The Apple Tree (Sunday Morning, #2) (33)

I narrowed my eyes, but my flaming cheeks told the truth.

“So you’ll be back over after dinner?”

“Yes.” I was so giddy my voice shook.

“See you in a bit.”

“Eve!” Josh called, running toward the door after I stepped outside. He had my Walkman and headphones.

“Oh, thanks. I almost forgot that,” I said as he handed it to Kyle and ran back into the kitchen.

“Thought you were watching Josh, not listening to music,” Kyle said.

I rolled my eyes, holding out my hand. “I can do both when he’s playing with his toys.”

Kyle narrowed his eyes. “What tape?”

I stepped closer to the door, keeping my hand out in a silent demand. “Just stuff I record off the radio.”

“Like what?” He put the headphones on his head.

“NO!” I lunged for him, but the partially closed screen door caught my shoulder.

It was too late. He pressed Play.

Life as I knew it ended when his eyebrows peaked. I had stopped in the middle of a song. There were many songs on that tape, but the one he was hearing was not the one I was most proud of—George Michael’s “I Want Your Sex.”

Click.

He shut off the cassette player and slowly removed the headphones, winding the cord around my Walkman before handing it to me.

“See ya in a bit,” he said with a wink!





After dinner, I changed from shorts to jeans and grabbed a sweatshirt before shoving my feet into my shoes at the door. “I’m taking Josh to the creek,” I called.

“Is Kyle okay with that?” Dad called from the living room.

“Uh-huh.”

“Okay. Be careful.”

“Uh-huh.” I ran out the door, hopped the fence, and ran toward his house, slowing to gain my composure as I reached the top of the hill.

It was just a song with a catchy beat. I wouldn’t mention it or make direct eye contact and we’d be fine.

Josh and Kyle were playing catch with a Nerf football in the front yard.

“Heads up!” Kyle called, throwing the ball to me.

I caught it, and his grin swelled to the corners of his eyes, which I told myself not to look at. Then I threw it back to him, and that grin faded.

“Nice duck,” he said, catching the wobbly ball.

“I’m out of practice.”

He laughed.

“Ready to skip to the creek?” I held out my hand to Josh.

He took it, and we skipped toward the far end of the orchard and the hill that led to the creek while Kyle followed us.

“Look!” Josh pointed to the hut I built from old branches and brush near the bank. He let go of my hand and ran to it as Kyle stopped beside me.

“Your dad said that hut needs to go before spring when the creek floods.”

I nodded. “Yeah. My dad is a fun spoiler.”

“Or practical.”

“Same difference.” I shrugged.

He smirked, watching Josh peek through the branches inside the hut. “What do you do in that hut anyway?”

“Hide from bears.”

Kyle shook his head. “Eve, you’re … something.”

“Where’s Josh? I can’t find him,” I said.

Josh giggled as I pressed my hand to my brow and inspected the area. “Josh?”

Again, he giggled, and I walked a few feet in one direction and then in another.

“I’m in here!”

I jumped. “Oh! I didn’t see you. Can I come in?”

He pushed on the branches I tied together with rope to make a door. “Daddy, you come in too.”

“Oh, I don’t know, buddy. There might not be enough room for all of us in there.”

“There is,” he insisted as I crawled into the far corner and hugged my knees.

Kyle squeezed into the tiny hut, hugging his knees too, and the sides of our bodies touched at every point.

“Don’t move. I will hunt for food,” Josh said with a big smile.

“Uh, don’t go too far, and stay away from the water,” Kyle said.

Josh climbed over our feet and shut the door behind him. He grabbed a stick and held it like a gun. “Shh, don’t scare the deer,” he whispered, pointing toward an old, dead tree stump.

“Hope you’re not claustrophobic,” Kyle mumbled.

“No. You?”

“No.” He stretched his neck right and then left to keep an eye on Josh through the hut walls. When he tried to adjust his body, it only made him rub against me more. “Seriously. What did you do in this hut? You know, as a full-grown adult over four feet tall?”

I laughed. “This is where I bring guys to make out with them.” It was an obvious lie. And while turning our heads to look at each other was too close for comfort, I couldn’t help it when I felt him looking at me.

“You must be attracted to tiny men.”

I rolled my eyes.

Kyle’s gaze dropped from my eyes to my lips, so I rubbed them together, and it was suddenly too hot to wear a sweatshirt.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered.

I narrowed my eyes. “For what?”

He leaned in.

“I got it!” Josh yelled, and Kyle sat up straight.