Meadowlarks (37 page)

             
We walk out on to the porch and watch him leave.

             
“See ya tomorrow, buddy,” I call to him.

             
“Ah, shit.” He walks back around the front of his truck. “I got a flat tire.”

             
“Well, at least it's only flat on one side,” I joke, looking at the tire when I get over to the truck.

             
He elbows me.               “Ass. I got a spare...” He looks at his watch.

             
“Well, we could change it now; it'll only take a few minutes,” I say.

             
“If you need to go now, you can take my car, Jeremiah.” Addison smiles.

             
He looks hesitant, but after a few seconds, he agrees.               “You sure? I can bring it right back.”

             
“No, it's okay. You can bring it back tomorrow. I'm sure it'll be easier to change the tire in the daylight, anyway.”

             
“Thanks, Addison.” He catches the keys to the Mustang in the air when she tosses them and grins as he climbs into the driver’s seat.

             
“Careful! It's got a sticky gas pedal!” I laugh, as he pulls out of the driveway, careful not to speed while in view. But a few minutes later, when she's gone back in the house, I hear the roar of the engine and exhaust, and I smile.

***

             
Her fingernails gently scrape the skin on my back and push down into me while she massages me underneath the spray of the shower head. I lean into the wall, standing under the cascading water, and let it coat my body. I can feel her mouth on my back, my shoulder, and she kisses me on the back of my neck. Her hands are now around my chest, and she leans in, pushing her body right against mine.

             
I stand straight up and turn my head to kiss her. She is still behind me, rubbing down my abdomen and over my hip bones. When she finds what she's looking for, she slowly strokes and grips me, pulling and caressing my hardening length.

             
When she's got me completely vertical, which doesn't take much with her touch, I turn around and face her. Her long hair is a tangled wet mess, and I take it all in my hands and pull it over her shoulders and behind her back. I twist it around my hands and wrist so she's nose up, and I kiss and suck her throat and neck anxiously.

             
“You taste so good,” I breathe, in between sucks and licks, and I turn her around. “Lift your leg, baby.” I pull her thigh up so she's standing on one foot and press into her body with mine.

             
I suck and bite her shoulder, tasting her succulent skin.

             
“Ahh,” she moans. “Mmm...”

             
“I want to tease you.” I want her to beg for me to make love to her, to drive her crazy and make those beautiful blue eyes roll back into her head. “Ready?”

             
She breathes deeply. “Yes, baby.”

             
The tip of my erection trails down her stomach, through the top of her thighs and rubs gently against her delicate flesh. Provoking with each rub, it sends little sparks through me, wanting so badly to just move an inch or two and thrust myself deep inside. But I don't. I persevere and keep on with the beautiful torture.

             
Her body ripples, and she almost falls when a shock of pleasure progresses through her as my hard tip rubs against her tender skin over and over. While she's crying out and still cresting, I let her thigh back down so she's on two feet, and I move enough to push up and right in to her.

             
“Blaine! Fuck.” She screams for me, her beautiful mouth can even make that word sound delicious. I've caught her off guard, and her warmth is still convulsing on the inside, gripping me as I pull out and thrust in slowly but powerfully.

             
I bite her neck again. She moans loudly, and I whisper in her ear, telling her how much I love her and how amazing her body feels. My hands squeeze and rub her breasts, hold her stomach and hips, touching anywhere they want to. One hand slides down her body, and I slowly rub against her soft skin again, quickly sending her into a frenzy once more.

             
This time the pull of her muscles holds me so tightly I have no choice but to let go. I push and push and push until I can't go any deeper. The sensation is so strong, I could burst through the glass walls just from my hands pushing against it. I’m trying to keep myself from losing balance and falling to the tile floor.

             
The heat from the water and the fog from the orgasm has clouded my head, and I'm almost faint. We stand there for a few moments, my arms wrapped around her body, just breathing and feeling our bodies gently float back down to earth.

             
Later, Rex and Luca start barking, and I sit up in bed to hear someone pounding on the front door. When I stagger down the stairs, I flip on the kitchen light and see through the door that it's Officer Herring.

             
“Blaine,” he says as soon as I open the door. “Is Addison home?”

             
“Yeah, she's upstairs sleeping. What's up, Officer?”

             
He motions his hand in the door. “May I?”

             
I step aside, letting him in, and I close the door behind him.

             
“There's been an accident, Blaine. A car registered in her name.”

             
I shake my head, unsure if I just heard him right.               “Couldn’t be. Her car is here.” I look outside, and then it hits me. Jeremiah's Dodge. “Jer! What happened?”

             
“Blaine.” He puts his hand on my shoulder; I see it, but I don't feel it. “You need to sit down.”

             
“What happened to Jeremiah?” I'm frantic, keeping my feet planted on the floor.

             
My commotion alerts Addison, and she comes downstairs, squinting in the light of the kitchen. “Babe? Officer Herring! What's going on?”

             
I look at Officer Herring, begging him to tell me what happened to my best friend.

             
“Addison, your car was involved in an accident. I'm so sorry...”

             
Her hands fly to her mouth and cover it as she gasps.

             
“Mr. Sanford has been taken to the hospital.”

             
With his words, I rush by him and grab my keys off the island. I'm out the door before either of them can say a word.

             
“Blaine! Wait!” She calls from the porch, but I get in the truck and breathe insanely, trying to get this damn key in the damn ignition.

             
“Damn it!” I fumble the keys, and they fall on the floor by my feet.

             
The passenger door opens and she gets in.               “Baby, I'm coming with you.”

             
“Blaine, please, if you're going to go, drive carefully.” Herring is standing in the way of the open door, a look of sadness on his face. “Addison...” He looks at her, and she nods, agreeing to something. I have no clue what.

             
I'm silent the entire way to the hospital. I feel her look over at me a few times, but I can't take my eyes off the road for a second. I need to get to him. I'm still trying to figure out how he was in an accident; I guess I should have let the cop explain what happened.

In the emergency department, I rush to the desk.
              “Jeremiah Sanford. Where is he?”

             
“I'm sorry, sir. Are you his family?”

             
“Yes! I'm his brother.” I lie, and the woman behind the desk looks at Addison. She obviously knows her and smiles kindly.

             
“Okay, I'll get someone to speak to you.” She gets up and walks in the emergency room, behind a frosted glass wall and disappears around the corner.

             
“Blaine, my love.” Addison runs her hands on my forearm, setting her chin on my shoulder. “You have to sit down for a minute, please.” She pulls me toward the empty seating area.

             
“Addy, I just need to see him. See that he's okay. I don't even know what the hell happened.”

             
“I do, and this is all my fault.” She starts to cry and puts her face in her hands.

             
I look at her with wide eyes.               “What are you talking about?”

             
“Officer Herring said he was run down in the parking lot of Lander's.” Her eyes pour tears, and she looks away from me. “By...by...Reid.”

             
“What!?” I can't breathe. “What the fuck, Addison? What are you saying?”               Just as I stand to my feet, a man comes out the door and walks toward us.

             
“Mr. Sanford?”

             
“Where's Jeremiah?” I am desperate.

             
“Your brother has been in an accident, and he has slipped into a coma.” He holds his hands together in front of him and looks at me sympathetically.

             
“I want to see him.”

“Of course. I'll take you in. Are you going to be okay?”

              I look at him, wanting to ask him why he would ask such a stupid fucking question. Of course I'm not going to be okay.

             
Jer is lying in a darkened room. I see more wires and tubes than skin. His head is wrapped in a large bandage, and small sutures hold together a gash on his face. I feel limp, so I sit down on a stool beside his bed, holding his hand in mine.

             
“Jer? I'm so sorry, buddy. I'm so, so sorry.”

             
He doesn't move. Only his chest rises and falls with the help of a breathing tube. I watch him for at least an hour, or so it seems, anyway. A nurse comes in twice to check him, but I don't acknowledge her presence. I'm a broken mess, just the shell of a man on a stool.

             
Addison comes in the room and stands on the other side of his bed. I look up at her and quickly put my head down, my forehead resting on his cool hand.

             
“This is my fault. I should have changed that fucking tire.” I inhale deeply and look back up at her. “He wouldn't have been in that car.”

             
“Baby, he wasn't in the car when he was hit.”

             
“What?” I tilt my head to the side. “What do you mean?”

             
“Officer Herring said that a witness saw Reid idling in the parking lot. When Jeremiah walked out to the car, he...” She starts to cry and wipes her eyes. “He drove right into him.”

             
I let go of his hand and touch his leg under the blue hospital blanket. Hard and cold.

             
“The doctor said his legs were crushed, and his head must have whipped back and hit the roof of the Mustang.”

             
“Oh my God, Addy!” I can't believe what I'm hearing. “Where is that piece of shit now?” My jaw is clenched, and my heart is hammering rage through my body.

             
“He was still sitting in his car, Blaine, when the police got there.” She shakes her head and looks over at Jeremiah. “They think he was in some sort of shock. Just kept muttering that it wasn't supposed to be
him
.”

             
I just don't get it; why would he do this to Jeremiah? How would he even know who he was? Then it clicks on like a light bulb.               “Addy, he thought Jer was
me
.”

             
She looks at me, and her eyes widen. She knows I'm right. It was dark; he saw her car and a man walking out to it. Who else would it be other than her or me driving it?

             
The doctor comes in the room, followed by Officer Herring and another cop. The doctor half-smiles kindly and checks the screen of Jeremiah's life support, pushing a few buttons and then flashes a small light in his motionless eyes.

             
I have to look away. The last time I saw those, eyes they were lit up like fireworks, eager to have a rip in the old Ford. Now they're empty, and I can't bear to see him like this. I hold his hand again. Now it's my turn to be at his bedside with worry and desperation.

             
“Blaine, can I have a word?” Officer Herring nods toward the doorway, and I leave the room with him. “Mr. Surrey—I mean, Reid—has given a full statement of the incident. He told me that he thought Mr. Sanford was you.”