Here With Me (Paloma's Edge) (7 page)

Chapter 11

Mariska

“
GUESS WHO’S IN THE neighborhood?” Bri’s welcoming voice greeted me over the phone the next morning.  

She was a sweet girl, who I’d met through Beth when she stayed at Paloma’s Edge this summer. Not only had Beth met Chase there, but she’d also gained a group of friends who I’d come to consider friends of mine as well. Bri was tall and waifish, like me. She had sandy brown hair, similar in texture to Beth’s. We’d texted each other and chatted on Facebook whenever we signed into chat at the same time. Despite seeing her almost a month ago for Beth’s birthday party, I looked forward to catching up with her alone.

“I’ll be right down.” I ended the call and left my phone on the bed as I ran downstairs to get to the door before my Mom did, but I was too late.

“Good afternoon, Mrs. Landry. Thank you for allowing me into your home,” Bri told her and, from Mom’s appraisal of Bri’s modest shirt, khaki pants, and tennis toes, she clearly approved of her.

Mom welcomed her inside and ran upstairs. I’d stayed over at Bri’s house when I visited Paloma’s Edge in July. She and her brother, Gavin, had been more than hospitable to us.

Mom’s focus fell to the wrapped up plate Bri held in her hands. “Bri, darling, you didn’t have to bring us anything.”

A nervous grin curved her mouth as her face flushed. She made mouth-watering desserts, while Gavin, her brother, cooked great comfort foods that were as savory as Jake’s. “I insisted, and then Mariska finally told me that you like flan with raw brown sugar on the bottom.”

Mom started to shake her head at me when Bri cautiously gave her the plate. “Mariska will get you anything you want,” she said over her shoulder as she strode into the kitchen.

***

“
HAVE YOU SENT YOUR decision yet to any of the colleges you applied to?” I asked Bri. We lay on opposite ends of my bed. Mom and Dad had the day off from work, but after they picked up Pete from school they were going on a date. If I drove two hours to and from Paloma’s Edge, Mom and Dad would have to stay home. I didn’t want them to pay Mrs. Muldoon if I could be here, and Bri had said that she wanted to drive here.

“I am going to go to Paloma Edge Community College. I can’t pass up full financial aid package they offered me. How’s the first semester going for you?”

I canted my head in her direction. “I thought I flunked one of my mid-terms until I checked all of my grades online. When I get back to my dorm, I wanna luxuriate in a bath, but then I remember that I share the same shower with a bunch of other girls who aren’t always considerate to the maintenance workers who clean up after their rolls of toilet paper and tampon wrappers. And when I am done cleaning up other’s girls stuff, ‘cause I know they’ll be more junk in the bathroom in the morning, I don’t wanna start the readings I didn’t get to when I was at the library or do more of my homework.”

A soft chuckle escaped her lips. “It’s a good thing that I plan on living off campus when I apply to UM two years from now. I’ll just clean up after myself.”

I rose from the bed and sat down, and felt a thrill zip down my back. “Why am I just hearing about the rest of your plans now?”

Bri’s face tensed before she replied, “I only got serious about school last year and this year, so I am being realistic about my chances of getting in. Even if I get straight A’s at Paloma Community College, when I apply to transfer my chances could be slim.”

“What’s your GPA?”

“2.7,” she said with a slight bob of her head. “If my grades turn out the way I expect them to this marking period, it might go up to the 3.0.”

“I believe you’ll make it, Bri. Admissions committees don’t just look at your GPA. They look at your personal statement and they wanna see how you’ve grown during your high school career.”

“Does the messy bathroom and showers bother you, because your Dad’s a maintenance worker?” she asked, changing the topic in a tentative voice.

“It does,” I admitted. “It’s unfortunate that I probably care too much, because I’ve heard what he’s cleaned up and I imagine it’s not too different from what the maintenance lady does at the residence hall. I don’t think Dad’s used to being home so much since his hours have been cut back.”

Bri nodded. “So, he’s mostly with Pete all day and night and your Mom takes whatever shift is available?”

“Yeah. She’s one of three translators there, but she’s the only one who is fluent in French and Spanish. She gets first dibs for shifts. She likes to make breakfast for Dad and Jake.”

“Gavin likes to start his day with me, too,” Bri said. “What time are you driving back on campus tomorrow?”

“Early in the morning to get ahead of the traffic.”

“Are you free this Monday evening by any chance?”

“I’ll be done at five. Why?”

“Millie wants us to go with her to get a piercing that she and Jared will appreciate.”

Hunter

MANUEL LOOKED AT THE
schedule on the computer when Vince came up to him after being summoned.

“You only got one or two appointments for a piercing?” Manuel asked him.

As I was sterilizing my ink pens from my last session with my door ajar, I heard Vince say, “…She said two friends of hers might be with her when I do it and that one of them might want a nipple piercing. I’ll see where she stands after I give her the run down.”

“Alright. I’ve leave that thirty minute slot open, but if she says yes and you think she needs more time to think it over, then reschedule her.”

Manny called Vince again shortly after their conversation when an average height bald female with a hot red and orange dragon tattoo on her head that went down the back of her neck said hello to Manny. I recalled that it was the design I’d included in my portfolio. It was similar to the one Manny made me do on the spot for a friend of his my first day on the job at eight in the morning. I’d heard that a girl had been the first one to request that particular design of mine, but then I was surprised she wanted it done on her head. It had to be painful. However, Vince did the textures, the lines, and shape so well on her skin that I knew others thought about whether or not they’d have the balls to undergo the pain and make such a bold statement. I liked keeping my own ink simple and well hidden. Manny and Vince didn’t get that just because I lived and breathed drawing sketches and tattooing, it didn’t mean that I wanted my whole body to be inked up. Even Chase hasn’t seen my ink and he’d asked me on numerous occasions to see them. I’d sketched various versions for the tattoos that appealed to me and then I’d thought about it for months before I’d got one. The last time I got some ink was three years ago, and I wasn’t in a rush to get another one.  

I walked up to her because I had to meet the person who’d wanted my design and who’d waited on me for weeks to tattoo her, but Vince ended up doing it.

“Hey, I’m Hunter, the one who designed your tattoo. It looks fantastic. Not that I am biased or anything.”

Her face broke out into smile. “I’m Millie.” She peered at me. “You look more like Chase with your hair so short. Why’d you cut it?”

Mariska held a jean jacket over her arm as she and Bri came through the doors. Mariska’s calm expression eased the guilt that has been churning inside of me. I wasn’t worthy of feeling good about myself after I talked to her like being a virgin was a malady, but she shouldn’t have let me be the first man to touch her. I shouldn’t have allowed myself to get so damn carried away. Beth and Chase would kill me.

This evening her usually pretty long brown curly hair was bone straight. She wore a strapless dress in what my mother would call seashell white. It showcased those mile long legs of hers. I’d felt how soft her legs were and learned how she’d used the toned muscles in her thighs to keep my head in place. I hadn’t thought she would’ve been so strong, not even when she was about to orgasm. A reluctant smile tugged at my lips like a damn loon, before I cut my gaze back to Millie.

“Someone I knew liked me to have it short,” I answered, remembering how Nana would push my hair from my face when I was a kid. She’d told me that a fine man ought to show his face to the world.

“That someone,” she put emphasis on the word someone, “has got the right idea.”

“It’s great to finally meet you. I’m going to include some of my new designs in the coming week if you decide that you want another one.”

Millie winked at me. “I went all out,” she lowered her head and light shone on the first swirl of her dragon tat, “for my first tat. You think I am going to stop here? Nope. And my boyfriend Jared loves it. I want more tats, but I have to save up for it. I would’ve met you at Beth’s birthday party, but I couldn’t change my plans last minute.”

“I thought we’d cross paths eventually,” I said and Bri gave me a brisk nod. I waved at her and took a step back from Millie. While Mariska and Bri didn’t look uncomfortable, I could tell that they hadn’t been at a tattoo shop before.

Mariska didn’t even shoot a glance in my direction and I was an asshole for admitting that I’d expected her to gape at me out of pent up anger. She looked like a wounded animal when I’d left her with her parents and Scott. Had they gone on a second date? I drank in her penetrating dark eyes when Vince came out to welcome them into his room. He gave Mariska a warm handshake and his gaze momentarily fell to the shape of her pretty little breasts. I wanted to remind him that he was married but I held back. Mariska ducked her head. Vince’s focus returned to her face. Millie and the other girl giggled, but Mariska’s expression became serious, but it wasn’t grim.

As they followed Vince to his room, I wondered if Mariska or Bri was thinking about getting their nipples pierced. I didn’t want Vince to give her a piercing. I didn’t want him to see her tits. Did she want a barbell or a bead ring? What shape would she like a barbell ring or bead ring to be? Would she be kinky enough to get a different ring on each of her nipples?

Vince came out with Millie, Mariska, and their friend less than an hour later and went up front to pay Manny. When I saw Mariska give Manny some cash, I felt like opening the jean jacket she had on now and checking to see if any nipple jewelry pressed against the top of her dress. She had this giddy look on her face and it was driving me crazy. She was going out of her way to ignore me.

“Thanks Vince,” Millie called out as they were halfway through the door.

“Thanks, Vince,” Mariska said, the side of her face quirked up. “I hardly felt a thing. I think it’ll spice up my life a little more.”

“Anytime, ladies. Be safe,” Vince said and Manny echoed his words. I felt like wiping that smile off of his face.

I found myself walking through the doors. The three of them were walking toward their cars already.

“Mariska.”

Bri and Millie glanced at Mariska when she pivoted around and stood still.

“What’s up Hunter?” she addressed me in a friendly tone that didn’t match up with her inscrutable expression.

I gestured for her to walk toward me, since I didn’t want her friends to listen to what I had to say.

“I am not walking back. I’ve been on my feet all day and I wanna get back on campus to check on my piercings,” she said, but I understood the hidden “go fuck yourself” in her words.

“Hunter,” Vince said, holding the door open. “A potential client called in for a consultation and she’ll be here soon. I’m about to bounce.”

Mariska’s eyes appraised me for a second, and then she said something to her friends as they went into their cars. I didn’t know if it was about me or not. Bri and Millie didn’t look at me again. I went inside to prepare for my walk-in.

Chapter 12

Mariska

“WHY’D YOU BRUSH HUNTER off?” Bri asked me as she sprawled out on my futon. Millie couldn’t wait to get to Jared and put her new piercing to use. We’d said our goodbyes and said that we’d meet up again. I’d said that I’d drag Beth from Chase, work, or her study group for one night if that’s what it took for her to hang out with us.

“Whatever he had to say can wait.” I unzipped the duffel bag that I hadn’t unpacked since I returned yesterday morning. Beth, Jake, and I had spent the day together and most of the evening, until Beth left to spend the night at Chase’s. We’d listened to songs from Tainted Virtue on the radio and then we’d fallen asleep.

“It sounded pretty important from the way he was staring at you.” Bri’s emerald eyes flared with awareness. “Mariska, did you hook up with him?” she asked on a gasp and straightened her shoulders as she sat up.

I didn’t want to deny it or be evasive. I knew that Bri wouldn’t tell Beth or Jake about Hunter and I, even though she probably thought I should, because they were more than best friends to me; they really were my family. I didn’t know what I would do without them. I would probably never obey my parents without really thinking about it, like I had for most of my life.

“I’ll put it this way; we messed around.” I felt like a major weight had been lifted off of my shoulders. When I’d caught sight of Hunter from the corner of my eye in Lasting Impressions, I’d felt like someone had stolen the breath from my lungs. I’d thought that he would’ve left work already or would’ve been with a client. But he was there in his vintage older and wiser shirt with his light wash jeans that hung off of his slim waist. And all of them had talked about Hunter the entire time we were in there.

“Is that why he didn’t wanna sit next to you at—”

“No. It happened more recently than that.”

“Does Beth know? I thought you couldn’t stand Hunter being Beth’s friend. I remember you calling him a loser,” Bri reminded me and I bit down on my lip.

I’d blurted it out, because I’d been wary of him, resentful that he could earn her friendship so fast, when it took years for Beth to confide in me. Now I was even more wary of him, but I didn’t think he was a loser. He’d been using me so he could suppress the uncertainty he had that he’d be sober forever. I think he had to really take it one day at a time and stop ruminating on what could happen and remember what he’s been doing right. But Hunter and I wouldn’t have that conversation, because I was a worthless, bitchy virgin in his eyes.

Bri hauled herself up and brought me down on my bed. She slid her arm around me and I swallowed the lump in my throat, but it didn’t make admitting my guilelessness any easier. “Beth doesn’t know this, but I saw Hunter at the car dealership first. I never liked guys with long hair, or hair silkier than me.” I paused and Bri and I tittered a laugh. “But then he turned around and I thought wow…he looks like Chase, but ten times sexier. I tried to get the thought out of my head, but never really did...
 And when he’d walked me out of the library a few days ago, he seemed to have a lot on his mind. I hadn’t seen him look like someone had knocked him off his feet before. Then we kissed and I was like a wanton, Bri. I didn’t think I had to hide what I wanted from him, but I guessed wrong. He found out that I am a virgin and he’d discarded everything that we shared.”

“He couldn’t stop looking at you. It may have meant more to him than he recognized. If the animosity blows up, Beth and Jake are going to know that something went down.” She shook her head. “No pun intended.” Her hand fell to her thighs. “And if he’s still a prick, promise me you’ll give him a piece of your mind.”

My chest somehow felt lighter as the guilt multiplied in my heart. It was a relief that she hadn’t made fun of me or given necessary praise for not having intercourse yet. I’d thought about losing it since my hormones had gone into over drive, but I’d known it was just a natural urge. The only thing with Hunter was that it hadn’t just been an itch that I needed to be scratched. I’d found him vulnerable. “I will. I had the last say tonight, but I have a lot more to tell him.” Clearing me throat, I flicked my gaze at her and changed the topic. “You know, I’ve barely seen Pierce this semester. Beth told me that he’s been working around the clock on with the construction of the new hotel. Did you see him in Paloma’s Edge during the Fall Break?”

The skin around Bri’s eyes crinkled. “I did. For about a minute and then he was running off to do something.” She stood up and stretched. “Uhhh. I hate that I have to leave so early because I have classes tomorrow.”

I wanted her to stay longer, too, but she did have to go to school tomorrow. When Pete came back from Mrs. Muldoon’s, I’d lost count about how many times he’d stopped by my room to see Bri. Since infancy, he’d had a major crush on Beth, which began to fade this summer. He began liking girls his own age. But, I think seeing Bri made him forget about any classmate he may have thought was cute. I’d bribed him with reading him as many stories as he wanted so that Bri and I would have more girl time, but he hadn’t fallen for it. She’d played legos with him, as if she’d been his play date and not my guest. I’d thought she would’ve become irritated with Pete but she didn’t show it if she had been. It meant a lot to me that she made Pete feel good and praised how well he spoke. Apparently, I hadn’t had to tell her about his speech impediment for her to know that it took endless work from everyone in his life to help him to get to the point where he could babble on coherently. He was a trooper.

I hoisted myself up, so I escort Bri to the front of the house. I put my hair into a ponytail and I looked at my new ear piercings through the mirror. Vince had done a great job piercing my sensitive skin. The redness wasn’t present anymore and there was no swelling. I didn’t want to wear clip-ons anymore.

“I didn’t think I’d chicken out. Maybe I’ll get my ears pierced next time we go. It looked painless when Vince did all of the piercings.”

“It did. Millie didn’t wriggle one bit,” I said.

***

AFTER I CAME OUT
of the dining hall on Tuesday, Scott signaled me from all the way down the long hall. If someone hadn’t told me that they thought he was trying get my attention, I wouldn’t have seen him. He’d called me last night but I’d wanted to unpack, re-organize my binders, and read the first chapter of another romance novel in my collection.

“Did your mid-term grades turn out the way you wanted?” he asked we walked together to our Biology class.

“Yeah, but I could’ve done better if I’d taken a few more hours off of work. My GPA didn’t take a major dive. And my parents didn’t give me grief about it. They just said what they always say: if I’d stayed at home, I wouldn’t have to work as much, or at all.” I grinned at him. “How did you do on your mid-terms?”

“I passed all of them,” he replied. “And it’s a good thing you came here, instead of staying home.”

“Why’s that?”

“I wouldn’t get to see the chance to take you out Thursday night before we leave to our away game this weekend.”