Casting Stones (Stones Duet #1) (34 page)

I pull her back onto my chest and again lather my hands with soap. My hands glide around her body, washing her gently. She squirms when my fingers reach the smooth skin between her legs. I nip at her neck and nibble on her ear as I pleasure her with my fingers. A guttural moan of ecstasy releases and fills the small space of the bathroom when her body writhes with an orgasm. Her right arm flies back and lands beside my face. I turn into it and kiss the small tattoo on the inside of her wrist.

“Tell me about your tattoo.” I bite her wrist gently as my tongue begins to lick slowly.

“I got it when I was sixteen.”

I trace the symbol on her slender wrist. “What does it mean?”

“Strength.” Her voice fills with determination and conviction.

My jaw clenches as I try to imagine what she’s seen or been through living with her mother. “And at sixteen years old you felt you needed strength?”

“I did.” She slides her hand and laces her fingers with mine. “I still do.”

“You’ve dealt with a lot. Probably more than most people your age. You don’t have to be strong for me. Let me take care of you.”

Slowly she turns to face me. “See…that’s the thing. I won’t let anyone take care of me. I’m strong enough to take care of myself.”

“What if I want to? You’re going to deny me that opportunity?” I offer a crooked grin, knowing that I’m implying something else entirely.

“Sure. You can take care of that.” She reaches down into the water and wraps her hand around my erection, stroking it gently until I’m hard as a rock. “As long as I get to take care of this.”

I cross my arms behind my head and relax in the tepid water. “Be my guest…”

Later that night as exhaustion creeps in, we finally collapse into bed, our bodies pressed against one another and our legs tangled up. I sleep soundly with the girl of my dreams beside me.

“HEY, DON’T FORGET
about Friday night.” I watch her scramble around the room, getting dressed for work. The early morning news announces a drastic change in the temperature for the upcoming week. The meteorologist is concerned about the weather models and will be keeping an eye on a storm tracking up the east coast, heading straight for Cape Cod.

“Friday night?” she asks while applying some colored cream to her face.

“It’s the game I told you about. I’d like you to be there.”

I catch her expression in the mirror and my eyes narrow. “Did you forget?”

“No,” she answers quickly. “I didn’t forget. It’s just that…”

“What?”

“Friday is always Girls’ Night… Just me and Jenna.”

“Well, bring her along.” I’m confused by her hesitation because it seems like an obvious choice. “I really would like you to be there.”

She smiles tightly in the mirror. “Okay, I’ll be there.”

“I can’t believe you’re going to ride your bike in this weather. It’s cold out!”

“I’ll be fine. I’m used to it. Besides, it doesn’t make any sense for you to drive me to the train because then I’ll have no way to get to class.”

“At least wear a helmet.” I kiss her forehead.

“I have a hat.” She pulls a knit beanie on and covers her hair.

“That’s not going to protect you.”

“You’re right, but that’s what I have you for.”

“I love you.” I walk her to the door as she rolls her bike through it. “Let me bring this down.” I snatch the bike out of her grasp and proceed to carry it down the flight of stairs.

“Shane! You’re in your underwear!”

“Babe, it’s five o’clock in the morning. Trust me no one in this building is awake.”

“Thank God for that,” she says as her eyes roam over my body before dropping to my black boxers. “Because
that
is all mine.”

She grips the handlebars and leans in to kiss me. “Thank you.”

She pedals away and I shake my disbelieving head at her tenacity. I know she thinks she’s right, but she’s not.

With my eyes cast down and my thoughts far away, I climb the stairs two at time as my erection grows with each step. The sound of a door closing startles me and I look up.My eyes travel up the length of long legs beneath a dark coat until I come face to face with disheveled dark hair and shocked eyes.

“Dana!” My surprise is quite clear. I’m not sure if it’s because my secretary is here or that I’m standing here in my underwear talking to her. “What are you doing here?”

“Shane,” she breathes as her eyes dart around my face and then land on my chest. “Hi. I could ask you the same thing.”

“I live here.” I enunciate each word slowly, pointing out the obvious. “That’s my place.” I nod my head to the door that’s still ajar.

“Do you always walk around the halls half naked?” she asks before grinning seductively.

I look down at the floor before meeting her gaze. “No, I was walking my girlfriend out. She has to be at work early.” Needing this awkward confrontation to be over already, I side step her and push my door open. “I’ll see you later.”

Just as I close the door, I hear her whisper, “Yes, Mr. Davis, you certainly will.”

I jump in the shower so I can get to work early. I have a feeling I might need to talk to Marty about this.

Remy

I PEDAL THROUGH
the quiet streets of Boston as people awaken in their beds and delivery trucks make their early morning runs. When I finally arrive at the diner, I have sore legs, but not a single excuse of how I’m going to get myself out of Friday night’s commitment.

“Hey Paco! Where’s the boss?”

The twenty-something-year-old dishwasher nods his head in the direction of the small closet Lenny likes to call his office.

“Morning! What’s going on?” I poke my head through the door and greet him. He’s looking over the week’s schedule and rummaging through a Roledex, looking for a phone number.

“That girl is going to be the death of me.” He slams the wheel of index cards back into the corner. “So irresponsible.”

“Jenna?”

“Of course!” He stands and squeezes his way through the narrow opening, bypassing me to enter the kitchen area.

I follow closely behind. “What’d she do now?”

“She called me this morning to tell me that she wouldn’t be in all week because she was on the way to Logan to catch a flight south. She said something about ‘seizing the moment’.”

My heart drops as my anger rises. “I’m sorry, Len. This is my fault.”

“How so?” he asks as he begins to crack two dozen eggs into a stainless steel bowl.

“She thinks she’s in love and really wanted to see this guy so…”

“Stupid girl.”

I have the sudden need to rush to her defense even though I’m mad as hell that she just up and left us high and dry for the week. “She’s not stupid. She’s in love. Love makes you do stupid things sometimes.”

Ignoring his mumbled rant, I walk through the double doors and pull my phone out of my apron. My fingers fly across the screen with a detailed, nasty message telling her exactly what I think about her plan and thanking her for her selfishness.

The morning rush is overwhelmingly busy; I don’t have a minute to talk to Shane when he comes in. Lenny and I work together and do our best to take care of the customers. As I count the money in the tip jar at the end of the shift, I appreciate the hefty tips left by the regulars who understand that we’re understaffed. I just might have enough to pay the extra rent so my mother doesn’t get evicted…just yet. I can only pray she hasn’t added to the ever-increasing debt.

By two o’clock, I’m seated in my chair next to Simon who seems unusually agitated today. I tip my head back and close my eyes, wondering if I could take a thirty second nap before David comes in to begin the lecture. We’re going to be reviewing symptoms of mental health illnesses, being trained on how to identify them.

My professor enters the room followed by the woman I met a few weeks ago. He introduces Dr. Chanel Taylor as our guest speaker and rattles off her very impressive qualifications and her extensive work in the field of PTSD in children. Most of our class was spent on cases of adolescents who suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder but is manifested in a variety of ways. Many of these cases hit too close to home for me. I could empathize with so many of these children who have been victims of their environment. Innocent bystanders, who were abused or abandoned, left to fend for themselves by people who claimed to love them. I wipe away the single tear that escapes.

“As you begin your internships, do not lose sight of what you learned today.” With grace, Dr. Taylor wanders the room, looking directly at each of us. “Do not forget how this made you feel.” She strolls over to where I sit, enthralled by every word she says.

“These children did not choose to have PTSD, but it is our job,” her eyes glance over each one of us, “it is our duty and responsibility, to help them live successfully with PTSD.”

Simon is up out of his seat, heading for the door without a single word as soon as the lecture ends. I call after him, but he doesn’t stop. I snap my eyes from the door to the front of the room to see if David is going to go after him again, but he’s deep in conversation, seemingly mesmerized, with his beautiful colleague.

I take my time packing my bag; I’m in no rush because Jenna isn’t around and Shane’s football practice will be extended since they’re reviewing films to gear up for the big game. I send him a quick text just to let him know I’m thinking of him and that I miss him.

David calls my name and asks me to come down to the front. Magda, the girl from India, rolls her eyes at me and mumbles something about kissing the professor’s ass.

“Hi.” I stop short of calling David by his first name; that’s not something I do in public. “Hello, Dr. Taylor.” I nod at her. “You wanted to see me?”

“Yes, two reasons actually.” David leans back against the desk and crosses his long legs at the ankle. “What did you think of today’s class?” He gives a sideways glance to his guest speaker.

“It was informative. It really makes you feel for these people. Too often people who suffer from PTSD are told to ‘get over it’; outsiders don’t understand it.”

“That’s interesting,” Dr. Taylor steps forward just as my phone buzzes with a text message.

I know David senses my annoyance at this chit-chat. I’m exhausted and really just want to run my errand so I can get home.

“Is everything okay? You seem tired.” He peers at me from behind his glasses.

“Work was busy. I’ll be all right after a good night’s rest.”

“You know you can’t continue to work there once your internship begins.”

My eyebrows shoot up and my face displays a look of skepticism as I chuckle cynically. “Unless school hours have changed in the past ten years, I’m pretty sure I can’t be in two places at the same time. Lenny already knows I’m leaving over Christmas break.”

“Good. I’m glad to hear that.”

“Is there anything else?”

Dr. Taylor answers for him. “Yes, we’d like to invite you to dinner.

My eyes bounce back and forth between the two professionals. “Uh…sure, I guess.”

David pushes himself away from the desk and stands upright. “I’d like you to get to know Chanel and she’d like to get to know you.” He places his hand at the small of her back.

Awkward does not begin to cover the situation I find myself in. “Sure. Cool. I’ll call you.” I sling my backpack over my shoulder and say a quick goodbye before responding to the several text messages on my phone.

After a brief response to Simon and Jenna, I press the first name saved under favorites. I need to hear Shane’s voice. I need to talk to him even if it’s only for a few minutes.

I unlock the bike lock and listen to the ringing on the other end of the line until I hear him pick up. A snapping sound startles me and I look up just in time to see a tree branch fall. Quickly I move out of its path, but a single branch manages to graze my neck, leaving a raised scrape. Could this day get any worse? I long to hear his voice. I need to say three little words and, if I’m being honest, I need to hear them back.

The voice that responds is not his; it’s a woman’s.

“Hello?” I ask before I look at the screen to confirm that I dialed the right number.