Wild Ride (11 page)

“No, it all looks great,” she said. “And thank you that’s very thoughtful.”

She could see Chuck roll his eyes again as Dickie hurried off to get her some food.  Turning to him she said
, “Is everything ok?”

“Fine
,” he said with a sigh.

She watched a knowing smile pass between Dana and Lilly.  Chuck got up and started for the house
. “Be right back.”

After he entered the house Edna said
, “Ya’ll need to leave that boy alone.”

Dickie brought her a plate and handed it to her and then returned a short time later with his own plate and said
, “I’m just going to rest my arm on the back of your chair if that’s ok?”

She’d long since caught on to what they were doing.  They were trying to make Chuck jealous and though it seemed to be working something about it wasn’t quite right. 

She’d seen Chuck angry the other night when he’d fought with her…
and won
.  Though he appeared angry now, walking away didn’t seem his style.

Chuck returned a few minutes later and got himself a plate.  Dickie continued to try and goad him by flirting with her but
Chuck didn’t respond and rather than being angry he seemed resigned.  Somehow his change in attitude bothered her.  Dickie seemed to notice as well and eventually stopped.

After they’d finished eating Chuck said
, “I should get you home.”

“Ok
,” she replied.

Everyone expressed how nice it was to meet her and made her promise to come back.  Somehow she couldn’t seem to focus on anything other than Chuck and this look he now wore. 

He pushed her out to the car and after she got in he closed the door behind her without saying a word.  She reached over and popped the trunk and he loaded up her chair.

As they headed down the street the silence was deafening and she said “Thanks for bringing me today.  I had a good time.”

“I know,” he said without looking at her.

After they rode nearly the entire trip in silence she said
, “So what’s wrong then?”

“Nothing, I’m just tired
,” he lied.

“Bullshit
,” she said turning to face him.

“Look if you want to bang some old guy that’s your business.  We’re not dating or anything…
so feel free… but you need to know that he’s
only
doing that shit to annoy me,” he said.

“First of all I know he was doing it to annoy you…
Certainly not because he’s actually interested in fucking the handicapped girl!” she said turning back forward.

“That’s not how I meant it and you know it
,” he said angrily as he turned on to her street.

“Really?  Ben and Matt are your community service…
not
me!” She yelled as angry tears threatened. “He was trying to make you jealous because he thinks you like me.  Had I known it would have this effect I would have assured him that other than feeling responsible for taking care of the invalid, his efforts were wasted,” she finished angrily.

“Oh please!  You’re hot and you know it.  You were one of those rich snotty girls in school and when life got all fucked up and wasn’t perfect anymore you took it as permission to give up and wallow in your own misery
,” he yelled back as he turned into her driveway.

“Fuck off!  You don’t know anything about me!  You’ve been playing housekeeper and babysitter for a
week!
  That does not make you an expert on me or my family,” she yelled as tears formed in her eyes.

Turning off the
engine he popped the trunk and got out of the car, slamming the door angrily.  He pulled her chair out of the trunk and then slammed the lid before heading up the walk.  He set the chair down, unlocked the house, turned on some lights then grabbed her chair and disappeared inside.

After several minutes had passed
, he again appeared in the front door and walked toward the car.  Opening her car door he reached in and scooped her up into his arms.  Kicking the door shut with his foot he carried her into the house and up to her room. 

Stopping just inside the door
way to her room, he sighed and gazed down at her.

“I’m not saying I’m an expert on you or your family…
I just… can’t… date you.  I’m not your type and you’re definitely not mine.  I don’t like you in that way... but I’d hoped we could be friends,” he said, looking at her mouth.

Then he gently sat her down on the foot of her bed next to
the backpack he’d left behind earlier and turned his back to her shoving his hands in his pockets.  The air between them seemed to crackle. 

His breathing was irregular and so was hers.  How was it he could make her laugh one minute where she wanted to kiss the smart off his mouth and so angry the next she wanted to pull his hair out?

After a few long moments of silence he said, “I should go.  I’ll be by tomorrow to check on you.  Do you need anything before I go?”

“No
,” she nearly whispered and then, “Here… don’t forget your backpack and your helmet.”

Picking up the backpack by the corner she didn’t expect it to be so heavy and it slid opened end
ed off the foot of the bed spilling the contents on the floor as it went.  Loose pieces of white sketch paper slid across the floor.  Some were face down but most of them were face up.

Looking at them she couldn’t believe what she was seeing.  Life like sketches…
of her!
  One of them showed just her eyes while another showed just her lips and still another of her entire face. 

Looking more carefully she could see one that looked as if she were taking a bath in a claw foot tub with a single leg propped against
its ledge.  She was leaned forward…shaving. 

The drawing would have been humorous if not for the detail he’d used to draw her breasts and cleft.  The sketch was provocative but not nearly as bad as some of the other ones that depicted her pleasuring herself. 

Her intimate parts in some pictures were smudged as though to indicate the unknown while in others they were graphic. 

Other than the one drawing of her in the tub
, none of them depicted her stump.  Most showed her from the thigh up and in all of them her face appeared as though she were in the throes of passion.

“Fuck!”
he whispered and then crouched down to retrieve the backpack and the sketches.

“Chuck?”
she said.  She needed to know what the drawings meant.

He didn’t respond to her but instead looked away as though in shame.

“Chuck?  What is all that?” she asked again.

After a long pause he looked back at her and said
, “Proof that I’m a liar.”

Why didn’t he take his sketches and sketchbook out and leave everything at the apartment? 
Why?
  Now she sat staring at them with questions in her eyes he wasn’t prepared for and couldn’t answer.  He attempted to quickly collect the sketches and his backpack so he could get the hell out of Dodge.

Touching his arm she said
, “No wait… I want to see them.”

Clearing his throat he said
, “They’re obviously not very appropriate” as he continued to collect them.

“I can see that…”
she started.

“I don’t carry them around with me.  I just had them in there today because I had been working on sketches of the detail work for the bike…”
he interrupted. “Don’t worry, I haven’t shown them to anyone… I’ll destroy them… and I won’t…” he broke off looking away from her again as he picked up the closed sketchbook.

She stopped him from stuffing it in the backpack by placing her hand on his arm and then sliding it down to the sketchbook.  Grasping it firmly
, she tugged gently at it.

“Don’t…”
he said as though in pain.

She could only stare at him.  He was so good looking…
this vulnerable look in no way detracted from that but somehow enhanced it… as though she were getting a glimpse at his very soul.  “Please?” she asked.

Sitting back on his bottom from the crouching position put him directly beside her, touching her leg that hung over the side of the bed.  He released the sketchbook with a sigh. 

Leaning to the side, he put his forehead on her thigh which bumped the ever present ball cap he wore loose.

“I’m sorry…”
he said against the skin on her leg.  Shivers raced through her like nothing she’d experienced before. 
God help her!
  She was aroused just by the simple gesture.

Placing the sketchbook on the opposite side of her from where he sat
, she removed the hat from his head and sat it behind him.  Unable to stop herself she fingered through the back of his hair down to his neck. 

She meant to comfort him as she prepared to invade his world.  He let out a groan
accompanied by a physical shiver and she shared his reaction… feeling it in the very core of her.  Reaching over she opened the sketchbook. 
Was she ready for this?

His artwork was incredible with details that couldn’t be ignored or overlooked.  The sketches were beyond good, they were extraordinary.  The first few pictures were of her standing at her window.  The sheer curtains acted as a mysterious shroud…
intriguing and decadent. 

As she flipped through the pages she couldn’t help but wonder when he’d had time to sketch them all.  The further from the front of the sketchbook she got
, the more interesting the sketches became.  No longer did they simply depict her… but included himself as well… locked in passionate embraces.

It seemed the sketches further into the book began to play out as a scene…
a fantasy
. 

There were missing pages that had obviously at one point been torn out…
the loose pages that had spilled out of his bag. 
Why did he tear them out?
  It gave the impression that he was torn emotionally about the sketches.  Attempting to stop as the next few sketches were of a motorcycle… the one he’d been painting today. 

Then it was as if he’d given up or been defeated in his attempts to curb his drawings of her, for the remaining three sketches were by far the raciest ones of them all. 

They displayed the two of them engaged in various sex acts.  One depicted her sitting up with her head thrown back, holding one of her breasts in her hand while the back of his head displayed between her open thighs. 

Another depicted them from the side with her naked and straddling him
, looking down at him and cupping his head in her hands.  The last one showed her lying back with her hair all around, her eyes closed, while he covered her… with his face to the side as though kissing her neck while he…

Upon hearing her sharp intake of breath he again whispered
, “I’m sorry.”

She sat quietly trying to digest the images she’d seen as she continued to stroke his hair between her fingers.  It was hard to fathom the level of uninhibited want the images spoke of…
his desire for
her
. 

She’d been popular in both high school and college with plenty of guys wanting to go out with her.  Josh having been one of them…
but this… his sketches spoke of uncontrolled impulses… of a wild need that was consuming him.

The sketches weren’t about status, what was expected or even compatibility but of the need for a connection…
with her.
  Though the individual images were of a graphic nature, compiled together they showed a truly intimate scene… one of devotion… and trust… and wild irrepressible emotion.

She enjoyed his playfulness and even appreciated the way he provoked her with his inappropriate comments…
but this side of him was irresistible.  She’d made every attempt to keep her lustful thoughts of him at bay since meeting him... convinced that the wild part of him would grow bored easily and move on. 

She understood her reasons for not wanting to get involved with him…
but what were his?

Without a single word he had told her everything and was waiting for reassurance from her…
but what could she say?  The sketches stole her breath and left her heated and equally unrestrained… wild…
for him
.

“They’re beautiful
,” she finally whispered.

She wasn’t sure what he’d expected from her but he moved around so that he was kneeling in front of her with his face against her legs.  Slowly he began to rub his face and head against her thighs much like a cat rubs against its owner’s legs as a sign of affection. 
Or like a wild animal marking his territory.

Moving back he pulled her legs apart and then yanked her forward so that she was flush against his chest.  He reached his hands up into her hair and pulled her mouth down to his.  An explosion of heat ignited at the contact of his lips on hers.