Free Dragonfly by Leigh Talbert Moore

conversation.
    “Don’t talk to my friends.” Jack’s voice was sharp.
    “What are you going to do?” William scoffed. “Fight me?”
    “I’d love to. Let’s go.”
    “Will you ever be more than my punk-assed little brother?” William sighed. “Dad made a stupid decision sending you to public school. Bryant Brennan might not care what his son does, but you certainly aren’t getting mixed up with some girl who’ll just get you in trouble.”
    I felt my face grow hot. Not this again.
    “You don’t know anything about Anna,” Jack’s voice sounded like he was pulling a shirt over his head.
    “And you’re thinking with your dick.”
    “You’re the dick,” Jack growled. “Don’t talk to my friends.”
    “These are not your friends, and soon enough you’ll be where you belong.”
    Jack returned looking incredibly handsome in a white t-shirt and loose khakis. I had missed him, and now I felt like I was about to lose him. My throat tightened.
    “Hey, come on. Let’s walk down to the Bay,” he said.
    “What’s going on?” I said, trying not to sound desperate. “Why is he here? Why haven’t you been at school?”
    He took my hand and pulled it to his lips for a kiss. “I thought about you the whole time we were gone,” he said smiling. “What did you do all weekend?”
    “Who cares what I did! What’s happening? What did William mean about being where you belong?”
    “You heard that,” he frowned.
    “You didn’t answer my texts, and I tried to call—”
    “Come on.” He put an arm across my shoulders, and we walked down Peninsula Avenue in silence. I was starting to get worried when we reached the shore of Lost Bay and he still hadn’t said a word.
    He sat down on the sand and gently pulled me down beside him and into his side. We listened to the gentle ripples of the water. It was more like a lake on this side of the island, but I couldn’t relax. I looked up at the sky just getting dark.
    Finally he spoke. “Lucy’s got a big mouth.”
    “What happened this weekend?” I felt like I was going to die if he didn’t tell me something.
    “What I told you—going to New Orleans, meeting with Tulane officials, touring the campus. Then William started asking questions about what we were doing now. Lucy talks a lot when she’s nervous, and he makes her very nervous.” Jack laced our fingers together and stroked the inside of my forearm.
    “But why would your brother care about me?” My voice sounded too desperate, but it was hard to hide my feelings. “Other than to note our differences, I mean.”
    “We’re not so different,” he smiled. “My family’s just been here longer. Your dad’s in development, right?”
    “Sort of. He’s a contractor.”
    “Well, suppose you guys had lived here fifteen years ago, and he’d been one of the men on the golf course. We could be neighbors.”
    “But would you notice the girl next door? You seem to prefer going outside the box.”
    “Would the girl next door have such cute curls or cry at the end of Song of Solomon or want to learn to sail with me?”
    “Yes.”
    “Then you bet I’d notice her.”
    I pressed my cheek against his shoulder still worried. He smiled and gently lifted my chin and kissed me. It was a soft kiss, then a little nibble, a little touch of his tongue. As always, my whole body lit right up, but my chest was tight. It was hard to breathe. He pulled me around so I was facing him, my back toward his knees, and slid the band out of my hair, spreading out my curls.
    “What are you doing?” I tried to fight him and pull them back into a knot.
    “I love these.” He grabbed one lock that had managed to hold together in a large spiral and pulled it around in front of my face.
    “Well, too bad there aren’t more of those. The rest are just fuzz,” I tied my hair back again. “So you didn’t tell me what William meant by ‘where you belong’? Why is he here?”
    “He’s trying to convince Dad we should