“I can take care of myself, Daddy.”
“I know. I made sure of it when I raised you, but it never hurts to have someone to help pick you up when you fall. And it’s bound to happen. You can’t live life thinking you won’t screw up every now and then. The mistakes are just as important as the successes. You wouldn’t be who you are without both of them. So when those mistakes happen, it’s good to have people around who can push you through them.”
He must have known my mind went instantly to thoughts of Hunter, because he added, “And, Ellison, that boy, Hunter, is not the person you need to tie your life to. Did Lily tell you why he was sent down here? That boy is shoulder deep in a lifestyle of partying and drugs and he’s nothing like you. He’ll only drag you down with him if you give him your heart.”
I opened my mouth to argue but he held his hand up to silence me. “Don’t argue with me, Ellison. You’re a smart girl and a beautiful girl on top of that. You’ve got your whole life ahead of you to make a difference in this world and the last thing you need is someone holding you back. I want you to be happy, El. And I know you’ve got a heart the size of this state and will take in any stray that looks like it needs help; but attaching yourself to a boy like him will only hurt you. You won’t find happiness until you find your equal. And unfortunately for the male population, you are a difficult person to compete against.”
He kissed me on top of the head before standing up. “I’m going to go lay down and I’ll be up in time for supper. Do me a favor and stay away from that boy. If you want to be friends, I trust you to make that decision, but don’t let it go farther than that. You’re better than he is, Ellison.”
I watched his back as he walked from the living room into his bedroom. I was scared for him. He’d not been himself for months and he was always tired. I couldn’t stand the thought of something happening to him and the fear only added to the aggravating feelings I was having for Hunter at that moment. When the door finally closed, frustrated tears fell from my eyes and I smacked them away angrily. I didn’t even know why I was mad because there was no way Hunter and I would end up together anyway. He didn’t live here. After a few months, he’d return to his life and I’d never see him again. But that thought didn’t make my heart feel any better. I knew he was bad news, but there was something else, something deeper inside him and I’d seen a small glimpse of it near the spring. His words surprised me, but I felt like they were only a small trickle of information that hinted to the real flood hidden within him.
Chapter Nine
Hunter
Henry James was probably the scariest SOB I’d ever met in my life. When he told me he could come up with 50 ways to kill me and hide my body without going outside a mile of his house, I paid attention. I knew it didn’t look good. First, he found me practically naked outside of Ellison’s window and then, he found me with my tongue shoved as far down her throat as I could get it. But, dammit, I’d do it again. She was amazing. Everything about her. The way she looked. The way she smelled. The way she talked and those crazy, ridiculous ideas she had. But her taste, holy shit, her taste … it was like nothing I’d ever experienced. It was the perfect mixture of sugar and spice and I was addicted to it after only tasting it one time. Her scent was all over me when I dragged ass up the stairs and into my uncle’s house — and I loved it. My fucking legs felt like they were on fire and my balls shriveled considerably after Henry told me what he had planned for them if he caught me touching his daughter again — but I didn’t fucking care. All I could think about was the feel of her lips on mine and the feel of her silken hair wrapped around my fingers. I was thankful as shit that Henry didn’t notice how rock hard I was when Ellison first crawled off my body. It would have made for a much more awkward conversation in the long run.
I quickly showered and laid down on my bed sighing in relief to take the weight of my body off my legs. My heart was hammering with thoughts of Ellison and I reached down to grab my crotch in an effort to relieve myself of the ache I’d had since she’d been sitting on top of me. My hand wasn’t enough; I needed her … wrapped around me … intimately. I knew I shouldn’t do it. I was somehow completely obsessed with her and it had only been three days. If I was this addicted already, I couldn’t imagine what I would feel like if things ever went farther between us. I had to remember, I didn’t live here. I was going home to my friends, to college — to my life without her. The thought was depressing and I beat the shit out of my brain trying to come up with a way to convince her to go with me. But I knew she’d never leave her family and she’d never leave Lily. This was her home and mine was over a thousand miles away.
I fell asleep for a few hours and woke again when Lily came in my room. “Dinner’s ready. Thought you might be hungry after walking the red trail with Ellison today. I’ve made that trip before and I know it’s brutal.
“Lil, I’m starving, but I don’t think my legs work anymore. I seriously can’t feel them right now.”
She pinched me on the thigh … hard.
“Ow! Sonofabitch!”
Laughing, she pushed herself up off the bed. “See? You can still feel them. Now, stop being such a baby and get your ass in the kitchen. El and I are building a bonfire tonight in a clearing not too far from here. Some other kids in town are going to meet us out there and you’ll miss out if you don’t go.”
Ellison. That was the magic word. Suddenly I didn’t care if I my legs would fall off if I used them again. I was getting up and I was going to that bonfire.
When I sprung up, Lily gave me a funny look. “I’m starting to think you have a thing for Ellie. I haven’t seen you move that fast since you’ve been here. Did something happen on your walk today that I don’t know about?”
I rubbed my eyes into focus and looked up at her. “Have you talked to her since we’ve been back?”
“No.”
“Then I will leave that information to the girl talk. I’m going to treat Ellison right and do the gentlemanly thing by not talking.” I winked and Lily laughed. “Hey, Lil, before you go. Can I borrow your phone? I want to check in at home.”
“Sure! But go easy on the minutes. It’s a cheap phone and I can’t afford too many for the month.” She grabbed her phone from her back pocket and tossed it in my direction.
“Thanks.” After she’d left the room, I checked my voicemails and cringed to hear Tiffany’s voice.
Fifty. There were 50 messages total and in each one, her voice got louder and more annoying. I didn’t listen to more than the first three words of each message, but it was pretty clear by her tone of voice that she was mad. Real mad. And I wondered if she’d bothered to go by my parents’ house to find out what happened to me.
I wanted to move forward with Ellison. I knew it was wrong, I knew that we didn’t have that much time to be together, but I was willing to risk my heart for just the memory of her. Three days and she’d already touched a part inside me I didn’t even know existed. But if I was going to do this, I was going to be honorable about it, and there was baggage back home that I needed to unload.
Quickly, I dialed Tiffany’s number and pumped my fist in the air when it went to her voicemail. This was a cheap move. I knew that; but it had to count for more than a text message, right?
“Hey Tiff. Listen, I’m in Florida for the summer and I’ve been thinking a lot about things. I think we should split up and I don’t have a lot of time to explain, but I wanted to let you know so you could hopefully move on while I’m away. If you want, we can talk more about it when I get home. Sorry to break up over voicemail, but I’ve been stripped of my phone and everything, so this is the only chance I have to tell you.”
I hung up. It was done and it was done without several hours of screaming and crying. My exile was the best thing that could have happened … I ditched Tiff without drama and it would give her time to move on before I returned. But, more importantly, I’d met Ellison James and I knew that just knowing the girl was going to change m
y life forever.
~ ~ ~
When Lily said ‘bonfire’, what she really meant to say was ‘tower of flame that had to be illegal in most states and the heat from which would melt your plastic solo cup if you got too close.’ It was impressive. I couldn’t imagine how long it’d taken these guys to construct the monstrosity, but I was slightly afraid that the entire fucking forest was about to go up in flame. However, looking around, I appeared to be the only person with any concern. I’ll admit the space that was cleared out was large and we were nowhere near trees or other vegetation, but if the wind picked up the wrong way, we were going to be in some definite trouble.
Lily tugged on my arm. “You look like you’re about to shit your pants. Is it the bonfire that’s scaring you or was it Ellison’s driving?”
Let me stop here to explain what happens when a person rides with Ellison James. First, you must understand that she drives around in a 1979 Jeep that is practically held together with duct tape and electrical tape. She has the engine tuned just enough that it only blasts out one incredibly large puff of smoke when it starts; but for most of the journey, she’s not creating holes in the ozone around the areas she travels. The Jeep had no doors, no roof and the floor had holes in it. If a person was brave enough to climb into the hunk of metal after taking a good look at it first, then the rest of the ride they had coming to them. Ellison took off fast, she drove fast, she stopped fast, and she turned fast. Sometimes the car was on the road, and sometimes it was on the shoulder. That didn’t appear to faze Ellison, she just ignored the flying rocks and dirt her tires kicked up and she bounced in the driver’s seat happily singing along to … and you’ll want to brace yourself for this … Kenny Rogers’ The Gambler. I kid you not. While Ellison was off in la-la land having warm thoughts about poker games and whiskey, Lily and I were holding on for dear life. I’m not a religious man, but I prayed more during that trip than I’d done my entire life. And there were a good number of praying incidents in my past — mostly when cops were involved.
“A little of both, I think. Are you sure we’re not going to start a forest fire with this thing?” I pointed at the fire but then quickly pulled my hand back to my body when a few of my arm hairs sizzled. Holy shit that thing was hot.
There were people everywhere; spread out on blankets, sitting on trailers beds and just laid out in the grass or lawn chairs. It was high energy and people were having a good time. Music blasted out of the speakers of a few of the cars and I enjoyed watching people laughing and joking around with one another. When we’d arrived, Ellison had grabbed a guitar case from the back of her Jeep and had taken off so fast; I’d lost sight of her. She was acting really weird towards me since the incident with her father and I didn’t want to push the issue. But I was pissed. The only reason I was at the party was for her and in the 30 minutes we’d been here, I hadn’t spotted her once. There were a couple of kegs near the trucks. I’d already had two beers and I was working my way towards another refill when a hand fell on my shoulder.
“Hey, Hunter. I’m surprised to see you out tonight. Did you know Ellison’s here?”
I turned around to find Finn standing behind me. He was dressed casually in jeans, a black shirt and cowboy boots. He wore a straw cowboy hat on his head and I rolled my eyes at the typical ‘southern’ look he was going for. But then, what did I know? From what Ellison told me, he was the typical ‘southern’ guy, so I guess it fit.
“Uh, yeah, I rode over with her.”
He smiled. “And you’re standing upright already? First ride in Ellison’s Jeep and I was kissing the ground for a solid two hours when it ended just because I was thankful to be alive.” He walked up to the keg with me and we both filled our cups. “She didn’t tell me she brought you along. I thought you two hated each other or something after the incident with the dogs. But if you’ve made up, I guess you should come over and sit with us.”
Two things occurred to me at that moment. The first was that I hated the fact that Ellison hadn’t mentioned she’d brought me when she apparently immediately went out and found her ex; and second, I hated that this guy was as nice as he seemed to be. I wanted to hate him. I wanted to not want to hate him. I wanted to not care about Ellison the way that I was.
“Are you sure that’s cool?”
“Well, hell yeah. Your cousin and her man are sitting with us and you’ve met El’s brother, Jake.” His smile was genuine — and I wanted to smack it off his face. That was shitty of me, I know.
We arrived at the blanket and Lily was curled up with Ryan, Jake had some girl I didn’t recognize tucked into his side and El was sitting up, holding a guitar in her lap. She was strumming softly and humming a song so low, I could barely hear it over the music from the cars. Finn immediately took a seat beside her and I was stuck sitting on the outskirts of the circle.
Third wheel — table for one.
Damn if this wasn’t awkward.
Finn sat back and his arm went behind Ellison close enough that it was brushing up against her back. She looked beautiful illuminated by the firelight and the shadows danced along her body and hair; making it appear that she was swaying to the music. She looked up at me for a moment when I sat down, but her eyes shifted back to her guitar quickly. The next half hour was pretty quiet while the two couples did their thing and the three of us took our time absorbing our surroundings. Finn was the first to talk.
“So, what are you doing down here for the summer, Hunter? Jake tells me you’re Lily’s cousin, but that’s all I know. Is there any reason in particular why you came down, or is it just a family reunion type thing?”
“I need a beer.” Ellison pushed up suddenly, handed her guitar to Finn after she’d stood and she walked in the direction of the kegs. Finn had an odd expression on his face when she walked away, but he seemed to shake it off by the time he looked back over to me. He started to strum the guitar while he waited for me to answer and he played well.
Of course. Fucking, of course, he’s the sensitive guitar-playing guy!
I was more annoyed than ever.
I cleared my throat. “Well, uh, my parents sent me down because I pissed them off. I’m going back at the end of the summer to attend Harvard. I got a full ride for academics, so I have to make sure I return for that.” It was cheap, and I was puffing out my chest like El would say, but I had to show this asshole up. The fucked up part was that he probably hadn’t intended to show off with the guitar, making me the real asshole.
He laughed softly. “What’d you do to piss them off?”
“I parked my car at the bottom of their pool.”
Finn’s eyes grew wide and he whistled. “Well, damn, yeah, I can see where that would piss a person off. Were you in the car when it went for a swim?”
“No. I was sleeping when it happened. I think. I don’t know, I was pretty trashed and it could have gone for a dip as soon as I stepped out of it and I wouldn’t have noticed.”
His eyes searched me after I said that. He was sizing me up and, judging by the look on his face, he wasn’t too impressed with his competition — if he even knew I was competition. “You must party hard to get that fucked up.”
“I have,” I admitted. There wasn’t any point lying about it. I’m sure Bill told Henry and Henry told El. It might have been the reason she’d been acting strange.
Ellison returned with a solo cup in her hand. She gulped down the beer and I raised my eyebrow to see her drink as quickly as she was. I knew she didn’t like to get fucked up. I mean, this was the same girl who’d stayed sober while drinking pitchers the night before for fuck’s sake. Why was she now drinking like a fucking fish?”
When she’d finished, she set her cup aside and grabbed the guitar from Finn before asking him to get her another drink. When he left, she started playing a song, but I interrupted.
“Everything okay, Ellison?”
Her eyes shot to mine, but the clear blue was covered by shadow. “Yeah. Why?”
I
tried to search her face, but she was doing a good job concealing her thoughts. “Because you’re drinking pretty heavily. Is something up?”
She shook her head, the effects of the beer she’d just downed already apparent in her movements.
“Are you driving home tonight?”
Shaking her head again, she used her thumb to motion in the direction Finn had walked. “Finn can drive if I drink too much. I just feel like relaxing tonight. Really, nothing’s up.” Her words were slightly slurred and I looked around to see if she’d had any other beers before I’d arrived to the blanket. I didn’t see any, but she could have been using the same cup.
Finn returned and Ellison turned her attention back to her guitar. He didn’t restart his previous interrogation of me and I was glad for that. The last thing I needed at the moment was to be judged by a really nice guy who I would feel horrible for punching in the face; but I couldn’t help it, that’s all I wanted to do to the guy. Hours passed and at some point I got up from the blanket to walk around and socialize. There was a group of hot blondes giggling off to the side at one point and one brave girl made her way over to me. She smiled the sweetest grin that was curled unevenly to the side indicating that she’d had one too many of the wine coolers she was holding in her hand.
“Hi, I’m Amber. I haven’t seen you around here before. Are you new to town or somethin’?”
Her southern accent was divine and the dog in me started moving front and center. I flashed the million dollar dimpled grin and my stance instantly went into one of interest. I swaggered up closer beside her. “I’m from New York. I’ve been down for a few days. I didn’t move, I’m just staying for the summer.”
Her eyelashes batted over her large brown eyes. “Where you stayin’?”
“With my cousin, Lily McCormick.” I held out my hand. “My name’s Hunter.”
She took my hand and I surprised her by pulling it to my lips. I was in full dog mode and I could tell the girl was quickly becoming putty in my hands. Her lips curled more and a small dimple popped out on her left cheek. It was a girl after my own heart. Letting go, I took another swig of my beer.