My Summer of Firsts

Chapter 14 - Boyfriend Troubles

Elian arrived at the trailer shortly before eight. When I opened the door, he was holding a bouquet of sunflowers. He looked rather dashing in a pale pink button-down with the sleeves rolled up to the elbow and a pair of tattered jeans. It was all I could I do not to grab him by the neck and pull him into a kiss.

I scrunched my forehead. "Are those for me?"

"They're for your mom." he said.

"You don't have to suck up to her." I whispered, stepping aside to allow him inside. I closed the door behind him. "She's already in love with you."

He removed his other hand from behind his back, producing a single red rose. "And how about you?"

Was he asking if he needed to suck up to me, or if I was in love with him?

The answer to the first was a definite no. He didn't need to do anything for me to want him.

The second part was more complicated. How did one know if they were in love, if they'd never been in love before? Could someone know a feeling and name it if they never experienced it?

I bit my lip and took the rose. I raised the bloom up to my nose to sniff it. The petals were soft and cool against my skin. "Thank you."

I held the flower out to brush it across his cheek.

He pushed the flower away and leaned in to kiss the side of my mouth.

Mom walked out of her bedroom, on the other side of the kitchen, wearing gray trousers and a blue silk blouse. She'd been trying to cook and get dressed simultaneously for the last half hour.

An hour ago, she ran into the house, her hair a mess. She carried an armload of groceries into the kitchen and frantically started pulling pots and pans from the cabinets. I asked where she'd been, but she just waved me off and said, "I lost track of time." Then she demanded that I clean the living room.

When Elian knocked, she ran into her bedroom to finish getting ready.

"Oh! Elian." She rested a hand on her chest and gasped, feigning shock. "I didn't even know you were here."

Elian walked over and handed her the sunflowers. "I was going to get a bottle of wine, but I didn't know if you drink. I didn't want to be presumptuous."

"That's so sweet." She rubbed his shoulder before going to put the flowers in a vase that she placed in the center of the table. "They're beautiful. And for the record, I adore wine." She winked.

"I'll keep that in mind for the future."

"I like that, by the way." She pointed to him, then tapped her finger against the inside of her left forearm.

Elian looked down at his arm where he had a simple arrow tattooed from his wrist to the bend of his elbow, as if he'd forgotten. Among the crosshatching in the shaft were the words "Always Move Forward." She wouldn't be able to see them, but I'd been close enough to read it.

"Thanks." Elian said.

I grabbed Elian's hand. "I want to show Elian something real quick. We'll be right back."

"Don't be long; dinner is almost ready. I'm just waiting on the rolls to bake."

I nodded, dragging him down the hall to my room. I tossed the rose on my nightstand and shut the door after he entered. I threw my arms around his neck and kissed him, fast and messy and full of passion. His hands moved up and down my sides, clutching my hips.

After a long, drawn out kiss, he pushed me away. "If this is the thanks I got for one rose, what the hell would you do if I got a whole dozen?"

I rubbed my hands over his chest, narrowing my eyes at him, hoping the look came off as seductive. "Don't ask questions like that when I can't answer them properly."