We made our way to the booth and I sat down hoping she would slide in beside me. My body already missed the heat I felt rolling off of her when we’d been dancing. My feet were killing me because she was right — she was a horrible dancer. Every time we rotated, her heel found the arch of my foot and I wondered how it was possible for her to hit the same spot every single time. But I didn’t care. If she’d been kicking me in the shins, I would have bit my tongue and endured it just to hold her for a few minutes longer.
El slid in the seat facing me and waved over at the waitress to indicate we needed a refill. Looking towards me, she smiled. “How much can you drink, big guy?”
I smiled. Now we were in my area of expertise: Drinking, partying and drugs. I’d built up quite a tolerance through the years and I chuckled to myself when she appeared to be challenging me to a drinking contest.
“You think you can drink more than me?”
She smiled. “No. Drinking contests are dangerous. You can poison yourself that way. I just want to make sure you walk out of here with a pretty good buzz.”
I returned her smile because I liked where this was going. Clenching my cheeks to present my dimples, I pulled out all the stops to attract her attention. Girls always loved my dimples and I wasn’t ashamed to admit I used them to my advantage. “Why? Do you want me buzzed?”
She looked over to the bar and grinned as she considered some inner thought. Turning back to me she winked when she said, “No reason.”
Oh yeah. This was going to be a good night.
Chapter Six
“Boy! Can you explain to me why, exactly, you are laid up in my driveway naked as a jaybird?”
I felt a boot kick me softly in the side and I startled instantly. My eyes peeked open and I saw a strange man standing above me. I sat up quickly, but instantly regretted it when a headache started pounding against my skull. Holding my head in my hands, I attempted to block out the floodlights that were glaring down at me from the porch of Ellison’s house.
What the fuck?!
Laughter erupted behind me, just before another voice said, “Holy shit! What the fuck is wrong with you, man? You are covered head to toe in mosquito bites. That shit is going to suck as soon as you start moving around.” When I turned to look behind me, I spied Ellison’s brother standing there.
“Like I asked, boy, what are you doing naked in front of my house? Who the hell are you? Why I shouldn’t shoot you for being naked outside of my little girl’s window.”
That got my attention.
I looked down to see just how naked I was and I breathed a sigh of relief to find that I still had boxers covering my nether regions. Looking up at who I presumed was Ellison’s father, I opened my mouth to talk, but was interrupted by Jake.
“This is Lily’s cousin from up north. He’s staying with her and Bill for the summer.”
El’s dad eyed me warily. I sat up straighter, groaning from the blood pounding through my head, and pulled my legs up to my chest. My skin started itching like a motherfucker and I tried desperately to remember how I ended up naked in the dirt. The last thing I remembered was drinking with El at the bar and … fuck.
Ellison. I knew she had something to do with this.
Holding my hands up in surrender, I looked up at Mr. James. “I’m really, really sorry, sir, but I have no fucking clue how I ended up here. I went out with Lil last night and I don’t remember much of what happened. If it’s okay, I’d like to just stand up and go inside and we can talk about this when I have some clothes on.”
Speaking of which — where the fuck were my clothes?
Mr. James snorted in response. “Well, yeah, we’ll be talking about this all right. Just as soon as Bill is up, I’ll be having some words with him about ya. I don’t much appreciate strange naked men lurking around my daughter.” He uncocked the gun I hadn’t notice he’d been holding and replaced it in a holster at his side. “Now get inside before I change my mind and take care of your sorry ass myself.”
He didn’t have to tell me twice. I was still stuck on the fact that the man had been holding a gun and I almost pissed myself wondering what could have happened if Jake hadn’t been around to identify me. Pushing up from the ground, I resisted the temptation to move quickly and start itching the shit out of the bites on my chest and legs. I didn’t know if this guy had a quick trigger finger when it came to his daughter and I sure as hell didn’t want to stick around much longer to find out.
Not even bothering to brush the dirt off the back of me, I backed up to my uncle’s house — slowly — while still holding my hands out in surrender. “I’m just going to go inside now and get dressed and talk to Lil, I’m sure there’s a perfectly reasonable explanation as to why I’m sleeping in the driveway naked. I’ll be happy to explain it to you once she tells me what happened last night.”
Mr. James scowled and took a step toward me. “Boy! It is two o’clock in the fucking morning. Don’t you dare go waking that girl up in the middle of the night! Now, get your sorry ass inside, put on some clothes and crawl your ass underneath your blankets. I’ll talk to Lily myself when I return home this evening.”
“Yes sir.” I nodded my head while continuing to slowly back away. When my foot finally hit the stairs to the front door, I turned quickly and hoofed up three steps at a time just to get away. Quickly opening the door, entering and slamming it behind me, I groaned when the entire house shook and hoped I didn’t wake up Bill and Lily. No lights turned on and I figured they’d slept through it. I made my way to the bathroom and grimaced when I caught sight of myself in the mirror. I was c-o-v-e-r-e-d in mosquito bites. My skin looked like I’d just gotten over a bad case of chicken pox and my skin itched so badly, I wanted to rip it off my body. I flung open the toiletry closet and located a bottle of calamine lotion. I looked between the bottle and the tub and when I determined it wasn’t enough to fill the tub for me to soak in the shit, I opened it and start pouring it over my skin. By the time I emptied the bottle, I looked like I’d been thrown up on by a bottle of Pepto-Bismol. Pink was not my color, but the itching had stopped and I was going to have to sleep in this shit.
Finally hightailing it to my room, I carefully shut the door climbed beneath the covers. I laid on my back for a few minutes completely freaked out over what had transpired and annoyed as shit that I didn’t remember how I’d ended up naked in the front yard. I knew Ellison did this and I kicked myself for having trusted her at the bar. I made a mental note that when Ellison James uttered the words “no reason,” I needed to get the hell out of Dodge before she had the chance to follow that phrase up with whatever fuckedupery she was planning.
But damned if I wasn’t impressed with her execution. I had no fucking clue it was coming even after Lily and Uncle Bill had warned me. All that girl had to do was smile and wink and I was putty in her hands. The realization was unnerving. She’d somehow crawled under my skin and implanted herself in my head and the only thing I could think about was how I was going to plant myself in hers.
~ ~ ~
The mattress dipping down at my feet woke me up later in the morning. I peeled my eyes open to find a smiling Lily at the foot of my bed. Her hand reached out and tugged the covers down off my chest. After looking me over, the corners of her mouth curled and she snorted while trying not to laugh. She gave up the fight within seconds and started laughing her ass off at the sight of me.
“What the fuck, Lil? It isn’t funny.”
She was balled over herself and I could see her back shaking from her laughter. Finally looking up, she laughed again, but then wiped the tears from her eyes as she said, “I knew I shouldn’t have left you alone with El in the driveway last night.”
“Yeah! About that! What the hell happened?!” I didn’t mean to sound as pissed off as I was feeling, but my anger was boiling out of me.
“Calm down, pink boy, the bites have probably already stopped itching considering you slept in a blanket of calamine.” She smiled bright
ly at me and I turned my attention to the window. It was still dark outside.
“What the hell time is it, anyway?” I sat up straight and the blankets puddled around my hips revealing even more of the pink shit smeared down my abdomen.
Lily giggled when she looked at me. “It’s five in the morning.”
“What the fuck?! Do any of you sleep?” I was annoyed that the sun hadn’t even come up and I was being awoken yet again. My circadian rhythm was taking a beating and I was seriously fucking exhausted.
“What do you mean any of us? I was just waking you up because you told El you’d be hiking with her today and she usually leaves just before the sun comes up. I wanted to give you time to get a shower and get dressed. If you’re not ready by the time she heads out, she’ll leave you behind.”
I groaned at her reminder that I’d acted like a bad ass and signed up for a hike, which I was sure would count as military training.
“But, seriously, what do you mean ‘any of us’?”
I scowled at her. “Well, at TWO o’clock this morning I woke up NAKED in the driveway with El’s dad and her brother standing over me.”
Lily bust out laughing again.
“It isn’t funny! Her dad had a gun. He’d could’ve shot me if it wasn’t for Jake telling him that I wasn’t some freak.” My jaw dropped as I watched her work diligently to get herself back under control. By the time she looked back up at me, her eyes were bloodshot from laughing tears.
“I’m sorry, Hunter. El must have left you out there. I told you to be careful with that girl. She’s real serious about getting even.” Her words were broken up by her continued chortles.
Balking at the fact that she was blaming me, I let out a resigned sigh. “Can you just tell me what happened and how I ended up ALONE with a girl who was out to get me? We’re family, you should have looked out for me better than that.”
Lily’s eyes grew wide. “I tried. When we left the bar, you were shitfaced and Ryan had to help El and I drag you to the truck. We rode home and all you kept doing is telling El how beautiful she was and calling her an angel. By the time we made it home, you begged me to leave you in the driveway with her so you could continue to work your love magic.” She made the little air quote signs with her hands as she spoke.
“I didn’t really say that, did I?” Oh God. I was dying inside. Absolutely, 100 percent dying if I really said those things to El.
“Uh, yeah, you did. You’re so damn big, I couldn’t just drag your drunk ass in and Daddy would have killed me if I stayed outside much longer. I had no choice but to leave you.”
I couldn’t believe it. I had not been able to drink to the point of blacking out for the last few years. How did it happen last night? I didn’t understand how I got so drunk splitting a couple of pitchers with Ellison. “Was Ellison drunk too?”
Lily snickered. “No. She doesn’t drink that much so she takes it easy when we go out. She was pretty much normal by the time we left the bar. I don’t know what she did to you after I went inside. You’re going to have to ask her that yourself.”
“Lily! You up?!” Uncle Bill’s voice boomed through the house and the volume did nothing for the massive hangover headache that was creeping back into my skull.
Lily turned towards the door. “Yeah, Daddy, I’ll be out there in a second!”
I cradled my pounding head in my hands and tried to cover my ears to mute the volume of her voice.
“I gotta go check on Daddy. You should get ready. El will be heading out within the next 20 minutes or so. She said she’d stop by before leaving.” Lily stood up to head into the hallway, but turned back to me. “If you want, I can whip you up some breakfast. Might help you with that hangover you’re sporting.”
My burning eyes peered out at her through my fingers. “Is it that obvious?”
“Just a little.” She had a sympathetic look on her face for about a split second before it was replaced with a smile. “I’d wash off all that lotion if I were you. Pink is not your color.”
I flipped her off and she laughed while walking out towards the living room. Peeling myself off the mattress, I immediately made my way into the bathroom and washed off the inch thick layer of lotion I had over my skin. When the water finally ran clear again, I climbed out, dried off and threw on a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. Walking into the living room, I smelled eggs and bacon being fried up in the kitchen and my mouth watered. My stomach growled loudly and I sat down next to Uncle Bill at the kitchen table and watched Lily cook up the goods. Uncle Bill folded down the newspaper and eyed me suspiciously.
“What’s this I hear about you streaking in our front yard? I received a voicemail from a really pissed off Henry this morning letting me know he found you sprawled out in the driveway, naked and smelling like you’d just returned home from a brewery. I know you’re not legal drinking age, son, so I think you need to give me a really good explanation that doesn’t cause me to whip your ass from here to next Wednesday.” He was yelling at me as Ellison entered through the front door. My eyes immediately went to hers and she chuckled to see how miserable I was at that moment.
“Hey, all! How’s everyone doin’ this mornin’?” Ellison waltzed in looking absolutely stunning in a pair of khaki shorts and a black tank top. Her hair was pulled back in a braid and she held several bags in her hands. The little furry demons followed in at her heels. They must have smelled the bacon, because within seconds, they were at Lily’s feet sitting pretty as they begged for the food. Lily smiled down at them and threw them each a small piece of bacon.
“Now, Lily, don’t you be feeding those mutts before the human members of this family have had a chance to eat,” Uncle Bill scolded.
Lily nodded, but then rolled her eyes and kept feeding them when Bill wasn’t looking — which was when his eyes had returned to me. “So, are you going to tell me what happened, Hunter?”
“Oh! That was my fault, Bill.” Ellison spoke up quickly when Bill started giving me the third degree. “It was just a harmless prank and I’ll explain everything to Daddy when he gets home tonight. No worries.” She smiled sweetly and I could literally see Bill melt. I had to admit: the girl had charm.
“Well, okay, Ellison, but you know you three shouldn’t be out drinking. I have a real problem with that and you know why. I don’t see the need to get into it now, but cut out the bullshit until you’re legal, at least. Maybe by then, you’ll have enough sense to stay away from alcohol.”
We ate breakfast in silence and every once in a while the three of them would crack up after getting a good look at the bites along my arms. I was itching like a madman and I resembled a hyperactive toddler with the amount of squirming I was doing in my chair. I eyed Ellison across the table and I was balling my hands up trying to keep from demanding she tell me what happened the night before. It wasn’t a conversation I wanted to have in front of Bill, so it took everything I had not to grab her and force the information out of her right where she sat. She must have known what I thinking too, because the whole damn time we were eating, she kept smiling at me across the table just before laughing at some unshared thought. After we’d finally finished eating, Ellison stood up and walked to the front door.
“You ready, Hunter? It’s not going to get any cooler out there, so it’s best that we start now.” She picked up the bags from the floor and threw two of them at me when I approached her. “You’ve got a camel pack and a regular pack for food and water. I’ve filled up both, so you should have no problem walking the trail with me.”
I stopped in my tracks. “How far a hike is this trail? Two miles — five? Why do we need provisions?” I had a sinking feeling in my stomach that I really should NOT have agreed to this. Why did I not just agree to the easy trail? I hate it when my testosterone and need to show off ended up putting me in fucked up situations.
Nonchalantly, she answered, “It’s about 20 miles, give or take. We should be able to complete it in a little less than seven hours if we really
hoof it. No biggie.”
My jaw dropped. I was so fucking tired already that I couldn’t even close my mouth without pushing up on my chin with my hand. And this girl wanted me to walk 20 miles in the Florida summer heat?! Uh-huh. No way was this happening. She was crazy.
“I don’t think so, Ellison. That sounds like suicide.”
She smirked at me and reached to take the packs from my hand. “That’s fine, Hunter. It’s decent of you to admit you can’t handle it before going out there with me and slowing me down. I’m sure I’ll see you around when I get back.” It was a hit to my ego and then she did it again. That thing she does that drives me crazy and makes a certain part of me want to stand at attention: She winked.
Dammit. I was going to do this.
“Fine. Whatever. I can do this. I was just worried about you having the energy to handle it given the fact that you didn’t get much sleep last night. Oh, wait! That was me.”
A smile escaped her parting lips and her eyes twinkled with humor. “I can imagine sleeping outside in a swamp is a bad idea … especially while naked. I’m surprised you got any sleep at all.”
And with that, she opened the door and walked outside.
Chapter Seven
The sun was just starting to come up over the horizon and if there’s anything to be said about Florida, it was that the sky was so beautiful at times; it looked like it had been painted by a master artist. Pinks, reds, yellows and oranges streaked across the skies, casting a brilliant light on the trees and plant life surrounding us. Ellison and I navigated our way through a small path that was cut into the dense vegetation, and the two fuzzballs were following fast on our heels.
“Are you sure the little guys will make the trip? Seems like they have to move their legs four times as fast to keep up with us.” The two dogs were panting heavily behind me and I almost felt the need to pick them up and carry them.