Every Little Piece (5 page)

“That’s easy.” Brin drained her glass and grabbed another sub slice. “I’m running as far away from here as possible. Maybe I’ll go to the west coast. I’ll find a great job and work for a year or two while I figure out what I want to do with my life. Then I’ll work my way through college.”

Brin spoke with a fierceness grounded in heartbreak. She’d do exactly what she said. But I thought how far away, how many miles it was to the west coast. My heart squeezed. “Do you have to run so far away?”

She scoffed. “What? Am I supposed to move to the next town? If I’m going to do this, I’m going all out.”

Kama squealed. “Come to New York with me! That’s the place to start. We could be roomies.” She reached for both our hands. “Haley, you could come too.”

“She’d never go that far away from Sethie boy.”

“Oh, I don’t know about that.” I smiled weakly. But I did know I’d be attending a college within thirty minutes of his. “There’s not much in New York City for me either. Other than watching you hit the big stage.”

We fell silent. In a few short months, our lives would change forever. It had already hit me, but Brin and Kama were now briefly seeing the future.

“We’ll have to enjoy this summer. Together. Hang out as much as we can,” I said.

Kama splashed her hand against the water. “That’s right. We’ll make so many memories, that Haley will have to plaster her ceiling with all the photos and memorabilia.”

We heard a splat.

Something hit the wall of the house barely missing us. Another one hit the tub, splashing water up into my face. And a third splattered the post of the back porch.

Water balloons.

We screamed and ducked into the water. “We know you’re out there. Cowards!” I yelled.

“Dare to show yourselves!” Brin called out.

We grabbed our fluted glasses and filled them with water but realized how pitiful our ammunition was. “We have to get out of the tub,” I whispered.

“Then what?” Brin asked, her feet landing on the slippery tiles.

I grinned. “We run straight at them and grab some ammo.”

Once we were all out of the tub, we sprinted, screaming and waving our arms. They highly underestimated their opponents.

Balloons flew through the air. One hit my arm, and another splattered against my stomach. I pushed through, shoving my way past the boys, squealing. I dug into their arsenal. Armed with a handful of water balloons, I tossed some to Brin and Kama. Then we attacked.

They flipped around, and we pelted them with balloons. Then there was an all-out fight in the backyard for the ammo. It didn’t take long for the balloons to be gone. By the end we were all soaking wet and tiny colorful pieces of balloon decorated the yard. My stomach ached from laughing and my throat from screaming.

Kama clapped her hands. “You might as well join us.”

Seth grinned. “We thought you’d never ask.”

Kama elbowed me. “So, you never tell Seth about our private affairs, huh?”

My cheeks flushed with heat. “Not about any of the super important stuff. I might’ve let the hot tub part slip.” I plastered on a cheesy grin. “Sorry.”

“Forgiven.”

The guys changed and soon we were all in the hot tub, crammed together. Kama turned the jets on high and the top of the hot tub looked like a frothy milkshake. Bubbles popped. The conversation flowed like beer at the party that was starting pretty soon. The tense fear of the future had dissolved and we were all feeling the buzz of life.

Carter raised his arms and cleared his throat to get our attention. “We’ll be honest. We decided we’d have to keep a close eye on all of you in case you decided to get out of our little wager.”

Jamie waggled his finger. “Tonight at midnight, girls. A run down Main Street.”

Brin grimaced. “I’ve been thinking about that. It seems like a pretty stupid thing to do. Even after losing a bet.”

“How about this,” Seth said, “we’ll supply the hot chocolate afterwards, because you might be a little chilly.” He rubbed his arms and fake-shivered, then he burst out laughing, soon followed by Carter and Jamie.

Brin pressed her lips together and the doubts flickered across her face. I nodded to Kama, and we poked her leg under the water with our toes.

Finally, she succumbed. “Fine. But if anything goes wrong, like if we get arrested, I blame you!”

Seth nodded. “Agreed.”

I stood up, the water dripping off me. “Well, then, I hate to break this party up, but we have to pack for a sleepover and make sure to cover our butts with who is sleeping at whose house.”

We all climbed out, and Kama shut off the jets, the bubbles slowly disappearing. I wrapped in a warm towel and headed over to Seth. I bumped his hip with mine. “Hey,” I said.

He grabbed my fingers and held them loosely in his. “You ready for tonight?”

“Sure.” I noticed that even though he was looking at me, he didn’t really see me. Not the way he was usually tuned in. “Are you?”

“What?” Then he coughed. “Um, yeah, ready.”

After years together, instinct told me something was wrong. I rubbed the light scruff on his cheeks and kissed him. I giggled. “You need to shave.”

My touch seemed to pull him out of whatever funk he was in and he grabbed hold of me. “Really? I need to shave? Are you sure?” He rubbed his cheek against mine.

I held back a giggling fit and squirmed away but he clamped down on my waist and tucked me into his arms.

“Haley!” the girls yelled.

“Seth!” the guys yelled.

Just to spite them, I reached up and pulled Seth toward me. We engaged in a long, slow kiss. The heat spread throughout my body and sizzled in my stomach. I clung to him, to this moment. My hands slid up and my towel dropped. This time, I lightly traced his cheek. “I like your scruff.”

He pulled away and for one intense moment his blue eyes pierced mine. No word was spoken, but he felt it too. He had to. I didn’t break our gaze, and he reached out and pulled his thumb across my lips. Then he leaned forward and kissed my cheek.

Moments like those made me fantasize about spending the night with Seth. Him and me. Naked. What it would feel like to be next to him, skin on skin, touching, kissing. But then that made me think about our future and commitment. Ugh. I wondered if Seth had talked about the fall and his plans with Carter. Did he fear the changes coming after tomorrow? Hopefully, I’d find a chance to talk to him tonight. Poke around in his head to see if he saw me in his future. I wasn’t necessarily thinking forever, but at least into next year.

He kissed my cheek and then led me around the corner of the house and into the small storage shed.

As soon as the door shut behind us, I pulled her to me. I’d been alone with her a million times, but tonight, an electric current ran through the air. Or maybe it was just through us as I nudged her toward a giant inner tube, my mouth hungry against hers.

She struggled a bit. “What about everyone else?”

“They’re big kids. They can deal.” I sucked on her bottom lip and then dropped to kiss the soft skin on her neck. Her grip on my arms tightened. I had this down to a science. I knew when to be gentle, when to be driven. I knew the sensitive spots on her neck that drove her crazy, and I knew when she just wanted to be held. We lowered ourselves onto the tube, my weight crushing her. I pulled back but she grabbed my arms and kept me in place. She kissed me and then rolled over so she was on top.

“Oh, baby, I love it when you take charge,” I murmured the words against her skin.

Shivers rippled across arms and through my body. Her damp hair fell down around me and her exposed breasts skimmed my chest. She played the tease, hovering just above me but not touching or kissing.

I groaned. Not that I didn’t ask for this.

“I love it when you’re at my mercy,” she said, lowering and skimming her lips across mine.

Her touch, her feel, everything about her was pure sweetness. I wanted to lose myself in her for a few minutes and forget my pathetic life.

“Hey!” Jamie was at the door, knocking.

Haley jumped away, but I dragged her close again. “Door’s locked,” I whispered, then called, “We’ll be right there!”

“Yeah, right. Don’t take too long!” Jamie said, stifling laughter.

This time, I stopped kissing her like a man about to be stuck on a desert island with nothing but a volleyball, and held her close. Her heart beat through her shirt and matched mine. Closeness settled between us, and I couldn’t imagine ever not being here, next to her.

“You know, Haley,” I said, playing with her hair. I tugged on several strands, teasing, and then dropped my hand to her back. My fingers trailed slowly up and down. There was so much I wanted to say, to tell her what was going on, but the words wouldn’t come. Not tonight.

“What?” she asked, pulling back a little as if she was scared of what I’d say.

I decided that if we didn’t get moving, she was going to see right through me and ask questions until I was forced to tell her the truth. I rolled off. “Let’s go before they drag our butts out of here.”

I probably should’ve told her everything, but spilling the ugly family drama didn’t seem like something to slip in between goodbye kisses. Would there ever be a right time for it? Maybe not. But the night before graduation was definitely not it.

“Hey, are we going to drive around town forever?” Carter asked and fiddled with the radio.

“Name a place ’cause I’m out of ideas.” I steered toward Main Street. My fingers drummed against the wheel as Carly’s words repeated in my head.

I let the guys fight it out. They tossed around some ideas and then settled on pizza before the party.

Jamie punched my shoulder. “Here it is, man.”

I pulled in and slammed on the brakes. We jerked forward.

“What’s your prob?” Jamie hit my shoulder again.

I gripped the wheel and stared ahead. “Nothing. Forget it. Let’s go eat.”

They followed me into the local pizzeria and their hushed whispers were about me. Carter was telling Jamie to stop bugging me and Jamie was complaining that he never knew what was going on. Well, Carter didn’t know what was going on either. He probably assumed I was having cold feet when it came to Haley now that we were graduating. Or maybe that I was rethinking college in the fall. Or that I was just plain horny because I’d never gotten laid. That could be a real possibility. I’d never know.

The smells of the spices brought a rush of nostalgia. I’d been here so many times. We’d stop after late-night soccer games in middle school. I’d run out for late dinners when my parents hadn’t made it home. And Haley and I’d sat in that corner booth every couple weeks for years. We’d order the Mediterranean pizza and two sodas. We’d hang for hours because we could, just talking, laughing. Our conversations didn’t always run deep, but that was what I loved about Haley. She didn’t always probe me for my feelings. She let me be me and us be us. Not that we didn’t have deeper conversations, because we did.

“I’ll grab a booth. You two can order.” I found one opposite where Haley and I usually sat. I tapped the table with my fingers, restless. I didn’t like sitting. I wanted to be active and not stay in one place. Going to the party early was a good idea.

While waiting for our pizza I barely joined in the conversation. My mind focused on anything and everything else, but Carly’s words kept sneaking in between thoughts. I banged my fist on the table to stop them.

The couples and families at the nearby tables quieted and stared, the dads probably hoping their daughters never dated someone like me.

Carter nudged Jamie to go get the pizza. He tried to complain but Carter gave him the look of death, so he went.

“Dude, you’ve got to chill out.”

“Chill out?” My voice rose. “How am I supposed to do that?”

“Go jerk off in the bathroom. I don’t know. Something. Go run a few miles.” His hair flopped to the side and he pushed it back with a jerky motion. “Or tell me what the hell is wrong so you can stop acting like a bitch.”

The muscles in my arm flexed and I glared at him. Carter noticed and dropped the confrontational attitude.

“Obviously something big went down tonight with your family because you haven’t been the same since we left your house. You don’t have to tell me and I’m not going to push you, but it might make you have a better night especially before we go to the party.”