Forever and Almost Always (7 page)

“Thanks.”

She turned and I handed her the beer I had just gotten her. I watched her as she meticulously took a pull from the cold bottle. As her lips sealed around the lip of the bottle, I could feel my pants getting tighter than they already were. I let out a low growl, but luckily she didn’t hear me, or at least pretended not to if she did. I reluctantly made my way over to her, grabbing her bottle from her hand. When she gave me a weird look, I set my bottle down right next to hers. As much as I wanted to put off the inevitable, it was time to seal the deal and make sure this girl know, just how much I wanted her.

I let one hand slide down her side, coming to rest on her hip as I pushed my other hand back through her hair, gently clutching the back of her neck. I looked into her wondering eyes for a brief second, before I pulled her lips into mine. My hand slid around to rest on the top of her backside, as my lips began to move against hers. I knew I didn’t want it to be a long drawn out kiss. Hell, I wanted to leave her yearning for more, so I quickly pulled back and then pressed my lips against hers one more time, before pulling back fully.

“Sorry.” I whispered.

“For what?” I could tell she was having a hard time catching her breath, and I would be lying if I said I wasn’t having the same issue.

“Nothing, I suppose.” I stood back and then handed her a new bottle of beer. I clanked mine against hers and she smiled. I coyly smiled back and leaned against the railing. “So, what are you doing tomorrow?”

She glanced down at her bottle, as she picked at the corners of the label. “I’m not sure. Probably just hanging out at home. You?”

I moved a little bit closer to her, “Well I was hoping to be hanging out with this beautiful girl that I finally kissed. But, she seems to be a bit busy.” I grinned. My lips were only inches away from hers, and I could feel her hot breath graze my skin as she breathed in and out.

“I think we could probably figure something out.” She breathed.

“Charlee?”

“Yeah?”

Her eyes made their way up to mine, and I almost lost my train of thought. “Um…can I take you out sometime this weekend?”

“Why Dax, are you
finally
asking me out on a date?” She smiled.

“Why yes, I believe I am.” We both shared a laugh, but then she got very quiet and leaned in close to my ear.

“I think I might need some persuasion.” Her warm breath tickled my ear, causing other parts of me to react in full force.

I quickly turned my face, catching her lips with mine. I cupped her face in my hands and deepened the kiss. My tongue slid across her bottom lip, hoping she would grant me access, and just like that, she did. My tongue slid against hers as we explored each other’s mouths. I let one of my hands slip around the back of her head and I gently tugged on her hair. She moaned into my mouth, making my excitement for her grow to exponential lengths, literally and figuratively. I could feel her hands gliding up the back of my shirt, as I pulled her deeper into me. The tips of her fingernails began to dig into the stretched muscles across my shoulder blades, when I heard footsteps headed in our direction. As much as I didn’t want to break the contact with her, I knew it would probably be best if I did.

“What’s going on over here?” Her friend Taylor’s voice broke through the night air, annoying me to no end.

“Nothing, now.” I growled.

Charlee playfully slapped me across the chest and I couldn’t help but laugh a little at how red her cheeks were.

“What’s up?” I closed my eyes as Charlee began a conversation with her friend. I knew we weren’t going to be able to pick up where we left off, so I excused myself and made my way over to Wilton.

As I made my way up the dock and towards the van, I caught sight of a few guys headed in the direction of the girls. I stopped for a brief second, but then figured they were harmless, so I continued on my way.

“Hey man, what are you doing up here by yourself?”

“Just hanging out. I just got off the phone with a couple of the girls that were supposed to come by tonight. Seeing as I don’t stand a chance with Taylor, I figured we could head home a little early, so I could still meet up with them. That cool with you?” His voice rang with hope and I didn’t want to be the one to make it so he didn’t get any tonight. I definitely didn’t want to be
that
guy.

“Yeah, that’s cool with me. I’ll go grab the girls.” Just then I heard a loud shriek and started hauling ass back down the dock. The closer I got, the clearer the picture before me came into view. Taylor was backed against the railing by one of the guys I had seen before, and the other two were trying to get Charlee’s attention.

“WILTON, GET DOWN HERE NOW!” I yelled, just as my fist connected with the guy that was attacking Taylor. He fell to the ground with a thud, and I quickly started making my way over to Charlee. The taller of the two guys had her arms pinned behind her with one hand, while his other hand started making their way up her shorts.

“I’m not so sure that’s a good idea.” I growled as I walked up behind him.

“Just walk away, asshole. This doesn’t concern you.”

“That’s where you’re wrong,
asshole.
Anything having to do with this girl,” I pointed directly at Charlee so he knew
exactly
who I was talking about, “has
everything
to do with me. Now I’ll say it again, I’m not so sure you wanna do what you’re thinking about doing here.”

The guy let go of Charlee, just as his friend walked up behind her, wrapping his arms around her body and pinning her arms to her sides. I watched for a brief second as Charlee struggled to break free from his grasp, but she was only making things worse. When I turned back to the tall one, his face suddenly disappeared. Wilton stood back, rubbing his hand with a wide grin across his face. Now that he was here, I slowly made my way over to the guy holding Charlee.

“Do you wanna just let her go, or do you wanna end up like your buddies over there?” I pointed behind me.

“Let’s see what you got.” He was provoking me.

I shook my head as I let out a loud chuckle. If this guy only knew what he was getting into. I may not have been the tallest among all of us, but I sure as shit had been in my fair share of fights. “So be it.” I laughed as I lunged for his face.

He quickly pushed Charlee to the ground, as my fist connected with his jaw. I could hear the bones breaking underneath my hand, but everything else faded away, as I pummeled this guy’s face into the ground.

“Dax. DAX!” Charlee’s voice broke through the silence and anger that I’d been focused on. I cocked my hand back again, but felt a small fragile hand clasped around my fist, and suddenly I was calm. I stood up off of the guy beneath me and reached for Charlee, pulling her tightly into my heaving chest. I ran my fingers down the length of her hair, not sure if I was trying to soothe her or myself, but either way, it was working.

“Dax, are you okay?” Her voice was soft and extremely sexy as it filled with worry.

“I’m okay.” I held her out at arms length, checking her for any visible signs of injury, “Are
you
okay, is the bigger question?”

“I think…I think, I’m okay. Thank you.”

“There’s nothing to thank me for.” I slid my finger underneath her chin so I could stare into her eyes. There were so many things I wanted to say to her in that moment, but words seemed to be failing me. So instead, I sealed my lips over hers. It was a quick kiss, but one that I could tell definitely affected her more than she had anticipated. “Let’s go.” I whispered, before clasping my hand around hers and leading her back up to the van.

Wilton and Taylor were already in the van and ready to go. Wilton was in the driver’s seat and I could only assume that Taylor was too shaken up to drive. I ushered Charlee into the back seat to join her friend, but before I took my seat up front, I leaned inside the van towards Taylor.

“You okay, Taylor?”

The only response I could get was a head nod, but for now, I would take it. I closed the door after giving Charlee one last look, and then climbed in the front. This night hadn’t quite turned out the way I had envisioned it, but it was definitely a night I wouldn’t soon forget.

Chapter Twelve

Charlie

The ride home was extremely awkward, but I was thankful that the guys had been with us tonight. I shuddered at the thought of what could’ve happened, if we were alone like we usually were. Taylor was still shaken up, so I kept my arm around her, holding her tight against me. As tough as we both made ourselves out to be, we were still girls, and girls had a way of letting things like what happened tonight, affect us.

I tried to not look in Dax’s direction throughout the car ride, but every so often I would feel his fingers gently graze my shin. Just when I would look over, his hand would disappear back up front. It was one of the sweetest things a guy had ever done for me. I know how pathetic that sounds, but in all actuality, I had dated one of the biggest assholes I had ever met in my life and anything compared to how he treated me, was amazing.

We pulled up between mine and Dax’s house a short while later, and I felt bad leaving Taylor to get home on her own. “Hey guys, can you stay with Taylor for just a second? I need to make a call real quick.”

They both nodded their heads in agreement as I exited the van. I pulled my cell phone out of my purse and quickly dialed Taylor’s mom.

“Hello?”

“Hi Mom, it’s Charlee. Hey do you mind watching Katie overnight for Taylor? She had a run in with her ex, and she’s a bit shaken up. I just don’t feel comfortable having her drive home alone tonight.” I knew it was a long shot, but sometimes Taylor’s mom came through.

“Yeah, honey. That’s fine. She’s already asleep anyway. Please make sure Taylor comes home first thing in the morning though. Her stepdad needs his van and we have plans.”

“I promise I’ll make sure she gets home on time. Thanks so much, Mom.”

“No problem, honey. Talk to you later.”

I hung up the phone and made my way back to the van where Taylor, Dax and Wilton stood. “Okay, so your mom says you can stay here tonight. Let’s get you inside.”

A look of shock fell over Taylor’s face, but when I shrugged my shoulders the look disappeared. I gave Taylor a quick hug and whispered something in her ear. She took the keys from my hand and started making her way up my front walkway. Wilton followed suit after Dax gave him a look, and I waved goodnight to him.

“Dax, look-“

His hands came up to my shoulders, as he crouched down to look me in the eyes. “Please don’t thank me again. I did what needed to be done. I’m just sorry any of that happened tonight. Not quite the first date I had in mind.”

“Not quite a first date, at all.” I replied. “You usually have to ask me out before we can consider it a first date.”

“Oh but I did ask you. How about tomorrow night? I’ll have to borrow my friend Ernie’s truck, but…just say yes.”

I looked up into those smoldering eyes and found myself nodding in agreement, before I could even process what I was doing. Millions of butterflies suddenly took flight in my tummy and I gently pressed my lips against his, pulling back way too quickly for my liking. “I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“Absolutely.” He replied, and then he was gone.

I gathered my things from the van and locked it up with the keys Wilton had left on the seat. As I started walking up the walkway to my front door, my phone started ringing. I glanced down at the screen and quickly hit ignore. There was only so much bullshit one girl could go through in one night.

“Tay?” I shouted.

“I’m in your room.”

I made my way through my bedroom door and threw my purse down on my bed next to Taylor. “You doing okay, hun?”

“Yeah. I’m fine. We both know we’ve both dealt with worse things.”

“Agreed.”

“Thanks for calling my mom. Do you care if we just go to sleep?”

“Not at all. I’m just going to grab some water and turn on the porch light for my mom. Be back in a sec.”

As I walked into the kitchen, I couldn’t help but look across the way into the open window at Dax’s house. A large part of me was hoping that I would get one last look at him, but I was severely disappointed when his house went dark. I filled up my glass of water and double checked all the locks on the doors, before heading back to my room. Taylor was already laying down, so I slipped on a pair of boxers and crawled into bed.

“You were trying to get one last look at him, weren’t you?” She laughed.

“Maybe.” We both broke out in a fit of giggles. There wasn’t anything that I could get past Taylor. She was like the sister I never had, and she knew me just as well.

~ ~ ~ ~

The next morning, I woke up to my mom banging on my bedroom door. “I swear to god Charlee, if there is a guy in there, I
will
break this door down.”

I climbed over Taylor’s sleeping body and answered my door. “Good morning to you too, Mom. And I guess if you consider Taylor a guy, then yes, yes I have a guy in my room.” I giggled.

“You’re not funny. What are your plans for today?”

“Oh you know, go to work, make some dinner, then maybe hang out with you for a bit.” I let a sly smile creep across my smart ass face.

“You think your funny, don’t you?”

“Sometimes.” I replied.

“Well, you’re not. You’re such a smart ass. Whatever! I have to work again tonight. I won’t be home until the morning and I’ll need to sleep today and tomorrow, so
please
be quiet.”

“Will do, Mom. I have a date tonight.” I gloated.

“That’s fantastic, Charlee. Remember, be quiet.”

Before I could respond, my mom was walking into her bedroom and closing the door behind her. My mom was a nurse, and no matter how hard I tried, I could never get her attention. I did the typical bad teenager bit when I was younger to try. I did drugs, ran away, snuck out of my house, and not once did she ever go the extra mile to try and understand why. Instead, she worked. She worked, and dated every now and then. I knew she had her priorities and that I was very low on that list, but honestly I didn’t think it was asking too much for a simple conversation about what was going on in
my
life. Apparently, she had other ideas.