Give Me Something (10 page)

“
What are you doing?”

Startled, I drop the keys and turned to find Nick standing in front of me.  “God, you scared me!”  I slapped his bare chest.  It took me a moment to realize that he was wearing nothing but a towel.  Using one hand to keep it in place, he rubbed the spot where my hand had just landed.

“Damn! That hurt!”

“
I'm sorry,” I apologized, placing my hand over his.  It seemed like time stopped as I stood there admiring his ever-impressive physique.  I'd forgotten just how beautiful he was.  The definition of chest and abs were gloriously accented with his collection of tattoos.  I remembered each and every one of them – the scripted lyrics from his favorite songs splayed across his left ribcage, the headphones and cord that wrapped down his bicep, the two vinyl records that were situated right above his hip bones, and my moon.  My eyes wandered down his artwork.  I quickly looked back to his eyes when I realized I was starting to salivate.  It was no better there. He held my gaze, and I let myself fall into the chocolate embrace of his eyes.  The cheers from downstairs broke my trance.  Apparently points were just scored.

“
I'd love to stand here and let you ogle me all day,” he chuckled. “But, what are you doing in my room?”

“
Right,” I responded, a bit flustered, and removed my hand from his chest.  “I'm waiting for Tucker.  He's taking me back to his hometown for the weekend.”

Nick mouth twisted to the side, “Hmm.”  He quickly moved over to his dresser and pulled out a pair of boxers.  “That's a big deal.  I don't remember him ever taking any girls back to his house,” he said with unease.

“I thought it would be a good way for me to get in a little closer,” I added, trying to ease his mind.  “It's part of the job, Nick.”

“
Yeah, I know,” he nodded.  “Just don't have too much fun in Podunk, okay?”  I knew exactly what he was talking about.  He had to know that I would never let Tucker have that part of me.  How could I when it already belonged to Nick?

“
Don't worry.  I've got this,” I assured, thinking about the fact that I had just agreed to spend the weekend out in the middle of nowhere.  Not to mention I was going to be more or less alone with Tucker.  My body was already trying to convince my brain to give in to his country boy charm and ridiculous good looks. I looked at my watch.  Only two-thirty.  “He's not going to be here for half an hour,” I added, sitting down on the bed as he tried to pull his boxers on under his towel.  “It's just me and you,” I insinuated with a come-hither stare. “And it's nothing I haven't seen before.”  Maybe Nick could help take the edge off.

“
Tempting.” He bit his lip while he stood up then smiled as the towel hit the floor.  Much to my despair, he managed to get his boxers on without even the tiniest of sneak peeks.  “But if I know Tucker, he'll be early.”  He picked up a pair of jeans off his desk chair and pulled them on.  “Besides, I need to talk to you about work.  Belletti called.”  He quickly pulled on a white t-shirt and sat down next to me on the bed.  “He said I need to start paying him back.  ASAP.  Wants at least ten.”

Great. Now I have a deadline.
  “I'll see what I can do,” I said, leaning my head on Nick's shoulder.  “I miss you.”  I didn't want to talk about money or Belletti or Tucker.  I just wanted a minute with Nick.

“
I miss you too.” He placed his lips on my head.  “Just be good this weekend and we're one step closer to being done with this whole thing.”  We sat in silence.  I needed it.  Just being with Nick reminded me why I was doing what I was doing.  Sure, Tucker was hot, but he wasn't Nick.  I needed to get my head right and get down to brass tacks. 
What the hell does that mean anyway? 
Whatever brass tacks were, I was getting them.  This weekend.

$ $ $

“Not much further,” Tucker said as he veered toward the exit.  For the better part of an hour we'd been traveling down an interstate surrounded by cornfields and cows in a comfortable silence.  I caught up on some reading for school while Tucker drove.
I'd been so worried he was going to start asking questions that I was going to have to fabricate the answers to.  I had a playbook full of lies that would cover up the truth about who I really was, but the idea of lying to him was starting to eat away at me.  So I accepted the quiet and mentally prepared myself for whatever else the weekend had in store. When we took the exit to a two-lane highway, Tucker pointed off in the distance.

“
That's Harrington,” he beamed. 

The little town couldn't have stretched more than fifteen or twenty blocks.  The house lights twinkled, welcoming us, as we made our approach on what I could only call a picturesque, storybook town.  It was the kind of town that happy little families made happy little homes.  Completely different from the supervisionless metropolis that Nick and I had grown up in.   Before we reached the town, Tucker turned off the highway and veered down a nameless country road. 

“This is home.” He grinned as he pulled down a long gravel, tree lined lane.  The house that appeared in the darkness was not what I was expecting.  The beautiful brick home couldn't have been more than a few years old.  The modern facade was not like the other farm homes we'd passed on our way here.  I'd been anticipating free range farm animals, a front porch with rocking chairs, and, I don't know, maybe an outhouse.  This place didn't even have a barn.  Tucker opened the door of the attached garage with a remote and pulled the truck in.  As he shut off the engine, he turned to me and chuckled at my surprised look as I glanced around the perfectly kept space.  “Were you expecting something different?”

“
Maybe,” I confessed with a smile.

“
Not enough country charm for you?” he laughed.

“
No, it's beautiful.”

“
Come on, let me show you around.”

Exiting the truck, I straightened out the simple, white long-sleeved t-shirt I was wearing and smoothed the front of my jeans.  I noticed the little BMW that was parked in the other bay.  “Nice car,” I pointed out, running my fingers across the smooth black finish on the roof.  This was exactly the kind of car I would have conned my way behind the wheel of.

“It was my dad's,” he said with an uncomfortable look.

“
Oh.” I dropped my hand.  “Sorry.”  The feeling that accompanied my apology was some jacked up combination of fear, sadness, guilt, and any other emotion that made me feel like shit.  I'd discovered over the years that I was not good at processing these feelings.  I steered clear of funerals, weddings or any other tear-inducing scenario.  Too happy or too sad was not my scene.  It was better for me if I stuck to what I knew.  Like Nick and Brynn.  Nick was always going to be the only person who I really trusted, and Brynn's predictable shallowness and dramatic flair would always keep me entertained.  When you get too involved with people, you're forced to feel what they're feeling and right now, according to Tucker's face, I was feeling grief and I hated it.  Despite what Nick had said about me being heartless, it wasn't the case.  I think maybe I learned to shut my heart off from anything that made it hurt.  This was one of those things.

“
Don't be,” he said, shaking it off.  He grabbed my hand, pulled me up the two steps, and took me through the door from the garage to the house.  Once inside the small entry way, Tucker attended to the beeping alarm system control panel and flipped on the lights.

“
And here I always thought people in the country left their doors unlocked and welcomed visitors with sweat tea and smiles,” I joked.

“
Well, we have a few delinquents in this part of the woods who ruined the open door policy for everyone else,” Tucker laughed.  “Where exactly did you gain all of your knowledge about the country, Miss Garrison?”

“
The movies,” I smirked.

He shook his head as he ushered me down the short hallway that led into the rest of the house.  After he pointed out a small home office, and laundry room he stopped in his tracks.  “I bet you think we tip cows, too?” he asked flatly.

“You don't?” I sarcastically replied.

He let out the deep, raspy laugh that I'd grown quite fond of over the past few weeks.  “You've got a lot to learn, city girl.”

Tucker showed me through the kitchen, complete with its custom cabinets and high end appliances.  It was straight out of a magazine and, aside from its country location, I loved everything about it. 

“
I was saving this for last, but I can't wait.” He opened up a door that led outside.  He reached over and flipped a switch illuminating a back deck that stretched the length of the house.  To the right, the tiny town of Harrington was glowing with its small town luster, and to the left, there were harvested fields as far as the eye could see.  The moon looked clear and bright as it appeared to hover only feet above the ground, surrounded by a sky of sparkling stars.

“
This place is so peaceful,” I acknowledged.

“
Yeah,” he agreed with a content sigh.

“
The stars look beautiful out here,” I declared, taking in my surroundings.  There was nothing blocking the view – no buildings, no trees, just open sky.  It was breathtaking.

“
Not as beautiful as you,” Tucker commented, wrapping his arms around me, pulling me against his firm, warm chest.  Instinctively, my arms wrapped around his neck, and my fingers tangled in the hair above his neck.  I loved the way he looked today.  It was almost as if we'd coordinated for the road trip.  His low-slung jeans were well worn and the vintage looking gray t-shirt hugged each inch of his chest and arms perfectly accentuating every muscle that I wanted to run my fingers over.

“
Really?” I offered up with a sarcastic smile.  “That's the best you've got?”  Ever since the “latte” remark at the coffee shop, Tucker had made it his mission to use the lamest lines he could come up with on me.  It had become our own little game.

“
Hmm...” he paused with a pensive smile. “You're the only reason those stars came out tonight, girl.”

“
There we go.” I laughed tossing my head back. “Lay it on thick.”

Tucker smiled. “I could listen to you laugh all day.”  I whipped my head down and saw the sincere look in his eyes.  That line was definitely not meant to be cheesy. 
Game off.
  I pressed up onto my toes and kissed him.  I usually preferred to have him initiate our physical contact, but this time I wanted to kiss him.  It started innocently enough, until I parted my lips and let my tongue inch forward.  His arms tightened around me as he collided his tongue against mine.  The want to kiss him quickly turned to need.  The taste of him pushed everything from my mind.  Our lips vibrated against each others as a quiet deep moan came from Tucker's throat.  My toes barely touched the ground as he pulled me into him.  Our chests were so tight together that I could feel his racing heartbeat sync with mine.  Without hesitation, his arms moved to the backs of my thighs as he bent down and hoisted me up.  My legs circled around his waist as he carried me back into the house.  I didn't need to open my eyes to know where he was taking me. 
The bedroom
.  I didn't care.  I let myself get lost in the heat of our kiss.  Rationally, I wanted to believe that I was just doing my job.  I was reeling him in and gaining his affection, but as we fell on the king sized bed in the master bedroom I knew it was more than that.  I needed to stop this before I got myself in an even more precarious situation.

I pulled my lips from his and took in a ragged breath.  His lips moved down my jaw to my neck as he rocked against me.  Every inch of his body tantalized mine.  His chest nudged against my breasts, which were begging for his hands.  The unspoken request was heard, as his hand moved against
the sliver of skin that my shirt revealed when we lay down.  His excitement pressed firmly through his jeans into my center.  I wanted to let myself go and give in to him completely, but I fought the desire that was pooling within.   The access he wanted to my body was still hindered by my shirt.  He started to pull it off and I knew I had to stop him. I pulled his face to mine.

“
Not yet,” I whispered, half demanding, half pleading.

“
Okay,” he breathed and placed a kiss on the tip of my nose.  He rolled off of me and lay beside me.

“
Thank you.” I felt relieved that he was still respectful of my boundaries.  By this point in most normal college relationships, sex was the next step.  Actually, in most college relationships sex was the basis.

He took my hand in his as we lay looking up at the high, white vaulted ceilings of the room.  “You don't have to thank me, Lila.  I'm not going to pressure you into doing something that you're not ready to do.  But I have to ask.” He hesitated. “What exactly are we doing?”

“We're dating,” I said matter-of-factly.

“
I get that,” he laughed.  Neither of us looked at each other as our hands intertwined on top of the bed.  “I guess I mean, where do you see our
dating
going?”

This was the point in typical jobs were I would lay on the “I want to be with you for the rest of my life” spiel.  I didn't say that. All I could come up with was, “I don't know.”