Blue Ribbon Summer

by Kelly Collins

  “It’s down by the beach. It’s okay, it’ll be fine there. I’ll get it after my clothes are done. I can sleep in my car.”

  “That’s bullshit, Tilly, this is a big enough house for both of us. I have no idea where the bedrooms are, but I’m sure we can figure something out. You can stay here. Why don’t I go and get your car, and you can transfer your clothes to the dryer.”

  Before I could answer, he picked my keys up from the table and walked to the door. He looked at my keys and asked, “What color Honda?”

  “It’s the blue Honda Civic, I parked between two trucks, but they’re probably gone. Be careful, I know of a boy named Sam who might be really mad at this point.” I watched as he walked out the door.

  I put my clothes in the dryer. With a few minutes to myself, I walked around the house trying to get the lay of the land. The house was a single-story dwelling with a living room and an eat-in kitchen. A long hallway branched off the living room and led me to three bedrooms and an office. I peeked into the office and turned on the light. There were lots of framed magazine articles, each one highlighting Alex as an author. Obviously, Mr. Saunders was very proud of him. Above the desk were several awards for script writing. The recipient was a Mr. Samuel Saunders. A framed certificate sat leaning against a shelf; it was a membership to the Screenwriters Guild. Wow, the old man was a scriptwriter. Who would have thought? On the table behind his desk were stacks of manuscripts. There must have been at least twenty.

  I heard movement in the kitchen area and headed in that direction. Alex had walked in from the garage and had laid my keys back on the table; my purse was in his hands.

  “I thought you might need this.” He handed me my purse and moved straight for the refrigerator. He pulled out two beers and handed me one. I followed him into the living room. One table lamp in the corner spilled a soft glow into the room. The big bay window overlooked the lake. We sat on the couch and stared out the window. The crescent moon reflected off the still lake. How could something so pretty one moment be such an ugly place in another?

  “So, you’re a writer.” I picked up one of the books from the coffee table and held it up for him to see.

  “Yes, I have a few published books.” He looked almost embarrassed.

  “That’s really cool. I’m an avid reader. I haven’t read any of your works. Paranormal thrillers are not my normal genre, but I’ll have to buy one of your books and read it.” I opened the back of the book and saw the other titles that he had written. This book listed twenty-one titles, and it was published a year ago.

  “You can have that one. It’s a good story. Tell me about yourself, Tilly. What happened tonight? Why did your friends abandon you with that creep?”

  “There isn’t much to tell. I’ve lived here all my life. My best friend’s apparently not such a great friend, and I made a bad decision. I work at a diner. My life is pretty dull.”

  “There’s more to you than that.” He sipped his beer and looked at me. It was as if he was trying to put a puzzle together and a piece was missing.

  “I’m not telling you anything about me until you share something about yourself.”

  With skepticism, he narrowed his eyes and took a long draw from his beer. He looked around the house and shook his head.

  “I’m twenty-one years old, but I feel forty.” He looked at me like we were playing tag and he’d just tapped me.

  “I’m eighteen and just graduated from high school but feel like I’m thirty.” I took a drink of my beer. I pulled my legs up underneath me and tucked the robe around me.

  “I’ve written twenty-six books, and all but three have hit the best-seller lists. I wrote my first book, One Dark Night when I was fifteen.”

  “I write in a journal, but it’s never been published.” I began to laugh, and the last drink of beer came out my nose. “Ouch, that burns,” I said while I wiped my face with my sleeve.

  “I attended college in Dallas and got a journalism degree.” He sat forward on the chair and leaned toward me.

  “I’m going to college in August. My major is undeclared.”

  “I was raised by my mother, who is an editor at a large women’s magazine.”

  “So does she work at a magazine for large women, or does the magazine have a large distribution?” For a writer, he wasn’t clear with his sentence.

  “You would think that as a writer, I would have worded that better. She’s an editor for a large magazine.”

  “So, it’s bigger in size than most magazines?” I knew what he meant, but it was kind of fun teasing him.

  “Shut up…you knew exactly what I meant.”

  “Okay, my mother passed away from cancer three years ago.”

  “Wow, I’m sorry. That must have been hard.” He leaned over and put a hand on my knee. His touch sent a shiver that settled between my legs.

  “What happened to your dad?” He didn’t mention a father, only a mother.

  “I never met him. In fact, I have no idea who he is.” He looked off toward the window.

  “That’s awful. I can’t imagine not knowing who my parents are.”

  I picked up the book and began to thumb through it. “Obviously, writing is a talent passed down in your family. I walked into the office looking for bedrooms and saw that Old Man Saunders was a screenwriter. What is his relationship to you?”

  “I already told you he’s nothing to me.” The death-grip on the bottle turned his knuckles white.

  A tear began to form in my eye. It had been a very emotional night, and I was feeling vulnerable. I probably shouldn’t have asked, but I was curious

  “Sorry.” I untucked my legs and stood. The two beers had made me a bit unsteady on my feet. Alex jumped up to stop me before I stumbled and fell. “I’m okay.” I pushed away from him and walked into the laundry room to remove my clothes from the dryer. It was time I got dressed and went to bed. I didn’t want my curiosity to anger him any further.

  I closed the door to the laundry room and let my robe fall. I stepped into my underwear just as the door swung back open. My hands rushed to my breasts, and I crossed my legs as Alex looked on in shock.

  “Oh, God, I’m sorry, Tilly. I was coming to apologize for my abruptness.” His eyes darkened, and his nostrils flared slightly as he looked up and down my body.

  “Do you mind? I’m trying to get dressed here.” I lifted my right arm from my breast to push him out the door. He stared at my chest when my hand fell away. Way to go, Tilly—almost get raped, and then dish yourself up on a platter for the stranger in town.

  Alex backed out of the laundry room, never taking his eyes off of me until I shut the door in his face. I could hear his soft laughter on the other side of the door. I hurried up and dressed. Once I was fully clothed, I exited the laundry room and went in search of an empty bed. I found one in the second room to the left of the hallway. I lay on top of the covers and tried to fall asleep, but each time I closed my eyes, I saw Sam’s face.

  “Tilly, can I come in?” Alex asked from the doorway. I should have shut and locked the door, but I was scared in this strange house––the dead man’s house. In fact, the thought of a ghost scared me more than being alone with Alex.

  I lifted my head up and saw his shadow in the doorway. “Sure, come in.” I pulled myself into a seated position with my head leaning against the headboard.

  He sat on the bed beside me. The mattress dipped from his weight. He was not a small man. I guessed he was nearly six feet tall. He had dark brown hair and smoldering brown eyes. His skin was an olive tone. Right now in the dark, he looked black. His features became clearer as my eyes adjusted to the dim light.

  “I want to apologize for many things tonight. First, I’m sorry for staring at you when you were changing. I’m not a lecher like that. You just caught me off guard, and you’re really quite beautiful. I felt like a deer in the headlights.”

  I giggled at his description because he didn’t look anything like a deer in the headlights.
He looked more like a hunter and I was a deer. “Apology accepted.”

  “Thanks. Second, I want to apologize for my abruptness with regards to my grandfather. Yes, Samuel Saunders was my grandfather, but I never met him. A situation similar to yours happened to my mother. I’m the product of that unfortunate night. When my mother discovered she was pregnant, her father kicked her out of the house. She was the same age as you.”

  “I’m so sorry for prying. It’s not my business, and I had no right to ask.” I felt awful for asking. No wonder he’d had no hesitation about coming to my rescue. I liked him before but knowing part of his story made me like him that much more.

  “It’s okay. Really. For whatever reason, Samuel left his entire estate to me. I have no idea what to do with it. I’m in a stranger’s house, and it feels creepy. Thank God he didn’t die here, and his ghost isn’t waiting to haunt us. I write scary books, but I don’t want to live them.” His honesty caught me off guard. He’d been guarded all night. He had kept things close to his chest, and now he’d decided to open up.

  “I never even thought about that. Now you’re giving me the creeps.” A chill ran down my spine, making me shudder.

  “Why are you sleeping above the covers?” He tugged at the blanket, trying to pull it down for me.

  “Don’t—I have no idea if the sheets are clean. Here you are thinking about ghosts, and I’m thinking about cooties. We’re quite the pair, aren’t we?”

  He stopped his tugging and let the cover drop. “Let me find something to cover you up with.” He disappeared from the room and returned moments later with a blanket and a sheet. “I found these in the linen closet. They smell clean.” He held the fabric to his nose and inhaled.

  I supposed that if it was clean enough to be in the linen closet, it was clean enough to cover my body. “Thanks, Alex. You’re an amazing guy. You’ve done so much for me tonight.”

  “I hope that you can get some rest.”

  The bed shifted as he stood to exit. I had no idea why, but my hand shot out to stop him. I took his wrist and pulled him back down so that he was once again sitting next to me on the bed.

  “Please don’t go. I know you don’t know me very well, but now that you started talking about ghosts, I’m a little freaked out. Will you stay here beside me?”

  “Tilly, that’s not such a good idea.” He tried to break free of my grasp.

  “Okay, I understand. I just thought that maybe we could help each other get through the night. When I close my eyes, all I see is that boy’s face in my mind.”

  “I’m so sorry you had to go through that. Guys can be awful sometimes.”

  “Is that why you won’t stay here with me?” I was sad that he wouldn’t stay but respected his decision.

  “Move over, Tills. I’ll stay with you until you fall asleep. You’re a really pretty girl with all the right parts to make a boy like me squirm. On the heels of someone trying to assault you, I don’t think it’s a good idea for me to be in your bed.”

  I scooted over and felt him lie next to me. He spooned up next to my back, and I relaxed into him. He called me “Tills” just like my dad. I knew he was just trying to protect me, but somewhere in my heart, I knew he wouldn’t hurt me or take advantage of me. The last thing I remembered was feeling the sheet and blanket being draped over me.

  Chapter Three

  My back was hot and sweaty. Dad must have turned off the air conditioner again. He was always much cooler than I was. I slowly opened my eyes and realized that I was not at my house and not in my bed. The heat was coming from the body behind me. His arm was wrapped around my waist. I moved to roll on to my back, and he pulled me closer. His morning arousal pressed against my bottom. I’d read about that in books, so it didn’t come as quite the shock it could have.

  I lay still for a minute and breathed. The scent of his cologne lingered in the air around me. His breath came in a soft and steady rhythm. So this was what it felt like to wake up next to a man. I could see why so many women liked it. Rather than move and wake him, I wrapped my arm around his and scooted closer to enjoy the moment. His breath tickled as it blew against my neck. I couldn’t help the giggle that escaped.

  He groaned. “Why are you laughing?” He didn’t release his hold on me. In fact, he pulled me as close as he possibly could.

  “Your breath on my neck tickles. It sends shivers down my spine.” I wriggled back and forth, trying to stop the air from blowing in my ear.

  “Stop moving, Tilly—you can’t do that to a man when he first wakes up. Everything is up. Do you understand?” He released me and turned on his back. I looked down and saw the tent in his pants.

  “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize. . . I have no experience with this. Oh, God.” I rose from the bed and raced to the bathroom. I closed the door and sat on the edge of the tub and buried my hands in my face. It was one thing to feel it against my bottom and quite another to see it with my eyes. That thing looked huge.

  “Tilly, come on out. You don’t have to be embarrassed. I’m the one that should be embarrassed. I’m just a guy, and I can’t help how I wake up in the morning. My body felt yours next to mine, and it just stood at attention. I’m sorry.”

  I ran my hands through my hair and tried to make myself presentable. “I’ll be out in a minute.” I opened the door and saw him leaning against the wall. My eyes went straight to his crotch, which looked normal again. I looked up into his eyes and saw the glint of a smile in them. I was glad he was a good sport.

  “Thanks for staying with me last night. I know it was hard for you.” As soon as the words left my mouth, I regretted them.

  “No, it was hard for you,” he said. He reached out and pulled me forward into a hug. His lips pressed against my cheek as he whispered his question: “Are you okay today?”

  All I wanted to do was kiss him. I rolled my face to the side so our lips came together. I pressed mine into his tentatively. He backed away initially, then came forward and captured my lips with his. You would have thought he would have had morning breath, but as his tongue slid into my mouth, all I tasted was sweetness, like the nectar of an orange. I pressed my body against his and felt the fire of his heat against my stomach. My hands ran through his hair. The loose curls caught between my fingers. His arms wrapped around me and pulled me close. We stood in the hallway and kissed for what seemed like a lifetime before we released each other.

  “Alex, don’t even tell me you’re sorry. That was probably the best kiss I’ve ever had, and I’m not sorry at all. I think I’ve wanted to do that since you sat down at the diner.” I turned on my heels and marched toward the kitchen. I licked my lips, trying to savor the taste of our kiss. Whew, that was totally hot.

  I rummaged around the cupboards and found some coffee grounds. Making coffee was the least I could do after staying the night. I started the coffee and prepared some instant oatmeal I found on the shelf. Alex walked in the kitchen bare-chested, barefoot, and dressed in jeans— nice snug jeans that hugged his hips and thighs. For a girl who’d almost had her innocence stolen away, I was pretty game to give it away to this man.

  “Put your shirt on. You’re distracting me. I made oatmeal and coffee. It’s all I could find in the cupboards.”

  He raised his eyebrows at me. “I distract you?” He stepped in front of me and pulled me into his arms. “I think that may have been the best kiss I’ve ever had as well. I’d like to try it again just to make sure. Are you game?” His head tilted, and I wondered whether he was priming himself or whether he was using the gesture as a question. I nodded my head yes and turned it in the opposite direction, lining myself up for the perfect kiss. We met in the middle and tested the waters. First, it was a closed-lip kiss with a few pecks here and there. His hand came behind my head and pulled me into him, and that’s when things began to heat up.

  We stood in the kitchen and let the oatmeal and coffee get cold. I wanted to feed on his lips. My hands traveled up and down his back and ultimately settl
ed with one hand in his back pocket and the other on his hip. His hands had found their place: one behind my neck and one completely palming my boob. I felt like melting to the floor.

  The vibration of the phone on the table brought us back into the real world. Our lips parted, and I walked to the table to retrieve my phone. It was Rachel.

  “What,” I answered not so nicely.

  “I’m just calling to make sure you’re okay.”

  “Yes, I’m fine. I’ll talk to you later. I’m in the middle of something right now.” I looked over at Alex. He was leaning against the counter with a cup of cold coffee in his hand. God, he was so cute.

  “Where are you, Tilly? I can meet you somewhere.”

  “I’ll talk to you later, Rachel.” With a click of a button, I ended the conversation.

  I walked back to Alex and stepped up to his chest where I laid my face against his warm skin.

  “Tilly, you know that I’m not staying here after the house is cleared out and sold, right?”

  “Yes, I understand that. I’m not staying here either. I’m heading off to college.” I just wanted this one perfect moment.

  “I don’t want there to be any misunderstanding. We have an incredible chemistry thing going on, and I don’t want my leaving to be a problem for you.”

  “I understand what this is. It’s a mutual attraction and nothing more. I get it.” I pressed my lips to his and pulled away. “I have to go. Come around the diner on Tuesday. It’s fried chicken night.” I took my keys from the table and threw my purse over my shoulder before I walked out the door. I could feel his eyes on me as I walked away.

  “Hey, Tilly, do you want to have lunch tomorrow?” he called from the door. “Tuesday is so far away.”

  “Sure, pick me up at one. My address is listed in the directory under Talbot Shanters.” I walked to my car and entered the driver’s seat. All the while, Alex stared at me from the back door.

  It was so hard to put my car in reverse and drive away. I wanted to stay and kiss him all morning. I could still feel the heat of his lips on mine. I looked into the rearview mirror and watched the house disappear from view. I drove straight home. Once inside I headed straight to my room and threw myself on my bed. I turned my head to look at the picture of my mom on my nightstand.