Painted Lines (23 page)

Chapter
38

Thayne
dropped me off at my bike and went to pick Nikki up from Cam’s.  I headed to
his place, once I got there, I decided to call Saul to check in with him like I
had promised.

“Girl,”
he answered, “how are you?”

“Good,”
I said smiling.

“You
sound happy.”

“I
am happy,” I said still smiling.

“I
just wanted to make sure you’re okay,” he said gruffly.

“I’m
fine, about to cook dinner.”

“You’re
staying with Thayne?”

“No,
just hanging out for a while, I have a motel room.”

“Okay,
we’ll need to talk soon.  I’m leaving on Saturday, so sometime before then.”

“How
about tomorrow, after we’re done, you can come up to the shop and we can go get
dinner.”

“Sounds
good, Girl, see you tomorrow,” then he hung up.

I
shook my head at the phone. Saul wasn’t big on talking on the phone, showing
emotion, or well, any of that, but he loved me.  I knew that, I’ve always known
that.

A
few minutes later, Thayne pulled up with a bouncing Nikki, I didn’t know how he
did it.  She was energetic.

“You’re
cooking?” she squealed jumping out of the car.

I
nodded, holding my hands up to keep her from hugging me.  “I don’t like to be touched,”
I whispered.

She
nodded, “Got it.”

Then
spun around and bounced back to help Thayne with the bags, I followed at a
slower pace.

“So
how’s Saul?” he asked.

“How
did you know I called Saul?”

“I
was there, he smiled, called you Girl, wasn’t hard to figure out.”

I
nodded grabbing some bags and went up the stairs following a still bouncing
Nikki.

Once
we were inside, I went to pulling out what I needed for dinner, “Nikki want to
help?”

“I’d
love to,” she squealed.  “Mom was teaching me to cook when she got sick, but we
had to stop.”

“I’m
sorry, Nikki.”

She
looked up at me and smiled, “It’s okay.”  She shrugged, “She was in pain, it
was a relief for her.”

I
nodded not sure what else to say to that.

“So
what are we making?”

“I
was thinking something simple, grilled veggie pizza.”

“That’s
simple?” Thayne asked in awe.

I
nodded, “Yeah, not making my own pizza dough or anything like that this time.”

He
stared at me for a moment then shook his head, “Sure you won’t move in?”

“Nope,
but thanks for the offer,” I told him then leaned up kissing him.  “Now go do
something.”

“Yes
ma’am,” he murmured kissing me once again, slapped my ass, and ran.

I
stood there staring at where he had just left, the fucker slapped my ass, and
he was so paying for that later.

Nikki
giggled and I looked over at her, “He just slapped my ass”

She
nodded and giggled again, “Yep and your face was priceless.”

I
shook my head then started pulling the veggies out of the bags and washing
them.  Once we were done with that, I handed her a knife and showed her how I
wanted them sliced.  When she had that started, I focused on the sauce.

Nikki
was fun to cook with, she kept up a one-sided conversation.  I only had to give
occasional sounds that I was listening and agreed or disagreed at the right
places.  After she had everything sliced, I showed her how to grill the
vegetables then when everything was ready we went to assembling our pizzas.

“That
was fun,” she squealed, “and easy.”

“Yeah,
that was fun,” I said a little surprised at how much fun it had turned out to
be.

“We’ll
you teach me more after we move?”

“Yeah,
I can do that,” I told her.  “Are you okay with moving to San Diego?”

“Well,
it’s going to suck leaving my friends, but yeah, I am okay with it.”

“Okay,
dinner will be ready in about twenty minutes.”

“Okay,
I am going to go call my friends,” she said once again bouncing out of a room.

I
went into the living room and found Thayne lying on the couch watching TV.  I
walked over and laid down beside him.  He tossed a leg and an arm around me
pulling me close.  I laid my head down on his arm and watched the news with
him.

He
leaned down and gently kissed my neck.  “Thank you,” he whispered.

“What
for?”

“For
doing that.”

“It
was fun.  I’ve never really had much female interaction in my life.”

“Hmm,”
he murmured running his lips up my neck then back down.  “She is very feminine,
you will get your practice now.”

I
moaned when he gently bit the place where my neck met my shoulder.  “Like
that?” he whispered.

“Mm
hmm.”

His
hand drifted softly back and forth across my stomach, I snuggled further into
him.

“Gah,”
a voice shrieked, “take it to your room.”

Thayne
groaned and I giggled looking up at Nikki, “I’d say I’m sorry, but I’m not.”

She
sighed dramatically then turned around and headed back to her room, I started
laughing at her dramatics.

“You’re
going to boarding school,” he shouted after her, peals of laughter floated out
of her room, causing me to laugh harder.

“Oh
you think it’s funny being cock blocked by my sister?”

“Yes,”
I said between giggles.

“You
suck,” he groaned and reached around and started tickling me.  I shrieked
jumping up off the couch and running towards the kitchen.

“Cheater,”
he shouted after me, and I checked the pizzas laughing.

Dinner
was interesting, the two of them bickered throughout the meal, and I laughed at
their antics.  It was kind of telling when I couldn’t remember a time I had
laughed like this.  It was refreshing, they weren’t constantly asking how I
was, watching me cautiously, they just were being normal. After dinner Nikki
and I elected Thayne for kitchen duty and headed to her room. I smiled when I
looked around, unlike the rest of the apartment, this room was not sparse.  It
was covered in posters, and lots of pink.  I shook my head at all the pink.

“Hmm
I think your favorite color is pink,” I commented.

She
nodded, “Yeah, though it will probably change again, what’s yours?”

“Grey
like a storm rolling in grey.” I replied immediately then stopped to think
about what I had said, if I was asked a week ago I would have said black or
purple.  Huh, I filed that away to dissect later.

I
saw a copy of
Catcher in the Rye
sitting on her bed beside a copy of
To
Kill a Mockingbird
I smiled and picked the latter up, “Good book.”

She
sighed loudly, “It’s so boring,” she whined.

I
breathed out a laugh, “I was named after her.”

“Huh?”

“Harper
Lee, I was named after her.”

“I
thought your name was, oh,” she said as realization lit her eyes.

“Mmm,
my mom loved to read and named both me and my brother after authors she’s loved.”

“Who
was your brother named after?”

“C.S.
Lewis, but his nickname was Prince Caspian after a character in
Narnia.”

She
nodded, “I’ve seen the movie.”

I
rolled my eyes.  “Mmm the books are better.”

“So
the C in his name isn’t for Caspian?”

“Nope.”

She
looked at me confused, “Then what is it for?”

I
snickered, “Clive.”

She
laughed, “And the S?”

“Staples.”

She
looked at me for a moment and broke into pealing laughter, “That’s like the
worst name ever,” she gasped out.

“Yeah,
that’s why he prefers Cas.”

“I
am so calling him that tomorrow.”

“Hope
you run fast,” I murmured.

Just
then, her phone started playing some song I didn’t know and she jumped up
answering it.  I took that as my queue to go and headed back into the living
room.  I curled up in the corner of the couch and watched some TV while Thayne
banged around in the kitchen.  I was dozing in and out when Thayne sat down
beside me and handed me a cup of coffee.

“Thanks,”
I whispered taking the coffee from him.

He
smiled over at me then put his arm on the back of the couch and started playing
with my hair. 

“Thayne,”
Nikki screeched running out of her room into the living room.  “I have to go
Kristy needs my help, hair emergency.  Can I go over and just stay the night?”

He
kept playing with my hair and looked over at her, “Fine, just be back in time
to go.”

“Thanks,”
she squealed jumping up and down turned and ran back into her room only to race
back out a moment later.  She stopped, kissing him on the cheek, and with a bye
shouted over her shoulder, she was gone.

“She’s
like the energizer bunny on crack,” I muttered watching the door slam behind
her.

He
huffed out a breath.  “She’s energetic, but a good girl.”

I
nodded, “Yeah, you’re doing a good job with her,” I told him looking over at
him.

He
smiled softly.  “Nah, my mom did.”

“You
two were lucky.”

“Yeah
we were.  She was amazing.”

“My
mom and Matt were having an affair, I was a mistake.”

“Ah
Bella, I doubt either of them would say you were a mistake, unplanned yeah, a
surprise absolutely, but not a mistake.”

I
shrugged, “It’s still unreal you know? That something I thought was absolute,
was a lie, it’s just hard to fully grasp.”

“Yeah,
I can understand that.”

I
leaned over into him and put my head on his chest, enjoying the sound of his
steady heartbeat, “I like this.”

“What?”
he asked running his fingers through my hair.

“Being
with you.”

“I
like it too, Bella.”

“It’s
weird, I don’t do well with strangers, but you never felt like a stranger.”

He
leaned down and started kissing my neck, I shivered.

“Cold?”
he whispered.

“No,”
I whispered back.

He
hummed then went back to kissing, sucking, gently biting my neck up to my ear
then back down.

“So
soft,” he murmured as he lapped at the skin behind my ear.

I
turned my head capturing his lips with mine.  He sucked my lower lip in between
his teeth brushing it with his tongue.  I moaned as he slowly slid his tongue
against mine, rubbing his tongue ring across the side of mine, I turned so I
was facing him. Still not close enough I turned around and straddled his lap,
pressing myself against him.

“You
sure, Bella?”

Instead
of responding with words, I swiveled my hips causing him to groan.  I leaned
down and nipped his neck.

“Bedroom,”
he said but neither of us made a move, he put his hands on my hips pulling me down
rougher against himself.

We
continued rubbing one another through our clothes, kissing, nipping any bare
skin we could find.  I quickly got tired of that and sat up to pull his shirt
up and off with this help.  Then I reached down and pulled my shirt off tossing
it, not caring where it landed.  I reached behind unclasping my bra pulling it
off and throwing it.  Thayne leaned forward and sucked a nipple into his mouth,
circling the areola with his tongue over and over.  My head fell back and I
moaned loudly.  I thrust against him again, but it wasn’t enough.

“More,”
I whimpered.

He
let my nipple go with a pop then leaned over to the other one licking it. 
“Bedroom,” he murmured, “condoms.”

“Can’t
get pregnant and birth control,” I muttered.

He
stopped and looked at me.  “You’re sure, because I can go grab a condom.”

I
bit my lip and looked down at him.  “I…I’m not sure.”

He
rolled me off him and stood up.  “Take your clothes off,” he murmured kissing
me before heading towards the bedroom.

He
walked back in a moment later, very naked, and very aroused.  My mouth went dry
as I looked him up and down.

“You
are gorgeous, Thayne,” I whimpered.

“Nah,
that’s you, Mia Bella.”  He sat down on the couch and pulled me back down so I
was straddling him once again.

He
went back to worshiping my nipples and breasts, and I reached down between our
bodies and began stroking him softly at first but harder as I got more of a
reaction.