Read Online One Voice 02 - Here Without You by Mia Kerick - Free Book Online

Casey. Y’know. So you can do your studyin’.”
    “You aren’t going to have to be a manicurist this weekend.” I couldn’t help teasing him. “Your sister is staying with us too. She told me she loves painting nails. She even brought her own kit, with stickers and jewels. Lola and Sarah are going to be in manicure heaven.”
    “But wait, Zander.” Nate pushed us both back. “You can’t miss your One Voice meetin’ on Sunday night.”
    Zander looked up at Nate’s stricken face. I was pretty sure he realized, at that moment, just how important his goals were to Nate. Zander looked at me, his eyes wide and maybe a touch guilty. Then he spoke to Nate. “No worries, man, I’m not gonna miss the meeting. We’ll leave Sunday afternoon in time to get to One Voice. Unless you want us to stay later, which won’t be a problem. I can e-mail everybody and cancel, and I’ll be glad to do it.”
    “No. No, Zander. I want you to get back for the meetin’. It’s important .”
    Zander pulled his gaze from my face. “Not as important as we are.”
    Nate bent down and kissed Zander so sweetly I thought I might burst into happy tears. Even when Nate had ended the kiss, Zander kept his face lifted toward Nate, as if he were hoping for more. And when Nate bent down and kissed my lips, softly and reverently, I allowed a couple of isolated tears to fall from my eyes. Tears of joy were nothing to be ashamed of.
     
     
    T HE NIGHT was more than incredible. My mother’s Mexican cooking is legendary, so we all ate until we had trouble fitting into our pants. After dinner, we climbed on the sectional couch in the family room—all of the “kids,” Nate, Zander, Cindy, Lola, Sarah, and I, piled onto it with plenty of pillows and blankets. I had to give credit to my parents. They were incredibly accepting of what probably seemed a little bit strange to them—three guys in love. They even made us popcorn and lemonade and then sat down together on the love seat in the far corner of the room. We all watched Toy Story . Though it was crowded on the couch, and stray little girl hands and feet kept finding their way to my ribs, I felt warm, cozy, and safe—part of a family. I hoped that Nate and Zander felt as connected and secure as I did.
     
     
    W E SPENT much of Saturday in the same studying position as we spent most of senior year. I sat on the floor in front of the living room couch, where Zander and Nate sat close together. Nate kept his hand planted in my hair, which I’d missed. At dinnertime, Mom and Dad piled the girls in the Volvo and took them all to Dairy Queen for hot dogs and ice cream.
    “I wanna take my guys out on the town.” Once the crowd was out the door, Nate came to stand in front of Zander and me. “You guys been studyin’ your asses off. Least I can do is feed ya good.”
    “But… but my parents took the g-girls out,” I stammered. “That means we have a couple of hours alone before they go to their own dinner reservations.”
    I looked at Zander, who appeared extremely eager. Then I glanced back at Nate, who looked troubled. “No,” was all he said before he turned toward the wall.
    Zander and I exchanged confused glances, and then Zander said, “But I thought we were gonna… you know. I thought we were gonna make love next time we were alone.”
    Nate started shaking his head slowly.
    “Why not?” My words sounded whiny. Nate just kept shaking his head, but I noticed that his shoulders had slumped down, making me want to hug him. So I went up behind him and wrapped my arms around his waist. “Why do you not want to make love to us?” I made sure to use a gentle tone.
    Nate didn’t turn around, but he did answer me. “I do wanna make love to you guys. More’n anything else.” I could feel his chest swell against me as he took a deep breath. “It’s just… I don’t want it to happen here, like this .”
    Neither Zander nor I spoke. We knew that Nate had more to say, and sometimes he