Kerrigan started laughing out loud. What Gabe said was hysterical, but the look of surprise on Dominic’s face was priceless.
“O-kaaaaay,” Dominic drawled, only making her laugh harder. He arched one brow at her and shook his head, and then he poured the rest of his juice into the sink before rinsing the glass out. “I think I’m just going to go mow the lawn now.”
“Boy, you really need to stop teasing me like that.” Gabe took his seat at the table again.
“I’m sorry? How is that teasing you?”
“Just broadcasting you’re going to be out there all hot and sweaty and probably taking that shirt off to flaunt that don’t-you-wish-your-boyfriend-was-hot-like-me body all over the place.” Gabe waved his hands up and down in the air theatrically, looking at Dominic as if he knew exactly what he was talking about.
“Whatever, Gabe,” Dominic said with a roll of his eyes. “I’ve got shit to do today. Do me a favor?”
“Uh-uh, boy! Any other time I’d be on my knees in a heartbeat to do you a favor, but I just got my hair did, boo-boo.”
“Not exactly what I meant. I was just going to say that if you ever pleasure yourself to images of me, don’t tell me. Okay? Because I really don’t want to know about it.” He almost regretted the words as soon as they left his mouth because he didn’t want Kerrigan to think the same was true for her. On the contrary, he very much wanted her to tell him about that dream she had last night.
His eyes flicked toward Kerrigan, who had been taking a bite of her cereal. She was the one choking then. Dominic smiled to himself and turned to walk away. He loved doing that to her.
Kerrigan stood at the screen door at the front of the house, a glass of sweet iced tea in her hand as she peered out over the yard. The smell of fresh cut grass drifted in on an ocean breeze and Kerrigan smiled warmly to herself. It was one of her most favorite smells. It reminded her of playing in the front yard with her grandmother as she pushed her in the tree swing that hung from the big oak.
She felt a little giddy and stepped out onto the porch, sitting her glass of tea down on the table before running down the steps and toward the swing. As she perched upon the old wooden seat and began to push herself back and forth, another memory came to mind. It wasn’t as prevalent as that of her grandmother, but just as endearing; a little boy that she had sworn was only a figment of her imagination. She had played with him one day, and one day only, and had never seen him again. It was as if he had never really existed, but to her, he did. He was her friend.
Young Kerrigan sat on the swing that hung from the old oak tree in front of Grammy’s house, her feet just barely able to touch the ground. She dug the tips of her sandals into the grass beneath her feet and twisted the swing around to the side. As she picked her feet up to let her legs hang freely, the swing bobbed back and forth in an awkward motion until it could right itself again.
Sydney and Olivia had gone to the beach with their parents that day, and Grammy was entertaining one of the neighbors that had come to pay her a visit. She was left all alone and that saddened her. Other kids were playing up and down the street, but Grammy never let Kerrigan out of her sight. Even then, she was keeping watch over her from the window in the front room where she was having coffee with Mrs. Pachula from down the street.
She wished she had someone to push her in the swing.
“Hey!” A pair of worn Converse shoes stepped into her line of vision.
Kerrigan lifted her head and looked toward the voice. There, stood a little boy, tossing a yellow foam football into the air as he looked her over.
“Hi!” Kerrigan returned the greeting.
“So, what’s your name?”
“Kerrigan,” she answered with a giggle.
“Hi, Kerrigan. I’m Nicky. That’s a great swing.”
“Thanks,” she said with a slight pout. “I don’t have anyone to push me though.”
“We can take turns pushing each other,” he offered.
“Okay!” she said enthusiastically, happy to have someone to play with.
Nicky tossed his football to the ground and walked behind her. “You can go first since it’s yours. Plus, you’re a girl and all. I think I’m supposed to be a gentleman or something like that.”
Kerrigan sat up straight in the swing and grabbed onto the ropes that held it suspended from the tree. Nicky pulled her back a little and let her go, pushing gently on the seat when she came back to meet him again.
“So, how old are you?” he asked.
“Seven,” Kerrigan answered proudly as she swung her legs back and forth to help his efforts.
“Me too! Did you just move here? ‘Cause I haven’t seen you in school.”
“Oh, I don’t live here. I’m just visiting my Grammy.”
“That’s cool,” he said nonchalantly. He gave her a good shove forward before stepping out of her way.
Kerrigan was swinging higher than she ever had in the old swing. Not even Olivia or Sydney had ever pushed her that high before, and she couldn’t stop giggling. She smiled so hard that her cheeks were hurting.
“Where do you live?” She hadn’t ever seen him around the neighborhood before.
“I live a few streets over.”
“Won’t you get into trouble for being so far away from home?”
He shrugged his shoulders. “Nah, my mom doesn’t care. She probably doesn’t even know I’m not there. She sleeps a lot.”
“Is she sick?” Kerrigan asked, feeling sorry for him.
Nicky just shrugged his shoulders again. “Hey, can I have a turn now?”
“Sure!” Kerrigan let the tip of her foot drag on the ground to stop the swing.
She traded places with him and gave him a few good shoves to get him going. When he got really high, he jumped out of the swing. Kerrigan was in awe of him because she wished she was brave enough to do that.
“Just try it,” Nicky prodded her. “It’s fun!”
“No way!” A wide-eyed Kerrigan shook her head back and forth vehemently.
“Stop being such a baby.” Nicky laughed at her as he held the swing so that she could take a seat.
Kerrigan balled her little hands up into fists and perched them on her hips. “I’m not a baby!”
“Then prove it,” he challenged.
“Fine,” Kerrigan said, determined to prove him wrong.
She took her place on the swing, and Nicky started pushing her. Once she got high enough, although still not as high as he had gone, he went to stand in front of her.
“Come on, jump already,” he said, clearly aggravated by her hesitation.
“I don’t know how,” she admitted.
“Just stick your arms out and pretend you can fly. It’s the best feeling in the world.”
She tried to summon the courage to do what he said, but she was scared she would land on her face and then he would make fun of her.
“Just let go, Kerrigan,” he said in a softer voice. “I promise I’ll catch you.”
Something in his voice made her believe him even though she really didn’t know him very well. She closed her eyes tight and let herself feel the movement of the swing as it rocked her back and forth.
“Let go, Kerrigan.”
On the upswing toward him, she choked back her apprehension and let go of the ropes, propelling herself forward. She fell with a thud, right on top of Nicky. But he caught her, just like he promised.
“You can open your eyes now,” he laughed.
Kerrigan blinked her eyes open and found herself face to face with Nicky. Her little frame shook with his infectious laughter, slowly beginning to giggle along with him. She rolled off of him and lay beside him on the ground, both of them gazing up at the sky as their laughter stilled. The marshmallow-like clouds were barely making their way across the pale blue expanse.
Nicky turned his head toward her. “Your eyes are the same color as the sky. Did you know that? It’s sort of cool.”
Kerrigan shrugged and
looked back toward the swing.
“You want to go again, don’t you?”
Kerrigan turned to face him with a wide grin on her face. “That was so much fun!”
They each took three more turns, Nicky catching Kerrigan each and every time she jumped. They were both a mess by the time they were done. Grass stains on their knees, blades of freshly cut grass in their hair. When Grammy appeared on the porch to see her visitor out, she smiled at the scene and reluctantly told Kerrigan it was time to go inside.
Nicky picked up his yellow football and gave Kerrigan a wave as she started toward her grandmother. “See ya’!” he said and then turned to leave.
“Want me to push you?” Dominic’s voice startled Kerrigan from her memory, and her hand flew to her chest.
“You scared the bejeezus out of me!”
Dominic stifled a chuckle and wiped the sweat from his chest with his T-shirt before discarding it to the ground. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to. You looked like you were deep in thought.”
He pulled the ropes of the swing back, catching Kerrigan off guard again, but she lifted her feet and let him push her without protest.
“Not really. I was just remembering playing with my imaginary friend on this swing when I was like seven or something.”
Dominic laughed. “Oh yeah? You had an imaginary friend?”
“Yeah, a little boy. Does that make me weird?” Kerrigan asked as Dominic pushed her.
“Well, that depends.”
“On what?”
“On what you were playing with this little boy.” His voice was teasing. He walked around to stand in front of her, just out of reach of her feet. “I mean, if you were playing doctor with him, that might be a little weird. Or, totally hot,” he said suggestively, waggling his eyebrows.
“Ew! You’re disgusting,” she said, crinkling her nose.
“Hey, you’re the one playing doctor with an imaginary boy, not me.”
“Shut up!” Kerrigan stretched her legs out to try to kick him.
Dominic jumped back out of her reach, laughing heartily at her failed attempt.
The sound of his laughter made Kerrigan’s heart soar. She found him to be quite serious all the time and wondered if he ever just let loose and laughed. Hearing him sound so carefree and seemingly happy, even if it was at her expense, was exhilarating. And, apparently infectious because she couldn’t help but laugh with him.
“I remember him being really annoying and very sweet at the same time,” she said, letting her feet drag on the ground to stop the swing. “He told me that my eyes were the same color as the sky, and it was just so sweet.” Her eyes got that far away look as she conjured up Nicky’s voice again in her head.
“That doesn’t sound very annoying.” But it did sound familiar.
“What?” Kerrigan asked, confused and thinking she had missed something.
“You said he was annoying.”
“Oh. He was annoying,” she said. A wide smile spread across her face. “He kept egging me on to jump out of the swing. When I was too scared to, he called me a baby.”
Dominic laughed at her again. A slight pouting expression crossed her features as if she had warped back in time. He couldn’t imagine Kerrigan would have reacted well to that, knowing how stubborn and independent she was.
“So, of course I had to do it. I was still scared, but he told me to stick my arms out and pretend I could fly.”
The smile on Dominic’s face dropped, and he cocked his head to the side and looked at her quizzically with a furrowed brow.
“But what really made me finally do it was when he said, ‘Just let go, Kerrigan-’ ”
“I promise I’ll catch you,” they both said at the same time.
Kerrigan stopped the swing and looked at him with wide eyes. “How did you know that?”
“What was his name, Kerrigan?” Dominic ran his hands over his face. The entire scene she had just described flashed before his eyes.
“Nicky.”
“You’re shitting me,” he said with a big fat grin on his face.
Kerrigan looked at him like he was crazy.
Dominic looked at her expectantly, thinking she would be able to piece it together. “I’m Nicky. You were playing with me that day. Dominic…Nicky?” he said, trying to get her to see the similarity. “My mom always called me Nicky when I was younger.”
He ran his hands through his hair, and the bracelet he was wearing caught her eye. It was funny how she had been seeing that same bracelet on him since she arrived, but only just then in that moment, remembered its significance. The last memory she had of her imaginary friend re-played in her mind like it was yesterday.
Kerrigan watched Nicky turn to walk away, throwing the yellow football into the air and catching it again. She stuck her hand in her pocket and felt the jade bracelet she had just made that morning and decided she had found its home. She ran to catch up to the boy and stopped him, hastily slipping the bracelet onto his right wrist.
“Thanks, Nicky. I had a lot of fun today. You can come back and play on my swing any time you want, even if I’m not here. Grammy won’t mind.” She gave him a quick peck on the cheek and ran back to her grandmother.
“Oh…Oooohhh!” Kerrigan finally got it. “You were real?” she asked as if she couldn’t believe it.
“Yeah, I was real.” Dominic laughed at her. “Still am, as far as I can tell.”
They sat there staring at each other like they were trying to see the faces of the kids from that day. Dominic made a mental note to actually look at the pictures of Kerrigan that Availia had sitting around the house. She had shown him recent ones, but he never felt the need to examine the little girl in the others before.
“So, I was annoying, huh?” he asked, breaking the silence.
Kerrigan smiled deviously, not at all embarrassed by the way she had described him before. “You still are.”
“Is that right? Well, you’re still a baby.”
“Am not!”
“Prove it. Jump,” Dominic challenged with a devilish gleam in his eye.
Kerrigan planted her feet on the ground and walked herself backward in the swing until she could push off the ground and glide through the air. Back and forth she pumped her legs, reaching higher and higher in the air, prepared to meet Dominic’s challenge. Once she was pretty high, she held onto the ropes and stretched her arms out as she reclined in the swing, letting her long hair flow behind her to brush the ground. She smiled to herself at the feel of the wind blowing across her face with each incline up, and the thrill of watching the ground move under her with each backward pass.
“Just let go, Kerrigan. I promise I’ll catch you,” the soothing sound of Dominic’s voice encouraged her.
Without hesitation, Kerrigan returned to a raised position and closed her eyes. Feeling the rhythm of the swing to gauge the right time, she let go and flew through the air.
Dominic caught her in his outstretched arms, enclosing them around her to hold her tightly to his chest before the force of her jump knocked them both down. His back hit the ground and jarred him a bit. He didn’t mind because she was laughing, and that made him laugh in turn. Kerrigan opened her eyes to look at him, her hair forming a curtain around their faces and shielding them from the outside world as she giggled like a little girl while straddling him.
Dominic’s laughter diminished and he looked at her more intensely. “Your eyes really are the same color as the sky,” he said, swallowing hard. “Impresionante,” he whispered in a Spanish accent.
“What does that mean?” Kerrigan asked, her lips mere inches from his.
“Breathtaking,” he sighed the word to accentuate the point. Then he brought his hand up to cup her cheek, his thumb caressing the soft skin beneath her eye.
Kerrigan closed her eyes and leaned into his hand.
“Look at me, Querida,” Dominic whispered.
She did as he asked. His normally celadon eyes had darkened, and he was still breat
hing a little heavily from the fall, or so she thought.
“I’m going to kiss you now, Kerrigan.” Although it was a statement, his warning sounded more like a question.
“I’m going to let you, Dominic,” she replied, giving him the permission he sought.
Dominic lifted his head a fraction and lightly pressed his lips to Kerrigan’s for a chaste kiss. He pulled back and parted his lips, cold breath drifting out of his mouth and ghosting over her skin. He captured her bottom lip between his and kissed her slowly three more times before his tongue touched the tender flesh that framed her mouth.
Kerrigan brought her hands up to lace her fingers through his hair, pressing her chest to his and letting her weight fully rest on him. Her lips parted and her tongue greeted Dominic’s, welcoming his presence and enticing him to venture further.
He tasted like sweet mint and freshly fallen snow, and she craved more of him. Dominic deepened the kiss, both of them moving together in an erotic dance to the sound of their heavy breathing. Kerrigan answered every push and pull of his kiss, and they fell into an easy rhythm, as if they had been kissing like that their entire lives. It was natural and fluid, the intensity threatening to pull them both under.
She moaned into his mouth when his hands swept down her sides and cupped her ass as he lifted his hips to grind against her. Far too soon, Kerrigan ran out of oxygen and was forced to break the kiss in search of air. Dominic kissed her chastely once more and freed her of his embrace.
“Wow,” Kerrigan said breathlessly as she looked down at him. “That was um…”
“Magnífico,” Dominic finished for her, his voice just as breathless. Kerrigan nodded in agreement.
“Oh…my…God! Ya’ll need to get up before someone calls the po-po on you!” Gabe’s shrill voice sounded from the porch. “Out here gettin’ it on all over the front lawn. You can get locked up for that kinky shit.”
Kerrigan looked at Dominic and rolled her eyes.
“Don’t roll your eyes at me, Kerrigan Milena Cruz! I will come down off this porch and snatch you up!” Gabe warned.