Chasing Butterflies (4 page)

“You were—”

“Incredible,” I offered.

“Cocky bastard, but yes.”

“Better than your boyfriend?” It was probably a bad idea to remind her of what she’d done.

“I swear I didn’t know you had an ego. But yes. Two for two.”

I smirked because my skills were legend, which kept a steady stream of girls giving it up. My ego was my own. I never boasted, but getting the one girl whom I thought unattainable was too much for even me to ignore.

That night, I spent it at her house, in her bed. Her parents were out of town and it just kicked off, us spending the entire last half of the summer exploring each other. She had a book about sex positions she’d wanted to try out. And several times a week we did just that.

Her boyfriend had stupidly enlisted in the army, which he’d shared with her via text that first night and had shortly gone to basic training. So I had no competition for her time. Her mom and dad worked nights like my mom. After I got off work, I’d go straight to her house, avoiding my dad. She cooked me dinner and shit. And the rest of the time we fucked like rabbits. It was the best summer ever.

That was until one night, a week before school started, I left through her back door and hopped the fence. Mom waited for me on our back porch.

“So that’s where you go every day?”

The disappointment in her tone cut me.

“You’re not at work,” I said, unable to answer her.

She patted the spot next to her. “Sit.”

Mom could have asked me to jump over the moon, and I would have found a way to do just that. So I sat next to her.

“You know how I wanted you to have a normal high school experience with the same friends and give you a chance to play on the same team.”

“We’re moving again,” I said flatly. It had been a good couple of years in the same place. I thought for sure we’d make it a few more.

She nodded. “I’m sorry about this. I didn’t want to.”

I believed her, but I did want to know why. “What happened now?”

Did Dad drink the rent money? Were we kicked out because their fighting was too loud for the neighbors? Had Dad gotten in trouble with the law?

“I’m sick,” she began, shocking the shit out of me.

Her words coalesced in my head like a tornado. She went on to explain that she had some disease, but it wasn’t cancer. MS, she called it. It attacked her nerves or some shit like that. The air thinned, and I was sure I would pass out. Thoughts I tried hard to suppress about my brother’s death came roiling back. The idea of losing Mom clogged my throat. 

“I’ve known for a while.” She sighed. “But without good insurance I couldn’t afford to go to the doctor that often or pay for the medicine.”

Cash
… Wasn’t that what it always came down to?

“So why didn’t you accept the money I offered you? You took Sandy’s.”

She jerked, and what kind of shit son was I to bring up my dead brother?

Swallowing, she said, “It wouldn’t have been enough. But things have gotten worse.” That’s when I noticed the tremor in her hands. “We’re moving in with your aunt Joy. She’s letting us stay at her house and offered to help pay for the doctors and medicine I need.”

We’d lived almost two years in Galveston. It was the longest we’d lived in one place that I could remember. I wanted Mom healthy, but I also didn’t want to move…again. Would I ever be able to visit my brother’s grave?

“Why can’t we stay here?”

She blinked back the shine of tears in her eyes. “Things have gotten too bad. I can’t hide it at work anymore, and I’ve been asked to leave.”

I had no idea what she couldn’t hide and couldn’t bear to ask. Wrapping my arms around her, I cursed my father for being a no good drunk and not being able to keep a job. I cursed because I would go. I would do what was best for Mom. I cursed because I knew it wouldn’t be the two of us. Dad would undoubtedly come with us.

“She has a big house north of Dallas. You’ll see it will be great,” she added.

Mom’s sister’s house was big, but when we arrived, everything was far from great.

It was hard
to explain. I wasn’t sure whether it was because the hall got a little quieter or I felt something different in the air. All I knew was when Debbie spoke. I wasn’t at all surprised to hear her words.

“O.M.G,” she clucked.

I pulled out the book I needed for first period and turned around. My stomach dropped like the floor fell away beneath my feet. Near the school office stood a guy as tall as Ox, but not as wide. That wasn’t the jaw-dropping thing about him. He was gorgeous, like movie star beautiful. His dark brown hair was streaked with strands of gold most likely from the sun and fell in his face. His skin bore the hue of someone who spent a lot of time outside. But it was his lips that had my insides turning out. They were perfectly bow-shaped and made for kissing.

“Holy hottie.”

I glanced to Debbie’s other side to see Trina standing there, gawking with the rest of us spectators. She’d been the one to speak. Debbie was in a state of stupefaction because she didn’t cry foul at her frenemy standing near her.

The vice principal held a paper he and the hottie stared at, which was most likely his schedule. And my eyes were transfixed to him. Seconds later, the vice principal looped off, and the boy lifted his gaze to find us in the peanut gallery gaping at him. And it wasn’t because he was gorg. It was his eyes that made us pause while sucking in air. One was the color of a typical ocean and the other was bright green, freaky but so incredibly cool.

His smirk drew my attention back to his lips after I watched his eyes trace to Trina. No surprise there. Her blond hair was almost pale enough to be white and caught most boys’ attention. Though her curves were more likely the cause. Her outfit left little to the imagination. After obviously looking her up and down, he trained those amazing eyes on Debbie.

She preened under his scrutiny, kicking out her hip for good measure. I glanced back at him in time for his eyes to lock on me. I felt the heat rise in my checks as butterflies the size of bats beat wings into high gear in my stomach. He pushed back a mop of hair, which only spilled back into his face. And what a face. After his eyes skimmed down my body, they traveled back to Debbie.

Good for her
, I thought. She didn’t miss a beat. She marched forward and held her hands out to him. No doubt names were exchanged.

“Well, that was interesting,” Trina muttered before stalking off.

I shut my locker and didn’t stay for the show. I wasn’t jealous, or I didn’t want to be. I had Ox and it was time my best friend got her due. She was really pretty and lacked confidence in herself, which led her to make questionable decisions.

The day passed, and I managed not to run into the boy who made my insides go gooey. I stepped out of the teacher’s lounge and headed to the table where we were setting up. My balancing act with the tray in my hands had me paying close attention to what I was holding and not who was in front of me. It was a setup for disaster I should have predicted.

Somehow I managed to keep the tray of cupcakes from all spilling to the ground when I ran cliché style straight into
him
.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to,” I said, glancing up into those unfathomable bi-colored eyes.

“You should watch where you’re going.”

I almost missed the cocky grin he gave me because his voice sounded as good as he looked. Then I caught the smirk. I glanced down where metal hung from his neck. They gleamed against his white shirt. I almost asked about the dog tags but stopped myself.

“You could help me, you know,” I said, glancing down at the few cupcakes that took a nose dive to the ground.

“I could.”

Though he made no move to do it. I huffed and set the tray on the table before turning around to pick up the mess.

“You are an ass,” I sniped, wishing the feeling like I’d just ridden down the biggest drop on a roller coaster would go away.

“And your ass is fine.”

I glared over my shoulder after realizing my mistake. As the bake sale was a cheerleading fundraising, I’d changed into my uniform. When I’d bent down, I’d given him a perfect view of my backside. I jumped to my feet with messy hands and stalked back into the teacher’s lounge. When I came back out, he was gone.

Ox showed up just as I finished with the table setup.

“Babe.”

His pale blue eyes held onto mine. “I want us to go somewhere after I’m finished with practice.”

I bit my lip, knowing damn well where he wanted to go and why. “I’m not sure. I have to see if my parents will be okay with me missing dinner.”

He grinned. “I’ve already talked to your mom and they’re cool with it.”

That was something I didn’t like about him. He made decisions for me without talking to me first. And part of me hated my parents for agreeing without seeing if I was okay with it. Then I pictured my father jobless and forced the words from my mouth.

“Yeah, sure.”

He hadn’t yet pushed the sex issue. But his attentions weren’t pure either. We would end up at the park where I would endure his groping and wet kisses, which weren’t that horrible if I were honest. I should be strong enough to back out of the relationship. Then I thought of all those women in history who had endured before me. Why couldn’t I date a decent guy to ensure my family had a roof over their heads? Debbie kept telling me there were worse hardships.

After he left, it wasn’t long before my wayward friend showed up looking extremely pleased with herself.

“What’s up?”

Her face split with a grin. “Oh, that’s right. You didn’t come to lunch. Hung out in the library, or should I say you hid in the library?”

“I wasn’t hiding. I had to get some research done.”

“Yeah, sure.”

“Whatever.” I waved a hand and laughed when she playfully slapped at it.

“So I’m meeting Kelley at the game.”

I frowned. “Kelley?”

She nodded. “The new guy. His name is Kelley.”

“Oh.”

So that was his name. I opened my mouth to tell her what a jerk he’d been to me when she babbled on.

“I was so afraid he’d be into you, but he picked me.”

That shut me up for a second. “Why wouldn’t he pick you? You’re beautiful.”

She beamed, and I had to be happy for her. I just hoped his doucheness was only for me. I was grateful we got our first customers and I didn’t have to lie about my true feelings for the ass.

Our conversation steered to gossip after the sugar rush wave of customers. Debbie was a wealth of information. People talked to her, not knowing she kept no one’s secrets except mine. We didn’t have much to clean up by the time Ox arrived. As we left, Debbie teased us mercilessly.

He treated us to burgers and shakes before he drove out to the field surrounded by trees where makeshift parties happened, or where people went to make out.

“What’s wrong?” Ox said when I didn’t respond to his touch.

I decided to be honest. “I really don’t want to.”

“When do you ever?” he snapped.

His anger forced me to act. I wrenched his truck door open and stumbled out.

“Wait! Fuck. Lenny, I’m sorry.”

I kept stomping toward the road. Taller than me, with his long strides, he was able to catch me quickly. I swung around when his hand circled my arm.

“What?”

“Fuck, Lenny.” He’d already said that. “I love you. I gave you that ring to prove it. You’d think you’d trust me by now. I just want us to be closer.”

Closer
? “You want to have sex. Just say it.”

Maybe his honesty would get us somewhere.

He shrugged. “Maybe. And not because I’m a guy. Hell, there are plenty of girls willing to give it up.”

I lifted my hands up. “I’m not stopping you.” I didn’t wait for an answer. Instead, I headed toward the road again.

“Come on, Len. We don’t have to do it. But I can make you feel good. I’ve done it before and you could do the same for me.”

We had fooled around, rounding some bases. But he’d never created bat signals in my stomach. One boy had and it was stupid of me to think about it because Mom had been totally wrong. My subconscious was way off base. Kelley was a douche of epic proportions. I should be gaga over the guy I called boyfriend.

Not wanting to walk a couple of miles home, I stopped because I couldn’t be mad at his honesty. But it didn’t mean I was giving in either. “Just take me home, please.”