Searching for Moore (7 page)

Mia laid back on her throw pillow, eyes closed, quietly singing harmony as the others listened intently to the lyrics of the starkly beautiful song:

Woke up this morning the house was cold
Checked the furnace she wasn’t burnin’
Went out and hopped in my old Ford
Hit the engine but she ain’t turnin’
We’ve given each other some hard lessons lately
But we ain’t learnin’
We’re the same sad story that’s a fact
One step up and two steps back
Bird on a wire outside my motel room
But he ain’t singin’
Girl in white outside a church in June
But the church bells they ain’t ringin’
I’m sittin’ here in this bar tonight
But all I’m thinkin’ is
I’m the same old story same old act
One step up and two steps back
It’s the same thing night on night
Who’s wrong baby who’s right
Another fight and I slam the door on
Another battle in our dirty little war
When I look at myself I don’t see
The man I wanted to be
Somewhere along the line I slipped off track
I’m caught movin’ one step up and two steps back
There’s a girl across the bar
I get the message she’s sendin’
Mmm she ain’t lookin’ too married
And me well honey I’m pretending
Last night I dreamed I held you in my arms
The music was never-ending
We danced as the evening sky faded to black
One step up and two steps back
⁵

“Play that again.” Henry asked and Mia rewound the tape and restarted the song.

Schooner listened closely again, slightly distracted by Mia’s proximity on the next throw pillow.

Hearing the words a second time cut deeply.

When I look at myself I don’t see
The man I wanted to be
Somewhere along the line I slipped off track
I’m caught movin’ one step up and two steps back

For they hit too close to home.

Lively discussion ensued and after a few more hours, they’d worked out how they were going to divide the work amongst the group and how they were going to bridge it together into a seamless project. They put together their opening statements and began to plow through the exhaustive material for each of their sections.

It was past midnight when Rosie got to her feet, “I’m toast,” she announced, “all that fresh air today knocked me out.”

“Ditto,” agreed Henry. “I need to peel these lenses out of my eyes.” Rosie pulled him to his feet.

“We got a lot done tonight, guys.” Schooner was pleased.

“Yeah, I feel good about it.” Rosie looked beat, “Have we lost you, Mia?”

Mia pulled the throw pillow off of her face and smiled. “Still here … barely,” she giggled.

“Don’t wake me for breakfast.” Henry yelled back as he and Rosie closed the door.

Mia rolled on her side and looked at Schooner. He reached out and took a long curl in between his fingers, playing with it. Here it was, finally the moment they were alone. “C’mere” he said, pulling her head down on his chest as he continued to play with her curls. She snuggled her face into his chest and pulled off her glasses, placing them out of the way. Mia looked up at Schooner and he smiled at her beautiful ombre green eyes. She blushed and he slowly rubbed her arm up and down, reassuringly.

This little devil, so outgoing and fearless, was actually so shy when it came to guys. Wild and innocent, Schooner thought. He wanted her to be his. And just the thought of that shot feelings of guilt through him. He was CJ’s. Or so she thought. But what he was feeling toward Mia was something he’d never felt in his life. His heart felt like it was overflowing with emotion. He wanted to be with her every moment. He wanted to know everything about her. He wanted her in his arms all the time. By his side. Looking up smiling at him. Wanting him. He didn’t know he could feel these feelings for someone else.

He brought both arms around her, hugging her tightly to him — so overcome with feelings. He kissed the top of her head and she looked up at him, a combination of yearning and fear of the unknown in her eyes. He smiled at her and rubbed his nose against hers, which elicited a little giggle. This made him laugh and he kissed the tip of her nose.

“I think you’ve figured it out already,” he smiled down at her.

“Figured out what?” She asked.

“That I’m crazy about you.” She blushed and buried her face in his chest, too shy to look into his eyes. “God, she’s adorable,” he thought to himself.

“Mia, look at me,” she looked up, tentatively. He smiled at her and ran his thumb along her high cheekbone, then pushed a mass of curls away from her face. He brought his lips close to hers. “Really, really crazy about you, Mia. I want to be with you all the time. I never want to leave you at the end of the day.”

“Then don’t,” she whispered.

He smiled, his lips up against hers and he could feel her returning the smile. He took her face in his hands and kissed her lips softly. She made a soft ‘mmmm’ sound which he felt immediately between his legs. He kissed her lips harder until she opened her mouth, letting his tongue slip in to find hers. Mia’s tongue met his, cautiously at first and then a little bolder in its exploration. She let her fingers rake through his thick luxurious hair, pulling him deeper into her mouth. The urgency of their kisses increased until they were both breathless.

Schooner pulled away and reached up to Mia’s bed and pulled down her blanket and draped it over them. Her head was back on his chest and he kissed the top of her head again.

“Oh Baby Girl,” he sighed, “you have no idea of what you do to me.”

“It’s smoochal,” they both laughed.

She snuggled deeper into his chest as he wrapped his arms around her tighter and within minutes they both drifted off to sleep.

It was still dark out when Schooner woke up with stiff joints the next morning from sleeping on the throw pillows on the floor. He didn’t want to wake Mia, but she was draped on him and he needed to get up for tennis practice. He maneuvered into a seated position with one arm behind Mia’s shoulders and the other under her knees, struggled to his feet and carried her to her bed. He gently laid her down and tucked the blanket around her. Sitting on the edge of the bed, he just looked at her and gently moved her curls from her face. She stirred, eyes opening a little, a smile overtaking her face.

He bent down and kissed her softly, “Hey you…,” he whispered.

“What time is it?”

“It’s really early. Go back to sleep. I’ve got to head over to the tennis center.”

“Mmmm,” she sleepily stretched her body and just watching her made him hard. “If I don’t leave now-,” he thought.

“I’ll bring you coffee and a bagel.”

She smiled, “My keys are on the desk.”

He kissed her softly and headed for the door. “I’ll see you soon, Baby Girl.”

She was already curled up and back to sleep by the time he closed the door.

With her keys in hand (her keychain had a little silver camera charm hanging from it), he exited her dorm. First he needed to go back to his dorm, change clothes and grab his racquets.

He wasn’t two steps out of Mia’s dorm, when two of his teammates jogged by, racquets in hand, “Slumming Moore?”

He heard their cackles and “Freaking crazy, son of a bitch. If he doesn’t want his girlfriend anymore, I’ll take her off his hands.”

Reality was ramming its way into his bubble and he felt both sadness and anger start to surround him. He clenched Mia’s keychain tighter in his hand.

She was in the same position, had not moved an inch, when he returned several hours later. He put the coffee and bagels down on her desk.

Sitting down on the desk chair across from her bed, he watched her for a few moments. Feeling his heart start to do that brim and overflow thing it had been doing lately, he said a silent, “thank you” to her for showing him who he really was, allowing that person to just be and exist. And amazingly, she seemed to really like that person.

Silently, he pulled off his tennis shoes and socks, then stood and pulled off his baby blue Izod shirt and white tennis shorts. Standing there in blue plaid boxers, he made his way over to her bed, lifted the covers and crawled in next to her. He spooned up against her tightly, pulling her snugly against his chest.

“Mmm,” she moaned, fitting herself against him securely. He smiled into her hair thinking, “Sorry about the morning surprise.” But he wasn’t sorry at all — he’d had a raging hard on for days just at the thought of her.

Pressing his hard cock against the back of her sweatpants, he was surprised to feel her grinding back against him. He wasn’t even sure if she was awake.

“You’re killing me,” he moved her curls back and whispered in her ear. Softly, he began running his lips down her neck before burying his face in the nook.

He slipped his hand underneath her sweatshirt, quickly discovering she wasn’t wearing a bra. He cupped her right breast, the skin was so soft and he pressed it in his hand. She moaned into her pillow and he took that as an invitation to continue. He slung a leg over hers, using his long limbs to pull her tighter against his hard cock and found her nipple with his thumb and forefinger. He gently rolled her nipple, which responded immediately, and added a little more pressure, until it was a hard peak. He continued to nuzzle into her neck and she moaned, “That feels good.”

He pinched her nipple tightly, “And this?”

“Mmm, really good.”

He pressed his hips into her, “And this?”

“Really, really good.” She ground her ass against his hard cock.

He grazed her neck with his teeth, gently biting her smooth, flawless skin, “And this?”

“Too good.”

“Too good? Should I stop?” He teased.

“Nooooo,” she protested, continuing her slow grind against his cock.

“You are trouble, Baby Girl.”

She chuckled, “Certainly you’re not just figuring that out now.” He pinched her nipple harder and she groaned.

“I knew you were trouble the minute I laid eyes on you,” he paused, “serious trouble.”

Mia rolled over and turned to him, initiating a kiss. This was the first kiss that she had initiated and he smiled. Running her hands over his chest, which still had some of its golden tan from summer, she picked at the smattering of golden blonde hairs.

“What are you smiling at?” He asked.

“You’re so big.” She marveled at his chest and arm muscles, running her hands lightly over them.

He laughed and pulled her against his hard cock, “Mmm, yes, I am.”

Her eyes widened and she blushed, “Schooner,” she stuttered, “I, uh, don’t know if I’m doing things right.”

Her innocence and honesty were just adorable. He threw his head back and laughed. She looked hurt. “No, no, no, Baby Girl — don’t look like that. Feel that,” he ground himself against her. Her eyes opened wide, “That means you are doing everything very right.” He kissed her softly. She was so sweet.

“Oh please,” she rolled her eyes, “guys get hard at anything”.

“Baby Girl,” he raked her curls from her face, “you can’t even imagine what I want to do to you.”

“But you haven’t,” she whispered.

Schooner sighed, “No, I haven’t.” He inhaled deeply and blew it out slowly. Her eyes were intent upon him and he spent a very long moment pushing his fingers through her curls. “There’s a big Pink Elephant in this room. Pink being the operative word,” he muttered, picturing CJ’s pink robe, pink sweaters, pink frilly blouses. “No secret that I’ve got a girlfriend.” Two big tears popped from Mia’s green eyes and started their journey down her freckled cheeks. Schooner brushed them away with his thumb. “Don’t cry.”

Mia looked at Schooner with a dubious glance, silently asking, “How can I not?”

“Mia, I don’t feel for her what I feel for you,” he let that sink in, but she just continued looking at him sad-eyed, not breathing. She was clearly waiting for the other shoe to drop. “I have never felt for anyone what I feel for you. This is the first time in my life I have felt that I can really be me in a relationship. And you still like me. And that amazes me.”

“Still like you? Of course I like you. Schooner, you are smart, funny, sweet, giving, so much fun to be with. You are a really good person. Why would I not like you?”

He leaned forward and kissed her lips lightly. She had just listed for him what she thought his greatest attributes were and not one of them had to do with his looks.

“I have spent my life acting, Mia. I’m good at playing a lot of roles. I’m just not really good at being me.”

She cocked her head to the side, taking in what he was saying, but not really understanding it.

“And then you came along. And I could be me. I have never felt so connected to another person or so happy.”

She smiled and more tears sprung from her eyes.

“You are so sweet and innocent and I want to make this really special for you. You mean that much to me, Mia,” he reached out, running his fingers down her cheek. “I’m going to end it with CJ. But she’s not here, so I can’t do that and I’m not going to call her and ruin the rest of her trip. I owe it to her to do it in person.”

He closed his eyes and exhaled slowly, “I want your first time to be amazing, Mia. Your first time
is
going to be amazing.”

She leaned forward and kissed him.

“It would be really wrong not to end it with CJ first though,” he continued, “and then when we are together there is nothing hanging over our heads.”

“And you wonder why I like you, Schooner?”

He felt a huge weight lift. Soon he’d be able to tell CJ. Soon he would be Mia’s first lover. Something very possessive inside of him knew that he wanted to be her first lover and her last lover. He pulled her to him, placing her body under his. With hands on either side of her head, he kissed her deeply. He let his hard cock grind into her so that she would absolutely have no doubt just how much he wanted her.

The next day he showed up in Mia’s dorm room with a large travel duffle bag filled with clothes, toiletries, and other personal items. He also brought his racquets. With the exception of the time he had to spend on the courts, Schooner would be spending the rest of January with Mia. He didn’t want to be away from her for a second. He could not remember a time when he had felt so happy or so free. He never imagined being himself could actually be so easy.