The Apple Tree (Sunday Morning #2)

Chapter 12

CHAPTER TWELVE

GEORGE MICHAEL, “I WANT YOUR SEX”

Eve

“You said what?” Erin gasped as I stared at the ceiling from my bed with the phone cradled between my ear and shoulder.

“What was I supposed to say? I just spewed the first thing that came to mind. That’s totally not true. My initial reaction was to scream and beg him to be reckless with me.”

She laughed. “I would have frozen. Choked and tripped over my tongue or said something stupid and embarrassing. I’m so jealous that you had the perfect line. What did he do after you said that?”

I curled the phone cord around my finger and grinned. “I don’t know. I didn’t look back. I would have died. My confidence had a ten-second lifespan. So I got the heck out of there, trying so hard to walk and not run. But my heart was pounding, and I couldn’t hear anything around me.”

“What’s next? When do you see him again? What are you going to do or say when you do? How can you not be thinking about him thinking about being reckless with you? Gah! And what does that mean? Like … kissing you? Or more? Eve! Would you do more with him? Would you have sex with him?”

Erin’s endless string of questions fed my nerves to the point of panic. What was I going to say and do? “Okay. We both need to get a grip. He didn’t say anything was going to happen. I think he felt bad for what he said on Saturday. Maybe that’s it. He said it out of pity. Maybe he rolled his eyes at my gullibility when I walked away.”

“No. Don’t be ridiculous. I’ll admit, I thought he was leading you on, but I’ve changed my mind. Have you looked in the mirror? You’re gorgeous. And you are an adult now. He’s older, but not like old enough to be your dad. And he’s not married. Josh likes you. Think about it. There’s no reason for him not to be attracted to you except for all the reasons he already told you. So stop thinking that he’s not really into you. I’m a terrible friend for making you think that. Just forget it. Okay?”

I nibbled on my thumbnail and mumbled, “Yeah, maybe. But I can’t do anything. I can’t make a move on him because if, by some chance, he is just appeasing me, I can’t risk looking like a fool. I’d never be able to look at him again, and that would be difficult since he’s my neighbor and goes to church every Sunday, and my parents have basically adopted him and Josh.”

“You’re right.” Erin blew out a slow breath.

I loved that she was physically feeling these emotions with me.

“So play it cool. Be charming and sexy, but not desperate and awkward.”

I giggled. “Charming and sexy? I’m afraid in my attempt to be charming and sexy, I’ll look desperate and awkward. I think I should pretend he didn’t say anything and try my best to act normal.”

“Fine, go with your idea. But I think mine is better.”

Erin’s idea was better, and I could have pulled it off with some other guy who was closer to my age and who I didn’t think about every second of every day. But Kyle wasn’t that guy.

My plan worked—maybe too well.

On Monday, Kyle didn’t give anything away. It was as if the moment never happened, so I had no problem acting normal. He didn’t allow me a chance to act otherwise. Tuesday was a repeat of Monday. The normalcy was good yet maddening. I started to feel crazy like I made it all up in my head.

School started on Wednesday, so I didn’t see Kyle in the morning. He dropped Josh off at school, and I was waiting at the end of their lane when he got off the bus in the afternoon. Two hours later, Kyle got home from practice.

“Hey,” he smiled, depositing his keys on the counter.

I turned from the puzzle Josh and I were working on at the table. “Hey.”

“Buddy, how was your first day of kindergarten?” Kyle asked, resting his hands on Josh’s shoulder and kissing the top of his head.

“It was fun.”

“Well, I’m going to start dinner, and you can tell me all about it. Macaroni and cheese?”

Josh nodded.

I stood. “See you tomorrow,” I said to Josh.

Kyle followed me to the front door. “Thanks for being here for him.”

“Of course.” I slipped on my shoes and turned toward him.

“Are you going to the game Friday?” he asked.

“I don’t know. Why?”

“Can Josh hang out with you if you are, like we talked about? Although, he won’t watch much of it. You’ll just have to chase him around and get snacks. But you don’t have to watch him at all, if you?—”

“Of course, I want to watch the game with him. Or chase him. Snacks. Whatever.”

“Great. I’ll be home after school and get him dinner. He can come with me to the game early. Maybe while the team warms up, he can run around and burn off a little energy so he’s worn out by the time the game starts. As long as you’re there by 6:40 or so.”

“Sounds good.”

“Thanks, I’ll uh?—”

“What are you doing tonight?” I blurted before he could say goodbye.

“Laundry. You?” He grinned.

“I’m thinking of walking down to the creek before it gets dark. Does Josh want to go with me?”

“You’re so bored that you’re willing to hang out with a five-year-old when you’re not being paid?”

“Hey. He’s better company than most of the guys I’ve dated.”

“Are you sure it’s not because you can run faster?”

“What?” I wrinkled my nose. “Oh!” I laughed, forgetting for a few seconds what I’d said about the bears and running faster than my friends.

“I’ll guard him with my life. I’ll offer myself to the bear so he can get away.”

“Or I can go with you too.”

Yes!

“Um, sure. I mean, if you want to. Don’t feel you have to if you’re busy doing laundry. I’d hate for you to wear dirty underwear to school Friday since you’re supposed to look your best on game days.”

“I’d just go without underwear if I didn’t have clean ones.”

I pressed my lips together, trying not to imagine him without underwear.

“You’re not picturing me naked, are you?”

“Stop.” I coughed a laugh. “No. I’m not.”

“Liar,” he mouthed.

I narrowed my eyes, but my flaming cheeks told the truth.

“So you’ll be back over after dinner?”

“Yes.” I was so giddy my voice shook.

“See you in a bit.”

“Eve!” Josh called, running toward the door after I stepped outside. He had my Walkman and headphones.

“Oh, thanks. I almost forgot that,” I said as he handed it to Kyle and ran back into the kitchen.

“Thought you were watching Josh, not listening to music,” Kyle said.

I rolled my eyes, holding out my hand. “I can do both when he’s playing with his toys.”

Kyle narrowed his eyes. “What tape?”

I stepped closer to the door, keeping my hand out in a silent demand. “Just stuff I record off the radio.”

“Like what?” He put the headphones on his head.

“NO!” I lunged for him, but the partially closed screen door caught my shoulder.

It was too late. He pressed Play.

Life as I knew it ended when his eyebrows peaked. I had stopped in the middle of a song. There were many songs on that tape, but the one he was hearing was not the one I was most proud of—George Michael’s “I Want Your Sex .”

Click.

He shut off the cassette player and slowly removed the headphones, winding the cord around my Walkman before handing it to me.

“See ya in a bit,” he said with a wink!

After dinner, I changed from shorts to jeans and grabbed a sweatshirt before shoving my feet into my shoes at the door. “I’m taking Josh to the creek,” I called.

“Is Kyle okay with that?” Dad called from the living room.

“Uh-huh.”

“Okay. Be careful.”

“Uh-huh.” I ran out the door, hopped the fence, and ran toward his house, slowing to gain my composure as I reached the top of the hill.

It was just a song with a catchy beat. I wouldn’t mention it or make direct eye contact and we’d be fine.

Josh and Kyle were playing catch with a Nerf football in the front yard.

“Heads up!” Kyle called, throwing the ball to me.

I caught it, and his grin swelled to the corners of his eyes, which I told myself not to look at. Then I threw it back to him, and that grin faded.

“Nice duck,” he said, catching the wobbly ball.

“I’m out of practice.”

He laughed.

“Ready to skip to the creek?” I held out my hand to Josh.

He took it, and we skipped toward the far end of the orchard and the hill that led to the creek while Kyle followed us.

“Look!” Josh pointed to the hut I built from old branches and brush near the bank. He let go of my hand and ran to it as Kyle stopped beside me.

“Your dad said that hut needs to go before spring when the creek floods.”

I nodded. “Yeah. My dad is a fun spoiler.”

“Or practical.”

“Same difference.” I shrugged.

He smirked, watching Josh peek through the branches inside the hut. “What do you do in that hut anyway?”

“Hide from bears.”

Kyle shook his head. “Eve, you’re … something.”

“Where’s Josh? I can’t find him,” I said.

Josh giggled as I pressed my hand to my brow and inspected the area. “Josh?”

Again, he giggled, and I walked a few feet in one direction and then in another.

“I’m in here!”

I jumped. “Oh! I didn’t see you. Can I come in?”

He pushed on the branches I tied together with rope to make a door. “Daddy, you come in too.”

“Oh, I don’t know, buddy. There might not be enough room for all of us in there.”

“There is,” he insisted as I crawled into the far corner and hugged my knees.

Kyle squeezed into the tiny hut, hugging his knees too, and the sides of our bodies touched at every point.

“Don’t move. I will hunt for food,” Josh said with a big smile.

“Uh, don’t go too far, and stay away from the water,” Kyle said.

Josh climbed over our feet and shut the door behind him. He grabbed a stick and held it like a gun. “Shh, don’t scare the deer,” he whispered, pointing toward an old, dead tree stump.

“Hope you’re not claustrophobic,” Kyle mumbled.

“No. You?”

“No.” He stretched his neck right and then left to keep an eye on Josh through the hut walls. When he tried to adjust his body, it only made him rub against me more. “Seriously. What did you do in this hut? You know, as a full-grown adult over four feet tall?”

I laughed. “This is where I bring guys to make out with them.” It was an obvious lie. And while turning our heads to look at each other was too close for comfort, I couldn’t help it when I felt him looking at me.

“You must be attracted to tiny men.”

I rolled my eyes.

Kyle’s gaze dropped from my eyes to my lips, so I rubbed them together, and it was suddenly too hot to wear a sweatshirt.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered.

I narrowed my eyes. “For what?”

He leaned in.

“I got it!” Josh yelled, and Kyle sat up straight.

Josh carried a handful of leaves to the hut and served us “venison” for dinner, which lasted thirty seconds before Kyle squeezed his big body through the door.

He leaned in to kiss me. Right? That almost happened. RIGHT ?

I exhaled after holding my breath longer than I had ever held it before. When I crawled out and brushed off my backside, Josh grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the water.

“Not too close, buddy,” Kyle said behind us.

When I glanced back at him, he smiled—not an “I almost kissed you smile.” It was a normal smile.

But it happened. Didn’t it?

Suddenly, my song choice seemed irrelevant.

We headed toward the house after throwing a dozen rocks into the creek. Josh alternated between walking and running, keeping ten feet ahead of us the whole way.

I said nothing.

Kyle said nothing.

Nothing was hiding the biggest something ever.

He almost kissed me!

“You need a bath,” Kyle said when we reached the house.

“I want to play with my cars,” Josh protested, climbing the deck stairs.

“Twenty minutes. But then you’re getting a bath.”

“Fine,” Josh grumbled.

“Want something to drink?” Kyle asked me after he reached the top of the stairs.

I stood at the bottom, still in shock.

“Not the kind of drink you’d probably like,” he smirked, “more like 7 Up or Kool-Aid.”

I blinked. “Uh,” I slowly nodded. “Okay.”

He proceeded into the house while I moved like a sloth, which was appropriate because time was different in dreams and illusions, and that’s what I was experiencing.

Right?

“I only have grape Kool-Aid, but if you mix it with 7 Up, it’s pretty good. Can I interest you in Josh’s favorite cocktail?”

“Sure.” I didn’t plan on standing directly behind him, but that’s where I naturally navigated.

So when he turned with two glasses of purple Kool-Aid, I was right there.

He stiffened, eyes wide.

“You almost kissed me,” I whispered.

He squinted. “I did?”

“Yes! You apologized and leaned in to kiss me right before Josh returned to the hut.”

He twisted his lips with a slow nod. “Huh. Well, at least I apologized for it. Here. Tell me what you think.” He handed me the drink and sidestepped to get past me. “You’ll want to insist Josh try going to the bathroom by halftime or before if he grabs his crotch. And if there’s a line, just go behind the bleachers or a tree and let him do his thing. I had hoped he’d be better at holding his bladder by age five, but clearly, he’s not quite there.”

I turned.

Kyle leaned his back against the fridge, legs casually crossed at his ankles while he sipped his drink. “Do you like it?” He nodded toward my glass.

I looked at it as if I was seeing it for the first time before bringing it to my lips for a sip. But I couldn’t taste or feel anything but him.

“Well?”

I licked my lips. “It’s good.”

“You don’t have to drink it if you don’t really like it.”

“I, uh”—I shook my head—“should get home.” I needed to call Erin ASAP. It was an emergency.

He chewed on the inside of his cheek for a few seconds before relinquishing a nod. “Let me give you money now for the concession stand in case I forget tomorrow.” He set his glass on the counter and pulled out his wallet.

I stared at the ten-dollar bill he offered me.

“Eve?”

“Hmm?” I was completely out of it.

“Are you going to take it?”

I slowly nodded without taking the money.

Kyle stepped closer, and I gulped. He slipped the ten-dollar bill into my back pocket, which meant his hand was on my butt.

I blinked heavily, staring at his chest.

After he tucked the money into my pocket, his hand drifted to mine, and the pads of his fingers teased my skin.

I closed my eyes. And just when I no longer felt his touch, he curled a few strands of hair behind my ear, letting the back of his fingers ghost down my neck. Parting my lips, I pulled in a shaky breath, and then his touch disappeared.

“Do you have any questions about Friday night?”

I opened my eyes, shooting my gaze to his as my body warred between chills and melting to the floor. Was he serious? Of course, I had questions. So many questions, but they had nothing to do with the Friday night football game.

“Daddy?” Josh called.

“So, no questions? We’re good?”

My jaw dropped. “Am I good?” Of course, I found my voice when he had to tend to Josh. It was too late to ask why he almost kissed me and touched my hand and neck.

“I mean,” he grinned. “I’m sure you’re good, but I mean are you comfortable watching Josh at the game?”

My brain exploded. What did he say? Was my mind in the gutter thinking that he meant I was good at sex? Or did he mean he knew I was good, as in okay—no questions, mentally stable, capable of walking home?

WHAT DID HE MEAN BY GOOD?!

“I think I hate you,” I said with a steadfast determination to keep a straight face.

“Because you’re Evil Eve,” he said with a wicked grin and a gleam in his eyes.