The Rabid (10 page)

"It's
my...friend's." Jack was suddenly somber.

"Oh."
I knew he'd meant the friend who'd died during the rabies outbreak. I could sense
he wasn't ready to divulge.

"So
what kind of girl are you?"

"I'm
sorry?"

"Well,
I'm an earlobe and left pinky guy...what are you?"

I
looked at him. "I'm nothing."

"Yeah
you are." He playfully snatched the lighter from me. As he tried to light the
joint again, the silver box refused to spark a flame. He sighed and tossed it
on the floor beside him. "Fuckin" thing." Taking another long drag anyway, he
looked my way and leaned toward me. "So?"

He
was so close, I could smell the sweat and dirt. For some reason, my entire body
flushed and I was filled with something I hand't felt since before Rex had been
born. I took a deep breath.

"Fine.
I'll go with penis size." And then laughter burst from my chest before I could
stop it. Jack didn't follow suit. Instead, he tossed the mostly spent joint on
the stair.

"Well,
fuck."

I
stopped laughing and we looked at each other. But after a second or two of
silence, a smile broke out across his face and the good humor flowed once more.
We both let off quite a bit of stress on the stairs before the high came down
and we realized it was getting late.

"I
should have a shower." I stood up to stretch my arms above my head. Jack
watched me with careful eyes.

"Yeah?"

"Yes.
Then I'll go to bed. Are you coming?"

"Uh...no.
I'd rather just sit here and stare at..." He gestured toward the open locker once
again. I tossed him a confused glance. "On...second thought... That sounded really
pedophilic, so, yeah, I'm coming."

October 18

The
TV in the teacher"s lounge was broadcasting nothing but static, but I didn't
care. The uniformity of the sound relaxed my body somehow. I found myself
laying my head back against the sofa and just reveling in the quiet.

"150
channels and there's
nothing
on!"

Damn
it. I ran a hand over my face. I wasn't in the mood to deal with Silas's crap.

"aren't
you wondering where I've been?"

I
rolled my head to the left and looked at him. "Nope. In fact...I was hoping you'd
fucking stay there."

The
dead man recoiled ever so slightly. "Ooh. Still grumpy, I see."

"Yeah..."
I could hear the exhaustion in my own voice as I put my head back against the
couch. "Very very grumpy."

"Dude...you
have nothing to be grumpy about with that beauty back there," he said,
referring to the running water just behind the closed door next to us.

I
said nothing.

"You
know...I'm a fucking ghost. I can just go in there and take a peak then come back
out and tell you all the good bits."

"Do
whatever you want. I don't care." I had to close my eyes; the dull throb in the
back of my head was returning.

"Really?
You really truly don't care?"

I
drew in a deep sigh. "No. I really truly don't care."

"You
don't care about what?"

My
eyes snapped open. I had been so out of it that I hand't heard the water shut
off. I lifted my head off the couch and took in all that was Lisa. She was
wearing a short white shirt with a heart on it. It showed a bit of her midriff.
The sweatpants she'd found were a bit too big and sliding just off her hips.
Her hair was wet and hanging down her shoulders in shiny waves.

"The
uh...the news." I collected myself as quickly as possible. "I don't care about
this crap. All reruns."

She
glanced at the screen then back at me."Are you going to rinse off?"

"Uh,
no. I'm just too beat."

"Okay."

I put
my head against the sofa again. If I looked at her any longer, I wouldn't have
been able to hide that I liked the way she was looking. A second later, I felt
the sofa cushion next to me depress. I didn't lift my head, but instead opened
my eyes and looked her way.

She
tucked her legs under her. Our bodies were too close to touching. "Jack."

"Yeah?"

She
tucked her hair behind an ear, but didn't answer.

I
took one hand off the back of the sofa and nudged her shoulder. "What...?" I
egged her on like I was a baseball coach telling my star player not to choke.

But
she didn't smile, just remained silent.

"where'd
you find those clothes?" I tugged at one of the sleeves on the white shirt.

She
finally looked at me. "there's a lost and found in the other room. I needed to
change."

"I
see that."

"We
should have sex."

That
got my attention. "What?"

"Listen."

"I
never stopped listening." I couldn't decide whether there was excitement in my
voice or anxiety.

"Obviously
there's something between us," she said. This time, her full attention was on
me. I must have had a dumb look on my face, so I relaxed my features a bit.

"Well,
yeah, but...I mean...we barely know each other."

"you've
been amazing with Rex and Alex and you're extremely resourceful. you've saved
our lives many times." She was as still and serious as she had ever been.

"it's
only been three."

"I'm
serious."

"Me
too!"

"I
had a lot of time to think about this while I was in the shower"

"Oh,
God, Lisa." I groaned out loud. "don't make me start picturing you naked.
that's all I need right now."

"Then
don't just picture it." In one swift movement, she removed the white shirt
she'd been wearing. I averted my eyes.

"Ooh-kay,
those are yours."

She
touched my hand and I felt a jolt of electricity so forceful that I almost tore
it away.

"Nope.
Nope." I shook my head while trying not to look at her."You don't want to do
this."

"that's
not your decision to make."

"I
mean it. I don't perform well under pressure."

"No
one does."

Before
I could issue one more protest, she climbed on my lap and pressed her lips
against mine. Oh, God, the warmth of her skin and the soft touch of her
fingertips just did me in. I was at full attention immediately. When she came
up for a breath, I tried more reasoning.

"Seriously,
Lisa...this isn't right. You...you won't like it."

She
had started planting soft kisses on my neck as I spoke. "Why not?" She didn't
stop.

"Because,
I...I'm not good...I'm not a good person." I felt her breath against my skin and a
shiver ribboned through me."

"Feelings
of inadequacy stem from lots of logical places." She finally stopped and sat
straight on my lap. "We can talk about it if you want."

I
could feel my mouth hanging slightly open. "If you think I can even remember
what I had for breakfast with those things in my face, then you've got another
thing coming!"

"Then
shut up."

When
she shifted her hips, I felt the pressure of her pelvis on mine. I couldn't
help it and let out a groan that sounded more like the growl of a hungover
college student.

"You
want this just as much as I do."

"Just
because you want something doesn't mean it's right."

She
looked at me for a solemn moment. I couldn't read her face at all. The
candlelight danced around us and gave her skin a soft yellow glow.

"I'm
not your type," she finally said.

"I
didn't say that."

"You
don't have to. I studied psychology for a semester in college."

"What
didn't
you study?"

She
sighed heavily. For the first time, I could see sorrow and hurt in her
features. My heart dropped to my stomach and the blood rushed in the same
direction. She tried to get up.

"No."
I held her down. "don't leave."

I
felt her fingers tap impatiently against my shoulder. I grit my teeth as she
shifted her weight once again. He was not behaving.

"Okay,
okay. Look...I'm not...that big..."

"What?"
She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear as if she hand't heard me.

I
grabbed both of her hands and brought them to my chest. "Size matters to you.
I'll disappoint."

She
blinked out of turn. "You thought I was serious." It wasn't even a question.

"you're
always serious."

Lisa
screwed up her face for some reason. I couldn't tell what was happening until
she cleared her throat. She'd been stifling a laugh.

"Jack.
I've been with one other man in my life and I haven't had sex in three years. I
can tell it's been a while for you, too."

"Thanks..."

"I'm
not in a position to be choosy."

"Double
thanks."

"Besides..."
She freed her hands from mine and ran them down my stomach to the zipper on my
jeans. "What I'm feeling in here is far from average."

I'm
pretty sure my brain just gave up when she said that. It just stopped thinking
altogether. There was nothing. Nothing except pure passion.

"Oh
motherfuck." I groaned and pulled her against me. I felt her shudder under my
hands as they ran up her naked back. When she bit her bottom lip I nearly lost
it. "Fine. let's do this."

I
barely got the words out before my pants were unzipped and hers were completely
off. I mean, she wasn't wrong when she "guessed" that I'd been celibate for a
while. But it'd been longer than three years. And it was obvious.

As
soon as she straddled me there was no going back and I lasted about half a
second. Although I cringed, I felt the faint hint of a shiver on her side.

"I'm
sorry..." I sighed and let my head fall back against the sofa again.

"it's
all right." Her tone was soft and I could tell she meant it. I felt her nails
brush down my arms and wasn't sure if it was a caress or an accident. "you're
thinking about it too much."

"Yeah!"
I brought my head up to look at her. "I don't even think the clock on the wall
had a chance to tick."

"No,
really. it's completely fine."

I
took a long look at her. She was everything I could never get. She was
gorgeous. Her dark hair was growing past the bob stage and just brushing her
shoulders. She was smart, too. I had zero education. The last serious
relationship I had ended up with her stealing my car and my favorite t-shirt.
Plus she sucked in bed.

No. I
wasn't going to screw it up. If this was going to be the only night we had
together, I was going to make it count. I wasn't just doing it for her; I was
doing it for myself too.

"it's
completely
not
fine." I grabbed a handful of her hair and brought her
mouth to mine. She tensed at first, but relaxed when I touched her cheek. Her
breathing quickened and she was making small hums of desire between kisses. I
stopped.

"I
wasn't ready last time. This time I'm ready and it's gonna get done right." I
reached behind my head and tugged my shirt off. The entire time, Lisa watched
me with one hand to her chest as though she were catching her breath.

As I
tried to wiggle out of my jeans, they got stuck on my right foot. I tried to
shake them off, but they stayed. "God...fuck!"

"Hey..."
Lisa's voice was back to its soft tenor. It was the voice that made my thoughts
melt. "it's okay."

I
gave one last forceful kick and the jeans finally flew into the corner of the
dusty room. Before they even landed, I had snaked my left arm around Lisa's
waist and practically flipped her onto her back.

"Oh!"
Her tone was one of surprise, but it quickly faded back to relaxed. "Oh."

"Know
what I found out while you were in the shower?"

"What?"
The question emerged breathy.

I
grinned as I placed one hand on the top of the couch and the other on her left
side. Then, I pushed down hard. The couch groaned loudly but eventually gave
way and flattened out with a cloud of dust.

"Jesus!"

I
grinned. "This is a futon."

"So
it seems."

We
stared at each other. "Fuck...you're beautiful."

Her
face twisted into a slight grimace. "I've never heard anyone put it so forcefully
before."

"I
mean it." I allowed my hands to follow the curves of her waist and hips. Her
breathing began to deepen again. "And I may not be an Adonis, but I can at
least give you one night you deserve."

And
it seemed that I did just that. I was positive it was going to be a one-time
thing, so I made sure I touched every inch of her with the tips of my fingers.
I was careful to whisper to her exactly how she made me feel when she made me
feel it. And in the final moments, she said my name.
My name
.

"This
won't mean much, but you have nothing to feel inadequate about." Her voice was
barely above a whisper as I caressed her bare arm.

"I
appreciate that."

"Do
you think we'll make it?"

Sadness
welled up inside me. Lisa was vulnerable and she was showing it to me. She was
unrated. I had to make her feel better. If I didn't, I'd fail miserably.

But
my words were stuck in my throat. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't speak.
All I could do was put my forehead against hers.

"I
know. We can't know for sure. We should get some sleep."