by Megan Smith
I guess I should just be thankful for everything I have now and not let Cooper get to me. I’m finally saving money, paying Eli for rent every month, my new position as a manager is going great, and I’ve got my new classes all lined up for this fall.
Not much more in my life could come together any better.
Eli
It’s the beginning of fall. The leaves on the trees are starting to change color, the nights are cooler, and the days are growing shorter. Business is slowing down as all the college kids are back in school and the family vacations are over. Seaside’s population has been cut in half along with half of our staff. We don’t need a full crew to run the shifts now as we’ll be down to just using the downstairs bar, and only open Thursday to Sunday.
Layla has class today and I agreed to take Fallon to school. Layla made sure she was up, dressed, and her hair done because Lord knows I can’t do it. All I need to worry about is breakfast and driving her to school.
Layla was worried that the school would find out that Fallon is no longer living in Brick and that their mom is still missing. Thankfully, there have been no problems.
“Fallon, what do you want to eat?” I ask as she climbs onto one of the kitchen chairs.
“Ice cream.”
I turn around and she’s looking at me with puppy dog eyes. “I’m not falling for that. Your sister would kill me.”
She pouts and crosses her arms. This is not the way I wanted to start out my morning. I thought getting her breakfast would be easy. I open up the cabinets and start rooting through them hoping I’d find something. I shove the oatmeal aside, then the cereal bars and behind them are ice cream sundae flavored Pop-Tarts.
“Okay, I have a compromise.” I set the box on the table in front of her and point to the ice cream. “You get your ice cream and I get to see tomorrow. Deal?”
Her eyes wide she nods. “Deal.”
I open the package and set them down in front of her. While she’s eating I run back up to my room and change my clothes. I sit down on the bed and tie my shoes, grab my wallet and keys and head back downstairs.
“You ready?” I ask.
Fallon tosses the last bite into her mouth and chews it up, then she tosses her napkin in the trash and puts her coat on. We walk out to the car, I buckle her in the back seat and then we’re on our way. That new song Animals by Maroon Five comes on. Fallon is in the back seat bobbing her head to the song. The girl can sing it word for word.
“Ready, Eli?” she asks just as the tempo of the song slows a bit.
“Ready.”
“Ow…” We both sing as Adam Levine belts out the verse. It’s Fallon’s favorite part of the whole song. I look in the rear view mirror and she’s got the biggest smile on her face. She looks so much like Layla, she’s so beautiful.
The rest of the ride to school is us singing to the songs on the radio. We pull up about twenty minutes later. I park my car so I can walk Fallon in. I don’t have too but Fallon likes it. I open the door as Fallon climbs out, I reach into the car and grab her book bag. I turn and hold it out so she can put her arms in but she’s staring straight ahead with wide eyes and her mouth hanging open.
“Fallon?”
She doesn’t budge. I turn to see what the matter is and when I do I’m stunned. Her mother is standing near the front doors of the school.
“Shit.” I mumble.
Before I can even figure out what to do, Mrs. Del Luca is walking towards us. She is the spitting image of the girls. There is no denying that she’s their mother. The pictures that I’ve seen of her are nothing compared to what she looks like now. Before she looked so old, so worn, now she’s the opposite. Her hair that was stringy and greasy in the pictures is tied up in some bun looking thing nicely done, her cheeks are filled out and not sunken in, she’s even wearing make-up and has gained some weight.
When she approaches she gets about ten feet from us, bends down on her knees and opens her arms. Fallon grips on to my hand tightly and I feel the tremble in them.
“Fallon, it’s okay, baby.” Mrs. Del Luca says.
This lady is off her rocker. Doesn’t she understand that she’s scaring the ever loving shit out of her? When Fallon doesn’t move she glances up at me.
I work my jaw back and forth holding my tongue. How dare she do this to her? Where the fuck has she been for months while she left her daughters to fend for themselves?
A car door shuts in the distance. I need to get Fallon in school before her mother causes a scene. “Um, I really need to get her into school before class starts.”
“Who are you?” She asks with distaste in her mouth.
“Eli.” I say curtly.
“Layla’s boyfriend.” Fallon speaks up surprising me as much as her mother.
“Ah, Layla has a new boyfriend.” She nods looking me up and down. “I guess that explains why my girls weren’t in the apartment anymore.”
I drop Fallon’s book bag and cover her ears. “They aren’t in that shithole anymore because of you.” I snap. “How could you fucking do that to them?”
She gawks. I guess she wasn’t expecting that from me.
I reach down, grab Fallon’s book bag and then her hand. “Come on, Fallon, we’ve got to get you to class.”
Fallon follows right along but watches her mother as we walk away.
I get Fallon in school and into her classroom. Before I make my way back outside I give Layla a call. I don’t want to leave Fallon here with their mom lurking around. She’s able to just walk in here and sign her out the second I leave.
“Uh...when I was dropping Fallon off this morning your, uh… your mom was here.”
“Say what?” Layla screeches.
“Your mom is here.” I say a little quieter as a teacher walks by.
“Shit.” I hear a bang and them some rustling. “I’m on my way. Don’t leave until I get there.”
She hangs up before I even say I wasn’t planning on it. I walk outside and Mrs. Del Luca is sitting on the curb right next to my car. I lean up against the hood and cross my ankles.
“How are my daughters doing?” Mrs. Del Luca asks after a few minutes of puffing on a cigarette.
“Good now that you’re not around.” Yeah I’m being a dick and she deserves it. I don’t give a shit if she’s the Pope, after the way she’s treated her daughters she deserves everything that’s coming her way.
Tires squeal into the parking lot which makes me jerk my head in that direction. “Your daughter is here.”
Mrs. Del Luca stands, brushes her ass off and I want to puke. Layla pulls up right behind my car and flings the door open.
“Where the hell have you been?” She screams. “I’ve looked fucking everywhere. God damn it, I thought you were dead.”
Mrs. Del Luca takes a few steps over to her daughter and holds her arms out just like she did for Fallon. I grip the hood of the car because I don’t want anyone touching my girl.
“I’ve missed you, Layla.” Her mother’s voice shakes.
“You don’t get to miss me, Mom.” Layla seethes. “You stole all the money I had and took off. Why the hell would you do that?”
A few people are gathered near the front of the building. “Layla,” I call out and nod my head in their direction.
“Shit,” Layla looks to her mom. “Get in.”
“Layla,” I warn. This is not a good idea.
Layla comes over to me. “I don’t want you going anywhere alone with her.”
She crosses her arms. “I don’t have a choice. I want answers Eli. I deserve them.”
I pull her into my arms and kiss the top of her head. “I know you do. Just be careful, please.”
“I will.” Then she’s walking off and pulling away with her mom in the car.
Please God, let Layla be okay with her. We’ve come so far, Fallon included, since they moved in and I don’t want their mother showing up to be a setback.
A few hours ago I got a text from Layla saying th
at she was picking up Fallon after school and that I didn’t have to worry about it. That’s the entire message, she gives me nothing else. I toss the phone onto my desk and run a hand through my hair. What the hell is going on? I wish she would have given me something, anything.
Just before dinner I hear a car door slam, I wait a heartbeat for another but it never comes. Layla opens the front door and smiles when she sees me sitting on the couch watching TV.
“Hey, what are you doing?” I ask trying to keep calm because I know Fallon isn’t with her.
“Nothing, I, uh…I let Fallon go with my mom for burgers and ice cream.” She explains.
My heart starts to pound as Layla takes a seat next to me. I don’t say anything because what can I say? It’s none of my business and I’m afraid if I make a scene, Layla will pull away from me.
I flick through a few channels to keep myself busy when I notice out of the corner of my eye Layla’s shoulders shaking. I set the remote down and pull Layla into my arms. She sobs and all I can do is hold her and be there for her. I’m being her crutch.
After a few minutes she seems to have calmed down. “Are you okay?”
She shakes her head. “When she’s around I’ll never be okay, Eli. I could take the rest of the night and tomorrow telling you about all the horrible things she’s done to me growing up. On a piece of paper that woman may be my mother but she’ll never be anything more than a signature on a piece of paper.” Layla sits Indian style on the couch next to me and starts rocking back and forth. “When she took off with the money she went on a three-day drinking and drug binge. She said she woke up one morning naked and had no idea where she was. Turns out she was whoring herself out to some truck driver she met off the highway. She talked him into giving her a ride down to Florida; she had to take care of some unfinished business from over twenty years ago.”
Huh. “Could have possibly been your father, maybe?”
Layla shrugs while still rocking. “She wouldn’t tell me. All she said was that he helped her get clean, paid for her rehab and then her plane ticket home.”
That explains why she looked so much better than the pictures. “So what now?”
Layla stops rocking and stares at the TV for a long moment. “She wants Fallon back. She knows it’s too late for me but she wants another shot with her.”
“It’s not happening.” I say immediately.
Layla looks over at me with watery eyes. “What choice do I have? She’s our mother, Eli.” She says as the tears fall. “I don’t want my sister to go through the shit that I did. She’s too good for that.”
Again, I pull Layla back into my arms and let her cry. I know she’s scared but there has to be a way that we could keep Fallon with us or maybe until she’s at least proven herself to us.
We both sit looking at the TV but not really watching it for a while. Layla gets a text. She picks it up and reads it before tossing it back on the couch.
“They just got a table.”
I nod.
“Ugh, I can’t sit here and think about this.”
I turn my head towards her with a suggestion. “Want to go for sausage sandwiches on the boardwalk?”
A small smile graces her face. “You know just the way to my stomach.” She laughs.
I slip my shoes on and grab my keys.
“I don’t want to be too long though in case they come back early.”
I usher her out of the house. “We’re only ten minutes away.”
We park at the end of the pier since it’s the closest lot to the sausage stand. Layla points to the bathroom. “Be right back.”
While she’s in the bathroom I wait for her over by the railing so that I can watch the waves wash ashore. There are three people with metal detectors and some old guy feeding the seagulls. It’s really hot out as the Indian summer still lingers. I reach behind me and pull my shirt over my head then tuck it in my pocket. The cool breeze coming from the ocean feels good against my skin.
“Seeing you leaning up against that railing looking like that is going to be my new favorite memory.” Layla tells me as she wraps her arms around my back and begins kissing between my shoulders.
I turn in her arms. “Kiss me.”
She leans up on her tip toes and gives me a kiss that isn’t nearly long enough but it is just enough for the desire to take over.
“You’ve got your kiss, now feed me.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Layla and I grab our food and take a seat on one of the benches nearby. Every time she takes a bite she moans.
“Knock it off.” I tell her and look down at my dick.
Her cheeks flush and she looks away. Layla and I have messed around but we haven’t slept together yet. We got to that point a few times but one of us has always pulled back. Deep down I’m worried it would change things for us and I don’t want that. I’ve got needs though and it’s only getting harder and harder to wait. Literally.
We finish up and then walk down the ramp and into the sand. Layla pulls her shoes and carries them in her hands down to the life guard stand.
Layla’s blonde hair is blowing in the wind, the scent of coconuts has me dreaming of taking her home and showing her what that moaning was doing to me. Even though I know it’s not a good time with Fallon weighing on our minds.
She pulls her legs up to her chest and rests her arms on them. “It’s so beautiful out here today.”
I lean back on my elbows looking up at the sky. “Yeah, it is.”
I lean my head up looking over at her. Her skin is sun kissed and her blonde hair just a little lighter from the long summers in the sun. There is a strip of skin on her back that is exposed. I’m dying to reach over and run my fingers across it. Layla glances over and catches me eyeing her. Her nose is sprinkled with little sun freckles. She’s so fucking beautiful.
Layla lets go of her legs and then she straddles me. “Why are you looking at me like that? You’re giving me butterflies.”
I sit up a little straighter so that I can put my arms around her. “I want to kiss you.”
“What are you waiting for then?”
And just like that, her playfulness is back and that face that her mother has resurfaced out of her is set aside. I lean in to kiss her lips and linger for just a minute before trailing kisses down her jaw. I reach her collar bone and bite down before soothing it with my tongue. Her breathing has picked up and her hips start to roll in small circles.
“Can we go home?” She asks breathlessly.
I nod but not before nipping at that one sensitive spot on her neck that makes her go crazy.
“Now, please?” She begs.
I chuckle reaching for her hips helping her up. “Let’s go.”
We walk back to my car hand in hand. The drive is quiet but we only let go of our hands to climb into the car. When we get to our place it’s quiet. Fallon is still with her mom leaving just us here alone for just a little while longer.
I toss my keys on the counter, kick my shoes off and then pull my shirt out of my pocket. Layla is biting on her bottom lip watching me. I walk over to her, reach up and release her lip with the pad of my thumb. “Don’t do that.”
“Why?”
She knows it drives me crazy. It’s what she does at Fierce when she wants to tease me.
I have her pinned to the wall behind her lightning fast. Her arms up above her head secured with one of my hands while I let the other travel from the tips of her fingers down to her hip.
“Eli,” she moans.
Goosebumps break out over her body, her nipples harden under the flimsy fabric of her tank top, and she hooks one of her ankles around mine.
“Please?” Layla begs.
“Please, what?” I want her to say it. I want to know if she’s as turned on as I am.
“Take me to my room.”
“And do what?”
Layla whispers. “Make love to me.”
Finally, fucking, finally. I run the hand that had he
r wrist pinned to the wall down her body before reaching down with both hands and picking her up. She wraps her legs around my body and peppers my neck with kisses. I take the steps slow making this last as long as possible because there is always the option of her telling me goodnight when we reach her room. Her pulling the plug on this is making me anxious. I won’t believe this is going to happen until I’m buried deep in her.
Opening her door I feel for the light switch on the wall. “Leave it.” Layla tells me.
So I do and take the next few steps to her bed. I’ve memorized her room, memorized every little piece of it. She doesn’t have much, a simple picture frame on her night stand with a lamp, a long dresser that is mismatched from the night stand and an older chair in the corner that she mostly sits on when she’s on her computer. Her closet is barely used, only a few things hanging on hangers and two pairs of shoes. Layla is a simple girl or likes simple things.
I release her legs when my knees hit the front of the bed. She slowly slides down but doesn’t let go and I have no choice but to follow her down on the bed. The room is barely lit, just the last few minutes before the sun sets and the darkness takes over.
Rolling to the side of Layla I lean down to place a kiss on her lips. She snakes her arms around my neck. “Stay.”
And there is the word I wanted to hear. I wanted her to tell me to stay here with her and not act like this was a date with a goodnight kiss at the end of it like the way it is most nights.
“You sure?”
She nods. “Yeah.”
I lean down again capturing her lips with mine. I’m not in a hurry now; I know she’s not going to tell me to take a hike. I reach up and cup her face running my thumb across her cheek a few times then skirting it down her neck, between the valley of her breasts, over her flat stomach and rest my hand on the bottom on her shorts.
Layla follows my lead but takes it a step further by unbuttoning mine. She dips her fingers into the waist band and starts to tug down. I lie back and lift my hips to help her as she climbs off. She discards them on the floor and climbs back on the bed right between my legs. I try to reach for her but she places my hands to the side. She looks up to me with sweet wide innocent eyes.
