Mom turned toward me and shook her head. “I don’t want you to worry about me like that. I’m going to be fine here by myself. I need you to go to school. Your dad and I wanted that for you, honey. We worked hard so you and your brothers could go to school. This changes nothing.”
I shook my head. “But what about the money, Mom?”
“That’s been taken care of. Your dad and I have a savings, honey. We also have life insurance. You and your brothers are going to finish college.” Mom’s voice was adamant, and she didn’t waver at all.
I nodded, tears slid down my face and Mom wiped them off.
“I love you, honey. You just have to give me a little bit of time.”
“I know, Mom. I know how I feel, so I can’t imagine how you do.”
“Awful. Pissed. Mad at everyone,” Mom replied. “I’m pissed at your father for not eating better, I’m pissed at myself for having fattening food in the house, I’m pissed at life for doing this to both of us. We wanted grandchildren, and we wanted to be the ones to spoil them like crazy.”
I put my head down and my shoulders slumped. All I have done for a week and a half now was cry. “I know. I was thinking about that the other day. I never thought of all the things that would be missing if dad wasn’t here, but now that’s all I can think about. Who’s going to give me away at my wedding? Who will polish his gun when I go on a date?”
Mom laughed. I looked over, shocked at the sound of it.
“Your brothers will be here, and they will do all of that for you. If you’d like, I’ll get out the gun when Payton comes over.”
“Mom!”
“What? You have to know he likes you,” Mom said, casually. “It’s written all over your face, and his.”
“It is not!” I felt my face, and then looked at Mom. She was laughing. It was a nice sound to hear.
“Oh, yes it is. So, should I be banning you from the tree fort sleepovers?” she asked, her eyebrow quirked up.
I rolled my eyes. “No.” And then I blushed.
“Keri Anne!” she chided goodheartedly. “What have you done?”
“I haven’t done anything!” I said, now laughing.
“Have you kissed?” she asked, nearly at the edge of her seat now, waiting on me to answer.
“No,” I said, and then I gave her the look that told her I was telling the truth.
“What are you waiting for?” she asked, smiling.
I liked this version of my mother. I never in a million years thought I’d be sitting on the couch with my mom, discussing boys of all things. It was sort of embarrassing, but sort of not, too. I grinned. “I’m not.”
Her eyes widened. “Oh, really?”
“No, not that. I’m…I don’t know, it’s kind of weird, don’t you think? We’re just friends.”
Mom didn’t look convinced. “Friends that give each other loving looks?”
“We do not.”
“Yes you do, dear daughter. I know that something has changed between you two. He has barely left your side since you’ve been home.”
“Well, we both know why, he’s just being a friend.”
“I don’t think so. Your dad and I have talked about it a lot.” Mom smiled and then looked sad for a moment. “He really liked Payton.”
I smiled at that. Payton was quite a guy. Dad was always talking about how brilliant he was, or how he could fix anything. Payton was smart. Too smart to not be going to college. “You guys talked about me and Payton?”
“All the time. We’ve been wondering how long it would take for that boy to just give up and drive to Ohio to see you. We figured it wouldn’t be long.”
“What do you mean?” I asked, really not understanding the last bit of what she said.
“His new truck. There’s no way Betty would have made it all the way to Ohio.”
I felt my heart thud hard in my chest. Payton bought that truck so he could come see me. That couldn’t be right. “What?”
“Honey, why do you think he bought that truck? He had a perfectly fine working truck for what he does.”
I didn’t think about it before, but it sort of made sense. “But I never gave him any reason to…”
“Love doesn’t always need reason, Keri.” Mom sighed, and turned toward the side table where there was a picture of her and dad. She picked it up and held it in her arms. “I will never forget when your dad really kissed me.”
“But…” I said, and then stopped, thinking about Payton and me, and kissing and his tree fort. I felt my face getting hot again.
Mom laughed. “Why don’t you just call him?” she asked, and then bumped her shoulder into mine.
“Um, no.”
“Well, if you’re not going to call him, I’m going to head to bed. I love you, honey. And, remember I don’t want you to worry about me, and I know you have to get back to school, but can you give me this weekend? I have some things that I need to give you and your brothers.”
“Yeah, I’ve been getting my stuff done online. My professors have been pretty good about everything.”
Mom smiled and then took a deep breath and stood. “We’ll get through this, honey.”
“I love you, Mom.”
“I love you, too, baby.”
***
I waited for Mom to go upstairs before I went over to the living room window. I opened the curtain, and then saw the light on in the tree fort. It was Payton and I’s little thing that we did; if the light was on, we’d wait for a while to see if the other person would show. If they didn’t, it wasn’t a big deal, as we could easily keep ourselves entertained in there.
***
The fort was pretty decked out with electricity, a mini fridge and a blowup mattress along with carpet and all kinds of things to do. It had four sleeping bags, and a little chest with pillows, as well as a few blankets. I had crossword puzzle books there, some old magazines and candy. Payton usually had some weird gadget or two and some models that he’d work on. I put the curtain back and thought about what Mom had said about her and dad waiting on Payton to make the big trek to Ohio. Deciding to go on over, I went to the bathroom to brush my teeth and check out my hair. I tried to tell myself that it was because I didn’t want to be gross, but I knew that wasn’t the whole truth.
Chapter Five
*Five Gold Rings*
(just kidding)
I made it to the tree fort about ten minutes later, as I decided to also change my clothes and put on some deodorant. It wasn’t like I stunk or anything, but now that mom brought up the truck, and the odd looks, and the chemistry, and the…well, I was under pressure. It wasn’t weird. Okay, it was weird, but it wasn’t totally abnormal. Okay, it was for me. I didn’t mention that I had never kissed anyone before, did I? Well, I didn’t. I mean, I haven’t. And, it’s not like I was coming to the tree fort to get a kiss, but if it happened, and I wasn’t prepared, like I had garlic breath or something green in my teeth, well that wouldn’t be acceptable. And, I didn’t want to have B.O. because let’s face it, that’s a bigger turn off than something green in your teeth. Not that I was trying to turn on Payton, but if I just happened to do it, it wouldn’t be a completely bad thing.
Would it?
Shit. I was overthinking things again.
I looked up at the ladder and started to climb, the hell with thinking things through. This was just plain stupid.
“Keri?” Payton asked.
“Are you expecting someone else?” I asked, nearly falling off the ladder once I reached the top. Payton had his shirt off and he was scrambling to put it back on. I did a double take, and then looked around the fort, praying to God that I just hadn’t walked in on something.
“Is someone else here?” I asked, shocked. I tried to keep my eyes away from Payton’s chest, but it was kind of hard, like looking at the sun.
“No, who else would…I mean, no.”
“Oh,” I sighed, and then climbed up the two remaining rungs. I knew my face was red, but I coul
dn’t help it. “What were you doing with you—”
“My shirt off?” Payton interrupted. “I spilled some soda on it.”
“Oh, okay. So, are you going to put it back on?” I asked.
Payton’s face was red, too. “Well I was trying to when you came up the ladder, but I thought you were going to fall off.”
“I nearly did.”
“Does my body freak you out that much?” Payton teased.
“No, it’s nice…I mean, no that’s not…it’s fine. I was just worried that I walked in on you, you know?”
Payton was staring at me now, and I could feel my heart hammering at a fast tempo. It was hard to concentrate. He still had his shirt off, and I had great breath and my pits didn’t stink. Love was in the air. I snorted.
“What was that?” Payton asked, laughing.
“Oh my God!” I cried, putting my hand up to my mouth and giggled. “I’m…I don’t know.”
“You’re acting so weird right now, you know that, right?”
“I know. I’m sorry,” I said, laughing even harder. I was so completely dumb it wasn’t funny. This wasn’t one of those romantic moments that you read about in romance novels, it certainly wasn’t like Twilight when Bella and Edward first kissed, or like The Fault in Our Stars when Hazel and Augustus Waters made out. I sighed, and then looked back at Payton. I snorted again. Payton’s mouth broke out into another irresistible grin and he started to laugh.
“Are you done now?” Payton asked, smiling at me.
I shook my head, still laughing. “I really am sorry.”
“What in the world is so funny?” Payton wondered.
He looked at me as if I had lost all my marbles. Funny, I never had a marble collection. I looked up, my ADD even more distracting tonight, and grinned. “I’m not telling you.”
“I bet I can make you tell me.”
My eyes widened. Payton and I hadn’t done this in a while, and it certainly would be weird if it happened tonight. “Oh, no you don’t.”
He came closer, and I moved to my right, and then to my left. He anticipated each move and was directly in front of me; his hands made their move to my knees. My knees were horribly ticklish. I immediately went down. I was laughing so hard now that I could hardly breathe. “No!”
“Oh, yes… you’re going to tell me what’s so funny,” he said once more, tickling the back of my legs. I kicked my legs out predictably, and he moved to the side, and then moved his hands up to my sides.
“I’m going to pee my pants if you don’t stop!” I cried.
“I don’t care.”
He tickled more and I moved to stop him. In that moment, his one arm moved toward my hands, capturing them in one slick gesture and eased them behind my head. My chest heaved up and down and I was still laughing until I saw him come closer toward me. His face was now above mine, and I was breathing pretty hard; so was Payton.
“Tell me,” he said, taunting me still.
I licked my lips, and then shook my head. “No.”
He grinned and moved his other hand slowly up my side toward my armpit and it stopped there.
“I could so easily get you right now.”
“Mhmm,” I answered, as I couldn’t stop looking at his lips.
“Tell me,” he said once more.
His head moved toward mine and our lips were a breath apart. His chest was now touching mine, and I could feel his heartbeat against me.
“I was wondering what it would be like to kiss you,” I said, and then looked into his eyes.
Payton grinned slowly. “Finally,” he said, and then he kissed me.
In my mind there were fireworks, and cheerleaders, and all kinds of weird shit like the midget on a tricycle from Happy Gilmore and the weird guy from The Water Boy chanting ‘You can do it!’ Payton put everything into a kiss and it was like four alarm chili, it was bad for you, but you wanted to be all up in that shit because it was oh so good.
Payton’s tongue touched mine and I moaned. I closed my eyes and tried to move my hands, but he had them in his, and that turned me on even more. Holy hell I was turned on! I moaned again and Payton’s tongue tangled with my own, and I could feel his other hand move up toward my face as he deepened the kiss. “Holy shit,” I mumbled.
“Yeah,” he said.
He kissed my lips once more and then my neck. Hot damn my neck loved his lips. He released my hands and I moved them toward his face, touching him. He flinched, and then relaxed as I moved them down his neck and then shoulders and then finally to his chest. I opened my eyes, and he was looking right at me. I had never done this before.
“Oh my God. Am I doing something wrong?” I asked, feeling a bit weird, but good at the same time.
“God, no. Just…keep doing that.”
I laughed, and moved my hands back up to his face and pulled his lips back to mine. It was crazy, but I thought of what my mom had said in the living room, “I will never forget when your dad really kissed me.” There was no way in hell that I would ever forget this.
Chapter Six
*Back to Reality*
Payton and I had been pretty much inseparable since we kissed three nights ago, and it was amazing. Mom was right, there was something going on with him that I hadn’t seen before, and it was awesome. I didn’t tell her about the kiss, but I think she pretty much figured it out, since I had a stupid grin on my face ever since. It was now the weekend, and the last of my stay until Thanksgiving. It was also Halloween weekend. Mom wanted the twins and me to stay so she could give us some things of dad’s. She had a dinner planned and everything. Payton was also invited.
“So are you and Payton a thing now?” Seth asked as he came down the steps and into the dining room.
I looked at Seth and rolled my eyes. “We’ve been friends since birth, so what’s your problem?”
“Friends is one thing, there, sister, but you two are not just friends.” Seth nodded toward Jack as he joined us in the dining room.
“We have any coffee?” Jack asked, still half asleep and in a daze.
I looked toward the coffee maker and pointed. “It’s over there.”
“You just going to sit there and deny it?” Seth asked, bringing Jack’s attention to the matter now.
“What are you talking about?” Jack asked, curiously.
“Loverboy next door and our sister.”
I laughed. “Loverboy?”
“So, you two are definitely a thing then?” Jack asked.
Mom peeked her head into the room and grinned. “I knew it!”
“You can’t be happy about this, Mom,” Seth said. Mom walked back into the room and joined us at the table. Jack got up and brought the coffee pot and a few more mugs to the table.
“I have no problem with it whatsoever,” Mom said. She looked at Jack. “Do you?”
“I have a problem with it, yeah. She’s our sister. She hangs out in that fort over there, who knows what they’ve been up to.”
My face reddened. “Yeah, who knows,” I said, trying to control myself. It wasn’t working.
Mom laughed.
“You shouldn’t let her over there unsupervised,” Seth said, making mom and me laugh.
“You shouldn’t let her over there unsupervised,” I taunted back.
“Mom!” Seth looked at Mom and then to me, and then to Jack. He started to laugh at the absurdity of it all, and then grinned. “Well doesn’t this just beat all? So, where is he?”
“I don’t know, probably at home?” I took a drink of my coffee and set the mug back down on the table.
“He’s been slacking off a lot since you’ve been home, you know?” Jack said, and I had to agree.
Payton’s family owned a sizable ranch, and Payton worked for his father. He had talked about ranching and owning his own place ever since I could remember. I didn’t think about all the time he had spent with me over the last week and a half, until now. “Yeah, I guess he has. He’s a good friend, though.”
“Is this a new thing, or have you just been that good at keeping a secret from us?” Jack asked.
I shook my head. “No, I haven’t been keeping any secrets, and no he’s not my boyfriend, Jack.”
I didn’t know what we were, but there was nothing official, and I was going back to school tomorrow afternoon.
“Yeah, okay, tell us another one,” Seth said. He picked up his mug and took a long drink and then set it back down. He looked at Mom. “You know, if you want, we can be back around Thanksgiving.”
Mom smiled at Seth. “I know, honey, but that wouldn’t be fair to you. You already had plans.”
I looked at Seth. “What plans?”
Seth’s face reddened. “I’m going to my girlfriend’s house.”
My eyes widened and I’m sure my grin was much like the Grinch’s. “No way! When were you going to tell me?”
“Never.”
“Oh, so you give me the third degree about Payton, yet you have a girlfriend on the side that I didn’t know about?”
“Did someone say my name?” Payton asked as he walked in the door.
I immediately put my hand to my hair and tried to see if was messed up. Jack started laughing.
“Not a couple, huh?” he said, laughing.
I reddened. “Hey, Pay, what’s up?”
Mom laughed.
“I think our sister was just saying that she was a little put off that I didn’t tell her about my girlfriend,” Seth mumbled.
All of a sudden, Seth looked as if he wanted to pummel Payton.
I rolled my eyes again, and then gestured to a seat. Payton sat next to me, and Seth looked at him.
“Just so you know, I have my eye on you,” Seth said.
Payton nodded. “Fair enough.” He then looked at me and shrugged. Underneath the table, though, he grabbed for my hand, and I tried not to smile, but I did. Mom’s eyes met mine from across the table and she grinned.
“Well that was awkward,” Payton said as we climbed the ladder to the tree fort.
I agreed as we sat cross-legged across from each other. “I know. Seth has been weird all morning, sorry.”
“It’s okay,” Payton said, smiling. “I don’t mind it at all.”
The Boy Next Door (Falling for You Book 1) Page 3
