Red Sun (27 page)

             
“Is that supposed to help me sleep tonight?”

             
He cocked his head to the side.  “I caught it.  Why’re you still scared?”

             
I hugged myself protectively.  “Because…..what if there are more?”

             
“The traps under the sink should keep them out.”

             
“But what if there are already more inside that I just haven’t seen yet?”

             
Elan sighed, not because he was irritated, but because he was running out of ways to make me feel better.  “Do you want me to take you to Ruthann’s then?  I’m sure your dad won’t have a problem with that if you explain it to him.”

             
“Can’t.  She’s out with Lou, remember?  I don’t want to have her come all the way back home just to let me in her house.”  We both stood there and thought.             

             
“You could always come with me…”

             
I’d thought of that, but was deathly afraid of getting caught by my father.  It wasn’t that I’d never lied to him before, but I hadn’t lied to him
lately
– not about anything big anyway.  And staying the night at a guy’s house was definitely big.  I tapped my finger on my arm while I racked my brain for another option, but there wasn’t one.  I could’ve gone to Kaya’s, but her mother had been sick lately and I didn’t want to be in the way.  It seemed as if my only choice was to go with Elan.

             
“Just give me a sec to call my dad.  I’ll tell him about the mouse, but that I’m staying with Ruthann.”

             
Elan nodded and then went to wait for me in the truck while I made the call and gathered a few of my things.  My dad didn’t pick up so I left a message and told him where I’d be and just to call my cell if he needed anything.  I got my stuff and grabbed my pillow on the way out the door.  Making sure to turn out all the lights and lock the door, I stayed in the pathway of Elan’s headlights as I paced to the car.

             
The drive to his house gave me time to think.  Jolon was there, no doubt; Elan had just said before coming by that he was dropping him off at home.  What was he gonna think when he found out I was staying the night?  After what he thought he’d witnessed the day before, I could only imagine what he thought of me at this point.  I had to say something.

             
“If you think this could be…..difficult for your brother, maybe I should just try to stick it out at home.  I’m sure I’ll be fine.  Kaya was planning to stay with me anyway while my dad was gone.”

             
He shook his head.  “No, it’ll be fine.  He and I had a really long talk last night and I think everything’s cool now.  I mean…..he didn’t really talk so much, but he listened.  Of course he’s still not admitting to having any sort of feelings for you, but I think he knows that his actions are speaking louder than his words at this point.”

             
“But Elan, I just think that this might be a little too much for him – me staying there and all.  It’s kind of like rubbing salt in the wound.”

             
Elan shrugged.  “Invite your girl over then.  She’s already planning to hang out with you, so just tell her that you changed locations.”  He smiled.  “Besides, you know what they say: there’s no better way to get over someone than to get under someone else, right?”  I threw up in my mouth, but he kept talking.  “It’s been a long time since Jo’s gotten any.  Maybe that’s all he needs.”

             
I sighed at the thought of him and Kaya…..you know.

             
“Call her,” Elan suggested.  I tried to think of another excuse, but it seemed as if I was running out of them these days.  I thought about pretending to call and invite her, only to have her respectfully decline, but Elan would never buy that after seeing how crazy she is about his brother.  I thought about telling him just to take me home.  I even thought briefly about ruining Ruthann’s date to have her let me in her house just so I could stop this from happening.  But…..there really was no other way to do this without making him suspicious.

             
I called Kaya up and told her what the new plan was and she was all too willing to meet me at Elan’s house.  She barely heard a word I said after I mentioned Jolon’s name.  Elan smiled at her excitement – undoubtedly able to hear her through the phone.  Again, I had just thrown myself under the bus for the sake of someone else.  That was so not my style.

             
We made it to the house and sat in the living room alone for the first half hour until Kaya finally showed up.  It was clear to me that she’d gone back home, changed her outfit and did her hair and makeup.  She looked like she was about to go clubbing.  Elan looked at her strangely when he stepped aside to let her in.  He was wondering – like I was – what she was thinking.  I was wearing sweats and a tank top, Elan had on a black wife beater and gray sweats, and then there’s Kaya – booty shorts, halter top, and heels.  All I could do was shake my head.

             
“Have a seat,” Elan said, doing his best to hold back a laugh.  When she walked past he let it out a little without her hearing.  I looked up at her as she passed by me to get to the other couch.  When she caught me staring, she cocked her head to the side.

             
“What?”  She asked.

             
“Nothing.”  There were truly no words.

             
Elan sat beside me on the couch trying to keep a straight face.  We both did our best to focus on the TV.  About ten minutes passed before we even heard a sound from Jolon.  Elan had gone into his room when we first arrived to give him a heads up about both, my having to stay the night and Kaya coming to visit.  We knew he heard her arrive, but Elan suggested that we just give him a minute to come around. 

             
Kaya’s eyes lit up as soon as he stepped into the room.  Mine were glued to him too.  I took a deep breath and tried to prepare myself for having to watch him with her for the rest of the night – a task I was sure wouldn’t be fun
or
easy.  Jolon glanced over at me briefly and I think I was the only one who noticed it.  After that, he looked to Kaya. 

             
“Hey!”  Her flirtatious tone made me roll my eyes.  She’s one of those girls who lays it on real thick for a guy, almost becoming someone completely different.

             
“Hey,” he replied solemnly.  He looked at the chair over on the other side of the room and then at the spot beside Kaya.  For that fraction of a second, I had hope that he was going to choose to sit alone in the chair…..but then he made the first move that I did not expect – he sat close to her.

             
Inside, my subconscious was going off on a rant. 
What is he doing?  He doesn’t even like her!  Is he trying to get back at me? 
I could feel my chest heaving with exasperation.  Before Elan could notice, I calmed down and blocked out Jolon’s and Kaya’s presence from my mind completely.  It was as if only Elan and I were in the room.  That was how I had to look at it because I was in shock.  It wasn’t until I saw movement from them that I looked over again.  I gasped inwardly when I saw him leaning in so that Kaya could whisper something in his ear.  While she said whatever it was that she didn’t want anyone else to hear, she placed her hand on his thigh.  I was fuming; both because she was touching him and also because I cared even a little about what they were doing.

             
Elan kissed my shoulder lightly which brought my attention back to him.  “Hungry?”  He asked.

             
I shook my head no despite the fact that I hadn’t eaten since breakfast.  Truthfully, I
was
hungry, but I was in no mood to eat under the circumstances.  Elan was clueless as to what I was thinking or feeling, which was a good thing.  We sat there on the couch beside one another, with two totally different perceptions of the evening.  He thought of this as a double date.  I, on the other hand, thought of it as double torture.  Firstly, I felt terrible for making Jolon uncomfortable in any way; that was never my intention.  Secondly, I was becoming increasingly uncomfortable watching him with my girl – sitting there cuddled up like all was right in the world when it was anything but. 

             
From the corner of my eye, I watched them again, studying their body language.  I felt my heart sink when I realized that it wasn’t just Kaya who’d gotten comfortable.  Jolon had his arm draped loosely around her shoulders and he didn’t seem the slightest bit unnerved by her hand on his thigh.  In fact, he sat there wide-legged and leaned back as if he enjoyed her presence.  I looked down and took a deep breath.  Quite honestly, it served me right that this had happened.  If I had just backed away from them both from the beginning when I felt my heart leading me toward them equally, I would’ve saved us all a lot of trouble.  If I had listened to my head, Jolon and Kaya would’ve never hooked up, I wouldn’t be hurting his feelings, and I wouldn’t be facing the hurt to come when I had to go back home and leave Elan behind.

             
In the middle of our show, the TV, lights, and everything else turned off just as a huge rumble of thunder shook the house.  I jumped a little, prompting Elan to hold me tighter, and in my peripheral, I could see the two shadows on the other side of the room draw closer too.  That scared me more than the thunder.

             
“Well, there goes our movie night,” Elan complained.

             
“I don’t mind the darkness,” Kaya said, following a giggle.

             
Elan chuckled and then stood from the couch.  “I’ll grab some candles.  Be back in a sec.”

             
So, there I sat…..alone with Jolon and Kaya, making out or whatever it was they were doing while they completely ignored the fact that I was in the room.  All I could hear was her giggling and a little movement on the couch.  I sighed aloud a few times and then decided to go find Elan, leaving them behind to do…….whatever they were doing.

             
He was in his room rummaging around trying to find a lighter, or matches, for the candles.  “I swear I left it up here on the dresser,” he said quietly.

             
“Don’t worry about it;
they’re
not.”  I tried not to sound bitter.

             
He sighed.  “Good, ‘cause I can’t see a thing.”

             
I heard him walking toward me.  When he took my hand and closed his bedroom door, we went over to his bed and lay down.  There was absolutely no sound coming from the living room which was either a really good thing or a really bad thing; who knew which it was.

             
“Don’t worry; this isn’t a continuation of last night.  I just want you to chill with me.”

             
I smiled to myself.  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

             
He shrugged beside me.  “I don’t know.  I had a little time to think about it and I probably came on too strong before.”

             
This time I laughed aloud.  “What, you mean your naked ambush?  Nooooo…….what gave you that idea?”

             
Elan pushed me playfully.  “Whatever.  I wanted it and I guess I thought you did too.”

             
“Who said I didn’t?  The time just didn’t feel right to me.  That’s all.”

             
I could tell he was thinking.  “That stuff your friend told you about me?  You sure that didn’t have anything to do with why you stopped me?”

             
“Nope.”  I paused.  “I’m not gonna say that it doesn’t matter, but……in a way it doesn’t.  That was before me so I can’t take it personally, right?”

             
“Says the girl who’s only had one partner.”  He laughed a little.  “Wow…..that sounds crazy saying it out loud.  You’ve really only been with that one guy?”

             
I hit him on his arm.  “What, you think I was lying or something?  Yes, it was just Vince!”

             
“Just asking!”  He replied.  “You said you two broke up in like December, right?”             

             
“Yeah.”

             
“So, this is August…..which means it’s been, what eight, almost nine months since you’ve…..”

             
I smiled again.  “Is that really all that long?”  I asked.

             
“Maybe it’s just a guy thing…….but yeah.  That’s like a lifetime!”  We both laughed.  “I mean, don’t you ever……
want
to?”

             
“Up until now I didn’t really have anybody to even consider getting that close to.”

             
“Soooo…..why’d you stop me?”  He asked, coming right back to his original question like I figured he would.

             
I sighed.  “Sex is a bit overrated, don’t you think?”