Count to Three

Missing

"Camilla Jane Harrison, did you just cuss?" Eli almost yelled.

"Cut it out, El," I laughed at his mock father-like reprimands. "As I said once before, I'm almost seventeen. Give it a rest."

"Fine," he dramatically sighed. "Okay, so Jaxon. Here's the deal. You can call me Eli, but if you hurt my sister in any way, shape or form, I will hire someone to cut your balls off for me. Understand?"

He gulped and nodded before Eli turned back to me. "By the way, sis, I'm digging your new hair style."

"Thanks, but nobody says 'digging' anymore. It isn't cool."

He sighed dramatically and rolled his eyes. "Well, my apologies that I've been locked up in a jail cell so I can't keep up on the popular teenage lingo."

I laughed and shook my head. Despite the fact that Eli was completely straight, he was more feminine than I was at times. The way he spoke and the words he said made my day.

"So, Jaxon. Tell me about yourself." Eli acted like he was interviewing him for a position at his workplace.

"Um, I'm Jaxon Boyd, I'm seventeen, and I play soccer. That's pretty much it."

Eli remained quiet for a moment. "Are you involved in any drugs or alcohol?"

"What?" I questioned.

"No, not at all," he answered, not bothered by the question.

"Are you dating anyone?" Eli's totally invasive questions were starting to piss me off. I mean, if you just met your friend's brother in prison, would you want them interrogating you?

"Eli!" I looked to Jaxon to assure him that he didn't have to answer. He seemed okay with it, so my gaze slipped down to my anxiously wrung-up hands.

"No."

My head snapped up so fast that I was lucky I didn't break my neck. "What?"

"Evelyn and I broke up."

---

"Goal!"

"Hey, not fair! You shoved me over - that's a foul!"

"I don't think so. You're just a sore loser."

"You're just a sore winner."

"Do you need a hug to make it all better?"

"Definitely not, stay away you stinky beast!"

"I think you mean sexy beast."

Jaxon walked towards me on the soccer field, covered in sweat and dirt. We had been playing for a good hour-and-a-half and we were having so much fun. I hadn't played soccer in so long, it felt like an old part of me was reawakening.

When he got close enough that I could touch him, I picked up the cold water bottle off of the floor and unscrewed the cap, pouring it all down his face.

"Holy shit, that's freezing!" He laughed and wiped his face with his shirt, giving me a clear view of his six pack. Oh God, he was hot.

I laughed at his appearance, slowly backing up from him.

"Oh no, you stay right here. You can't just get away with something like that."

He ran up to me and pulled me into a hug, making sure to rub all of the water and dirt on me.

"Stop! Stop it! Oh my God, stop!" I was laughing so hard, it was hard to breathe. I smacked Jaxon's chest, trying to get his hands off of me. "Jaxon, you're disgusting!"