He played a little tune and shot me with another sexy grin.
“It reminds me of you.”
Nine
Zeke
The minute the words came out of my mouth I regretted them. The sweet, pink blush that covered her cheeks was the main reason. The other reason was because it sounded like something a pussy whipped punk would say. I completely ignored the fact that it was true. I was playing that song while waiting for her to show up. No one needed to know I was actually kind of looking forward to our little words war. It was fun teasing her and getting under her skin. It kept me from thinking about the fact that I wanted to get under her panties even more.
Thankfully, she didn’t respond or make me explain. Because of that, I instantly liked her more. Most women would have questioned and beat that confession to death, not Patience. She was much too good for that. Instead, she smiled back at me and then jumped up and went to play ball with the boys. Again, I enjoyed the gym shorts view for the rest of my hour.
Afterward, when I saw her sitting on the sidewalk, I just pulled up and she opened the passenger-side door and got in. I didn’t have to ask and she didn’t pretend like she didn’t need a ride. I’m not sure why I did it. My gas hand was low and I didn’t have two dimes to rub together, but it just felt like the right thing to do.
The drive to her house was a quiet one and again, I appreciated the fact that she was so different from most girls. Most girls couldn’t sit and enjoy a peaceful ride with just the radio on low. Most girls felt the need to pollute the silence with overdramatic nonsense. Not Patience. She stared out the window and every now and again I’d catch her nodding her head to the music and smile. She had a beautiful smile, one chock-full of honesty and genuine sweetness. I liked to see her smile.
Once we got closer to her house, that smile slipped from her lips.
“You can let me out here,” she said as she leaned up like she was ready to dart from my car.
“I can take you all the way. I don’t mind.” I continued to drive.
“No, please just stop the car here.” She suddenly seemed tense and annoyed.
I pulled over onto the side of the road and turned toward her.
“What’s the deal?” I asked.
Better question, why did I care? If she wanted to get out of my car, then by all means, get the fuck out, but something wasn’t right. Something was off. She went from peaceful and smiley to tense and worried in a matter of seconds.
“Nothing, I just feel like jogging from here.” She turned to get out and sent me a big fake smile.
I reached out and grabbed her arm. A quick moment of terror rushed through her expression and then melted away just as quickly. She’d done the same thing earlier when I touched her hand to show her how to play the guitar. It was brief, but I didn’t miss it.
“Cut the shit, snowflake. What’s going on?” I asked.
She sat back, looked up at the ceiling of my car, and sighed.
“My dad told me to stay away from you.”
I took a minute to celebrate the fact that she didn’t try to correct me on her name. I liked snowflake. It fit her so well.
“Gotcha. You should definitely listen to what Daddy says.” I grinned over at her.
“Yeah, it’s just easier I guess.” She shrugged.
“Although…” I leaned over closer to her. Her unique smell swarmed around me. “What’s the fun in that?”
She looked up at me through her long lashes and took a deep breath. I liked that I affected her. It was only fair since she affected me. I wanted to move in closer. I wanted to touch her. Mostly because she was so damn untouchable and I had a rebellious streak in me that was ten miles long, but also because I was starting to wonder stupid shit. Shit like what her hair felt like and if her cheek was as soft as it looked.
I needed a swift kick in the ass. What would my boys think if they could hear my thoughts?
Then she caught me off guard by reaching up and running her finger across my lip ring. Her fingertip felt soft against my lip and some strange part of me that I didn’t know wanted to kiss her fingertip. It was the most out of character thing ever… for me, and I think for her, too. Nothing shocked me anymore and it was strange that something so innocent managed to.
She pulled her hand back like my mouth was full of snakes and then looked away from me. She reached up and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, but it was as defiant as I felt and it slipped back out. I reached up and captured it in my fingers. Her hair was indeed as soft as it looked. I didn’t miss the odd expression on her face as I tucked the piece of hair behind her ear again. I should have stopped there, but instead, I ran my finger down her baby-soft cheek.
“What is this?” Her voice cracked.
The question brought me back to myself and I snatched my hand away. I did the first thing I could think of that would make the moment disappear. I leaned back and grabbed the crotch of my pants.
“What this? Come here. I’ll show you.”
The glazed look in her eyes vanished and she glared over at me. Without saying another word, she popped open my door and jumped out. I watched as she started to jog toward her house. I waited until she was in her yard before I pulled away.
Ten minutes later, I was stranded on the side of the road out of gas and waiting for Finn to bring me some. An hour and about ten text messages and phone calls later, I finally gave up on Finn and called my dad. He wasn’t too happy about having to bring me gas. When he got there, he said nothing to me. He pulled up, rolled his window down, and pushed a red can of gas out the window at me. I took it from him and watched as he pulled away.
When I finally made it home for the night, all I wanted to do was grab a shower and go to bed. But the minute I walked in the door, I was hit with the raunchy smell of beer and Marlboros and I knew I was in for a rough night.
I barely made it through my bedroom door before he was on my back and punching me. Only a bitch hit a man from behind. I wanted to tell him what a bitch I thought he was, but instead, I stood my ground as he went in on me. He threw a few upper cuts to my ribs and I fell back against the paper-thin trailer wall. I messed up and moved my hands away from my face and he took the opportunity to land a hard punch straight to my right eye. An explosion of pain rang through my head and I dropped. When I woke up, it was two in the morning, the trailer door was wide open, and my dad was passed out in my mom’s chair.
I skipped school the next day since my right eye was blood red and surrounded by a mean-ass bruise. Instead of school, I went over to Finn’s so I could kick his ass for not showing up.
“Sorry, bro. I got stuck with a one-nighter who wouldn't leave. I finally got her out around ten this morning,” he said as he crashed onto his couch and sighed.
“You know how to get a one-night stand to leave, right?” I said as I picked up the rolling papers and started to roll a joint.
“No. Please enlighten me, oh great one.” He waved his hands around like he was summoning someone. I kicked him, making him laugh.
“If you want a one night stand to leave, all you have to do is pull out your wallet and ask how much you owe her.”
Finn burst into laughter. “Damn, that’s fucked up, dude. Leave it to you to come up with some shit like that.”
Once I was done rolling up some green, I lit the joint and took a long, hard hit. I strained to hold it in as long as possible as I passed it to Finn.
“So, what happened to the eye?” he asked as he blew out his hit.
I tried to come up with a damn good excuse, but my head felt all fogged out. Not that I was making it any better by smoking weed and getting high. When I didn’t respond quick enough, Finn started in on me.
“I hope you at least kicked their ass.”
I didn’t say anything. Instead, I cut my eyes at him and gave him a look that said I did.
Who knew? Maybe next time would be the straw that broke the camel’s back. Maybe next time I’d get tired of being his punchi
ng bag and I’d haul off and beat my dad to death. Sometimes, that’s what I felt like doing when he went off on me. The thought of spending the rest of my life in jail wasn’t very appealing and I was already planning on leaving Dad’s house very soon. I could take his shit for just a few months more. I’d done it for years. What’s a few more months?
If I had the choice, I would’ve skipped community service, too, but again, the jail time thing wasn’t something I wanted to do. So, after spending the day with Finn and smoking entirely too much weed, I drove over to the Boy’s Club. Patience met me at the door. She had a light glistening of sweat over her face and her eyes were unusually bright. Guess what they say is true—exercise is good for you. She looked vibrant and full of energy, while I felt like finding the nearest bed and taking an all-night nap.
She popped out her ear buds and rolled them around her phone. I leaned in to open the gymnasium door for her and she stopped me.
“What in the hell is that smell?” she asked. Her cute mouth curled up in disgust. “Did you just leave a house fire or something?”
Shit! I didn’t even think to run home and change my clothes and now I was about to walk into a place full of juvenile delinquents smelling like weed. She thought I smelled like a house fire, which was hilarious. Leave it to Patience to be the only seventeen-year-old alive to not know what weed smelled like. I bet she’d never even been near the stuff, with the exception of The Pit. I knew for a fact it rotated around the room there.
“No house fire,” I said as I pulled my shirt over my head.
I walked back to my car and threw it in the front seat. When I walked back to the door she was still standing there waiting on me. Her eyes looked like big blue pools of shimmer as she openly stared at my chest. I loved the way she looked at me—like I was the only guy she’d ever seen with his shirt off.
I watched as her eyes landed on each of the tattoos on my chest and arms and then moved down my stomach. Her eyes were taking me in and for some reason it was a massive turn-on. It was as if she touched me every place she looked. I started getting hard. I’d never had a girl get me hard just by looking at me. More than likely it had more to do with that fact that I hadn’t had sex in weeks, but still, I really fucking liked it.
“You’re going to go in there like that?” She motioned at my naked chest.
I chucked to myself. “No, I was going to see if you would run inside and get me that stupid Big Brother shirt.”
“Oh.” Her eyes flicked over my chest once more. “Sure, be right back.”
She pulled open the door and slipped inside. A few minutes later she came back out holding the god-awful blue shirt. I pulled it over my head and shifted my hair out of my face. She watched openly so I smiled down at her as I pulled open the gym door and held it open for her.
“After you.” I motioned for her to go inside.
I wasn’t usually the gentlemen type, but she had gotten a good view of me. It was only fair that I get to watch her tight little ass in those gym shorts I loved so much. She didn’t disappoint as she shifted her hips. Unlike most girls, she wasn’t doing it on purpose. She had a natural sway that had me practically bobbing my head from side to side. Her ponytail bounced with the beat of her walk. I was so involved with watching her ass and thighs that I slammed into her when she stopped abruptly to miss a wild basketball.
I wrapped my arm around her waist to keep her from tumbling over. Her hips and ass melded into me and I’d never felt something so fucking amazing. It turned me into a caveman. I wanted to grab her by the back of her hair and bend her over the nearest anything. Tonight, I’d fall asleep thinking about doing her from behind.
I didn’t let go of her immediately. Instead, I held her close to me and enjoyed the feel of her ass against my now rock-hard cock. Women say men think with their penis and in that moment, my penis was the only thing thinking. It took me minute to realize that her entire body had gone tense in my arms. I didn’t feel her nails as they dug into my arm. I didn’t hear her begging me to let her go.
“Let me go, let me go, let me go,” she was saying over and over again as she slapped at my arm.
I released her immediately and she turned and faced me. Her pupils were dilated and there was more fear on her pale face than I’d ever seen a person display. She was hyperventilating and shaking so badly I thought she’d pass out. Instead, she took off and ran out the gym door. The sun poured in and then the door snapped shut, leaving me in the shaded gymnasium. It was like she’d left the darkness of hell and walked into a heavenly room full of light. It was a perfect metaphor for my current situation. She belonged in the light and I was right where I was meant to be—stuck in a dark, dank gymnasium, surrounded delinquents.
I wanted to chase after her, but that was something I’d never do. Chasing after women was for bitch boys and I was determined I wasn’t going to let this chick change me. As it was, she already had me thinking crazy thoughts. I had more control over my actions than I did my thoughts. So, instead of going after her and making sure she was okay, I went to my group and sat in my trusty chair to wait the hour out.
She never came back and the hour was the longest one I spent at the Boy’s Club yet. It dragged since I didn’t have her to tease and talk to. The boys did their own thing, which made me feel like nothing more than a glorified babysitter. Every now and again, one of the boys would come up and ask where Patience was. I just shrugged and said I didn’t know.
Once my hour was up, I walked out into the cool evening air and made my way to my car. I checked the parking lot to make sure she wasn’t there waiting for a ride, and then I pulled out and headed home. I stopped at the first red light I got to and my headlights lit up the park across the street. Sitting alone on a swing with her head down was Patience. My headlights practically reflected off her platinum locks. I turned my blinker off and instead of turning at the light, I drove straight into the park parking lot when the light turned green.
My loud car caught her attention and she looked up. I cut the engine and got out. She was writing in the sand beneath her with her shoe as I walked over to the swings. Sitting in the swing next to her, I pushed over and softly bumped her knee with mine.
“The boys were asking about you. I think Keaton has a serious crush on you.”
The side of her mouth tilted up, but she continued to stare at her feet. We sat in silence after that until finally she leaned her head back and sighed.
“I’m sorry for that back there,” she said without looking at me. “I don’t usually claw the hell out of people who are trying to keep me from falling.”
Sure, I had originally wrapped my arm around her to keep from falling, but I kept it there for much different reasons.
“Don’t worry about it. I was feeling you up after a certain point. So we’re even.” I grinned at her when she looked at me with wide eyes.
“Really? Well, in that case, serves you right.” She smirked back at me and let me know she was teasing me. “Is that what happened to your eye? Did some chick punch you for being too touchy feely?” she laughed.
I had forgotten about my eye.
“Yeah, something like that.” I nodded.
She leaned back and pushed off with her feet. I held on to the two chains holding the swing up and watched as she went back and forth beside me.
“So, what’s your deal, snowflake?” I asked.
She looked over at me. A strand of blond stuck to her face.
“What do you mean?” she slowed.
Again, she didn’t correct me when I called her snowflake. I’d won that battle.
“What do you do when you’re not being the governor’s daughter, the soccer star, the Good Samaritan, or a wannabe rocker chick at The Pit?”
Her brows puckered as she thought for a minute.
“I don’t really do much else, I guess. Just school and stuff.”
“You go to the prep school, right?”
She sighed and rolled her eyes. “Yep.”
“I’d like to see you in your sexy schoolgirl uniform,” I said.
Her cheeks turned bright pink and she shook her head. “Are you always so blunt?”
“Always,” I said as I leaned back in the swing.
“I suppose I like that about you,” she said softly, like she was confessing something huge. “It’s refreshing. Even if you do say some pretty vile things.” She reached out and playfully pushed my arm. “What about you? What’s your deal?”
“I don’t really have a deal. My dad’s no governor, I’ve never played any sports, but I’ve played the guitar since I was seven, I don’t help people, and I could never pull off the rocker chick look.” I swiped at my bangs like a girl would.
She laughed at the last part and it made me smile. She had an amazing laugh.
“Well, that’s pretty cut and dry, except you’re wrong about one thing.”
“What’s that?” I asked.
She looked over at me and her ponytail rested against the side of her face. “You helped me.”
She had me there. I still didn’t know what made me help her in the bathroom that night at The Pit. It was a question I’d asked myself a few times. I was changing some and I wasn’t sure I was okay with going soft since I needed my hard shell to keep myself alive.
“Only because I was hoping to get laid.” I lied.
“If you say so,” she said as she pushed off on the swing once more. “So you live with your dad?” she asked.
I didn’t want to answer, but since I’d initiated the questions, I felt like I had to.
“Yes.”
“Do you ever see your mom?” She stopped swinging and pulled her hair out of her ponytail. I got caught up in her movements as she ran her fingers through it.
“No, I don’t see my mom. And unless I straighten my ass up so I can go to heaven when I die, I probably never will. She died a few years back.” The words burned my throat as I said them.
I rarely talked about my mom. Mostly because it caused this strange pressure in my chest that I didn’t like, but also because I didn’t think it was anyone’s damn business. It was different with Patience. She wasn’t being a nosey bitch. She was just making conversation.
Playing Patience Page 9
