Deception (The Benson Brothers Book 3)

by G. L. Snodgrass

  What could they be talking about?

  But, in the final analysis, it didn’t matter. I was going to get to see Buck. Of course, that meant meeting his mother. But hey. She didn’t know how I felt about him. To her, it was just a tutoring session.

  Still, my insides refused to settle down as we pulled in front of Buck’s house. My palms began to sweat and my heart raced. There were so many different emotions flashing through me. Getting to see Buck. Was last night real? Did he still feel the same way? And this ache deep inside of me. Demanding more. All of it could make a girl rethink her entire life. Especially when you added the whole fear about my dad finding out about the party. Or even worse. The kiss to end all kisses.

  And then there was the whole his mother thing. What if she hated me? Or, if my mother didn’t trust her and changed her mind? I’d die of embarrassment.

  So, needless to say, I was a bundle of nerves as I got out of the car. Almost immediately, Buck’s mom stepped out. Gave me a quick smile and then walked past me to talk to my mom.

  I swallowed hard and held my breath until I heard my mom chuckle.

  Letting out the breath I had been holding, I felt my world start to fall back into place. Until a warm breath tickled the back of my neck.

  “Afternoon, Gorgeous,” he said and my heart melted. But I had enough sense to force myself to step away from him and shoot him an angry look.

  All he did was smirk and laugh a little. He knew he was pushing things and loved it.

  Mom called my name, gave me a quick wave and reminded me she would pick me up at eight.

  Buck’s mother waved goodbye then turned to me, her eyes performing a quick examination then a strange look crossed her face. As if she were having difficulty putting a puzzle together.

  I knew what she saw. A plain girl, in a frumpy dress. A white cardigan. Right away, she could see I was no threat to her son. No, her son preferred cheerleaders and future playboy bunnies.

  My heart hurt a little, but I pushed it aside. Besides, he had kissed me last night. Of all the girls at that party. It was me he had maneuvered out back so he could kiss me. Maybe Mrs. Benson didn’t know her own son as well as she thought she did.

  “Come on,” Buck said as he touched the small of my back and waved a hand at the front door. My insides melted at his touch. It took every ounce of will power to keep myself together. I could feel Mrs. Benson watching us with eagle eyes.

  Their house was nice, typical, cute school pictures of the brothers lined the hallway. I immediately picked out Buck in third grade. He looked just like I remembered him. A cowlick in the back of his hair. A gapped tooth grin. And eyes that looked at the world like it belonged to him.

  “Thank you for helping Buck,” Mrs. Benson said. “Heaven knows he can use it.”

  I smiled weakly as I tried to think of something to say. This was Buck’s mother. So many things could go wrong. What if she discovered the way I felt about her son? Would she tell my mom? Or warn Buck to avoid the disaster that was my family?

  Buck seemed oblivious to all the undercurrent of issues racing in the room. He shot me a quick smile and nodded to the dining room table.

  I swallowed hard and sat down. Buck sat next to me. Not across from me. Then his knee brushed mine and an electrical charge shot up my leg to my entire body. This was going to be impossible, I thought as I tried to remember where I was and what I was doing.

  “Rebecca,” Mrs. Benson called from the kitchen. “I hope you like lasagna. Your mom won’t be back for hours and my minor mountain here can’t go that long without fuel.”

  I laughed inside. I liked seeing her tease Buck. No one ever teased him. There was just too much right with him to poke fun at.

  “Yes, Ma’am. That sounds very nice,” I managed to say.

  Buck shot me a smile then his hand touched my leg under the table. I jumped as my hand instantly clamped down on his.

  His smile grew even wider. God, the boy loved pushing things to the limit.

  “No,” I hissed under my breath. “We are here to work.”

  He laughed and pulled his hand back but leaned in and whispered, “There is a spot on your neck that I want to kiss.”

  My face grew very hot as I looked down to make sure Mrs. Benson didn’t see me blushing. At the same time, my insides melted as every part of me demanded that he kiss my neck.

  “Please,” I said with a heavy sigh. “Don’t do this to me. Not here. Not now. It’s cruel.”

  He laughed, but he pulled back and nodded. “Okay, books only. I promise.”

  Buck was true to his word. We tore into the books. Focusing on his upcoming calculus test and outlining a history paper he needed to write.

  We finished just in time for dinner. I helped Buck clear away our stuff then helped him set the table. My stomach churned with worry. Mrs. Benson would join us. What were we supposed to talk about?

  “May I use the bathroom?” I asked Mrs. Benson.

  “Yes, sweetie. Second door on the right.”

  As I made my way down the hall, I once again examined the pictures lining the wall. A picture of three boys and their father pulled at my heart. What must it have been like for Buck to lose his father? I couldn’t even imagine the pain and anguish.

  The door opposite the bathroom was slightly ajar. I looked over my shoulder to make sure no one was watching then sort of pushed it open a little more. My curiosity was charging at full bore.

  I was rewarded by seeing that it was Buck’s room. The weight set in the middle of the room was a dead giveaway.

  Checking that I was still unobserved, I pushed the door open even further and stuck my head in. The room was cleaner than I had expected. My brothers’ rooms were normally pigsties. But this looked neat and picked up. There wasn’t even any laundry overflowing a hamper.

  No books, I realized. No bookshelf. Nothing but a white binder on the corner of his desk with the words ‘Everton Tigers’ on the cover. His football playbook I thought and was rather proud of myself. Maybe I had picked up things from my father without even realizing it.

  There were two posters on the wall. A football player, and a baseball player. I had no idea who they were but obviously, they meant something to Buck.

  Taking a deep breath, I pulled in the scent of leather and woodsmoke. Buck’s scent. God, I could swim in that all day. But I forced myself to step away. The last thing I wanted was him finding me snooping around his room.

  When I rejoined them. Mrs. Benson pointed to the seat next to hers, across from Buck.

  “So,” she said as she dished up my plate. “What stories about Buck do you want to hear?”

  He rolled his eyes and gave his mother an evil glare, but she simply smiled back. “You be quiet. I’ve been saving these up for years.”

  I laughed. “You forget, Mrs. Benson. Buck and I were in the same Kindergarten class together. I’ve probably got more stories than you.”

  Buck frowned. “We were. I don’t remember. But then I have a hard time remembering what I had for breakfast yesterday.”

  My stomach clenched up at the realization that I had never really been in Buck’s crowd. Never made the grade to be included in that special club.

  “I don’t know,” Mrs. Benson said. “What’s your best?”

  I laughed again because I could see him twisting in torment. It was good for him. It didn’t happen enough in my view.

  “Probably the eating the ants,” I said. “It was on a dare. We all thought for sure he’d never do it. But, of course he did. Right off the ant hill.”

  Mrs. Benson laughed. “Oh, that’s nothing. When he was a toddler …”

  Buck groaned, obviously aware of what was coming.

  “… I was potty training him. Determined to get my last son out of diapers. Parker hurt himself. I don’t remember how …”

  “Jake was pushing him in the wheelbarrow,” Buck said with a shake of his head. “They tumbled and Parker wrenched his shoulder. At least, that’s their excus
e. More likely, Jake was swinging him around by his feet and let go at the wrong time.”

  Mrs. Benson smiled as if it was perfectly normal for her sons to hurt each other. “Anyway,” she continued. “I left him alone for a minute to check on Parker. The next thing I know, the front door is open and Buck is running down the sidewalk, naked as a jaybird. He was halfway to Mrs. Thompson’s house before I could catch him”

  I laughed, the faint hint of pink to his cheeks was priceless.

  “Mrs. Harvey,” she continued, “across the street, was out watering her rose bushes and couldn’t stop laughing. She teased us about that for ten years until she moved back east to be with her sister.”

  Buck hung his head and shook it slowly side to side. “Are we done now?”

  His mother’s eyes softened for a moment then hardened once again. “No, I don’t think so. I’ve got a dozen or more of them.”

  I glanced over at Buck and my heart went out to him. This had to be the worst thing possible. Yet, a part of me loved learning that he wasn’t perfect.

  “I agree with your mother,” I said. “I know at least six or seven that I am sure she never heard about.”

  He sighed heavily and glared at me. I could read that payback would happen for sure. But I didn’t care. This was too much fun.

  That was how we spent the dinner, telling Buck stories. Never in a thousand years would I have expected it to go like that. It was the two of us. Mrs. Benson and me ganging up on poor old Buck. It made me feel closer to her. As if we shared something unique.

  We both love him, I realized. And we both knew instinctively that it was important he not get a big head.

  After dinner, as Buck and I washed the dishes, he glanced down at me and shook his head. “You enjoyed that too much.”

  I laughed as I took the wet plate from him and started to dry.

  “Just be careful,” he continued, “what goes around comes around. And I have the feeling that we are going to be creating a lot of new stories about you.”

  I froze as I realized what he was saying. He was talking about things like our kiss. About the way I jumped every time he touches me. Stories about me sneaking out to forbidden parties. Then I realized that he was talking about a future us. An us that continued on beyond today. I was instantly filled with a combination of fear and joy. A strange mix that set my stomach churning.

  As we sat down on the couch to watch TV while I waited for my mom, I made sure to sit far enough away that Mrs. Benson couldn’t get the wrong idea. But I could feel the heat radiating off of him. All I wanted to do was scoot over and have him wrap that strong arm around my shoulder and pull me in tight.

  Swallowing hard, I pushed my need away and pretended to focus on the TV.

  Mrs. Benson who was sitting in the recliner with a ball of yarn and starting a new row suddenly put her knitting down and stood up. “I need to check on Mrs. Thompson,” she said as she started for the door. “Ever since Jade left, I worry about her. I won’t be long.”

  My heart slammed to a halt. Alone. I was going to be alone with Buck.

  He shot me a quick smile and raised an eyebrow. “I told you. For a mom, she’s pretty great.”

  “Do you …. You don’t think she thinks there is anything between us. I mean. She didn’t leave us alone on purpose did she?”

  He continued to smile. “She’s not dumb. All she has to do is see the way I look at you and she knew.”

  I shivered inside. Knew? Knew what exactly?

  He must have seen the doubt in my eyes because he chose that moment to slide next to me, put an arm around me and stare into my eyes for the longest second. A burning, soul searching look that shattered any thought that wasn’t him.

  Smiling slightly, he leaned down and kissed me. Yes, oh yes. This was where I belonged. Every part of my being demanded that I be there and never leave. I don’t know how long we kissed, it could have been minutes or it could have been years. All I know was that it was special and I would never forget it.

  It was someone dragging a potted plant across the front porch that pulled us apart. Followed by a significant jangle of the front doorknob before the door opened.

  My cheeks burst into flame. Even though Buck and I were a good two feet apart by that point. The fact that Mrs. Benson knew enough to warn us told me all I needed to know. She was perfectly aware that we were sitting on her couch making out.

  Then it hit me. I was making out with Buck Benson. Life was too surreal.

  She glanced at us as she entered, a small smile making the corners of her mouth twitch. I felt awkward and ashamed. I didn’t know why, but those feeling filled me.

  Buck, of course, didn’t get it. He just leaned back on the couch and shot me a teasing smile, as if telling me he couldn’t wait until it happened again.

  All I could think was I couldn’t wait either.

  Chapter Ten

  Buck

  I watched as Rebecca and her mother drove away. Once again, I was filled with a sense of loss. That and a sense of need that burned inside of me. God, the girl was driving me crazy.

  Mom, looked up when I went back into the house. She gave me a small smile then a stern look.

  “Don’t you dare hurt that girl,” she said. “She’s different.”

  I scoffed. “You’re telling me.”

  “No, I mean it, Buck. She’s not one of your two-week girlfriends.”

  I looked at her and realized that my mother was probably the smartest person I knew. She never missed a thing.

  “I know Mom,” I said with a heavy sigh. “But don’t forget. She’s not allowed to date. So, it’s not exactly like anything is ever going to happen.”

  Mom stared at me for a long minute then shook her head. “Buck, I know you. You have never let anything get in the way of something you wanted. But be careful. I mean it. You don’t have the right to make her home life worse.”

  Nodding, my guts tightened up. Mom was right. But I also knew me. I wasn’t going to be able to stop myself from pursuing Miss Rebecca Montgomery.

  On Monday, I made sure to get there early so I could meet her getting off the bus. It bothered me that I wasn’t allowed to give her a ride to school. I mean that was one of the main functions of a boyfriend. Wasn’t it?

  Of course, I wasn’t officially a boyfriend. But that didn’t change the way I felt about it.

  Rebecca’s eyes grew very big when she saw me. She glanced over at Hanna to make sure she was seeing what she thought she was seeing.

  “Morning, Gorgeous,” I said as I took her hand.

  Her eyes grew even wider, and for a second I worried I’d overstepped, but then I saw her glance around at the hundred different kids looking at us with surprised expressions.

  A look of fear jumped into her eyes. Her father, I realized. She was terrified of her father finding out that she held hands with a boy. Wow, how ancient and screwed up was that. An anger began to build inside of me. How dare he ruin her life like this.

  I mean, his daughter was one of the purest, most innocent girls I knew. He had the wrong impression. Besides, I hated seeing that hurt, fearful look to her eyes. It tore at my inside and demanded that I fix it right away. But there was no fixing this. Not without making it even worse.

  “Good morning, yourself,” she said with a smile. I noticed that she didn’t pull her hand away from mine. So, to me, that meant we were still good to go.

  The two of us walked to her class hand in hand and the world felt right. Things were great in fact. My grades were coming up. The team was playing like they actually knew what they were doing, and if we won on Friday, we’d make the playoffs.

  The only real problem was the whole no dating thing with Rebecca. I wanted for us to share things. Moments. Time.

  But that didn’t mean I couldn’t enjoy the here and now, I thought as I pulled her into a quick hug and a sweet kiss before I stepped back to let her go into her class.

  She looked up at me with a dazed look for a second
then pulled herself together before she looked around to see if anyone had seen.

  Of course, more than a hundred kids had seen. That had been part of the reason. I wanted people to know how I felt about this girl. I know, I was being all territorial and stuff, but I couldn’t help myself.

  Her confused frown slowly shifted over to worry.

  “Hey,” I said leaning down. “Your father said no dating. Nothing about no kissing.”

  She rolled her eyes, hit me in the arm then smiled to let me know she was happy.

  For the rest of the morning, I made sure to find her after class and walk her to her next one. She kept shooting me strange looks.

  “You don’t have to do this,” she said on our way to her Third Period.

  “What, you don’t want to be seen with me in public? Is that it? Kissing on back porches is acceptable. But associating with me…”

  “No, No,” she said quickly as her expression took on a deep worry

  I laughed. “I’m kidding, Rebecca. I’m walking you to class because that is what boyfriends do.”

  Her face drained of all color. “What?”

  My guts tightened up. I’d overstepped again. Pushed things too fast. God, I could be such an idiot. I just assumed people saw the world the way I did.

  “Did you say you were my boyfriend?” she asked with a touch of disbelief.

  I shrugged. “I was sort of applying for the job.”

  She smiled slightly then frowned again. “This is impossible.”

  “Why?” I asked. “Your dad doesn’t need to know.”

  “No,” she said with a vigorous shake of her head. “It is impossible. Buck Benson can’t be my boyfriend. The universe doesn’t work that way. At least not my universe.”

  I smiled then backed away in a hurry to get to my next class. I liked confusing her, keeping her on her toes. The girl was too smart to let her think she knew everything.

  “Save me a seat at lunch,” I told her before turning and racing to my next class on the other side of the school. Thankfully, it was English Lit and Miss Parsons had a soft spot for me.

  Then it hit me. I guess I was Rebecca’s boyfriend. That sort of made her my girlfriend. An idea I could get behind I thought as my heart filled with happiness.