True Connection (The Soul Mate Series) (17 page)

             
“I’ve always wanted to be a lawyer, fight for justice and help people who need help,” he shrugs, and I can tell he’s embarrassed, without even checking his emotions.

I prop my elbows on his chest and lean on them so I can look in his eyes. “That’s admirable,” I smile. “The world needs more people who aren’t just in it to make money,” I shrug.

He smiles, with a hint of a blush. I haven’t seen him like this. It makes him more attractive.

He raises a brow. “I think we need to get some sleep,” he says.

I nod. “G’nite.”

“Night, sleep well,” he whispers.

I snuggle closer to him and rest my head on his chest, so I can hear his heartbeat. My eyelids get heavier as his heart sings me a lullaby, and he runs his fingers through my hair.

I feel at peace, comfortable, and relaxed. Three things I truly haven’t experienced for a while now, in fact, I’m not sure that I’ve ever felt just like this.

As I start to drift off, I think I hear him whisper something, but I’m too far gone to focus on anything but the vibrations in his chest.

My final thought before sleep wraps around me like a snuggie, is falling asleep in his arms is my new favorite feeling.

***

As I get dressed, the scent of brewing coffee filters up the stairs, forcing me to hurry and drags me down to the kitchen.

              “Good morning, Beautiful!” Henry greets me with a bagel slathered in cream cheese.

             
I greedily accept and walk over to the coffee pot. “Hey, Stud! How’d you sleep?” Leland comes over and steals a bite of my bagel. I smack at him, and he winks.

             
“Pretty poorly but don’t worry, I’m on my second pot of coffee. Barry, too.” Henry laughs.

             
“It’s a half day today. Does Miss Jaynie need to show?” Leland asks, sounding sleepy.

             
“I have a date with Seth after school,” I say, and can’t stop the goofy grin that splits across my face.

             
Henry glares at me for a second before responding to Leland. “Barry and I will be here right after school, so we can watch him.”

             
Barry puts his phone down on the table. “Athan said not to worry about the classes you share with Derik.”

             
“It’s just art and lunch. You all are with me at lunch so it doesn’t matter, and Skeeter is with me in Art,” I remind him.

             
“Yes, Skeeter is Amaranthine. But she’s not sixteen yet,” he retorts. I hadn’t thought about that. “Sam will be attending your art class for a few weeks. If he has to, he said he can drag it out ‘til the end of the school year. Don’t let anyone know that you know him or recognize him,” Henry laughs at the face I make, and Barry ignores it completely. How am I supposed to pull off not knowing who he is? “What are you and Pretty Boy up to this afternoon?”

             
“You know, I think you can start using his name now. I know he’s pretty, well, hot, but I’m beginning to think, you think he’s pretty. I don’t want to be a jealous girlfriend or anything…” I leave my comment hanging as Henry chokes on his cereal.

             
“Fine,” Barry grumbles. “What do you and
Seth
have planned?”

             
“Hmmm…who is asking, the protector wolf, the body guard, the friend, or my brother’s jerk friend?”

             
Barry shrugs. “A little of each I guess. Honestly Jaz, just put me and my wolf at ease and give me a location,” he says in annoyance.

             
“Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,” I say without missing a beat.

             
Barry throws a crumpled napkin at me. “Not funny.”

             
“Oh, fine. We’re gonna stop some place for lunch, then go to the Carnegie Museum of Art. I should be home before dinner,” I smile.

             
Barry blows out a breath and grins. “Thanks,” he says, and ruffles my hair.

I growl at him as he laughs and jogs out of the room.

***

“So, where would you like to eat?” Seth asks while we walk to his car.

              “Since we’re going to the Carnegie, why don’t we eat at Apollo’s?” I suggest.

             
“Sounds good,” he says with a smile. “How did Sam do today? He didn’t out you, did he?”

             
I laugh. “No, he didn’t out me. He gained a few admirers, which Skeeter pretended to be one.” I giggle, thinking of her pissing off the other girls by batting her lashes and keeping him near our table with all her fake questions. “She’s really good at pretending to not know him.”

             
Seth nods as we climb into his car. “She likes to try to embarrass him.”

I figure I may as well start up our little question game. “Do you have any crazy ex-girlfriends I should know about?” I know we’re young, but we are in high school, and he’s gorgeous.

              “No, I’ve had a crush on a girl before and girls have made it known they are interested in me, but I never dated anyone,” he says.

I wonder who his first kiss was, but it’s not my turn. So I just smile and wait for him to ask me a question.

He taps the steering while he asks, “What are some of your favorite things?”

“Uh…” I mumble as my mind turns in circles. I tell him as many favorites I can think of - coffee, summer rain, reading, and fleece blankets in the winter. We continue asking each other questions along the way.

It’s nice getting to know him like this. He had a good idea with this version of twenty questions. If I were to try to tell him about myself, it would be like grasping for straws. Some of the questions he asked me, I actually had to think hard about.

             
After a delicious lunch at Apollo’s, we head to the museum.

As soon as we walk through the door, I feel like I’ve walked into heaven. This place is one of my favorite places.

              “I can see your work being in here one day,” Seth whispers, as we pass some paintings.

             
“I wish,” I mumble.

I let my imagination run a bit wild, despite my doubts. To have my artwork loved and cherished enough to have any of it in here, or another museum for that matter, would be an amazing accomplishment.

We pass an oddly shaped sculpture and I stop to examine and admire it. It almost reminds me of an angel’s wings shielding a child. But it’s all lines and angles. It could be a strange design for an elevator for all I know.

             
I’ll stick with the protection idea.

             
Protection.

             
Maybe I don’t give Barry and the guys enough credit. They are protecting me. I don’t have to like everything they say or do, but I suppose I should give them all the same chance.

             
“What are you thinking about?” Seth asks, interrupting my epiphany.

             
“That I need to thank a few people,” I answer shyly.

He releases my hand to put his arm around my shoulders and pulls me close to his side. I lean into him and put my arm around his waist.

We continue walking through the museum, and pass an elderly couple holding hands, and looking happy to be in each other’s company. They smile to us as we cross their path, and the old man winks. I blush and drop my hand from Seth’s waist, embarrassed. Seth looks down to me and smiles, before picking up my hand and lacing our fingers.

Sooner than I wanted, we are exiting the museum and slowly walking to the car.

              “What was your favorite piece?”

             
“I really love that sculpture of the angel, but I enjoyed the Egyptian sculpture, too. Oh, and that painting of the fall trees, too,” I giggle. “I could go on and on. It was perfect Seth.”

             
“I…” he starts but hesitates. “Thank you for making this a special experience for me. It was my first time here.”

             
My jaw drops. After a second, I swallow my surprise. “If I would’ve known it was your first time, I would’ve insisted we take the tour. I love this place.” I smile up to him and look into his eyes.

             
“Next time,” he says. “I enjoyed watching your amazement,” he whispers and pulls me into his embrace.

He gives me a quick peck that leaves me pouting and opens my door. By the time we get back on the interstate, we pick up the questioning. I had just asked him about the places he’s lived and visited, when my phone starts ringing.

I glance to the screen and see it’s my brother. “One sec,” I say to Seth, and answer my phone. “Hey, Stud!”

             
Henry laughs. “Hey, Beautiful! Where you guys at?”

             
“On our way back, why?” I answer.

             
“Skeeter and the guys are here, and we wanted to know if Seth wanted to hang out, instead of just dropping you off. He’s gonna be comin’ back anyway. We’re gonna watch a movie or something, and Barry ordered a couple pizzas.”

             
I can see how his logic makes sense, so I relay the message to Seth.

             
“Sure, we’ll swing by my house real quick. Tell him we should be there in about twenty minutes,” Seth says with a smile.

             
I nod to Seth. “Sure Henry. We’ll see you in about twenty.”

             
“’K. Love ya.”

             
“Love you, too,” I say, and I put my phone back in my pocket.

Seth chuckles.

              “What?” I ask him.

             
“You and Henry are so weird,” he says through his laughter.

Those words put a dose of ice through my veins. Psycho Sammy, Alex’s mom, used those words to describe my mom and uncle. My foot starts shaking as I bite my tongue, in an attempt to quash the growing unpleasant feelings.

              “Where I’ve visited and lived,” he says, reminding me of my question before Henry called. “You already know I’ve been to Greece.” He looks at me sideways before continuing. “My family vacations mostly along the East Coast. We went to Colorado before, but Mom wasn’t real thrilled about being in the middle of nowhere for long. We lived in New York when I was little, and before we moved here, we lived in Virginia.” I just nod. I don’t really trust my voice at the moment. “Do you go to all of your uncle’s games?”

             
“Just home games, mostly,” I say flatly.

I’m trying desperately to curb my emotions, but I’m certain it’s a failed attempt.

We pull into the driveway of a brick rancher. “Do you want to come in and say hi? I just need a few things,” Seth says quietly.

             
“No thanks,” I say, without looking at him.

I can feel him hesitate, but after a bit he gives up and walks into the house, leaving me with my grim thoughts.

Seriously?

             
I punch my thigh in frustration.

I know Henry and I are weird. It’s just how we are, who we are.

Why am I acting like a brat towards Seth, just because he said we’re weird?

I’m pretty sure he didn’t mean anything other than simply,
we are weird
. We just are who we are.

He hasn’t tried, or asked me, to change anything.

I groan and slam my head backwards into the headrest. I’m just going to ignore that moment of stupidity. I need to talk to him as soon as he comes out.

I stare at the door and wish I would’ve just gone in with him.

              The door pulls inward and Seth emerges with a duffle bag in hand. He jogs to the car and turns the radio on after depositing his bag on the backseat.

The music isn’t so loud it hurts your head, but it’s loud enough to indicate there will be no talking.

We arrive at my house quick enough and walk silently to the porch. Just before the porch steps, he drops our bags on the ground, grabs my hand and tugs me around the side of the house. We walk down to the lake and sit on the bank, silently.

I’m ashamed with myself. I did this. My stupid brain creates messes on its own. I keep my eyes fixated on the water and wait.

              After a few minutes, he sighs. “Jazzy, look at me,” he pleads. I raise my eyes to meet his. “Are you mad at me?” he asks, and scrutinizes my face.

             
I shake my head, “No.”

             
“Did I do something wrong?”

             
I slouch and let my shoulders sag. “No,” I answer honestly. By the look on his face, my reaction earlier affected him. I miss seeing his confident smile.

             
“What happened? You’re trying to shut me out,” He shakes his head.

             
I open and shut my mouth a few times, unsure of how to start. “It was stupid,” I shift my gaze back to the water. “It was something you said, and I got lost in my head for a bit,” I chew my bottom lip.

             
“What was it? What did I say?”

I sigh. “You said Henry and I are weird,” I whisper.

              He snorts. “It’s the truth,” I glance at him and see he looks confused. As soon as I notice his confusion, he suddenly has that light-bulb look. “You do know that even though I think you guys are weird, I wouldn’t want you to change your relationship with him. Is that what you’re worried about?”

I look down at our linked hands, ashamed. “I know it’s stupid, but in my defense, while you were in your house, at I made the decision to forget about it.” I glance towards his eyes again. “At first, I thought about how Leland’s ex said that about him and Mom,” I look out over the water with a scowl. “But the more I thought about it, the stupider I felt,” I shake my head and gaze into his crystal green eyes. “You’re not nasty, and you haven’t said anything that would make me think you wanted to distance Henry and me.” I try to form an apology, but words fail me. I didn’t mean to lump him with my uncle’s ex. Just, his words brought back the anger she evoked.

              He smiles and touches his thumb to my cheek. “I know,” he whispers. “Do me a favor?”

             
I lean into his touch and smile. “What’s that?”

             
“Don’t keep anything from me,” he sighs. “I know eventually it’ll be next to impossible, but please don’t shut me out,” he pleads. “I like that you’re weird. I like that you and your brother are strange, and almost inseparable. I wouldn’t change a single thing about you.” He smiles my favorite, knee-knocking smile that lights the gold flecks in his eyes and makes it seem like they’re glowing.

“Okay,” I whisper.

He leans toward me, and I meet him half way. His hand stays on my cheek, enticing tingles, as his lips move against mine. Our kiss is cut off, again, by the sound of the sliding glass door banging open. Simultaneously, we turn to see my brother, Tony, and Flynn jump off the deck and run towards us, each sporting a super soaker.

We jump to standing position, and I look for an escape path. A shiver crawls through me as I realize the only escape is jumping in the lake or running directly to the boys with squirt guns.

              “The jig is up fool!” Henry shouts, trying to sound like a “gangsta.” “Hand off my sista and no one gets hurt!” He points his super soaker at Seth, and I roll my eyes.

             
“Nevuh! I’ll nevuh let her go!” Seth shouts, sounding equally lame.

             
“Why don’t you let her make that decision, punk? Or are you scared she won’t choose you?” Flynn asks.

             
“She can make her decision, but what will you do when she chooses me over you?” Seth fires back.

             
I groan. I’m surrounded by cheese heads.

             
“What’ll it be, Princess?” Tony puts me on the spot with his gun aimed at me. “Come with us, or watch your boy toy go down in a puddle?” He scrunches his face, and I have to bite the inside of my lip to keep from laughing hysterically, because his face resembles Alex’s poop face.

             
I swallow my laughter. If I play along, maybe I can come out unscathed. “Oh, what ever shall I do?” I ask dramatically, in my best “damsel in distress” voice.

             
“Just to help make your decision, these guns are locked and loaded with the most lethal pop on the planet,” Henry pauses for dramatic effect. “Diet cola,” he says, and pumps the soaker for good measure.

             
“Why didn’t you say that to begin with?” Seth shouts and shoves me toward Henry,
the traitor
! At the same time Seth shoves me, Henry pulls the trigger, spraying me right in the face with, yup, diet pop.

Tony and Flynn let loose on Seth, who runs towards me and yanks us both behind Henry, making them squirt each other.

Seth and I just look at each before backing away from them, heading towards the deck. They don’t seem to notice so we turn and run.

I glance over my shoulder in time to see Tony notice our escape, and they chase us, squirting at our backs. I get up the steps first and run through the door, shoes squeaking towards the bathroom.

If I’m going to get them back, I have to do this right.

Thinking on my toes like my dad taught me, I grab five towels, one for each of us, and the baby powder bottle from the shelf. I dump baby powder on three of the five towels and then wrap a clean one around my neck.

I peek out through the door to see them laughing and talking on the deck. So I sneak down the hallway without being seen, to find Barry and Skeeter.

             
Hearing Alex giggling from the rec room, I yell down to them. “Hey!”

A few seconds tick by and Barry and Skeeter holding Alex, come to the bottom of the steps. They both smile, which falters a little at the sight of me. Yeah, I know, I look horrible. I already feel sticky.

              “Uh, what happened to you?” Barry asks with a wolfish grin on his face.

             
“The drowned-rat look? Definitely out,” Skeeter says with a laugh.

             
“We were hit with soda soakers, but I have powder towels,” I raise the three towels. “Grab a camera!” I holler, then dart towards the deck. Skeeter and Alex come out as I quietly hand Seth the clean towel, and the guys grab the others from my arm.

             
“Who was the mastermind?” Skeeter laughs.

             
“Me.” Flynn whoops out with a huge shit-eating-grin on his face. He swipes the towel across his face, leaving behind streaks of white powder. I’ve no clue how they can’t smell the baby powder.

Skeeter sets Alex on the floor of the deck and nearly doubles over in laughter. “You all are…” she pauses for a breath. “Bee food!” she shakes her head.

I look around to the guys. They each have streaks of white powder on their faces or in their hair. I have to bury my face in my towel to hide most of my giggles.

             
Skeeter pulls herself together and whips out her phone. “Alright guys, bunch together. I want a picture before you bring the bees down on us!” she pinches her lips together as her shoulders shake again.

I stand between Henry and Seth, as Flynn and Tony stand behind us. After she clicks a few pictures, Barry comes trotting out the door, camcorder in hand.

              “Hey, Flynn!” Barry announces. “You got shit on your face,” he laughs.

Flynn groans and swipes the side of his face with the towel, leaving behind more white powder.

Tony points and laughs. That’s when he notices a streak of white on his arm. “She got us back!”

             
“You powdered my towel, too, didn’t cha?” Henry asks. I nod. “Did I not tell you she’d get us back?” He laughs and hangs the towel over the banister.

             
“I knew coming over here would be better than sittin’ at home, watchin’ the tube,” Skeeter says.

             
Seth tilts his head my way. “How’s my towel?”

             
“Clean,” I smile and kiss his sticky cheek.

After we all clean up, we watch movies and play games in the living room until we all just crash out on the floor or couch.

***

Standing in the driveway, staring at my old house, the memories bombard me, making it impossible to shut my brain off.

One day, very soon, I won’t be able to walk through this door and smell the scent of home.

Henry walks the three steps to my side, puts his arm around me and kisses the top of my head as I lean on him.

Flynn coughs.

Pulling away from Henry, I take a deep breath and go unlock the door.

I breathe in the scent of home and make my way to the kitchen, not paying attention to knick-knacks, photos, or anything at all.

Skeeter and I start the coffee and prepare Gatorade and iced tea. We hear the guys thump up and down the stairs to the basement. Skeeter’s eyebrows rise with how much noise they are making.

“Henry’s weight bench is down there,” I say, as I stir the last jug of Gatorade.

She nods. “Is that going to your uncle’s or getting sold?”

“Leland said they can add it to his weight room,” I say.

“Gotcha,” she says. She puts the jugs in the fridge and starts pulling out the condiments from the shelves, checking the expiration dates. “Hey, Henry said you haven’t been in your dad’s office since they passed away,” she says, as she chucks the jar of mayo in the trash. I nod. “I’m here if you need me. I’ll go with you if you want.” She shoots me a small smile, and I nod and smile back.

I grab some bags and boxes, and Skeeter follows me up to my room. There really isn’t much left in there, since I took most of it when we left for Leland’s, but it needs to be done.

Skeeter and I start pulling my books from the bookcase and load up four boxes. Yep, nerd, that’s me.

Seth comes in and grabs a box already labeled to go to Leland’s. On his way out, he blows me a kiss and then goes cross eyed before nodding at Skeeter. I giggle, I can’t help it.

             
Skeeter sits on my rocking chair and chuckles at me before shaking her head. “Don’t take this the wrong way, Jazzy, but I always thought I’d feel bad for the girl that got stuck with Seth.” My mouth pops open, and she rolls her eyes. “I’ve known Seth since we were little. Our parents are close. We vacationed together and stayed close through moves. Seth was always chill, but he rarely got worked up or excited. He’s always been dull, usually just seemed bored with everything while keeping his hotness and sweetness.” I put down the stack of CDs I was going to sort and give her my full attention. “He’s weird,” she raps her knuckles on the arm of the rocker as she glides back and forth. “You bring out the best in that boy,” she smiles. “I have never seen him smile so much, and he gets so worked up over you. It’s amazing to watch. It’s like,” she pauses. “Getting to know a whole new Seth,” she says with a grin.

             
I take a minute to process this.

From the moment I met Seth, he was far from
dull
. He was mysterious, strange even.

I plunk a CD case into the empty box in front of me.

He is definitely sweet, totally hot, but never dull.

I crack open a CD case, it’s empty so I toss it in the trash bag.

He is how he is
today,
because of me? Adventurous, fierce, fun.

No, it’s not me. It’s our bond. Being connected just polished what was already there.

The last three CD’s I toss into the box and face Skeeter with a smile. “Thanks.” I remember a few of the comments regarding Skeeter and her joking ways. “No wonder you are the way you are! If Seth was that boring, I’d have to stir up trouble, too!” I laugh and toss a stuffed animal at her.