Always the One (Always and Forever 1)

I shout up at my brother again, hoping he will hear me over all the other little toads that are up in the tree house.

“Kings, can me and my new friend Lana come up please?” Usually eleven year olds don’t hang out in tree houses, but my dad went all out with this one. He put a TV, radio, and fridge inside. He’s the best dad around.

“No girls allowed, sorry.” I look up and see a face that I haven’t seen before.

“Who are you? Do you know who I am?” I say, putting my hand on my hip and pushing up my glasses with the other. He starts to climb down, and when he jumps down from the last two steps, I stand back when he turns and towers over me. This is a big guy, holy smokes. His eyes are what scare me the most, they’re so blue and he’s looking at me with a serious face.

“No, who are you?”

For an eleven-year-old, he sure is a jerk.

“I’m Shayla, and that’s my brother’s tree house, so you better let us up or—”

“Or what, you going to tattle on me?” he asks, squinting his eyes.

“Well, I mean, I could, you know—”

“Yeah, loser, she will and she will kick you in the butt, too. So move over and let us up.” I look at Lana and I’m happy that she was here to stick up for me again. I think she’s my new best friend.

“Nah, she wouldn’t tattle on me, she wants to be my friend too much. So I’ll let you go this time,” he says.

“Are you fucking with my sister?” my brother yells down at us, and we all look up at him.

Lana eyes get as big as saucers and she whispers to me, “Your brother has a potty mouth.”

Shrugging my shoulders, I shake my head and respond, “You’ll get used to it.” I look back to the boy in front of me.

“My name’s Trey by the way.” He moves aside and we climb up. Not in a million years will I ever be friends with that big guy.

“HEY, WAKE UP, SLEEPY, we have to get gas. Do you need to go to the bathroom?” I’m coming out of my dream, and I smile when I look up at him. He’s standing outside, in front of my open door, gently running his thumb over my cheek.

“I love you, you big, cocky jerk.”

He moves his head back and laughs. “I didn’t want to wake you up, but how does this make me cocky?”

I unbuckle my seatbelt and get out of the car, not caring that we’re at a rest stop and there are people around us. I jump into his arms and start kissing him. Instead of pushing me away, he welcomes me with a warm kiss. His tongue meets mine and we get lost in each other. I’m pouring everything I have into this kiss. I moan when his teeth graze my bottom lip and he nips, causing it to sting just enough to feel good. He soothes it again with his tongue and moans into my mouth, and I feel my heart pounding. He kisses me like it’s the first time, every time.

We finally pull away from each other and he takes a deep breath.

“You taste so damn good, baby.” Our foreheads connect, and I smile sheepishly at him.

“What are you going to do, tattle on me?” His eyebrows furrow and he smiles as I ask him this random question, seeing if he’ll catch on.

“Okay, no you’re definitely confusing me. What’s happening?” He turns around and leans against the side of the SUV. I feel him cross one leg over the other and lean so my legs won’t get smushed against the metal.

“Remember the first day we met?”

“Yeah, you were a saucy little minx, challenging the shit out of me.” He’s right, I was sassy and he was cocky. We should’ve started dating then.

“I just dreamt about that day, and I’m so happy that I didn’t tattle.”

“Yeah, me, too.” He looks happy right now, and I can’t help but feel warm and fuzzy when he kisses my nose, proving my point.

“Now, this is our last stop before our hotel, so go take care of lady shit and I’ll get gas.”

I unenthusiastically let my legs hit the ground and turn to head into the store. I screech when I feel his huge palm make contact with my ass. “Ouch, that had force!”

“Yeah it did, and you liked it. Now go, and don’t talk to strangers.”