Chapter Seventy One
"Got your phone?" dad nods.
"Keys?" he nods again.
"Wallet?"
He feels around all of his pockets. Then snaps his fingers across the air, "Damn it! I can never get it right, can I?"
He goes back into my moms room to find it and I laugh. It's good he always has me run him through all of his belongings before he goes anywhere. He wouldn't make it out of the driveway if not for me reminding him to bring the keys.
I suddenly remember something else that he needs too. But this isn't something he brought, it's something I stole from his house when I left. I think it's far past time to return it.
I rush upstairs to retrieve his hoodie from my closet.
The image of last time I wore it plays in my mind. Trace walked in the house and instantly pointed to it, curious to know who it belonged to. He knew I didn't watch sports so it didn't make sense that I'd have a sports hoodie.
Little does he know that I've actually started watching a little bit of football on my free time. It's never been interesting to me until Trace. It was always just a world favorite sport that passed through the air, I just never thought to breathe it in.
Now that I'm closer with Trace I've decided to give it a try. I still don't understand the rules of the game or even the purpose for it, but if football is his passion then I'm more than happy to learn to like it too.
I yank the hoodie from it's hanger. When I turn around, Laila is there.
"Shouldn't you be doing last minute packing? You and dad are leaving any minute."
She shakes her head, "I've finished packing already."
I shrug, "Okay, why are you in my room then? Go downstairs and leave. You can wait in the car while I tell my dad goodbye." I give her a sour smile, just to spite her. She rolls her eyes.
"Why can't you try being civil for thirty seconds while I explain myself?" she huffs out, clearly annoyed.
She ruined the opportunity for us to have a good relationship when she made out with my boyfriend. I think we're past civil.
But instead of telling her that, I stay silent. The quickest way to get rid of her is to give her what she wants. If she wants to speak, then I'll let her.
She narrows her eyes in question. I keep my mouth in a tight line so she continues, "I just came up here to tell you that even if you don't believe me, I am sorry for what I did to you and Cole. There was no excuse for that and it shouldn't have ever happened."
Wow.
She sounds like she really means that. I wonder if she took my advice and started practicing apologies. Maybe she watched a tutorial on it?
I know her. She's never been sorry about anything, all she does is play games. I don't know what her intentions are with this game but I refuse to give her the satisfaction of winning. I won't fall into her trap and forgive her so easily.
I stare at her curiously. She's watching me closely to catch my reaction to her words, I'm sure to not show one.
She's got a small smile playing on her lips. She's twirling her hair, a nervous tick of hers. If I'm seeing correctly, her eyes are even glistening a little bit.
But that can't be right. She knows how to manipulate body language to get what she wants. She's a professional at cheating people.
I shake my head, "I don't know what you're trying to prove, but there's one thing I'm certain of: you're incapable of remorse. Don't bring me a story about how your having regrets of the past. If you were actually sorry then you'd just stay out of my life. I'm happiest without you in it."
I don't give her a chance to come back at me. I just shove past her, gripping my dad's hoodie and run down the stairs.
My words were harsh but I don't feel guilty. She's wronged me too many times to try and make it right. I've grown accustomed to not having her in my life and I've found that that's how I prefer things.
All she does is cause chaos wherever she goes and I'm tired of it. Her first day back and she tried hooking up with Mason. I saw the entire thing and she never stopped to clarify that it wasn't me. She never asked him who he was or how we know each other because she didn't care.
She saw the opportunity to ruin me and she took it.
If Mason was my boyfriend then it would've been history repeating itself. Although Mason and I are just friends, she didn't know that at the time. But she still could've sabotaged our friendship by coming onto him like that.
What if I didn't catch them in the act? What if Mason left after she did that? Then next time that he saw me he'd have the idea that I'm into him because as far as he knows I tried to kiss him on my couch!
But she didn't care about any of that because Laila only cares about what Laila wants. She's selfish and manipulative.
That's why I'm not letting her back in my life. And that's why she's not forgiven.
I can move past all of the terrible things she's done to me but no amount of heartfelt apologies will convince me that she's really sorry. She doesn't feel for others, only herself.
"I've got your hoodie back, daddy." I place it in his palm and he chuckles.
I don't even think he knows I took it. But on the bright side, at least I'm returning it.
"Thanks," he pulls me in for a hug, "I'm glad I finally got it back. Too bad it's hot outside and I've no longer got a use for it."
I roll my eyes and my mom walks out to make sure everyone's ready to go.
She hugs Laila and dad before shooing them outside so they won't be late for their flight back home.
Mom's got to drive them to the airport, but then it'll just be me and her again. The house will feel so empty now that I'm used to two other people living with me.
The three of them leave and I would go too except I'm going camping. I'm going camping!
I've seen it on movies before, they normally all end up dead by a bear or something but I'm still overjoyed with the idea of camping. I just don't want to sleep outside because mosquitoes suck, but if that's what we're doing then so be it.
I'm going for the experience and I won't be complaining about anything!
My phone dings and I hurry over to read the message: I'll be there to pick you up at 2. You don't need to worry about bringing supplies, I've got it all covered. Just bring your basic necessities.
Sounds good. I can do that.
I go upstairs and begin packing my bag. Toothbrush, hairbrush, toothpaste, socks, underwear, clothes, pajamas, lotion, sunscreen.. etc.
Knowing Trace, he'll forget something as basic as underwear. I shoot him a quick text message with a list of all the things he should pack.
I get a text back: I forgot to pack a toothbrush. That was my bad. Thanks for the list.
I laugh.
My mom comes back home just as I'm putting my last item in the bag.
I zip up the giant bag and make my way downstairs. She's unloading the dishes, I walk over to help.
"Did you know that your dad doesn't like broccoli?" she inquires curiously.
Um...
"No, can't say I did."
"Hmm," she nods, "I didn't know that either, but apparently he hates it."
They must've had a fun conversation on their way to the airport. I hate I had to miss them discussing vegetables.
My phone dings with another text, from Trace: and bring a bathing suit.
I set my phone down on the counter and make a mental note to grab a bathing suit when I go back upstairs. I thought camping was just sitting around a fire telling ghost stories. But now we're going swimming too!
I'm excited.
"Why are you smiling?"
I look up, mom's staring at me with amusement.
"You must've been texting Trace."
How does she know that? Moms are good!
"Yea," I turn my head so she won't see my smile at just the mention of his name.
"We're going camping later. He's on his way to pick me up right now."
Her eyes widen in disapproval, "The two of you are spending the night together out in the wilderness?"
She says that like it's a bad thing. We've been together a lot. Spent the night together multiple times, tonight is nothing different.
"Yeah, mom. I've seen on television that that's how camping works." I laugh dryly.
She rolls her eyes, "Okay, just be careful and don't share a tent."
Now I'm rolling my eyes, "Sure, whatever you say."
I end the conversation by heading upstairs to get my bathing suit.
With shoes on and my bags packed, I'm ready to go.
Then there's a knock on the door. I smile.
I pull the door open to see his expression matches mine: happy.
"You ready to go?" he greets me with a kiss on the cheek and I nod.
We go upstairs and he gets my bag for me. I close my bedroom door behind us so Sadie won't be running rampant through my room while I'm not here to defend my stuff.
I tell my mom and my dog bye while he takes my bag out to the truck.
"How long of a drive will it be?" I ask, climbing into his rusty truck. Even though his truck is so old it still feels brand new. I don't think I'll ever get tired of climbing into this ragged vehicle next to the beautiful boy I'm lucky enough to call mine.
"About an hour. Do you have anywhere you need to go first?"
I shake my head and he pulls out of the driveway.
He lets me control the radio on the way there. Every station has such a variety of music but he doesn't seem to mind me flipping through them every few minutes.
We turn down a gravel road. We've been driving away from civilization for about ten minutes, this is the first turn off I've seen. The road is surrounded by trees on either side, but every tree is far enough apart that light can still shine through and paint a happy picture through the branches.
The gravel road quickly turns into dirt and I know we're almost there. From the short distance I can see a lake sitting at the bottom of a small hill. At the top of the hill is a little cabin. It's a small building from the outside, maybe one room.
He kills the engine, turns to look at me, "We're here."
I grin and jump out of the truck.
The water alone is beautiful, but once you add the tall trees, a wooden bench decorating the levy, and the little cabin resting at the top of the hill the sight become breathtaking. It's incredible.
I scan the water, noticing how the hot sun shines down on it, making it glisten. A breeze makes steady waves ruffle the top. And then I see a rope hanging from a thick branch.
"Trace!" I point out to the water, grinning like an idiot, "There's a rope swing!"
He laughs, "How'd I know that your favorite part would be a raggedy rope dangling over the water?"
Because he knows me. I'm easily excited but he was wrong about that being my favorite part. The best part of it is that he's here with me. Nothing gets better than that.
"It's perfect, Trace." I grab his hand and pull him towards me, "Thank you for this."
He smiles sweetly, placing a quick kiss on my lips before pulling back.
"Want to go inside for a minute?" he grabs the bags from the trunk, telling me the keys to our cabin are in the console.
We get inside and he sets the bags down. I offered to help him carry one but he insisted he do it himself.
The room is a modern bedroom. There's a king sized bed in the middle of the room sitting on top of a brown, furry rug. The rug looks softer than a kittens belly. On either side of the bed is a dark, wooden night stand.
A small light fixture is set up on the ceiling but it's enough. Even in slight darkness the room is beyond anything I expected.
There's a door next to the closet. I open the door, enjoying my time exploring.
Behind the wooden frame is a bathroom. It's got a big shower, a sink and a toilet. A small picture is hanging on the wall. It's a painting of an old man fishing with two kids standing on either side of him.
"I know it's not a lot but-" he starts, clearly nervous.
I cut him off. "It's perfect." I say honestly.
Nobody's ever done anything like this for me. It's not about how much stuff he's giving me or providing, I'd be happy with just him and an empty shoe box. Anything more than that is a blessing.
He smiles, "I'm glad you like it. I know that camping usually has you sleeping outside, but I didn't think you'd appreciate the mosquitoes. I brought a tent though just in case you'd rather-"
"Trace," I tell him again, "it's perfect."
He nods and I can see the doubts in his mind fade away. Then he smiles.
"Can we do the rope swing?" I ask. He must be able to see the light in my eyes because he smiles.
"Of course we can do the rope swing."
I rummage through my bag until I find the bathing suit I packed.
He does the same, pulling his shirt over his head. He pulls his pants down and I quickly turn my head. I know that even though his back is to me, he knows everything I'm doing from behind him. If I were to look, he'd know. He'd be able to feel it just as I would if he were to watch me get undressed.
Once he's got his swim trunks on he turns me around, eyes excited, "Your turn."
I roll my eyes, playfully shoving him off of me and he chuckles.
I take my suit to the bathroom and slip it on.
It still fits me, luckily. I got it last summer so I was hoping it wouldn't be too small and I'd have to swim in my clothes.
Before I even dare step out of the bathroom, I look in the mirror first. As soon as I step out I know he'll look at me. I've got to make sure everything looks right.
My bathing suit is a bikini, both pieces are black. The top has ruffly straps that I only got because of their thickness. I don't like skinny straps that could break as you go down a water slide. The center cuts down in between my breasts, forming a small v-shape. And the bottom stops slightly above my hips, latching onto the curve.
I take a deep breath before opening the door, and stepping out. I try to ignore his stare as I walk back to my bag, putting my dirty clothes into the grocery sack.
When I turn around, he's still staring at me.
"Trace?" I laugh.
He swallows, making no effort to hide the route his eyes are traveling. From my face, across my shoulder down to my chest, lingering there for a moment. He brings his eyes down to my thin waist and keeps going until he reaches my feet.
"You're so beautiful," he licks his lips, taking a step closer.
"Why do you tell me that so much?" I ask. He calls me beautiful almost every time we see each other.
He shrugs, "Because you are. Sometimes people need to be reminded, and I'd hate for you to forget how often you take my breath away."
I smile, "Well, you Trace Henderson, just earned yourself a kiss."
He chuckles but accepts his reward, dipping his head down to capture my lips. It's different kissing him with such little clothing on. Every time he touches me his fingers graze my bare skin. When he pulls at my waist I feel his warm hands on my skin and it makes me crave more.
And then he pulls back. He brings his eyes to mine, his hooded gray eyes that're filled with desire from the kiss we just shared.
An idea pops into my head and I give him a goofy grin before taking a step back, "I'll meet you at the rope swing?"
Authors Note:
Hey! Thanks for reading and don't forget to vote if you enjoyed! Have a great day and stay safe!