Some Kind of Normal (14 page)

Besides, no guy ever was going to turn down sex. They're not wired that way. So where did that leave me? Where did that leave Trevor? I wasn't even sure what we were exactly. Was he my boyfriend? Did he think of me as his girlfriend? Could we spend the weekend together and not do anything? Like anything naked?

I reached into my closet for my weekender bag.

Guess I was going to find out.

Link's cottage was on the Tickfaw River, not far from Baton Rouge. When we were younger, we'd hang on the dock, go fishing, eat as much junk food as we could stuff down our throats, and stay up late watching cheesy horror movies. One year, Link scared the crap out of us when he jumped on our bed, yelling at the top of his lungs and wearing a white goalie mask. You know, of the Jason variety. Funny now, but not so much back then, because Brent crapped his pants. Like literally.

I'd been coming here since I was a kid, tagging along with Link and his parents, but over the last couple of years, a few things had changed, namely the lack of parents. Now we come up on our own, and as long as we don't get stupid and trash the place, Link's dad is okay with us using it.

Man, that first time, we'd felt like kings. On our own with no adults to tell us what to do. I'd only been fifteen but had told my folks we were going with Link's dad. A total lie, and I eventually got caught, but Brent (who was the oldest and had a license) drove us up. We were serious musicians, and it was just guys, and we were gonna write hit songs and get drunk and eat as much crap as we could. We weren't going to worry about girls and the drama they brought with them. Except, you know, girls do add a certain flavor, and after the second night, we knew we were missing something. Girls and guitars just seemed to go together.

I glanced up at the place as Link pulled his truck in behind Brent's car. We'd had some pretty intense parties up here, a lot of good times, and it felt good to be back, even if some of the gang was missing.

Everly had fallen asleep on the ride up, and she was curled into my side. She was soft and warm, and I could have stayed holed up with her in the back of Link's truck all afternoon. Pretty hard not to think along those lines, because she was so damn sweet with her long lashes touching the tops of her cheeks, and she was going to hate this, but the girl snored softly. It was kind of adorable, although I had no plans to tell her.

I couldn't help myself. I let my finger trace the contours of her top lip and then slipped my hand into her hair so that I could kiss her.

There's something to be said about how amazing it feels to wake up a girl with your mouth. Especially when she tastes as sweet as Everly Jenkins.

She moved against me, turning slightly, and I thought I should pull back. Hell, we were in the back of Link's truck, and Brent stood a few feet away, leaning against his car. But she was so soft and warm and…

I deepened the kiss, wanting more, needing to feel her wanting the same thing. Her eyes flew open, and she stilled, her hands already buried in the hair at the back of my head.

“Hey,” I said, voice a little rough, because man, there were zings and zongs going off in my body. Things had heated up pretty fast.

“Sorry,” she breathed. “I didn't mean to fall asleep.”

“It's all right. You can sleep on me anytime.” Her eyes slid away, and her cheeks got all rosy. It took everything I had not to kiss her again. Like I said. Adorable.

“We should go help get our gear in,” I said.

She never looked away. Her eyes were dark, like liquid navy, and I thought they were the most amazing eyes ever. “Okay. Sounds like a plan.”

I waited for a few moments and then cleared my throat. “You might have to move a little.” The girl was snug between my legs, and I was hoping she was gonna move to the right, because if she moved to the left, well, let's just say I wasn't prepared for that.

“Oh.” She glanced down and then her eyes shot back to mine. “Oh. I'm sorry. I…”

I had to laugh. “Everly, don't worry about it. It's my deal, not yours.” I bent forward and kissed her nose. “You can't help it if the sight of you makes me crazy.”

“Does it?” There was that soft, slow smile that I dug.

“Do you want me to show you right here?”

She glanced out the window. “Um….no!”

We both rolled out of the truck and followed Hailey, Link, and Brent up the stairs with our bags. The guys went back a few more times for the coolers that were stuffed with food, beer, and—

“Who the hell packed two club packs of Popsicles?” I eyed Brent, but he shrugged.

“Not me.”

“I did,” Hailey said, grabbing them from me and heading to the kitchen with them. “They're, like, my Kryptonite.”

I made a weird face, and Everly tried like hell not to laugh.

“So, they'll kill you?” I asked, following her into the kitchen. She was stuffing them into the freezer.

“Huh?”

“Kryptonite. It was the one thing that made Superman weak.”

She grabbed a cherry Popsicle but didn't bother to offer me one. “Superman?” she asked, tearing off the wrapper. “What does Superman have to do with me?”

I opened my mouth to answer, but Link was already there, biting off a huge piece of her Popsicle. “Mmm,” he said, moving in for a kiss. “Cherry is my new favorite flavor.”

He pushed her back against the kitchen cabinets, and the two of them started to make out like porn stars. Time for me to leave. I glanced at Everly, but she was already moving back toward the family room that overlooked the river.

“Our bedroom is this way.” I grabbed her bag and she followed me down the hall. The cottage wasn't big, but the bedrooms were a good size. Link was taking his parents' room, which overlooked the water and had an exit to the hot tub. The guest room had a view of the shed and not much else, because it was tiny. I was okay with that because the bed was a huge king-sized monstrosity that took up most of the space,
and
we had our own private bathroom.

Win.

“Wow,” Everly said softly, eyes on the red and white plaid blanket. “It's…big.”

I tossed my bag. “And squeaky. The springs are shot.”

“What?”

I tried to keep a straight face but lost it when she took a step toward me. “Kidding,” I said, hands up in surrender.

“That's not funny.” She tried to punch me in the shoulder, but I ducked and grabbed her around the waist.

We both fell onto the bed. Again, win.

And she ended up on top of me. Double win.

I was laughing, and she was trying not to laugh. And my hands were on her hips and then she was leaning over me, her hair tickling my nose. She was bare legs, exposed stomach, and summer sweet smell.

God, she felt great.

Our laughter slowly died and I couldn't tear my eyes away. I exhaled and tried to get my head screwed on straight, but it was damn hard. The air was different. It was thick and heavy, with a need that I didn't think we were ready for. At least, not yet.

I tucked that piece of hair that teased me behind her ear, shifted a bit because, well, she was on top of me, and cracked a smile.

“See? No squeaks.”

I sat up, Everly still straddling me, and wrapped my arms around her. What was it about this girl that had me all fuzzy and warm, acting like a damn teddy bear?

“I should unpack,” she said.

“Yeah,” I said slowly, pressing one last kiss on a mouth that was pretty much perfect. Her breath hitched, and that did all sorts of crazy stuff to me. More than a little unsteady (when had a girl ever made me this freaking crazy?), I pulled away.

“We've got all weekend.”

The summer I turned eight, I went through a phase of jumping into situations without thinking. Like literally. One afternoon in particular, my parents took Hailey and me to a park on the river. There were waterslides and sprinklers and a wave pool. But as soon as we got there and with no hesitation, because I'd been planning my move since I found out we were going, I ran for the river, ignoring my mother's screams, and I dove in. With my shoes and everything.

At the time I was convinced that I was a mermaid, and
everyone
knew mermaids didn't die in the water. Apparently everyone except my mom. She practically had a heart attack, waded in (yes, in her shoes), and hauled me out of the river. She caused a scene and didn't seem to care that everyone and their mother was watching. Which totally isn't my mother, but that's how mad she was.

And I wasn't allowed to play on the waterslides as my punishment for not listening and, as she said, “pulling a stunt like that.”

She didn't get that it wasn't a stunt. I begged. I pleaded. I cried. I told her I was a mermaid. She threw her hands up in the air and told my father I wasn't allowed to watch Saturday cartoons anymore. I had to spend the entire afternoon watching Hailey make new friends as she went up and down the waterslides. I was mad and resentful and thought that my mom was the meanest lady on the planet.

Of course, my teenage self knew that she was only trying to protect me from getting hurt. That she'd been scared, and I know that it had been a reckless thing to do. And sure I could argue that most eight-year-old kids would have done the same thing, except I was pretty sure that they wouldn't.

That summer, I'd been hit with “the crazy stick,” as my father called it. I was a little adrenaline junkie who jumped in with no thought of the consequence, because that feeling, the one that hits just before you're about to do something out of this world,
that
feeling was worth the punishment.

That feeling meant that I was alive. Really alive. Not all that smart, just alive.

It took some doing, but after endless chats and groundings and threats of how sinning wasn't a great way to stay on God's good side (because not listening to your parents was a sin), I eventually calmed down. Or maybe I just got older and outgrew the crazy stick stage. Who knows?

And yet I couldn't forget how standing on the edge of something unknown made me feel more alive than accepting things that just were. It seems as if that hasn't changed. It was still scary and thrilling and probably ten more adjectives (at least).

We
have
all
weekend.

Here I was again, about to dive into the river, and there was no Mom to rescue me or Dad to preach at me.

I splashed my face with cold water, scowling at my reflection in the mirror above the bathroom sink. Big eyes stared back at me, bluer than ever. My skin was pale, but my cheeks, seriously? Blushing sucked.

“Hey, you.”

I loosened my hair from its ponytail and let it fall down my back, grateful that Hailey had popped in because I needed her right now. I hugged her tightly, then let her go.

“I hate you. We've just spent most of the night on the beach, in the wind, and your hair looks freaking amazing.” She glanced at herself in the mirror and stuck out her tongue. Grabbing my tie off the sink, she secured her hair on top of her head and then leaned against the sink, eyes on me. “The guys are putting out the fire. Brent's already passed out on the sofa.”

He'd been hitting it pretty heavy, so I wasn't surprised. “I saw that.”

“Okay,” Hailey said, twirling a long piece of hair that hadn't made it to the top of her head. “Spill.”

“What?” I asked.

“How did you convince your parents to let you go away for the weekend with Trevor Lewis?”

“What did you tell your mom?” I asked instead.

“The truth.”

“The truth.” I didn't believe her.

“Well, yeah. I'm almost eighteen, and she knows Link and I are…well, that we've been having sex.” She giggled. “Lots of sex.”

“Hales. TMI. I don't need to know the details.”

She squealed and hugged me again. “Lots of sex!”

I couldn't help but laugh and told her she was a nympho.

“Just wait,” she replied. “You'll understand.”

My laughter died at the same time my stomach decided to take a nervous dip.

Hailey didn't notice, because she was doing her best selfie poses in the mirror, contorting her lips into smooches and smiles. “Mom told me not to rely on just the pill and to use condoms, because you know.” Her eyebrows rose and she whispered “STDs.”

“Huh.”

She whirled around and made a face. “She even bought me a box so I've got lots of them if you…” She paused, eyebrows scrunched something fierce. “Am I making you uncomfortable?”

“No.”

Yes.

But I didn't know why I was uncomfortable. It's not as if Hales and I hadn't discussed sex before or talked about boys and all the stuff you could do with them. Even when she actually started doing the things we talked about, I was okay with it. I wasn't a prude. I didn't judge.

Maybe sometimes I hid behind the whole “pastor's daughter” thing. It was a good way to keep guys away when I wanted to, but the plain truth was that I just hadn't met the right guy. Jason wasn't the right guy.

Maybe that was it. Maybe I was hypersensitive because Trevor was
the
one.
Why else would I come here with him? Why else would I be thinking about the things that I was thinking about, namely getting naked with him.

If we did it, would people know? Would I be different? Would they be able to tell? I bet Mrs. Hannigan from church would. She had some weird internal radar when it came to that stuff and was always talking about teens and how wicked they could be. Would she look at me and
just
know
? I heard that she wouldn't let her daughter ride a bike because she thought she'd hit a bump or fall and somehow lose her virginity. Can you imagine?

“So,” Hailey said. “Let me guess. You lied to your parents and told them you were spending the weekend at my house?”

“Nope.” Well, not really.

I pushed past Hailey, and she followed me into the bedroom. A lamp was on near the bed, but it was small and barely cast any light. I guess some people might think it set the mood or something, but I was just glad that it made the bed seem a little smaller. Not so overwhelming.

“Damn, that's a big bed.”

I groaned. “Hales.”

“I'm just saying. Link's is smaller.”

“Do you want to switch rooms?” Yeah. I was now irritated.

“Chill,” she said, testing the mattress out with the palms of her hands. She giggled, pushed up and down a few times, in an exaggerated motion. “Good. It doesn't squeak.”

“Oh my God, Hailey.”

She stepped back. “Just teasing, though you should know the walls in this cottage are paper thin.”

“Okay. Got it. Are you leaving?”

“Like, I can hear Brent snoring from here.”

I paused. Oh. She was right about that one.

Hailey took a step toward the door and paused. “So what did you tell your parents?”

“Nothing.”

She frowned, and I had to marvel at how her one eyebrow rose while the other didn't. “What do you mean nothing?”

“They don't know.”

“What do you mean they don't know?”

“Hales, they don't know I'm here.”

“But…” She made a weird face and threw her hands into the air. “Okay, don't take this the wrong way, Everly, but in what world does that happen? Not in Everly Jenkins's world. Aren't you going to go, like, straight to hell or something?”

I made a face. “Ha. Ha. Ha. You always throw the religion thing in my face.”

“I'm being serious. Since when do you pull a stunt like this?”

Did I want to get into it? No. But I knew Hailey wouldn't leave it alone, so I decided to give her a little recap. “Mom and Isaac went to New England. He's going to camp and then joining her at my uncle's for a few weeks. My dad thinks that I went with them.”

“So he has no idea at all that you're here? You didn't leave him a note or anything? Like he thinks you're in another state with your mom?”

I shrugged. “I don't know what he thinks. I haven't seen him yet.”

“Wow. If anyone else had the balls to do this, I'd say that I was impressed.” She took a step toward me. “But Everly. This isn't you. It's not even me. I tell my mom everything. What's going on?” Hailey knew me better than anyone, and I knew that she was concerned. I saw it in her eyes. “Look, I'll be the first to admit that Link's taken up a lot of my time. But you would tell me if something was up, right?”

“Hailey. Stop. It's okay.”

“But it's not. You've been weird for weeks, and I guess I was just hoping you'd come around. You used to tell me everything.”

Man, I so didn't want to do this.

“Hailey. I'm good.”

She didn't believe me.

“Trevor isn't, like, making you do something you don't want to do, is he?”

“No! God no.”

“Well? Are you going to tell me what the problem is? Because I know something is going on.”

“Nothing. Everything.” I sighed. “I don't know. I didn't want to go with my mom, and I really didn't want to stay home with Dad so…I just sort of ended up here.”

“That's it?” she asked. I could tell by the tone of her voice she wasn't going to let this go, but a soft knock sounded behind me, and we both turned as Trevor walked into the room.

“Do you guys need a minute?” he asked, his arms above his head. The edge of his T-shirt lifted, exposing enough taut skin to get those butterflies dive-bombing again.

“Yes,” Hailey said.

“No,” I replied at the same time.

“Okay, so what am I doing?” Trevor asked, eyes moving from Hailey to me.

Hales sighed. “You're gonna tell me, right? Eventually?”

I nodded, afraid to talk because my throat was so tight.

She glanced at Trevor. “I think we're good. I'm heading to bed.” She gave me a quick hug and whispered. “I love you, idiot girl. And I'm here for you when you're ready to talk, okay? Be careful.”

And then I was alone with Trevor.

He closed the door and shoved his hands into the front pockets of his shorts before turning to me, and that was it. I was done. The guy took my breath away. With his amazing eyes, that slow crooked smile, and that five o'clock stubble on his chin, he was all kinds of intensely yummy. And the hair…man, I wanted to run my fingers through those thick waves.

“So,” he said, moving forward. “Tinker Bell?”

The ends of his hair were damp as if he'd just had a shower. “What?” Man, I sounded like a dork. A dork who was running out of breath, because seriously, it was as if he was sucking up all the air, leaving me weak and helpless. I stared at the pulse that beat at his neck. It was beating fast. As fast as mine, and that made me feel a little better. His index finger slipped under the strap of my tank top, and I think that maybe the floor moved beneath my feet. Not kidding.

“Your pajamas. Tinker Bell.”

“Oh,” I managed to say. He was so warm and he smelled so nice. “I have a thing for…ah, Peter Pan, and you know…”

But he'd moved on, and I inhaled sharply as his fingers moved along the top of my shoulder until they found a spot at the base of my skull.

“Tinker Bell, huh?” he asked.

“Yes.” I closed my eyes and felt his warm breath along the top of my head.

“I'm more of a Wonder Woman kind of guy, but I'm willing to overlook your Disney addiction.”

I attempted a smile but had no idea if it passed muster or not. As it was, I was lucky to be articulate enough to speak. “It's not an addiction. I don't own the Disney princess line of pajamas or anything.”

“Good to know,” he chuckled and then pulled back. “Are you ready to go to bed?”

I nodded, because I couldn't speak. That big old lump was back, clogging my throat. I'd never shared a bed with anyone other than Hailey. Like ever. And here I was, alone with Trevor Lewis and an Olympic-sized mattress.

He tugged off his T-shirt, tossed it, and then his eyes were on me, a wicked glint in them as his fingers went for the zipper on his shorts. I scrambled for the bed, pulling back the covers so I could climb inside, but snuck a quick peek just to make sure he wasn't, I don't know, naked or anything.

He wasn't naked, but he may as well have been. He wore a pair of black boxers, but not the kind that I was used to seeing in my house. Nope. His were the kind that athletes or actors or hot guys wore. They were the tight kind, the kind that showed off a very male and very well put together body.

Oh. My. God.

I turned on my side and felt him slide in behind me. He moved around a bit, punched his pillow, and then…

I held my breath, not wanting to breathe. Not knowing what to do.

Because then his arms were around me, and he pulled me in as close as two people could be. His hands were warm, just below my breasts, and his mouth was near my ear.

I'm pretty sure my heart was beating so fast and hard that he could not only feel it but hear it too.

“So you know,” he murmured, “I should probably warn you that I'm the king of cuddling.”

“Cuddling?” I managed to say without sounding like too much of an idiot.

“Cuddling,” he repeated. “King.”

“Okay,” I whispered, not really sure where he was going with this, but I relaxed a bit.

“Nice?” he murmured, snuggling closer.

Nice? He felt amazing. His body was hard and lean and so different from mine.