“He’s yours, even if you don’t know it yet,” Jeremy said assuredly.
I just shook my head and looked off to the side. I couldn’t face myself about how I felt about Tristin. How was I going to discuss it with Jeremy? My mind was still a muddled mess about the whole thing. These were all new emotions I was feeling.
I didn’t know what they meant or why my body betrayed me and did things I knew it shouldn’t. Like leaping into his arms and riding him down the wall, kissing his neck.
“Just don’t dismiss him yet, okay. Cindy is engaged.” Hearing that Cindy was engaged and not knowing hurt. We had been close for a long time. She was different, yeah, but we were still close.
“She is a flirt, hell, we all know that. But she is serious about someone. You know she would never do anything to hurt you.” I knew the words he was saying were true.
I really needed to get my head out of my own ass. I wasn’t doing anyone any favors by being stuck on myself.
“I know she wouldn’t” I admitted.
It was true. I knew Cindy and I knew that she would never intentionally hurt me.
“Who’s she engaged to?” I asked curiously.
“She’s engaged to Teddy.” He said.
I couldn’t help the laughter that spilled out of my mouth.
I would have never in a million years thought that Skater Barbie would be engaged to Nerdy Teddy. Teddy was the class nerd. He was the one person we all knew would be going somewhere. As much as Cindy got around, I knew that she wouldn’t just marry Teddy if she thought he was going to be rich. She must have genuine feelings for him.
“How did that happen?” I asked eager to hear how they got together.
“Teddy ended up being her tutor this year. One thing led to another and BAM he proposed on the last day of school. But they had been going steady since first quarter.” He said proudly.
“That’s awesome.” I meant it too. I was proud of Cindy for finding a guy to settle down with.
“Yeah, she even got him to come out here a few times and ride,” Jeremy said his eyes lit with laughter.
“No shit?” I asked in shock.
“No shit.” He confirmed.
I couldn’t believe everything I missed while having my head shoved up my ass. Hopefully, Sam would find clarity as well and do us all a favor and shake Jessie. I sent up a silent prayer that he would.
“Go take your boy for another run. This time see if you can ride down together on the board you daredevil spider monkey.” Jeremy wrapped his arm around me and led me back to the group.
Tristin stood watching us. I could see the questions in his eyes. I’m sure seeing me and Jeremy together hurt as much as me seeing him with Cindy. I would need to correct that fast.
I dipped from under Jeremy’s arm and ran up to Tristin. I launched myself into his arms and clung to him like a spider monkey.
“Come on, new boy. Let’s go for one last ride.” I purred in his ear.
Tristin’s hands dropped from my waist to rest on my ass. I could feel the thickness in his pants grow and press against me.
I was momentarily shocked. What the hell was I doing? I was immediately embarrassed. I jumped out of his arms and grabbed him by the hand, dragging him back to the rope.
I couldn’t face him just yet. I felt like a stranger had jumped into my body and was causing me to do and say things that were completely out of character for me.
Tristin trailed behind me silently, his board in hand. I was sure I was confusing him as much as I was confusing myself. I needed to talk to Sam.
I had decided that after this run that was exactly what I was going to do. I was going to call Sam.
“You have an amazing ass,” Tristin said from behind me.
We had just started to climb the rope. I hadn’t realized what position I was putting myself in by climbing first. I could imagine it now. My ass shining right in his face. I knew my shorts were short. That was part of the reason I liked them. Not to show skin, but because they stayed out of my way when I worked on my footwork.
“Um, thanks, I think,” I said, unsure of what I was supposed to say in a situation like that.
“Oh, no. Thank you. I’m the one gaining all the reward.”
I felt my cheeks flame at the candidness of his words. I had never had someone come on to me before. I didn’t know exactly how to act.
“Less staring, more climbing,” I called back to him.
I heard him snicker from behind me. There was no way I would be able to hide my ass from him. I knew my sweatshirt was still up on the top of the wall. I could just wrap it around my waist to hide my ass. I had to bring it down at some point anyways.
When we reached the top of the wall Tristin took me into his arms. His board dropped to the side. One hand went around my waist pulling me into him while his other hand reached out to cup my face. My hands rested against his firm broad chest. I watched in fascination as his tongue darted out and skimmed across his lips.
He lumbered over me like a giant wall of muscle. I could smell the sweat of his body mixed with a musky woodsy scent that was all him.
My body leaned into his of its own accord. Tristin pulled me against him tighter. His large hand splayed across my lower back pinning me against him.
His lips just barely grazing mine in a delicate whisper of a kiss. I felt my heart pounding in my chest. I swore it would burst through my ribcage at any moment. I knew he could feel it too. It would be hard to miss.
Tristin’s eyes locked on mine. I could see the heat and passion burning in the sea of deep blue. I felt like I was drowning in his eyes. I knew his eyes were a reflection of my own. My breathing became labored. I want him to take me right there on the wall. I didn’t care who was watching.
“If you even think about covering that fine ass of yours up, I will spank it.” He threatened, his lips fluttering across mine with each word.
I whimpered despite myself. I wanted to be offended by his words, by his threat. I wanted to be enraged by his threat to spank me. Instead, my core flooded with heat. A heat I had never before experienced.
“You’re mine,” He growled.
I felt my spine tingle all the way down to my toes.
My hands wound their way around his neck, my fingers sinking into his short hair. I needed to feel more of him. As if he could read my thoughts, Tristin’s lips crashed into mine.
It felt like the world was spinning on its axis. My fingers begged for purchase as they greedily latched on to his hair pulling him in to deepen the kiss. Tristin’s hand on my back dropped down to cup my ass firmly.
His other hand dropped to my neck his long fingers wrapping around the back of my neck to hold me firmly in place, his thumb caressed my jawline.
Slowly Tristin pulled away, both of us gasping for air as we clung to one another. I had never been kissed before. But I knew that what we shared was more than just a kiss. There were no words for what happened between us in that moment, at least none that I could think of. My brain was officially mush.
“You ready to do this?” Tristin asked gaining his composure.
I nodded my head. Nodding my head had more to do with clearing my head than it did with an agreement. I took a few strong deep breaths to center myself, I was ready.
“You didn’t bring a board up. What do you have planned?” He asked curiously.
And just like that, we were back to normal like the kiss never happened.
“We are going to ride down together on your board,” I answered.
I heard his take a sharp intake of breath.
“Like, how?” I could hear the gears in his head turning.
“Teamwork, baby,” I smirked at him.
I gave him a brief rundown of how it was going to go down.
He was going to climb on the board and I was going to ride with him. My body was going to be pressed against his. We would be sharing a plank that was just shy of nine inches wide so we would have to work together to center our bodie
s.
One wrong move and we could go plummeting to the ground. We were going to have to use our common knowledge of skating and balance along with reading one another’s body movements to make this work.
We would have to lean together but without over compensating. In truth, Jeremy and I had only done this a handful of times. Just riding would be fairly easy, but I wanted to try a few tricks together.
Though, I planned to wait until we were closer to the ground to do them. If we did fall, I didn’t want to be from thirty feet above the ground. Been there, done that, got the broken bones to prove it.
“You ready?” I asked excitedly.
Tristin nodded his head but looked unsure.
“I promise I won’t let you fall.” I meant it too. I would bail before I let him slam concrete.
“Get over here, babe.” He called to me.
Tristin adjusted his stance on the board making room for me to put my feet. As soon as my body was pressed against him I could feel why he was hesitant. A thick iron rod was pressed against my back. I smiled to myself, glad that he couldn’t see my face.
“Ready?” I asked him.
“Ready,” He replied.
His hands rested on the top of my hips, pulling me in against him. I pushed off with my right foot and we began our descent.
“We're going to arc up and once we drop another ten feet we will Ollie,” I called back to him.
“Oh, shit,” was all he said.
I laughed to myself. We pressed our bodies together, forming a tight seamless bond. When the time came we squatted down together. I relaxed my back foot while he used his to kick the tail down causing the nose to pop up. My hips were pressed against his as we centered our weight on the deck. We tucked our knees up and jumped together as the nose of the deck along with the tail popped up.
We landed together on the deck fluidly, as though we were a single unit. Tristin’s deep velvety voice roared behind me. I laughed in excitement. I knew he had been afraid. I couldn’t blame him. It was a long drop down still. All the pads in the world couldn’t soften the landing enough.
We weren’t even wearing pads. We only had our helmets for protection.
“Okay, how about we try a 180 back slide once we hit the ground,” I called out to him.
Tristin gave my waist a squeeze. I didn’t want to do too many tricks on the wall with me and him sharing the board. We would have to ride together a few more times before I got comfortable enough for that.
We popped the nose of the board as we hit the hip. As soon as all four wheels were on the ground we pulled off a 180 back slide perfectly. Instead of cheering, this time, Tristin reached up and cupped my cheek, turning my face toward his. He places a gentle kiss on my lips that stole my breath.
The cheers of the crowd in front of us broke our kiss. Tristin’s eyes remained locked on my even though he had pulled out of the kiss. I shot him a flirty wink.
“You killed it, babe.” Jeremy pulled me off the board once we came to a stop, wrapping me in a fierce hug.
I hugged him back just as fiercely.
“I learned from the best.” I mussed up his hair.
“Watch yourself, woman.” Jeremy teased, running a hand through his hair in a failed attempt to fix it.
“Pff,” I said stepping out of his arms.
”You know I could take you, anytime, anywhere.” I goaded him.
The second set of arms wrapped around my waist. I could hear a low growl emitting from deep in Tristin’s chest.
“Bring it, princess.” Jeremy wagged his brows at me.
I could feel Tristin’s body tense up.
I had no idea why he was acting that way. Like a dog guarding his bone. Jeremy seemed to keep egging him on as if on purpose.
“I sent you that video as well, Tristin,” Cindy called from beside me and Tristin.
I know Jeremy said she was engaged but the way Tristin’s name purred off her lips had my hackles raised.
It was then that I had an ah-hah moment. Tristin was jealous of Jeremy just like I was of Cindy. Though it was stupid because both Jeremy and Cindy were natural flirts and neither of them was interested in either of us.
I couldn’t help but laugh at the absurdity.
“What’s so funny?” Tristin growled against the shell of my ear.
His words vibrated along my skin causing goose bumps to pepper my neck and arms.
I turned around and pulled him down to me. My lips brushed along the lobe of his ear. Tristin’s arms wrapped around my waist, holding me close.
“Jeremy’s gay,” I whispered in his ear.
I knew it wasn’t my place to tell him. Not everyone knew. But I didn’t want Tristin to think I was playing head games with me and him most definitely didn’t want the two of them getting in an unnecessary fight.
Tristin blinked a few times. His eyes scanned my face for any traces of deceit. He wouldn’t find any. His brows furrowed together in question. I gave a small nod in confirmation.
Instantly Tristin’s body relaxed. I gave him a flirty wink and extracted myself from his arms.
“I’ll be back,” I called to him.
I grabbed my Fletch board out of my bag and snagged a few bottles of water out as well. I threw a bottle to Tristin and popped the top of my own, taking a long pull from the bottle.
“What the hell do you have in your hands?” Jeremy asked in excitement.
I thrust the board out for him to inspect.
“Holy hell.” He exclaimed.
“Is this…?”
“Yup, helium lightweight.” I finished for him.
“You riding it down?” He asked in awe.
“Yeah, I figure I’ll give it a shot. I have to find a suitable replacement for the holy one.” I explained.
Jeremy’s head bobbed in agreement.
“Yeah, she won’t last forever.” He agreed.
“How is it?” He asked referencing the board.
“I took it on a small run last night. Got it in yesterday when I got home. It’s fast and light. Not a lot of control on the vert in the pool. Since I’m confident here I thought I should at least test her here and build from that.” I explained.
Jeremy’s eyes filled with worry.
“I don’t know, Have. It’s not the best place to bail.” He said worriedly.
“If I don’t start somewhere then how will I ever know?” I tried to explain.
“Do you feel comfortable on it?” Tristin asked his voice hesitant.
“Not a bit, but, I want to at least see if I can use it out here. I know I can’t use it at the Dillon’s.” I replied honestly.
“I don’t know, babe,” Tristin said concerned.
I shrugged them all off.
“I’m a professional bailer. It’s cool.” I tried to reassure them.
“Maybe you ought to keep it flat…” Tristin began to say. I walked off.
I snatched up my board and started to head off to the rope.
“You coming or what?” I called back to Jeremy.
Both Jeremy and Tristin gave each other worried looks. Unlike Tristin, Jeremy knew better than to try and stop me.
Chapter Nine
Tristin
I was a nervous wreck as I watched Haven and Jeremy climb the rope up the wall. I had a sinking feeling in my stomach. The wall was no joke and I had tried her board. It was light as hell and you can easily lose control on it. It pissed me off that Haven wouldn’t listen to how I felt about the matter.
I know she isn’t my girlfriend, yet. But that didn’t mean I wanted to see her hurt. Or see her wipeout. I wore a path in the concrete pacing as I watched Haven climb up the wall. Even her tight ass in her tiny black shorts couldn’t slow me down. I was too worried about her.
“You know, she is a really good skater, right,” Cindy said trying to comfort me.
“Yeah, but that’s a long drop.” I reminded her.
“Ya know she wasn’t always a good skater,” Cindy said.
<
br /> I had no idea where she was going with that statement. I paused in my pacing and gave her a confused look.
“She has eaten enough concrete on this wall to last her a lifetime.”
I know Cindy only said it to comfort me. However, it had the complete opposite effect on me. I was even more worried now than I was before.
“She will be fine. You just have to trust her.” Cindy tried to encourage.
I wasn’t buying it. By the time Haven made it to the top of the wall my stomach was in knots. I watched as she shrouded her gorgeous body in her gray sweatshirt. Jeremy threw his shirt casually over his shoulder.
The two of them seemed to be talking at length as they stood on the lip of the wall. I only prayed that they weren’t planning to do some crazy stunts as they rode down.
I held my breath as I watched Jeremy drop in, Haven was on his tail. The two of them skated side by side then began to weave across one another. All the air was sucked from my lungs as I watched them Ollie and swap boards mid-air.
When they landed I breathed a small sigh of relief. It was short lived when they Ollied again and swapped boards.
This woman was going to be the death of me. I could taste the sharp coppery taste of blood on my tongue. I had bitten into my lip in apprehension as I watched them slice across the wall.
When they hit the flat ground I could finally breathe. I hadn’t realized how tensed up I had been watching my girl on an unpredictable board. I couldn’t believe it. As they came coasting in the both of them pulled off a double Ollie then moved into a switch fakie nollie. As Haven landed, her board hit too hard sending her careening into the pavement. It happened so fast she didn’t have time to properly bail.
My feet were moving before my mind had a chance to catch up with what had happened. I was at Haven’s side in no time.
“Baby! Baby! Baby!” I worked on auto pilot, scooping her into my arms to assess the damage. My heart was hammering in my chest.
Haven groaned in pain.
“Where do you hurt babe?” I asked her.
Haven groaned again.
“My pride, my gawd does my pride hurt.” She said as she winced.
“What do you mean, your pride?” I asked confused.
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