Forever Red (7 page)

It was pitch black when something moved next to me, jolting me from sleep. At first, I thought Linc had buried herself under my blankets, but the girl next to me was far too soft and much less hairy than my pup. I smiled into the dark sky as memories from the last few hours slowly crept to the surface of my mind. We’d talked about everything, and then nothing at all important, just laughing and getting to know each other even more. And we’d kissed… God, had we kissed.

At one point, my heart was racing, my blood pounding through my veins so fast that it had taken everything in me to keep my hands on the outside of her clothes. She was not that considerate; I could still feel the tips of her fingers tracing my ribs and dancing down my stomach. Mmmm. This girl!

I hadn’t meant for us to spend the entire night out here, but waking up next to her was an amazing feeling, and I wouldn’t change a thing. I was thankful I hadn’t given in to the hormones that were still driving me wild, keeping me at half-mast. She was better than some quick fuck in the back of my truck. I’d told her, even though she’d tried to argue, that I was not going to sleep with her the first night we were together.

I wanted to be more than just another in her long line of partners – she hadn’t given me a number, instead, telling me I probably didn’t want to know. She was right. I didn’t want to know. It didn’t matter now, anyway, because I was going to be her only from this point forward. I needed to show her I was different from what she was used to, that
she
mattered, not just her body. And to do that, we needed to wait.

Lia snorted in her sleep, snuggling her back closer to me. Wrapping my arms around her, I sighed happily. My breath billowed in front of me and the reality of how cold it was hit me. October in Maine wasn’t the time to stay out under the stars. I sat up, leaning over to make sure the blankets were still covering her, tucking them further under her side just to make sure. Then, sliding my arm under her head, I tangled my body around hers and fell back asleep.

When I woke up again, the gray had faded into blue, the sun just starting to peek out of the trees. Lia was on top of me, head on my chest, arms clinging to my torso. She was shaking.

“Hey.” I picked up my head, kissing her forehead. “You’re cold.”

She nodded. “F-f-frreezing.” Her teeth chattered as she answered.

I flipped us over, propping myself up on my elbows so that I didn’t crush her completely, and then pulled one of the blankets over our heads, creating a tent and hoping our body heat would warm her. She started tugging my sweatshirt up before I could stop her.

“What are you doing?”

“Isn’t skin to skin the best way to get someone warm?” Her chin was still quivering from the chill she’d gotten, and even though I was sure that was only necessary if someone got wet in freezing temperatures, I let her slip it off and then watched in the early morning darkness as she twisted out of hers.

She wasn’t wearing a bra. I was pretty sure I’d just been played. If not, I was the luckiest son of a bitch on the planet. My fingers ached to touch her. Fisting them in the sleeping bag, I groaned. “Lia.”

Lia only shook her head, bucking her body against mine. “Warm me up, Neil. I’m so, so cold.”

I wish I could say that right at that second my intentions were only to warm her up and that everything I did from that point on was innocent. But as I stared down at her body, just visible in the muted sunrise, my mind stopped working. I reached out, touching unbelievably soft and flawless skin, moving my hand from her slightly rounded stomach, up onto her ribs, between her breasts, and then down, circling one of her nipples.

She inhaled sharply, widening her legs to give me room, and then arched her body into mine. I pushed my morning wood into her, my bulging jeans creating the perfect amount of friction against her pajama pants. Leaning down, I kissed the soft spot just above her belly button. Lia cried out, hands grabbing fistfuls of hair.

Following the same path my fingers had just taken, I inched up her body, blazing the trail with lips, teeth, and tongue. By the time I found my way back to her mouth, she had wrapped her legs around my waist and was digging holes in my back. Having my lips on her was my only priority but, somehow, I managed to kick off my jeans and pull the fleece from her legs. I couldn’t have stopped even if I wanted to. And at that moment, I really, really didn’t want to.

I sat back on my knees, letting blankets fall from our heads, and reached for my jeans. Lia groaned angrily under me. “It isn’t nighttime.”

Hastily shoving blankets and discarded clothes out of my way in my search, I nodded. “Okay?”

She squeezed her legs together around mine. “You said you wouldn’t have sex with me on our first night together. It isn’t nighttime anymore.”

I
had
been played. Finding my jeans, I pulled the foil that I’d haphazardly tucked in my pocket the day before, and then leaned over to kiss her. Her arms came around my shoulders as if to hold me in place and I lost myself in all that was Lia. If I wasn’t in her soon, I was going to explode. Moving to the side slightly, I ripped the foil and rolled the thin layer of latex up over myself.

Opening her eyes, she glared at me. “Nathaniel Kelly, if you stop again, so help me God, I’m gonna…” I silenced her threat with my lips and pulled her hips up to meet mine.

I can’t explain the feelings that washed over me during the next few minutes. A lesser man would have cried. Hell, I had to bite my lip hard enough to draw blood to keep myself from telling her I loved her and begging her to love me back. Yeah, I’d only been with one other person, but even inexperienced me knew this was indescribable. It was like coming home after being away for years. This was where I belonged. I never wanted to leave again.

After we were done, Lia fell into an exhausted slumber. I couldn’t sleep, so I cradled her in my arms, holding on for dear life. I was screwed. S-C-R-E-W-E-D. I craved this girl. When she wasn’t around, I needed her to be near me. And now, well, now I was addicted for a completely different reason. Her body was my shrine and I had to worship it in order to find absolution.

Hunger – for actual food – was the only reason we left the field a few hours later. Next time I took her there, I was making sure I had a cooler stocked with enough food and drinks to last an entire weekend. That’s how much time I needed with her, and something told me even that wouldn’t be enough.

We grabbed bagels and coffee at Dunkin and ate cuddled up on her couch, wasting the rest of the morning away watching movies. Halfway through our second one, it hit me that her mom still wasn’t home. All this time I’d known her and I’d never actually met her mother. “Are you home alone all the time?”

She paused the movie and then looked at me sadly. “No. But Mom works and goes to school during the week, so she spends every weekend with her friends and boyfriend.”

“Couldn’t her friends or boyfriend come here?”

Standing up, she grabbed the food wrappers and our plates and walked into her tiny kitchen. “They come here when I’m going to be at Julie’s for the weekend.”

I only raised an eyebrow, making her flush in embarrassment.

“They don’t know about me.”

I walked to her, hugged her tight, and waited for an explanation. “The friend is one she met in her first college class and the boyfriend is the friend’s brother. They think my mom is a lot younger. It’s easier not to have to explain why someone her age has a teenager and why the teenager never sees her dad.”

“Why doesn’t the teenager ever see her dad?” We’d never talked about her dad before, but I guess I’d just assumed he was dead.

She swallowed audibly, and then sighed. “Because her dad hates her mom and his new wife doesn’t handle the situation very well. Plus, he’s in the Navy, so it isn’t like he lives around here and just avoids his daughter.” She leaned her head back to look up at me. “He sends me money every month, which is better than what a lot of dads do. We do talk, even though it’s mostly by email now.”

My dad was a jackass. A shitty son that hadn’t appreciated the father he’d been blessed to have. But he was a great husband and an even better dad. This beautiful girl should have had that, too. She was so much more than a secret or an obligation. The idea made my blood run cold. “So that still doesn’t explain why your mom hasn’t mentioned you.”

“I’m just glad she’s happy.” She shrugged as if it wasn’t important. “Look, life is hell here. Especially for two broke teenagers that decided to keep their baby when no one wanted them to. Dad joined the Navy so he could rescue us. My mom works her ass off because he never did. They’re not bad parents. I know how much they love me, and they really did try. But they’re just young. If being with a guy that doesn’t know about me makes her happy…” She trailed off, sighing. “I’m gonna be gone in two years anyway, so what’s the point of telling him about me?”

“Don’t you ever get tired of being alone?” I was never alone. Between Gramps, my parents, Nikki, the rugrats, April, and now Lia and Carson, I hadn’t been alone in years. Shit, I could barely use the bathroom in privacy.

She nodded. “I used to be with Jules all the time so it wasn’t a big deal. Now, though, it does get old.”

Putting my hands on her cheeks, I looked down into her big blue eyes. “Next time you get lonely, call me. I’ll come in fifteen.”

She giggled and nodded, a mischievous twinkle in her eye, no doubt thinking about earlier when I wasn’t sure I had even lasted that long.

I chuckled, leaning forward to kiss her on the nose. “Perv. You have one dirty mind, little girl.”

She gave me a quick, tight hug, and then pushed me away. “I need a shower and a nap. And, you… oh, no, no.” Laughing at the look of lust I’m sure I had all over my face, she shook her head. “Nope. I’m doing both alone. And you are going home before your mom calls me looking for you.”

Any longing I’d had disappeared as soon as she mentioned my mom. Ugh. She’d be pissed that I wasn’t home yet. I didn’t want to leave my girl, but I did have to make an appearance at my house. “Wanna get dinner tonight?”

She pursed her lips, thinking. Then, she nodded.

I dropped a quick peck on her lips and then turned for the door. “See you later.” I wanted to say so many more things, but I left it at that. Didn’t want to scare her away.

*****

“Nathaniel?” my mom’s voice yelled from the hall as soon I opened the door. “Is that you?”

“Yeah, I’m home.” It was quiet. Scowling, I headed toward the hall. It was never quiet at my house on the weekend. I found her standing in front of her wall of pictures, arms crossed over her chest, apparently lost in thought. “Where is everyone?”

She didn’t turn to look at me. “I went to the grocery store this morning after church.”
Okay. Because that explained where the kids were.
“I ran into Allyson.”

Still not sure what she was talking about, I leaned against the door frame, exhaustion creeping in.

“Your dad took Noah and Nat out for the afternoon. He didn’t want them here for this.” She faced me then, sending my warning bells into panic mode as she frowned. “Where in the hell were you last night?” She held up her hand when I opened my mouth. “You and I are about to have a come to Jesus moment, so don’t even think about lying to me, young man. Ally said that you left the dance early and that you never went to her camp. You are sixteen years old, Nathaniel. You do not get to ask permission to go one place and then go somewhere else instead. I want to know where you were and I want to know right now.”

“I was with Lia.”

“Lia.” She half laughed as if the idea was extremely humorous. But I knew that sound all too well. Mom was pissed. “Of course you were! Were her parents home?”

I was already in deep shit, I could tell just by her tone. We had a lot of rules in our house, but one of the most important was honesty. If you lied and got caught, the punishment was a hell of a lot more severe than what it would have been if you had just told the truth to begin with. There really was no point in lying now anyway. “No. But, we didn’t stay at her house.”

Eyebrows that matched mine disappeared under her dark bangs. “Where did you stay then?”

“We camped in a field.”

“A field?” She sounded horrified and disgusted. “You spent the night with Lia, alone in a field, instead of going camping with your team.” It wasn’t a question and I wasn’t stupid enough to try to answer. “I thought you told me that you were only friends.”

“And you were the one that told me there was something more.”

Her eye flashed in anger. “Do not sass me, young man!” Holding out her palm, she snapped. “You’re grounded. For two weeks, you will go to school, you will go to practice, and then you will come home. No phone. No Internet. No friends over.”

I stared at her hand, my jaw tensing, not sure what she was after.

“Keys!” she finally barked.

“What?” My tone was full of ice, and somewhere in the back of my mind, I knew I was digging an even deeper ditch.

“The keys to your truck, Nathaniel.”

My fists clenched next to my side. “I need my truck.”

“No, you don’t. I will take you to school. I will pick you up after practice. The rest of the time, your ass will be here.”