Safe with You (15 page)

“Oh, you’ve done it now, Cassie!” J hollers after me.

“J, I’m sorry, but I’m going to kill your girlfriend!” Bo yells loud enough for me to hear, but it was obvious he was talking to J.

I look over my shoulder and yell. “You got to catch me first losers!” That was a bad idea because I slipped in something and went flying. I landed on my back in whatever I slipped in. If the smell was any indication of what I fell in then I don’t know what is. Gross! But it also gave me another idea.

I hear the guys’ laughter all the way until they reached me. They are laughing so hard they couldn’t form words. I roll over to my front before getting up. I ran and tackled J first.

“What the hell, Cassie!”

I then get up and start for Bo, who immediately starts backing up.

“Let’s be civil about this darlin’. Smearin’ shit all over me is no way to solve anything.” When he sees that didn’t work he hollers at J, “Bro you better get your girl!”

“You’re on your own man!” I sent Bo a devilish grin before charging at him. Bo ended up tripping over his own feet, falling backwards on his butt. I tackle him and hold on to his shirt when he tries to push me off.

When I let go and stand up all the laughter died in my throat. Ellen was sauntering over to us in white sundress and heels. I march over to J and take his hand, claiming my man.

She looks at all three of us in disgust. “You wouldn’t want to ruin her clothes J, seeing how she probably doesn’t own many.” I clench my fist at my side.

“What the hell are you doing here, Ellen?” J asks, clearly not happy that she is here.

“I came to ask if you’d be my date to the fundraiser tonight.” Is she for real? All three of us laugh out loud.

I step forward, getting right in her face. “You’ve got three seconds to get off their property.”

“Or what,” she pressed. I walked over to the nearest pile of shit and grabbed two big handfuls. It is gross and I wanted to throw up, but if I got the chance to hit her with it, it makes the smell and grossness a little better to handle.

“One.”

“You wouldn’t dare!”

Oh, yes I would. She doesn’t know me at all.

“Two,” I continue.

“Y’all do something!” she yells at the guys. They just pretend to not even hear her.

“Three.” I launch the first handful at her and it hits her square in her face. Hearing her blood curling scream made my ears bleed, but the look on her face was worth it.

“You asked for it, bitch,” she threatens then stalks away.

When she was gone the guys shouted their praise. “Damn, that was awesome! High five, darlin’!” I raise my hand up, but he stopped me. “Uh huh, other hand Cass!” I looked at my hand confused then laughed when I realized I was about to high five him with the hand that was covered in shit. Come to think of it, both of them are.

“Well, I don’t guess you get a high five.” I hold up my hands to show him.

“Ah hell, screw it.” He holds up his hand again and we high fived. Then he grimaces and wipes his hand back on me.

“What in the devil is going on here?” Jane hollers as she was walking towards us. Both Bo and J automatically point at me. Great, thanks, guys. “Shame on y’all for blaming her. If I didn’t know any better I’d say y’all were behind it!” I snicker because it really was my fault and yet they were getting the blame for it.

“Ma-”

“But-”

“I don’t want to hear your excuses! Now go get cleaned up for dinner!” When she walks off I couldn’t control my laughter anymore. But when the guys shared a look and then looked at me with smirks, I knew my payback was coming and it was going to be hell. I sprint as fast as I can toward the house, knowing full well I won’t out run them a second time. Sure enough, I didn’t make it far before J caught me and throws me over his shoulder.

“Not so fast sweetheart, it’s payback time.” I yelp when J slaps my butt. J sets me down near the water hose and blocks me to make sure I don’t try and get away while Bo picks up the sprayer and points it in my direction.

I scream when the cold water hit my skin.

“Aww…come on darlin’, don’t be such a wimp!” Bo laughs to his amusement. “Take it like a girl who lives in the country!” Bo lowers the spray so it hits my legs.

“In case you can’t tell by my accent, I’m not from the country!”

“Yeah, we know Cass.” The way he said it sounded like there was a hidden message.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” The guys just laugh to themselves at their own joke. I clench my fists at my sides and send an evil look to both of them.

“It’s nothing a drowned rat like you needs to worry about,” Bo says as he pats my head like I’m some sort of animal. I ground my jaw and stomp of like a five-year-old throwing a temper tantrum.

I wring out my soaking wet hair and shirt the best I can and make sure I slip off my soaked tennis shoes and socks before I enter the house.

Jane greets me with a towel and instructs me to use the spare bathroom upstairs, the one no one really uses, to shower. I gasp in awe when I walk in. It is all marble tops and wooden cabinets and stone flooring. It is beautiful, just like the rest of the house. The bathtub looks more like a Jacuzzi.

After I start the water and set it to the perfect temperature, I peel off my soaking wet clothes and relaxed in the not too hot, not too cold water. I lean my back against the back of the tub and relax my body. I close my eyes briefly, enjoying the feeling of not having a care in the world at this moment.

I wish my life was like this all the time. I hate having to worry about my life, my safety. If only my parents hadn’t changed, if only they were normal. I’m so tired of moving, so tired of my parents running from their problems, the problems that affect more than just them, they affect me too. I think that’s what hurts the most, my parents not thinking of me and how their choices hurt me. I used to matter to them when I was younger. Mom used to play Barbie’s with me while dad was at work. Whenever dad was at home he’d brave my crazy four-year-old makeovers just to see a smile on my face. My life was normal back then. I would kill to get those loving, drug-free parents back.

I stayed in the soothing bath until the water became too cold to bear. I climb out the bath and wrap the softest towel I’ve ever felt around my body.

Clothes. I need clean clothes. Where am I going to get those? I can’t just walk out in a towel. Maybe Jane left some right outside in the spare bedroom? I open the door just a tad and peek through the crack.

I sigh in relief when I see them laid on the bed. Jane is a lifesaver. I open the door wider and pad across the hardwood flooring until I reach the clean clothes. As my hand reached out to grab them, the door to the spare bedroom opens. I did the worst thing I could do in my situation, I froze instead of dashing back into the bathroom. I am hoping it was Jane checking on me, you know, to make sure I found the clothes, but no, it wasn’t her.

I heard his breath hitch from the doorway. He cleared his throat. “Sorry, I, uh, was just making sure you found the clothes I laid out for you,” J murmurs nervously. So it was J who brought me the clothes. “Mom wants your dirty clothes so she can wash them for you,” he adds.

I grab the clothes J had got for me and turn to face him. J is gazing at me longingly, lust filling his eyes. I watch his Adam’s apple bob as he swallows. His eyes drop from my face to the towel covering my naked body. His hands gripped the dresser next to him so hard that his knuckles started turning white.

“Are you okay?” My voice is small against the thickness of the air.

“Yeah, just holding back,” he says in a low voice.

“Holding back,” I whisper to myself trying to figure out what he means when it suddenly hit me. He could tell when I figured it out because he half smirked. “Okay, let me go change then.” I turn around to walk back in the bathroom to change when his arm wraps around my waist and hauls me back against his chest. His free hand combs my hair to one side, exposing one side of my neck. I tremble in his grasp when his lips meet my neck.

“I’m trying so hard to be good, Cassie, but you make me want to just say screw it and keep you to myself for the rest of the evening,” he whispers huskily in my ear.

I twist in his hold so I’m facing him. I cup the back of his neck and bring his face down to mine. His lips met mine barely grazing them at first, but then he presses his full lips to mine, igniting a frenzy. My hands fist his hair, our lips met greedily, and our tongues dance with one another. J’s hands slid down my back and cup my butt, lifting me. My legs wrap around his waist automatically. He walks backwards until the back of his knees hit the bed. He sits down with me in his lap. He breaks our frenzy, trailing open mouth kisses down my neck. I moan and arch into him when his lips graze my collarbone. J had just reached the edge of the towel when we hear on knock on the door. We both freeze in place.

“Mom says dinner's almost ready.” Our bodies relax a little when we hear Bo’s laughing voice. He obviously knows what was going on. Great, now I’m going to have to face him and his relentless teasing.

“We’ll be out in a minute,” J answers in an obviously irritated voice. J and I hold each other for another minute before we reluctantly stand. J cups my cheek and kisses me again before releasing me. “I need to, uh, go before I lose all my willpower.” I just nod because I know how he was feeling. I’m aching for us to finish what we started, but I know that won’t happen with his parents here. J backs out of the bedroom and closes the door.

I dress rapidly and brush the tangles out of my hair as quick as I can. J brought me a pair of his boxers, a pair of his shorts, and a t-shirt for me to wear. I have no bra on and my face is still flushed. This is going to be an interesting dinner. I scoop up my dirty clothes and head for the kitchen.

Everyone is already seated when I enter the kitchen. Jane takes my clothes from me and leaves to go put them in the washer. Bo is sitting in his normal spot across from with a laughing smile on his face. J is sitting next to my empty chair glaring at Bo. I take my seat next to J and pat his leg. He whips his head around to me and smiles. Then he winks and my already flushed face burns brighter. J leans over and kisses my cheek just as Jane sits back down.

After saying goodbye to everyone, J walks me to his truck and helps me in. J jumps in the driver’s seat, lifts up the center console and tugs me to the seat next to him. With an arm around my shoulders and my head resting against his shoulder, he heads for my house. The sun is setting to our right, giving off a bright orange glow. It is a beautiful sight.

Feeling brave, I lifted my head from his shoulders and kiss his neck. “Cassie,” he growls, his left hand tightening around the steering wheel and the other arm squeezed me against him. My lips continue their assault on J’s neck.

The truck suddenly takes an abrupt turn and stops along the side of the road. J pulls me on top of him, my legs parallel to his thighs. “You make me want to throw all my morals out the window, Cass.” His hands dive in my hair and his tongue plunges into my mouth. I moan softly and tug on his hair. “Can I sneak you out tonight?” he asks hoarsely. My jumbled up brain conjured up a response, but I couldn’t get it out because J’s hands were touching my bare stomach, inching higher while his mouth nibbles on my neck.

“Y-yes,” I finally force out in between breaths.

J leans back slightly and pressed our foreheads together, our chests rising and falling quickly. “I have somewhere special I want to take you.”

We steal a few more kisses before I settle back into the seat next to him. J rests his hand on my knee for the remainder of the drive to my house.

He squeezes my knee gently when he turns into my driveway. He gives me a long, slow kiss. “Midnight.”

Filled with excitement, I nod and jump out of the truck, hurrying to the front door before my parents come out and cause a scene.

Chapter Nineteen

Cassie

I lie on my bed and petulantly wait for midnight to roll around. My body is still buzzing from earlier and I want to rectify that when J takes me wherever we are going tonight…well, tomorrow technically. I know he is trying to be a gentleman and not have sex with me in his truck, and I think it’s sweet, but I get the feeling either he thinks we are moving too fast or that I could be a virgin, which I’m not.

I lost my virginity to my first boyfriend Zack. I was fifteen at the time and he had just turned sixteen. We had been dating for at least six months, I believe. That was the night Zack told me he loved me. Then poof, a month later my life changed and I was taken away from my first love.

The second and last time was at a party. It was right after we moved and I was hurt and pissed that I had to leave all my friends and Zack behind. I had only been at the school a couple weeks. I had got invited to a party that night and, of course, my parents didn’t want me to go, but I snuck out and went anyway. I did it because I wanted to rebel against them, I guess. Anyway, I got drunk and ended up sleeping with one of the soccer players. Not the best moment of my life, but I wasn’t adjusting to the change very well. Not having any friends or anyway to contact them was hard. I was ashamed of myself when I woke up the next morning because all I could think about was Zack and how disappointed he’d be in me if he knew.