“Hmm, sorry, what did you say?” He asked, but didn’t take his eyes off whatever had caught his attention. I turned around to follow his line of sight, but it was too crowded to see exactly what had him so concerned.
“What is it, August?”
“Go sit with my sister, Kensie. I’ll be there in a minute.” He nudged me towards the table.
“August?” I asked again, but he was already moving purposefully toward the bar and still hadn’t looked at me. I willed me legs to walk, but my eyes stayed trained on August weaving in and out of the boisterous crowd until I lost sight of him.
I was still looking for him when I got back to our table. “Hey, lover girl, “ Lennon greeted me, “Where’d your boy toy stalk off to?” About to ask her if she saw where he went, I spotted him up at the bar with Wes.
“Oh, there he is.” I pointed. “Up there with Wes and some girl. Maybe Wes needed some reigning in. He’s pretty out of it tonight.” I made a point to look over at Capri on the last part. She didn’t reply, but her suddenly stiff posture suggested she wasn’t unaffected. I suppose she wouldn’t have said much regardless with Tanner tapping his foot along to the music right next to her.
“Dang, look at that trashy temptress.” Lennon nodded towards them. “She’s all sorts of fucked up.” Capri’s head whipped around at that and she glared down the aisle that seemed to magically part between us. She stared up at August and his company when her eyes widened. Her mouth dropped open and she gasped, “That bitch!” She shoved out of her chair, “be right back, Tanner,” and turned to walk away. He flipped his hair out of his eyes to follow where she was going, and redirected his attention back to Milo.
“What’s going on over there?” Lennon nodded towards the bar. Capri was already in front August digging her finger into his chest and spouting what appeared to be heated words. August nodded his head unaffected by Capri’s outburst, as if she was expected to be that upset.
“Why is she mad at him?” I asked confused. I thought she went up there because she was mad at Wes for letting that girl hang all over him, but now she was waving her arms wildly clearly pissed off at August.
The trashy temptress hung hers arms sloppily over Wes. The girl in no way could compete with our beautiful friend. Where Capri was tall and slightly curvy, this girl was tall and rail thin. Her blonde hair looked brassy and brittle lying tangled down her back. Even from this far away, I could see the black make-up smudges rimming her eyes.
Wes shook his head at her and folded his arms across his wide chest. The temptress shrugged her shoulders one at a time causing her arms to flop along with the movement. Then she promptly turned and clunked her head down on the bar top spreading her arms out on either side.
“Is she alive?” I asked Lennon. I probably should have made a move to go see if August needed any help, but the scene Lennon watched with me, and never once glanced back towards Milo who was still swooning the crowd, was riveting to me. “I’ll be back. I’m going to go see what’s up.” I told her. She nodded, but then quickly grabbed my arm and a look of what I can only describe as, oh shit, painted her face.
“What?” I turned in time to see the trashy temptress draped across a broad chest, my chest, August’s chest. Her arms were wrapped lazily around his neck while she looked up at him.
“What…the…fuck?” Lennon drawled out next to me. As we watched the temptress run her fingers through dark brown hair, August’s hair. What the fuck exactly. August froze and turned his head locking eyes with me. The nervous look in them was all the motivation I needed to get that sloppy bitch off of him.
“I’ll be right back.” I told Lennon and stood up so forcefully the chair squeaked on the wood floor before falling over.
“Wait,” she grabbed my hand, “Are you jealous?” She asked incredulously with a hint of a smile. Was I? Watching that girl touch what was mine sent sparks flying in me. I was ready to go all Fourth of July on her scrawny ass.
“You know what, I think I am.” I said, a grin spread across my face. Lennon and I shrieked together and jumped up and down laughing. “Oh my god. I’m jealous!” I rejoiced.
“You’re jealous!” Lennon held my hands while we bounced together in tiny circles. I’m sure we looked ridiculous, but I didn’t care. I had never been jealous. I had never felt protective enough over a relationship to feel threatened. It sounded ludicrous even to me, but I was so proud of myself.
“Now excuse me while I go claim what’s mine.” I turned on my heels and my best bitch back off glare.
“Atta girl!” Lennon encouraged me on.
August peeled the trashy temptress from him maintaining eye contact with me as I approached. She tried to fall against him again, but he put his hands up and shook his head at her. “Kensie,” he said when I took my place next to him, uncertainty lacing his voice. I broke my stare from him and redirected it to the temptress.
“Excuse me, “ I said in the sweetest of pissed off voices. She looked up at me with heavy eyelids and waved her finger at me. I think she meant to hold it steady, but her intoxication had it waving in front of my face.
“This her, August?” She asked finger still waving. Two more seconds and I was going to snap it off.
“Yep, this is me,” I said relieved she finally put her hand down. I didn’t think an assault charge would go over well with John. “I’m Kensie.” I told her stepping my body in front of August effectively cutting her off from touching him anymore. I’m pretty sure I heard him chuckle, but I had more important things to deal with than his finding humor in this.
“August’s new girlfriend.” She said flipping her straw like hair behind her shoulder.
“August’s girlfriend,” I told her flipping my silky soft hair behind my shoulder intentionally leaving the word ‘new’ out of it. I wasn’t new. I was it. She clicked her tongue on her teeth and cocked her eyebrow at me. I’m sure she was trying to look intimidating, but with her intoxicated state she just looked like she had something in her eye.
“You gonna give me a ride home, August, or what? You know I can’t drive like this.” She looked directly at me when she spoke to him behind me. I felt August’s body tense when he cleared his throat to speak, but I beat him to it.
“The only one who is getting a ride from August is me.” I glared at her, “and lucky for him I can drive. Really well.” I smirked back at her. August choked out a cough behind me and tapped my arm gently pushing me aside. At the same time, I heard Wes mumble behind me, “Lucky Bastard.” I had almost forgotten he was there.
The temptress opened her mouth to retaliate, but August cut her off. “Enough of this. I’ve wasted enough time away from my girl tonight. Wes will you call her a cab?” He looked over to Wes who nodded and August grabbed my hand in his, pulling me away from her. I maintained my glare on her from over my shoulder tripping over myself and falling into him.
He marched us right past Lennon and Capri, who had made it back to the table at some point. They both stood and clapped. I released August’s hand and stopped to bow before he took my hand back and continued to stalk away shaking his head at me.
When we got outside, he led us directly to his truck, and still hadn’t said a word to me. He unlocked and opened my door for me when I turned to face him. “What’s wrong?” I was confused, shouldn’t he be proud of the way I handled the temptress? I was so proud of myself I felt euphoric, but August was tense.
“Get in the truck, Kensie.”
“But,”
“Get in the truck, Kensie.” He repeated again, but didn’t wait for me to move. He swept me off my feet and sat me down in the passenger seat. Then he climbed up on the running board and hovered above me in the doorway. “Move over.”
I did as he said, not sure what the hell was going on. I opened my mouth to ask what was wrong again, but was completely caught of guard when he climbed in on top of me pushing me down across the seats.
His mouth came crashing down on mine and my lips immediately par
ted to absorb the growl that erupted from his chest. He kissed me hungrily and I returned the need. He pulled away to nip and suck on the spot just below my ear. “That was so hot, Kensie.” He said breathing on me, sending heat flooding through me. “So damn hot.” He pulled down my shirt and nipped and sucked across my chest. I wriggled under him. “All jealous and territorial. So hot.” I giggled a laugh that turned into a moan when he adjusted himself and pressed against me in just the right spot.
We went on like that long enough to fog up the windows of his truck, and long enough for me to be certain that I needed more, that I needed him. I pulled away and looked up at August whose eyes were heavy with desire. I wanted him to take me home, back to his home and his bed. My heart stopped. No, I needed more time, more time to make sure…. My heart started beating again.
He stared down at me his breath panting against my skin, when a hint of a smile touched his lips. He ran his finger down the side of my face and I closed my eyes instinctively laying my cheek into his palm. Everything with him was instinctual. I should stop holding back, and just let things happen. If I shut my mind off long enough I could hear the crackling pull between us. Or maybe it was just lust? If lust had a sound I can imagine it crackling and burning. This wasn’t just lust though. My heart crackled and burned for him, but it also beat for him. My heart stopped. I didn’t just have a need for him physically. I needed him completely. I looked up at August and felt my heart beat again.
“What on earth is going on in that head of yours?” He touched my lips with the tip of his fingers and I let out the breath I hadn’t noticed I was holding in. I reached up and grabbed his face in my hands and pulled him down to my lips. I had to feel him, to feel it was real. Sure enough with our lips moving together my heart beat at a new pace, one I had never experienced before.
August’s heartbeat pulsed through me. Our alternating beats thumped back and forth, one after the other.
Pound, pound.
Pound, pound.
Pound, pound.
In one swift moment, when we both parted to inhale a breath of each other’s air, they synched together forming a singular steady beat. I can’t imagine anything ever being more real.
August cleared his throat and pulled himself off of me. “Let’s go somewhere.”
“Right now?” I asked running my fingers through my hair.
“Yeah, why not? Unless you’re too tired; it’s been a long day.” He stretched his arms behind his head and his stomach peaked out above the waistband of his pants. I honed in on the outer edge of whatever he wore under his pants. That sliver of bare skin was one of the most attractive parts of a man, and right now my eyes were riveted. I wonder if he wore boxers or briefs.
“Boxer briefs.” He groaned as he finished his stretch.
“I said that out loud? “I asked.
“Well, you whispered it…out loud.” He smiled crookedly. “What about you? Lace? Cotton?” He shook his head. “Wait, no, Thong or the butt cover kind?”
“The butt cover kind?” I laughed at him. “ You mean bikini?”
“ Whatever, it either covers or it doesn’t.” He watched me anticipating my answer.
“Wouldn’t you like to know?” I teased back.
He grunted and opened the door to hop out of the truck. He closed it behind him and I watched as he ran around the front of the truck toward the drivers’ side. Boxer briefs. Good answer.
Chapter 15
“This is your favorite place to go?” I asked staring out the front windshield into the dark.
“Yep.” He said from his already opened door. He came around and helped me down from my side of his truck. We walked together through darkness to a chain link fence at the end of the parking lot.
“So.” I started, but stopped when he jumped at the fence grabbing on half way up. “What are you Spiderman now?” I heard him chuckle as he scaled up and over the fence before he jumped down on the other side. He linked his hands on the fence and leaned in toward me, so I walked up and did the same.
“Your turn.”
“No, uh uh.” I said and let go of the fence where we stood backing away. “I don’t like heights, August. I’m not climbing over the fence.” What kind of surprise was this anyway? When he said he was taking me to one of his favorite places to go, I assumed it would be somewhere by the beach.
“It’s not that high up, Kensie. I can come back and help you over if you need me to.” He cocked an eyebrow at me.
“No, I can do it by myself.” I said walking slowly up to the fence and placing my hands back on it just above my head. I never did like being offered help. I’d much rather do things myself and prove that I can. I looked up just a couple feet above me knowing from the top the view would be miles from the ground.
“Hey.” He said from directly in front of me making me jump. “You can do this Kensie, and if you need help, I will help you.”
“This is ridiculous.” I muttered as I started my climb. Thank God I wore my cheetah print flats and not the ridiculous hooker heeled boots Lennon suggested. “We aren’t even supposed to be here after hours.” My foot slipped through one of the holes and my heart fell. I readjusted it and kept climbing. “I just saw my life flash before my eyes by the way.” I could hear him snickering below me, but I was too nervous to look down. “If I get arrested and go to jail you’d better bring me candy bars every day.” I threw one leg over the top and straddled the pointed chain links. Falling now would be very uncomfortable. I took a chance then and looked down at August who was lying on the dirt with his hand propped behind his head and watching me with a wide grin. “Oh come on, really?”
“Lace huh, and a thong? I’m a lucky man.”
“What?” I held on tight with one leg on either side of the top of the fence and tried to look back at my pant line, where sure enough my red lace thong was half way up my back. Trader panties. I swung my other leg over and began my steady descend back down the other side of the fence one foot at a time.
“You know, you’re only a few inches from the ground now. You can just hop off the fence.” His voice spoke up from right behind me and was laced in amusement.
“Don’t rush me.” I yelled behind me still taking one step at a time. When my foot made the last step onto solid ground I took a breath of relief and turned towards August. “There. Happy now.”
“With you? Always.” He said grabbing my hand in his. “You did good, pretty girl.” He leaned down and kissed my forehead. “Maybe a little faster on the way back? Especially when the police get here. I don’t think I can afford all that chocolate.”
I knocked my hip into him and rolled my eyes. We both turned and looked out at the acres of rolling…dirt. “So the flower field is your favorite getaway spot? I imagine it’s really beautiful, when there are actually flowers.” I teased.
“It is.” He said still staring out at the dirt. “It’s beautiful. Rows and rows of solid color, like a rainbow you can run your hands through and actually catch.” I watched his face in the moonlight, and the peace this place brought him was almost tangible. I reached up and ran my hand down his cheek to see if I could feel it. He leaned into my touch and smiled as he turned to face me. “Want to walk through the flowers?”
“Sure,” I waved my hand out at the empty space in front of us, “give me the grand tour.”
We walked together hand in hand through the empty flower fields and talked casually. He told me about his parents and how they volunteer as a family every year to serve Thanksgiving dinner at the local woman’s shelter. That nurturing trait I always see in August ran in the family. I wondered briefly if he would introduce me to them as his girlfriend anytime soon, but we had only been dating a short while so I wouldn’t mind if he waited on the parent meeting. I felt anxious enough lately worrying about Thanksgiving with my dad. Meeting August’s parents now would likely lead me to all sorts of nervous and embarrassing ramblings.
We stopped and sat down at wooden bench along one of the p
aths. August sat down first and then pulled me down to sit on his lap. He folded his arms around my waist and set his chin on my shoulder. “Why do I always want you closer?” He asked me. My stomach heated at his admission. “When I’m near you I have to be touching you, but even that’s not enough.”
“It aches.” I whispered knowing exactly what he was talking about because I felt it too. The need to be with him was so consuming, his touch alone was never enough. I felt the urge to physically crawl inside him just to try and satisfy the desire.
“Exactly.” He said and pulled me in closer to him. We sat like that, as close to each other as we could get for now, and watched the breeze blow up swirls of dust across the field. They twirled and spun occasionally catching just the right angle of moonlight creating sparkles in the air. “That reminds me of you.” He whispered.
“What?”
“The way the dust dances.” I sighed and leaned back into him further. It reminded me of myself too, but only recently had I felt the way the dust moved. Only since meeting August had I felt free again, and beautiful. I’d always assumed I needed to feel whole before I would find the one person I was meant to be with, but maybe I was wrong. Maybe you aren’t filled completely until you meet them.
“Truth or Dare.” He asked me softly.
“Hmmm, I think risking my life climbing the tallest fence ever was risky enough tonight. Truth.”
“You know I would have caught you if you fell, right?” He assured me.
“I know.” I told him, and I did. I knew he would always catch me. I’m not sure how he planned on doing that while lounging in the dirt mocking me, but I he’d figure it out. HE was Spiderman, after all.
“So, truth? Let’s see.” He drawled thinking up a question. “Why dance?”
“Why dance?” I asked him not sure what he meant.
“Yeah, when most people dance it’s because it’s fun, or in my case because I’ve had one too many beers. For you it’s different though. The way your body moves, the way the blink of your eyes slows down, and it’s like you’re…”
Truth In Wildflowers Page 16
