Melting into You

by Trentham, Laura

  She jogged down the steps, the rich aroma of coffee drifting from the kitchen. Three pitchers of tea were lined up on the counter, and her coffeepot was full. Beverages were covered, but food was still an issue. The natives, especially the kids, would be getting restless. She pulled out a bag of Doritos, a half-empty box of Saltines, and a mostly full jar of peanut butter.

  A rap sounded on the kitchen door. Before Lilliana made it to the doorknob, Jessica Wilde backed in, holding a huge aluminum pan. Logan was right behind her with another pan.

  “What in the—” The sight of Alec with a smaller bowl tucked under his arm like a football and two gallons of tea stopped her short. He shrugged and held out the tea as if the two gallons explained everything.

  He hadn’t abandoned her; he’d gone for reinforcements. Ignoring everyone else in the kitchen, she walked over to him, wrapped her arms around his waist, lay her cheek against his chest, and squeezed.

  She tilted her face up to his, their lips inches apart. “I thought you’d left me.”

  “I told your aunt I’d be back.”

  With her hurt feelings mended, she chuffed a laugh. “You’re my loaves and fishes.”

  “Have you lost it?”

  “Actually, I think I might have found it.”

  He looked for a minute as if he might close the distance and kiss her. She lifted to her toes, but before anything happened, Logan called out to them. “Let’s get everything set out. The kids outside are putting out serious Lord of Flies vibes.”

  She let Alec go even though she didn’t want to. Jessica sidled over and hip-bumped her. “I assumed you two were just hooking up. What’s going on?”

  “He is officially my boyfriend.”

  “We couldn’t believe it when he came barreling into Adaline’s asking for a favor. He’s never asked for anything, so of course, we gathered up what we would.”

  “You saved me from utter humiliation.” Lilliana held up the box of Saltines before putting them back in her pantry. “I was trying to figure out how to make peanut butter crackers gourmet.”

  “Have you told him he punched your V-card a decade ago, yet?”

  “No and I want to keep him in the dark. Trust me, he would not find the irony as amusing as we do.”

  “Gotcha. Wow. Don’t worry, I’ll keep it in the vault.”

  Silence fell between them. Her aunt and Miss Jane arranged the food, while Logan and Alec mimed a football play in the corner.

  Jessica propped her hip on the counter. “The craziest thing happened. Logan made a joke, and Alec laughed. And, honestly, it wasn’t even one of Logan’s better attempts.”

  “You make it sound like he never laughs.” Even as she defended him, hadn’t she said the same thing about him not that long ago? The words sour and humorless came to mind, but now she recognized his ruse to keep people at arm’s length.

  “I assume the transformation has something to do with you. I told Logan—”

  “Do I hear my name being taken in vain?” Logan joined them, throwing an arm over Jessica’s shoulders.

  Alec stood next to Lilliana, so their arms brushed, but he didn’t touch her otherwise. It didn’t matter that he wasn’t claiming her as openly as Logan claimed Jessica. Alec might never be the kind of man who made public declarations, but he’d been there, silent and supportive.

  Lilliana punched Logan’s arm. “Thanks. Sometimes you aren’t a complete tool.” The trading of insults had turned from a childhood desire to annoy into a familiar game that made her smile.

  “Anytime, twerp.”

  “How much do I owe you?”

  “Not a damn thing. I’m going to go stir up some trouble with your relatives.” Logan winked and bussed her cheek. He pulled Jessica alongside him, but the look she cast over her shoulder indicated a follow-up conversation was in the offing.

  The buzz in the kitchen increased as people filed through, loading up paper plates with food. Alec had backed into the corner next to the back door, the look of the hunted on his face. If all the people overwhelmed her, no telling how Alec was feeling.

  She grabbed his hand and pulled him outside. The cool air soothed the stress headache that pulsed at her temples. The sound of kids’ giggles and yells came from the magnolias, so Lilliana continued into the woods.

  “I was feeling claustrophobic. How about you?” She peeked up at him as they walked side by side. She stopped by a group of pines, the ground riddled with cones. The breeze carried the tang of pinesap.

  “You have lots of family,” he said absently.

  Lord knows, dealing with church would scare some men away, but walking into a veritable family reunion? His backpedaling wasn’t a shock.

  She bit the inside of her mouth, considered his blank expression, and decided she was too old to pussyfoot around. She poked him in the chest. “I get that you’re used to being a loner, and I come with”—She gestured back toward the house, the squeals of children mixing with birdsong—“lots of extras. You can’t throw a football in Falcon and not hit a Hancock. They can be nosy and judgmental, but some of them can also be pretty dang awesome. So if you can’t handle this, you should cut bait now.”

  He blinked a few times before chuffing a sighing laugh. “Listen, I’m not good at this.”

  “Obviously.”

  He looked to the treetops. “I’m an only child. And my parents . . . well, you know. I won’t lie. Your family is a lot to handle, but— Hang on, you said earlier that you thought I’d left. Why?”

  “Because . . . well, you were acting—” She took a deep breath, the words coming in a rush. “You didn’t say anything and drove off. What was I supposed to think?”

  He rubbed his nape, looking up into the needles. “I don’t know. Not that I’d abandoned you.”

  She wrapped her hand around his wrist and leaned into him. “Okay, so we’re learning about each other. I won’t doubt you again, but you have to throw me some bones. And, in case you didn’t catch on, you coming back with Logan and Jessica meant a lot.”

  “They’re your friends. They’d do anything for you.”

  “You understand they weren’t just helping me. They did it for you too.”

  While he still looked troubled, a small smile turned his lips. She weaved their fingers. Rising on her toes, she brushed her lips against his, the prelude to something more meaningful.

  A bird-scattering whistle pierced through the woods. Her aunt’s wavery voice lilted from the back door, stripping away any attempt at intimacy. “Lilliana, quit messing around and get your hiney back in here. This is your shindig, not mine.”

  Feeling somewhere around ten years old, she pulled back. “That kind of killed the moment.”

  “I need to go anyway. I’ve got some stuff to do.”

  “Stuff?”

  “I thought I’d go buy some shoes for Hunter and drop them by his house as an excuse to check on him. I can’t shake this bad feeling.” He picked at the bark on the pine tree. “But, I’ll stick around if you need me to.”

  With her aunt and Miss Jane and Jessica here, she didn’t need him to stay. Want was something else entirely. “You go check on Hunter. Will you come by later?”

  He cleared his throat. “I don’t have any of my stuff. Tomorrow’s going to be a long day at work and then practice tomorrow—”

  “Ohmigod, it’s okay. A simple ‘No, I don’t feel like it tonight’ is fine.” They walked back toward the house. Although they’d settled some things, a sense of uncomfortable tension remained. She might as well make it worse. “I don’t want you take what I’m about to say the wrong way.”

  “What?” Dread weighed the single word like a thrown rock sinking in a pond.

  “If you wanted to leave some stuff here, you can. I’m not asking you to move in, so don’t run off all freaked out, but it only makes sense, right? The basics—toothbrush, undies, jeans, T-shirt. Not your Xbox or workout equipment or anything.”

  “Seems logical.” His voice sounded warmer
even though he looked slightly like a cornered rabbit.

  “If you feel like coming by tonight, I’ll leave the back door unlocked. But, I’m not waiting up.”

  “Fair enough.”

  She half-expected him to bolt—never to be seen again. Instead, he reached out and played with a piece of her hair that had fallen forward. As if her hair were alight with nerve endings, the pleasure of his simple touch suffused her. She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth to stop the ridiculous grin wanting to break free.

  He took her hand and pressed his lips to the back. She walked hand in hand with him like she was taking a Sunday walk with her beau. Except at the door, he wrapped an arm around her waist and kissed her. Not a ‘Sunday stroll’ kiss, but an ‘I want in your pants’ kiss. Her back bowed over his arm, and her hands pulled at the front of his shirt.

  She had to catch her balance and her breath when he let her go.

  17

  The self-control he maintained while he backed away from Lilliana should go down in the annals of history. She swayed on her feet, her lips soft and begging for more, her cheek reddened from his stubble, her hair sexy and mussed around her shoulders. Screw all her relatives, he wanted to toss her over his shoulder and throw her in his truck like King Kong.

  Instead, he forced his feet backward, until he finally turned the corner of the house. The longer he was around her, the bigger the temptation she became. She had swept through his world like a tornado, upending his tidy, spare, gray life.

  “Dude! Hold up a sec.”

  Alec pivoted, and Logan jogged toward him, chucking his head toward Alec’s truck. They fell into step.

  “I saw Hunter in town yesterday. What the hell happened to his face?” Logan asked.

  “His brother happened.” Normally, Alec imparted only the minimal amount of information needed yet he found himself continuing. “I don’t know what the hell to do. Things are spiraling out of control, and I’m not sure if I can stop it.”

  “If we don’t, Hunter’s prospects will be bleak. Let me see what Jeremy’s heard.” Logan pulled his phone from his back pocket.

  His simple words hit Alec with the impact of a cement truck. If we don’t.

  Logan stepped away, his voice low, the conversation quick. When he came back, his hands were shoved into his pockets, worry pulling his mouth into a rare frown. “Why don’t we check on him? You mind driving?”

  “Nope. That’s where I was headed anyway.”

  Logan pulled his phone out on the way and made another call. “Babe, Alec and I are running a quick football-related errand. You mind hanging with Lilliana? . . . If you need to head home, I left the keys in the console. . . . Love you too.”

  Logan disconnected, tapped the phone against his lips, and stared straight ahead, his good-natured smile absent.

  Alec had often felt envious of how Logan approached life—easygoing and simple. But when he and Jessica hooked up a year earlier, Alec suspected more lay under the good-old-boy charm. Yet, Logan buried any angst as deeply as Alec buried his plaguing loneliness.

  “What’d Jeremy know?” Alec asked.

  “Will has gotten in deep with a gang out of Birmingham. Tensions in Mill Town are running high, but Jeremy isn’t sure why. He’s going to put some feelers out.”

  “I can’t believe you trust him.”

  Logan eased against the passenger door, angling himself toward Alec. “Why do you say that?”

  “Didn’t he knife Dalt?”

  Logan made a throaty scoffing sound. “That was three years ago. I’m not saying he wasn’t an idiot and needed a good whupping, but he’s grown up. Turned into a good man, by my reckoning. People make mistakes. Most deserve a second chance.”

  Alec’s heartbeat vibrated his throat, and his mouth felt cottony. “What if they screw you over again?”

  “Then you damn straight don’t give them a third chance.” Logan’s half-smile lightened the moment.

  Alec pulled onto Hunter’s street. Ms. Galloway’s car was parked half over the curb. Alec led the way to the front door and knocked. It creaked open, the security chain stretched taut. Hunter’s mother poked her face through the crack, the white collar of her floral church dress highlighting her smooth ebony skin. The smell of fried chicken wafted out.

  “Afternoon, ma’am. Hunter home?”

  Before Ms. Galloway could answer, a man called out, “Is that the coach? Let him in, Kelly.”

  Her jaw tensed, but the door closed and the metal chain jangled. The door swung wide open. Bone-man sauntered up and threw an arm around her shoulders. His black Metallica concert T-shirt and grungy jeans would not be church-approved.

  “Wow, two coaches. Hunter’s not home. He in trouble or something?” Bone-man pointed back and forth at them. “Beer?”

  Before Alec could say no and get to the point, Logan stepped forward with an ingratiating smile. “A glass of tea would be great. You want a beer, Alec?”

  “No thanks. I’m good.”

  Bone-man shuffled off, presumably toward the kitchen, while Ms. Galloway stepped aside and gestured them in, reluctance in her every move. The air around Alec was dense with fry grease and humidity.

  As usual, Logan seemed unfazed. “Any idea where Hunter got off to? Or when he might be home?”

  “He’s with Will. ’Spect they’ll be back when they get hungry.” She sat in a faux leather recliner, the swift rock of the chair forward and back ratcheting the tension tighter.

  Under the light of a lamp, she looked younger than Alec had assumed from their previous interactions, and Alec could see her regal-like bone structure in both Hunter and Will. Yet a weariness ringed her eyes. Whether it was from worry about her sons, dealing with Bone-man, or life in general, Alec couldn’t guess.

  He took the couch perpendicular to her chair and nudged his chin toward the kitchen. “I thought you might’ve kicked him out.”

  “What’s it to you?” Her chin rose, but a familiar loneliness lurked behind her defiance.

  Bone-man elbowed the swinging kitchen door open, holding two tall glasses. Logan joined Alec on the edge of the couch. Bone-man handed them each a glass, rubbing his hands over the back of his pants. Condensation dripped down the sides of the glasses. The liquid inside was light brown and unsweetened. A sip was all Alec could manage.

  Bone-man sat on the arm of the recliner, his hand on Ms. Galloway’s knee. “Has Hunter done something wrong? Do I need to have a man-to-man talk with him?”

  Alec grit his teeth. Watching Bone-man play surrogate father made his stomach turn.

  Logan piped up. “Naw, nothing like that. Wanted to make sure he was ready for practice tomorrow. Big game on Friday night. If we win, we go to the playoffs. College recruiters will be in the stands, and Hunter needs to stay healthy.” Logan put down his glass and braced his hands on his thighs. While his tone remained calm and even jovial, a warning blared in his body language.

  “What are you getting at?” Bone-man pushed up, rolling his shoulders back.

  Alec stood and took a step closer, using his height to intimidate. “Let me be a bit clearer. If Hunter comes to practice with another black eye or any other injury, I’ll call the police.”

  He faced off with Bone-man for a long moment, the whir of an unbalanced ceiling fan the only noise. Logan grabbed Alec’s arm and tugged him toward the door.

  “Thanks for the tea, Ms. Galloway,” Logan said.

  Alec didn’t take his eyes off Bone-man until he’d sidestepped onto the front porch. The front door slammed shut and the lock jangled. Alec threw his truck into drive and squealed his wheels on the way out of Mill Town.

  Logan’s chuckle was somewhere between humor and exasperation. “Smooth, dude.”

  “You think this is funny? Bone-man is in as deep as Will. The man is trouble.”

  Logan’s laughter faded. “Neither you nor Dalt will ever will be appointed to the diplomatic services, that’s for damn sure. Don’t worry, we got the point across. Why don
’t you drive through town? Let’s see if we can spot them.”

  Couples still in church clothes strolled up and down Main Street. Most of the stores opened on Sunday afternoon. The practice field was deserted, but Will’s jacked-up car was parked in a gravel overflow lot close to the stadium.

  “You don’t think Will’s talked Hunter into painting graffiti or breaking into the pavilion, do you?” Alec slowed and rolled his window down. Movement from the corner of his eye had him pulling off onto the shoulder and killing the engine. Half the main field was in view.

  Will and Hunter threw a football back and forth, their laughter drifting through the crisp air. They played like children.

  Alec shook his head. “Two days ago Will punched Hunter, and now it’s like nothing happened.”

  Logan hummed. “You got a brother or sister or anyone you’re superclose with?”

  The only person who popped into his mind was Lilliana, but he sure as hell wasn’t going to say her name aloud. For the second time in so many days, he admitted, “I’m an only child.”

  “Darcy and I could fight like two polecats in a sack, but I can’t tell you the number of times I ended up in the principal’s office for fighting with some dipwad for teasing her. If she came to me tomorrow and asked me to dispose of a body, I’d do it. No questions asked.”

  “Are you saying getting Hunter away from Will is impossible?” Alec swung around to face Logan.

  “Nothing is impossible.” Logan shrugged. “But, it might be best to approach the problem from a different direction. Help get Will cleaned up, so he won’t be a bad influence on Hunter.”

  A sense of hopelessness had Alec sinking down in the truck seat. He hadn’t exactly planted any seeds of trust when it came to Will, and unlike Logan, Alec wasn’t sure the kid deserved a second chance.

  An old blue and white truck pulled beside them. Jessica Wilde folded both arms over the open driver’s side window. “Fancy finding you two staring at the football field. Everybody has cleared out of Lilliana’s. She and Miss Esmerelda are cleaning up. You ready to head home, babe?”