Reye's Gold (22 page)

“I asked Santa for a Transformer this year,” she said
playfully.

“What, no GI Joes? Remember when you wanted
them and you ended up with dolls instead? You were
s
uch a weird child,” he said, laughing. “How is Stephen?
Where is he, anyway?”

“He went home to Dallas to visit his family.”

“I see. You two still spending a lot of time together?”

“Yep. He comes by the house at the end of the day most days. I like him a lot, Sam. It’s kind of scary. He likes me, too.”

“Are you going to bring him by to meet your mom and dad?”

“Whoa, slow down, I don’t want to run him off just
yet. I’m okay in this place for now,” she said, placing
hands palm-to-palm slightly in front of the chest, arms
parallel to the floor in the classic Zen position.

“Do you want more?”

“Maybe . . . who am I kidding, sure I do. We’ve got
one more semester, and who knows what will happen, but I’m not pushing.”

“Okay.” He stood up. “Let’s go and see what Santa
left for us.”

Reye smiled. “Give me a second and I’ll be there.”

After Sam left Reye reached for her telephone to call
Stephen. It rang several times with no answer, rolling
over to his voice mail. She sent him a text instead.
Merry Christmas! Miss you, call when you can.

* * *

Stephen woke about mid-morning on Christmas
Day. He’d stayed out too late and drank too much with
Henri the night before. They’d gotten invited to a party h
eld by some of their undergraduate friends from SMU.
Beth had also been there; he remembered mistletoe and
kissing. He usually didn’t drink, hadn’t
drank
like that
since his early college days. Henri had driven them home
and directed him to his front door.

He got up, brushed his teeth, washed his face, and went
downstairs to find his parents. They were in the kitchen
drinking coffee and reading the paper, waiting for him.

“Merry Christmas,” said his mom and dad in unison.

“Merry Christmas,” he responded, walking over to
kiss his mom’s cheek.

“Late night,” his dad said, more of a statement than a
question. “Hope you had a good time.”

“I did, saw some of my friends I hadn’t seen in forever.”

“Did Beth attend?” his mom asked.

“Yep. She did.” He didn’t offer any further details, for
they were fuzzy in his mind anyway. He walked over to
the cabinet and retrieved a coffee cup. Coffee, black and
hot, poured from the carafe that sat on the counter and
into his cup. He needed it black and strong.

“So, the grandparents are coming over this after
noon?” he asked after he’d gotten two large swallows under his belt.

“I called them when I heard you stirring around.
They are on their way now,” his mom said. “I thought we
would open gifts this morning. They wanted to be here
when you opened your gifts.”

Sometimes he thought being the only child had its
downside; his family’s holiday plans always revolved
around him.

H
is mom passed his cell to him. “You left your phone
on the counter last night. Someone named Reye sent you
a text this morning.” She looked at him curiously.
“Who’s Reye?”

“She’s a friend, mom. Someone from school.”

“Reye is a she, I wasn’t sure. Have you known her
long?”

“I’ve spent some time helping her with school, it’s
nothing major.” Couldn’t get anything past dear old
Mom. He knew better than to have left his cell lying
around. His mom was a world-class snoop.
I must have
been really wasted
, he thought.

* * *

He met Henri for basketball the following morning.
“I must have gotten really hammered at that party. I can
only recall patches of what happened.”

“Really? Do you remember kissing under the
mistletoe?”

“Kind of.”

“Do you remember who you kissed?”

“Beth.”

“You win the grand prize. And here I was thinking
you were getting a little serious about Reye.”

Stephen groaned. “Did I do anything that I would
regret?”

“Kissing her and seeing Reye isn’t enough? But no,
not that I could tell. Beth was glued to you, however, and
it didn’t seem like you minded.”

“
Reye and I aren’t serious,” he replied, sounding
defensive even to his own ears. “It’s just for now, anyway.
We wouldn’t work long-term.”

“Why are you so sure it can’t?”

“Do you remember Justin Smith, that African-
American kid from middle school?”

“He was the running back for our JV football team,
right?”

Stephen nodded. “I liked him. He was cool. We were
great together on the field, me handing the ball off to him, him running for touchdowns. We made a good
team. Well, anyway. I invited him home to review some
plays, to prep for a game. We set up shop in my room
and then we went in search of food. I was always hungry
at that age and so was he, so we had gone through the
refrigerator really well. We had a feast spread out over the
kitchen table. I left him eating, and went up to my room
to get a copy of some homework he’d mentioned he
needed. I returned to find my mom with the phone in her
hand, in the process of dialing 911. She thought he had
broken into her house and was stealing her food. You
know and I know my mom can be a control freak, but I
never knew her to be mean until that day. She was rude to
him, and she didn’t bother to hide her dislike. She asked
me to let her know in the future if I had to bring home
any children that she hadn’t met or that were not kids of
her friends. I didn’t bring anyone else new over after that
incident. You know, he was never the same around me.”

Henri listened to Stephen’s story in silence. “Well, I
don’t know what to say, dude, wish I did.” He also knew
Stephen’s mother, but he hadn’t known her to be preju
diced. Controlling and demanding, yes. But who did
anyone really know? “You may have to talk to Beth; she
may have the wrong impression about the two of you
now,” he said in a complete non-sequitur.

“I know.”

Stephen would have to talk to Beth sometime, just
not now. He’d finally responded to Reye’s text, wishing
her Merry Christmas, but hadn’t spoken with her since
he’d left. He could call. It hadn’t even been a week yet and
here he sat, missing her. He needed to get a grip.

“Earth to Stephen,” said Henri.

“Sorry, dude, in another world. Is our game still on
for tonight?”

“Yep.” He and Henri were meeting up later on that
evening to play soccer with some of their old select team
buddies.

They played basketball the remainder of the
morning, after which Stephen went to workout with the
weights. He hit the treadmill a little later and started run
ning. He had one more semester and he decided that he
would continue to spend it with Reye, starting now, not
worrying about the outcome until he was forced to. He
would head back to Austin in the next day or so to spend
the remainder of the Christmas break with her. He’d rather be there anyway; why fight it? He would break it
off for good when school ended. He didn’t want the headache that would result from trying to incorporate
her long-term into his life, his friends, and his family. He
would keep his options open, but he would not get phys
i
cal with anyone else but Reye now. She was more than
enough for him. Honestly, she was all he wanted right now.

* * *

Stephen’s cell rang. He was driving, trying to follow
his soccer buddies from the fields where they’d just com
pleted a soccer game to a new place that apparently
offered cheap drinks and an overabundance of women. He wasn’t interested in the women part, but didn’t want
to stand in the way of his buddies and their quests. He
answered the phone, noting from the caller ID that it was
Beth.

“Hey, Beth,” he said.

“Hey, Stephen,” she said, her voice a mix of enthu
siasm and playfulness. “I enjoyed hanging out with you
last night, and I was checking to see if you were interested
and available tonight?”

“You know what, Beth, I need to apologize for giving
you an impression that I wanted something more with
you. I’m sorry, I don’t. I had a little too much to drink
last night. It not you, it’s me, and I’m just not interested
in starting anything right now.” Silence filled the air.

“Screw you, Stephen,” she said, hanging up.

“That went well,” he said into the darkness of his car,
relieved.

* * *

Stephen was tired, exhausted even, as he lay on his bed
later on that night. It had been a blast getting together
with his soccer buddies, the same crazy nuts from high
school. They all played hard tonight, capping it off with
beer following the game. It was late when he’d gotten
home, and his parents hadn’t waited up. He’d showered,
put on some boxers, and gone to bed, but he couldn’t
sleep. He was tired from today’s workout and game, but he
remained restless. He reached for his cell and called Reye.

“Stephen,” she said, her voice low and throaty from
sleep. He must have awakened her. The sound of her
voice reminded him of the many nights he’d spent in her
bed, her body, soft, warm, and open to him.

“Hey, did I wake you?” he asked. He lay on his back,
his head resting against the pillow, his other hand moving
along his chest.

“Not really . . . kind of . . . what time is it?”

“Eleven-thirty.”

“I went to bed early,” she said. “Long day at the office 
. . . where are you?”

“Still at my parents’. I met Henri and some old
buddies for a game of soccer today. We went for beer
afterward.”

“Beer, huh,” she said, a sexy laugh in her voice. “Yes, beer. Why’s that funny?”

“It’s not funny,” she said. “But you do know what
beer does to you, right?” Her voice dropped to a smooth,
sexy whisper.

“No, what does it do to me?” His voice dropped to
match hers.

“
I wish you were here,” she answered instead of
explaining. “If you were here, and you had finished your
beer, I would be laying next to you wearing nothing but
smooth, brown skin.”

“Are we having phone sex?” he asked her, a smile now
in his voice. He ran his hand down the front of his body,
noting the change brought on by the sound of her voice
and words.

“No, just thinking out loud. When are you coming
back?”

“Keep talking to me in that voice and I’ll drive back
tonight.”

She laughed. “Sam signed the team up for a soccer
tournament this weekend over at the university fields. Our first game is in the morning . . . So . . .” she said
slowly, “as much as I like to slide my hands all over your
body, wrap my legs around you as you pump hard into
me, I’d better let you go. I need my sleep.”

“Somehow I don’t think I should let you hang up, not
after that. You
will
pay when I get back,” he said, laughing.