Lyrics about playing hard to get only make it harder to play made me blush, but the song was ridiculously good and extremely catchy. As the verse ended and the chorus began, a deeper, raspier voice joined in, catching me off-guard. There was just something about the way a man’s voice could sound so lascivious, yet so raw, with intense emotion. The two men serenading me through the headphones were the epitome of sensuality.
Oh yeah, I’m a voice girl, I thought, biting at my smiling lips. Avery’s band was really, really good. They performed rock music without the ridiculous amount of screaming that hides the vocal talent of the artist. After the song ended, another slower one began. I completely tuned out everything else as the song played. Words about pain and loss nearly broke my heart, but I fell more in love with his voice with each passing second. When it ended, I popped the headphones out and looked up into his nervous eyes.
“Amazing,” I said, staring at him in awe. It took all of two seconds before his hand slipped into my hair and he pulled me in for a kiss that made me just as hot as listening to his song.
“I could watch you listen to music all day,” he whispered softly, pulling his kisses from my lips and leading them down my jawline. A confused snort leaves me without my permission.
Thankful that he doesn’t acknowledge my barnyard sound, I asked, “Why would you want to watch me?”
He sat back causing me to frown as his lips left my skin.
“Because you completely lose yourself in the music, Chase. It’s hypnotizing the way you close your eyes and let your body take over,” he rasped, reaching out slowly and tracing his hand down my neck, stopping at the collar of my t-shirt. My heart was beating out of control as I watched his eyes darkened, and the muscles lining his neck tightened as he swallowed.
“You let it become a part of you, as if you need it to breath. It’s natural, yet provocative. It’s the sexiest thing I have ever seen in my entire life.”
I saw my chest rising and falling rapidly beneath his hand, but it didn’t feel like I was breathing at all.
I wanted to tell him that it was his voice that affected me, but my mouth was so dry that I just sat silently. After a moment of trying to regain my composure, I cleared my throat and wet my lips. When my tongue swept across my top lip, Avery made a strained face, sinking his teeth into his bottom one.
“You are driving me crazy,” he growled as he leaned in and kissed me urgently. I didn’t have time to catch my balance. Luckily, we fell back onto a pile of flowers. His lips and hands wasted no time showing me just how crazy I made him feel. I started to feel a little insane myself. My hands clenched his shirt roughly as my teeth nipped gently at his frantic kisses. Arching my body against his, he groaned and began to kiss his way down my neck again. I opened my mouth and let out a soft whimper, weaving my fingers through his hair. Avery’s tongue timidly dipped down into the curve of my collarbone, leaving me begging for more. As if to pay me back for all of my playful love bites, he lightly skimmed his teeth across the length of my neck in one, long, teasing stroke.
As my eyes rolled to the back of my head, I gasped. I felt his smile against my skin and I let out a small laugh as he kissed his way back up to my lips.
I had been wrong before when I thought I knew what heaven must feel like.
Being with Avery like this— uninhibited and completely consumed by one another— this moment was heaven.
This was home.
“Where the heck did you disappear to yesterday?” Vic asked me while we sat at the cafeteria table picking over our lunches on Thursday.
“Oh, you know, I happened to be walking across the courtyard to Calculus yesterday morning, and I saw a certain black mustang out in the parking lot. I have had perfect attendance for the entire time I’ve gone to this school, so I figured one day of hooky was all right. He surprised me with this sweet little picnic at the park. Vic, it was amazing.”
And it really had been amazing. We spent the rest of the day walking around the park, lying in the grass, kissing and talking, talking and kissing.
Victoria’s jaw hung slightly open while her eyes nearly fell out of her skull. I smiled and laughed at her, I just couldn’t help myself. I leaned across the table and pushed her jaw shut.
She started to grin like a fool, too.
“You have it BAD, Chase. Like, L-O-V-E bad. You have never skipped school, or smiled so much. Gotta tell ya, I am loving this!”
I swallowed back my water and stared down at my tray.
Love? People don’t really fall in love this fast do they? The idea of true love or epic romance never seemed real to me; plus, I would never admit to being in love with Avery when I knew he was leaving in three days.
“He’s coming to get me from school again tomorrow. I told my mom I’ll be at your house until about nine working on a Spanish assignment since she won’t let me stay the night again for a while. I hope you don’t mind covering for me again,” I said sweetly, batting my eyelashes at her.
A French fry hit me in the forehead before I even saw it coming.
“Seriously? I could not be more thrilled! This is the girl I have wanted to see for years! I’ll even butter your biscuits and bring you some clothes and makeup,” she said with a laugh.
I couldn’t help but laugh and nod. Tomorrow couldn’t come fast enough.
“Damn it, Chase, sit still! I was going for subtle, not Cleopatra!” Vic smacked the back of my shoulder; I momentarily stopped bouncing my knees as she leaned back in to finish applying my eyeliner. We arrived a little early at school that morning so Vic could beautify me for my date with Avery.
After all of the time I had spent with Avery, the skittish feeling overwhelming my every thought didn’t make any sense at all. Especially after our make out session in my bedroom and our incredible picnic. The thought of being alone with him again had me quivering in my boots. Praying that Vic didn’t catch on, I played it off as best I could and let her finish her work. She already had her Barbie fashion show with me beforehand, finally deciding that I should wear the black leggings with a pretty off the shoulder teal mini dress and her favorite gray suede boots. We definitely weren’t the same size; she was a few inches taller than me and thinner in every aspect. Luckily for me, she had an expansive wardrobe thanks to her mom’s most recent husband, and she was always able to find something flattering that would fit my curvier figure.
“All finished babe! You look incredible! He is going to eat you up!” She said in a thrilled voice as she stood back and admired her work.
I blushed thinking about the latter part of her statement, but quickly stood and turned away from her, making my way to the mirror. I found myself standing there with my mouth open in awe of my transformation. Vic had gone all out! She had braided a piece of my hair and crossed it over the top of my head like a headband. My curls were shiny and my skin glowed. I wasn’t wearing the heavy make-up I had been wearing the night we had gone to the bar; this was more natural and I barely recognized the girl staring back at me.
I didn’t just look like a pretty little high school girl; I looked like a beautiful young woman.
“Well? Do you like it?” She asked, nudging me in the ribs with her elbow, meeting my gaze in the mirror. I smiled genuinely at her and leaned my head on her shoulder.
“I love it. I’m just surprised.” She gave me an odd look.
“Surprised by what? You know your beautiful, Hon. You finally look your age, not like some nine-year-old girl running around in boy’s jeans and tent sized t-shirts.”
I laughed and nodded, looking down at the floor and taking a deep breath.
“You’re nervous about tonight,” Victoria stated suddenly, my eyes shooting back up to hers. I stood up straight and gave her an incredulous look.
“What? I’m not nervous.”
The biggest smile spread across her face as she poked me in the arm.
“Chase Melanie Taylor! We need to work on your poker face! I know EXACTLY what you’re thinking a
bout doing tonight. Can’t say I blame you. I would have twisted the top off Oreo Fillin’ back at the bar, but you know me.”
“VICTORIA! Gah!” I shouted, turning fifteen shades of red and burying my face in my hands. I started to laugh and shake my head in denial as she squeezed my shoulder gently. I sighed as I looked into her perplexed eyes. I know she’s right—At least I have her to talk to if I plan on going through with it.
I expected to see her cheesy grin, but instead she looked at me with a gentle smile.
“I’m just worried that I’ll regret it afterward, you know, because he’s leaving. This is probably the last time I’ll see him—like I’m setting myself up to get hurt in the worst way possible,” I breathed out, unsure of how I found the right words.
Vic nodded and met my gaze in the mirror, grabbing my hand and squeezing it.
“If the moment is right, you’ll know, Chase. You’ll never regret it if you trust yourself.”
I ended up skipping my last two classes because I couldn’t concentrate. I snuck out one of the side doors, hoping I would find his car sitting in the parking lot. Sure enough, there he was leaning against the driver’s side door, facing away from me while I silently watched him. My teeth dug into the flesh of my cheek as I saw him distractedly run a hand through his hair and I broke into a run. As I rounded the front of the mustang, his head turned toward me out of reflex, and then jerked back to look at me again. His eyes opened wide in astonished surprise, and so did his mouth.
“Hi,” I said softly, nervously, as his eyes raked over me.
“Chase,” his voice came out in a low husky tone that summoned those butterflies almost instantly, “Wow, you, uh. Hmmph, you look incredible.”
Biting my lip to hide my smile at his little word fumble, I walked over to him.
“Thank you, you look handsome,” I said, tugging playfully at the front of his leather jacket, his eyes still watching every move I made. I could feel the blush rising underneath my skin, the way he was looking at me was very similar to that night in my bedroom and our date in the park. I cleared my throat, drawing his eyes up to mine. He licked his lips so slowly that I swear I felt my knees buckle. He bit down on his bottom lip and let out an amused laugh,
“Sorry, I just can’t take my eyes off you. You look unbelievable, Chase. Come on. I have a surprise for you.” He took the book bag from my shoulder and threw it into the back seat. Before my brain could even formulate a response, we were holding hands and speeding away from school.
About thirty minutes outside of my small town was another pint-sized city that I had never been to before. When we pulled into a gravel parking lot, and the sign on the building in front of us read TATTOO, I turned my wide-eyed expression to Avery.
He laughed, “Surprise! At the park the other day you kept saying how much you wanted to get one, but that you didn’t think you were brave enough. I figured I’d at least offer to be your hand to hold if you wanted to take the leap.”
I shook my head and laughed out of sheer disbelief. Of all the things I thought we might do, this never even crossed my mind. Surprisingly, I was thrilled. I had spent a great deal of time fawning all over his ink at the park, spurring on a long conversation about how I really wanted one, but lacked the courage to make the jump. My parents would literally kill me; I was sure of it. However, the thought didn’t even worry me. I wanted this and I couldn’t think of anyone I would rather have by my side right now than Avery. He fueled something so powerful inside of me that I didn’t need a moment to second guess myself. Unbuckling my belt, I turned to his hesitant eyes and gave him a mischievous grin.
“What are you waiting for? Let’s go!”
When we were finally seated in a small cubicle area, a stocky, bald tattoo artist named Bud told me to hop up on his table and pick my poison. I glanced around in amazement; the walls were lined with hundreds of tattoos in all various styles and sizes. It was all a bit overwhelming. I had thought about tattoos before, but what to pick for my first?—I really hadn’t thought that far ahead. Avery came up behind me, leaving his seat in the corner, and gently brushed the hair off the back of my neck to one side. I felt his warm breath on my skin as he whispered something in my ear, but the fluttering I felt completely distracted me from anything else. And then it hit me—I knew exactly what I wanted.
“Hmm?” I asked, turning my attention back to him as he stepped in front of me.
“You don’t have to do this if you don’t want to,” he spoke softly again, his gray eyes looking down at me. I shook my head.
“Nope, I know what I want. Hey Bud? Can you do a few butterflies along my hipbone? But can you make the bodies of them music notes?”
I heard a gruff sounding,”Yerp,” as he set about getting out all the supplies he needed.
Avery looked slightly baffled, but then a huge smile spread across his face. He leaned in, slid a hand against my cheek, tipping my face back. When he was close enough to kiss me, he murmured, “That is going to look so smokin’ hot,” against my mouth, enunciating each word so slowly that I whimpered. Dear god. That man was getting me all hot and bothered, and with just the gentle grazing of his lips, and the raspy sound of his voice. I shivered slightly, hoping he would kiss me, but Bud was finally ready to start.
Before I knew it, we were finished and Avery was right, it was an extremely hot tattoo. Once he had held my hand and I had those stormy eyes to stare into, I didn’t feel a thing. Five little, quarter-size treble clef butterflies now fluttered their way up my lower stomach, along the side of my hip bone. It could easily be hidden by jeans, but I would know it was there—and that’s what mattered most. I couldn’t help but blush furiously while smiling from ear to ear. I loved it and everything it stood for.
Avery snuck up behind me in the mirror, and slid his arms around me, as I quickly pulled up my leggings and pulled my dress down.
“So what does it mean?” He asked, raising an eyebrow at me.
Game face. Do not let the boy know it’s about him or he will probably make for the hills, my inner voice shouted, shaking a finger at me.
“I just thought it would be pretty, plus you know I had to incorporate music in there somehow.”
He just nodded and took my hand as we made our way out the door.
We ended up just having ice cream for dinner, and by the time we were done, it was already dark outside. We laughed as we got into the car and realized that we both had whipped cream and sprinkles still stuck in our hair from our momentary food fight. We took a moment to help clean each other up, pausing to kiss one another, the sweetness of the dessert lacing each one of them. I sat back in my seat as he pulled out onto the road, and suddenly, I wanted to cry. One minute it felt like I was on cloud nine, then the next it felt hard to breathe. I brushed it off and squeezed his hand.
I decided to have him take us somewhere special to me, hoping to make the night last just a bit longer. After our drive back to town, I directed him to the street where the restaurant I worked at was located. We got out of the car and I grabbed his hand as we darted behind the building. There was a ladder attached to the back of the Pizza Shack, one that I used quite frequently. I quickly scanned the area making sure no one saw us and started to climb. Avery quickly followed my lead. A moment later, we were standing on the rooftop overlooking the rest of the buildings on the street. I took his hand again and pulled him over to a small storage shed that was up there for miscellaneous stuff. I put in the combination to the lock and within seconds, I was grabbing out my guitar and some blankets I’d bought from the thrift store. For the most part, I figured the instrument was safer here.
“You are just full of surprises, you know that?” Avery said with a grin on his face, taking the blankets from me and laying them out on the roof for us to sit on.
We settled down on the blankets and I handed him the guitar.
“Can you please play for me? I’ve been dying to see you in action,” I asked coyly.
He gave me a smirk
and took it, “Only if you sing for me afterward.”
I let my mouth hang open in the pretense of shock, “Oh come on! You’re the one in a band! Don’t you perform for people all the time?”
I watched as his eyes fell down to the blanket and he sucked on his bottom lip, “Yeah, but they don’t make me nervous.”
It was hard not to notice the way my heart started to beat just a little harder after he spoke.
“I m—make you nervous?” I said barely above a whisper. He lifted his gaze to mine and nodded.
There went my heart again, rapidly starting to pound away against my chest.
I swallowed and chewed on my lip, “Well, you know what they say. You’ll just have to picture your audience naked.”
As soon as the words left my mouth, I couldn’t believe I’d said it. From the look on Avery’s face, he couldn’t either. His eyes widened and I watched as his Adam’s apple moved up and down as he swallowed. Oh my. He let out a strained laugh and took the guitar into his arms to get ready to play.
“Well, as long as I have your permission.”
He started strumming the guitar almost instantly, not giving me a chance to say anything else. I was starting to tremble. I was way too nervous for this. Maybe I was wrong. Maybe I wasn’t ready! Or maybe it was just him. I looked up from my hands as his voice rang out over the soft guitar melody. My breath hitched. He was singing a familiar song about craving someone, wanting and needing them in every way. It made my mouth go dry and my palms start to sweat. Avery was remarkable, and there was no doubt about that. I know people say that all the time, but this boy with a guitar was something magnificent. I couldn’t take my eyes off him. When he finished, he did a little bow as I clapped.
“You are amazing! Those rock star dreams of yours don’t seem so far-fetched if you ask me,” I said with a huge smile, brushing some hair behind my ear. He smiled back.
Wild Chase Page 5
