“Just because I’m here doesn’t mean you have to stay at home tonight,” Chad told Brayden. “I’m sure you had plans.”
“I was supposed to go shoot pool with Chris, but that was before I said you should stay over. Besides, I had forgotten Marissa was getting here today, and I don’t feel right leaving her alone all the time.”
“You don’t have to entertain me,” Marissa spoke up. She had picked up Anthony, who had fallen asleep on the floor, and put him in the crib. “You either,” she told Chad. “I’m fine staying here with him if you guys want to go do something.”
Chad shook his head. “You are not spending the first day of summer babysitting. Besides, I want to get some of that homework done.”
“And I already told you I would help with that,” Marissa reminded him.
“If I’m not needed around here, I guess I’ll head out for a bit. I’ll be home around midnight.” Brayden disappeared up the stairs.
Chad glanced from the sleeping infant in the crib to his new girlfriend. “You are amazing,” She blushed. “I mean it,” he told her. “Helping with Anthony and helping with school. Is that really how you want to spend your summer?”
“I really don’t mind. Speaking of school, should we get started?”
Chad signed. “I’m just so horrible in math. I was barely passing before Anthony was born, and then I ended up taking a month off. It might already be a lost cause.” He reached in one of his bags and began to pull out papers along with his textbook. “I need all of this turned in before I can even take the final,” he explained. “And I just don’t get it.”
Marissa smiled. “You say lost cause, but I see it as a challenge. Hope you don’t get sick of me; because we will be spending a lot of time together helping you get caught up.
She grabbed the first page on the stack and begins explaining the assignment. Chad listened intently and tried his hardest. They lost track of time as they worked together. When Chad understood an assignment, Marissa sat back and read a book until he had another question.
The couple was sitting in the basement, Chad working and Marissa reading, when Brayden came home just before midnight.
“Are you two seriously wasting your Saturday night like this?” He flopped on the couch and turned on the TV.
Marissa went through the stack of completed papers. Chad worked his way through about a third of the missing assignments that night and Marissa checked them when he was done. She handed Chad the finished work. “He’s right. You did enough for one night. I’ve had an insanely long day on no sleep, so I’m going to go up to bed.”
Chad put the work away and stood up. He walked to the bottom of the stairs with Marissa. “Thank you so much. You have no idea how much you have helped me today.” He leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Night,” Marissa told him as she disappeared up the stairs. She closed herself in the small guest bedroom and collapsed on her bed, which was covered in clothes that she hadn’t bothered to unpack. So much had happened in the twelve hours she had been in town. She picked up the phone and called her best friend.
“You were supposed to call me hours ago!” Melissa exclaimed as she answered the phone.
Marissa began replaying the events of the day. She told Melissa about Anthony and about Chad asking her out. She explained about him getting kicked out and about her tutoring and babysitting, although she left out the part about Chad apparently being rich. As soon as she started talking, she forgot how tired she was. It was nearly 2 a.m. before she hung up the phone and went to sleep.
~eleven~
Anthony had woken up shortly after Marissa went upstairs. Brayden stood by and watched as Chad got him changed and fed.
“Are you going to tell Marissa the truth about why you got kicked out?” Brayden asked, once the baby was satisfied.
“What do you know about that?” Chad asked.
“I was at the pool hall with Chris, Mel, and Tanya, but that doesn’t answer my question.”
“I don’t know. I can’t just come out and tell her I got kicked out because of her. I don’t know why Chris made such a big deal about it. She’s not Tamara.”
“I think you should tell her,” Brayden advised Chad. “As far as I know, you have been completely honest with her so far. Why stop now?”
“I just don’t see that ending well. If I tell her that I was kicked out simply because I refused to break up with her, she will probably feel guilty and end things,” Chad explained his dilemma.
“She might. But what if she finds out from someone else? This is a small town, and you know how people talk. Don’t you think she would take it better coming from you?”
“Do you honestly think she would stay with me if she knew?” Chad put the tired baby back in the crib. After a few minutes of squirming, he fell back asleep.
“I don’t know. What I do know is that nothing has scared her away so far. She’s okay with the age difference. She accepts your son. She doesn’t even seem to be bothered by your criminal record. She may only be 13, but she is not a normal thirteen year old girl.”
Chad sank into the couch and pulled his cigarettes from the pocket of his jeans. “Can I?” he asked Brayden.
Brayden nodded. He moved across the room, opened the window, and switched on the ceiling fan.
Chad lit his cigarette. “I know I should tell her. I need to, I’m just scared. We haven’t even been dating a full day and so much has already happened. At some point, it’s going to be too much for her to handle.”
“Look, I’m not going to tell you what to do. I’m not going to lie, last summer, your little crush on my little cousin scared the hell out of me, but you have changed so much in the last year. You have been able to overcome every obstacle that has been thrown your way. Not saying the age difference doesn’t worry me, but she is more mature than anyone else her age. Probably more than we are. I just don’t want to see you screw it up by keeping secrets. Be honest with her.”
“You are probably the only other person that will accept this relationship. If you really think I should tell her, I will.”
Brayden nodded. “I do.” He yawned and looked at the clock on the wall. “I’m going to get some sleep.” He stood up and began to walk toward his bedroom.
“Night man. I’ll try to keep him quiet when he wakes up.”
“With my TV on, I doubt I will even hear him.” Brayden disappeared into his room and closed the door.
Chad stretched out on the couch. He knew there was a pull out bed he could use, but he was just too tired to bother with it. “Please, sleep well, son,” he whispered toward the sleeping baby before he drifted off to sleep.
~twelve~
Marissa woke up early the next morning. She heard no noise coming from the basement, so she assumed everyone was still sleeping. She rummaged through her bags to find decent clothes for the day and disappeared into the bathroom. She enjoyed a long, hot shower, and dressed in a pair of jean shorts and a purple tank top. As she looked at her reflection in the mirror, she decided to leave her hair down that day. It fell to the middle of her back as she brushed it out. She even decided to wear eyeliner and foundation.
Once she was ready, she began to look through the kitchen for something to eat.
She had just opened a can of Mountain Dew when the basement door opened and Chad and Anthony entered the kitchen.
“Good morning,” she told her new boyfriend, offering him a pop.
Chad shook his head. “I’m going to take little man out for a walk. Want to join us?”
“Sounds good to me.” Marissa slipped on her sandals and held the front door open for Chad.
He walked to the trunk of his car and pulled out the stroller. Marissa watched as he buckled his son in, noticing Chad looked completely exhausted.
“I can watch him if you would rather go back to bed,” she offered.
“I’m starting to get used to functioning without sleep. He doesn’t sleep very
well, and I think being somewhere new made it worse.” Chad released the brake and started walking toward the street.
Aunt Lynn’s house was on the end of a dead end street and on top of a steep, curvy hill. The couple silently walked down the hill and into the small town.
After walking a few blocks, they carefully crossed a highway and Chad parked the stroller under a small gazebo overlooking the lake. He sat down, pulled out his cigarettes, lit one, and leaned back against the bench.
“Of course, he has no problem sleeping during the day.” Chad gestured toward the baby, fast asleep in the stroller.
Marissa laughed and reached for the cigarettes. “Did he keep you up all night?” she asked,
Chad shook his head. “He was up quite a bit, but I had a lot on my mind, so even when he was sleeping, I didn’t sleep much.” He paused to take a deep breath. “I have something to tell you, but I don’t know where to begin.”
“Breaking up with me already?” Marissa asked quietly.
“No!” he assured her. “Definitely not.” He flicked his cigarette into the lake and pulled her closer to him. “Although you might want to break up with me by the time I’m done.”
“In case you haven’t noticed, it takes a lot to scare me away,” she pointed out.
Chad explained that his brother, Chris, had made it home before they did the day before and told his mother that Chad was dating Brayden’s much younger cousin. His mom had flipped out, saying he was a bad influence and needed to end the relationship immediately. When Chad refused, she told him to get out and not come back.
“So if you broke up with me, you could go back home?” she asked when he was finished.
Chad shrugged. “Probably,” he told her. “At least until they find another reason to get rid of me. I knew it was only a matter of time before I got kicked out. That’s why I already have it planned to move in with Eric.”
“What does your mom have against me?”
“Nothing. She would probably love you if she ever got to know you,” he told her. “My parents would have flipped out over me dating anyone. They think I would start pawning Anthony off on them if I was with anyone, but I wouldn’t do that. My son always comes first.”
“You told me that yesterday. And I accept that. I wouldn’t want to take you away from him anyway.”
“I tried to tell mom that. I told her if she got to know you, she would realize how much of a good influence you are on me. But then she got stuck on your age, yelling about how much of a mess it would be if I got you pregnant.”
“Which we have already established will not happen,” Marissa cut Chad off.
“I told her that too. She went off on how I couldn’t be with someone and not sleep with them after sleeping with Tamara. Seriously, don’t worry about it. My parents have been looking for a reason to get rid of me for a long time. Once Eric gets back in town, everything will be fine.”
“I just don’t like being the reason your family is torn apart.”
“You definitely aren’t. My family has been ripped apart years ago. Eric was 16 when he was thrown out of the house. He ended up having to drop out of school because he refused his trust fund and had to get a job and support himself.
“I thought most trust funds couldn’t be used until you were a certain age.”
“Ours is eighteen. But when Eric refused his four years ago, it was split between me, Chris, and Melanie, and we didn’t have to wait to get that part.”
“Do I want to know how much money you actually have?”
Chad smiled. “Probably not. Let me put it this way. I bought both of my cars, a bike, spent an insane amount on parties when I was with Tamara, and I still have quite a bit left in the bank. And that’s just what I got from Eric. I won’t have mine for another year.”
“You’re right. I don’t want to know.” Marissa’s stomach growled.
“It means I have more than enough to take you to lunch,” he joked.
“Can’t argue with that.”
The couple walked back across the highway to the only café in the small town. Anthony slept all through lunch and didn’t wake up until they made it back to the house.
Brayden had just gotten out of the shower when Chad and Marissa walked into the house.
“Does he ever sleep?” Brayden asked.
“I’m sorry about that. I tried to keep him quiet.”
“It’s not a big deal. I just don’t know how do you do. How are you not completely exhausted all the time?”
Chad shrugged. “I guess I’m just used to it.”
Marissa took the baby from Chad’s arms. “Why don’t you go get some sleep now?”
“I wanted to get more homework done today.”
“Do it later. Or tomorrow. Although, I’ll be playing football all day tomorrow, if you want to come with. We might as well take advantage of the holiday.”
Marissa had forgotten the next day was Memorial Day. She had only been away from home for slightly more than 24 hours, but it seemed like she had been there for weeks.
“You guys can plan your day off later. Right now, you need some sleep,” she told Chad. She grabbed the diaper bag from the stroller and disappeared down the hall into her bedroom.
She grabbed blanket and spread it on the floor before lying the small child down. After changing his diaper, she stretched out next to him and grabbed the phone.
~thirteen~
Anthony watched every move Marissa made as she talked to her best friend and watched the baby kick around on the blanket. He never cried or fussed. He was still awake two hours later when Chad knocked on her door.
“Hey, I will call you back later. Or tomorrow,” she spoke into the phone. “Yea, bye.” She hung up. “Have a good nap?” she asked Chad.
Marissa and Chad spent the rest of the warm Sunday afternoon sitting outside while Anthony played on a blanket on the grass. Chad was moving along on his homework, occasionally asking questions when he didn’t understand. When Marissa, wasn’t helping him, she was writing. She loved how comfortable she felt around Chad. Even when they weren’t talking, they could just sit in silence, each doing his or her own thing, yet still being together.
Around dinner time, Chad put his work down. Marissa was too into her own writing that she didn’t even notice.
“Do you ever let anyone read anything you write?” he asked, making Marissa jump.
“Very rarely,” she told him. “Once in a while, I will let my best friend read something, but I’m usually too afraid. I put so much into it, and I love it so much, I don’t know how I would take it if someone said it wasn’t any good.”
Chad was silent for a moment. He lit a cigarette. “You should write a book someday. About me. To show to everyone that it is never too late to turn your life around. A few bad choices don’t matter as much.”
Marissa smiled. “I could probably do that.”
“Chad Anthony Ulsten! Put out that cigarette right now!” shouted a voice from the driveway. Aunt Lynn was home and she brought pizza. “I guess we will be going over the house rules at dinner tonight.”
Chad put out his cigarette and began putting his homework back in his bag. Marissa ran to the driveway to help her aunt carry in the food. Chad tossed his bag over his shoulder and took the baby in the house.
Anthony was settled into an infant swing in the dining room while everyone dished up their plates.
“First of all, there is no smoking, drugs, or drinking,” Lynn started. “I know my niece agreed to watch your son while you finish the school year, but she will not watch him for you to go out. You were always a good kid, Chad, and I know you are trying to get passed your mistakes. Just please, don’t do anything stupid while you are here.”
“I won’t Lynn,” he told her. “Thank you for letting me stay until I can move in with Eric.”
“That’s another thing I wanted to talk to you about.” She looked at Brayden and Marissa, who had both finished eating. “Would you two please leave u
s alone for a moment?”
Neither had to be asked twice. They disappeared to the basement, leaving Chad and Anthony upstairs.
“What do you think they are talking about?” Marissa asked her cousin.
Brayden shook his head. “I have no clue.” He glanced at the clock. It was 6:30. “Hope it don’t take too long. I’m supposed to go play pool at 7, but I’m not going up there until they are done.”
They sat in silence, straining their ears to hear any of the conversation, but it was useless.
Fifteen minutes later, Chad walked down the basement stairs carrying his son.
“Well?” Brayden asked.
“She doesn’t want me moving in with Eric. Apparently she’s worried about me being around the party atmosphere, especially with Anthony.”
“She might be right about that,” Marissa pointed out.
“She wants me to stay here until I graduate.”
“So we would be together all summer?” Marissa was excited.
“Not exactly. After school is out this year, she wants me and Anthony to move into your room,” he told her. “She said you will be spending the summer at the campground.”
~fourteen~
“No!” Marissa exclaimed as she ran up the stairs. “Why can’t I stay here?” she asked her aunt.
“First of all, Chad and Anthony need a bedroom, not the common room of the basement.”
“Then I will sleep on the couch.” Marissa didn’t need her own room.
“And the other reason is that I don’t think you spending so much time with Chad is such a good idea. He’s too old. He has some major legal issues, and he is just not a good influence on you. I’ve already talked to grandma. They will pick you up in two weeks, as soon as the boys are out of school.”
Marissa realized she would never be able to change her aunt’s mind. Admitting defeat, she sulked back to the basement.
“Couldn’t change her mind?” Brayden asked, even though he could see the answer on her face.
Summer Love (First Love Book 1) Page 4
