’s classroom. Burn is stretched on the floor at the side of his bed, chewing on Lee’s sandal.

  I knock on the door, and Sherm’s eyes flash to me. “We need to talk, Sherm.”

  He doesn’t shake his head or tell me no, so I step into the room. Burn drops Lee’s sandal and gives me his best tough guy growl.

  “Do you remember that time you and the guys were playing street hockey back home and Jeremy broke his leg?”

  He nods, but his expres
sion doesn’t change.

  “Christian was going for the goal and he didn’t mean to knock into Jeremy so hard. He didn’t mean to break his leg. He was trying to do one thing and something else ended up happening.”

  I don’t even really know where I’m going with this, except I want so much for Sherm to understand I didn’t intend to kill anyone.

  “What happened at the house that night … I didn’t mean for things to turn out that way, and I’m so sorry you were in the middle and saw that.”

  His chin starts to quiver, and his eyes grow big and scared again. It strikes me, too late, how selfish my need for absolution is, that I’m making him relive the most traumatic thing that’s ever happened to him.

  “Sherm …” I stuff my hands in my pockets and hang my head. “I miss you. I’m sorry I’m not who you thought I was, but I love you more than anything. Someday, if you can forgive me, just know I’ll be here.” I back toward the door feeling a pulsing lump rise in my throat. “I’ll always be here for you, whenever you’re ready.”

  “I’m sorry,” he whispers. When I lift my gaze, tears are rolling down his face.

  My heart lurches and my gut knots. “There’s nothing in this whole world for you to be sorry about, champ.”

  “It was my fault.” His voice is so small I barely hear it.

  Burn whimpers and jumps up onto Sherm’s bed, licking his face. He pulls the dog to his chest as a hole opens in mine.

  “What do you think was your fault, Sherm?”

  More tears spill onto his face. “I made you kill him.”

  Ice water hits my veins in a rush, and I feel suddenly sick. “Christ, no, Sherm. Don’t ever think that. None of it had anything to do with you.”

  He’s shaking and gripping Burn so hard that the dog whimpers again. “I was too scared. I wasn’t brave enough.”

  I step closer and tamp down my shock. “That’s not true. He was going to hurt you, but if it had been Ulie or Grant or Lee, I would have done the same thing. I didn’t mean to kill anyone, but …” I shake my head and fight not to lower my gaze. “I’ll do whatever it takes to keep my family safe, Sherm, and that’s my decision. None of it is your fault.”