Page 6 of Run to Me
Growing more curious, I approach the bed. “Is it something embarrassing?”
He shakes his head, his brown curls bouncing. “Nope. Just something I don’t think anyone would understand but me and you.”
“Hmm. Well now I want to open it before dinner.” I sit down beside him and he bumps me with his leg. Small rips cover his dark jeans, and as he lifts himself higher on his elbows, his stomach becomes fully exposed below his pink crop top. He’s been wearing them a lot more lately. His style has drastically changed over the last year and I find it more fitting. His dad, on the other hand, keeps hoping it’ll be a phase that ends soon.
“Too bad.” He sticks out his pink tongue. “You’ll have to be patient.”
I thought I was good at waiting until Nate made me eager for everything—to see my first movie in theaters, play at the arcade, go on rides at the carnival, and for something as simple as a birthday gift.
“Fine,” I breathe out, shooting him a glare. “We’re still going to ride the Ferris wheel later, right?”
“Yup.” His face lights up. Whenever I wake up from a bad nightmare, I think of moments like this, replacing the angry and scared faces with his. If only I could stop seeing them. They continue to haunt me and I worry they always will. Especially the last man my dad took. His tears, bloody face, and convulsingbody are still fresh in my mind, almost as if they happened yesterday.
“Need a major distraction?” he asks, almost as if he can read my mind.
I nod. “Always.” He bounces on the bed and grabs the pillow.
“What are you doing?”
“Giving you what you need with a pillow fight.” He whacks me on the shoulder, laughing.
My heart warms at the wonderful sound and I grab another pillow. We knock each other around the bed, laughing, and end up on the floor with me on top of his smaller body.
“Get off me. I can’t breathe.” He laughs harder and I tickle his sides before rolling onto the space beside him.
“Who’ll be at the dinner?” I ask, trying to catch my breath.
“Mom, Dad, me, you, and the grandparents. Oh, and Aunt Tracy. Not sure whether she’s bringing her killjoy of a husband, but Rachel and Andy are most likely coming. Hopefully they’ll actually sit down and eat this time instead of playing tag around the restaurant.”
I blow out a longer breath. “Will you sit next to me?” I turn my face toward him.
He smiles and grabs my hand. “Duh. If you don’t want to go, we can always make something up. Say you’re sick.”
I shake my head, looking back at the ceiling. “No. I’ll go. What could be so bad about having dinner with my family on my birthday? Besides, I’m mostly going for the lobster.”
“Me too, and I guess I can also help you celebrate turning sixteen while I’m there.” He grins from ear to ear.
We’re all at the restaurant enjoying dinner in between small talk until our evening goes from decent to bad in a matter of minutes. One of my little cousins chooses to sit beside me and show me his game. We’re having fun, collecting mushrooms, until my aunt yanks him away from me, pointing a finger in my face to stay away from her son. She was so focused on her wine and arguing with her husband that it took her a while to notice her son had switched seats.
“Go sit with your dad, sweetie.” She shoves my cousin to the other end of the table before looking back at me with her whole face tensing. “You stay away from my son. Who’s to say you can be trusted around children. Don’t think I haven’t heard about you trying to drug Nate.”
“Tracy, not here,” my mom warns.
“I think you need to leave before things get further out of hand than they already have,” Terry says and he gets up to whisper in Nate’s ear, sliding something into his hand before signaling to our waiter.
My mom and Tracy end up in a full-blown argument and people from nearby tables start staring our way. I bury my face in my hands, wishing the floor would swallow me whole, and then a hand squeezes my arm. “I think there’s a roller coaster calling your name not far from here. How about we answer it?”
I open my eyes and Nate pulls my face toward his so I don’t see anything else but him. “What do you say?”
“Just the two of us?”
He smiles softly. “Just the two of us.”
We rise from our chairs and I don’t look at anything but him as we make our way out of the restaurant. My mom’s and aunt’s voices disappear behind us the closer we get to the exit. Once outside, I relax a little, breathing in the night’s fresh air before following Nate to our parents’ car.
“What are we doing?” I ask, my hand freezing on the passenger door handle.
“Getting out of here. Dad gave me his keys and said they’d find another way home.” He gets into the car and I follow him, strapping into my seat belt once I’m sitting comfortably beside him.
