The Distance Between Us (20 page)

“It’s never too early. The real question is how are we going to get inside?” I try to squeeze through two wrought iron bars and my thigh gets stuck. I start laughing.

“Have you ever been this irresponsible in your life?” Skye asks.

“I don’t think so.”

“The silly you is fun.” Skye takes me by the armpits and tries to pull me out. She’s a laughing mess. Finally she tugs me free and I land on top of her, both of us falling to the ground.

“Let’s just TP the bars of the gate.”

“Is Xander going to find this as funny as we do?” she asks.

I have no idea. “For sure.”

It’s dark, but we manage to wrap toilet paper around the bars. When did being immature provide so much entertainment? It takes me a minute to realize I can see my task better and another minute to realize it’s because someone is shining a flashlight. The flashlight holder clears his throat. “Ladies. You enjoying yourselves?”

“Yes, very much,” Skye says, and we both turn around to a security personnel of sorts giving us a disapproving stare.

“How cute. It’s a rent-a-cop,” Skye says.

He lowers his brows. “A rent-a-cop who knows the number for the police station. Let’s go have a word with Mr. Spence, shall we?”

This news should’ve introduced some somberness into the evening but it doesn’t. Maybe because it didn’t seem real when we were standing there holding toilet paper in the dark. It seems a lot more real standing on Mr. Spence’s porch with him scrutinizing us. Then how come I still can’t stop laughing?

“What would you like me to do, sir?” Rent-a-cop asks.

Mr. Spence looks at me again and tilts his head. I wonder if he’ll remember having met me before. Why would he? I’m just a name he met weeks ago. So when he says, “Caymen? Right?” the smile is shocked from my face.

I nod. Of course he remembers me. I am the symbol of his son’s rebellion. I am the last girl on earth Mr. Spence would approve of. My name and face are probably ingrained in his memory.

“Are you pranking my son?”

I nod again.

He laughs. “I’ll be honest. None of my kids have ever been toilet-papered. Is that what it’s called?” He turns to the rent-a-cop. “We’re fine, Bruce.” Then back to us he says, “Why don’t you girls come in?”

My chest tightens in panic as I look at the toilet paper rolls still gripped in my hands. “No. That’s okay. We’ll go now. If you loan me a trash bag we’ll even clean up the mess.”

He waves off the suggestion. “No. We have grounds-keepers for that. And I insist. You must come inside.”

“It’s late. We—”

“Caymen?”

Xander’s voice is like an instant heat wave. My cheeks go warm. He comes to the door wearing pajama bottoms and a T-shirt. Even his pajamas look expensive. He looks at the toilet paper in my hands and then over to Skye and her toilet paper.

“It was a dare,” I blurt out. “We weren’t supposed to get caught.” Skye starts to giggle and I join her.

His eyes twinkle with a held-in laugh. “Come in. Tess made hot chocolate earlier. I think there’s some left.”

I’m not sure if I’m supposed to know who Tess is but I don’t ask. Holding toilet paper is enough humiliation for one night. “No, thanks. Really, we were just leaving.”

“I insist,” he says.

Skye gives a snort laugh and I’m pretty sure it’s because Xander just sounded exactly like his dad. I can tell she’s holding her tongue to let me decide how this is going to play out. I look between Xander and his father, who are both staring at me expectantly with the same crossed arms, the same tilt to their brows. Seeing such an obvious resemblance makes me wonder if I’m anything like my dad. I may look like my mom, but I’m nothing like her.

“Fine. Just for a minute. It’s late. We honestly didn’t mean to intrude.”

The kitchen is huge. Marble countertops in a neutral shade. A massive island. The fridge is bigger than any fridge I’ve ever seen in a house. It almost looks like a grocery store freezer section.

His dad follows us into the kitchen. “Tess has actually left for the night, but I’m sure you kids can find your way around.”

Tess must be the cook.

“Good night. Alexander, don’t make it too late,” he says, then leaves.

Xander goes to the stove, where a kettle sits, and picks it up. “Empty.”

“We’re fine.”

“No, I got this. I think there is the powder stuff somewhere around here.” He looks through cupboards. He’s obviously not going to stop until we are drinking hot chocolate, so I go to the stove and grab the kettle, fill it with water, and then stare at the knobs. Skye comes over to help me decipher them. After turning several and pushing a few buttons, we get one of the burners’ flames on.

Xander is still searching for the hot chocolate. He looks like a stranger in his own kitchen, opening doors he obviously has no clue what’s behind. Finally he snatches the container out from behind a cupboard with a loud “Aha.”

“Have you ever looked inside these cupboards in your life?” I ask.

“Of course.”

“Let’s play a game, then. Skye names a kitchen item. Whoever finds it first wins.”

“Wins what?”

“Bragging rights.”

“This is my house. I think I’ll win.”

“Prove it, rich boy. Tess isn’t here to make your bottle for you.”

“Oh, you are so on.”

I smile. I know my way around a kitchen. And if a cook set it up she would be smart and practical. Cooking utensils by the stove, glasses by the sink. I have this. I nod to Skye.

She smiles. “Okay. We’ll start easy. Spatula.”

Xander runs to the island and starts tearing through the drawers. I go to the stove and pull open the drawers on either side of it. Right away I find the spatula and turn around holding it up.

“First round to Caymen,” Skye says, and Xander snaps his head up to look at me. He growls.

“Okay, second item. Cereal bowl.”

I give a grunt of indignation. “So not fair. You knew he’d know where that is.” And of course he does. Cupboard beside the pantry.

“Tiebreaker,” Skye calls out. “Find me a strainer.”

I laugh at the look on Xander’s face. It’s a look that says,
I don’t even know what that is
. I race toward the sink. It will be underneath one of the cupboards there. When I reach for the cupboard a pair of hands grab my waist and pull me back. Then he cuts around me and yanks open the cupboard I was going for. I jolt forward and settle in next to him, trying to push him aside with my body.

“Cheater,” he says.

“Me? You’re the cheater.” He’s standing firm. I can’t push him over and he’s searching the shelves.

“It’s like a bowl with holes in it,” Skye calls out.

“My own best friend is against me.” I wrap my arms around Xander’s waist and try to pull him back. The kettle on the stove whistles and Skye removes it from the burner.

“Got it!” Xander holds the strainer in the air. I jump up and try to grab it and he keeps it just out of my reach. When I try to pull his arm down, he puts his free arm around my shoulder, pinning me against his chest. “And the winner is Xander.”

“Cheaters! The both of you!”

He clears his throat. “I’d like to dedicate this win to my supreme knowledge of the kitchen layout and tools therein that I have used on many occasions. If it wasn’t for—” He stops mid-sentence and then says, “Oh, hi, Mom.”

I immediately drop my hands that are pushing against Xander’s chest and try to twist out of his hold. He sets the strainer on the counter and secures me with both arms. “Mom, this is Caymen Meyers and her friend Skye.”

I turn my head toward her because my body is still trapped in Xander’s grip. I’m afraid of what I’ll see on her face. Afraid this will be the moment when I finally meet the resistance to this relationship on his end. But she has a pleasant look on her way-too-young-to-be-Xander’s-mother face. Her hair is blond. Her eyes are blue. Now I see where Lucas gets his looks from. Xander didn’t inherit a thing from his mother. But then she smiles, perhaps because I start struggling against Xander, and I see that he inherited his best feature from her.

“Good to meet you, girls. Caymen, I’ve heard so much about you.”

“Hello, Mrs. Spence. Your son won’t let me go because he’s a cheater, but it’s good to meet you.”

Xander releases me, and I back away from him a few steps, trying to keep my explosion of giddiness to myself.

Mrs. Spence picks up a roll of toilet paper from the counter and scrunches her nose.

“Ask Caymen about that,” Xander says.

Great, now I have to explain to his mother about my vandalism?
“Your son called me with a toilet paper emergency. I rushed right over.”

She looks confused so Xander says, “She’s kidding, Mom.”

“Ah, yes. The dry humor you were telling me about.”

Jeez, how much did they talk about me?

“Well, I’m glad you’ve gotten my serious boy laughing.” She squeezes my arm and then pats Xander’s cheek. “I’m off to bed. Don’t be a stranger, Caymen.”

“Night, Mom.” After his mom leaves, Xander moves to the mugs and scoops a few spoonfuls of powdered chocolate into each then pours the hot water. “This isn’t as good as Eddie’s but I hope it’ll do.”

“Do you have a bathroom somewhere?” Skye asks. “Or ten?”

He smiles. “The closest one is through that arch. First door on your right.”

“Thanks.”

She leaves and it’s just Xander and me standing side by side at the counter. His hip presses against my side as he reaches for a spoon. Then our hands brush as we reach for the same mug. We both pull back from it.

“Go ahead,” we say at the same time and then laugh. He takes a sip of the hot chocolate and then slides the mug to me.

The entire sides of our bodies are touching—shoulders, elbows, hips, thighs—all the way down to our feet. I can feel every tiny movement he makes.

“You’re killing me,” he says breathlessly.

“I’m sorry.” I take one step away, and he grabs me by the elbow and swings me to face him. Now the entire fronts of our bodies are touching. I take a sharp breath as heat pours down me. He backs me up against the counter. His palm pressing into my lower back feels like it could singe a handprint onto my skin.

I’m staring as hard as I can at the collar of his T-shirt.

“Caymen?”

“Yes?”

“You look terrified. Does this scare you?”

“More than anything.”

“Why?”

“Because I didn’t bring my mints.”

“And now the real answer . . .”

“Because I’m afraid that once you catch me, the game’s over.” I don’t believe I admitted that out loud to him when I hadn’t even admitted it to myself. But he called me out. He always calls me out.

His finger traces my cheekbone and my heart slams into my rib cage as the nerves from my cheek all the way down my arms buzz to life.

“I didn’t realize we were playing a game,” he says.

I smile. That was the same line he had used during our second meeting. I look at him, and as if that’s all he’d been waiting for, his lips meet mine. When they touch I feel electrified. He kisses me gently, his lips as warm as his hand.

Just when I’m about to go into attack mode, I hear Skye clear her throat and say, “I’m just going to take my hot chocolate to go, then. I’ll bring your mug back another time.”

I pull back and try to push Xander away, not wanting to be rude, but he doesn’t budge. Skye gives me the
way to go
smile and I realize she’s not offended at all.

“I’ll give her a ride home,” Xander says without looking away from me. His eyes are on fire. We both listen as Skye leaves the kitchen. Then he takes me by the waist and lifts me onto the counter. I wrap my legs and arms around him and press my lips to his. The action is more intense this time. My need more obvious.

He answers back, his tongue finding mine, his hands pulling me as close as possible. He tastes good, like salty chocolate. I let my hands explore his back through his T-shirt. I find his spine and outline each vertebra. A rush of emotions courses through my body, and I’m surprised when the one that overwhelms me is intense sadness, the one emotion I’ve been successfully repressing all night.

I am moments away from tears so I bury my head in his neck, hoping to suppress them. He freezes. He tries to back up, probably so he can look at me, but I cling tightly to him. He rubs a hand up and down my back.

“Caymen? What is it? I’m sorry. Was that too fast?” He takes me by the waist and slides me off the counter.

“No. It’s not that.”

“I’m so sorry.”

“No, you didn’t do anything. This is really bad timing for my denial to lift.” I’m not sure if he understood what I said because my emotions are making my speech thick.

“Talk to me. What happened?”

“Will you just hold me for a minute?” I’m trying to get my emotions in check before I try to explain.

He must realize he had dropped his hands to his sides because he takes a deep breath and then wraps them back around me. There is not a millimeter of space between us. His presence is the only thing keeping me together while the thoughts I should’ve been thinking all night finally surface.

What if my mom
is
pregnant?
Having a baby is going to ruin us. We can’t afford it. And what kind of guy is Matthew? Is he going to run when he finds out? How can my mom have made the same mistake twice? If I thought I had a tiny bit of hope of leaving the doll store and starting a life of my own, this would make that almost impossible.

A single tear escapes and I swipe it away quickly with the back of my hand.

“You’re scaring me, Caymen. What is it?”

“My mom.”

“Is she okay?” He sounds alarmed.

“She might be pregnant.”

Chapter 32