Because of Ellison

Because of Ellison by M.S. Willis Page A

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Authors: M.S. Willis
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hung
haphazardly in his face, tempting me to brush it away, and his dark blue eyes
swirled when he admitted he didn’t know what love was. It was a brave response,
honest, and my heart skipped at his confession. Everybody should know what love
is. If a person had a family, they should know love. But, that wasn’t true, was
it? Sure, there were the kids who were abandoned, and the people who were
deserted that had an excuse for not knowing, but Hunter wasn’t one of those
people. He had parents, he had friends — he had a home. He, of all
people, should know.
    “How is that even possible? You have your mom and your dad.
Don’t you know what love is because of them?” My voice was whisper soft and my insides
grew tense while I waited for his answer. His smile faded and his eyes looked
away from me.
    “If you call the once a month lecture and access to their
credit accounts love, then yes.” He looked back up and I was momentarily shocked
by the honesty in his eyes. “My parents worked constantly. My dad went to his
job for long hours and my mom did — well, whatever my mom did. I was left
to deal with myself and they judged me by my grades and judged themselves by
the things they were able to give me. We didn’t spend much time together.” He
shrugged it off suddenly. “It doesn’t matter, though. I had the life every kid
wants; money at my disposal and no parents to breathe down my neck.”
    “I don’t want that.” It was an immediate response and one
that appeared to shock him. “If I could have just one minute more with my mom,
I’d do anything for it — anything. To see her smile, or hear her laugh,
or even to feel the warmth of her palm against my cheek.” A tear threatened my
eye, but I kept it from falling. I didn’t want to get emotional in front of
him.
    His hands idly rubbed up and down my calves. Even though I
didn’t want to admit it, his touch was doing funny things to my body and I
enjoyed the contact. It felt normal, natural. I hadn’t known Hunter for very
long but my soul recognized him and it was easy to fall in step with him - to
feel like I’d known him forever.
    “What happened to your mom?” He was curious. I couldn’t
fault him for that, but talking about her was hard even though it had been 10
years since I last saw her.
    I wrapped my arms around my waist when I answered, “She
died. Ten years ago from a car accident. A drunk driver swerved into her lane,
killing her and Lily’s mom. That’s how we ended up living next to each other.
Our dads relied on each other for help raising us kids.
    His face fell and I felt terrible. I didn’t want to talk
about sad things and it seemed that our conversation had turned from one of
hope to one of despair. I grieved the loss of my mother, and he grieved never
having had one to begin with.
    When it grew quiet between us, I stood up and stepped down
off the table. My underwear had dried from the heat outside and I could put the
rest of my clothes back on. Hunter stood up and followed behind me and we
dressed without speaking.
    The rest of the hike was tedious. Hunter was pretty strong
up until the last two miles or so, but he dragged ass that last little bit,
dramatically falling to the ground by the time we reached the front yard of my
house.
    “Oh thank God! We made it. I can’t feel my legs, but I’m
alive.”
    I scowled down at him and laughed. “It wasn’t that bad. It’s
obvious you spend way too much town sitting around. You know, beyond TV and
video games, there’s a whole world out there waiting to be explored.”
    His brilliant blues found mine and he smiled that dimpled
grin of his that made me melt every time I saw it. “I know. I’ve seen that
world on the TV. And it didn’t destroy my legs in the process.”
    When he winked, my heart skipped and I had to restrain
myself from dropping to my knees so I could kiss him. His lips were soft. I
knew that from our encounter at the spring and I’d been a strong woman to

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