The Carver's Magic

by B. L. Brooklyn

  Cory half smiles as she reviews her pictures on the camera. Satisfied, apparently, she heads back to the car with me in tow. After five more minutes in the car she taps the window again, and asks to stop with a little more excitement. I smile and shake my head and pull over again.

  She hops out and takes several more photos. This time I stop and rest against the hood of the car instead of following her all the way to the creek.

  I watch her take snapshots and then I see her starting to review the pictures she has taken, right about the time I wonder if she will see mine.

  Cory gasps. She looks at me with wide eyes. "Did you take these?" I nod at her but I didn’t say anything else, because apparently I am the only one who remembered the no-talking policy.

  Ignoring the rules we preplanned, the little hypocrite walks back up to me and asks, "How long have you been into photography?"

  I shake my head. "No questions."

  Her jaw drops mockingly. "What? Come on! You just talked so the rules really don’t matter in this instance. Plus you only said that so I would say yes."

  She’s right. I did, but I shake my head again and she frowns. Her forced frown is adorable.

  "Fine.”

  I open the door for her again and she gets in, folding her arms tightly across her chest.

  I’m an idiot. I don’t even know why I am enforcing this rule when I didn’t like the rule to begin with. What the hell is wrong with me?

  The rest of the drive is in silence and I worry I am royally messing this up.

  Probably.

  We finally arrive at Eleven Mile Reservoir. I get out and open her door, but she has her eyes cast down to her phone and didn’t acknowledge me. Taking the rejection, I walk to the picnic table near my parking spot. I hoped she would follow me, but I have not heard the door shut. I turn around to see what’s keeping her and I see her holding the camera in my direction, and then the distinct sound of clicking. I turn, giving her my back, casting my eyes skyward.

  She’s taking pictures of me.

  "No pictures," I try to say without a growl, but I still growl.

  "Too late," she says, with a little sass and, even though I can’t see it, I can hear the shit-eating-grin.

  Trying not to smile from her cuteness, I call out, "Delete it."

  She makes a noise with her throat and says. "Um, no."

  Then I hear her snap a few more pictures. I turn around and give her an annoyed look. She smiles at me like an innocent girl. "What? I was taking pictures of the lake."

  I raise my eyebrows. I don't believe her. I stand up in effort to get my camera back, when my phone rings. She backs up slowly with a smirk. She must think that my phone call will stop me. It won’t. I continue to walk in her direction.

  I hit the answer button as she holds the camera at me and I raise my eyebrows daring her to… she takes a picture. I shake my head in warning because as soon as I catch her I am going to take some very naughty pictures of her. I walk faster in her direction as she runs away with a girly laugh.

  "Who is that?" Aaron asks through the phone. I look at my phone that I had yet to put up to my ear, and wonder why I even answered it.

  "What’s up?"

  Aaron is a buddy of mine from the gym. He invites me to his bashes every so often, and I turn him down three out of the four times he calls.

  "Party my house. Stop by." He says, as if he is ordering me and not asking. But he is hopeful. He’s in luck because if it gets me more time with Cory, then I’m all in.

  "Okay." I agree for the first time in several weeks. I can see Cory on the other side of the boulders taking photos, but she is constantly looking back to make sure I am behind her. I stopped walking a second ago and now my plans are starting to change from just a drive to the reservoir, to something more eventful.

  "Really?" He sounds shocked and pleased at he same time.

  "Yeah."

  "Awesome. See you later." I slide the phone into my pocket eyeing my prey.

  I wait for Cory to finish snapping pictures and I teleport next to her. I grab her and the camera. Her girly laugh is rumbling on my chest and I am fighting myself not to kiss her.

  I am not sure if she will be as soft and sweet like she was in my dreams last night but I am pretty sure that no matter how she tastes, I am going to like it.

  I pull her back into my chest and touch her ear with my lips; she stops squirming immediately. In a low voice I whisper, “Now it’s my turn to take your picture.”

  “I’m not very photogenic,” she says, weakly.

  I take a deep breath of her skin and see small bumps rise all over her neck. I brush my lips below her ear, “We’ll see.”

  Cory arches her back and I can envision all her sweet curves that I want to get to know… intimately. I spin her around, grab the side of her cheek and make her face me. I want to see if she has the look, I have to see if she feels the same way.

  Her eyes are guarded.

  I hate that.

  I let her go and take a small step back. I watch her as I hold out the camera in my palm. Then I telepathically lift the camera into the air, and she drops her jaw. Mentally, I connect with the lens, so it takes pictures of what I see through my eyes instead of through the lens. It’s a neat trick I found several years ago.

  I know she’s guarded, but I can’t help my need to touch her. I step back up to her and wrap my arm around her waist. She lets me. I lean down and brush my lips over hers. She lets me. I promise myself I won’t push her… too far. I won’t force her to do anything she doesn’t want to do. Right now she needs to make a move. I have shown her my intentions, she needs to accept, she has to take the next step if tonight is going to go anywhere.

  She moves her lips against mine, not exactly kissing me back, and yet not shying away either.

  Confounding woman.

  I pull back and see her biting her bottom lip. I take a picture. Then I look over her, adjust the focus in my eyes, and take several more. She has no idea what I am doing because the ‘click’ sound is on silent.

  I push her light jacket off her shoulders and let it fall on the grass. She lets me, even though her eyes are asking me questions. I teleport us to a hip high boulder, to where the back of her thighs are flush against the smooth rock. I lean down and slowly guide her body down and back on a malformed rock, perfect for us to lie down on. I slide my fingers slowly over her skin, giving her more goose bumps and taking more pictures. I push her left knee away from me so that her legs open just a small degree.

  Her chest is rising and falling slowly, possibly fighting with herself and what she wants to do, versus what she should do. I can see the tick in her jaw and how much she is trying to maintain a calm demeanor, but this is my art, this is my passion. To see beauty where no one else dares to look.

  I lean down and smell her skin without touching her. I begin at her knees, and slowly breath in her soft thighs, lower belly, up past her arching chest to her neck.

  I peer up at her eyes and they are closed. She is succumbing to her feelings. I smile and press a small kiss to just below her chest and then I back up to take another picture.

  I move her several times and the camera is following me, so she must know what I am doing, but I am not explaining and she is not asking. For the first time tonight the silence is no longer a heavy weight of discomfort, instead it’s a weight of physical intrigue.

  I run my fingers over her shoulders and down her arm. I swallow, knowing how her delicate skin might feel against my mouth. I push the thought away and focus on every picture I can take of her, without her feeling too exposed.

  I see her pressing her right hand flat against the rock, her body is stiff and I can tell she is struggling internally. I finally get the picture I have been dying to get; I look over and see her hungry eyes. I snap my last picture.

  I pull her up, teleport us to my car and open the passenger door quickly, knowing that I could have taken the k
iss. I could have possibly made it into something more, but I don’t just want her hungry for a small taste. I want her starving for me.

  She slides in with a forced smile. I don’t like being the reason she is uncomfortable, but if I kissed her right now, I wouldn’t stop.

  Cory isn’t speaking. I am trying to keep my eyes on the road, but I can’t stop the voice in my head calling me a lot of names that all boil down to being a world-class idiot.

  I had her. What is wrong with me?

  But I just knew, in my fucking gut, that if I took her then, she would regret it. I don’t want regrets.

  I look over and see Cory flipping through the pictures. She’s biting her bottom lip and I think I see a small blush. Her slow, shallow breaths are the only indication of how hot and bothered I believe she is. It takes her a while before she stops looking at the pictures and pays attention to the road.

  After an hour she unfolds her legs and narrows her eyes at the road, "Where are we going?"

  I try not to smirk, but I can’t help it. "Your penalty for not listening to me."

  When she looks at the door handle I worry she might be thinking something incredibly stupid. I grab her hand and pull it to my thigh, doing two things at once- getting her attention and hopefully calming her down. "A friend of mine is having a few friends over. I told him I would stop by, we won’t stay long," I made sure to keep my tone calm and soothing. I want her to feel comfortable with me, especially if my plans to have her later actually pan out.

  But, if she really doesn’t want to go I will take her home. I kept her hand in mine as she moves to face forward again. Again, the car fills with a silence, even though the music is playing in the background.

  When we arrive I open her door, amazed she stayed in the car long enough for me to walk around. I am not an expert in dating by any stretch of the imagination, but it makes her even more endearing.

  I hold out my hand to her. She takes it as I pull her up, and then she immediately shakes me off. No way is she getting away with that. I refuse to let her shy away from me, not after I saw exactly how she wanted me. I grab her hand this time and intertwine my fingers in hers. Leaning down to make sure she can hear me and feel my breath on her neck, "Give it an hour. After that just say the word and I will take you home." This seems to make her feel better because I feel her squeeze my hand twice.

  We walk hand in hand to the front door. She rings the doorbell and we wait. If I had come alone, I would have walked straight in, but with Cory, she apparently isn’t the type to do that.

  A guy with dirty blonde hair, tussled like he just woke up, answers the door. His dark brown eyes are a little beady, and he has a scar on the left side of his jaw that starts a few millimeters from his left eye. He gives me a dismissive glance, “Hey, come on in.”

  I pull Cory with me, but to my annoyance the guy does not step back. Instead, he is standing right in front of Cory with a look I can’t explain, but I don’t like it. Right then I knew, I could feel it, but I have no evidence why this guy is all wrong. There is just something about him that makes me feel he is going to irritate the hell out of me.

  Cory notices the guy staring, too, and pushes into me to walk past him. I hold her back and square my body to him. “Do your legs work?” He smiles but it’s fake and he knows I know. And now I want to break the man’s legs or kneecaps.

  “My bad. I didn’t even notice. I’ve been drinking since, like lunch time,” he slurs.

  I had no idea if Broken Legs’ slurring was real or not, but again there was something about him I didn’t trust, so I walk past him, making myself the wall between him and Cory. I pull her behind me, making sure never to let her out of my sight. There are more people here than I thought there would be. If Cory got away from me she could easily get lost in the sea of people. As a side thought, I wonder if she still has my coin.

  I pull her up so I could speak into her ear. It’s loud and I need to know, “Do you have the coin I gave you yesterday?”

  She nods and pulls it out of her dress’s pocket. I had no idea that dress had pockets. Nice.

  I grab the coin and say a few words in my mind, turning it into a necklace. I round my hands around her neck and see the little chain she was already wearing.

  “Take off the other necklace.” Then as an after thought, I say, “Please.”

  Cory looks confused and then shakes her head, “I never take it off.”

  I shouldn’t push it, but I am. “You can put it back on as soon as we leave.”

  She remains still.

  Whatever. I grab the necklace and yank it off and I ignore the gasp and guilt I feel. I can’t unclasp the chain I was holding, to be honest this is a lot harder than it looks. When I get the stupid necklace into place I say, “Don’t take this off.” Then, at her worrisome eyes, I add, “What?”

  “Uh, nothing.” She is looking around as if she is seeing the party for the first time. “I need to use the bathroom?”

  Um. Okay?

  “Look, I’m sorry about the necklace, I’ll fix it.” I hold out my hand with the yellow amber charm I replaced with the coin but she doesn’t look at me, or the charm. She looks lost.

  “Are you planning on taking off?” I am pretty sure I am seeing a flight response to something.

  “No,” But her eyes are telling me a different story.

  “Then what’s the matter?”

  I can see her trying to fight some sudden anxiety. I have no idea why she’s freaking out right now. Taking it upon myself to sooth her, yet again, I grab her hand and she discreetly tries to wiggle free, but that’s not happening. I grip her hand a little tighter, letting her know she is not going anywhere. I walk her to the bathroom, all the while slipping the amber stone into my pocket.

  I wait outside the bathroom for at least five minutes before I knocked making sure she didn’t sneak out the window. I begin doubting my resolve to actually go through with any of my plans tonight. She’s turning this date into a babysitting gig.

  When she finally opens the bathroom door I grab her wrist and walk towards the living room. Aaron calls out from the kitchen bar. He’s the same height as me, dark mocha skin, dark brown-black eyes, with a bright, wide smile. Tonight he’s wearing a red Chicago Bulls jersey. We grab hands, pull each other in for the bro hug, "Hey what's up?"

  "You made it! I’m shocked." Aaron steps back to look behind me and smiles, if you can believe it, even bigger now.

  "And who is this beautiful lady?" He holds out his hand. Cory takes it and in what I assume is her professional, friendly tone, answers, "Cory." She also found a way to get rid of my hand. She stuffs both her hands into her dress and looks around to play the shy routine again.

  Seeing her close down bothers me, but not in the way it would have just ten minutes ago. Something is different about her. Something is way off and I have no idea what it is.

  "Well Cory, how do you know my man here?"

  I watch Cory as her whole countenance morphs from shy to polite. She shifts from one foot to the other, "Who doesn't know Shane?" She shrugs.

  Aaron agrees with her and then begins to tell her how he and I know each other. Then, as if it were an afterthought, he offers her a drink.

  “Water is fine,” Again she smiles at Aaron politely.

  “Sure there are some bottles out back, let me take you there.” He tucks his hand around her elbow and tells me he will be right back. She's safe. I know Aaron, and he is a good guy. Probably a nicer guy to women than I am.

  I grab a beer from the refrigerator and wait a few more minutes before I walk outside to the fire pit. I scan the people, looking for Aaron and Cory. They were laughing by the blue ice bucket filled with water bottles and soda. I sit my ass down on the stone bench next to the fire pit and watch the flames dance, as I run tomorrow’s to-do list in my mind. Being around fire always calms me down.

  Five minutes later I see Cory with a girl, and then later I see a differ
ent woman walking with Cory and the first strange woman.

  Aaron dares to come sit by me without Cory and says, "Damn. That girl is smoking.”

  I nod.

  "So what's going on between you two?" He rubs his hands together and I can’t stand to look at his overly cheery face right now.

  I look at him and give him a half smile, “She’s a waiter at Amber Line. We’re just hanging out.”

  That’s when a few things hit me. Did I really bring Cory to my friend’s house? Was I really thinking about sleeping with a human? How did this get so out of whack, so fast? I have lusted after girls before but this is different. I am actually in public with a girl.

  I run my free hand through my messy-ass hair and desperately try to figure out how this happened. Nothing is going to happen between Cory and I, and I knew that to my core. So if I know that now, why the hell did I not know that earlier?

  There very well may be something wrong with me.

  Aaron laughs, bringing me out of my head, and then says, "Yeah I figured. Well I am glad you actually showed up to one of my parties. How many times have I invited you?"

  Too many. "You know I don't have many days off," I offer, ready to change the topic. I watch the flames in the pit ignoring the sick feeling in my stomach while I begin to dissect how I got to this point.

  "Oh I know. That's your main excuse." He bumps my arm to get my attention. "You still hitting the gym?" He asks, looking me over as if I have not gained ten pounds of muscle and dropped some body fast since he and I quite working out together. I know he could tell.

  I turn back to the fire refusing to rise to his jibe. "Yeah. I like to go in the mornings. Well my mornings anyways." I smirk knowing that my mornings were Cory's afternoons.

  I laugh lightly, but then I am jolted from my conversation with Aaron when I feel someone push my shoulders back. I sit up straight and Cory plops down in my lap. My arms freeze for a second as my brain tries to process what is happening. Slowly, I put my free arm around her, not sure what to make of this. Then she grabs my hand and holds it against her belly.