Instead, I just stared down at him.
My body ached and was on fire.
Ohmyfuckinggod… Jett… how the fuck do you do this to me?…
I bent my knees an inch, feeling my knees touch the couch.
My left hand reached for the back of the couch.
I was leaning over Jett now.
He reached up and touched the small zipper on the large hoodie.
As he pulled it, the teeth made their crunching sound, leaving me shivering for his touch.
He unzipped it halfway, realizing I wasn’t wearing anything under it.
“Oh, fuck, sweetheart,” he whispered.
His eyes moved from the open hoodie to my open eyes.
His hand slid around to the front of my body.
When his fingertips touched between my legs, outside of my panties, I leaned forward some more.
Melting into him.
Jett put his left hand around to my ass and pulled at me.
I let out a gasping cry as I straddled him.
His left hand then grabbed the zipper of the hoodie again and ripped it the rest of the way down.
I shivered, my skin tightening, my nipples perking up, knowing just who was touching me.
Jett’s fingertips ran along the edge of my panties. I put my head back and shut my eyes, lowering my chest down to his face. I felt his hot breath against my breasts as his fingertips touched my core. He inched forward, following the curve of my slit, up, stopping at a spot that instantly made me lose my breath.
That’s when his mouth moved over my right breast.
Touching me with his fingers. Tasting me with his mouth.
My hips started to rock, not wasting a second of another moment with him.
My heart pounded inside my chest, almost as though I was guilty of something.
But I wasn’t guilty.
Of anything.
Fuck you, Julia. Own your fucking body and make Jett explode right there in his jeans.
I groaned and thrust forward even harder.
Jett’s free hand cupped my other breast.
He just kept going.
Kissing.
Touching.
Tasting.
Knowing when to gently use his teeth.
Knowing when to press against my tender nub. When to slide left to right. When to move up and back.
He left me shaking as the sudden rush of pleasure overwhelmed me faster than I could ever remember in my life.
My hands gripped the back of the couch and I pulled forward, letting go.
Jett pulled his mouth away from my breast with a wet kiss sound that only made everything that much better. He moved his other hand from my other breast and reached for the back of my neck. He pulled me down so our mouths collided together.
I couldn’t even kiss him back.
So our lips touched. Our tongues touched.
I squeezed my eyes shut as the rush of pleasure continued to pour through me.
And when that intense rush finally subsided, Jett wasn’t done yet.
He gently took his fingers from between my legs.
He brought his hands together and fixed the zipper on my hoodie.
As he zipped it up, he looked up at me with a grin that crushed my heart with a million memories.
Then he grabbed the blanket I didn’t even realized I had dropped on the couch.
“Thanks for this,” he whispered.
My eyes studied his body.
No guy should ever look the way he did in just jeans. The younger years of nothing but surfing and the current years of nothing but working at the shop made him look…
“Forget that blanket, Jett,” I said. “I have a better one.”
I have a better one? Ohmygod, Julia…
I grabbed his hand and pulled.
“Sweetheart…”
“Shut the fuck up,” I growled.
Jett slowly stood up and I pulled him toward the bedroom.
I was breaking my own rule for the night.
I kept the hoodie on.
Jett kept his jeans on.
But when he put his arm around me… and he pulled me against his body…
Jett took a deep breath. “Goodnight, sweetheart.”
“Goodnight,” I managed to whisper.
That’s when I started to cry.
* * *
I hurried out of the bedroom and saw Jett in the kitchen.
Still shirtless.
Pouring coffee.
This is so right, Julia. This is what you wanted. This is what you wanted it to be. And the time that’s gone is gone… who cares?
“Morning,” Jett said. “Poured you some coffee. Hope you don’t mind. I was going to leave it here and write you a love letter before I left.”
“Left…?” I asked as though I didn’t understand the word.
Jett raised an eyebrow. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” I said. “I’m leaving.”
“Oh?” Jett asked.
“Whitney. I mean, she called. She emailed. She texted. Then… called… I have…”
I turned and darted into the bedroom again.
I felt like my tongue was swollen and I couldn’t speak.
My eyes moved around the room.
And then I moved fast.
I grabbed a pair of jeans that were already on the floor.
My bra was on the floor from where Jett had dropped it the night before.
My cheeks burned hot.
I put on the first t-shirt I found in a drawer and dropped to the floor to put on my shoes.
When I came running out of the bedroom, I just kept going.
Fleeing my own house.
“Julia!” Jett yelled.
I dug my phone out of my bag as I snatched it off the small table at the door where I threw my keys and the mail.
“Have to take this call!” I yelled back at him.
And I ran out the front door to my car.
“You piece of shit better start,” I said to the car.
I got into the car and it started.
I drove away, leaving Jett behind in my house.
It was backwards.
But that was how Jett and I always seemed to function.
* * *
I took another cigarette out of the pack.
Whitney grabbed my wrist. “Are you going to finish the one you’re smoking first?”
“Huh?” I asked.
I blinked fast.
I had a cigarette in my left hand.
And I had just reached for another one with my right hand.
“Oh,” I said. “Stupid. Right?”
“What’s going on with you?” Whitney asked.
“Nothing. Why? What happened to you?”
Whitney’s eyes went wide. “Um…”
I stood up from the chair outside the back of the bakery. “How long have you ever gone without… you know…”
“You know?”
“You know,” I said. “It.”
“What’s It?” Whitney asked.
“Stop.”
“What are you… oh.” It finally hit Whitney. “Oh. Whoa. Why are you worried about that?”
“Just a question. That’s all.”
“Are you asking if I’m sleeping around?” Whitney asked.
“No. Just… never mind. It’s not my business.”
“It obviously is,” Whitney said. “No, I’m not sleeping around with anyone in this town. And as far as how long… I don’t know. I don’t keep a calendar. Weeks? Months? I don’t know. If you want the entire story, I have a thing.”
“A thing?” I asked.
“An arrangement. Someone I know from college. He lives a couple hours away. We chat sometimes and… you know…”
“Meet up,” I said.
“Yeah. Is that what you wanted to know?”
I feel even more stupid. “What is wrong with me? I’m sorry, Whitney. I shouldn’t have asked…”
“You did. I
answered. Now let me guess something here…” She tapped her chin with the pointer finger of her left hand. “You fooled around with that guy that was here.”
“We have to get to work.”
“You did!” Whitney said. “That’s great. Right? I mean, if I’m seeing it straight… he’s hot as hell. You ever see those biker shows? He looks like one of them. But not like dirty and smelly. Just fucking hot.”
“I get it,” I said. “Trust me, I get it. I know who Jett is. I’ve known him… I shouldn’t have said a thing.”
“I don’t get why it’s a problem,” Whitney said.
I stared at Whitney.
She tightened her lips and showed her hands.
She went back into the bakery and I stood outside alone.
I had no reason to be there as early as I was.
The place was fine without me.
It’s why I hired Whitney.
I finished my cigarette and lit up the other one.
It didn’t taste good at all.
It was actually kind of gross.
This wasn’t me.
And I could have gone inside too.
But I didn’t.
Because I knew Jett and knew he was already on his way.
When I heard the motorcycle engine, it did things to me that were kind of silly to ever admit.
Jett pulled right up to the back of the bakery.
As I blinked, I saw memories playing through my mind.
Of the same scene.
And that was a problem.
“Are you okay, sweetheart?” he asked.
“You could have texted me that.”
“Why? So you could fake another phone call?”
“What?”
“You suck at lying, Julia,” Jett said. He pointed to the table. “And you’re just standing out here, smoking one after another.”
“Are you my doctor now?”
“No,” Jett said. “But I would like to know what’s going on here.”
“You tell me, Jett.”
“Tell you what?”
“Why did you show up last night? What was the point of the entire night? I mean, did you get what you wanted?”
Jett rubbed his jaw. “Ah, there it is. You think I showed up just for that.”
“I didn’t say that.”
“Forget it then,” he said. “But the last time I ran it through my mind, there were two people there. And the second time-”
“I don’t need a fucking recap,” I snapped. I shut my eyes. I swallowed hard.
“Then what do you need, Julia?” Jett asked.
I opened my eyes. “I need last night to not be real. Because going by the past, it is never going to work with us. Just because we had a thing doesn’t mean it’s implied now. And it’s exhausting having everyone in this town just assume we’re going to end up back together.”
“Since when do you listen to anyone in this town?” he asked. “And why would I listen? I don’t give a damn what anyone thinks or says.”
“You still never gave me a good reason as to why you showed up.”
“Because I wanted to,” Jett said. “That’s why. Maybe I don’t need a reason to show up. Or to talk to you. Or to see what we still have, if anything at all. I think we both spent enough time punishing ourselves and each other. But I guess I’m wrong, sweetheart.”
Jett moved toward me and touched my face.
I let him.
He brought his lips down to mine.
I let him do that too.
At the first flicker of his tongue, I put my right hand to his chest and pushed.
I shook my head.
“I’m not living in the past, Jett. Ever.”
Jett walked to his motorcycle. He stared forward for a few seconds.
Before starting it, he looked at me.
I had only seen Jett sad a few times in my life.
And this was one of them.
“I guess I’ll see you around,” he said. “Hopefully as a stranger next time.”
“Jett…”
He started the motorcycle and took off.
The engine echoed off the buildings and I felt it in my heart.
I wiped a tear off my cheek.
Did I just break our hearts one more time?
Chapter 15
THEN
Jett
“Where are you with it now?” Scotty asked me as we each smoked a cigarette.
We sat in the bed of his beat up truck.
I was on the edge and he sat with his back against the back window.
“One more fight and I’m good with it,” I said.
“Shit. She’s going to love it.”
“She better,” I said with a grin.
I knew Julia was going to love it. She didn’t know what it meant to be spoiled but I was going to show her what it was like. She deserved it. No matter the cost.
I stood up and flicked my cigarette into the field. “Do me a solid, Scotty.”
“Anything for you, brother,” Scotty said.
“Don’t let her know… about this,” I said. “If she asks about the money. How I got it.”
Scotty nodded. “She doesn’t know you’re still fighting?”
“I don’t know what she knows,” I said. “She stopped asking about it. I think with the way things are now… we’re busy, you know? And things are working.”
“So it’s kind of like shut the fuck up and enjoy the ride,” Scotty said.
“Yeah,” I said.
Scotty stuck his stump of a cigarette between his lips and put his hand out for me to help him up.
I pulled and he took the very last drag possible on the cigarette and tossed it over the side of the truck.
“Now I get to be an asshole,” he said.
“With what?” I asked.
“With what you’re doing here,” he said. “Take a swing at me, brother. I’m good with it. But hiding shit… where does that end up?”
“I’m not hiding anything, Scotty.”
“You’re just not telling her.”
I curled my lip. “Don’t make me waste my good punch on you.”
“Yeah, we don’t want that,” Scotty said. “I’ll have to mop your ass off the floor and hide you from Julia.”
I laughed. “Let me just drop this motherfucker on his ass and call it a night.”
“Just don’t get hit,” Scotty said. “That’s hard to explain I bet.”
“No. Nothing about Julia is hard. That’s what makes everything feel so right.”
“Except the you secretly fighting thing,” he said.
Scotty jumped out of the truck before I could get my hands on him.
He laughed and waved his middle fingers at me.
I jumped out of the truck and we walked to the fight.
I probably didn’t need to do it.
And it probably would end up pissing Julia off.
But, come on, it was going to make for one hell of a story…
* * *
The guy loved to take body shots. It was because I had a better reach than him. He could crouch a little and get close to me and throw some rights and lefts to my sides, hoping I’d drop my hands so he could catch me on the jaw.
It was a good plan.
It just didn’t work.
I toyed with him for a little bit, dancing around, letting him break out in a sweat.
I figured I’d let him believe he stood a chance against me.
“Come on, Jett,” Scotty yelled from the side. “I’m getting tired.”
I stopped moving my feet.
The guy in front of me was out of breath.
I shook my head.
Time to go.
I ended the fight with two quick punches and collected my winnings.
It was all such a process to me by then.
That first time I fought for money was such a big deal. A chance to hit someone, get paid, and then eat… it was like being a rock star.
But now?
> There was no difference between me setting a price for some custom work at Pop’s shop versus knocking some guy out with a clean hit to the jaw.
And honestly I didn’t even look back anymore.
I used to.
I used to look back and make sure the guy moved.
Now, I didn’t care.
Fighting had grown on me like an unwanted limb.
I folded up my cash and Scotty threw me a fresh t-shirt.
I took off the one I was wearing and put on the fresh one.
We each had a cigarette on the walk back to his truck.
And we left.
“You ever worry about losing one, brother?” Scotty asked me.
“Lose what?” I asked.
The windows were down and the midnight air tasted good.
“Your virginity,” Scotty said with a cackle. “Shit, brother, a fight. What the fuck?”
“Sorry,” I said. “I try not to think about them when they’re done. And, no, I don’t worry about losing. I can’t lose.”
“Why not?”
“When you’re hungry, you know what’s at stake,” I said. “Some of those other guys just go there for fun. Or to impress girls. I went there to eat. There’s a big difference.”
“What about tonight?” Scotty asked. “That was some rage in your eyes. When you turn that switch on…”
“All for Julia,” I said. “I’d kill for her, Scotty.”
“You really love her that much, huh?”
“I can’t even explain it. And that’s not me.”
“No, it’s not,” Scotty said. “You and I… we were a team. You know that, right? And now you’re chained down.”
“Don’t think you can get laid on your own?” I asked with a grin.
“I do just fine,” Scotty said. “Want to go grab a drink?”
“I need a shower first,” I said.
“Clean yourself up because you’re going to let Julia know, aren’t you?”
“Sorry, man… you’re a good looking guy. But I can’t pass up having a drink with my girl.”
* * *
There was a little hideout kind of place where we could bring something to drink for ourselves. It was the dive version of a dive bar. The same four guys sitting at the bar had been there so long their asses were fused to the barstools.
Even with that, Anthony wouldn’t let any of us buy a sip of booze.
HIDDEN CREEK THEN: a hidden creek high novel Page 12
