Riveted: Drawn Series Book 1 (6 page)

“So any chance that you will try on what you bought?” he
asked with a mischievous grin. I elbowed his side and laughed.

“Not that its anything dirty, but no, not a chance,” I
said. How in the hell was I going to be able to put the brakes on this. I knew
I was not ready yet. But good lord he made me feel all warm inside. And he made
me wish I had some dirty things in the bags, just so that I could try them on
for him.

The door opened and I jumped, not
realizing that I had fallen asleep on the couch reading. I teetered on the edge
of the couch and then slid not so gracefully to the floor with a THUD.  I
looked up at the clock and saw that it was after one .Axel stumbled in. He looked
like hell. His hair was flattened, his red t shirt torn and his jeans were
dirty. He noticed me after a few minutes and came over to the chair next to the
couch.

“Hey,” he said softly. He smelled like a distillery.
Sitting up, I looked at him. His eyes were blood shot and there were dark
circles under them. Christ.

“What happened to you?” I asked, kneeling down in front
of him and putting my hand on his knee. He jumped like I had electrocuted him.
He jumped up out of the chair and began to pace in front of the television.

“As you can probably tell, I am having a rough night.
Uh….were you waiting up for me?” he asked after a bit, his voice sounded shaky.
He was talking fast, like he did when he was nervous. And he was tugging on
that damn lip ring.

“Yes. We have a lot to talk about Axel,” I replied,
trying not to have my voice rise. He looked at me and frowned.

“Is it about the other day? Is that what you are going to
get on my case about?”

“Hell yes I am!” His face clouded with anger.

“You have been here for a minute and you think you can go
all parental on me? What the fuck Bleu?!” he yelled, his pale skin getting red.
Zero to piss off in no time. Awesome.

“It does not matter how long I have been here. I came
here to be with you. I trust you more than anyone on this earth and I had
someone I barely knew help me. You were too damn busy following Blow Job Barbie
around like a wounded puppy! People who barely know me, they were there for me
when you were too busy kissing her ass!! You stood there and let her talk shit
about me like you and I were strangers!”

“You don’t know what you are talking about Bleu,” he
muttered, refusing to make eye contact with me. This only made me angrier.

“You are my brother, my family. I protected your ass when
the shit went down with Mom. I am not calling you on it, but I have been
looking after your ass since we were ten. Beau didn’t do it, hell no one has
seen him for years! You tell me that I don’t understand that I need to stay out
of it. I fucking refuse!! I am your family, not some punk off of the street. I
want to know what the hell kind of hold that
bitch
has on you,” I yelled. He looked at me like I had slapped
him. Bringing Mom up was something I never did.

“You want to talk about honest? How about you LYING to me
about why you were coming down here huh? Not telling me that you were in jail?
How about that??!!”

“I did it to protect you! So you would not be in a cell
next to me for finishing the beating I started on Carl!”

“I am not a baby Bleu. I am not your pet project! Stop
trying to fix me! Stay out of it if you know what’s good for you,” he snapped
at me before he walked out of the room and stomped upstairs. I flinched as his
bedroom door slammed. Who the hell was this person? I refused to deal with
this. After all the shit I have continuously done, for him. I grabbed my phone,
my new messenger bag and slid into my flip flops. Looking over my shoulder at
the stairs, I grabbed my keys and slammed out the door. I held my breath and
waited for him to come out on the porch, to say something, but he didn’t. That
was not my brother. I did not know that person in his place.

After driving to Aunt Almeida’s house, I remembered that
she was working third shift and I did not want to wake the kids and scare the
hell out of them. I really had nowhere to go. The shop loomed ahead and I did
not even remember pointing the rental car Skeeter had loaned me, in that
direction. I turned off the car and sat there in the dark. I looked down and
realized that I had the key to the shop on my key ring. Shutting the door
softly, I padded to the shop door and unlocked it. The moonlight and the street
lights made it so I did not have to turn on any lights. Putting my bag onto the
floor near the couch, I sat on the couch and played with my phone for a bit.
Although it was almost one thirty in the morning, I was too keyed up to
sleep.  Leaning back against the couch, I willed myself not to cry. What
the hell was wrong with me? Why was I always ready to cry? Rubbing my eyes, I
stopped suddenly as I heard a noise. My mind started getting ahead of itself
and every dark scenario played in my head. Trying to make myself hidden, I
curled into a ball, clutching my keys to my chest.

“Bleu?” called a male voice. Jumping, I screamed and flew
off the couch, in a move eerily similar to the Crane from Karate Kid. Soft male
laughter greeted me. Looking up, I saw that it was Jack. Jack in jeans and
nothing else. Jack’s bare, muscled chest. MY heart pounded and my face burned
in embarrassment. I felt like an idiot.

“Bleu?” he said again, looking confused and trying really
hard not to laugh anymore.

“What...what are you doing here?” I whispered, smoothing
my hair and trying to recover my sanity. My heart was ready to jump out of my
chest and I could not stop staring at his naked chest.

“Well I could ask the same of you couldn’t I, Daniel
san
??” he remarked with a snort. I shook
my head and laughed.

“I feel like an idiot! I am so sorry!”

“It’s fine. Remind me to never sneak up on you....you
might break out your sick karate moves. And to answer your question, I live
here for now,” he said, still chuckling.

“Shut up, you startled me,” I retorted. He grinned.

“There is an apartment above the shop. I live there until
I can find another place,” he said, noticing my confusion. I nodded after a
second.

“Why don’t we go up there instead of sitting here? I can
guarantee to you that my couches are ten times more comfortable than these ones
are,” he said. I nodded and followed him out of the shop. We went to a door
that I had not noticed before, in between the shop and the garage. We walked up
a flight of stairs and into his apartment. It was bigger than I expected. The
kitchen was spacious with an island that sported the same granite as the desk
downstairs. The backsplash behind the sink and stove were brick and the
cabinets with clear. The living room had two black overstuffed couches and a
big flat screen TV hanging on the wall. Under it was a bookcase filled with all
kinds of books. Off to the right of the TV was a door to his bedroom, I am
guessing. The other door was open and I could see part of the bathroom. He led
me to one of the couches. Putting my purse on the floor, I tossed my keys
inside.

“What happened?” he asked, sitting down next to me. I
sighed.

“Axel and I got into a fight. I waited up for him; I
wanted to talk to him about what has been going on. When he came home, I lit
into him. I did not mean to go all parental on him, but his attitude was so
mean. It just pissed me off, especially after what happened the other day. I
asked him about Barbie and accused him of turning his back on me. He told me to
stay out of it when I asked him what was going on. He has been shutting me out.
Things got pretty nuclear and it did not end well. So I left,” I replied.

“That does not sound like him. Something must be
seriously wrong,” he said more to himself than me. 

“I went too far though. I brought up our mom,” I said. He
looked at me and raised an eyebrow.

“What do you mean?”

“I keep forgetting that you had not moved here yet,” I
murmured more to myself than to him.

“Yeah Mom and Dad were shuttling me and my bro back and
forth until we were 14 and then I decided to stay here. Why? What’s the big
secret?” he asked.

“Well, when we were ten, our mom was brutally murdered
while we were at school. My parents were split up at the time, but Dad was
supposed to move back in that weekend. His alibi was shoddy because he was
drinking a lot at the time and things did not add up.  My older brother
was away at a basketball tournament. The judge remembered my dad from some
previous shit he did and he was extremely prejudice and seemed to side with the
district attorney. My dad ended up going to jail, sentenced 25 years to life.
He swore he was innocent the whole time. As soon as my older brother could, he
left. We have not talked to him in over ten years. When it all happened, I did
everything I could to protect Axel.”

“Wow. I had no clue. Well who raised you guys?"

"My Aunt Almeida and Uncle Tangler took over after
my Dad went to prison. He turned over his tattoo shop to a silent partner and
started teaching at the high school to help my aunt out. It did not help she
kept popping out babies," I said with a smirk. He laughed

“Do you talk to your dad?”

“I do. Axel stopped going once he started working at the
shop. Don’t know why, but I can’t force him to. He’s an
adult
,” I remarked sarcastically. He sure was not acting like one
right now though. Jack patted my hand and there was that electric shock feeling
again. He sat there, shirtless, in jeans. I was distracted to say the least.

“You alright?” he asked. I must have been staring. I
nodded and looked up at him; I hoped he did not notice my blatant ogling.

“I guess. I am just so mad at my brother right now! He
told me that I lied to him, but he has been doing this cloak and dagger shit
with me. I don’t know. He is usually such a gossipy bitch. I used to have
a hard time getting him to shut up. But now he is nothing but secretive, quiet.
I don’t like it one bit!”

“Is there anything I can do for you tonight? I can’t make
Axel talk to you. I wish I could. But anything else?” he asked, so much
sincerity in his voice.

“Um...Could you please put on a shirt?” I said finally.
He laughed.

“Oh I forgot I am sexy as hell!” He ran his fingers over
his chest and I glared at him.

“Knock it off Jack. It’s not funny,” I said. He grinned
devilishly, grabbed my head and planted a quick kiss on my lips.  This
time
he
pulled away.

“Bleu, I am so sorry,” he whispered as I touched my lips
with my fingers. Holy moly.

“What?”

“You lectured me earlier about kissing you, not jumping
into things and all that. And here I go, kissing you. What the hell is going
on?”

“I blame you really. You are sitting here without a shirt
on,” I said with a laugh. I touched the side of his face and looked deep into
his chocolate brown eyes. I was a sucker for his eyes.

“I honestly am just not ready. I am not sure if I ever
will be around you. You make me feel things, things I am afraid to feel and at
such an intensity. You leave me breathless,” I whispered. He nodded.

“I am not one of those guys who are all soft and romantic
and shit. But whenever I am near you, I just want to kiss you. I feel what you
are feeling. You are not the only one who has been burned Bleu. But I am not
afraid to try.”

“We are going to have to talk about this sooner or later
but right now is not the time,”I said.

“Well I think that this conversation can be put off until
morning,” he replied with a yawn. Nodding, I yawn as well.

“You can have my bed and I will crash here on the couch,”
he said. He switched off the kitchen light, locked the front door and walked
into the living room.

“Are you sure?”

“Absolutely. Let me just grab some blankets and a pillow
and the bed is all yours,” he said. I stood behind him as he opened a closet
door and removed a blanket. He placed the stuff on the couch and motioned for
me to enter the room. His bed was a queen size, with a big fluffy green
comforter on it and about a gazillion pillows.
 
Next to the bed sat a dark cherry nightstand with a small silver lamp on
it. The lamp was on next to the bed and it filled the room with a soft glow. To
the right of the door was a long dresser, also dark cherry, with a mirror on
the wall behind it.

“Are you sure about this? I mean I have no problem with
sleeping on the couch, really,” I said.

“What kind of gentleman would I be if I made you sleep on
the couch?” he said softly.

“Ok I am not going to stand here and fight with you. It’s
been a long night and I am super tired,” I replied. He grabbed another blanket
out of the closet and two pillows off of the bed. I sat down on the bed and
smiled at him.

“Good night Bleu. I hope you sleep well,” he said. He
bent down and kissed my cheek. He straightened up and walked out of the room,
closing the door behind him. As I ran my hands over the soft micro suede
comforter on the bed, I had a brief thought of him in here with me, naked,
doing dirty things. I shook my head and told myself to knock it off. I pulled
back the comforter, laid down and turned off the light.
 
He never did put that shirt on, the bastard.

Sleep was not happening. The clock moved slowly. Looking
at it, I saw it was almost 3 am. Tossing and turning, I kept thinking about my
brother and the fight that we had earlier. Every time I stopped thinking about
him, I thought of my brief kiss with Jack. Or I thought of Jack shirtless. That
untouched area between my legs throbbed at the thought and I willed the desire
I was feeling to go away. I did not need to do anything stupid right now.
 
A shower, that’s what I needed to calm my
nerves and maybe make me relaxed so that I could finally get some sleep.
Opening the door silently, I peeked out of the room. Jack was slept peacefully
on the couch; one leg peeked out of the blankets. On my trek to the bathroom, I
tiptoed and then held my breath as I opened the door. Turning on the light, I
shut the door quietly. In less than a minute I was naked. Turning on the water,
I turned the water temperature to hot and held my hand under the stream of
water, waiting for it to heat up. I tied up my hair in a messy ponytail, slid
the clear shower curtain to the side and I climbed in. Biting my lip to keep
from yelping, I stood to the side until I could get used to the temperature of
the water. Letting the shower hit my skin, I closed my eyes.  The awkward
kiss played in my head over and over again, like a movie preview. My eyes
snapped open and I tried to reason with my conscience.