The Seven Devils (YA "New Adult" Romance) (8 page)

Chapter 9

There was a note on the kitchen counter in the morning from my mom, telling Austin and I we had better both be home by 6:00 as she wanted to have a nice family dinner.

“Yeah right,” Austin smirked as he walked out the door. “I’m sure I’ll have better plans than that by the end of the day.”

Neil arrived a moment later and I hugged him. “How are you feeling today?” I asked.

“Hopeful,” he replied and kissed the top of my head. “How about I come over after school today. We’ll talk… and I’ll let you ask me anything you want about me.”

I backed up a step and looked up at him. “Really?” I asked excitedly.

He nodded as we walked out the door. “Last night I thought a lot about what you said, about how I never open up.” He held my hand as we walked. “It has nothing to do with you, my quietness. It is just the way things have always been. I never talk about myself because there was no one here to listen. Now that that has changed, I want to change too. I want to tell you everything.”

”I’m so excited,” I said and squeezed his hand.

“I’m a little scared,” he said with clear embarrassment.

“Neil…” I said, grinning, “I’ll go easy on you, I promise!”

***

My good mood lasted throughout the rest of the day. Things just seemed to be going my way. We were put into groups in Chemistry to begin a group project on the elements and I was actually placed with two of the smartest kids in class. I teased Neil all through lunch about what terrible things I was going to ask him after school, though in truth I hadn’t had much free time to think up many questions. I had not seen Derrick at all that day, which I was a little thankful for since I didn’t know what I would say to him. What do you say to someone who rescued you, but who your boyfriend hates?

Neil was quiet on the walk home, but I was so wound up that I talked about a mile a minute about everything from my Chemistry project to my mom’s note ordering me to be home for dinner that night.

“Alright, ready for a little Q&A?” Neil asked once we entered the cool air-conditioned bliss of my living room.

I smiled. “Q&A?”

“Yeah… go ahead and start. Just ask me anything you’d like. No subject is off limits. The only rule is to be completely honest,” Neil replied.

“Okay,” I said, grinning. “Sounds good!”

I paused, thinking over all the possible things I could ask. My face grew hot and I asked, “Am I an okay kisser?”

Neil chuckled and instead of answering he leaned forward and put his lips to mine. I kissed him back and ran my fingers softly down his cheeks and jaw, feeling the bristles of his facial hair beneath my fingertips. Neil pulled back slowly, opening his eyes. “You’re an excellent kisser,” he assured me.

“Do you wish we could go… uh, further?” I asked nervously.

Neil sat back and stared into my eyes. “I don’t think you know how attractive you are, both inside and out,” he said. “I can barely keep my hands off of you. I have to use all my strength not to lose my head when I’m alone with you like this.” He paused for a moment. “But, and this is a big but… I’m in no hurry. The possibility of ‘someday’ is good enough for me.”

“Are you a virgin?” I blurted out before I could stop myself.

Neil smiled and stroked my hair. “I’m not,” he said, “and I hope that won’t upset you.” I looked down and compulsively rubbed my hands together. I realized I didn’t know whether I’d prefer him to be a virgin like me or whether it would be better for him to have some experience and know what he was doing.

“I dated a girl here in Minster named Candise for about four or five months,” Neil continued. He looked away for a moment. “People say that I attacked her or raped her or possessed her and all sorts of things, but the truth was we dated for awhile. She refused to let our relationship be public in any way and she would only speak to me when no one was around. Looking back now I’m ashamed that I accepted the relationship with those terms, but back then I was desperate. I had no one else to talk to… no one to be close to. We had sex a few times and then one day someone from school saw us kissing in a movie theatre. Candi denied our relationship and started spreading all sorts of lies. She and her family moved away not long after that.” He took my hands and said, “It was a mistake, but I can’t change the past.”

“I think Erin mentioned something about her,” I replied, nodding. “Umm… what do you do when you’re not at school or here with me?”

“I go running a lot,” Neil replied. “As you can probably guess, I don’t like to spend much time at home… and I also have a temper. Running helps me sort of clear my mind. My parents also have a nice gym in the house, and I use that a lot while they sleep.”

“While they sleep you exercise? When do you sleep?” I asked.

Neil smiled and combed his fingers through my hair. “How can I sleep when such a beautiful girl lives right down the road?”

I leaned in and kissed him, and he wrapped his arms around me. As we kissed my mind went wild and I couldn’t help but picture him naked and wonder what it would be like to make love to him. I ran my hand up under his shirt and was astonished at how muscular he obviously was. He must look fantastic without a shirt on. Why was he always wearing long sleeves?

When I tried to picture him without pants my face grew hot. Neil pulled away for a moment and looked as though he were about to speak, but I wouldn’t let him. I slid into his lap and ran my fingers through his hair, kissing his neck softly. I had never seen a penis before. I wanted to touch it. I pictured myself unzipping Neil’s pants, and wondered what he would do. He was breathing heavily and I could feel his heart racing. He ran a hand up under my shirt, and a soft moan escaped my lips as he touched my breasts. What would it be like to go down on him? As I tried to picture my mouth on him, Neil pulled away. His face was red and my heart skipped a beat when I saw the clear look of desire in his eyes.

“Ellen, you’re killing me,” he said softly, running a finger from my temple to my chin.

I rested my head against his shoulder. “I’m sorry Neil. I just… I’ve never felt like this before. I feel like I lose control when I’m around you.”

Neil chuckled. “Well you’re going to have to gain some control for now since your mom should be home soon.”

“Awww,” I groaned and moved back to back to my spot beside him.

Neil laughed again and kissed the top of my head. “You may as well continue torturing me with more questions.”

I was silent for several moments. “Why do you always wear long sleeve shirts and long pants? Melanie said it’s because you’re absolutely covered head to toe with devil worshiper tattoos.”

Neil smirked a little. “No tattoos,” he said, looking into my eyes. “I just… don’t want anyone to see me. It’s safer for everyone if I am overlooked.”

I thought that over and tried to understand what he meant. “What else would you like to know?” Neil pressed.

“I can’t think of anything else right now.”

Neil was silent for a moment and then shook his head. “I hate to push, but I feel as though you’re holding something back. I feel like there’s something you want to ask but won’t let yourself.”

I looked away and thought for a moment, going back over all that had happened since moving to Minster. “How did you find me in the bathroom after those guys attacked me? You burst in right afterwards like you knew what had happened. I was so upset that I didn’t realize how strange it was at the time.”

Neil nodded and rubbed my hands. Looking me in the eyes, he said, “That’s something I’d like to talk to you about, but I want to do it sometime when we have more time and privacy. Would it be alright if I answer you this weekend?”

I looked into his eyes, searching for some indication as to what this secret could be.

“Tomorrow’s Friday,” I said.

Neil smiled. “Tomorrow then. We’ll find a quiet place after school and I’ll tell you everything.”

I remained quiet. “What’s wrong?” he asked.

“I’m just a little nervous,” I replied. “Is it something bad, this thing you’re not telling me?”

“No, I don’t believe it is. And I hope you will see it that way also,” he replied, and stood up. “I should go. Your mom will be home any minute and I don’t want to spoil your family dinner.”

“Okay,” I said.

“Hey, don’t look so worried,” Neil said, leaning down to kiss me. “Just twenty-four hours and there won’t be any more secrets between us.”

I nodded and walked him to the door. “I just wish I didn’t have to wait.”

He kissed me one last time on his way out. “Just remember, the wait is even harder on me. I get to spend all night worrying about how you’ll react.”

My mother pulled into the driveway as he walked out.

“Is that boy your boyfriend?” she asked me when she walked through the door.

I smiled and nodded. “He’s great,” I said.

“Oh, I was hoping you would go out with Austin’s nice friend Derrick. He seems to really like you, Ellen.”

“He’s okay,” I said carefully.

Mom shrugged. “Well, it’s your choice. You know, I think it may be time for us to have a little talk about sex and responsibility.”

My face reddened. “Mom! Neil and I just met… we’re so far from sex right now!” I cried.

“Besides, I know all about it from health class. Use a condom, use birth control, etcetera etcetera…”

Mom rolled her eyes and said, “Alright Miss Smarty-Pants, we’ll put off the talk for now, but someday, okay? I do want to talk about something else though. I wish your brother were here but he called and said he wouldn’t be home for dinner.”

“What’s up?” I asked.

“I’ve decided to file for divorce,” my mom said quietly. “And I think I may start to date around. I’m ready for a fresh start. How do you feel about that?”

I was quiet for some time. “Wow. Well I guess I’m a little surprised that you’re going to jump into dating right away, but you know I’m all for divorcing Dad,” I said.

Mom smiled. “I’m glad you’re okay with it. I wanted to talk to you and Austin about it together, but he convinced me to let him go out on a date tonight.”

“Date? With who?” I asked.

“Oh, what was her name… Lizzie? No… Lexie. She sounds like such a sweet girl,” Mom replied.

I couldn’t say a word. My mom was so happy; I didn’t want to upset her. “I don’t think I’ve met her yet,” I lied.

“Austin was very excited. He says her father is the mayor!” mom said.

I couldn’t help but roll my eyes. What you have to understand about my brother is that he isn’t quite as dumb as he seems. He’s very ambitious and is obsessed with networking. He’s constantly throwing slogans like “It’s not what you know, but who you know” at me. Since he doesn’t seem to know much of anything, I guess it makes sense for him to try to surround himself with influential people. His little black book became a huge binder by the time he was fourteen. It’s actually kind of impressive if you’re into that sort of thing. (Which I’m not.)

***

I was lying on my bed later that evening, fooling around on my laptop when there was a knock at my door. “Yeah?” I said.

The door opened and Derrick poked his head in. I sat up. “Derrick?”

“Hey. I was out sick today and came to pick up my homework from Austin. And there’s no way I could come into this house without seeing my favorite girl,” he said, walking in.

“Out sick? Are you okay?” I asked, walking up to him. “It wasn’t because…” I reached out and touched his neck softly. “It wasn’t because of Neil, was it?”