Cherry Red Summer (Emely and Elyas Book 1) (34 page)

“Well,” she said. “Having a sex god who’s also helpful at taking down tents—that would be asking a lot.”

We fought with the stubborn equipment for a while longer, until I’d had enough.

“Hey, sex god!” I called over to the boys. Three heads abruptly turned my way.

I sighed. If ever there was an instance of men overestimating themselves
. . .

“The one in the middle, I mean,” I said, pointing at Sebastian. “Our fashion expert over here can’t get her poles apart. Would you be so kind?”

“Why didn’t you say so, Alex?” he answered.

Elyas and Andy seemed disappointed I hadn’t meant them, but they turned back to their conversation.

Would they all have turned around if I’d called out, “Hey, limpdick”? I made a mental note to try that next time. At the moment I still had to finish with the tent. Sebastian helped as much as he could, and soon enough, all the parts were neatly organized at my feet.

Great—so he
is
both a sex god
and
helpful.

We folded the rain fly together, then the tent, and then we stuffed those parts with the stakes and poles into the bag. Once everything was expertly packed, we joined the others.

Elyas acknowledged me with a smile without interrupting his conversation. I didn’t know where to look and ended up looking at the ground. I looked up when I heard Andy’s laugh, which somehow made the whole area vibrate. I had apparently missed a joke. As I cautiously peeked at Elyas, I could tell he had missed it, too. I looked at the others, but no one else noticed our cluelessness.

“Hey,” I said, butting in and keeping my eyes on Andy. “Do you know if there are any bears around here?”

“Why?” Andy frowned.

Elyas was the only one who understood what I was implying, and smiled.

“Well,” I said, scratching my head. “Elyas and I could have sworn we heard some loud growling last night. It must have been
some
kind of wild animal.” I shrugged, and Andy and Sophie stared at me, wide-eyed.

Sebastian rubbed the back of his neck and looked at Alex. “I didn’t hear anything. Did you?”

“No,” Alex said, shaking her head, “and I can’t imagine that there are any bears around here. Can you describe the sound more?”

“It was definitely loud,” I said. “It sounded like a bear.”

“Strange
. . . ,
” Sebastian said. He didn’t have a clue he was standing face-to-face with the bear right now. Drops of sweat appeared on Andy’s forehead, and Sophie looked frantically from face-to-face.

“It is strange. Very strange indeed,” Elyas said. “In fact, we thought we might even have heard two of them—a bear pair, so to speak.”

I pressed my lips together, hardly able to restrain my laughter. Andy and Sophie, in contrast, grew paler and paler.

“Wel
l . . .
w
e . . .
uh, we didn’t hear anything, either,” Andy finally said.

Elyas’s eyes met mine, and we smirked.
The two of us.
For an incredibly long time. Just as I was about to dissolve into the shimmering, turquoise-green ocean of his eyes, I looked away. Only to look into the skeptical eyes of Alex. She scrutinized me, then Elyas, then me again.
Dammit!
Where did she come from? Did she have Stasi espionage training or something?

I cleared my throat, straightened my clothes, and turned my shoulder to her. But I could still feel her stare on my back.

Andy rushed to change the topic back to the drive home. He and Elyas debated the route a while longer. We brought all our stuff to the car, and everything got loaded as fast as it had been unloaded the day before. Everyone said they were sure they hadn’t forgotten anything, but the trunk was only half full. Evidently, the provisions had taken up a large portion of the room.

I helped Andy and Sophie stuff the last few things into the Jeep. I stood at the passenger door, looking back one last time over the meadow. I wanted to remember the trip for a long time, and I hoped this wasn’t the last time I would see this meadow.

Jan and Yvonne intruded on my view as they slid into the backseat. Alex and Sebastian put on their helmets, preparing to get on his bike. Behind them, Domenic knelt in front of his bike, fumbling around with something, getting it ready to go.

The last bike, the enduro, stood a couple of meters away, with Jessica and Elyas next to it. They were talking, and my stomach tightened slightly.

Why hadn’t he asked me to ride with him? I’d have said n
o . . .
but he hadn’t even asked.

They raised their heads and looked my way, and I quickly looked back to the car.

After last night I didn’t want to ride with Domenic anymore, so my only option was the Jeep. Not the worst choice, as I found.

“Oh, Emely, before I forget,” Sophie said. “What are you doing for Halloween?”

“Why do you ask?”

“We’re having a big party at my place, and I’d love it if you could come.”

Over the course of our little camping excursion, I had noticed her acting more warmly toward me, but the invitation still came as a surprise.

“I’m not sure,” I said. “I might have to work that night.”

The corners of her mouth pulled down. “That would be too bad. Is there any way you can switch with someone?”

“I’ll try that, but not many people I work with would jump at the chance to pick up a shift on Halloween.”

“You’ll find a way,” Andy said. “If your responses to Elyas are any indication, I’m confident in your creativity.” He grinned.

“That’s so true. You should win an Oscar or something,” Sophie added. “It’s high time someone took that boy’s big head down a notch.”

“Or up one,” Andy added, to which his girlfriend nodded pensively.

What did that mean?

“I’d prefer twisting his big head off,” I mumbled drily.

“See, that’s exactly the sense of humor I was talking about,” Andy said, laughing as he shoved the final tent into the trunk. Sophie took a step closer to me.

“I totally understand,” she said. “But try not to be too hard on Elyas. He can be a little dim sometimes. He’s a guy. What do we expect?” She looked briefly at her own, then back at me. “I’ve known Elyas for a couple of years,” she continued. “It takes a long time before he’ll let anyone see through his facade. But when he does, you’ll find a really nice guy behind all the goofiness.”

I raised my eyebrows. “Are we talking about the same Elyas?” I asked.

“Yeah, I think so,” she said, laughing. “You’ll see, one day.” Sophie looked over at Jessica, who was looking at me.

“Emely?” Jessica asked.

That was the first time she had called me by name. “Yes?”

“For the love of God, Andy, what are you doing that for?” Sophie said as she stepped over to her future husband.

Jessica came up to me. “Would you mind if
I
rode in the Jeep?”

Her question irritated me before I realized I was taking the last free seat in the Jeep.

“Um
. . . ,
” I mumbled.

“It’s just that
. . .
” She looked down at her hands. “I’m sure you heard all about the Domenic thin
g . . .
He’s the last person I want to sit behind on a motorcycle.”

I nodded.

“And Elya
s . . .
Well, you know,” she said. “He drives like a bat out of hel
l . . .
I felt carsick for hours after the drive out here. So I was hoping to ride home in the Jeep. I was wondering if maybe you wouldn’t mind switching with me. Would that be OK?” I looked over at Elyas, who stood in front of his bike with his back to us.

Well played, Mr. Schwarz! Very well played.

The whole thing stank of a setup that anyone could smell ten miles away, upwind. I was about to tell Jessica that Elyas needed to come up with a better story than that, when Andy blurted, “Sure, Jess. Get in. Elyas mentioned Emely likes driving fast.”

I stared at him, mouth agape.

“Thanks, Emely. That’s really nice of you. I owe you!” Jessica said and walked to the car. I closed my mouth, and my face turned somber. Andy leaned close to me.

“Do it for him,” he said. “He tries so hard. Would it be so bad if you met him halfway?”

My lips moved, but no sound came out. I crossed my arms indignantly.

But I didn’t chew anyone out as the Jeep and the first two bikes slowly got underway. Elyas still had his back to me and hadn’t turned around.

Just you wait,
I thought, finally walking over to him.

My shoes were damp in the wet grass and made an unpleasant squeak with each step, but Elyas continued looking the other way. He didn’t even turn when I was right behind him.

I clasped my hands tightly in front of me. “Very nicely engineered, Mr. Schwarz.”

“Hmm?” he said, turning to me.

“Stop pretending! I’m not buying your innocent act for one second.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

I squinted at him.

One corner of his mouth curled up into a half grin. “Emely, sweetie,” he said, “is there some way I can help you?”

“Don’t push things too far, my friend,” I hissed, tapping my foot.

“Hey, Emely,” he said. “If you’d like to ask whether I’ll take you on my bike, you don’t have to be shy. I’d obviously be happy to take you with me.”

It was about sixty miles by foot. If I was lucky, I might be home before nightfall.

“Elyas Schwarz, I hate you!”

He grabbed his heart as though my words had hurt him severely.

Why weren’t eyeball lasers capable of slicing your opponent in half, like in the movies?

Elyas looked at me intently until his grin slowly disappeared. He inhaled audibly and pulled his hair. “Would it really be so bad to ride with me?”

The only bad thing about it is that I would lose my last bit of common sense being so—

I shrugged and looked at the ground.

“All right, come on,” he said gently. “The longer you draw this out, the worse it’ll get.” He held the helmet out to me.

I looked from the helmet to his face and back. “OK,” I mumbled, carefully taking hold of the helmet. “At least you don’t stin
k . . .
unlike Domenic.”

“Domenic stinks?” he asked, suppressing a laugh.

I made a face and nodded.

“What of, if I might ask?” He grabbed hold of the handlebars and swung up onto the seat.

“Bark mulch.”

“Bark mulch?” he repeated. “Fresh mulch like cut wood? Or old mulch like ammonia?”

“Ammonia.”

“Sour mulch is not a good smell at all,” he said with a nod. “Well, baby. Tangy and sweet is a step up, right?” He pulled on his helmet, and I did the same before I had a chance to blush. He offered me his hand. I took a deep breath, braced myself on his forearm, and heaved myself up behind him. And, dammit, there wasn’t much space! I scooted my butt back, squeezing into the last couple of inches. I had no idea how I was going to hold out the whole ride in this uncomfortable position. I only knew it was going to take a lot of thigh muscle to do it.

Then I realized there were no handles. Again!

Wasn’t there a political lobby advocating for people who don’t want to hold onto the motorcycle driver when riding on the back? At that moment, I decided to found such an organization.

Elyas started the engine, and its loudness made me flinch. I frantically looked for something to hold on to. I had to hold on to something; otherwise, I would fall off like a sack of potatoes.

Elyas paused, waiting for me to figure out what I was doing. He probably thought I was being silly—or worse, he had known for ages I was head over heels in love with him. What else could he think after I acted this way?

I dug with my fingertips into the sides of the seat. God, how old was I? Fourteen? That’s how I felt, at least.

“Ready?” Elyas asked, and I nodded.

I put my feet on the footrests and tried my best to avoid touching Elyas. The bike moved forward. I almost fell off, and threw my arms around his middle in a panic. He abruptly turned off the engine and stopped, leaving me to slide into his back.

“Whoops!” Elyas said, as my heart pounded in my throat.

“Sorry. I eased up on the clutch too quickly there.”

I struggled to breathe, not quite believing the engine stall was as accidental as Elyas said.

But I didn’t voice my suspicions. He started the engine again, leaving me no time to scoot back, and drove off without warning. I thought it was smarter to leave my hands around Elyas’s middle.

Even on the trip out with Domenic, I thought riding a motorcycle was awesome.

But that was the understatement of the century, now that I was on a bike with Elyas. This was pure insanity!

Elyas took a different, much curvier route home than the day before. The curves were just about the only thing I had time to notice about the scenery. I was far too preoccupied with the feeling of his back on my stomach and his legs between my inner thighs. The faster he drove, the tighter I gripped his middle. Sometimes I got the impression it was the only reason he accelerated at all.

I cuddled up to him knowing I didn’t need to justify my grasp. Exactly like this morning, before we got up. I admitted to myself that I wished the trip back would take five times longer than the trip out. I closed my eyes, breathed in my favorite scent, and felt like I was flying with Elyas.

Whenever I blinked, I saw his eyes in the rearview mirror. And whenever our eyes met, he smiled at me—I could tell from the shape of his eyes through his helmet visor. When I stole another look, I felt his fingers stroking my hands. Just for a few seconds. Then he put his hand back on the handlebar, leaving only tingling on the spot he had touched.

After half an hour, Elyas pulled onto a road between some fields. He stopped the bike and turned the engine off.

“Is something wrong?” I asked.

“No, everything’s great.” He got off with a smile, taking his warmth with him and leaving me alone on the bike. He held onto the handlebars, though, to keep me from tipping over.

“Why have we stopped?”

He shrugged. “I thought you might like to drive once.”