Lying Hearts

by Kelli Callahan

  That was all I knew.

  “Stay back,” a voice ordered, and when I lifted my eyes to the door, I saw my family standing there. My mom was crying as she watched me writhe in pain. I was only trying to get out of bed, but I couldn’t. My entire body was sore. A doctor wearing a white coat over his green scrubs hurried to my side. “My name is Doctor Titan. You’re at the hospital. You’ve already woken up once. We’ve done this already.” He smirked.

  “Have we?” I asked through clenched teeth as another wave of pain hit. “That’s news to me. “Ethan,” I grouched out, lifting my lip in a threatening curl. “Where’s my brother?”

  “You need to calm down, Mr. Moore. Your body is in a stage of—”

  I gripped him by the scrubs and yanked him to me until I could smell the sweat on his skin. My arm with the bandage was on fire, and the pain had me biting back a scream, but the need to make sure my brother was okay was more important than pain. “If you don’t tell me about Ethan, it’s going to be your body in a hospital bed.”

  “Easton Patrick Moore! I raised you better than that!” My mom’s voice had me letting go of the white coat and plopping back onto the bed when she rushed toward me and took my hand, careful not to grip too hard. “Ethan is alive, thanks to you. You scared us, baby. You scared us so much.” My mom started to weep, placing her forehead on my hand.

  “I’m sorry,” I told my mom and then looked at the doctor, telling him with my eyes that the apology was for him as well. “He’s okay?”

  “He’s in a medically induced coma. I’m afraid his injuries were more severe, but he will be okay,” The doctor informed me.

  I blinked back the emotion stinging my eyes. No, he couldn’t be in a coma. I blocked him from the brunt of the debris. What happened? Only the fire knew.

  I remembered the resting face of the old lady that always called us to get her cat down since that was the reason why Ethan ran in the house, to begin with, to save her. “Ms. Williams? The lady that lived at the house? Is she okay?”

  “I’m sorry. She was declared dead at the scene. She was long gone before your brother got to her. Smoke killed her already damaged lungs. She just fell asleep and never woke up. She wasn’t in pain.” The doctor tried to make it sound reassuring, but it only left me sad and angry.

  She didn’t deserve that. She was a kind woman with a heart of gold. I bet that damn cat was dead too. Poor fucking cat got burned alive. I hated when animals died. It was a weak spot that I had.

  “Glad to see you alive, son,” my dad said, resting his aged hand on my mom’s shoulder as she cried still.

  My dad’s voice yanked me out of my sad thoughts, and I held onto mom’s hand to try to get her calmed down. “Mom, I’m okay. I’ll be okay and so will Ethan.”

  “I know,” she sniffled. “I know, baby, but you’re my boys. My indestructible boys. This was a parent’s worst nightmare.”

  “I love you, and I’m sorry,” I told her again, and her eyes lit up like fireworks painting the Camden night sky.

  “I love you too,” she said right as Evan, Zeke, and Ezra made their way through the door. All three of them look relieved.

  “You gave us a hell of a scare,” Ezra said, leaning over me to give me a hug. It was tight, but it didn’t hurt. “Don’t do that again.”

  I snorted. “I’ll try not to.”

  “You crazy bastard,” Zeke said. “You just had to go in after him.”

  “I couldn’t leave one of us behind,” I uttered, staring into each of their eyes when another wave of pain hit me. I gritted my teeth and breathed through it. I felt the flames licking my arm as if the hot, fleshing scorching villain was still there. “Doc, give me something, please. My arm is on fire.”

  Evan chuckled. “Sorry, it was a good pun. Not a funny moment, sorry,” he gruffed. Evan might be reserved and serious, but the man laughed at the most awkward, inappropriate times. It was one of the many reasons why I enjoyed him so much. Especially when we went out to Rocky’s and all the town sluts tried to hit on him.

  He always laughed in their faces. It was brutal.

  “Sorry, you’re tapped out for another hour,” the doctor said.

  “What good are you?” I mumbled underneath my breath, wishing I had some sort of pain relief.

  I closed my eyes as everyone got to talking around me, and then a warmth entered the room. It wasn’t hot, but soothing, and my body sunk into the bed as if the mattress were a cloud, which it wasn’t. It was a brick, but at the moment, it was the best thing I had ever felt. Everyone stopped talking, and when I opened my eyes to see what was wrong, everything had been right.

  Luna Nightingale was standing in the doorway, using her long-sleeve shirt to wipe a tear that fell down her cheek. She looked skittish like she was about to bolt at any moment. I couldn’t believe she was there. Out of all the people to expect, it wasn’t her.

  I figured my death bed was where she wanted me.

  “Good lord, you’re as slow as Christmas morning. Get going,” Oliver’s voice came from behind her, and then Luna fell forward from being pushed. Oliver waved at me. “I’m glad you aren’t chicken on a stick,” he said.

  Everyone laughed, but mom just gasped, putting her hand to her chest, a feeble attempt to rid off Oliver’s audacity.

  “Thanks, Oliver,” I said through a slow, exhausted laugh that was more of a sigh.

  “Well, I’m going to go check on Ethan, baby.” My mom stood and gave me a peck on the cheek.

  “Me too,” dad said, following her out.

  “Us three too, but we need to give Easton smooches too,” Ezra made kissy noises as he laid a gross, wet kiss on my cheek.

  I rubbed my face on my hospital gown. “Fucking nasty! When I’m well, I’m going to kick your ass.”

  “Love you too.” He waved as he left.

  Evan leaned down, and I leaned back, afraid he was going to kiss my cheek too. That would be very unlike him, but I guess I’d take it. “You scared the hell out of my baby brother. I love you. Don’t do that again.” He laid his forehead on mine for a second before walking away, vanishing out the door. Oliver tried to come in, but London tugged him back outside. It looked like something out of a cartoon with how his eyes rounded before he got jerked away. And then it was just me and Luna.

  “You really know how to clear a room,” I said. I was afraid if I blinked, she’d disappear like she was a phantom or a ghost. Something my mind made up to ease the pain I felt.

  “It’s a habit I’ve developed well over the years.” Her voice bounced off the walls and found their way into my soul. She was here. Luna was real. I could tell she was kidding, but the way she tugged on her sleeves still and bit her bottom lip told me she was anything but at ease. She took the chair right next to the bed, and now that she was closer, I noticed her eyes were rimmed red, and her cheeks were splotchy.

  She had been crying.

  For me?

  For Ethan?

  Both of us?

  I was too tired to ask because I was afraid of the answer. She brought her knees to her chest, wrapped her arms around her legs, and stared at me with emerald gems so full of worry and concern that I fell in love with her more.

  “What are you doing here, Luna?” It wasn’t the question I meant to ask, but it was the one that came out. I was happy she was here, thrilled even. It had been my goal to get her to actually sit and talk to me for years now. But my curiosity sounded angry and bitter. “I’m sorry, I’m really tired and wondering if you’re really here.”

  Luna unwrapped her arms from around her legs and scooted the chair closer to the bed until she was near me. She took a deep breath, her chest rose and fell, pushing her tits against her shirt that my eyes couldn’t look away from.

  Until her shaking hand fell on top of mine.

  When our skin touched, she released the air in her lungs, and my heart rate monitor gave away what I felt when she touched me because it started to beep faster and faster until I had no choice
but to be embarrassed. I wouldn’t apologize for how she affected me, how she had always affected me.

  Her mouth parted, her plump lips red and swollen as if she had been kissed, but it was just from the salt of her tears agitating them. I wanted nothing more than to feel those lips, the flesh against mine, her tongue in my mouth.

  Beep, beep, beep, beep! Beep, mother fucker!

  Damn, heart rate monitor ruined everything.

  I took a deep breath, in through my nose and out through my mouth. The last thing I wanted to do was to get an erection at a moment like this.

  “I’m here because I care about you, Easton. I never stopped caring. You and your brother mean the world to me—”

  “Me and my brother,” I said, the slash of the words torn my chest open, and the emotional wound almost hurt more than the burn on my arm.

  She clutched my hand, rubbing her thumb over of my skin, and her silver ring brought a cool touch with every swipe. “When I heard what happen, I came running. It was like, my entire world fell apart Easton. Again. I thought living a life without you was easier, but then life threatened to really take you away, and it was the worst feeling in the world.”

  I didn’t want to hope. Not yet. “And my brother? I have a feeling you are close with them?”

  She looked guilty but eventually nodded. “We have always been friends. They came out to Boston to see me sometimes. I told them to promise me they wouldn’t tell you anything about me. I wasn’t ready to forgive you. I wasn’t ready to face you.”

  “And now?” I asked, my voice hoarse. The next words that left her mouth determined my fate.

  “I’m not ready to trust you, Easton. You really hurt me. I’m trepidatious, but I’m willing to try to trust you again, as the man you are today, not the boy you used to be. The world keeps bringing me back to you…I…” She lifted a shoulder, not knowing how to explain it. “It’s maddening, but sometimes we have to face our pasts to get to our future, right?”

  “I’ll never hurt you again, Luna.”

  “Don’t,” she shushed me, placing a finger over my mouth. “Let’s not talk about that right now. I just want you to get better. Everything else can wait.”

  “Are you kidding? I’ve waited long enough.” I wanted nothing more than to talk to her for hours and get to know her all over again, but pain was making me ornery and tired. My patience was thin. “Kiss me,” I said.

  She did that cute smile that I loved, the one where she bit her lip to stop herself from showing how happy she was. Luna shook her head. “I’m not kissing you for the first time in a hospital bed, Easton.”

  “The first time isn’t going to be the last time. You better remember that, Luna. Promise me you won’t back out on me,” I asked, needing to hear her say that she would really give me a second chance. My eyes started to droop, and sleep started to grab me and pull me under.

  “I promise,” she whispered.

  “Really?”

  “Forever and ever, Easton Moore.”

  Forever and ever, Luna Nightingale.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Luna

  It had been two weeks since the fire.

  Two weeks of visiting Easton and Ethan. Ethan was still in a medically induced coma, and Easton was healing at a quick rate. I wasn’t surprised. Easton always did things quickly.

  I felt better too.

  It was like a part of me healed the day of the fire. I hated that it had to be something life-threatening to shake me out of my bitter stupor, but I was lucky that Easton got a second chance at life, and maybe we could have a second chance too.

  I was still scared and apprehensive about us. He wasn’t. He charged full speed ahead, making plans for us way in the future, and it scared me because I wanted to take things slow.

  Sloth slow.

  And Easton was fast, like a cheetah, ready to run as quickly as he could.

  I couldn’t keep up.

  Today, I was picking Easton up from the hospital. How I even got roped into this, I didn’t know. One moment, the doctor was asking who was getting him, and his mom went to say she was, but I butted in, shouting that I would do it. I held my hand over my mouth like I had been caught speaking out of turn or something. His mom just winked at me and then left the room to visit Ethan.

  I was nervous.

  “Girl, you are sweating up a storm. It’s gross. Calm down,” Oliver said as he swept the floor of the boutique. We just got rid of a few glass cases and now the floor was clear.

  “I can’t help it,” I swallowed. My throat was so dry. This wasn’t a good idea. “Maybe I should call his mom after all? We have been in a bubble, Oliver. Easton and I, when we are out in public, it will be different. I don’t know—”

  “You have to stop being scared. Not just of him, but of any potential men you want to date. You need to move on and if that’s with Easton, great, if not, sucks for you because that man is fine,” Oliver sang into the end of the broomstick as if it were a microphone, and I laughed. He leaned against the broom and let his shoulder fall as he sighed. Oliver leaned the red broomstick against the wall and sauntered over to me, swaying his tiny hips. He grabbed my hands and then tucked a piece of my hair behind my ear. “You’ll be okay. It’s time, honey. Easton was meant for you. He was an asshole, but guess what? He isn’t now. At least, not to everyone, to his brothers for sure, but he has been nothing but kind when London and I always gave him the cold shoulder. It’s okay to try to be happy with him. What is the worst that could happen? You break up? It’s not like you’re in school now. People can’t hurt you.”

  Oliver was right.

  There was no reason for me to be scared anymore. Now, it was just about taking a chance. Easton was always special. I always thought he would be my first kiss, my first love, my first everything. Time had other plans. Maybe we needed to grow into other people, better people, different people to really love each other the way we wanted.

  I heard you only accept the love you think you deserve.

  And I deserved the love Easton was ready to give me.

  For a long time, I believed I didn’t deserve to be loved, so I immersed myself in solitary confinement. I thought men were better off without me or that I was better off without them, but really, I only punished myself for what happened all those years ago.

  I believed, I waited because in my heart I knew Easton was the love of my life.

  “How do I look?” I asked, giving Oliver a quick twirl. I wasn’t wearing anything too flattering since I worked all morning, but the jeans were tight and skinny, hugging my hips just right. The red shirt I wore was low cut and showed some cleavage. I tried to brighten up my face with makeup, but I wasn’t one of those girls that knew how to put on makeup, so my idea of dressing up was mascara, blush, and lipstick.

  Plus, those three items were easy to carry around in my purse.

  “Like a runaway diva, darling.” Oliver kissed either side of my face and then slapped my ass. “Now, go get him tiger. I better get juicy details.”

  My face flamed from what he insinuated, and I hurried out the door as Oliver’s devilish laugh followed me. The door shut, and the cold wind made me squeal. Apparently, a rare snowstorm was coming. The weather channel had said that weeks ago, but it was like the fire halted it. I believed it this time though. The weather was quickly changing to winter.

  We had skipped autumn completely.

  And I had left my damn jacket in the car.

  “Brrrr,” I shivered and rubbed my hands up and down my arms. I clicked the button to open the locks to my car when someone grabbed my arm. I screamed, lifting my elbow back to jam the person in the gut.

  “Woah, I’m sorry to startle you. Sorry.” The stranger let go of my arm, and I turned around, leaned against my car, and struggled for breath.

  I made sure to keep my key between my fingers. I was ready to shove it in the guy’s neck if he did anything.

  The man was tall, older, in his forties with dark hair that fell a
round his shoulders and cold green eyes that made me think of nightmares. He gave me the feeling that something bad was about to happen. He had a burn on the side of his face, and when he smiled, that side didn’t move much. The skin stretched and tugged. It looked painful. “I was hoping you could point me in the right direction,” he said. He looked scarier than he sounded. “I’m visiting, and this town is so quaint. I just want to explore while I can.”

  Okay, so he was an out-of-towner, that explained a lot.

  I stared at him, the quiet enveloping us. The leaves scraped the ground when the next gust of wind twirled their edges against the porous cement of the sidewalk. My hair waltzed with the next gust around my shoulders, and the man just watched me, enthralled and almost… satisfied.

  “How can I help?” I asked.

  “I need to get to Kathy’s diner? I hear she’s got the best cherry pie on the East Coast,” he grinned. He wore old clothes, something out of a thrift shop, which was fine; I had no judgement. I loved thrifting.

  “It’s actually right here on the corner. You’re almost there. You can’t miss it,” I said, pointing to the brick building I found myself in too much growing up. Kathy’s was the place to go around here, especially after a night at Rocky’s.

  “Thank you. I hope to see you around.” He pulled something silver out of his pocket, and it made me jump. He flicked it open, and a flame ignited. Then he placed a cigarette in his mouth. I swore, when he inched the lighter closer to his face to light the smoke, it wasn’t the fire I saw reflecting in his eyes, but hell.

  My instincts screamed at me to get away.

  “Hey, there a problem? I have a broom here, Mister. I’m not afraid to use it!” Oliver yelled from the door.

  “You have good friends,” he told me. “No worries. I was just leaving. I’ll be seeing you around.” His voice was a low growl, slithering like a snake around me, hissing in my ear a silent warning. I didn’t know what the warning was, but I had a feeling this wasn’t going to be the last time I saw the man.

  I watched as the man walked away, puffing a cloud of smoke in the air. He had a long black coat on, a panama hat that reminded of the creature from Jeepers Creepers movie.