Riveted: Drawn Series Book 1 (8 page)

“Hey Bleu, what’s shaking?” he asked.

“Not much. Almost forgot to eat. I grabbed some fruit at
the farmer’s market and sushi. Besides, it slowed down a bit,” I replied,
sitting on the bench.

“I was thinking,” he started.

“Uh oh,” I joked. He laughed and stubbed out his
cigarette.

“Seriously? Listen, I saw how interested you were in the
drawing I made. Would you ever think about getting it tattooed on your hips and
lower back?” he asked. Thinking for a minute or two, I finally looked up at him
and smiled.

“Yes. But... wouldn’t that be expensive?” He tossed his
cigarette butt in the coffee can next to the side of the garage and then came
to sit next to me.

“No. I would do it for free,” he said. I raised an
eyebrow.

“What? Why? You barely know me,” I replied.

“It’s nothing shady calm down. If you let me put it in my
portfolio and submit it to a few magazines, then it would be worth it,” he
replied.

“Hmmm are you sure you are not looking to trade booty for
ink?”

“Why? Are you offering?” he asked with an evil grin. I
smacked his arm and he laughed.

“Totally legit. You should be honored. I don’t normally
offer free ink to people. Well except my mom,” he replied.

“Your mom? She has ink?”

“Uh yeah. Two whole sleeves. You don’t remember my mom do
you? Ruby? She used to waitress at Johnny Rotten's?” he asked.

“Your mom is Ruby? That’s right. Yeah she does have some
pretty sick ink!”

“See? So my intentions are good, for the most part,” he
replied. I shrugged.

“Hmm, I don’t know. I am going to have to get back to you
on it? Okay? I did not mean to imply you were some kind of scoundrel or
anything, I just, I don’t know,” I said, sighing sadly. I was a mess.

“Scoundrel? Who uses that word?” he teased.

“Sorry, I have been reading some trashy historical novels
on my Kindle. The women call the men scoundrels a lot,” I explained. He
laughed.

“And cads??” he asked.

“You know it! Thanks again for the offer and I will
definitely give you an answer!”
 
He
nodded, patted my arm and walked back into the shop.

When I got back inside, I walked over to the bookshelf
and took out Jack’s portfolio. I leafed through more than half of it, gazing at
the pages and pages of colorfully inked skin. His work was amazing! He did a
lot of cover ups and they were phenomenal. He did, in fact, have pictures of
his mother’s sleeve art. She had a sleeve of nothing but musical notes and what
looked like sheet music and musical instruments. The other sleeve was a
flower/fish theme with fat juicy looking koi fish and beautiful water lilies.
They were incredible. I laughed as I saw that Ruby still had the same fire
engine red Mohawk that she had when we were kids. Seeing his work, it made me
think long and hard about whether or not I wanted to do it. Carl was no longer
a deciding factor in my final decision. I made my own decisions now.

“You look lost in thought,” remarked Chloe, making me
jump. She giggled and patted my arm. I closed the portfolio and placed it back
on the bookshelf.

“Can I ask you something?”I asked her.

“Sure,” she replied.

“Jack did this amazing drawing. And he asked me if I
would consider letting him tattoo it on me,” I said.

“Do it! He did a back piece for me...kind of a naughty
Alice in Wonderland. It is my favorite of all my tattoos! And have you seen his
mom’s arms? Amazing! Like I said, you should do it!!!” she clapped her hands
excitedly and bounced up and down excitedly.

“Maybe I will. I want to think on it a little more,” I
replied. Her customer trotted out and paid for his piercings. Chloe waved good
bye and then leaned her little body against the desk. I looked up at her
expectantly.

“Anything else lined up for me?” she asked. Looking it up
in the computer, I saw she had three more.

“Three. One in an hour and two after that,” I said. She
smiled and skipped into the back. Drumming my fingers on the counter, I noticed
that the office door was still shut. Jack and I needed to talk about whether or
not I was sleeping over again. Grabbing my cell phone, I dialed Axel’s number
and it went straight to voicemail, like it had been doing all day long. 
Ugh, I wish I knew where he was. Finally the office door opened and Jack walked
out slowly. He looked exhausted. He gave me a tired smile and walked over to
me.

“You look hot in my clothes,” he whispered. He nuzzled my
cheek and breathed me in. I sighed and tried to keep my composure.

“Why thank you. They smell like you,” I replied with a
smile.

“Is that a good thing?” he asked.

“Of course,” I replied. He leaned forward to kiss me,
when the door opened.  Breaking apart quickly, he smiled at the woman who
walked in. She had to be in her early fifties, with expensive looking clothes.
Her gray hair was in a pretty up do. She smiled at me and Jack ushered her into
the back. Was she getting a tattoo?

Turning the “Open” sign off in the front of the shop, I
made sure everything was tidied up. Matt smiled as he trotted out, sipping a
Red Bull and texting furiously. He waved good bye to me and got into his car.
About two hours later, Jack came out from the back. The lady left, patting him
on the shoulder. She smiled at me over her shoulder and walked gracefully to
her car.

“Did she seriously come to get some work done?” I asked.
He turned and smiled.

“That’s my aunt. And yes she did come in to have work
done. On her back,” he replied.

“You’re messing with me!” I exclaimed. He shook his head.

“She has a back piece that is of the Virgin Mary, with a
rosary beside it. My uncle loves it,” he replied.

“Wow.”

“Ask her, she will show it to you sometime,” he said with
a laugh. I could not picture asking that graceful creature to take off her
shirt for me so that I could see her back piece. Since I started working at the
shop, I was amazed at the different types of people who came into the shop to
get ink.

“Why I am not surprised?” I remarked.

 He stepped closer to me and pulled me to him. I
could smell his cologne and his scent. I wanted to taste his skin.

“Staying with me tonight?” he asked with his sexy voice.
All I could do was nod. He smiled and walked in the back to turn off the
lights. I put my hand to me chest and tried to still my racing heartbeat. That
boy was trouble with a capital T.

Later that night, I was sitting on the couch, pretending to
watch television. I jumped as my cell phone buzzed, indicating I had a text
message. From my brother. Finally!!

-
Stop texting me. Will see you in a month or so.
Key is in flower pot next to driveway. Get your things and go stay with Aunt
Almeida if you want. Just stay away from my house and butt out of my life!

-Axel? Talk to me! Don’t do this!

-The subscriber you are trying to
reach is not receiving text messages at this time. Code 17665

Dropping the phone I gasped. The asshole blocked me! I
was so filled with a million emotions, I could not even respond. Tears formed
in my eyes. Balling myself up, I cried quietly. Jack was on the phone in his
bedroom. Anger coursed through me. Looking up, I quickly tried to wipe my face
as Jack came in. He took one look at me and came over to the couch, sitting
down.

“What’s wrong? What happened?” He asked. I handed him my
cell phone, the text messages from Axel were still on the screen.

“What the hell is going on? I don’t understand!?” he said
angrily. Putting my hand on his arm, I tried to calm him down.

“You and me both. I am just as confused. I don’t know
what to do except follow his orders. I am just going to go there, get my stuff
and figure out where I am going to stay,” I muttered.

“Stay here, with me,” he said. Looking up at him, I had
no idea what to say. I wanted to stay.

“With you? Here? We have not known each other long,” I
replied. He stood up.

“Bleu, who gives a shit?? Seriously??!! So what if we
barely know one another? Honestly I am sick to death of you telling me that we
barely know one another. I know that you love sushi, you hate chick flicks and
your favorite color is purple. I know that you read trashy novels on your
Kindle and you are a secret 80’s hair band addict. I also know that when I am
with you, I cannot breathe. You are so beautiful, you are perfect. Last night,
it took everything that I had NOT to come into the bedroom and lie with you.
And don’t get me started on you in the shower. I think I am falling in love
with you and it makes me so frustrated that you can’t see that!” he said as he
ran his fingers through his hair. Walking over to him, I rested my head against
his chest.

“Bleu, you have to trust me. Please,” he said softly. How
do I do this? How do I open myself up and not get hurt? I just nodded. Listened
to his heart beat and willed myself to be strong.

Getting into the car, I waved goodbye to Jack and drove
to Axel’s house. Turning off the engine, I climbed out and walked to the front
porch. After I retrieved the key from under the flowerpot, I opened the door
and turned on the downstairs light. With the exception of the hum of the
refrigerator, it was so quiet in Axel’s house. Slowly, I walked upstairs and
grabbed my stuff out of the spare room, looking back before closing the door.
My heart felt heavy. Unbelievable, this was crazy! When we were younger, I
would do everything I could to make sure he was okay. Especially after Beau
left. Who went to visit Dad in jail, who wrote him letters? I did. Stomping
down the stairs, I placed the key on the coffee table, that way he could not
say I did not listen. I was so mad. I was hurt beyond belief and I wanted to
punch my brother. Shutting the door behind me, I felt so sad, like someone had
just died in my life. Losing my brother was not what I had thought would happen
when I moved down here. I closed my eyes, leaning against his porch pillars and
tried to just fell him. Sense him. I felt nothing at all. Saddened, I shook my
head and walked to the car.

After locking the doors to the car, I carried my bags and
one box up the stairs to Jack’s apartment. Knocking on the door with the toe of
my sneaker, he opened it up and smirked when he saw how much stuff I was
carrying. He took two bags from me and put them on the floor beside the door.

“Thanks,” I replied. He nodded and pulled me in for a
hug, then a series of soft kisses.

“Mmm thank you,” I said. He kissed the top of my head.

“Did you decide what you want to do?” he asked. We went
over to the couch and I kicked off my sneakers.

“Yes. Jack, I don’t know how to do this. You and I. My
last relationship was so awful. I don’t want to be that person again. I hated
how I was,” I replied, twirling a strand of hair around my index finger.

“How are you when you are with me?” he asked.

“Confused, conflicted, horny,” I replied and laughed.

“Seriously?” he asked.

“Jack, I think about you all the time too. I am not
immune to the affect you have on me. You make me feel things that I definitely
did not feel with Carl. It scares me. You are so nice to me and I hate that I
question it. But moving in and getting serious is just not a good idea,” I
stated. He nodded and hugged me hard. Pushing him away, I looked at him.

“We have to take things slow. Please?” I asked. He
nodded.

“Anything you want,” he replied.

“Where am I going to sleep?” I asked.

“With me? And just sleep, not sex. Not unless you want
to” he responded with a shy smile. Hmm, how was that going to pan out? This
could get out of control because I wanted him so damn much.

“As long as it’s just sleeping, I can deal,” I replied.
This was going to rip my control into shreds. He said control was overrated and
it seemed like some unseen force was trying to prove to me just how true his
statement could be. I followed him to the bedroom and prayed that I did not
wake up naked.

Two days later, after closing down the shop, Jack and I
were sitting on the couch in the apartment. He was watching television and I
was on my laptop, working on something to show Lamar in regards to the school
district website. Jack kept looking over at me.

“What?” I asked, looking up from the screen. He had a
goofy grin on his face and it made me laugh.

“You are so beautiful,” he said. He leaned forward and
kissed me softly.

“Thank you. I am almost done and then we can do
whatever,” I replied. He looked over my shoulder at the laptop screen.

“What is it that you were doing if you don’t mind me
asking?” he asked. It was my account for the profiles I made for the dating
sites.

“Well I was coming up with a design template to shows
Abby’s husband Lamar. The school district is looking to launch a website and
Lamar is giving me first crack at designing it.” I replied.

“I hope they give you the job. It looked really neat,
what you were doing.” he said. I nodded in agreement. I could really use the
extra money.

“It would definitely come in handy, money wise. Plus it
would give me a foot in the door if they needed an IT person,” I said. My cell
phone in my lap buzzed and Abby’s picture lit up my screen telling me that she
had texted me. Her goofy face on my screen made me smile.

-
Where are you?

-Abby I am so sorry. It’s a long
story

-I’m not going anywhere. Spill it or
I will hunt you down

-  LOL.I am staying with Jack.
Axel left town and kicked me out. He won’t talk to me and my Aunt cannot get in
touch with him either. He has literally dropped off the face of the Earth.

-What??!! That’s bullshit Bleu! I am
SO going to kick his ass!

- Yeah um, how would Lamar feel
about that?

- Jack huh? Lol

-Nice subject change Obi Wan

-Coffee tomorrow morning? Lol

-Sure how about ten?

-Perfect Bleu…love you

-Love you too Abs

“That was Abby. Mind if I come in a little late tomorrow.
I want to tell her what is going on with Axel and get some advice,” I ask,
powering down my laptop and turning off my cell. He looked up from the
television and clicked it off.

“You didn’t have to turn that off,” I said.

“I wanted to give you my full attention,” he said.

“Are you always this nice?”

“I am nice yes. I
have
been hurt before too, and I
have had the luck of falling quickly and deeply,” he said, his face inches from
mine. He leaned in and kissed me, his kiss got deeper and deeper. In one quick
move, he had me on top of him so that I straddled him. His fingers ran through
my hair, taking it out of its rubber band as my hands settled on either side of
his face. Our tongues entwined, I felt myself get warm all over. Sitting up,
reluctantly I broke the kiss. His eyes were full of desire and I am sure mine
were too.

“What the hell was that?” I whispered, my lips feeling
swollen. He grinned sexily.

“Let’s find out,” he replied. He grabbed the back of my
head and pulled my mouth to him, devouring me. His hands moved down my arms to
the middle of my back and he pushed me against him. My hands could not stay
still and I settled for placing my hands on the back of his neck. My heart
raced and I felt like it was going to burst out of my chest. My skin was hot
and my head spun. He broke the kiss and touched his forehead to me. He looked
up at me and sighed.

“Bleu, if you keep touching me, I don’t think I am going
to be able to control myself,” he growled. I stopped touching him and bit my
lip. He groaned and when I opened my eyes, I could see his hands balled into
fists, trying to regain control.

 “Please Bleu, I don’t think I can take much more,”
he said.

“I just can’t do this,” I whispered.

 “Are you sure?” He pressed his forehead against
mine again and took in a ragged breath.

“Yes,” I said quietly. He nodded.

 “Jack, I um have never done this,” I whispered.

He gave me a puzzled look and I could see that he did not
understand what I meant.

“At all, with anyone,” I replied. His eyes widened,
finally realizing what I meant.

“Really?!”

“Yes really,” I said. He sat up and leaned back into the
couch.  He ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. He stood up
and paced a bit.

“Are you okay? I mean I did not mean to hurt you?” I
asked.

“I practically maul you and you are asking me if I am
alright? Bleu, I will be alright. I just need to not be so pushy with you,” he
said. He sat back down and I gave him a shy smile.

“Okay, but if anyone was pushy, it was me,” I said. He
looked at me and pulled me to him, cuddling with me.

“I am not made of glass Jack. Please don’t treat me like
it okay?” I shot out. He laughed and nuzzled my neck.

“I would never dream of it Bleu,” he said, laughing
again.

Let me tell you, that night was
another sleepless night. But this time, my encounter with Jack played through
my mind and all I could feel was his mouth on mine taste the sweat off of his
skin.
 
I woke up with a gasp and sighed
in relief when I saw that Jack was snoring softly next to me on the other side
of our pillow barrier that we set up before we had both fallen asleep. Neither
one of us wanted to tempt fate. I knew if I touched him, in his bed, I was
going to rape his ass. I shook my head. Conflicted was putting this situation
lightly. The clock ticked and angrily, I stood up. Sliding my flip flops on and
throwing a t shirt on over my tank top, I slid on a pair of jeans. It was five
am.  Jack was still asleep. Not wanting to awaken him, I tip toed to the
bedroom door, walked out into the living and grabbed my bag on the floor next
to the couch. The front door clicked shut softly as I closed it behind me. Soon
I found myself aimlessly driving around. Alone.  My phone buzzed and the
screen showed Chloe was texting.

-What’s going on? Jack texted me and
asked if I had talked to u?

-Really?!I could not sleep. I had
hoped he slept through me leaving. My head is a mess right now.

- Want to come over? We could talk?

-Ok be right there

Chloe lived on the other side of town in a tidy brick
house. The curtain in one of the downstairs windows was pushed aside and I saw
her pixie face. She flung open the door after a minute and hugged me. I giggled
when I pulled back. She had on Tinkerbell boxers and a bright pink tank top and
Tinkerbell slippers.  We walked inside and I settled on her comfy
overstuffed grey couch. Her house was an open concept layout with a small
kitchen with an island that separated the kitchen from the living room. Her
living room had two big fluffy couches, a glass coffee table and a big flat
screen TV hanging on the wall over a short bookcase stuffed with books. There were
three doors off to the left of the television. Chloe sat down next to me.

“What’s going on?” she asked. She grabbed a bottle of
water and tossed it to me before opening a bottle of her own.

“Jack. We kind of made out, no...We DID make out and it
almost went…you know. He wants more Chloe. And honestly, I want more too. But I
am a hot mess and I am not sure I can give it to him,” I said with a sigh.

“Did you tell him that?”

“What? That I want more? No. That fact that I was a
virgin, that stopped him like a bucket of icy cold water. I stopped him. It
made me feel like such a cock tease,” I replied with my head in my hands. She
patted my shoulder.

“Men are pains. That’s why I am single,” she said softly.

“No, you are single because you haven’t come out of the
closet yet,” said a deep voice. One of the doors had opened and out stepped
Matt. In boxer briefs. His spiky blue hair was all over the place, and he
looked good I had to admit. I was right, he had way more ink than even my
brother Axel did. His whole chest, stomach, back and arms were covered in ink.
He chuckled and I realized I had been staring. I needed to stop looking at
him.  My face felt hot. 

“Dude! Put some clothes on! We have company!” Chloe shrieked
at him. He grinned and sat on the couch, pulling a fleece throw over himself.

“Thanks,” I muttered.