by S. K. Lessly
I looked at him and shook my head.
It was his turn to question the strange look on my face. “What?”
“I’m just surprised you joined the military. I bet you were a badass.” I grinned. He didn’t. I continued throwing an awkward smile his way. “I’m glad you decided to stop by the school tonight. It’s really good to see you. I’ve really missed you.”
Ethan’s face softened at my words. He grabbed my hand and kissed it. “I’ve missed you too.”
We looked into each other’s eyes, the awkwardness a second ago gone, and I went back to the last night we had together. The night when he kissed me for the very first time. My first kiss.
I blinked and snapped out of my trance. “I, uh…I’d better be going.”
If Ethan was surprised from my outburst, he didn’t let on. He simply nodded, reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet to pay for my coffee and his meal.
“No problem. Let me walk you to your car.”
We slid out of the booth and I found myself very close to him, which made my heart flutter slightly. The awkwardness of being this close to him was back, and I quickly exited the diner to get to my car. I concentrated on my steps and not the fact that my stomach felt as if it was going to let lose all over the diner’s parking lot.
I pushed the starter button for my truck on my keychain, took a few deep breaths and stopped a few feet from my vehicle to face Ethan.
“Well, again, it was great seeing you. Please try not to be a stranger anymore.” Please ask for my number… please ask for my number…
Ethan smiled and walked closer to me. He rubbed the sides of my arms, sending my heart into overdrive. Goosebumps flooded my skin and I fought to take in air.
“I promise, I won’t,” he told me, his voice low and, goodness, so very deep and sexy. This man…
“As a matter of fact,” he went on. “Would you mind if I stopped by tomorrow to see your mom?”
I looked at him, shocked, and sputtered, “S-sure. Of course, you can. As I said, s-she’s had some health issues. But you’re more than welcome to come over. She lives at the same house from our childhood. Do you remember where it is?”
He nodded and grinned down at me. “Yeah, I remember. So, I guess I’ll see you tomorrow after I get off from work. Drive safely.”
He gave me a tight hug and kissed my cheek. I smiled and quickly got in my car before I passed out from feeling his soft lips on my cheek.
I waved at him as I drove away, smiling at the fact that I would get another chance to see Ethan Wolf again.
***
Ethan
Holy fucking shit. Alexis got damn Stone. Damn, she looked great. Sexy as fuck. I smiled and waved back, watching her drive away. Her pictures didn't do her justice. I had known the basics from her file—five-five, twenty-seven, black hair, brown eyes. But to see her in person, to see how she filled out that fucking dress, got damn. I was trying my hardest to keep my shit in check.
Her breasts looked fuckable in that halter dress, and her ass and legs were spectacular. When I was a kid, I had wondered what she would look like when she grew up, wondered if she would grow into her thick as hell body.
Lexie didn’t see how hot she was in high school. She thought she was picked on because of her ponytails, glasses, and weight. But I knew better. Clint and his boys wanted her. Wanted her goodness for themselves. And they knew damn well they couldn't have her. Fuck, it was the reason they pushed me around. She gave me all of her attention, her beautiful smile, her sexy as hell laugh, everything. They thought for sure I was banging her. I wasn’t. I couldn’t do that to Lexie. I was fucking other girls, yes, but Lexie was true and dear to my heart.
I had done my best to protect her, getting my ass handed to me on a regular for her, but back then, she had been worth it. Damn, she was worth it. She affected me tonight, something I would have to watch for next time. But honestly, Alexis Stone always managed to get to me. It was crazy. The second my eyes landed on hers, I almost felt the ice around my heart crack just a little. That was what she did the first day I met her, when she asked me to play with her. I had stared after her for a few seconds, wondering if she was real.
I had been feeling mightily low that day. My mother and father had been arguing heavy that day, over shit I couldn't remember. It didn’t matter to me. Those two could argue about whether the sky was blue or not; it was their thing. Loud makeup sex was the other thing. I mean, they'd fuck anywhere they wanted, in the living room, on the kitchen counter.
There had been many of times I had walked into the kitchen to find my mother sprawled on the counter, my father's face buried between my mother’s legs in the morning before school. They wouldn’t stop, either. I had to learn to turn my ass around and get out of wherever they were and wait until they were done. Sometimes that took a while. Hence, why I was outside the day I met Lexie.
Despite my mood, her pretty smile and shyness got to me that day and ever since then, she managed to make me feel again. Her family showed me what it was like to have a loving environment around you. They welcomed me with open arms. My mother was never the type to show any affection towards me. Now, towards the bottle of Jack, yes, my father’s cock, hell yeah.
But me… I was a nuisance. Unless she needed me to do something for her like cook or clean. I had to learn quickly how to fend for myself. If I didn’t cook, I didn’t eat. Most times, there wasn’t any food in the house to eat anyway. There were times I’d go without for days, at least until school started. Summers, though, were rough.
But as soon as the Stones entered my life, I never went without eating. Mama Millie Stone would even clean my clothes for me if she saw them dirty because naturally, if we barely had food in the house, we barely had detergent to clean our clothes.
I started to look at Lexie's family as my own. Her parents were the closest I’d ever get to having a mom and dad. I’d even thought of them as such. Mr. Stone had even told me once, “If it ever gets rough for you at home, unsafe, you haul your ass over here. Do you understand me?”
I told him I would, but I had planned on never taking him up on that offer. Yeah, they were nice people, but what were they going to do with a twelve-year-old boy who crushed on their daughter?
However, one day, shit was bad in my house. My mother was throwing shit at me for something I didn’t do. She was drunk on her ass, or high, whatever. My father wasn’t home and she needed someone to take her frustrations out on, and I was it.
That was the first time of many when I climbed out of my window at the front of my house and crab-walked down the porch ceiling to escape. I knocked on Mr. Stone's door and he answered, took one look at me, and let me inside. He didn’t ask me what happened, didn’t try to force me to talk. He simply fixed up the couch and let me stay with them.
I hated when I moved away. Mr. Stone even offered to let me stay with them, but I couldn't fathom leaving my stepdad. He was fucked up, but I thought at the time, he needed me. He even told me so, promised that things would be different, better.
I’d learn the hard way the fucker was a liar. Shit wasn't better at all.
“She gone?”
A voice in my ear cut into my thoughts as I watched Lexie's taillights disappear around a corner. I didn’t answer the question. Instead, I asked one of my own. “Why the hell are we playing this game? Why don’t we just bring her in and question her? You know I would get the truth out of her really quickly.”
There was no one around me. The night air was sticky, humid. The diner parking lot was almost empty, my black and gray two-door hard-top convertible Dodge Charger one of about three cars.
A reply to my question came in through the obscure ear piece in my ear. “Because the powers that be don’t want to spook her. If she’s guilty then they want to catch her in the act.”
“This is fucking stupid,” I barked as I headed to my car. I clicked the key fob in my hand, opened my door, and slid inside. I started up my baby, smiled at the str
ong souped-up engine and exhaust, and revved the engine a few times before I peeled out of the parking lot heading east.
“You still think she’s innocent?” the voice asked.
“Yes, don’t you? I mean, come on. She seems afraid of her own shadow. She isn’t capable of espionage.”
“Yeah, you said the same thing about Fi’dora and what happened?”
“Yeah well, this is different. I didn’t know Fi’dora as well as I know Alexis. She isn’t capable of doing what you all think she’s done.”
“Well, that’s irrelevant either way. Her name is out there and you know they will kill her the first chance they get. Hey, where you going?”
I smiled devilishly. “I’m going back to my hotel, Simon. Where else would I be going?”
“Oh yeah? Then why are you going the opposite way? Your hotel is south and you’re heading back towards the high school.”
“Am I?” I feigned surprise. “Well then, since I’m heading that way, I should check out the area. See if I see anyone I should, you know, interrogate about Alexis is still around at the gym.”
“You’re hopeless, do you know that? You’re going to go pick a fight, aren’t you? You know you’re no good to us in jail?”
“Who said anything about jail or picking a fight? I’m not going to go pick a fight.”
“Oh, okay. If that’s the case, why are you going over there?”
“I told you. I’m going to interview a few classmates on Alexis, that’s all. I haven’t seen her in a decade. Maybe her peers could shed some light on how she was in high school after I left. Maybe even head down memory lane with them. But that’s it. No one is going to get violent. Unless… well, unless they want to, in which case I’ll be more than happy to indulge.”
“I say again, you’re hopeless.”
I started to laugh and continued in the direction of the high school, hoping Clint and his boys were still around so I could… ask them some questions. This should be fun.
Chapter Three
Alexis
I woke up the next morning still thinking about Ethan. I couldn’t believe how much he’d changed. He was a skinny kid growing up, tall with wild strawberry blonde curly hair. He had soft green eyes against thick eyelashes that seemed to shine against his tan skin. I used to think he was so adorable, so cute. But now, twelve years later, the man was… goodness. He was drop dead handsome, sexy, fine as hell.
The wild curly hair was gone; more tamed now, cut low on the sides and a little long on the top. His eyes seemed brighter now, more aware, alert and experienced. And his body… holy crap. I couldn’t see much of it due to his mangy clothes being in the way, but when I hugged him, I could tell the man was blessed. Strong arms, broad shoulders, hard chest, no stomach. I mean, underneath his suit was a man chiseled and carved to perfection.
To say I had a healthy crush on Ethan would be an understatement. He had become a staple in our lives. He used to eat dinner with us all the time. He’d gone on family outings with us, even stayed over at our house sometimes when things got rough for him at his.
He and I didn’t talk much about what went on at his house. I figured that if he wanted to talk about it, he would. I wouldn’t push. He did tell me one day that the man living with his mom was his stepdad. He had no idea where his real father was or his name. He told me his mom never talked about him no matter how much he asked. His stepdad had been in his life since he was nine. The man was all he’d known.
I was thrilled to share my family with him. In fact, the moment my parents laid eyes on him, they welcomed him into our home with open arms. We didn’t have much by way of food or money, but they never turned Ethan away. It was as if they knew what was happening in his house and wanted to give him a safe haven whenever he needed it.
I didn’t see much of Ethan’s stepdad except for this one day when he came knocking on our door looking for his son. My father stepped outside to meet the man and they stood out there on the porch talking for a long time. Ethan and I spied on the two men. We couldn’t hear the conversation, but it looked like it was an intense discussion.
My father was a big black man that could intimidate King Kong just by looking at him. He was about six three and two-forty, solid. He had a look that I used to think could peel paint off a wall, and he’d been giving that look to Mr. Wolf. But Ethan’s stepdad wasn’t a slouch by any means. He was African American too and was just as tall as my dad, but he must’ve felt the same way as King Kong that night. Ethan’s stepdad didn’t make a fuss. He listened to what my father told him, gave him a nod, and walked away. That was it. No fireworks, no drama.
I had always wondered what they talked about. I even asked my dad, but he told me, “That’s none of your concern. It’s between me and him.”
After that day, I didn’t see Ethan’s stepdad again. His mom, on the other hand, well...she was another story. In my opinion, the woman was a bit on the scary side. She was a scrawny, hard looking woman with pale skin. She was on the tall side, unsure exactly how tall, just that she was taller than my mom’s 5’ 6.” Ethan got his strawberry blonde hair from his mom as well as his green eyes, except Ethan’s eyes always had warmth in them. His mom, not so much.
Every time I saw her, she gave me the creeps. She had evil in her sharp eyes. She also had the worse mannerisms. When I would go over to get Ethan for school or just to come outside, and Ethan’s mom was actually home, she would answer the door and just stare at me. She wouldn’t utter a sound, even if I asked her a question. She freaked me out.
After Ethan moved away, I had heard my dad tell my mom that Ethan’s mom was on drugs bad and he thought that was why Ethan’s stepdad left. I had thought that strange, considering the man wasn’t his real father. But maybe he wanted to save him from the likes of Ethan’s mom. Eventually though, his mom moved away too, and the house remained empty for years before a nice Asian couple moved in.
The day Ethan told me he was leaving was the worst day of my life. We had just finished with our homework at my house and he asked if I wanted to go for a walk. Dinner wasn’t for another few hours so I told him sure, but we couldn’t be out long. I had to help my mother with dinner.
We were walking around the block in our neighborhood, in silence, when Ethan finally spoke.
“My dad and mom are splitting up,” he said softly. He didn’t look at me as he spoke. He kept his head facing forward.
“Really? I’m so sorry, Ethan.”
“Thanks.”
“Is your dad or mom moving out?”
“My dad is moving. He’s moving to Detroit and he’s taking me with him.”
I stopped walking and looked wide eyed at him. “What! Ethan, you can’t go!”
Ethan finally looked at me. “I have to, Lex. My dad said my mom didn’t want us around. She said if he left, he had to take me with him.”
“No, Ethan! That’s not fair. You have to do something. Tell them you don’t want to go.” Hot tears started falling down my cheeks and I could feel my heart beginning to break.
“I’m sorry, Lexie. You know I don’t want to go. I have no choice.”
“Yes-s you do. You can stay with us,” I told him on a hiccup.
“I can’t, Lexie.” He stepped closer to me and started wiping my cheeks.
“Yes, you can. We have enough room.”
He absently started running his fingers through my ponytail, something he always did, and I sort of loved it. “You are my very best friend, Lexie.”
“You’re mine too,” I whispered, realizing I was about to lose my heart.
“Will you write to me?” I asked him.
“Of course I will.” He grazed my cheek with the pads of his thumb, my skin tingling from his caress.
“You promise?”
“Yeah, Lexie. I promise.” He paused then added, “Will you write me back?”
I sniffed. “Of course, I will. I promise.”
Ethan gave me a small smile, touched my cheek again, turned, and w
alked toward his house. I was about to make a mad dash to my house to cry my eyes out when I saw him stop right in the middle of the street. I watched, hoping he was going to come back and tell me he was staying. He didn’t do that. He did something even better.
He turned around, his green eyes ablaze, jogged up to me and planted a kiss on me I would never forget. It was the most wonderful feeling I had ever felt in my life. I didn’t want him to stop nor did I want to let go. The way he kissed me was so unbelievable; the way his lips felt against mine, how my body tingled, sending my senses in overdrive had me wanting more. Most of all, I would never forget how it felt to be in his arms, the feel of his hands on my face as he gave me my very first kiss.
When he parted from my lips, the softest of words fell from his lips before he turned and ran to his house, never turning back, leaving me standing on the sidewalk with a broken heart that would never be repaired.
“I love you, Lexie.”
The next day he was gone, and I never saw him again.
He did write like he promised. It was a few letters here and there, but there was one letter that changed the course of my life forever. The promises he made me, the words he wrote, had me planning out my future. I made preparations that would set us up for life. However, things didn’t go as planned. The unbelievable promises he gave me were just that. Unbelievable.
After that, I never heard from him again. I continued to write him, hoping he’d see my letters feel sorry for me and write me back. But that didn’t happen. To say I had been devastated was an understatement. I was crushed, broken, never to be put back together. But maybe, now that he’s here, I could find closure for that part of my life. I could let go of the hurt and maybe move on. Maybe, if or when he stopped by today, I’d have a chance to ask him.
I sighed on that thought and turned to glance at the clock next to my bed. I had heard noises in the front of the house and figured my mother’s nurse had arrived. I took in a few deep breaths before I pushed the sheet off my body and threw my legs over the side of the bed.
