Crushing on the Bully (6 page)

“Thanks, Bookworm,” he said yawning.

“You can’t sleep right now, though,” Clarissa told him again.

“I know,” Skull said, “So what do you wanna do.”

“Knit?” she teased.

“You knit?” he asked.

“Not really. Well, sometimes, but I don’t like it much,” Clarissa laughed.

“This is when a television would be useful,” Skull grinned.

“Nah, that would put me to sleep,” she smiled, “So, umm... I don’t know what to say, because I said I wouldn’t ask any more questions and that’s the only way to start a conversation.”

“That’s okay,” he said.

Skull fell asleep, but Clarissa woke him every few minutes to make sure he was okay. When she was finally too exhausted to keep watch anymore, she dug into his pants pocket and retrieved his keys.

“Bookworm?” he asked.

“Yea,” Clarissa blushed, at being caught with her hand in his front pocket.

“Whatcha doing?” he asked.

“Taking your keys so you don’t try to drive right now,” Clarissa yawned and stood up.

She had planned on sleeping in her own bed tonight with the door closed before Skull gently took her hand.

“Stay out here with me?” he asked.

Clarissa nodded and settled onto the sofa next to him. She was tired, but she would stay up long enough for Skull to fall back to sleep before retiring to her own bed. The last thing she remembered before her heavy lids drifted shut was tossing Skull’s keys under the sofa.

When she woke up later she wasn’t sure how much time had passed, because it was still dark outside, but then again it was dark inside too. She gently felt for Skull, but the other end of the sofa was empty. Rolling over to her stomach, she slid her hand under the sofa and sighed in relief when her fingers came into contact with the cool metal of the keys.

“Skull?” she called out into the dark room, but received no answer.

Slowly she sat up and turned on the lamp. Clarissa blinked as her still exhausted eyes tried to adjust to the bright light.

“Skull?” she called out again.

Somewhere in the distance her ears picked up the sound of the shower running. Was he taking a shower? That would be weird. Who just takes a shower at someone’s house without asking? Clarissa stood up and walked down the hall to the bathroom and placed her ear against the door to double check that he was in there. Clarissa’s weight pushed the door open causing her to squeak and turn away blushing.

She had indeed heard the shower, but now the water was off and she had gotten a good long look at Skull’s body as he was drying off. Clarissa went into her bedroom, but she couldn’t get the image out of her head. His shoulder was bruised, but it did little to mar his sexiness. Her eyes had lingered on his muscular chest and stomach before dropping down to see the thick manhood that hung limp between his legs.

“Clarissa?” Skull called out.

“Sorry!” she said through the door.

“I should have locked the door or something,” Skull said, but Clarissa could tell that he was trying not to laugh, “I’m done now. I just thought a shower would help with my headache.”

“It’s okay,” she called back through the door, “I think I’m just going to get some more sleep, ‘kay?”

“Where’s my keys?” he asked.

“You’re leaving?” Clarissa asked and sat up in bed.

“Yeah, I have to be at class in a few hours and I still have to type a paper,” Skull said.

“Wanna use my laptop?” Clarissa asked.

“No, I’m okay now, I’ll see you later, all right?” he called out.

“Goodnight,” Clarissa frowned into her pillow, “Your keys are under the sofa,”

“Night, Bookworm,” he said and paused, “Thank you.”

“Not a problem,” Clarissa answered, although she wasn’t sure if she were telling the truth or not.

Clarissa wasn’t sure how she felt. She was too tired to think about it, but her mind wouldn’t shut up. She had witnessed Skull beating the crap out of some guy in the alley way and tonight he had admitted to being in a fight again, but yet she still wanted him around. She had wanted to ask him to stay longer, to crawl into bed with her just so she could feel his strong arms around her and listen to his heartbeat as they drifted off to sleep. Once she heard Skull’s bike pull out of the parking lot Clarissa went to lock the door before returning to her bed alone.

Chapter Six

Clarissa locked the door to the coffee shop and pushed nine on her speed dial. It rang twice before her phone dropped the call.

“Damn it!” she swore.

Clarissa wasn’t sure if it was the funky weather or if her phone was dying. She silently prayed it wasn’t her phone, because if it kicked the bucket she couldn’t afford a new one. After making a mental note to herself to stop by her provider’s store, she tried again.

“Good Evening, where to?” the dispatcher answered.

“Yes, I need to go to...” Clarissa began, but her the words became caught in the back of her throat when she heard a motorcycle in the distance. She wasn’t an expert on the sounds individual motorcycles made, but Clarissa instinctively knew it was Skull. She ended the call and reached for the shop key, because the night before she had made up her mind that she was done with Skull. She had to be. He was going to drag her into his world and everything she was dreaming of would dissolve.

The bike pulled up to the curb and stopped. Clarissa swallowed hard and took a deep breath.

“At least he’s wearing his helmet,”
she thought to herself.

“Hey, Bookworm,” Skull grinned, “Wanna a ride home?”

“No thanks, I’m fine,” Clarissa said, taking a step back.

Skull arched a brow and cut the engine, “Everything okay?”

“Yea, everything’s fine,” Clarissa lied, “Just waiting on my taxi. I already called them and all.”

“Well, call them back and say you changed your mind,” Skull chuckled.

“That would be rude,” Clarissa said, looking down at her feet.

“They’re probably used to it,” Skull said.

“Just because the rest of the world is rude doesn’t mean I have to be as well,” Clarissa said and crossed her arms.

“You know being nice defeats the purpose if it only makes you miserable,” Skull laughed.

“So you’re saying I’m too nice?” she asked.

“Yea,” Skull nodded.

“That makes me feel so much better,” Clarissa said, “If I’m being too nice then it wouldn’t be wrong to tell you to go screw yourself! That I don’t want to see you again! You can’t just show up at my house in the middle of the night after getting into a fight. I don’t know what you’re into and I don’t want to. I’ve seen enough, Skull, and whenever I try to find out what the hell’s going on you won’t talk about it!”

“Calm down, Bookworm,” Skull chuckled.

“Don’t tell me to calm down, Skull! That’s another thing—I’m so tired of your silly little nickname! You know real adults don’t have them. They have jobs, careers, families and stuff like that! They don’t go around introducing themselves as Skull! It’s not even creative! It’s stupid and plain! If you were going to go and dub yourself something Goth or biker or what-the-hell-ever you should have put more thought into it,” Clarissa said and stomped her foot.

“You’ve thought about that a little too much,” Skull laughed.

“I have not!” Clarissa spat, “It’s just common sense.”

She felt her cheeks go pink, because Skull was right. She had thought about him too much.

“And as for real life, you don’t know anything of the world, Bookworm, you live in your little cushioned world and think that everyone outside of it is doing something illegal,” Skull laughed.

“I do not,” Clarissa said, “I just happen to know you do illegal stuff. I saw you beat the holy crap out of that guy, Skull!”

“And did you ever take just a freakin’ second to wonder why?” Skull said, his voice rising slightly and his eyes narrowing.

Clarissa took a step back from him and held tightly to the shop key.

“It doesn’t matter why, Skull! You still hurt someone!” she said, hot angry tears fell from her eyes even as she tried to blink them away.

“And you think he hasn’t? You think...” Skull stopped short and paused for a second, “I’m not discussing this here and now.”

“Then when?” Clarissa asked then said, “I don’t want to know. I just don’t want to, okay? I don’t want to know all about your illegal activities. I’m going home.”

Clarissa turned on her heels and headed in the direction of South Avenue. She wasn’t going to get involved any more than she already had. Her feet stomped against the pavement with every quick stride she made.

“Clarissa!” Skull called after her.

She stopped in her tracks and took a deep breath. That was the first time he had actually used her name.

“What?” she shouted back at him without turning to look.

“Don’t do this,” he called.

Clarissa could hear his footfalls against the sidewalk and she wasn’t sure what to do. She liked him, but was that going to be enough? She wanted to get to know him better. Hell, she wanted to help him if she could, but she had been told by her mother and other female relatives a woman should never date a man she thinks she can change. People don’t change for other people. They might lie so that you think they’ve changed, but they don’t really change. People only change for themselves and Skull didn’t seem like the sort of guy that wanted to change.

“Don’t do what, Skull?” Clarissa asked, “Walk home?”

“You know what I mean,” he sighed.

“No, I don’t,” she said and crossed her arms.

“Fine, I’ll tell you what I can,” he sighed and stepped in front of her, “but not here.”

Now that they were standing under the streetlight Clarissa could see that his injuries looked much better than they had the night before.

“Fine, whatever,” she said trying not to dissolve into tears again.

“Do you want to come back to my place?” he asked.

Clarissa shook her head.

“Fine, we can talk at your place then,” Skull said and took both of her hands in his, entwining their fingers.

“Fine,” Clarissa said and looked up into his deep brown eyes before rising to her tiptoes and brushing her lips against his. She wasn’t sure why she kissed him, but once their lips met her questions were answered.

Skull’s tongue passed through her lips and danced into her mouth. Her tongue moved against his and her worries faded away. Skull offered a freedom she hadn’t even begun to ponder before meeting him. She wanted to wrap her arms around his neck and deepen the kiss, but at the same time she didn’t want to let go of his hands. There was something sweet and intimate about holding his hands while they kissed and Clarissa didn’t want to lose that.

“Let’s get going,” Skull said when the kiss finally broke.

“Okay,” Clarissa grinned at him and wiped her eyes to rid herself of the last tears that still clung to her long lashes.

“Where’s your helmet?” he asked her.

“At home,” Clarissa frowned.

“At least it’s a short ride,” Skull said and helped her onto the bike.

Clarissa held tight to Skull and listened to the roar of the engine beneath their bodies. The little voice in the back of her head told her to
‘stop this nonsense, right now!’
, but her heart wasn’t in the mood to listen. Clarissa was so lost in the feeling of her body pressed against Skulls back that she didn’t realize they were at her apartment until Skull killed the engine. She opened her eyes and blinked up at the full moon. She grinned to herself, because the moon had been full on the day they met, too.

Clarissa slid off the bike and watched as Skull pulled his helmet off and hung it on one of the handlebars. He turned to face her and Clarissa pressed her lips against his for a moment before leading him to the elevator. It was late at night and the elevator zoomed down to the ground floor almost immediately. Clarissa pulled Skull inside of the elevator and pressed the button that would take them to the fourth floor.

She grinned at Skull and giggled. Clarissa didn’t know why she was laughing, but it felt good not to be able to stop smiling. Skull wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her again. Their tongues danced together as the elevator rose. The kiss ended suddenly when the high pitched ding of the doors opening startled them both. Laughing they left the elevator hand-in-hand.

Clarissa slid the key into the lock and turned it, but the door didn’t open. She pulled the key out of the knob and looked at it before breaking into a fit of laughter.

“Is it broke or something?” Skull asked.

“No,” Clarissa shook her head, “This is the key to the coffee shop.”

“Do you have your key?” Skull asked, arching a brow.

“Yeah, just give me a minute,” she laughed, “here hold my purse open for me so I can look for it.”

“You mean this key?” Skull asked lifting the red plastic key chain that hung from the side of her purse.

“Yep,” Clarissa laughed.

“Well, unlock the door then,” he grinned.

“I’m trying to,” Clarissa giggled.

Clarissa felt her face redden, but she wasn’t sure why. It was just as unexplainable as her fits of laughter.

“Maybe because I’m standing on a big, ‘maybe’, which has a bunch of possibilities,”
she thought to herself.

“Shoes off,” she said, “I already have to steam clean the carpets.”

“Okay,” Skull said and kicked off his boots.

Clarissa locked the door behind them and grinned up at him. Skull pulled her back into his arms and kissed her again. Clarissa’s body felt raw to the touch and Skull’s hands lingering on the small of her back made her moan. Skull nibbled her lip and looked down into her eyes.

The world seemed surreal as she wrapped her arms around his neck and lifted her hips, pressing them into his. She felt his manhood stir and her cheeks reddened. She could totally do this. She could just allow logic to fall aside and her body to fall into his. Clarissa rubbed her thighs together and deepened the kiss. Their attraction was mutual. So what was stopping them? Was there a reason not to?

Skull pulled off his coat without breaking the kiss. Clarissa’s hands traveled down his shoulders and onto his arms. He winced and moved his left arm away when her fingers happened upon skin that felt warmer than the rest of him. Clarissa broke the kiss to look at his arm. An angry cry escaped her lips as she pushed him away. There surrounded by stinging red flesh was Skull’s new tattoo: A star with a bold X through it. She had seen the same tattoos on all the men at the AlleyCat Pub.

“You didn’t?” she said and stepped back from him.

“Didn’t what?” Skull asked, looking confused.

“You joined their gang?” Clarissa said, but her voice was barely above a whisper.

“It’s not what you think,” Skull said quickly.

“Is that your answer to everything?” Clarissa shouted, suddenly finding her voice, “That’s what you’ve said about everything, Skull, and I’m sick and tired of hearing it! I know what it means for a whole group of people to have the same tattoo! I’m not as naive as you seem to believe I am!”

“Clarissa, it’s not a gang!” Skull shouted back at her.

“Then what the hell is it, Skull? Because I like you way too much and I refuse to get in any deeper if that’s the life you want! So if it is just get the hell out and don’t come back!” Clarissa yelled.