Bending Under Pressure (26 page)

W
hile it shouldn’t be odd, having everything go back to normal with Cameron and Jess is a little odd. I’m not complaining though. It’s good that she’s let everyone off the hook with the silent treatment. I know Haley is happy to have her friend back. The school day passes before I know it, and I run out to the parking lot to catch Haley before she leaves for tennis practice.

“Hales,” I call out as she opens her car door. She turns with a smile. I come to a stop before her with a smile of my own and rest my hands on her hips, turning her to face me completely. “Want to come over after practice to do homework?”

“Sure. I’d be calling you to help me anyway. Science hates me.”

I grin. “Good thing it likes one of us.”

She laughs. “True. I need to go.”

“I want to kiss you,” I whisper. One would think that spontaneity is better, that surprising a girl with a kiss is the best way to go, but I disagree. At least in Haley’s case. She revels in the anticipation. The corners of her mouth lift only a little as she tries to suppress a smile and she swallows hard while she waits. She gives me the slightest of nods. I dip my head down, press my lips to hers, and enjoy how she leans into me.

Too soon, she’s pulling away with a smile. “I’ll see you later, Keelan.”

And I can’t wait.

A loud, shrieking of a whistle officially drags me away from her as Coach yells, “Moore, one minute before you’re running laps! Let’s go!”

I kiss her one more time, a quick peck of my lips, and say, “See ya, Hales,” before turning and jogging toward the weight room where I’ll change before practice. I finish just into time for Coach to demand we start our warm ups and laps. Our practice field isn’t really a field. Well, not a football field. It’s a large lot of a grass beside the school. Some of the equipment we use is there but that’s pretty much it.

We play our games at the local stadium a few miles away. This week’s game is an away game, but it’s a big one. If we lose, we also lose our ranking as the number one team in our division. Coach is determined to work us hard so we don’t drop to the second slot. I won’t say that the extra drills, extra laps, and extra thirty minutes in the weight room after practice is unnecessary, but I will say it’s exhausting.

Somehow, I have to go home, shower, and then do homework. I perk up some at the thought that homework will be with Haley. If I don’t fall asleep in the shower first. Cam tells me he’s going to Jess’s, surprise, surprise. What does surprise me is that neither Mom and Dad are home when I get there.

There’s a note on the fridge that they were invited out to dinner with some of their friends and we’d have to fend for ourselves. I laugh to myself when I see Mom added a P.S. that she would bring home pizza if needed. I’ll fix myself a sandwich after a shower. Haley will be here soon. I would’ve had more time, but with Coach holding practice late, I’m short on it.

I quickly shower, dress, and am hurrying down the stairs when the doorbell dings. I jog to the door and swing it open. A grin pops onto my face.

“Hey, Hales.” I step aside, so she can come in.

“Hey. How was practice?”

“I think Coach is trying to kill us.” She laughs. “You?”

“Coach Spell likes us. It went well.”

“Mind if I fix me a sandwich? I haven’t eaten yet.” Haley shakes her head, so I lead her into the kitchen. “Think we’ll be able to do our homework in my room?” For once, I’m thinking about Haley and my bed in the same thought and none of it is tainted. I’m tired and would rather lie down and be comfortable while we do it than have to sit at the kitchen table.

“I think so,” Haley agrees.

“Sweet.” I grab my sandwich, hand Haley two cans of soda, and then grab my book bag from the kitchen table where I dropped it when I got home. We go upstairs and to my room, me devouring my ham and cheese sandwich on the way there.

“I don’t know if I should be a bit impressed or worried that you ate it that fast,” Haley laughs softly.

“Impressed,” I decide for her.

We set up our textbooks and other materials at the foot of my bed. Haley climbs on first and lies on her stomach. I follow her.

“Science isn’t your strong suit, huh?”

“Nope. Give me math or literature any day over science.” She sighs, giving me a glimpse into how much the subject frustrates her.

We begin filling out the basic information on our worksheet like our name and date and period. “Well, let’s get it over with, so we can do something more fun.”

A flush of pink fills her cheeks. I wasn’t specifically talking about anything, but it makes me really happy that her mind went to the gutter. Our teacher gave us a two-page worksheet, front and back. We silently get started,;Haley stops me every so often for me to help her figure something out. I finish first and start spouting off the answers in an attempt to get her to copy them.

Haley giggles. “Stop it. How am I going to learn it if you keep telling me the answers?”

“Because you know he’s going to review it before a test. You can learn it then.” I trail a finger from her shoulder blade to her spine and then down her back.

She shoots me a dirty look. “No. I don’t like cheating.”

“You’re one of those girls, huh?”

“Yep, I don’t want to do all the work and hand it over to someone else, but also because I’m scared to death of getting caught.”

Her shirt rose up when she shifted under my touch, so I brush my knuckles over the bare skin on her lower back. I must give her credit for mostly ignoring me. There’s been a shift in her breathing, it’s more controlled and cautious, but it’s there. The weather has dropped, so she’s in a hoodie. No skin for me to kiss aside from that showing on her lower back and I can’t do that. Haley would freak out on me; I just know it.

She clears her throat and sits up, removing her hoodie. She must be getting hot. I grin.

“What’s the smile for, Keelan?”

“Nothing at all, Hales. Need any help?” I scoot closer to her. We’re now shoulder to shoulder, hip to hip, and leg to leg. She turns her head to answer, but I lean over and kiss her softly. Her lips are already parted, and I push my tongue into her mouth, feeling as if it’s been forever since we’ve made out. While Haley isn’t ready for more, I don’t think she has a problem with kissing. The weariness in my bones fades into the background. I want to kiss her. A lot. For a long time.

Haley has other ideas. “You’d be helpful if you didn’t do that yet,” she chides playfully.

“Yet. So...once you’re finished?”

“Maybe,” she shrugs, turning her attention back to the worksheet. At least she’s on the last part.

“Maybe? Are you saying you don’t wanna kiss me, Hales?” I begin dragging my fingertips over her back again, barely brushing over the cloth of her shirt. A shiver runs through her, making me grin.

“I’m saying I’ll have to think about it,” she quips. “Or you’ll have to convince me why I’ll want to.”

Oh, that sounds like fun.

“Because you like me,” I begin my list. “Because you like kissing me. Because I’m good at it.” She laughs at that. I lower my voice, leaning closer toward her. “Because knowing you’re going to kiss me the moment you finish that last question excites you.”

She drops her pencil, officially done. I reach for her hand, so we can move our heads to the other side of the bed. We lie on our sides. Haley’s eyes dart over my face, waiting. Her breathing has already hitched, and all I’ve done is rest a hand on her hip, my thumb moving back and forth underneath her shirt.

“Well?” she breathes.

“I said you were gonna kiss me, Hales. Not the other way around.”

Her eyes widen, but otherwise she shows no emotion. She loves the anticipation. I want to see how long she’ll draw it out to up the ante and the hype she’s building in her head. She wiggles closer until our bodies are pressed together. One of her hands comes to rest on my chest, her eyes dropping there for a moment.

Haley presses her forehead against mine. God, this was a terrible idea. She’s going to kill me before she kisses me! Her breath is hitting my lips. She’s so close and yet so far; I’m trying my hardest not to just close the distance and kiss her. Our lips are
right there
. My tongue darts out of my mouth to swipe across my lower lip. I groan and squeeze her hip when I brush over her mouth. That’s how close she is to me.

“Keelan?” she whispers.

“Yeah, Hales?”

“Feeling crazy yet?”

I chuckle. “Insane.”

She smiles. “Good. Now you know how I feel when I’m around you.”

Before I can respond, her mouth is on mine. She really is driving me insane. This kiss is hard and fast and
hot
. It’s so unlike Haley that it throws me for a loop. But for only a second. We shift so she’s on her back, and I’m hovering over her. She links her hands together at the base of my neck to hold me in place, as if I’d dream of leaving this slice of heaven.

I can tell the exact moment she feels just how much I’m enjoying this kiss because our mouths go from sliding harshly against one another like we’re going to die in thirty seconds to gliding in slow motion like we have a lifetime. One hand has my fingers locked into her hair while its connecting elbow holds me up, but my other moves up her side, pulling her shirt up a little. My fingertips dig into her skin. I’m dying,
dying
to feel bare skin, but the last thing I want is to give her a reason to pull away from me. This will have to do for now. My fingers move up her side, down again, over the half of her stomach that isn’t covered by mine, and repeat.

But then, Haley shatters my willpower.

She shifts against me, her leg, in between mine, brushes against me as mine rubs against her.

I groan. Just as I’m about to fuel my scrap of willpower and self-control into a kiss, I hear a throat clearing behind me in a loud, clear, “Ahem.”

Quickly pulling away from Haley, who scoots away from me, I roll over to see my mother standing in the doorway.

“I think it’s time for Haley to head home,” she says evenly in her authoritative teacher tone. Shit. I’m in trouble.

“Yes, ma’am.” I expect her to walk away, but she doesn’t. Haley and I stand, and I pick up her textbook and worksheet, which apparently fell onto the floor. How did we not hear that? After I hand them to her, she stuffs them into her bag. “I’ll walk you out,” I tell her quietly.

Mom follows us downstairs, Dad shaking his head when he sees us, but thankfully, Mom doesn’t join us outside.

Haley laughs through her embarrassment. “How did I do a walk of shame without committing the part that causes the shame?”

I laugh. “I’m sorry.”

“Think you’ll get in trouble?”

“A good lecture at the very least.” I take a step closer to kiss her cheek and whisper, “If they ground me, I’ll either sneak out to see you or sneak you in.”

The tension leaves her shoulders as she relaxes and laughs. “You’ll get caught one of these days.”

“It’ll be worth it. I figured as long as it’s not dangerous,” she gives me a pointed look, clearly thinking of the races, “and I’m not actually committing the part that causes for shame, they won’t be too mad with me,” I finish. My parents want me happy and healthy. As long as I don’t do something stupid, knock a girl up, and keep my grades good, there won’t be much to complain about. Although, Haley does seem to lure me into situations where I keep getting caught. It’s kind of hard to be the good kid when I keep getting in trouble.

“Well, let me know. Thanks for helping me.”

“Any time. Kiera is coming this weekend, so I’ll see what I can do about a race on Friday.”

Haley tilts her head. “Don’t want to introduce your sister to that?”

“No,” I reply firmly. “Text me later.”

She nods and then she’s gone. How can I be the good big brother if I take my baby sister to a race on a back road? No way is that happening. I hurry back into the house to prevent my parents from being able to stew over what Mom walked in on.

Guilt shoots through me when I see she brought home pizza. The least I could’ve done was make sure I heard them come home, so she wouldn’t catch me making out with my girlfriend.

“You get one point for leaving the door open,” Mom begins as I grab a slice of pizza. “You know we don’t want you having sex, Keelan.”

I groan. “Mom, I’m eating,” I complain. “And we weren’t having sex.” Now that would’ve been mortifying, having Mom walk in on that.

“Sounded like you were about to get carried away.” Her words make me flinch, and I wonder if I’m going to be able to finish my pizza.

“I know what you’re going to say, and I hear you loud and clear. Haley and I aren’t having sex. Can we be done talking about this now?”

“We discussed it,” Dad begins and I immediately want to ask when. I was outside for like two minutes. “We don’t want you here with Haley by yourself. Between us finding you two sleeping in the hammock after you snuck out in the middle of the night to bringing her over here after an argument with her mom and this, I can’t say we trust you when she’s involved.”

My hand freezes midway to my mouth, my slice of pizza with it. “Come on, you can’t be serious. I think the key word there was
sleeping
and she was here for my help with her science homework,
which we did
. Making out with her can’t seriously be why she can’t come over without y’all here.”

“Our house, our rules,” he answers simply. “Someone needs to be there if you go to her house, too. Don’t make us have to start verifying with her parents either.”

I want to argue, but I know better. “Yes, sir.”

“We do like Haley,” Mom says. “But your behavior when she’s in the picture is what worries us. That’s all.” She squeezes my shoulder and kisses my head. “We love you.”

“Love y’all too.”

They leave me to finish my pizza. My behavior? Aside from today and the hammock incident, what have I done? Nothing that I can think of! Nothing that they would know anyway. After a while, my mulling turns into guilt. Guilt at making them worry over me. Guilt for not hiding what I am doing better. I want to be the best damn kid they could ask for. I don’t want to be a hassle, burden, or anything other than a reason for them to smile, be proud of me, and not regret adopting me.