looking at Trevor, she stopped. “You must be Trevor.”
Shoot me.
“I am Trevor, nice to meet you. You have a lovely—”
“Mom? What are you doing here? Why do you have those bags?”
Mom gave me the “you’re being rude” look. “Well, since two girls were supposed to bring us back fudge and never showed. You two must have left before we got there, so we went ahead and got our fudge. We thought you two might have forgotten. We can never have too much fudge, anyway.”
“Oh, Lizzie and Millie did go get the fudge but Darrton showed up.”
I bit my lip and nearly slapped my hand over Trevor’s mouth.
“What? Who?” Samantha said, tossing her hip to the side.
Mom passed us and placed the fudge on the counter, where Trevor and I had just been making out. Samantha walked passed her. “Don’t think you want to put those there, Mom, Trevor and Lizzie were...ouch!!!” she screamed as I took the water bottle that had fallen from my hand and hit her over the head. She pushed me back. “What the heck!”
“Lizzie!” my mother yelled.
All of a sudden Millie burst out laughing and I stumbled because I didn’t realize she was behind us. “Way to go, comrade.”
“Say you’re sorry to your sister,” Mom ordered.
“Sorry,” I mumbled.
Sam was glaring at me. She snatched the fudge bag from Millie and went into the living room.
Mom sighed and held her head. “And what is all this talk about a Darrton?”
Millie shrieked. “Oh! Mrs. Lawrence, he is H–O–T. He came looking for Lizzie earlier.
“We don’t know a Darrton, do we Lizzie? Who is it?”
“Darrton your cousin?” Millie said.
“Who? I don’t think so—”
“Ouch!” I yelled and grabbed my shoulder.
“What’s wrong?” Mom asked.
“I have a cramp in my shoulder. We have to go, Mom, I have to go get some pain reliever from the car.” I pulled Trevor along and Millie followed after.
Sam was sitting in the living room glaring at us on the way outside.
“What the hell, Lizzie? Were you that desperate to get away from your mom?” she asked.
“Uh yeah! You’ve met my family.”
“Point taken.”
Trevor stepped closer to me and I blushed. Everything that had just happened hit me and I suddenly felt like floating. Millie was staring at me, and she raised a perfectly plucked eyebrow. “So you two have fun?”
I closed my eyes and gritted my teeth. “Sorry for all of this, Trevor. My family barging in and my rude friend and crazy ass...cousin.”
Trevor eyed me. “You’re mom doesn’t seem to think she knows him.”
“He said he wasn’t closely related,” I lied.
Trevor nodded. “Well, as much fun as this was, and I truly mean it, I have to run. My little sister has dance practice and I have to take her.”
“Okay, I guess I’ll see you later then?”
He smiled and leaned in and pressed his lips to mine once more. “Yea, of course.”
***
I was utterly surprised. Millie waited two whole minutes while Trevor was backing out of the driveway before she started jumping up and down and asking for details. I gave them to her, down to the smell of his breath and the placement of his hands. His jacket was still snugly around my shoulders. I was on cloud nine. Which reminded me...Darrton, angel, Horseman whatever. Where is he?
Millie excused herself and it wasn’t a minute too early. I had to find my “cousin,” and see if he was okay. He had just run out of there and that glowing ring was freaking me out. I made two peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and, after getting a shirt from my dad’s drawer and grabbing a warm wash cloth and a large bandage, I went to look for Mr. Horseman.
He was sitting on the twin size cot in the tree house when I came up. He glanced over at me.
“Got you this.” I threw my dad’s old Columbia T-shirt to him. He didn’t speak but stood and rolled the T-shirt onto himself. It fit...well...sort of. It was so tight that it seemed painted on. His arms looked as if they might pop out of it.
“Much obliged. It is a tight fit.”
I dragged my eyes away from his chest. “Next week we will go get you some clothes. I have an American Eagle credit card my mom lets me and Samantha use.”
From the blank look on his face, I knew that he had no idea what I was talking about. I pulled the sandwiches out of the Zip-Lock bag and handed both of them to him. Obviously,