by Macy Farmer
Bradley jumped to his feet, his hands balled up in fists and snapped, “She didn’t ask you Anthony she asked me. I’ll take her home if that’s what she wants.”
He turned to face Jesse and Colleen, with a calmer more respectful tone, “If you don’t want to leave now we can come back and get you later. That won’t be a problem.” Before Bradley even finished, they were folding up their chairs.
Glaring at Anthony Jesse said, “No we’re ready. Suddenly the evening got real boring.”
Anthony’s wicked laughter echoed across the field. “Jesse was that supposed to hurt my feelings? Come on I know you can do better than that.” Definitely, an invitation to do battle.
“Just shut up, Anthony. Why do you have to be so annoying?” Colleen stood between Jesse and Anthony ready to fight for her man. I couldn’t help but smile. Their love for each other was so obvious to me, yet they seemed to be so blind to it. I really needed to work on getting those two together.
As we were walking away I heard Anthony warn, “Well, I’ll stop by and see you later, Natalia.” I ignored him but knew he would be stopping by later.
Everybody was quiet as we exited the parking lot, but once we hit the road Colleen erupted. “Who does he think he is asking Natalia out? Just who does that dirtball think he is?” Irate, she was practically yelling. I had never heard her so upset. Her laid-back, go with the flow attitude was non-existent.
Then Jesse started, “He knew she’s with Brad. You handled yourself better than I would have Brad. I would have had to pound on him a few times. How can you be friends with that guy? He’s always been a jerk.”
Bradley, lost in his thoughts, seemed torn and confused by what just happened. “That wouldn’t have solved anything but I did think about it.” We stopped at a light and he turned to me, “I was real happy when you said no.” The way he looked at me made all those horrible thoughts I saw in Anthony’s mind go away. His sexy blue green eyes lured me in, pulling me towards him.
I’m just about to move closer when Colleen blurted out, “What else would she have said, Brad? Of course she said no. It’s obvious she’s with you. How could you even doubt her like that?” I just looked at him my mouth gaping and eyes wide. Bradley chuckled and rolled his eyes.
“I didn’t doubt her, Colleen. I was just saying I was happy she said no. If she did want to go out with him, I couldn’t stop her. I wouldn’t be happy about it but I can’t stop her.”
“The heck you can’t. You can just tell her what he’s really like. Why would she choose him over…?” I cut Jesse off before he could finish his ranting.
I span around and waved my arms in front of their faces, “Hellllooooo, I am in the truck too you know. I’m capable of speaking for myself.” With that, we all started laughing. Both Colleen and Jesse apologized for their irate behavior.
“No need to apologize. It’s good to know that Bradley has such good friends. Friends that have his back.” With Anthony around, he was going to need his friends.
“We have your back too, Nat.” Colleen rested her hand on my shoulder. “Hey since we were planning on being out late tonight anyway, how about we go back to Natalia’s to watch some movies instead?”
“Nice way to invite yourself too, Colleen.” Jesse laughed.
“What, do you want to go home already?” Colleen whispered. I couldn’t resist a quiet laugh. While they were talking amongst themselves, Bradley asked if I would mind some company tonight or would I prefer to call it a night.
“No I don’t mind. It’s still early.” It really wasn’t that early but I didn’t want him to leave just yet. Actually, I wouldn’t have minded if Jesse and Colleen went home and Bradley stayed but I couldn’t say that out loud. It would hurt their feelings, especially Colleen’s.
“Never mind, I forgot we have plans tomorrow. You can drop us off at my house.” Colleen said. “Sorry, Natalia, I totally forgot.”
“That’s okay, I understand.” I wasn’t disappointed, well, not yet at least. If Bradley didn’t come over, then I would be. These feelings were really getting so out of control. I couldn’t stand to be apart from him, and it happened so fast! I dreaded the thought of returning home.
Colleen lived in an apartment in Renovo so it didn’t take us long to get there. “Give me a call tomorrow, Nat, maybe we can do some shopping.” She’s always asking me to go shopping. Luckily, we never go. I despise shopping.
“Okay. Have a good night. Bye, Jesse.” My words rushed out making it obvious that I wanted to go. I’m eager to find out if Bradley is going to stop in for a bit.
“Night, Nat. Yo, Brad, call me tomorrow.” Jesse said as he’s helping Colleen out. He’s a gentleman, especially with Colleen. His devotion for her is in every look and move he makes. Bradley returned a nod and drove away.
I slowly exhaled asking, “So are you going to stay for a while?” I tried not to sound too eager, thrilled that I might be alone with him. Even though we do spend a lot of time together, we haven’t really been alone with each other for long periods of time.
“I was hoping you’d ask.” For the rest of the ride back to the cabin Bradley sang along to the songs playing on the radio. We listened to the oldies but goodies, like Frankie Valli, Elvis and Johnny Cash. He knew all the words.
“Is this the type of music that inspired you to become a musician?” I wondered aloud.
Ecstatic by my curiosity he responded, “I love all types of music. Music from the fifties - early sixties was fun, but it was the music from the late sixties and the seventies that really inspired me. I’m a huge fan of Elvis. The blues move me, but I never really sing that kind of music on stage.”
“Why not? I bet you could write a great blues song. You have a lot of soul.” My cheeks filled with warmth at my honesty.
“I said I didn’t sing it, not that I didn’t write it. I’ve written a lot of blues music but that type of music is not big around here. Dave is not fond of it either. Most importantly, since that’s how I make my money, I sing what people like to hear. I love classical music too, but again that’s not what people want to hear.”
“I would love to hear them all. Especially if you’re singing them.” Crimson red colored my cheeks again. “Maybe someday you can play them for me.” I wondered which band member was Dave but he didn’t say anything else about him.
“I’d like that.” He touched my red cheeks with the back of his hand before getting out of the truck. I went to open my door but Bradley beat me to it. That quick, he ran around the truck and opened the door. He stood there grinning.
I narrowed my gaze, “That was quick,” I said suspiciously.
“I have to be. It’s like you’ve never been treated like a lady before.” He sauntered beside me as we walked towards the cabin.
As I unlocked the cabin door, he stared down at me. “What?” I laughed.
“You look beautiful.”
“Thank you.”
After we let Seager out, we put on a movie. We didn’t watch it though, we were too busy kissing. As soon as our breathing got loud and things were almost out of control, our hands roaming across each other’s bodies, exploring, Bradley put on the brakes, vowing to keep his promise of not letting things go too far.
He slid me onto his lap, “Natalia, tell me what freaked you out earlier.” More interested in kissing his neck, tasting his flesh, I had no idea what he was talking about. He tasted like the forest smelt. A warm woodsy flavor I’ve never tasted before. How can that be possible?
Between each peck I mumbled, “What? When? Why again are we stopping?”
He laughed and gently pulled my lips from his neck to face him. “You know sometimes you make it so hard for me to stop. Please. I know something happened when you shook Anthony’s hand. I saw your reaction. Your body was trembling.”
Oh yeah, I had forgotten about Anthony. I hadn’t realized that I was shaking or that he saw my reaction. “How could you see my reaction, it was pretty dark?”
“Don�
��t worry about how I saw you, just know that I did. You don’t have to tell me what happened, but if you don’t I’ll probably just worry even more.”
“I don’t want to spoil the night Bradley. Before we know it I’ll have to go home so I don’t want to waste any more time especially on someone like Anthony.”
Frustrated, he continued trying to persuade me. He pressed his lips softly against my ear and whispered, “Please don’t torture me like this, it’ll drive me insane. Please tell me.”
How does he do that? When he whispered in my ear like that, I wanted to tell him everything, serve it to him on a silver platter. I figured the sooner I told him what he wanted to know, the sooner we could get back to kissing.
While I tried to figure out how to tell him that Anthony wasn’t his friend he asked, “Did you see the two of you together?” He stared down at my hands, spinning my pinky ring. “Natalia, you know I just want you to be happy, even if it is without me. It would be really unfortunate if it was with someone other than me, but your happiness is all that matters.”
“Huh?” Where did he come up with this stuff? “Bradley that’s not at all what I saw. And I couldn’t imagine being happy with anyone else but you. I can barely fathom the thought of returning home. I don’t think I can bear to be without you.” Again I didn’t think before I spoke and sounded a tad desperate.
He stared deeply into my eyes as if he was trying to read my mind, trying to search for a hidden truth, “I feel the same way. That is why I’ve been avoiding the subject of you leaving. I guess we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. If that’s not what you saw then what did you see?”
I hesitated before starting the dreadful conversation.
“Bradley, Anthony is the drummer in your band right?”
“Yes… why?”
“I recognized him when he sat down but was just wondering why we’ve never met until tonight. Look, I don’t know how to say this so I’m just going to say it. Anthony is not your friend and you can’t trust him.” There I said it.
“Are you sure? I’ve known him for a really long time. I know he can be arrogant and rude. Those are some of the reasons I’ve never introduced him to you.” For the longest time his eyes were fixed on our hands, and I wasn’t sure what was going on inside that head of his, but whatever it was, it caused his body to go rigid. “What has he done,” he demanded angrily through his teeth.
“He hasn’t done anything yet. He’s still working on it. I let go of his hand before I saw what he was up to. There was too much hatred and jealousy. It consumes him. He wants you out of the picture, at any cost. The man has an evil soul.” This information hurt him dearly. “I’m sorry, Bradley.”
“I never even knew he felt that way. Although, now, a lot of things make sense. Like when he kept asking you out. He knows how I feel about you. I told him I loved you. That I’ve never met anyone who makes me feel the way you do. Yet he kept trying to get you to go out with him. Damn, he was one of the first people that heard the song I wrote for you.” He shook his head then distraught covered his face with his hands.
“Maybe I shouldn’t have said anything.” I ran my fingers through his soft brown hair trying to comfort him. The words ‘I told him I loved you’ were repeating over and over in my mind. I wanted to do my happy dance, shout it out to the world, “Bradley loves me!”
My happiness quickly vanished when a terrifying possibility flits through my mind. Did Bradley tell Anthony about me? Nah, he wouldn’t – would he?
“Bradley, please don’t be angry but I have to ask, did you tell Anthony about my gift?”
“No, Natalia. I almost did once but I didn’t want to betray you. It felt like it would be betrayal if I told anyone. I didn’t even tell Dave.” A wave of relief washed over me.
“Thank you. Someone like Anthony would only make my life miserable if he knew this information. Trust me, I’ve experienced it.” Seeing the sadness in his eyes brought tears to mine. “What can I do, Bradley, how can I help you?”
“If you don’t mind, I’d really like to stay the night.” He looked at me cautiously through his long lashes. I didn’t expect him to say that, so when an audible gasp came out, he misread it and started to recant his request.
“Please forgive me, I’m being very selfish. A gentleman would not ask a lady that especially when we’ve only known each other a few weeks.” Selfish? How could he say that? He always puts my feelings first.
“I know you wouldn’t and I’d like it if you stayed. Anthony really gave me the creeps. It was like he was trying to lure me in. He kept staring at me, having these disgusting thoughts. He will be by tonight. That I did see.” Oops.
“You never said anything about that. Did you touch him again?”
“No, he kept touching me – my hand. That was why I wanted to leave so abruptly. That’s why I asked you if he knew about my gift. He has a filthy mind and I felt violated just seeing his thoughts.” Uh-oh. I lifted his face so I could see his eyes. They were black with fury. “Maybe I shouldn’t have told you that part.”
“Don’t say that, Natalia, I always want to know what you’re thinking and how you’re feeling.”
Suddenly, Seager started growling.
“Seager, what is it?”
“Natalia, there’s a man outside hiding in the trees. He’s been there for a while. Crack the window open so I can get a whiff. Whatever you do don’t let him in or let Brad leave.”
“Okay.” I walked over to the window and opened it a little. “Is that enough?” Seager rolled his eyes and nodded twice, then began to inspect the air.
Pointing at Seager, Bradley asks with complete amazement, “Did he just roll his eyes and nod twice?”
“Yes, the rolling of the eyes can be quite annoying at times.” I said sarcastically while glaring at Seager. Seager wagged his tail and faced us – rolled his eyes – sarcastically in return. “Wise guy.”
“What else did he say? Why was he growling?”
“I’ll tell you but first you have to promise not to leave. Promise?” I knew he was too intrigued by what was going on with Seager to realize what I was saying and that he wouldn’t go back on his word once he made a promise.
“I promise you, Natalia, I won’t leave you tonight, not even with Seager here.” Then he turned to look at me.
“Too late, you already promised.” His eyes hard, he glared angrily at me.
“What’s going on? Who is out there?” He walked toward the door and grabbed the handle. Before he even turned the knob Seager jumped on him, and knocked him over.
With both Seager and I looking down at Bradley I whispered, “Seager said someone is out there watching us.”
“He’s watching you, Natalia, he wants you. Can’t you feel it?”
I concentrated. Crap, Anthony is out there.
I pulled Bradley away from the door. “O-okay, he’s watching me. That’s why you can’t leave.” Tears started to fill my eyes. I’ve been down this road before. I don’t want to travel down it again. “I do feel his presence Seager and I don’t like it.”
“Shut out the lights so he can’t see us and shut the window.”
“What did you say, Natalia? I could barely hear you.”
“I-I didn’t say anything, Seager did, he wants us to turn off the lights and shut the window.” I did as Seager instructed and double-checked to be sure everything was locked. All along Bradley just stood there staring at Seager. Stunned.
Too frightened to look out the window, I sat down on the sofa. By the time Bradley sat next to me, my body shook uncontrollably.
“Natalia, please don’t be scared. I won’t let anything happen to you.”
Crying I begged, “Please don’t leave, please.”
“Don’t cry. It’s going to be alright. Tomorrow we will take care of everything.” He sat with me on his lap, rocking back and forth, trying to comfort me.
“You’re right, because I’m going home tomorrow.” My fear undoubtedly took o
ver. Logic, at the moment, ceased to exist in my mind. Visions started flashing through my mind. They were coming so fast, constantly changing, that it made me dizzy.
He growled loudly. “NO! You’re not leaving tomorrow. I won’t let you. You don’t have anything to worry about. I won’t let him hurt you.”
“Oh yes I do, and by hurting me he’s going to hurt you. He wants to take care of two birds with one stone. He’s even angrier now than he was before because you’re here. He saw us kissing Bradley. He may have just walked away but…” Fear driving me, I wrapped my arms around Bradley kissing him like I’d never kissed him before. Showing him how much I loved him, worried that I may have to leave tomorrow and this could be our last night together.
With ease, he pushed me slightly away. Out of breath, eyes wide he asked, “Natalia, wow, what was that? No don’t answer. I don’t care how or what. Thank you for sharing that with me. I love you, too. And this won’t be our last night together because you’re not leaving tomorrow.”
Tears streamed down my face. Confused I asked, “What?”
“You said you loved me. I heard it clear as day.” His warm breath swept over my ear as he whispered, “I truly love you too. I have since the first time I saw you.”
But I didn’t say it, I thought it. “You heard my thoughts?” I stared at him, stunned.
“Wait, are you saying that I heard what you were thinking? How can that be?”
We totally forgot about the fact that Anthony waited outside, watching us. We were lost in our own moment.
Giggling, I teased, “How could I say anything with my tongue down your throat?”
And with the tension broken momentarily, we laughed together.
“Think of something, I want to see if it happens again.”
I didn’t think it was going to work but played along anyway. “I can’t wait for you to kiss me again.”
A huge smile brightened his handsome face removing any doubts I had. My breath caught waiting for him to fulfill my request. He slid my body closer to his, electricity surging between us. Placing his hands on my cheeks, he lifted my head, “Your wait is almost over,” and began kissing the center of my neck.
