Kyle steps towards me, pinning me between him and the counter. He leans his body into mine as takes my face in his hands, looking down at me, his forehead resting against mine. “Are you sure you’re alright?”
“I’m perfect. Thank you for bringing me to meet them, they’re lovely.” I place my hand on his waist and reach up on my toes and kiss him lightly on the lips.
“I told you they’d love you. And I'm happy you're here too,” he says. “What was all that with my mom? Why were you crying, did she say something to you?” He frowns in concern.
“No, it’s nothing like that.” I shake my head. “She told me that you’ve never brought anyone home to meet them. Is that true?”
He sighs softly. “Yeah.”
“Why?”
“Because I never wanted them to meet anyone. None of those girls ever meant anything to me, not like you do.” He cups my face in the palm of his hand. “Remember when you asked me about my tattoo, about what the branches represent, and I said they represent people that mean something to me?”
I nod.
“The last one represents you.”
I capture my mouth with his, our lips fusing together. He pins me back against the counter with his hips as his fingers wind their way into my hair to deepen the kiss.
"You're the one I've been waiting for," he says against my lips. He angles my face up to give him better access as his tongue slips into my mouth, tasting me.
My hands roam his hard-muscled chest, I can feel of his heart beating as wildly as my own.
I break off the kiss, catching my breath. “Come on, if we don’t go back soon, they'll think we’ve ran out on them to go have sex.”
“That doesn’t sound like a bad idea,” he replies slyly, his hand snakes around and squeezes my ass, pressing me up against his growing erection.
I push against him playfully, laughing.
∞∞∞
I sit next to Kyle on the couch, snuggled against his side as we sit around the fire while soft classical music plays from the record player in the corner of the room, his family telling me stories from when Kyle was a little boy.
“You should have seen him, cutest kid you ever saw,” his dad gushes.
I look up at Kyle’s face, his cheeks glowing ever so slightly.
“Hold that thought.” Ellen jumps up from her chair and heads over to the sideboard. She returns a few moments later with a photo album.
“Oh no, mom, you really don’t have to do this. Hayley doesn’t want to see some snotty nosed kid, knee deep in a mud puddle when he was seven.”
“Yes, I do!” I say laughing. I unwind myself form Kyle’s hold and make my way over to Ellen's seat, perching on the arm of her chair, peering over the album.
Ellen laughs softly, pointing to one of the photos. “I forgot about this one. This is when Kyle was five, he was always so inquisitive growing up, he climbed up a tree at the side of the house and got stuck. Nathaniel had to climb up to reach him and he mis stepped and fell to the ground,” she explains, chuckling.
“That hurt, and there you were with your camera snapping photos rather than helping your poor, injured husband.”
“Oh Nate, you're so dramatic, it’s not like you fell from the top, you fell from five feet up.” We all join in laughing.
She flicks through the album, pointing out different photos of their family, Kyle, and Luke as children, all of them together on vacations in a number of different places around the world.
“Oh! There's Kyle in that mud puddle,” Ellen laughs.
“He’s so cute.” I glance up at Kyle who shakes his head, a small smile touches show lips.
My eyes land on a photo of a young girl with long dark red hair, smiling next to another girl with the same coloured hair. “Who’s this?” I ask.
Ellen sighs softly. “That’s me and my sister, Sara.”
I look up at Kyle whose face has hardened, his eyes boring into mine. “Is this...?”
“My mother, yes.”
“Kyle told you about my sister?” Ellen asks, surprised.
“Yeah, he did.”
She turns toward Kyle and smiles softly. “We adopted Kyle when she died, wanting to keep him with his real family. My sister was always smiling, a little ray of sunshine, she could light up a room just by being there, she was funny, and she was so kind.” Ellen smiles while she remembers her sister. “You remind me of her, Hayley.”
I touch the photo of her gently with my fingers. “She seems nice.”
“She was, which is why it came a such a shock when we heard the news. She always seemed so content, her outlook on life always so positive. I still wonder what could have made her do such a thing, why she didn’t feel like she could talk to me.” The pain she still feels for her sister is evident in her voice, her eyes become glassy with tears.
Kyle gets up from the couch suddenly and storms out of the room.
“Kyle,” I call after him as he leaves the room.
I chase after him, following him through the house and out the back door which is wide open and out into the huge backyard that is lined with trees that overlooks the ocean.
It's gone dark now, the sun just setting on the horizon.
I find him sitting on a chair to the right of the swimming pool, his head in his hands, his elbows resting on his knees, rocking back and forth.
I reach him, coming to a stop between his spread legs, looking down on him. He doesn't even look up at me before he winds his arms around my waist and burying his face into my belly. He holds on to me tight, bringing me closer to him. I run my fingers through his hair, massaging his head.
“Are you alright?” I ask.
He looks up at
