Page 13 of Paper Hearts

The way he says my name makes my stomach feel funny.

Roman raises his hands up in the water, waist-deep and smiling at Arya. He’s on a float now. Arya slaps her hands on the grass. “I told him that one was mine,” Arya grumbles, standing up. “Get off that, Roman!” She takes off into the water. A spray of water and screams follow.

I stand up and Ender is staring at me still. “I’ll get you a float if you want.”

“Okay.” I tie my hair back up, and when I raise my hands, Ender’s eyes dip to my breasts again.

Breathing heavier, he backs up. “I’ll be right back.”

I look down thinking maybe my boobs came out of my top but no, still contained. I watch him run up to the deck by their house and dig through the bins where they keep the floats. His muscles flex with each movement. He’s back before I know it, holding a long bright green raft in his hand. “Here ya go, kid.”

Kid? I don’t like that. He takes a few steps toward the lake and then turns back, looking over his shoulder at me. “You coming?”

I nod, focusing on Arya still fighting for the raft she says is hers.

My sisters watch me walking with Ender, their stares annoyed, but he doesn’t pay any mind to them as he takes a raft from near the lake’s edge and glides effortlessly on it and into the water on his stomach. He smiles over his shoulder.

I do the same, and before I know it, we’re floating together on the lake.

“Are you from around here?” he asks, his eyes on the water now as the sun glistens on his tanned back.

“No. I’m from Savannah.”

His gaze lift from the water. “How long are you here for?”

“August.” I gesture over my shoulder at Aunt Leslie’s house. “That’s my aunt’s house. We’re staying with her this summer.”

The corners of his mouth rise, as if he’s happy about that, but I can’t tell. It fades too quickly.

“What happened to your lip?” I ask, noticing it’s fresh and still bleeding every time he cracks a smile.

The sad eyes return and it’s as if he’s been through more than he wants me to see, but at the same time he’s an open book. All I have to do is read between the pages and dig deep to see he’s a lost boy. “Nothing,” he mumbles and splashes water in my face. “Let’s see if we can float to the island.”

About fifty feet from the edge of the water is an island with trees on it and a sandbar. For the rest of the night, we stay near that sand. With the sun saturating the horizon in pinks and purples, Ender James holds me captive.

5

WHEN HE QUESTIONED MY AGE

The following day Arya and I sit in the same spot we met, sunbathing on the dock. Occasionally we get in the water and float around on rafts, but for the most part, we hang out and do absolutely nothing. It’s starting out to be the best summer of my life.

I tell her all the gossip at school and the shit my sisters get away with. She tells me about Ender and how much of a troublemaker he is. I’m fascinated by anything she tells me about her mysterious older brother. I’m dying to know why he smiles, but there’s an underlying sadness to it.

Greer, their oldest brother, he’s apparently like Hazel—the good child. Arya is a tomboy, naturally. She appeases their mom in most ways, but doesn’t understand the fuss or being girly and won’t ever wear a stitch of makeup. So while she has the dyed hair and fancy swimsuit, it’s met with a pair of worn and holey Converse with missing shoestrings.

And despite the obvious dissimilarities in our personalities, we have a routine my first week there. I wake up, walk over their house, and Arya and I lie in the sun or play on the water, all the while watching Ender and his friends.

As the sun is swallowed by the lake, Arya and I chase the boys around the swimming cove and make fun of the girls—like my sisters—who try to impress them.

I’ll be honest. I keep my attention on Ender. He captivates me anytime he’s near me and my heart and my stomach do strange things if he looks my way.

Lying on my back on the dock with my feet dangling off the edge, I reach down and adjust the towel at my sides because I keep burning my butt cheeks on the decking.

That’s when Ender swims up to me.

With the way my head is positioned on the dock, it’s easy for Ender to simply lift himself from the water and whisper in my ear.

“How old are you, Hads?” His voice is close to my ear, and his breath tickles my neck in the most erotic way. I don’t even know what erotic means, but I’m going with that word because it’s so much more than uncomfortable. It’s electrifying and consuming and I swear my nipples harden. I’d never experienced a sensation quite like that before.

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