by ML Nystrom
“Christ, what the hell? Are you okay?” Garrett looked around as soon as he could for the culprit. “Did anyone see who did that?”
“Some guy in a hoodie just left. Didn’t see the face.” One voice rang out above us. “Looked like he tripped and decided not to stick around. Dick move, if you ask me.”
A few other patrons hummed in agreement.
We moved to the aisle and exited the dark theater. A concession worker stared at us as he wielded a broom in the main lobby. Garrett ran to the counter and grabbed a handful of napkins and dabbed at my face. “I’m gonna guess you’re ready to call it a night and go home?”
I gave a short laugh and pulled three ice chips from my shirt. “I think that is a great idea. Sitting in sticky drying soda is not my idea of a fun romantic date.”
He responded with a laugh of his own.
A sudden thrill went through me as he grazed over my chest. He rubbed the soggy napkins over my tight nipples without thinking. My sharp breath intake made him pause enough to realize where his hands were and what he was doing. His eyes grew dark and moved up from my breasts to meet mine. I swear they brightened into a deeper green.
He swallowed. “Do you want to go clean up in the ladies’ room before we go?”
His hand still hovered over my breast holding the now falling apart napkins. Heat radiated from him against my cold skin. “Yes, that’s a good idea.” My tone came out huskier and heavier.
The air grew thick, and I shivered. Without another word, Garrett took my hand and turned to lead me to the ladies’ room. He tossed the sopping paper into a trash can on the way. “I’ll go back in the theater and get my jacket and your poncho. Hopefully, it didn’t get wet as well.”
Garrett grabbed our stuff while I escaped to the restroom. Thank God, the theater had paper towel dispensers and not hand dryers. I took a handful and blotted more moisture from my clothes, squeezing over my breasts that were still sensitive with alert nipples. There wasn’t much I could do with my hair. I rinsed off my face and blotted the running makeup from under my eyes before regarding my reflection. “What are you doing, Bertie?”
Playing with fire. That’s what.
My clothes started to feel cold and clammy, and I shivered again. Garrett was waiting right outside the restroom door with my coat in his hand. “I’m afraid some soda got on your poncho as well, but it’s not soaked.”
I smiled and let him swing the heavy garment over me. My attention moved to his lips, and I had the urge to kiss the frown from them. “Thanks, Garrett. I’ll manage.”
“I wish I could find the guy that did this.”
I shrugged, lifting the coat up and down. “It was an accident. I just happened to be in the line of fire. I’m sure there are worse things than getting a soda dumped on your head.”
A harried looking bald man hurried over. “My staff informed me of the accident. I’m so sorry this happened.” He peeled off four tickets from a roll he had in his pocket. “Please accept these comp vouchers for your trouble.”
Garrett humphed but didn’t say anything. The conversation in the truck on the way back to my place was stilted. He mentioned the vouchers and how we could come back to finish watching the movie. I tried to tease him about picking something different, but my efforts sounded lame.
The headlights shone across my little house, and a few random snowflakes drifted in the cold night air. Pal whined at the door. The dog danced around us on the lit porch as I unlocked and opened the door. Now came the awkward part of the date. Would he kiss me goodnight? Seemed logical, since we’d had each other’s tongues down our throats at one time. Did I want him to?
Yes. Yes, I did.
I turned to Garrett, fully expecting to find his mouth seeking mine.
“Good night, Bertie. I’ll see you on Monday.”
Wait. What?
I was sure I resembled an owl, as big as my eyes got. “You’re leaving?”
He put his hands in his pockets and dropped his eyes to the wood slats of the porch. “Yeah. It’s for the best. You want to get a shower, right?”
“Yes, I do, but I…. Well….”
Those green orbs of his snapped up, and I lost my breath at their intensity. “If I come into your house tonight, sweetheart, I won’t be leaving until tomorrow morning. I had the best of intentions with this date, but I can’t help it. All through dinner, I sat across from you and had to fight getting hard. Just watching your lips move when you talk reminds me of that night and how good it felt to be inside you. My life is shit right now, and my head is not where it needs to be. You don’t deserve that. Best I leave now before this goes any further.”
He stopped speaking but still stayed facing me on my porch. I took one extra moment before I stepped into his space. His eyes burned as I gazed into them. My hands rose to circle his neck and pull him down to me with only token resistance. I took a breath and jumped.
“Come inside, Garrett,” I whispered against his lips.
He stiffened against me, and for one tiny moment, I thought he would set me aside and bolt. Instead his mouth crushed mine and his tongue thrust deep. I moaned at the tension release and drove my hands into his hair. The door slammed shut with a bang as he pushed me further inside my house.
“This is a mistake. We shouldn’t be doing this.” His growl against my lips contradicted the actions of his hands. They traveled south to grasp my bottom and pull me into his heat. There was no mistaking the tent in his pants as it pressed against me.
“It’s only a mistake if we’re playing games. I’m not. Are you?”
He didn’t answer.
“What you see is what you get with me, Garrett. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t attracted to you. I want to be with you for as long as this lasts. Neither of us is ready for something more. Perhaps it will grow, or perhaps not, but in the meantime, I don’t see why we need to stand across the room from each other and ache with this need when we are both adults and can do something about it.”
He pulled back slightly to rest his forehead on mine. “We’re back to friends with benefits.”
“I think so.”
He gave a short laugh, and his breath brushed across my skin. “I’m sure there are lots of people who fuck as friends and think nothing of it. I’m also just as sure that eventually hearts get involved, and that’s not always even. Someone gets hurt. Badly. My heart has plenty of scars from being on the losing end of the game, and I’m not ready to play with it. I don’t want to play with yours either. Until we’re sure we can do this, it’s best we keep it as friends without the benefits.”
“Do you still want to date?”
He reached up a hand and stroked his fingers over my cheek to my neck. “I’m so conflicted, my head is ready to explode. I don’t know everything I want, but I know I don’t want to walk away.”
The room went silent except for our breathing. We stood close enough that each puff mingled with the other. The air grew heavier as the silence continued. I finally broke it.
“Well, we do have a movie to rewatch and another to pick out. There’s a winter festival coming up at the Biltmore Estate I’d like to go to, and I’d love to do a wine tasting there.” I left the request for his company unspoken.
“Sounds like we have some plans to make. I’m going home. I’ll see you Monday at work.” His head moved a fraction to kiss me again, but he stopped and lightly squeezed my neck. I watched as he strode from my house without looking back. A moment later, his truck started up and the faint red of the taillights flashed across the room.
Robotically, I showered, washed my face, moisturized, and dabbed eye cream under my eyes. Pal nearly tripped me up several times as he hovered around me. I decided he sensed my clashing moods. I wanted to be angry that Garrett had turned me down. I wanted to be relieved about it, too. How can I be so hot and cold at the same time?
The bed was cold when I crawled in it. Pal settled in his usual spot next to me on the floor. I bought him a dog bed for
this purpose, and he flumped down on it with a loud doggie groan. The quiet in the house remained steady, but my body still hummed with unsatisfied desire. My hands drifted over my body, stroking my nipples as they traveled to my legs to ease the ache between them. I sighed and reached for one of my three new toys, wishing for the real man.
Garrett lay back in his borrowed bed. The condo came fully furnished, and he was grateful for Melanie’s generosity. He placed the paper napkin swan on the nightstand and stared at it. Physically, he was tired, but his mind churned with thoughts.
Too soon. I’m not ready for this.
Yes, I am.
She’s not ready.
Yes, she is.
What’s the holdup?
I don’t know.
Can we be friends?
Why can’t you be more than friends?
Too soon. I’m not ready for this.
The same points circled over and over again as his brain ran high speed on a hamster wheel. Only one detail was certain. He wanted Bertie, and not just in bed. Her kindness, generosity, steady nature, and beauty all rolled up into the one woman he dreamed of having by his side for years. He wasn’t stupid. He understood the hang-ups he inherited from his experience with Joy held him back. It still didn’t erase the pain his heart had gone through. What it was still going through.
Garrett closed his eyes and pulled up a mental picture of Bertie tonight. Her teasing laughter about movie genres. The warmth of her hand in his as she leaned into him at the box office. He drew in a long breath to remember her perfume. Something light and floral. His dick twitched with life as he pictured her soft mouth and how it fit so perfectly under his. Her taste. Her breasts as they pressed against his body. The heavy beating of her heart and the breathy sounds she made when she was turned on.
He reached down and cupped himself as he relived once again the memory of sliding into her perfect body. Her heat surrounding his dick. Her moans of encouragement from that night looped in his head as he slowly pumped his fist up and down.
“Yes. Please don’t stop now.”
“Finish the job.”
“I’m coming! I’m coming!”
He cried out as he sprayed across his stomach, temporarily relieving his desire. It would have been better had he come inside Bertie. Was there such a thing as being too cautious? Could a broken heart heal that fast? Perhaps he was ready after all. If she was willing to take the plunge with him and become a couple, perhaps he should stop fighting the pull and let it happen.
He lay for a few more minutes until the drying semen across his stomach began to itch. His phone rang as he got up to go clean himself, and he answered it without checking the number.
“Hello.”
“Garrett?” Joy’s voice cracked with tears.
Fourteen
Why is it that when I’m running late, something happens that makes me even later? My car crawled at ten miles an hour behind the farm tractor illuminated by my headlights. Yoga class should be starting about now, and I should have been there already. Why does this guy need to move his tractor now, anyway? It’s dark at five o’clock and the middle of winter. Farms don’t work in the winter. Do they?
I had the fortune of being located close to an organic farm co-op. They had a store housed in a quaint little building, and all the fresh veggies and other stuff you could want. I thought it would be a great marketing tool to say my inn served farm-to-table foods. Farmers were salt of the earth people, and I loved and supported them in their efforts and work. At the moment, I wasn’t too keen on the time it took for my neighbor to move down the road. Nor the hour.
I took a big cleansing breath. No sense in getting riled. You’re late already. A few more minutes won’t be that big a deal.
I glanced at my rearview mirror. A pair of far-off headlights rapidly approached. “Sorry, pal. You might as well slow down. I’m afraid I can’t go any faster until this guy gets where he’s going.”
Perhaps I could pass the tractor on the next straightaway, but there was no way I would attempt that on these curves. Too many blind moves, and this was a popular enough road that I could get surprised and plow head-on into someone. I’d rather be late to class than hurt someone or be dead.
The headlights got closer, and I flipped the rearview mirror to its dark side to cut the glare. “Ugh, turn off your brights. You’re blinding me.”
I guessed the driver behind me didn’t hear, as the high beams stayed on. They came up to rest almost on top of my rear bumper. A weird sensation took root in my gut. The twin lights sat high off the ground, making me think the vehicle was a truck or large SUV. It loomed over my tiny Audi with an air of menace.
“Look, person behind me, I can’t go anywhere right now, and you can’t either. Back. Off.” My shoulders twisted up with tension, and I expected Rhyleigh would admonish me for it later. Talking to the intimidating auto wasn’t helping. It stayed on my bumper.
Finally the farmer turned off the road just before a straightaway. The open field on the right side of the road was full of hay bales, but I only spared it a quick look as I sped up to put some distance between me and the vehicle hovering behind me.
“You can pass now if you want,” I told the impatient driver.
He didn’t take me up on the offer. He sped up with me and stayed right behind me. I rolled down the window and stuck my hand out in the cold wind to wave him around me. He kept his spot. I didn’t know what else to do, so I put the window back up again and kept driving.
“I’m not going any faster, and tailgating won’t change my mind. Go around.”
Those headlights zoomed closer. My car jerked as he made contact.
“Cheese and crackers, you just hit me!”
He did it again, tapping my back bumper as if trying to push me. The impact was harder, and my car skidded a bit. I had to fight to control it and keep it on the road.
“Go around!” I put a death grip on the steering wheel with both hands. No way was I going to let go and try to wave this guy past me again.
A third bump and push. My neck jerked back and forth, and the seat belt tightened across my chest. “Stop!”
Panic filled my belly, and my brain scrambled through options while fighting to keep control of my car. I had none.
Another bump, this one harder than the others. My tires squealed against the asphalt as I left the road. I skidded sideways down the shallow embankment into the field, taking out several fence posts and barbed wire. My car tipped at an angle, and I screamed as its balance threatened to flip. It righted itself, but still kept moving despite my stomping the brakes. Feelings of utter helplessness made me tense up more, and I froze as the scene played out. The front of the car hit a large boulder that stopped the skid. The windshield erupted into a spiderweb of cracks, and my head snapped forward. The air bag deployed, smacking me in the face, and pain shot across my nose.
I may have blacked out. I wasn’t sure. My head sat on the deflated air bag, resting on the steering wheel. The silence struck me as my brain started to work again. Silence and pain. My legs, my ribs, my face, my arms… everything hurt. I couldn’t move, and I didn’t want to. Very little sound filtered through the ringing in my ears. I leaned back painfully and attempted to look around. My neck protested the movement. The only available light was from the partial moon, and I couldn’t see much in the dark. Somehow I managed to turn enough to peer up the embankment. At the top, I could make out a large vehicle at the side of the road. A figure stood looking at me. Stock still. Whoever it was didn’t wave, didn’t call out and offer me help, didn’t try to come closer and see if I was okay. They just watched me and chills went down my spine. Hatred emanated from this person. Pure hatred. This person wanted me hurt. This person wanted me dead, and I had no idea why.
Another sound interrupted the holding pattern between me and the figure on the embankment. The grumble of an ATV got louder as my neighbor approached. I turned my head slowly to see the headlights approaching. When I loo
ked back, the figure and the vehicle were gone.
“Hey, missy, y’all okay in there?”
Charlie jumped from the seat and came over to peer in the broken window. “Lord have mercy, child, you look like you done gone a few rounds with Joe Louis, Muhammed Ali, and George Foreman all at the same time.” He pulled at the stuck car door. “Didja see that sumbitch who ran you off the road? Damn idjits always in a hurry, flyin’ down this road like they gotta piss er somethin’. I done told the sheriff ’bout them folks that keeps tailgatin’ through here.”
My phone had landed somewhere in the car. I licked my dry lips and tried to form an “F” sound. What came out sounded more like I was commanding a horse. “Whoah-n.”
“What’s that, missy?”
My second attempt was better. “Phone. I need my phone.”
Miracle of miracles, it started ringing.
“I think it done flew back behindja. I’ll have to look for it after I get the police and a ambulance here. I’ll call a tow truck to come get your car later. Damn idjits. I bet it was some kids. They ain’t got enough sense no how. They done run off, probbly scared they’s in trubble.”
He pulled out an ancient Razr-style phone and flipped it open. His tongue came out, and he clenched it between his teeth as he poked at the tiny numbers. My ears turned off as he ranted to the 911 operator. I closed my eyes and let him handle it.
It seemed like only a few minutes passed before my car became surrounded by flashing lights and people in uniforms. They had to use a jack of some sort to pry open the door and get me out. By then, all my nerves had woken up, and I shouted in pain as they put a cervical collar on me and moved me carefully to a gurney. One paramedic put in an IV while the other checked my pulse and looked at my eyes. I answered his questions as best I could, and he nodded in satisfaction.
