Love Bites

Cory finished setting up the TV and game system and sat down on his bed. The TV was a 36” LCD; quite a bit bigger than his old one. The game system was a new version with all the bells and whistles plus the top ten games that were out.

But Cory just sat and looked at both. He wasn’t really sure he could enjoy them without Lily. Although she wasn’t really into video games, they had spent a bit of time together, him sitting on the floor playing, while she laid in the bed, her hand on his shoulder or head, while just watching.

It was a quiet kind of comfortable. No stress, no tension, just hanging out in a relaxing sort of way.

I am truly an idiot, he thought.

Doing what Kayla told him to do, he grabbed his cellphone and dialed Lily’s number. It went directly to voicemail, just like Kayla said it would.

He hung up.

That was stupid, why did I hang up and not leave a message, he thought.

He hit redial and the voicemail picked up after one ring again. After the beep, he left a message.

“Lily, um, it’s me, Cory. I, um, want to say… God, I’m such an idiot. I never should have been mad at you. You weren’t to blame, I was. And, um, I was mad at myself, but took it out on you instead.

“I-I don’t blame you if you hate me. I hate me too. I’ll understand if you don’t want anything more to do with me, but don’t take my stupidity out on Kayla. I almost lost her over all of this and it’s not fair for you to lose her when you aren’t to blame.

“Come back and I’ll give you two space to, um, do whatever. I want you back, but if you won’t come back for me, then come back for Kayla.

“Just know that I still lo-” BEEP. The time ran out. Cory cursed.

He laid back on his bed and wished for Lily back.

Kayla came back hours later to find Cory still laying on his bed, eyes open, staring at the ceiling. She tossed a small box that landed squarely in the middle of his chest.

He jerked, as he wasn’t aware of her being there.

“Got you something,” she said.

“You’re back early,” he replied.

“Early? It’s nearly dinner time. That and I couldn’t take any more of Abby. It was like being around a cat in heat. I thought they were going to go at it right there in the mall. At the food court, his hand was under the table and Abby nearly spit out a drink she had just taken, then flushed. I don’t want to think about why.”

Cory sat up. “What’s in the box?”

“Open it and find out, duh.”

It was a square felt box, like the ones that Lily gave Kayla. He popped it open and saw a thin gold chain with a small charm on it. Looking closer, he saw the charm was shaped like a puzzle piece.

“A puzzle piece?” he asked her.

“Yes. You’re a puzzle that one of these days we might figure out. Until then…” she shrugged. “Put it on.”

He took it out of the box and put it on. It wasn’t nearly as long as the one that Kayla got from Lily and hung a couple of inches below his neck.

“Thank you,” he said.

She walked over to him and put her foot up on his leg.

Cory looked down at the svelte calf and thigh that was now right in his face. He noticed how smooth and lean it was, the tan skin, tight over muscle.

Kayla noticed his eyes going up her leg as the knee-high dress was pulled up slightly higher now due to her leg position. “Uh-uh spaz, other direction.”

He quickly looked down, admonishing himself for his behavior, and saw a small chain around her ankle. It was thin and feminine but looked sturdy and it had a small charm dangling from it. It was a different shape, but it was a puzzle piece.

“We’re in this together. Two peas in the puzzle.”

Cory groaned and said, “Bad pun.”

“I know you hate shopping, even when it’s in your best interest, so don’t say I never did my part,’ she said tossing another box to him as she withdrew her foot from his leg.

He caught it and opened it. It contained two chains that looked similar to the anklet that Kayla now had. One had a third, different puzzle piece on it. “For mom?” he asked.

“God you are so dense sometimes. It’s for Lily. I didn’t know if she would like a necklace or an anklet, so I got both. Or she can wear the anklet as a bracelet. Same thing, really. So, give it to her when she comes back. She’ll be the third piece of our little puzzle. Maybe we can make a picture with them.”

Cory stood and gave his sister a hug, saying, “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. And if it works, you owe me. Big.”

“Anything.”

“Now, let me change so you stop gawking at me and trying to sneak a peek and my undies, and come help with dinner,” she said, teasing him.

She twirled around, dress rising in response and headed for the door.

“Wait!” Cory exclaimed.

She stopped in her tracks and looked back at him over her shoulder.

“Almost… almost… Ahh, okay, now you can go,” Cory said slumping back on the bed.

“Funny, very funny,” she said. “Then you deserve this,” she said, lifting the dress over her head and she walked out to change.

Cory got an excellent view from behind of her new underwear and groaned, wishing Lily was there. He might not have waited until he was seventeen.