Have Mercy

by Hart, Lane

It’s something I’ve been looking forward to and also dreading for a long time. Now that it’s here, everything is about to change. It’s the end of an era and a brand-new beginning.

  For me, today is also Independence Day.

  Sure, my folks are here, publicly supporting me in front of all of my dad’s golf buddies and my mom’s gardening club or whatever the fuck she’s into nowadays.

  But as soon as we get back in the car to head home, I have zero doubt that I’ll be getting the boot, both figuratively and literally.

  Which means I’ve got to find a place to live for the next two weeks until camp starts.

  And yeah, it feels really fucking strange to be a-soon-to-be-high-school-graduate looking forward to church camp, but I am.

  Hannah’s giving me a second chance, and you can bet your ass I’m not going to screw it up.

  Until July first, though, I need to figure out where I’m going to be sleeping at night.

  “Yo, Blake,” I say, stepping out of our alphabetically organized line in my cap and gown to wave him towards me. Since I’m in the Fs and he’s in the Ss, we meet halfway, right around the Ms, near Hannah. I sneak a quick glance at her, and for once she actually smiles at me before glancing away, making me feel invincible.

  “What’s up?” Blake asks, his eyes heavy with bags and a frown on his face. Guess I’m not the only one who is not in a celebratory mood today. His baby mama shit with Caroline is really getting to him; and if I had to guess, he’s also having second thoughts about the adoption. Who wouldn’t?

  “Can I crash with you tonight?” I ask him.

  “Yeah, sure. We better get nice and lit too before I leave tomorrow.”

  “You’re leaving tomorrow?” I repeat in surprise.

  “Football practice starts Monday, so I’ve gotta get my ass to campus and get moved in this weekend.”

  Shit. I didn’t even think about him heading to Duke so soon.

  “What about Caroline?” I ask. “You’re just up and leaving her when she’s as big as a whale with your kid?” My words come out a little harsher than I intended, not that I really care if he abandons her, but it feels like he’s abandoning me too when I need him and didn’t even bother to tell me he was going.

  “I’ll be back when Caroline gets induced, but until then, I don’t really think she wants me around.”

  “She might need you sooner,” I point out.

  “What’s your problem?” Blake asks. “Your ass has been MIA for weeks, and now you think you know what’s best for me or some shit?”

  “Whatever,” I tell him, sneaking a glance at Hannah again who quickly looks away, pretending like she wasn’t listening to our conversation before I turn around to retake my place in line. Blake hasn’t once asked about my plans after graduation or know that I may not see him again for years, if ever.

  I’m almost back to the Fs when someone grabs the big sleeve of my gown to stop me.

  “My offer still stands,” Sophie says, apparently since she heard or can guess my predicament.

  “Your parents aren’t home for your gradation?” I ask in surprise.

  “Their flight got delayed, so they decided to cancel since they wouldn’t be able to make the ceremony anyway...” She shrugs as if she doesn’t care that they’re missing one of the biggest milestones of her life, but it obviously bothers her.

  “Sorry and thanks,” I tell her.

  I may have to take her up on her offer, because the last I heard from Aric, he sold his Lambo and bought a freaking house to surprise Maddie and play husband to her and father to her two younger siblings. So, there’s no way I’ll be imposing on their little slice of domesticated bliss.

  Besides, it’s only for two weeks, and then I’ll be out of Sophie’s way for good.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Hannah

  “So? What do you think?” Maddie asks after she finishes giving me the tour of her and Aric’s new house a week after graduation.

  “It’s really great, Maddie,” I tell her as I spin around and take in the master bedroom.

  “I know, right?” she replies with a huge smile.

  “You should’ve told me you were moving, and I could’ve come and helped.”

  “It all happened so fast, really,” she says. “And Aric had already bought most of the furniture, so all we had were a few boxes of clothes and things to bring over, no sweat. Come on. Let’s go back downstairs. I just baked some cookies.”

  “Looks like you’ve got this housewife role down already,” I tease her as we jog down the steps.

  “Oh, shut up,” she throws back at me with a bark of laughter. “It’s just so nice to finally have something good, you know? I’m grateful every day to be out of the trailer park and no longer staying awake all night, worried about how to pay for groceries for the week.”

  “I’m so happy for you,” I tell her honestly when we come to a stop in the kitchen and she offers me a plate of chocolate chip cookies.

  “Thanks,” she says. “So, what’s new with you?”

  “Ah, not much really,” I say. “Just been spending my time off painting and counting down the days to camp.”

  “Where you’re going with Royal Fitzpatrick, of all people,” she adds with a grin. “Take photos, because I just can’t see him as the do-gooder camp counselor.”

  “I would, but we’re not allowed to have phones,” I tell her.

  “That sucks. Then it’s like it never happened!”

  “That’s what I’m afraid of, you know? That Royal will be the sweet guy from two years ago for a few weeks before he goes back to being a dick again.”

  “Maybe, maybe not,” Maddie responds as she grabs a cookie and shoves it into her mouth. Once she chews it up, she looks at me and says, “There’s something I want to tell you; but at the same time, I don’t want to tell you.”

  “What is it?” I ask in concern. “Tell me.”

  “Are you sure you want me to?”

  “Is it really that bad?” I ask.

  She cringes and nods. “Yeah. Possibly.”

  “Is it about Royal?”

  “Uh-huh,” she mutters before cramming another cookie down her throat.

  “Just spit it out. I would rather know than not know.”

  “Okay, but promise me that you’ll give him the benefit of the doubt until you talk to him. You two have been through enough of a roller-coaster caused by incomplete or erroneous information,” she says because I’ve long since filled her in on everything.

  “Maddie, tell me. Please.”

  “Okay, here goes,” she says, grabbing a paper towel to wipe her chocolatey hands on. “A few times in the last two weeks I’ve been at Aric’s place, either checking on Caroline or having dinner with his parents or whatever. And several times, I’ve seen Royal.”

  “Okay?”

  “Going into Sophie’s house,” she adds.

  “Oh,” I mutter, my heart sinking to my toes.

  “And sometimes he’s there really early in the morning.”

  “Oh,” I say again since that appears to be all that I can manage to verbalize.

  “They’re probably just friends!” Maddie assures me.

  “A guy and girl friends who have sleepovers together?” I ask.

  “Possibly. Just…talk to him and find out!”

  “How? I don’t even have his phone number!” I tell her. “I don’t even know if he’s serious about coming to camp or not. He’s barely talked to me at school with exams and all, so who knows?”

  “I can get his number from Aric if you want?” she offers.

  “Yes, please.”

  “Okay, hold on. He’s at the aquarium with Matt and Mandy, but I can text him,” she says.

  “That sounds fun. You didn’t want to go with them?” I ask in surprise.

  “Girl, you know I love my brother and sister, but sometimes I just need a little break from the responsibility.”

  “It’s really nice that you have Aric to
help out,” I tell her as she types on her phone.

  “Yeah, it is. I’m so grateful to him that there aren’t enough blowies in the world to repay him,” she says, making us both laugh. “Okay, he’s typing, and…there it is. Are you ready?”

  Unlocking my phone, I type in Royal’s name in my contacts and then his number.

  “So, are you going to call him?” she asks.

  “Maybe.”

  “What? You have to call him! Sooner rather than later!”

  “Do you want me to do it right now?” I ask.

  “Yes!”

  “Okay, fine,” I say. Taking a deep breath, I call his number and hear… “We’re sorry, but the number you have dialed is no longer in service.”

  Since the automated voice is so loud, even Maddie can hear it. “Aric must have been off a digit. Let me ask him again.”

  They send a few texts back and forth.

  “Aric double checked and even called him from his contacts. The number is out of service. Guess he got a new number or something?” she offers.

  “Maybe so. Thanks for checking,” I tell her, but I don’t thank her for the Sophie and Royal info, because now there’s nothing left to do but spend the next few days wondering if something is going on between them.

  Why else would he spend the night with her?

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Royal

  “Thanks for the ride,” I tell Sophie when she pulls up at the camp’s drop off, bringing back memories of two years ago when I refused to get out of my dad’s car.

  Thank fuck I did, or I would’ve missed out on getting to know Hannah…

  “Are you sure you don’t need me to pick you up and drive you home when it’s over?” Soph asks as I open the door and climb out with my bag.

  “Nah. Hannah will give me a ride back,” I tell her.

  “Awfully confident, aren’t you?”

  “I’ve got this,” I reply. “But if things fall through with Hannah, I’ll give you a call.”

  “All right then. Have fun!”

  “Yes, mother,” I tease before I shut the door on her.

  At check-in, I looked for Hannah but didn’t see her.

  So, after dropping my things off in my room, a single because I’m a counselor this year, thank fuck, I take a chance and sneak up through the back entrance of Hannah’s old dorm and knock on the first door.

  Thankfully, it is Hannah who answers.

  “You’re here,” she says, sounding surprised and not exactly thrilled. And somehow, even after two years, she looks exactly the same. Well, except her hazel eyes are a little more cynical and less optimistic. I hate that I probably had something to do with that change.

  “I’m here. I told you I would be,” I remind her when I stop staring at her face long enough to slip inside her room.

  Hannah closes the door behind me and says, “Well, I wasn’t sure if you might have changed your mind over the last few weeks.”

  There it is. Her uncertainty whenever I’m concerned.

  “Why do you think I might have changed my mind?” I ask.

  “Oh, no reason,” she says, leaning her back against the door. I take the rest of her in, the sexy, black, cotton shorts that should be outlawed by the camp, and a red tank top with her usual braid draped lazily over her shoulder.

  “Are you sure there’s no particular reason why you thought I wouldn’t show?” I ask again. I’m not stupid. I figured Aric or Maddie would’ve seen me at Sophie’s and ran their mouths without knowing a goddamn thing about why I was staying with her. They just assume the worst about me like everyone else.

  “Well,” Hannah starts. “I did sort of hear about you spending a few nights with Sophie after graduation.”

  “That’s not true,” I tell her. “I spent every night after graduation with Sophie before coming here today.”

  Hannah’s jaw drops comically before I continue explaining. “Sophie offered to let me stay with her after my dad kicked me out of the house.”

  “Oh,” she mutters, finally closing her gaping jaw. “And did you and she…”

  “Did we what?” I ask with a grin, wanting to hear her say it, to acknowledge that she thought about it and cared.

  “Did you…sleep together?”

  Grinning wider, I lean in and kiss her parted lips once before pulling away, mostly just because I can’t resist. It’s been too fucking long since I’ve kissed her. I barely remember the one at homecoming before we started going at it. And at prom, after one dance with me, Hannah said goodbye and disappeared.

  “You’re cute when you’re jealous,” I tell her. “And no, I haven’t slept in the same bed or even the same room with Sophie. And I definitely didn’t fuck her.”

  “You didn’t?”

  “Hell no. Sophie’s like a little sister or an annoying monkey that never gets off my back. But she’s been cool, letting me crash with her since Aric is living with Maddie now and Blake had to leave for football camp at Duke.”

  “So, she was your only option?”

  “Pretty much.”

  “And you don’t think she’s pretty or hot or whatever?” Hannah asks, making me kiss her lips again.

  “Sophie is trying to bring us together, not break us apart, that I’m absolutely certain of. I won’t be staying with her again, so you don’t need to worry about that.”

  “I wasn’t worried…” Hannah trails off, unable to finish that untrue statement. “What about when you leave camp, though? Where will you stay if your dad kicked you out? I’m sorry about that, by the way…”

  “Don’t worry. I’ve got it all figured out, baby.”

  When I lean in to kiss her again, her palms slap against my chest to stop me when I’m just an inch away from her lips. “I thought we agreed to no sex.”

  “Is kissing now considered a form of sex?” I tease her.

  “No, but…”

  “I agreed to no sex, but I didn’t agree to keep my hands or mouth off of you. Any objections?”

  “Only that the kissing could lead to more, and more could lead to sex,” she explains.

  “It won’t. I promise, okay?” I assure her, because no matter how much I want to be inside of her again, I know it’ll just make it that much harder to leave her in a month. So, we can do other things and keep the line drawn there, refusing to cross it. The next four weeks are about making up for being a dick to her for the past few years. Nothing else. The truth is, we never should’ve crossed that line before when we were here and only sixteen. I know Hannah regrets giving me her virginity, so all I want is to try and lessen that disappointment as much as I can.

  “Okay,” Hannah eventually agrees to my amendment. Grabbing the sides of my face, she pulls my mouth down to hers and finally kisses me back.

  And fuck, if I don’t nearly break down and try to cross our line within the first ten minutes of drawing it.

  * * *

  Hannah

  I just might be the most naïve girl in the world for believing Royal. If I had my phone, I would call Maddie and ask her opinion about whether or not he’s lying about not sleeping with Sophie.

  Since I can’t, I’m going to go with my gut and trust him. And kiss him. A lot.

  In fact, we’ve been plastered together against the door for so long, I’m probably leaving an ass imprint.

  But being on the receiving end of Royal’s hot, demanding kiss feels too good to stop. And god knows I wish we could do more. I want to do more with Royal, even if it’s stupid.

  Ironically enough, he’s the one who eventually steps back, taking his talented tongue away, along with his rock-hard cock from where it was trying to penetrate its way through my stomach.

  “I better go,” he says breathlessly, which sucks.

  “So soon?”

  “We’ve got a busy day of doing good tomorrow, right?” he asks with a grin.

  “Right,” I agree. “I made sure we’re put in charge of the same group.”

  “Good. Oth
erwise I would’ve had to bail on mine to find yours.”

  “So, I’ll see you in the morning?” I ask.

  “Yeah. How about we meet for breakfast at six-fifteen?” he suggests.

  “No hiding this time?”

  “No hiding,” he replies. “Good night.”

  “Night,” I tell him before he places a kiss on my cheek and then peels me away from the door so he can escape.

  As soon as he’s gone, all the usual doubts return in the silence no matter how hard I try to push them aside.

  * * *

  The next day is a hotter than hell July scorcher with record-breaking temperatures. And what is our group assigned to do? Work outside in the midday sun, planting flowers and trees around a hospice center.

  It’s impossible to be annoyed about being close to heatstroke when I know the people inside are barely clinging to life, about to leave this world and their loved ones forever.

  At some point, though, I get so weak that I have to go inside to cool off before I pass out in the soil.

  “Break time! Everyone take ten in the shade!” I tell our crew of six, who all drop down and sit where they were standing.

  As I hand out water to each of them, I look for Royal, but he’s no longer on my side of the building with our campers, who have been taking turns planting and visiting patients to get out of the sun. Since I’ve been outside the entire four hours, until I take a few minutes to recover, I’m not physically capable of going to look for him. For all I know, Royal’s been inside all along, lying on an empty bed with his feet up, watching gameshows and soap operas while the rest of us bust our butts. That’s what the old Royal of two years ago would be doing.

  Inside the facility, I wash my gritty hands in the bathroom sink, trying to remove as much soil from underneath my fingernails as I can, then splash some cold water on my face before drying off some of the sweat underneath my shirt with a paper towel. I’m already feeling better when I walk out into the lobby to guzzle my water. That’s when I notice at least four nurses crowded around one of the bay windows.