Bending Under Pressure

by Lindsay Paige

  Keelan’s lips stretch into a grin. “It’s even better when you’re driving. Maybe Friday after my game, I can give you your first lesson.”

  “You were serious?”

  He props himself up on an elbow, angling toward me a little more. “Yeah, I was. Unless you don’t want to learn?”

  I prop myself up as well because I want us to be on even ground without him towering over me, but it only puts our faces so close together. “I want to learn.”

  “So, Friday?”

  “Yep.”

  Keelan smiles’ it distracts my eyes and causes them to drop to his lips. I stare for a moment too long because they move, whispering, “I want to kiss you.”

  My gaze snaps up to his and my heart starts pounding like a horse galloping at full speed. This is why you don’t invite boys into your bedroom! They will want to kiss you and God knows what else. I’m near panic as I gulp, but I barely nod my head; part of me trusts Keelan to just kiss me. His hand feels impossibly warm as he slips it underneath my hair and grasps the back of my neck like he did in the car after the race.

  His head tilts as he brings me a tad closer. Am I still breathing? Suddenly, I feel lightheaded. Keelan presses his lips to mine, my eyes falling closed. I wonder if I’ll pass out while he’s kissing me and if he’ll go tell Cameron about it. When our mouths part and I taste his tongue, I forget how to think, how to breathe, and oh my God! I’m making out with Keelan Moore!

  All of a sudden, I’m too aware of our breathing, his mouth, his hand, and how his knee is touching mine now. Dizzy at his kiss, the arm holding me up collapses, and I’m lying flat on my back. Holy cow, his torso is on my torso and I think I’m going to pass out soon.

  “Haley! Who is here with you?”

  Keelan jumps back and sits up at the sound of my mom shouting from down the hall. I sit up, my lips feeling swollen, and try not to laugh as Keelan scoots to the other end of the bed.

  “A friend,” I answer as she appears at my bedroom door.

  She frowns when she sees us.

  “Hey, Mrs.—” Keelan falters, realizing he doesn’t know my mom’s new last name.

  “Mrs. Rita is fine,” she tells him with narrowed eyes, and I have to refrain from rolling my eyes. “What have you two been doing in here?”

  It’s not like I can say we were watching TV because it’s turned off.

  “Talking,” Keelan answers for me. “I had a rough day, met my birth mom and all, and Hales was letting me get it off my chest before I have to go home and answer my mom’s bazillion questions.”

  Mom’s eyes widen, not expecting Keelan to give her so much info. “Oh.” She seems at loss for words and I want to laugh. “Well, that was nice of you, Haley.” She regains her parenting look, where she seems composed and authoritative. “However, it’s getting late and you should probably head home, Keelan.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “I’ll walk you out.” We stand and Mom lets us pass her. When we’re safely away from their ears, I say, “You didn’t have to tell her all of that.”

  Keelan grins. “No, but I’ve learned if you drop something major like that, they usually believe you and don’t ask many more questions because it throws them off.”

  “Did you want to talk about it? Your birth mom, I mean?”

  He shrugs. “She wants me to get to know her and the rest of my family. I apparently have a sister and an aunt. I don’t know what I want to do though. Something doesn’t feel right about it.”

  “Wow. That’s a lot to take in.”

  He nods. The porch light flashes behind me, and I shake my head. “I should go. Thanks, Hales.” He leans in and kisses my cheek before opening his door. “Hey, if you want to talk about whatever’s going on with your dad, I’ll listen.”

  I’m surprised he doesn’t already know. “Your mom didn’t tell you anything?”

  He shakes his head. “No, she said you’d share whenever you’re ready. So, I’ll listen when you are if you want.”

  “Thanks, Keelan.”

  He finally leaves and I go inside to face my mom. Is she going to be mad? Suspicious? I have no clue what to expect. However, Mom knows exactly what she wants to say because she talks the moment I walk in.

  “What do you think you’re doing here by yourself with a boy? And in your bedroom! You are not allowed to have anyone over if we are not here, Haley.” She folds her arms over her chest from where she stands behind the couch and waits.

  “Okay, it won’t happen again. He needed someone to talk to, and I didn’t know where else we could go where he could have some privacy.” No need to put up a fight.

  Mom narrows her eyes at me. “Don’t think I bought that y’all were just talking either.”

  It’s as if she’s waiting for me to fess up. Ha. Not happening. I shrug. “Believe whatever you want, Mom. I’m going to do homework.”

  “No more boys in the house, Haley!” she calls after me as I walk past her.

  “Got it!” I’m glad she’s behind me now because she can’t see me rolling my eyes at her.

  “Well?” I ask, having just recounted everything to my parents and Cameron. “What do you think?”

  “What do you want to do?” Mom asks.

  I shrug. “I want to know what you think.”

  “This is your decision.”

  “Mom! Please, just give me something here,” I beg, annoyed and frustrated. Something isn’t sitting well with me about Natalie, but I don’t know what it is. For all I know, I’m imagining it all because she’s disrupting the stability and familiarity of my life.

  Mom pats my knee. “It sounds like your curious about your family.”

  “They aren’t my family!” I shout, standing up, unable to sit on the couch any longer. “I don’t know them! They’re strangers, not family.”

  “Lower your voice, Keelan,” Dad orders in a calm, yet demanding tone. We don’t yell and definitely not at our parents.

  “Sorry, I just—” I run my hand over my head. “I don’t like this. I don’t want to be curious. I don’t want them to be my family when I already have a family I love. I don’t want to deal with this.”

  Mom stands and gives me a hug. “It’s been a long day for you. Why don’t you go to bed and sleep on it? You don’t have to decide today or even tomorrow.”

  “Yeah, okay,” I agree.

  On the way to our room, Cameron finally speaks up to give me his opinion. “If I were you, I wouldn’t be freaking out. I’d want to know everything about them.”

  Yeah, but the thing is, Cameron has always been a little curious about his birth parents. I haven’t. Never. I kind of wish it was his mom intruding on our lives and not mine.

  A whistle shrieks loudly over and over, and another coach yells, “Let’s go, girls! Run, run, run!” Between the unusually hot day and our coaches running us to death because someone mouthed off and someone else was late, I feel like I’m going to vomit at any second. I’m about to start a puddle of sweat with all the droplets pouring out of me. My legs are burning and I’m not sure how I’m still standing. I push harder, knowing if we can all last a little bit longer, it’ll be over.

  The whistle blows long and loud. “Enjoy your day off tomorrow, boys. Be ready for Friday,” our head coach dismisses us.

  I’m about to seriously fall to the ground, just to rest for a minute, when Cam grabs my shoulders and pushes me forward.

  “Your girl is here.”

  My gaze snaps up from the appealing grass and searches for Haley. “She’s not mine,” I say absentmindedly. I want her to be, but we haven’t gotten there yet.

  He chuckles as my eyes find her and Jess, sitting on the tailgate of Cam’s truck. Dang, they just came from their tennis match. Their white dresses stand out against their skin and there’s so much leg showing, I have to focus where I’m walking or I’m going to run into something. “Yeah, okay,” Cam snorts.

  I glare at him. We grab our things and walk over to the girls. A teamm
ate, Seth, has walked over and from Haley’s laugh and her slight blush, he’s flirting with her. I’m tempted to kiss her cheek as a sign for Seth to know she’s off limits, but I can’t do that because she isn’t technically off limits yet.

  “Hey, Hales,” I say, brushing past Seth to take a seat next to her and bumping her shoulder gently.

  “Hey,” she replies, smiling at me.

  “What are you two doing here?” Cameron asks after kissing Jess.

  Jess grins, which automatically puts me on guard. “Well, we were just talking to Seth here, who asked Haley out on a date when y’all walked up.”

  Haley looks embarrassed, and when I glance at Seth, he’s smiling.

  “So, what do you say?” Seth asks her.

  All eyes are on Haley as we wait for her to respond. She quickly flicks her eyes to mine with an almost pleading look and then she focuses on Seth with an apologetic smile. “Sorry, Seth.” His smile falters and I try not to smile too widely. Especially when she continues with, “I already have plans with Keelan Saturday.”

  Wait, what? Saturday? We don’t have plans Saturday? Do we?

  Seth’s eyes widen as he looks to me. “Oh, sorry. I didn’t know you two were together. I’ll see y’all tomorrow.” He walks away like a dog with his tail between his legs.

  “How do you know Seth?” I ask.

  Haley shrugs. “We have a class together.”

  I nod. “We don’t have plans Saturday.” I resist frowning. Did she only say so to get out of a date with Seth?

  “Actually,” she begins, angling toward me, her leg pressing against mine. “Can we move the lesson to Saturday? Jess said I have to stay with her Friday night.” She rolls her eyes.

  “Yeah, that works.”

  “If you two are done making plans, get off my truck. It’s hot as hell out here and Jess won’t let me touch her until I have a shower,” Cameron says.

  “You stink and you’re sweaty,” Jess protests.

  Cam grins. “Right back at ya, babe.”

  We’re probably sweating more than them, but their hair is stuck to the edges of their faces, their ponytails sticking to the backs of their necks. Jess gasps and slaps his shoulder. Haley hops down. She apparently doesn’t care to see Cameron now attempting to kiss Jess and rub his sweaty face over hers. Can’t say I blame her.

  “I’ll walk you to your car,” I offer. “How were your matches?”

  “I won my singles and my doubles,” she smiles. “I’m not sure how we’ll do tomorrow. We’re playing a tough team.”

  “Is it at home?” She nods. “I’ll come watch then,” I tell her as I open the door to her car.

  “Really?” She grins and I love seeing her excited over the simple fact that I’m going to come watch.

  “Really.”

  “Okay.” Haley glances at the empty driver’s seat. “I should go.”

  “Everything okay?” I ask, feeling as if something is wrong. She didn’t say she was going. She said she should go. As if she doesn’t want to.

  Haley shrugs.

  “Come over to the house in about an hour or so.”

  “Okay, thanks.” She gives me a small smile and finally slides into the driver’s seat.

  I head to my car and drive home. After a shower, Cam and I sit down at the table with my parents for dinner.

  “Have you made any decisions about Natalie?” Mom asks about halfway through our meal.

  Holding in my sigh, I say, “Yeah, I’ll meet with her again I guess. I should probably call her soon.” Maybe if I get to know her a little more and meet my aunt and sister, I can lay the subject to rest and say I tried. I’m a little curious about my sister and aunt, but not my mom. That’s probably backward, but I can’t help it. If I get to know her, then I’ll find out why she went to jail, and I’m not sure if I want to know.

  “That’s good,” Mom replies with a smile. “Whenever you’re comfortable, if you want, you can invite her here for dinner.”

  Natalie? Here in this house? I don’t think so. I can’t picture her here. This is my home and it’s where I’m most comfortable. I can’t have someone who would be the equivalent to a tornado invited into my house. “Maybe,” I tell her, knowing it will make her happy. “Haley’s coming over soon,” I add to change the subject.

  “You can have dish duty tomorrow then,” Dad tells me.

  Cam speaks up then to talk about his favorite subject: Jess. I tune him out until we’ve finished eating, which is exactly when the doorbell rings.

  “I got it.” I quickly stand and my chair almost falls backward, but I catch it.

  “Don’t run too fast,” Cam jokes.

  “Shut up.” After hurrying to the door, I swing it open with a smile and open the screen door for her. She’s showered, her hair slightly damp as if she didn’t want to waste time drying it completely, and she’s wearing a pair of shorts that weaken my knees. “Hey.”

  “Hey. My mom said I had two hours before I needed to be home.”

  I chuckle. “She decided I might try to corrupt her little girl?” I guess, taking her hand and leading her to the back of the house.

  “Something like that,” she confesses.

  The night air is warm when we step out the back door. Crickets are already chirping and there’s a chorus of frogs croaking like their lives depend on it. I release her hand and lie in the hammock first. There’s a small smile on her face.

  “What?”

  “No pillow this time?” she smirks.

  “Nah, I figured we could do without. Unless you want one?”

  Haley shakes her head, slips her shoes off, and climbs in next to me as slowly and carefully as possible so she doesn’t tip us over. “I was only teasing.” The sides of our bodies are touching again and I take her hand. “Why did you invite me over?”

  “You seemed like you needed some hammock time.”

  She deeply inhales and exhales. “I think you’re right.”

  We lie there for a while, listening to the crickets, frogs, and birds, and enjoying the peacefulness.

  “My dad cheated on my mom,” she suddenly blurts out.

  “What?” I turn my head toward her.

  “They divorced because he cheated on her. This entire time I’ve been blaming my mom, and my dad is living in our old house with a new family. I found out when I surprised him with a visit last weekend. I told him I was done with him because he’d kept ignoring my calls, not showing up when he was supposed to meet me, and then I find that out. He actually texted today. I’ve been trying to figure out what to do. I mean, you’re giving your birth mom a chance and you don’t even really know her, right? Why shouldn’t my dad get one when I do know him? And I know how great he can be when he tries.

  “I kind of want to talk to my mom about it, but then that doesn’t seem right. He ruined our lives and treated us both poorly. It has to hurt her if she finds out I don’t want to give up on him yet. I don’t know what to do,” she finishes quietly, finally taking a breath after all she rushed to say.

  “I think if you want to give him another chance, maybe you should.”

  “Maybe.” We silently stare at one another and the moment is edging on awkward when her gaze drops to my lips. And then my gaze drops to her lips. I really love her lips. Can one be in love with lips? Because I’m so in love with hers and all I can think about is the last time I tasted them. They’re a dark pink, her lower lip slightly more plump that her upper, and right now, she’s pressing them together as if trying to control them from suddenly pressing against mine. Before I can say the words, she’s whispering them to me. “I want to kiss you.”

  My eyes snap up to hers in surprise. I never expected her to repeat my words back to me, to be forward with what she wants. I’m glad she did because I really like it. Without any hesitation, I press my mouth to hers. The knuckles of her fist touch my stomach and I tense because I feel that light, small touch everywhere. I attempt to roll on top of her, to feel as much of her as I can
, but I forget the fact that we’re in a hammock.

  We flip over, causing her to shriek with surprise. I grip Haley’s hips and take the brunt of the fall as I land on my back with her on top of me.

  “Oh, God,” I groan from more than just the pain of hitting the hard ground. “I’m sorry, Hales.”

  When I lift my head to look at her, she starts laughing. Gut-busting laughter falls out of her as she rests her forehead against my chest, where her hands are resting. I can’t help but chuckle myself.

  “I...I...” she tries to speak, lifting her head as her giggles settle down. “That was almost better than the kiss.”

  “Seriously? My body doesn’t agree with that.”

  Her eyes widen. “Oh! Are you okay?” She slides off me and out from under the hammock.

  “Yeah,” I answer as I follow her. “Glad I could make you laugh, though.” I stand and hold out a hand, which she takes, and I help her up. I feel like an idiot. What kind of dummy forgets they’re on a hammock and tilts it over when he’s on it with a cute girl?

  Haley glances down at our hands, and I wonder if she’s thinking the same thing I am. She lifts her head. “I think there’s only one way to salvage today.”

  My interest perks. “What way is that?”

  A slow grin lifts her lips. “A visit to Dead Man’s Curve.”

  She’s a genius. “Let’s go.” We walk back into the house for my keys and wallet and when we pass through the living room where my parents are, I say, “We’re going for a ride.”

  “Don’t be out too late,” Dad tells me.

  “We won’t.”

  I can feel Haley’s excitement grow the closer we get. When I turn onto Dead Man’s Curve, she speaks.

  “Can I steer again?”

  I grin. “I’ve created a monster, haven’t I?”

  She smiles. “Yes.”

  “Do you want your first lesson?”

  “No, I just want to steer tonight.”

  I nod and unbuckle my seatbelt. Haley quickly gets out and runs around while I move my seat back and adjust my steering wheel. She slides into my lap with a grin. This time, there is no hesitation as her hands grab the wheel. After making some minor adjustments, we’re ready.