ICE (The Benders Series) (8 page)

“It’s like, you give me these butterflies…but better than butterflies,” he said, pausing to feel his gut. “It’s more like fluffy snow angels.”

Kenna laughed at his metaphor. “So I make you feel pregnant?!”

He laughed now, too. “I guess,” he nodded. “You just keep me on my toes. You make me nervous.”

“It’s just the opposite for me,” Kenna said as she laid her head on his shoulder. “I feel so at ease when I’m with you. Well, when you aren’t being weird anyway.”

He kissed her forehead as they rested there. They both sat silently though they longed to ruin the moment with their sinful lusts. However, neither of them could possibly destroy the innocence and peacefulness that were those moments on that decaying old log just listening to each other breathe and smelling the freshness of the frozen air around them.

It was after these moments that Kenna began to feel doubt rising within her. She was so happy, but something felt so wrong, even after this very personal confession. Something was still missing.

“Why does it hurt to touch me?” she heard herself ask. “I feel like I’m missing something. Am I just disgusting?”

Jon swallowed hard, and she could see that he was choosing his words carefully. “You,” he paused, “are the most perfect person for me that I’ve ever met or could ever imagine. You are beautiful, but that’s even an understatement.”

“Then why don’t you kiss me or hold my hand or anything,” she asked calmly. Kenna wasn’t angry, she was curious and emotional, but not angry.

“I’ve just never been this close to anyone. And I’m not comfortable with all that,” he said. “Like I just told you, I’m just nervous. And that’s embarrassing.”

She shook her head. “No, it’s fine. I just feel like I’m hurting you. Like physically hurting you whenever we touch.”

“No,” Jon interrupted. “That’s not the case. I’m just… different about that stuff I guess.”

Kenna was regretting her questions as she observed a look of humiliation come across his face. “Sorry,” she said. “I just like you a lot. And I don’t want to be hurting you.”

“You don’t,” he smiled, finding his confidence returning. “I like you a lot too. That’s another reason that I want to take things slow. We just, I don’t know, connect so intensely on an all these other levels. I don’t want to mess it up by kissing you wrong,” he laughed a little. “I can try to be a little quicker though I guess.”

“No,” Kenna disagreed. “I like slow. Just wanted to double check that we were good with all that.”

He kissed the hair that lay disheveled across her forehead. “We are perfect.”

She smiled and felt all the doubt escape her. “We are.”

CHAPTER SEVEN

Family.

Kenna wore a smile as she waited for Jon to pull up in his valiant white steed.

I want you to meet my family
, were his words as she recalled the conversation with delight.

Kenna knew how much his family meant to him so she recognized how serious he felt about their relationship when he invited her over for dinner. Although she was undeniably nervous, she couldn’t help but be giddy at the thought of being with him in his home.

Up until now, all of their dates had been out, out at the park, out at a restaurant, out at a movie, out on a drive. They’d managed to build very strong feelings for each other without ever setting foot in the other’s place of residence. As a result, Kenna knew that such a dinner would be a step towards taking their relationship to a new level, a level that she was excited to enter.

And that wasn’t the only clue to the seriousness of their relationship. Jon had called her every night since their emotional and revealing hike a few weeks ago. They had talked more, seen each other more, and now she was meeting his family.

Her excitement had caused her to get ready all too soon as Jon probably wouldn’t arrive for several more minutes.

“Waiting for that boyfriend of yours, huh?” her father asked as he entered the porch.

“You know it,” she acknowledged though her eyes never ceased in their looking out the clear window.

Her father chuckled a little his daughter’s intensity. “So when do I get to meet this guy of yours? You seem to like him quite a bit, but I haven’t even seen him!”

“Oh dad,” Kenna smiled, turning to face the man. “It’ll be soon. I told you that I’m meeting his family today so he’ll probably come over next week.”

“I see,” he replied, growing a little concerned at her enthusiasm. “So things are pretty serious?”

“I think so,” she nodded. “Dad, I really like him. He’s a good guy.” Kenna could see his worry and tried to sooth him. “But we’ve only kissed like once so you don’t have to worry about sex and stuff. He’s all about waiting.”

Kenna watched as the stern look on his face transformed into a beam of lightness. “Perfect. So I can skip the whole sex talk thing then?” he asked with another chuckle.

Kenna burst out with laughter at hearing her dad even say the word ‘sex’. “Yes, it’s all good! Awkward conversation avoided!”

He joined in the laughter, but her father suddenly began to tear up with unanticipated emotion. “I haven’t seen you this happy in years,” he confessed as he wiped a tear away from his stubbly face.

Kenna stopped in her giggles and got up to give her father a hug. “I know. I’m so glad that I moved up here with you,” she said as her father gave her a squeeze.

“Looks like the mystery man has arrived,” he observed as Jon’s truck came to a stop across the street. “Are you sure you don’t want to invite him in?” he asked as he opened his arms to release her from the embrace.

“Next time, dad,” she promised as she made her way out the front door.

“Okay, have fun then!” he called as he watched her race to the crippled vehicle.

The girl buckled up quickly, and in five short minutes, they’d arrived at the Colewell house.

His house was exactly as she remembered it, surrounded by feet of trampled snow and large, eerie trees. Despite the creepiness, Kenna was looking forward to finally stepping into the rambler and enjoying dinner with Jon’s family.

“You sure you are ready for this?” he asked as he unbuckled his belt.

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” Kenna exclaimed as she too unbuckled and the couple left the truck and entered the house.

Kenna immediately felt a chill shoot down her spine. It had been almost forty degrees out that day, and the inside of the Colewell house couldn’t have been much warmer.

“Did your heat go out?” Kenna questioned as they entered the front door.

Jon guided her to a couch where they took a seat. “No. It’s nice out. No need for heat with this weather. We should really be running the A/C,” he joked as he rested a hand on her knee.

Before he could lean in and kiss the girl, Mrs. Colewell entered the room. She was also exactly as Kenna had remembered her. Her frown looked untouched and unwavering, her hair even sat in the same style braid as it previously had. “Everyone is waiting at the table,” she snapped at the pair. Jon instantly removed his hand from Kenna’s leg and shot up to a stand. Kenna hadn’t noticed it on her previous encounter with Mrs. Colewell, but the woman had just the slightest accent.

“We’re coming then,” he said as he took Kenna’s hand to help his date to a stand.

“I think she can get up on her own,” commented the woman whose glower remained straighter than a wooden pencil.

Jon rolled his eyes as Kenna felt a rather nervous knot begin to tie up her insides. If she’d been intimidated by Mrs. Colewell before, now she was downright horrified of her.

Nevertheless, she followed the woman as they came to a large dining room where the three other Colewells sat waiting. The room didn’t smell, nor seem to breathe any form of life. As Kenna observed the table she noticed that only cold food was being served. Lettuce salad with ranch and shredded cheese, some kind of cold macaroni salad, apple slices, and several other foods that didn’t exactly make her top ten list.

But Kenna did her best to embrace the cold lifestyle, though she clung tightly to her jacket as she took a seat next to Jon and across from his overbearing mother.

Tension and silence filled the room as the foods were passed around the table. Kenna only took small portions of each item, doing her best not to seem rude or immature. As she glanced around, the only noises she heard were the slight clinks and clanks of silverware on the plates and cups being filled with ice water or juices.

It was far different than what she was expecting. Kenna supposed that being with a larger family would mean more laughter and life and warmth, like Britney’s house. The Colewell’s was the exact opposite. Quiet. Depressing. And cold.

“Well they don’t call me break-the-ice Bryce for nothing,” Bryce joked to destroy the awkward silence that enclosed the family.

“No one calls you that, bro,” Jon jeered as he passed around the salad bowl.

Despite their attempt at humor, the conversation at the table was minimal, mostly consisting of Bryce’s and Jon’s typical bantering. This was to Kenna’s great displeasure. She had really been looking forward to the dinner and hopefully making a good impression on Mrs. Colewell. Realizing that time might soon be slipping away from her, the girl decided that she’d be the one to start the day’s discussions.

“So what do you do, Mrs. Colewell? Jon says you all work in a family business,” Kenna asked with a quiet innocence that she didn’t know she possessed.

The woman sneered at the question. “Oh, is that what Jon tells you?” She then proceeded to shoot the boy one of her terrifying glowers. “It’s a private business actually. And most of what I do is strictly confidential. And what do you do Ms. Rosen?”

Kenna was a little taken aback by the question and by being addressed as Ms. Rosen. “Oh, I’m just a junior right now. I probably won’t find a job until this summer.”

“A junior in college? And which school do you attend?” she shot back immediately.

“Oh,” Kenna was becoming a little uncomfortable. She gave Jon a rather panicked look as she continued, “I’m actually in high school yet.”

“Oh,” the woman acknowledged. “So you aren’t even eighteen then, are you? And if you were it would be that you were too unintelligent to pass every grade as planned?” The Colewell woman seemed to ridicule the girl as she spoke, clearly interested in her flaws instead of her interests.

“I’m seventeen, and actually, I’m quite intelligent, thank you,” Kenna replied, finding that she was beginning to dislike Mrs. Colewell as much as Mrs. Colewell disliked her.

“It’s true,” Bryce chimed in with his perfectly timed levity. “I’m always copying her papers!”

“Oh so you encourage my son to cheat then?” she snapped, her eyes never leaving Kenna.

“No,” Kenna defended. “Bryce is obviously the instigator.”

“It’s true,” he nodded with a friendly smile. “I’m from instigation nation actually.”

Everyone was quiet for another moment. Well, everyone except Bryce, who was finding his joke to be quite humorous. Kenna had looked down at the untouched food upon her plate. She was used to paper plates and plastic forks, or at least, that’s what she preferred. But now she stared down at the white, probably ceramic white plate. As nice and fancy as it was, it made her feel even more uncomfortable. With her uneasiness only growing at the sight, she looked up again only to find Jon and his mother facing off in a death stare.

And the winner is…,
she announced in her head as she observed the showdown.

“Kenna is from Florida,” Jon declared, still glaring at his mother. “Perhaps you could ask her about that? Instead of acting like a jerk,” Jon snarled angrily.

“Jon,” Kenna scolded giving the boy a glare of her own. “That’s enough.”

“No,” Mrs. Colewell interrupted as she took as long breath. “I’m sorry, I’m just not used to newcomers. Tell me about Florida.” Her face seemed to unstiffen as the woman made an attempt to become a little more at ease.

Kenna gave her boyfriend another nasty look before turning back to the woman. “Florida is…well, it’s warm compared to Minnesota,” she began with an obligatory smile. “I lived in a bigger city so I was accustom to life going at a bit of a fast pace.”

Yes, Kenna, good word choice. Prove to her that you are intelligent
, she encouraged herself as the discussion pressed on.

“I see, and now you are in Minnesota? Was there a reason for such a move?” she asked though the words seemed to pain her as they left her mouth.

“I came up with my father,” Kenna explained. “My mom still lives in Florida with my stepdad and step siblings.”

“So you come from a broken family then?” she inquired with a hostility that she had great difficulty hiding.

“Mom,” Jon reminded his mother with a stern glance.

“No, it’s a valid question,” Kenna stated to prevent another stare-off. “I prefer to think of it as unconventional, rather than broken,” she replied to Mrs. Colewell’s comment.

At this, the woman gave a nod. “And how do you feel about Minnesota then? Do you like the cold?”

Kenna sighed. “Well, it’s only cold for half the year, so that makes it bearable, I guess,” she joked. No one at the table smiled. Even Jon seemed someone upset over her answer. Kenna quickly rethought her words and added, “But I really like the snow. The winter really does look magical, especially being as I’ve never seen one like this before.”

At this correction, everyone seemed to lighten up again. “Magical really is a good word for it,” Bryce noted though he caught a sharp glare from his mom for the statement.

“Yes,” Kenna went on. “I’m still not very good at hockey though. Jon has tried to give me a few pointers, but I’d say I’m still only as good as Dax and Graham.”

The two older brothers became suddenly aware of the conversation with the mention of their names.

“Dax and I could take you and Jon with ease,” Graham boasted at her rather daring and unforeseen proclamation.

“Pft,” Dax continued. “I don’t even know if it would feel right, beating the snot out of a girl and little Jonny like that.”

Just as Kenna had hoped, her completely exaggerated bragging had brought the two to life. If there was one thing she knew, the Colewells loved good ole fashioned competition.

“I’d beat you both single-handedly,” Jon laughed with his usual arrogance. “It would actually help you all if I had Kenna on my team. She’d weigh me down, just like Bryce does.”

Kenna gave the boy a quick elbow jab in the side at the insult, though she did it with a flirtatious and infectious smile.

“I’m not even gonna deny it,” Bryce agreed with a nod. “But hey I’ll ref for you guys if you all are serious.”

“Tomorrow, game on,” Dax announced proudly. “And we won’t take it easy on you because you’re a girl,” he added, his warning only half-teasing.

“And I won’t take it easy on you because you are an unskilled, egotistical boy,” Kenna smiled, her arrogance suddenly heightened to Jon’s level.

Every one of the brothers laughed at the comment, amused by her sense of humor, humor that fit in perfectly with Jon and his family. The only person at the table who hadn’t lightened up by this point was Mrs. Colewell, who was peering at her food, eating it one small bite at a time.

“I like your hair,” Kenna almost choked on the words as she spoke. Much like comforting people, dishing compliments had never been her thing.

Mrs. Colewell glanced up from her stare at the plate. “Thank you,” she said. The woman then reached a hand to touch the braid that fell effortlessly down her shoulder. “I’ve done it this way since I was a kid actually.”

“It’s really pretty,” Kenna said more confidently feeling like she’d struck some kind of soft-spot.  The woman only nodded as her mind seemed to have been taken elsewhere by the praise. “So did you grow up in Minnesota then? Or how long have you lived here?”