Lonesome Beds and Bumpy Roads (Beds #3) (4 page)

Mom stares into his eyes, tears spilling down her cheeks. He swipes his finger under her lids and she smiles.

How in the hell is she buying this? It sounds like every CW drama out there.

“You should’ve told me,” she says. “We could’ve figured it out together.”

“I wouldn’t put your life in danger. Not then, not now, not ever. I finally paid my debt off and was set free. I was an idiot. A fool who thought he could support his family, but I lost them instead. When the doctor told me I had six months tops, I knew I had to make things right.”

“What about the experimental treatment? Maybe we can help you.”

My body stiffens against the wall. I want to believe him, I do. It would finally give me the answers I’ve been searching for most of my life, but it just all seems too convenient. And I do remember more than he thinks I do. He was great with me and I know he loved me, but he was also a liar. So many broken promises. More than any child should have to endure. Once a liar, always a liar.

Still a part of me holds out hope that he is telling the truth. I think of Miss Piggles and my life savings. I’m sure that would be plenty to get him started. If only I trusted him.

I may not trust him now, but I have time. I’ll give him a month to prove himself.

“Looks like it’s the year of long lost relatives,” Brett says, checking his face out in the bathroom mirror. He’s pushing at a pimple that’s been on his face for days. It’d go away if he stopped messing with it.

“Yeah, but you didn’t come waltzing in with a bullshit sickness.”

“Uh-huh.” Brett leans back, dropping his hands and examining his barely-there abs. He keeps flexing and sticking his tongue out to the side of his mouth like he’s concentrating real hard. He was asked by a few seniors to go to prom with them, and I think it’s going to his head. He hasn’t heard a word I’ve been saying.

I grab the hand towel and whip his scrawny ass.

“Jesus! What the hell?”

“Language!” Grams yells from down the hall.

“Dude, stop ogling yourself and help me out.”

“What do you want me to do?”

“Listen.”

“When’d you turn into such a girl?”

“Around the same time you did.” I toss the hand towel back on the counter and Brett pulls the hair gel out. I’ve been in my tux, ready to go for twenty minutes already.

“Okay… so you think Daddy Boggs is full of it, huh?” he says, squirting the blue gel into his palm.

“The whole thing stinks. Like Pop-pop’s broccoli farts.”

“Hey!” We hear from down the hall, then Grams’ voice follows.

“Well, he’s not wrong.”

Brett chuckles, pushing his hands through his brown hair. He keeps shaking his head to try to get that tousled looks chicks are going for.

Luckily for me, that comes naturally.

“Was he looking for money or something?”

“Lex said she asked him that… he said he wasn’t.” I kick at the doorframe, my tongue now sticking out slightly as I think about the conversation I had with Lex. After she heard him out, she snuck into my room and talked so much for a second I thought she was Kaylee. She paced the floor, going back and forth on how she felt, what she believed. She said her dad just wants to be part of their lives again before it’s too late. Sounds like every cliché in the book. Something about it just rubs against my gut, making my mouth taste like sour pickles. I want to tell her that, but she’s already so confused, so I keep my thoughts to myself.

“Well, let her deal with it then,” Brett says, giving his hair the nod of approval before sliding his arms into a white undershirt. He pushes his head through the neck hole, effectively ruining the hair he just meticulously styled.

“But something’s funny about it.”

“Then tell her it’s bugging you.”

“I can’t.” I shift out of the doorway so he can slip past to his room. “Man, all she’s wanted since we were seven was for her dad to come back. I can’t ruin it for her over my damn gut. What if he’s telling the truth and I’m just being paranoid?”

Brett shakes his head, digging under his bed for some black socks. He finds one, gives it a sniff, and then tosses it to the laundry basket. “I’m not giving you advice anymore. You just piss all over it.”

“But it’s been so enlightening.” I joke.

My phone buzzes in my pocket just as Brett finds a black sock that passes the smell test.

“I know, we’re late,” I say into the cell before Kaylee can lecture me. “You can blame Brett for that.”

“You are. So we’re coming to you.”

“Huh?”

“We’re on our… seriously, Lexie, stop pulling at it. Your boobs look sha-mazing… We’ll meet you at your place. Grams wanted pictures anyway, right?”

“What’s this about Lex’s boobs?”

“
Bye
! And be ready.”

The line clicks off and I look over my shoulder to make sure Brett’s at least got his pants on. He does, so I do my own check in the bathroom mirror to make sure there’s not a twin zit on
my
face.

The doorbell rings about three minutes later. I adjust my jacket, make sure my tie is straight, and make my way to the living room. Grams is already at the door, whipping it open to see the girls in their dresses.

Nate’s with them… but really no one’s looking at him.

“Oh, my girls!” Grams says, pulling Lex, Kaylee, and Brett’s date, whom we all just met, into a giant grandma hug. I can only see the side of my girlfriend as she suffocates in my grandma’s arms, but it’s enough to make me lose the ability to use my tongue.

Lex hasn’t dressed up too often. She lives in that hoodie she stole from my closet. I’ve seen her stuff her mouth with a burger, step in dog shit, laugh so hard she peed herself and she had me falling for her through all of that.

So to see the effort put into her appearance when she doesn’t need it at all… I really think she’s trying to kill me.

When Grams lets her go, my jaw falls open, and I clutch at my heart so it doesn’t beat right out of my chest. Lex wrinkles her nose at me, as if the deep green dress is something she wears all the time and I’m making a much bigger deal of it than I should.

“I got your flower thing,” Brett says, tapping my shoulder with Lex’s corsage. I fumble to get it open, and Lex laughs and helps me out.

“Pictures, pictures,” Grams says, and she shuffles us out the door so we can take them next to her front garden. Pop-pop leans against the porch laughing at us as we try to give Grams a good shot. Kaylee keeps adjusting her boobs and Nate hasn’t been able to move his eyes from her chest. Brett’s date is about three inches taller than him so she has to take off her heels. Lex’s heels sink
into
the grass, and she falls face-first into my lapel.

We finally get one Grams is satisfied with, and after another grandma hug and a whispered lecture about getting home before curfew, we head to our cars. We couldn’t afford a limo—well, Kaylee offered to pay for the whole thing, but Nate wouldn’t let her. Besides, I think the surprise party she has planned is going to take a chunk from her wallet. Brett helps his date into the back of the IROC while I hold the passenger door open for Lex.

“Hey,” she says, grabbing onto my jacket. “This… is a great look for you,” she says into my ear before bundling up her dress and sitting on the seat.

Damn it, I’m gonna have to adjust myself in front of my grandparents.

***

“They… are insane,” Lex says as Nate spins Kaylee across the dance floor. They’re swing dance lessons are paying off. Maybe I should’ve stayed in that class when she made me practice with her. That one time.

Thankfully Lex is fine with my side-to-side middle school dancing abilities.

Her arms tighten around my shoulders and she pushes up on her tiptoes. She took her heels off twenty-five minutes into the night.

“We’re totally doing it tonight, right?”

I snort, running my hand over the small of her back, trying hard not to dip it underneath the fabric because Ms. Kingleworth has been walking around forcing people to dance “two feet apart!”

“I didn’t get a hotel.”

“We’re
in
a hotel.” Her eyes glint with mischief. “Go get a room.”

“What about curf… wait, why am I arguing this?” I shake my head and slowly and regretfully let go of her warm body for a second. “Be right back.”

“Hurry!”

I laugh at her enthusiasm, running straight into a table. The cups of bright red punch shake, but thankfully none of them topple over. I maneuver through the rest of the white lace covered tables and out into the lobby.

And there’s a line of nothing but guys from my school, bouncing on the balls of their feet, smacking their credit cards on their palms.

There is no way in hell I’m getting a room.

My shoulders slump, and I turn back around to the dance hall. Lex is sitting at our table, playing with the sparkles on the top of her dress. Her brown hair is pulled into a straight and narrow ponytail that just barely skims her shoulders when she turns her head. She looks around quickly, eyes darting left and right before she dives her hand down into her dress and pulls out chocolate cake crumbs from dessert.

Damn, I love that girl.

Being careful not to run into any more tables, I weave my way back through, pluck up her hand, and pull her to her feet.

“Already, huh?” She laughs, following me into the lobby. I turn her away from the elevators and push on the exit door.

“I thought I’d help you clean out your dress,” I tease, taking her to one side of the building.

“Dang it,” she says, “I thought I was being totally inconspicuous about that.”

I whip her in front of me, use my body to press her back up to the building wall, and meet her lips in a kiss that would embarrass porn stars.

“Ew, Ryan…” she says, killing my ego. “You’re juicy tonight.”

“I’ll fix it.” I exaggerate a slurp, rumbling my lips, and she laughs and pushes on my chest. Once I’m sure I’m spit free—or at least not as wet—I dive back in for a small peck.

“Is that better?”

“Did you kiss me?” she teases. “I barely felt it.”

I tap another to her lips, pressing so hard and making an extra loud
popping
noise when I let go.

“Better?”

“You’re a buttface.”

“Ha, ha, you’re kissing a buttface.”

She rolls her eyes. “And you’re twelve years old.”

“Hey now, I’m at least fourteen.” I smirk at her, and she grabs at my jacket and pulls me in.

“Did you get a room?”

I shake my head, our noses rubbing together. “Sorry. Pretty sure they’re all taken.”

“Guess we’ll just have to improvise.”

“Because that always goes so well for us,” I joke, remembering all our other spontaneous attempts at making this happen. I think one of the reasons her mom isn’t that fond of me is because she may have seen my half-naked ass running across her yard when she came home early from work.

Lex lets out a long sigh, the warmth of her breath blowing over my neck. She traces a gold sparkly nail up and over my boutonniere. “I miss you. It’s been a long week.”

My head falls, landing helplessly against her shoulder.

“Okay. But let it be on the record that I am not the horniest one in this relationship.”

“Um… sure you aren’t.” She laughs, ducks under my arm, and starts walking back to the front of the building.

And I swear she wiggles her ass with extra oomph on purpose.

I already told Mom I’d be staying at Kaylee’s so there’s no way I’m going home. A night with my boyfriend is what I had planned and a night with my boyfriend is what I’m going to get. I look down at my ‘I Reached My Gold’ nails and I smile because I know I got this. I’m totally going for the win.

I’m not even at the door before Ryan’s hand is on my butt. My little sway totally worked how I hoped it would. He leans down and presses a kiss to my neck as we make our way back to the dance floor. Before we do anything I want to have fun with my favorite people.

Kaylee and Nate are in the middle of a crowd busting so many awesome moves, my eyes can’t keep up. Brett tries to mimic them with his date, but drops the poor girl. Luckily she lands on her bottom where she has a little cushion. I take Ryan’s hand and drag him out to the center to join our friends. “Show me what you got.”

“Be ready to be wowed,” he says and snakes his hand around my waist, yanking me tight against him.

“Wow,” I mock.

He dips me and kisses the sarcasm right off my lips. Fingers wrap around my hand and pull me away from Ryan. Kaylee throws her arm around me and tosses the other one in the air. We sing our little hearts out and dance until our feet can’t bear another jump.

Before we leave, I need to get Brett to help me out. I find him sliding his date’s shoes back on her feet. “Hey, can I ask you a favor?”

Brett looks up with a raised eyebrow and I lean down to whisper my plan in his ear.

“Be annoying, I can do that,” he says way too happily.

Ryan comes over to us, draping his arm across my shoulder. I lean into his chest and take in his delicious scent.

“We ready to head out?” Ryan asks.

Nate and Kaylee join us. I nod at Kaylee who already knows my plan and is in on it.

“I’m going to go with Kaylee and Nate,” I say to Ryan.

“Wait, what?”

“I’m just getting my stuff. I’ll come to you. Meet me behind the garage.”

“You have that conniving look in your eye. What are you up to?”

“You’ll just have to wait and see,” I say and give him a kiss before following Nate and Kaylee out to the car.

I should’ve known Nate and Kaylee would be all revved up after a night of dancing. She’s practically in the driver seat with him as I awkwardly stare out the back window.

Finally the engine turns on and I feel it’s safe to peel my eyes away from the lovely brick wall I’ve been gazing at.

“So here’s the plan,” Kaylee says. “Nate’s house then your place and then to Ryan’s.”

“Let’s do this,” Nate says and puts the car in drive.

“I didn’t even ask. What do you guys have planned for tonight?”

Kaylee holds up a set of keys. “We have the dance studio for the night. Just have to be out before the first class tomorrow at ten.” 

“Only you would be able to convince someone to give you the keys to their business so you can sleep with your boyfriend.”

“Hey between Hannah and my step-mom always being home, and Nate’s brother home from college, we’ve had to get creative. Plus I’m getting sick of the backseat of the car, it’s small and uncomfortable and…”

“Ewww!” I screech and jump up smacking my head on the ceiling. “You could’ve thrown down a blanket back here for me. Or just not tell me.”

“We’re clean and careful. You have nothing to worry about.”

Except for the visual that I can’t get out of my head now. I might as well be sitting on top of them while they’re doing it since that’s pretty much how I feel right now.

When we pull up to Nate’s I can’t jump out of the car fast enough.

“It’s in the shed,” he whispers and points to the back of the house.

Nate darts from bush to bush and Kaylee laughs at him. “Your parents aren’t even home from their movie date yet,” she yells across the yard and Nate’s arms slouch forward. “Okay, fine keep up the daring spy act. It’s kind of hot anyway.”

Nate tips his fedora then dives behind a planter. Kaylee giggles and joins him. Her pink dress flowing behind her.

What should have taken two minutes to walk across the yard takes ten. Nate unlocks the shed while Kaylee stands watch. I don’t move from my spot out in the open because Nate’s parents probably won’t be home for another hour. Also his parents wouldn’t care. But I let them have their fun. I just need to beat Ryan back to his house.

“We good?” I call out and Nate jumps out of the shed with the object in question in hand.

“We’re good,” he confirms.

Next stop is my house, and because Mom thinks I’m sleeping at Kaylee’s, I walk in with the intention of telling her I forgot something. I can push everything out my bedroom window to Nate and Kaylee.

I head down the stairs to our basement apartment and freeze at the laughter coming from inside. That’s definitely Mom’s laugh, but that’s not Roger’s. I press my ear to the door to try and get a better listen, but it only confirms what I was dreading. Mom is in there with him. My father.

“We had a lot of good times,” I hear him say.

I can’t go in there. Not tonight. Tonight is about me and Ryan and I don’t want to get all raging lunatic and ruin our evening. So I very quietly sneak back up the steps and head around to my window. I slide it open, jump onto my dresser, grab what I need and get the hell out of there.

“Everything all right?” Kaylee asks, when I come around the bend. “You look…”

“Weird,” Nate finishes.

“Fine,” I say, forcing a smile, and all the crap going through my head, to silence and disappear.

“Then let’s get out of here,” Kaylee says and bounces off.

Nate glances back at me and arches his eyebrow. He’s the brother I never had. And I love that he knows despite what I say there
is
something wrong. But I’m sick of the drama. Sick of my stupid life putting a damper on everything.

I toss my arm around Nate’s shoulder and give him a squeeze. “The bad guys are closing in,” I say. “What’s our next move?”

A huge smile spreads wide across his face. “Let’s make a run for it.”

“On three,” I say, then mouth the countdown. When I get to three we take off running. I wrap my arms across my boobs to keep the top of my dress from falling down. Nate doesn’t open the driver side door. Instead he opts to dive through the window landing head first in Kaylee’s lap.

The three of us laugh the entire way back to Ryan’s.

“You need help?” Kaylee asks.

“I got this. How hard can it be to set up a tent?”

“I don’t know. Never set one up. Nature and I aren’t the best of friends.”

I pop my head in between their seats and pull them into an awkward side hug. “Love you guys.”

Kaylee kisses my cheek and I kiss Nate’s then I grab my comforter, pillow and bag and head to the place in Ryan’s backyard where there are a bunch of trees and you can’t see from any of the windows in the house. Grams and Pop-pop will never know we’re here.

I dump the tent stuff out on the ground and oh crap. Why are there so many pieces? I hold up a stick looking thing and look at the others still on the ground. It’s like you need a PhD to put a tent together. The hip bone’s connected to the backbone. The backbone’s connected to the neck bone. Okay not working.

Something grazes my arm, and
oh my God
is that a spider? I throw the hip bones in the air and run around in a circle swatting at my arms. My heart pounds in my chest, and I can’t breathe. I’m going to have a heart attack and the spider is going to eat my dead body! I whack myself over and over again, jump and run and turn, desperately trying to flee the killer beast.

I bring my hand up, readying it for another swat when my eyes focus on a string from my dress.

I take a deep breath and search for the stick thingy I threw in my panic. Ryan is worth it. I will make this work, spiders be damned!

“Need help?”

I glance up and Nate is leaning against a tree, Kaylee right beside him. They aren’t laughing so they must’ve missed my freak out. Good. I’m taking that to the grave.

“Oh my God yes! This”—I hold up the pieces—“is not easy.”

“Let the Boy Scout handle it,” Kaylee says. “He’ll have it together in five minutes.”

“Four minutes and thirty seconds is my best time.”

“Well have at it,” I say and hand the stick thingy off to Nate. “We’ll time you. Maybe you’ll set a new record.”

I don’t know how long Brett will be able to hold Ryan off and I’m afraid I’m running out of time. So I know if I make this into a game Nate will have this thing together in a jiffy.

Nate doesn’t waste a minute. He grabs the parts and starts putting them together. Four minutes and twenty-eight seconds later, we have a tent.

“You did it!” I yell then slap my hand over my mouth, remembering Grams and Pop-pop are only a yard away.

“You should be set now,” Nate says and I give him the biggest hug.

“I love you guys. Have fun tonight. Just don’t tell me about it tomorrow.”

“Oh we will,” Kaylee says wiggling her eyebrows. “Breakfast in the morning? The four of us?”

“We’ll be there.”

Kaylee and Nate get in the car and head out. I take my comforter and pillow and arrange them in the tent, trying to make a comfortable bed. I check my makeup in my compact and reapply my lip-gloss.

I debate taking my dress off, but God forbid Brett walks back here with Ryan. Then again the boy walked in on us before. You’d think he’d learn his lesson by now and knock.

What feels like a lifetime later, Ryan finally pops his head into the tent.

“What’s this?” he asks and before he even gets the rest of his body in, my lips are on his. I press my hands to his face and pull him in all the way. He falls a little but never breaks our kiss.

His hand traces my bare back and up my neck until his fingers get lost in my hair. He pulls away resting his forehead on mine, our breaths mingling together.

“This explains it,” Ryan says and I cock an eyebrow. “Brett had me driving all over this damn town. When he told me he also needed a special kind of ointment for jock itch and had me go to five different places before he finally gave up, I should’ve known.

I stifle a laugh. I’ll have to thank Brett tomorrow. Buy him breakfast.

“Are you surprised?” I ask.

“Very. I thought we’d have a quickie in the garage, and you’d head back home. This is so much better. And I already checked in so Grams and Pop-pop are off to bed.”

“I set my alarm for five so we can have this all broken down and be out of here before Grams wakes up.”

He tucks my hair behind my ear and drags his finger down the length of my neck to my bare shoulder. “You think of everything,” he says and places a kiss where his finger is. Chills shoot up my spine and I ease back onto the comforter.

“God, you’re beautiful.”

“You’re not too bad yourself,” I say.

“Damn straight,” he winks, causing me to burst out laughing. “Shhh.”

I cover my mouth with my arm.

“I think I can help with that,” Ryan says, pulling my arm away from my face and pressing his lips to mine. The laughter fades as I lose myself in us.

We kiss all the time, yet there are still moments when I feel like I’m being kissed for the very first time. He does that to me, and I know no matter how old we are, or wherever life takes us, when I kiss Ryan, everything will disappear. And for the moment our lips are as one, life will be perfect.  Just as it is now.