by Sarah Adams
“It’s going to be okay,” Julie said and Clarissa could hear her car keys jingling, “I’m going to stop and rent some romcoms and some ice cream. I’ll be there soon. It’s okay.”
“Thanks, Julie, but I don't feel like watching anything and besides, I don't even own a television!” Clarissa sighed.
“I'll bring my portal DVD player! No depressed girl in like, well, the history of girls has ever felt like watching romcoms, it's just what you do, because it helps,” Julie said, “You'll see.”
“Fine, whatever,” Clarissa said, “I'll see you when you get here.”
Chapter Five
It had been a month since Clarissa had talked to Skull, but sometimes late at night she would catch herself thinking about him. This was particularly true if she heard a motorcycle drive by. She still hadn’t bought a new car and her old blue clunker had lost its battle. It now rested in peace at the junk yard, which paid Clarissa four hundred dollars for it.
She had planned on saving the money to buy a new one, but she had to use it for taxi rides around town when Julie couldn’t take her somewhere. It was better to use that money, the car money, than to break into her savings account, where she had hoarded away money for school sometimes literally a dollar at a time.
Fortunately, tonight Julie had been able to drop her off after work. Clarissa had just gotten out of the shower when someone knocked on the door. She glanced at the coffee table and saw Julie’s fashion magazine. Clarissa snatched it from the table thinking that her bestie had returned to retrieve it.
“Here it is,” she said swinging the door open, holding tight to the blue towel that she had wrapped up in.
“Thanks, but I think you have me confused with someone else, Bookworm,” Skull said.
Clarissa blinked and slammed the door shut. Skull looked like he had come out on the bad side of a fight. His lip had been split and he had the start of a black eye. Clarissa raced into her bedroom and changed into her pajamas then sat down on the bed. No, she wasn’t going to talk him. She hadn’t missed him, not really. She had only missed his bike. At least that’s what she had told herself again and again, because she didn’t want to admit how much she had missed him.
Clarissa did think it was possible to miss someone so much when you barely knew them. She lay down on the bed and hugged her favorite pillow close to her. He was most likely running from the police or something. Why else would he show up at her apartment after a month all beat up? Did he think she was going to hide him from the police? The jerk just wouldn’t take the hint, even after she had told him very bluntly that she wanted nothing more to do with him.
Skull knocked on the door again and Clarissa startled. Her heart pounded against her rib cage fueling her racing pulse. With shaking hands she forced herself out of bed and back to the front door.
“What do you want?” she snapped as she tore it open.
“Can I come in?” Skull asked.
“No, go away,” Clarissa said and crossed her arms, “I was there in the alley remember, Skull? I was there. I saw what you did to that poor man and now you show up here looking like the mafia beat you up.”
“Don’t be ridiculous, Bookworm, if the mafia was after me I wouldn’t be standing here. Haven’t you ever watched a mob boss movie?” he chuckled and then winced.
Clarissa bit back the sympathy she felt for him when he wince and retorted sharply.
“I don’t watch television, remember?”
“Yea, I know, but television would educate you about some things,” Skull said. His brown eyes looked like he was teasing her, but he didn’t laugh. Clarissa guessed that he didn’t want to cause his face any more pain than it was already experiencing, “Can I come in or not?”
“I don’t want to learn about the mafia,” Clarissa frowned, “but get in here before my neighbors start talking.”
Clarissa grabbed his wrist and pulled him inside before slamming the door shut and locking it behind them.
“Should I be expecting the cops to show up looking for you?” she asked, letting go of his hands.
“No,” Skull shook his head, “I got into a disagreement with one of my brother’s friends.”
“So did your brother or his friend beat the hell out of you?” Clarissa asked.
“I don’t want to talk about it,” Skull said.
“You can’t do this, Skull,” Clarissa snapped.
“Whoa, whoa, Bookworm, my head hurts, babe! Please don’t yell!” Skull said moving a hand to his temple.
“This is my apartment and I’ll yell if I want to!” Clarissa shouted. “Seriously! You can’t just show up here looking like you’ve been in a bar fight and not tell me what the hell happened!”
“I told you what happened,” Skull said, “Now can you not yell?”
“Sit down,” Clarissa said and grabbed Skull by the arm and led him to the sofa and pushed him onto it, “I’m going to go see what I can find to clean you up.”
Skull didn’t reply and Clarissa didn’t stick around to wait for an answer. They needed to get ice on his eye and antiseptic on his lip and other various cuts and scrapes.
“What am I doing?” she quietly asked herself as she plundered through her medicine cabinet looking for anything that might be useful, “For all I know the cops are going to come knocking my door down any minute now.”
Clarissa shook the thought away and resumed her searching. Her fingers wrapped around the cool surface of the bottle that held the antiseptic and she sighed in relief.
Upon arriving back in the living Clarissa turned on the bright reading lamp that sat next to the sofa.
“Too bright,” Skull said and moved to turn it off.
Clarissa slapped his hand, “No!”
“Whatcha’ hitting me for?” he asked.
“Leave the light on,” Clarissa said gently. Skull was acting weird and she considered calling an ambulance.
“Have you drank tonight?” she asked.
“No, Bookworm, I haven’t,” Skull said, “but I think I have a concussion or something, because my head hurts.”
“That’s what I need to look at, Skull,” Clarissa sighed and titled Skull’s face up towards the light so that she could look at his eyes. His pupils were slightly dilated.
“Can you just finish this so I can sleep?” he asked.
“Nuh-uh,” Clarissa shook her head, “I’ll get you cleaned up, but you’re not going to sleep yet.”
“What do you mean I’m not going to sleep yet?” Skull asked.
“You have a concussion—that means no sleeping,” Clarissa said as Skull pulled away from the cotton ball soaked in antiseptic that she was gently dabbing against his split lip, “Now hold still or I’ll swat your hand again.”
“Vicious,” Skull laughed and winced again, “Don’t make me laugh.”
“Well, don’t make me be all brute-like,” Clarissa grinned and cupped his chin, “Now hold still.”
“Ouch!”
“Shh...” Clarissa cooed to him, “I know it hurts, but that’s what you get for fighting.”
Skull didn’t protest further and Clarissa was able to finish quickly.
“Wait here, I’m going to go get some ice for your face,” she said.
“Where else would I go?” he asked.
“I don’t wanna know,” Clarissa said and walked into the kitchen.
She grabbed the icepack out of the freezer drawer and began to empty ice cubes into it. Clarissa wasn’t sure how she felt about Skull showing up here after what happened in the alley, but she was glad he was okay. She had spent the last month worrying that he had been arrested or worse. After she refilled trays back into the freezer Clarissa headed back into the living room. Skull’s eyes were shut and he was resting his head against the back of the sofa.
“Eyes open,” she said and gently place the icepack against his eye.
“I’m awake,” he said and pulled away from the cold.
“Well, keep your eyes open and hold this,”
Clarissa said moving his hand up to the ice pack, “I need to go get more antiseptic.”
“For what?” Skull asked.
“Your hands,” she said examining his swollen knuckles.
“Are you trying to kill me?” he asked, “I just need to some sleep.”
“And you’ll get it as soon as your pupils return to normal,” Clarissa said, sprinting back into the bathroom.
After she cleaned the cuts on Skull’s hands Clarissa sat down next to him and leaned her head on his shoulder. She was exhausted and her feet were killing her, but she knew she had to keep Skull awake.
“So what have you been up to, Bookworm?” he asked, moving his arm so that he could hold her hand.
“Nothing much, the normal, which is working,” Clarissa said and fought the urge to pull away from him. Her mind was screaming that she should throw him out on his ass, but Clarissa’s heart wouldn’t allow it. Even if she hadn’t liked him so much, Clarissa didn’t think she could turn away an injured person if she was able to help.
“That sounds boring,” Skull said. Clarissa could tell that he was suppressing a laugh.
“I stay too busy to get bored,” Clarissa shrugged, “What have you been up to?”
“School and stuff,” Skull shrugged.
“What stuff?” Clarissa asked hopefully.
“Just stuff,” Skull laughed and winced.
“What are you majoring in?” Clarissa asked, desperate to find out something more about him.
“Does it matter?” Skull asked.
“Why do you keep so many secrets?” Clarissa asked.
“I don’t, not really,” Skull shrugged.
“Yes, you do, Skull,” Clarissa said, “You live like you have more than one life or something.”
“Huh?”
“You’ve never really answered any of my questions, not the important ones at least. You evade them again and again,” Clarissa sighed.
“I do not,” Skull protested.
“Do too,” Clarissa frowned.
“We all have things we don’t like others to know, Bookworm,” Skull said.
“True, but for you that seems to be everything,” Clarissa sighed.
“No, it’s not!” Skull snapped, “Can’t you just mind your own damn business?”
“Well, you become my business when you show up on my doorstep bloody and beat up! It becomes my business when I’m on my way to meet back up with you and I find you beating the bloody hell out of some guy in a damn alley way!” Clarissa yelled.
“Chill out,” Skull sighed.
“This is my damn apartment and I don’t have to chill out! I don’t have to do anything I don’t want to, this is my home!” Clarissa shouted.
“Fine!” Skull shouted back as he stood up, “I’m outta here. I shouldn’t have come here in the first damn place!”
“You can’t leave, moron! You have a concussion!” Clarissa said and stood up.
“Shove off, Bookworm!” Skull said and started towards the door.
“I’m not letting you drive right now!” Clarissa said and slid in between him and the door.
She looked up at him and felt guilty for starting this conversation tonight. He was hurt and despite her hunger for answers, she should have at least waited until the morning.
“Get out of my way,” Skull said.
“No, Skull, no,” Clarissa said shaking her head, “You can’t drive right now. Come on, let’s sit down. I won’t ask any more questions tonight.”
“Fine,” Skull said and turned around. Clarissa entwined her fingers through his and led him back to the sofa.
“See you can just sit here and rest,” she said retrieving the icepack from the floor. Clarissa bit her lip. In her shock she hadn’t made him remove his boots. She was going to have to rent a machine to do the floors, but she’d worry about that later, “Here’s your icepack.”
“Thanks, Bookworm,” he said yawning.
“You can’t sleep right now, though,” Clarissa told him again.
“I know,” Skull said, “So what do you wanna do.”
“Knit?” she teased.
“You knit?” he asked.
“Not really. Well, sometimes, but I don’t like it much,” Clarissa laughed.
“This is when a television would be useful,” Skull grinned.
“Nah, that would put me to sleep,” she smiled, “So, umm... I don’t know what to say, because I said I wouldn’t ask any more questions and that’s the only way to start a conversation.”
“That’s okay,” he said.
Skull fell asleep, but Clarissa woke him every few minutes to make sure he was okay. When she was finally too exhausted to keep watch anymore, she dug into his pants pocket and retrieved his keys.
“Bookworm?” he asked.
“Yea,” Clarissa blushed, at being caught with her hand in his front pocket.
“Whatcha doing?” he asked.
“Taking your keys so you don’t try to drive right now,” Clarissa yawned and stood up.
She had planned on sleeping in her own bed tonight with the door closed before Skull gently took her hand.
“Stay out here with me?” he asked.
Clarissa nodded and settled onto the sofa next to him. She was tired, but she would stay up long enough for Skull to fall back to sleep before retiring to her own bed. The last thing she remembered before her heavy lids drifted shut was tossing Skull’s keys under the sofa.
When she woke up later she wasn’t sure how much time had passed, because it was still dark outside, but then again it was dark inside too. She gently felt for Skull, but the other end of the sofa was empty. Rolling over to her stomach, she slid her hand under the sofa and sighed in relief when her fingers came into contact with the cool metal of the keys.
“Skull?” she called out into the dark room, but received no answer.
Slowly she sat up and turned on the lamp. Clarissa blinked as her still exhausted eyes tried to adjust to the bright light.
“Skull?” she called out again.
Somewhere in the distance her ears picked up the sound of the shower running. Was he taking a shower? That would be weird. Who just takes a shower at someone’s house without asking? Clarissa stood up and walked down the hall to the bathroom and placed her ear against the door to double check that he was in there. Clarissa’s weight pushed the door open causing her to squeak and turn away blushing.
She had indeed heard the shower, but now the water was off and she had gotten a good long look at Skull’s body as he was drying off. Clarissa went into her bedroom, but she couldn’t get the image out of her head. His shoulder was bruised, but it did little to mar his sexiness. Her eyes had lingered on his muscular chest and stomach before dropping down to see the thick manhood that hung limp between his legs.
“Clarissa?” Skull called out.
“Sorry!” she said through the door.
“I should have locked the door or something,” Skull said, but Clarissa could tell that he was trying not to laugh, “I’m done now. I just thought a shower would help with my headache.”
“It’s okay,” she called back through the door, “I think I’m just going to get some more sleep, ‘kay?”
“Where’s my keys?” he asked.
“You’re leaving?” Clarissa asked and sat up in bed.
“Yeah, I have to be at class in a few hours and I still have to type a paper,” Skull said.
“Wanna use my laptop?” Clarissa asked.
“No, I’m okay now, I’ll see you later, all right?” he called out.
“Goodnight,” Clarissa frowned into her pillow, “Your keys are under the sofa,”
“Night, Bookworm,” he said and paused, “Thank you.”
“Not a problem,” Clarissa answered, although she wasn’t sure if she were telling the truth or not.
Clarissa wasn’t sure how she felt. She was too tired to think about it, but her mind wouldn’t shut up. She had witnessed Skull beating the crap out of
some guy in the alley way and tonight he had admitted to being in a fight again, but yet she still wanted him around. She had wanted to ask him to stay longer, to crawl into bed with her just so she could feel his strong arms around her and listen to his heartbeat as they drifted off to sleep. Once she heard Skull’s bike pull out of the parking lot Clarissa went to lock the door before returning to her bed alone.
Chapter Six
Clarissa locked the door to the coffee shop and pushed nine on her speed dial. It rang twice before her phone dropped the call.
“Damn it!” she swore.
Clarissa wasn’t sure if it was the funky weather or if her phone was dying. She silently prayed it wasn’t her phone, because if it kicked the bucket she couldn’t afford a new one. After making a mental note to herself to stop by her provider’s store, she tried again.
“Good Evening, where to?” the dispatcher answered.
“Yes, I need to go to...” Clarissa began, but her the words became caught in the back of her throat when she heard a motorcycle in the distance. She wasn’t an expert on the sounds individual motorcycles made, but Clarissa instinctively knew it was Skull. She ended the call and reached for the shop key, because the night before she had made up her mind that she was done with Skull. She had to be. He was going to drag her into his world and everything she was dreaming of would dissolve.
The bike pulled up to the curb and stopped. Clarissa swallowed hard and took a deep breath.
“At least he’s wearing his helmet,” she thought to herself.
“Hey, Bookworm,” Skull grinned, “Wanna a ride home?”
“No thanks, I’m fine,” Clarissa said, taking a step back.
Skull arched a brow and cut the engine, “Everything okay?”
“Yea, everything’s fine,” Clarissa lied, “Just waiting on my taxi. I already called them and all.”
“Well, call them back and say you changed your mind,” Skull chuckled.
“That would be rude,” Clarissa said, looking down at her feet.
