“Get away from her, youbitch!” the two women yelled in unison, then promptly began kissing passionately.
“Awww…” I said, sighing at the happy couple. “Love at first sight. That is amazing.”
“Yeah, we think so, too,” said Lee, his voice low and rumbling, his hand resting along the back of the wooden chair I was in.
It felt so goddamn nice to have his arm there, that for a minute I just let myself lean into him, feeling the warmth of his skin touching the back of my neck. His arm moved slightly, and I felt his finger tease slightly along my nape. Suddenly I was no longer warm, I was scorching. My skin felt electrified, like tiny little lightning bolts would shoot off anywhere our skin touched. I swallowed a moan as his breath brushed my ear.
“You okay there, Mason?” He asked, his eyes snagging mine. There was a knowing look on his face, as if he knew exactly the kind of effect he was having on me. I could feel the heat rushing up my face as his eyes bored into mine. I could smell the slight scent of his body wash, mixed with the smells of the pizza and fruity sangria, though the sangria smell had to be me, as Lee hadn’t drunk anything except water or tea for a couple of hours now. My eyes felt snared in his gaze, their green turned a dark mossy color, the firelight reflecting glints in his eyes.
Blood left my head at a dizzying rate, all of it heading to points south. Oh my God. I was seriously not going to pop a boner in front of Lee’s parents…
I cleared my throat and sat up, looking away guiltily. Conversation had gone on around us, and no one else seemed to have noticed the interchange.
Diana and Kyra yawned and stood, announcing they were calling it a night. It was after 2 a.m. and I eyed the clock on my phone in surprise. I couldn’t remember the last time I'd been out this late. I had a couple of texts from both Lizzie and Everett, but nothing looked urgent.
Despite their protests, we all stayed long enough to help the couple clean up. As we bade our goodbyes, Kyra and Diana refused to stand on ceremony.
“Once you’ve died on the table, you’re part of the family,” Diana said, wrapping her arms around my shoulders and hugging me close. I returned their hugs, hesitantly at first, but with increasing confidence.
They invited me back the following week, since I would still be in town. I eagerly accepted. I realized as we drove home that, oddly enough, while I usually hated social events, I found I was really looking forward to seeing them and their crazy crew again. I also began plotting how to min/max a character that I could keep alive despite Diana’s machinations.
With as dark as it was, I didn’t know how Lee knew where to turn in but before long we were pulling up the driveway to his home. We got out of the Jeep, but decided to leave the books and otherpromotional materials there until tomorrow. I grabbed just my backpack with my laptop in it, and I stood by his side as Lee unlocked the front door. Something made me stop him as he reached for the door handle.
“Lee,” I said, my hand touching his arm. “Can we… Can we just sit out here, a minute?” I asked, not quite ready for the evening to end.
He turned and looked at me, his body mostly dark against the bright light of the security light. He seemed surprised at my request, but it was hard to tell when I couldn’t read his features.
“Sure,” he said, stepping back and taking a seat in one of the rockers.
I realized as I sat in the other seat that these chairs were the ones he had photos of with the fiancé who had died. I still felt guilty for having inadvertently snooped in his business, but it had been an accident.
The scents of green growing things, sun-baked rocks and the wildflowers near the drive diffused through the porch.
“You have an amazing family,” I said, listening to the chorus of insects and other night creatures chirruping around the yard as I relaxed in my rocker.
“Yeah, I’m pretty lucky,” he said, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. The security light over the garage clicked off, plunging us into darkness.
“When I think about how much other people have gone through, what a lot of kids go through today, I really feel extremely fortunate to have been born into the family I was.”
I nodded but realized he couldn’t see me in the dark.
“I always wanted a big family,” I said. “Hell, I would have been happy for almostanyfamily, really.”
“You… didn’t haveanyone?” Lee asked. “No parents, grandparents…?”
“Nah. I mean, I had my mom for a while, growing up. Her name was Navi. She was simply… amazing. Magical to me, in so many ways, but she died when I was about eleven. I lived on the streets for a little while, but the cops turned me over to CPS for stealing food from a grocery store, and they forced me to go live with my uncle and his partner.”
My throat closed around my words, thinking about those early days with Ricky.
“He… He wasn’t a good man.” I managed to get out, swallowing hard.
“Wasn’t?” Lee asked, his voice sounding surprised. “Are you still in contact with them?”
“Fuck no!” I exclaimed, then lowered my voice. “No. Not since… no. My uncle tried to kill me,” I answered, my voice trailing off. I waited for the disbelief. Most people who had heard my story couldn’t seem to get past the concept that my uncle had tried to kill me. Some had accused me of lying. Others said I was just telling the story for attention. I was kind of tense, waiting to see what response I’d get from Lee.
“Shit…” Lee’s voice trailed off as he absorbed what I’d told him. “Youruncle…? I’m sorry, Mason.Fuck. Somehow saying ‘That sucks’ doesn’t seem to cover it.”
I exhaled a breath I didn’t realize I’d been holding. He believed me. Not everyone I'd shared my story with had.
