Page 55 of The Summer of ’98

He tried to smile but it was nothing more than a flinch in his lips. There and gone in the blink of an eye. It was sweet that he was so disappointed on my behalf—there was no denying how much my happiness meant to him—but I wanted to lift his spirits so that we could still salvage our evening together. Especially now that we were alone. For the remainder of the drive, we were quiet. Leroy held my hand, kissing my knuckles occasionally, but said nothing. I figured that he needed to process his thoughts and the argument with Noah, so I let him do so without interruption.

When we got back to the hotel room, Leroy switched on the lights and closed the curtains while I sat down on the edge of our bed and unlaced my combat boots.

“Mom and Dad do love Noah,” Leroy said suddenly, standing beside the benchtop where a little radio was tucked into the corner. He messed around with the buttons and tuning. “Just so we’re clear about that.”

“I know they do,” I said, leaning back on my palms. “When I went to Cass’s on Sunday, it was because your momma asked me to give you and Noah some time to hang out.”

Leroy looked at me, hand still on the dial as he chuckled. “I know. It was obvious.”

“Oh,” I laughed. “Well, maybe Noah is . . . I don’t know, jealous? Not of the attention but just . . . you and your accomplishments. He probably really admires you.”

“I think he was just dropped on his fucking head at birth,” Leroy muttered, settling on a station.

The song was “Sex And Candy” by Marcy Playground. I sang along, quiet and without a lot of thought. Leroy was watching me with adoration when I met his stare across the room. He leaned off the lip of the bench and sauntered toward me, offering me his hand when he stopped.

I took it. “What are we doing?”

“Dancing,” he wrapped his arm around my lower back and tugged me in close. “I have to admit, this is better than competing for space with a bunch of sweaty strangers.”

My head rested on his chest. “I agree.”

We moved together, our feet stepping in time to the beat. Leroy spun me out and then dipped me as if it was nothing, his large hand cradling my back. While suspended in air, he leaned in and pressed a kiss against my throat that was so soft it felt like a whisper. It sent a shot of chill right down my spine, and when he pulled me up to stand, I tiptoed to give him a kiss under his ear, right where I knew it would make him shiver. It had the desired effect.

“We should do this more often,” he said, his thumb making circles on my lower back, the sheer top so thin it didn’t block the sensation of his touch at all.

“Do what more often?”

“Be alone,” he said. “Time to ourselves. Quiet. It’s peaceful knowing that it’s just us.”

“I wonder what it’ll be like when we’re in Waco,” I thought aloud. “I wonder how it’ll change things.”

“It’ll be a good change,” Leroy said quickly. “I’ll have a dorm room and I’ll be getting a car. Noah gets the Benz. It’ll be just us. All the time.”

Fear crept forward and I leaned on his chest. “I’ll be at home, though. Momma has . . . old-school rules and values. I have a curfew and I can’t just do what I want, whenever I want. What if you—”

“Hey, hey,” Leroy pushed me back and cupped my face in his hands. “You sound worried. I know that things are different for us, I get it. That doesn’t matter to me. I’ll take what I can get, Els. And I’ll love you regardless of what time I have to drop you off at home.”

“It’s embarrassing, though. I’m not a child but I get treated like one.”

“Look, it doesn’t bother me—”

“It doesn’t right now—”

He held a finger to my lips. “Let me finish. But if it bothers you, talk to her. Your mom. Explain that you want the reins loosened. You’re a good woman, Ellie. You deserve to be trusted.”

“Girl,” I muttered.

“What?”

“How can I be a woman when I’m treated like a little girl?”

“I didn’t think it bothered you. The rules and all that.”

“I didn’t know it could be any different,” I said. “But I’ve seen how your family is, and I don’t want to keep being told I have to be home at ten. It’s barely dark at ten in the summer. Like, Noah has more freedom than I do, and he actually acts like a child.”

“You’re not wrong.”

“That was mean.” My hands ran over my face, causing Leroy’s to drop their hold. “Sorry.”

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