Forever (Cruiser & Lex, Book 3)

by Dee J. Stone

  He snorts. “I’d rather you give me brotherly advice on how to score some babes.”

  “First off, don’t call them ‘babes.’ Second off, last I recall, there is a lovely young woman still waiting for you to give her a call.”

  He purses his lips. “That Melody chick—I mean, girl.”

  “Yep.”

  He doesn’t say anything. Eyes are focused on the road. Then, “She’s probably got a boyfriend by now.”

  “Maybe. Doesn’t hurt to try. Want me to ask Lex if she’s available?”

  Again, he doesn’t say anything. Then he shrugs. “Whatever.”

  By the look on his face, I know he wants to get with her. But I also know he’s scared. Nervous. Maybe because the only girl he’s ever gotten close to was Lex. He doesn’t have a lot of experience in that department.

  We reach our house. When I look out the window, at the house I grew up in, the only place I call home, a feeling sinks into me. It’s good to be back. I press my face to the glass and look at Lex’s house. Right next to mine. Just like it’s always been. It’s really good to be back.

  Rey slaps my arm. “Getting out or not? Need me to carry you over the threshold?”

  I slap him back. Harder. He chuckles as he gets out. I get out, too.

  The door to the house flies open. Mom stands there. She rushes over to the trunk, where Rey lugs out the suitcases. I reach for a bag, but Mom says, “No, Elvis. You go inside and relax.”

  “I can handle a suitcase.”

  “Don’t strain yourself. Go inside and eat some of the cake I just baked.”

  It seems like Mom plans on treating me like a king until my arm is healed. I’m about to tell her I’m capable of doing the same crap I did before, but then I realize something. Mom wants to do this for me. Maybe as a way to show that she cares. That she wants to give to me. So I get into the house.

  The smell of this place. So familiar. It’s like I never left. I head over to the kitchen counter and cut myself a piece of cake. Chocolate. Delicious.

  Mom and Rey carry our bags up to our rooms. Rey runs down the steps and grabs the half-eaten cake out of my hand. “The hell,” I say.

  He gives me this huge grin before getting back outside to bring in more of our stuff. I cut myself another slice. Once everything is inside, Mom tells us she’ll help us unpack.

  “I don’t need help, Mom,” Rey says.

  “Yeah, I’m cool,” I say.

  Her eyes move to my arm.

  “I can still do the same shit as before.” The words leave my mouth before I can stop them.

  She frowns. “Again with the language?”

  “Sorry,” I mutter.

  Rey gives me a face that says, “We’ve only been back for two minutes and already Mom’s criticizing us.”

  I take a deep breath. Count to ten. Mom might focus all of her time and energy on the two of us to keep busy. It means she might be on our case a lot. We’ll have to deal.

  “Thanks for the cake,” I tell Mom before heading upstairs.

  “Yeah.” Rey chases after me. Bumps into me as he rushes up the stairs. My bad arm hits the wall and I curse. “Sorry,” he calls as he enters his room.

  Bro’s so nervous to be back here. It’s why he’s acting like this. Teasing me and whatnot.

  As soon as I step into my room, my gut slides down my legs and hits the floor. My room. It’s familiar. It’s welcoming. But it’s empty. And I don’t mean because my stuff is still in the suitcase. It’s because there’s something missing. Something that meant the world to me and can’t be replaced. My cruiser ship.

  I forgot Rey wrecked it when we got into that fight. My insides get all twisted in this painful way when the memory sprints across my mind. My cruiser ship in shards all over the floor.

  Walking over to my closet, I open the door and lower myself to my knees. Reach inside for the shoe box that houses my broken ship. Before opening the lid, I close my eyes. Count to thirty. Calm my breathing. It’ll hurt me to look at it, but I need to. I don’t know why. Maybe to prove that it’s true—that my ship is gone.

  I flick open the lid with my thumb. It feels like the shards of glass have been launched through me. My ship. All broken.

  “Grow some balls,” I mutter, dumping the lid back on and stashing the box in my closet. There’s no point in lingering on this. It’s broken. It’s gone. Doesn’t mean I have to be.

  The floor near the doorway creaks. My head springs up. Rey stands there. Looks all guilty. His leg twitches and he rubs the back of his head. He must have seen it all.

  I get up and make my way to my bed, where my suitcase lies. I zip it open.

  “I’m sorry, Cruise,” Rey says.

  I pull out a shirt.

  “Cruise—”

  “It’s cool.” It’s got to be. I have no other choice. I don’t want to spend my whole life mourning over it.

  Rey just stands in the doorway. I feel his eyes on me. I continue unpacking.

  “Good night, Cruiser,” he says.

  “‘Night.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Lex

  As I’m catching up on my homework, something shines on my window. I ignore it because I assume it’s a passing car, but then it grows more intense, more urgent. I leap off my bed and pull my curtain aside. Cruiser waves at me from his window.

  “You’re home!”

  He grins. “Just finished unpacking.”

  It feels so good to have him living across from me again. After he moved away and when he was in the hospital, I used to sit here and look at his window and think about us. About our childhood, our friendship, how we grew so close and fell in love. Now that he’s back, his face will once again be the last thing I see before I go to sleep.

  “So,” I say, leaning forward and resting my arms on the sill.

  “So.”

  I laugh. “How does it feel to be back?”

  “Awesome. Because I get to look at you all night.”

  My cheeks burn.

  “Were you busy?” he asks.

  “Just homework.”

  “Hmm.” He rubs his chin. “Looks like I’ll need a tutor. Do you know any Sharkettes who are up for the task?”

  “Why a Sharkette?” I ask, my voice filled with humor.

  “Well to be honest, there’s this Sharkette I have a crush on. Like a major crush. The kind of crush that makes it hard to eat and sleep. Hell, to even breathe.”

  My blood is speeding through my veins. “Lucky girl,” I say, my voice shaky.

  “Yeah.” He sighs dramatically. “If only she knew I existed.”

  “You should tell her how you feel.”

  He nods. “Yeah. But I’m scared.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I don’t know if she feels the same about me.”

  “She does. She has a crazy crush on you, too.”

  Cruiser smiles, and I return it. We just stare at each other.

  Someone opens a window. Rey sticks his head out. “You know your conversation isn’t exactly private, don’t you? And that it’s past midnight. Some of us are trying to get our beauty sleep.”

  I cover my mouth as I laugh. Cruiser says, “Stick your head back into your own room.”

  Rey’s chuckle echoes through the night as he closes his widow.

  “He does have a point,” I tell Cruiser. “We need to be quieter.”

  “Hmm. How about a game?” he whispers, though loud enough for me to hear.

  “Guess that Word?” It’s a game we used to play all the time as kids. We’d tuck flashlights under our chins and say a word. The other person had to guess it. We played it once when we became a couple, and Cruiser gave me the most romantic message ever. It’s time I return the favor.

  “Good choice,” he says.

  We both disappear from our windows to get our flashlights. I search through my bottom drawer for mine and tap it a few times to make sure the batteries work. When I return to the window, Cruiser has his under
his chin and is moving his mouth without saying anything. He looks pretty creepy.

  “Cruiser.” I laugh.

  “I am the ghost of the guy who used to live here.” He opens his mouth and closes it a few more times, making these freaky noises. “I have come to take the souls of the people living here.” He makes those noises again. “I have already claimed this boy’s arm. His other one will come next, and then his legs, and then the rest of his body. But not his heart. Want to know why? Because his heart is filled with too much happiness and love. And all those rotten emotions kill me.”

  I laugh. “Okay, you are seriously freaking me out.”

  “Why? Remember all those times we locked ourselves in my closet and told scary stories?”

  I smile as the memories play through my head. “You always scared the heck out of me.”

  Laughing, he shakes his head. “Not as much as Rey. Man, he was such a pussy.”

  “I heard that!” Rey yells from his room.

  “It’s true!” Cruiser calls back. “One time you ran to Mom and got me in trouble. You were all yelling and crying.”

  The window to Rey’s room creaks open and he sticks his head out. “Did not.”

  “You sure as hell did, bro.”

  He rolls his eyes. “Go to hell.” And he disappears from view.

  Cruiser turns back to me. “He really was a pussy.”

  “I know. I remember.”

  He looks satisfied. “Good. I like that you remember all these things. Makes me feel like all we’ve experienced was important to you.”

  “It was. It is. I cherish all our memories.”

  “Me, too.”

  Our past ones and our future ones.

  “Ready?” Cruiser asks, placing the flashlight back under his chin.

  “I believe it’s my turn,” I say, tucking mine under my chin.

  Cruiser nods.

  I clear my throat. “Cruiser.”

  “Cruiser.”

  “Is.”

  “Is.”

  “The.”

  “The.”

  “Most.”

  “Most.”

  “Amazing.”

  “Amazing.”

  “Handsome.”

  “Of course he is.”

  “Cruiser!”

  “Sorry. Handsome.”

  “Guy.”

  “Guy.”

  “In.”

  “In.”

  “The.”

  “The.”

  “Whole.”

  “Whole.”

  “World.”

  “World.”

  “And.”

  “And.”

  “I.”

  “I.”

  “Love.”

  “Love.”

  “Him.”

  “Him.”

  “To.”

  “To.”

  “Death.”

  “Death.”

  His voice was steady throughout most of this, but it wavers a bit at the last word. He lowers his head and says, “Thanks, darlin.’ Wish I could hug you.”

  “Me, too.”

  “My turn or bed?”

  “Bed, I think. You’re probably so tired.”

  “Nah. You gotta be up early for practice?”

  I nod.

  “Wish I could climb into your room and hold you while we sleep.”

  “Will my stuffed hippo help?”

  His face washes with surprise. “You’d give me your prized possession?”

  “Of course.”

  “Meet me downstairs.”

  After sweeping my hippo off my bed, I carefully make my way downstairs, trying to be as quiet as possible. I close the front door softly behind me and find Cruiser waiting for me on the ramp in front of my house. We race toward each other and fall into each other’s arms. Cruiser kisses me, then puts his hands on the sides of my head and looks into my eyes. “Hey, beautiful.”

  “Hey, handsome.” I kiss his forehead. “Have you spoken to the Sharkette you have a crush on?”

  “Hell yeah. And I made out with her, too. Made out a lot.”

  I lick my lips, which makes Cruiser groan. “Is she a good kisser?” I ask.

  “Dunno. I might have to test it out.” He softly brushes his lips against mine. I deepen the kiss, taking his lips in mine and not letting go, not until I hear another groan in the back of his throat.

  When our lips come apart, we’re both huffing like we ran a marathon. “The best kisser in the whole damn world,” he murmurs.

  “She thinks you’re not so bad yourself.”

  He pecks my nose. “He is very grateful for your kind words.”

  We smile, and then I lay my head on his chest. He gently runs his hand through my hair and massages my scalp. It feels so good and I’m so comfortable that I feel my eyes droop. Through the fog of sleep that’s starting to claim my mind, I feel Cruiser’s heart beating erratically.

  “What’s this thing on my chest?” he murmurs, his voice barely audible, as though he’s on the way to Sleep Land, too.

  I’m knocked awake. What thing is he talking about? Then I feel it, too, under my upper chest. I reach between us and pry it out. Then I start laughing. “My hippo.”

  Cruiser’s chest rumbles as he chuckles. “Ah, my sleeping buddy for tonight.”

  “And the next night, and even the next. However long you want her.” I hold the hippo out to him.

  “You sure?” He brings it to his nose and sniffs deeply. He sighs contently. “This is the most amazing smell in the world.”

  My cheeks warm up. “My smell?”

  He sniffs it again. “Smells just like you. Mmm.”

  I laugh shyly.

  He tucks it in between his sling and chest. “I will take very good care of her.”

  “Just so you know, she has magical powers and will help you fall asleep. In case you’re having trouble sleeping.”

  He puts a strand of my hair behind my ear. “I don’t think I can ever get a good night’s sleep unless you’re in my arms.”

  So many emotions run through me. I’m elated and feel so good and special and like the happiest girl on the planet, but then I feel guilty. Cruiser loves me so much. So, so much. I don’t deserve it.

  “Hey.” He touches the side of my cheek. “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing. I just feel like I don’t deserve you.”

  He presses his forehead against mine. “I’m the one who doesn’t deserve you.”

  “You’re such an amazing guy, Cruiser.”

  “No. You’re the amazing one.”

  How can I be? I broke his heart, more than once. I pushed him away after Rosie’s accident. I broke up with him because of the whole Erica thing. He’s too good for me.

  But I need to move on. I’ve made mistakes, and Cruiser has made mistakes. The important thing is that we can get past them and work on having a great relationship.

  The front door to my house opens, revealing Mom. Cruiser and I break out of each other’s arms so fast it’s like we were electrocuted.

  “Lex?” Mom says, her voice sleepy. “What are you doing out here at one o’clock in the morning?” Her eyes land on Cruiser. “Cruiser? Is that you?”

  “Sorry, I’m coming in!” I say.

  “You know the rules, Lex Woods. If you’re not in here in thirty seconds…!”

  “Okay, okay.”

  Cruiser gives me a quick kiss on the cheek. “’Night, darlin’. See you tomorrow.”

  I wish I could give him a proper hug and good night kiss, but I’m worried Mom will start putting stricter rules on my relationship with Cruiser. I blow him a kiss before running inside. Mom opens her mouth to scold me, but I tell her I’m sorry, that Cruiser just came home and I was really excited to see him. Mom nods, and then returns to her room. Either she’s too tired to deal with this, or she understands how I feel.

  In my room, I wait by my window until Cruiser appears in his. I put my finger on my lips, then wave to him. He puckers his
lips, then kisses my hippo all over the face. I giggle when I understand what he’s doing. It’s like he’s kissing me.

  I blow him another kiss before climbing into bed.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Cruiser

  No matter what I wear, I still look lame.

  This damn sling. Kids will stare. Yeah, most of them know about the incident—at least, that’s what I assume—but they’ll still stare at me like I only got my boxers on. Whatever. I’m just happy to be back with Lex. Back to how things used to be.

  A smell reaches my nose. Pancakes, toast. Other stuff that I can’t identify but make my mouth water and my stomach whine in hunger. Mom’s breakfast. I almost forgot that people actually eat in the morning. Or that some people actually have a good meal before they head off to work or school. I lick my lips as my mouth continues to water. I’ve missed Mom’s cooking.

  When I leave my room, I see Rey’s door is still shut. He should be up by now. Before he got his personality change, he was up at the crack of dawn—yeah, exaggeration—always running off somewhere. To a violin lesson, a club at school. Hell if I knew where. Twin telepathy tells me Rey’s nervous to go back to school. Last they remember, Rey had that ridiculous Mohawk and ripped clothes, hung out with the losers of the school, and ditched his old friends and school activities.

  I thump on the door and start imitating a rooster. All I get is silence. “Yo, Rey!” I call, thumping again. “You better get your ass up because you’re my ride to school.”

  I hear the bed creak. Then a moan. “What’s the matter? Too handicapped to drive yourself?”

  I thump on the door again. Hard.

  Rey groans. “Geez, I’m up!”

  Mom’s at the stove when I walk in, flipping pancakes. As soon as she sees me, she rushes over to the table and pulls out a chair for me. Then she grabs a plate and stacks three pancakes on it. “Let me know if you want more.”

  I feel…weird. I don’t like her giving me all this attention. I mean, as a kid I always wanted her to give me as much attention as she gave Rey. But it’s different now. I don’t want her to treat me like a king.

  “Thanks.” I sit down. She pushes the plate closer to me and slides a fork into my half-open hand.

  “Mom?”

  “Yeah?”