Pink Shades of Words: Walk 2016 (33 page)

Michelle smiled tightly.  The intensity in her eyes on her face didn’t seem angry, just extremely uncomfortable. Somehow, though, I hated that even more.

"No, no. I don't think that would be a good idea. I'm just...I'm gonna go. I'll, uh...I'll text you later."

With that, she rushed out the door, closing it firmly behind her. Even though Jackson was still on the other side of the room, the dorm room had never seemed emptier. Every room Michelle was in lost all of its life and color when she left it, as far as I was concerned.

I looked at Jackson, shaking my head at the amused smile that remained on his face. "You're an asshole," I said flatly.

He put his hand over his heart as if wounded. "Damn. You cockblock a guy one time and it's like you never even knew him."

I rolled my eyes. At that moment, he didn't know how close I was to wishing that were actually true. But he was about to find out.

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HAPTER FOURTEEN

Michelle

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I
stood awkwardly by the curb with the rest of the debate class, my army surplus duffel slung over my shoulder. We were waiting for the bus to rumble up so that we could load our luggage into the cargo hold and then board it for what promised to be an interminably long trip to San Francisco. Damn it all to hell. The other kids from class were already staring and whispering. I was sure this bus trip was going to be the epitome of awkward.

Hell, at least I had a book. I'd bury my nose in that son of a bitch and shut out the rest of the world. It was a move I was used to, so I could easily pull it out again.

This was exactly what I had been afraid of all those months when I'd been ignoring Sebastian's flirting. I had known that, once the thing between me and Sebastian—whatever the hell it was—had made any forward progress, people would find out about it. And there was no going back after that.

Of course, I was afraid of other things as well. But this was certainly among them.

As for Sebastian himself? Yeah. Nowhere to be seen. And I hadn't heard from him in the past two days, either. Uncharacteristic tears pricked my eyes. Frickin' hell. I was sure he was over me, based on the way I’d lost my cool and bugged out of his room on Wednesday night.

When he had listed off the things he liked about me that day in my grandma's backyard, all the attributes he had named revolved, in one way or another, around my being centered, self-possessed, and basically an all-around badass bitch. Not, in other words, the kind of girl who gets embarrassed because someone caught her making out.

Yeah. I was sure he was Audi 5000. And it made me feel like shit.

The bus pulled up in a cloud of exhaust, interrupting my self-pitying thoughts. I sighed. Well, it was time to get this weekend over with. I lined up behind the rest of the class, adjusting my duffel and choking on the exhaust that blew into my face.

We inched forward, person after person tossing their bags into the cargo compartment. When only three or four people were in front of me, a car horn started honking insistently behind the bus. I figured a very frustrated motorist was being held up by the oversized vehicle. But, as I was about to toss my bag into the luggage compartment, someone called, "Miche! Hey, Miche!"

I froze, then straightened and looked around. I edged out of line and walked toward the sound of his voice, back along the length of the bus. Was I imagining it? My heart beat faster with every step. What did this mean?

There, parked behind the bus, was Sebastian. He was in his idling truck, a broad grin covering his handsome face as he locked eyes with me and waved. I hurried over to the driver's side window to talk to him.

"What are you doin', darlin'?" he teased.

"Um..." I wasn't sure how to answer, so I opted for simple and factual. "Getting on the bus. To go to the debate trip."

He shook his head in mock disappointment. "Oh, now, Miche. Please tell me you don't really want to ride in that smelly, crowded, ol’ bus?"

A smile tugged at my lips. His teasing could always do that to me.

"Depends on what my other options are," I said archly.

He burst out laughing. "Woman, throw your bag in the back of this truck and get your ass in here," he commanded good-naturedly.

I grinned and rushed to comply. He wasn't going to get any argument from me. An hours-long trip with judgy strangers from my class? Ugh. No, thanks. An hours-long trip spending one-on-one time with my sexy Sebastian? Oh, hells yes!

By the time I had tossed my bag into the truck bed, Sebastian had turned the truck off, hopped out of the driver's seat, and hurried around behind me to fasten straps over my bag to keep it secure. When he was finished with that, he opened the passenger door for me and snaked his arm around my waist, getting ready to boost me up.

That contact with Sebastian's body, after I had convinced myself I had felt it for the last time, gave me a head rush so intense that I saw nothing but white for a moment. I breathed out and unconsciously pressed back into him.

"Mmmmm...that's what I like to feel," he murmured against my ear.

"Me too," I whispered, snuggling into him, reveling in the strength of his arms, the warmth of his skin, and the musky aroma of his cologne.

It seemed like the rest of the world was blocked out, like Sebastian and I were alone in a beautiful bubble made for two. It felt that way pretty much every time I was in his arms. He had the power to make everything around us disappear. It was something in his eyes that held the secret, the way his soul shined through them and made me feel like I was the most important person that had ever existed. God. I could spend forever lost in that magic.

Our lovely bubble moment was interrupted by the loud roar of the bus engine as it rumbled away, trailing exhaust, enveloping us in a noxious diesel cloud.

Sebastian chuckled. "I guess that's our cue," he said lightly, boosting me the rest of the way up into the truck cab.

He gracefully pulled himself up into his seat, and I couldn't help but be impressed by the easy flexing of his muscles. A flutter went through me, from my heart to my torso and then farther down. Then an ache and tingle made me squirm in my seat.

Sebastian looked over, concern all over his gorgeous features. "You okay, babe? You comfortable?"

I nodded, my throat clenched too tight to form sounds, let alone words. Damn, this was going to be a long trip. But in the very best way.

His face lightened. "So, you need anything before we hit the open road? Coffee?"

I shook my head, the power of speech not having returned to me yet since it’d been ripped away by Sebastian’s sexiness.

He turned the key in the ignition but didn't drive off. Instead, he turned to me and carefully studied my face. When he spoke, it was in an unusually subdued tone.

"Hey, Miche, about the other night..."

I opened my mouth, ready to blurt out apologies, but he beat me to it.

"I'm really sorry about that, baby. Jackson is an asshole. I could tell it really embarrassed you and made you uncomfortable. Believe you me, I ripped him a new one. Nothing like that is ever going to happen again. Trust me."

Lightness filled me as relief rushed through my veins. Whoa. He really wasn't through with me after all! Far from expecting me to be one hundred percent badass one hundred percent of the time, he actually wanted to protect me. Warmth flooded my heart.

"Thanks, Sebastian. Thanks for saying that. For doing that."

He reached across the seat and stroked my hair. "Of course, baby. You're mine, my precious treasure. Anything that hurts you hurts me. I would go to the ends of the fuckin' earth to protect your heart and your dignity. Giving my roommate one very well-deserved ass-reaming was nothing."

I laughed, but he continued.

"I wanted to give you space these last two days. I've really been trying to respect that and not spook you or overwhelm you. But I've gotta tell you, Miche..." He trailed off, looking down at his lap and shaking his head.

I prompted, "Yes?"

He looked back up, directly into my eyes, and said, "It was hell. Not talking to you for two days, especially when you were upset? Not knowing if you were happy or sad or how else you might feel? It was hell." His voice shook. "It was fucking hell."

I grabbed his hands. "I feel the same way," I blurted, the intensity of my feelings for him filling my voice.

He grinned. "Let's never do that again. 'Kay?" he said, his tone deceptively light but his face betraying the true intensity of what he felt.

I grinned right back. "That's a plan that I can get on board with."

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HAPTER FIFTEEN

Sebastian

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D
riving down 101 with Michelle by my side was awesome. The open road, a truck, and my woman. I felt ready to write a country song about it. Of course, in the song, I'd have to be wearing boots instead of sneakers. And Michelle would have to trade in her faded, thrift-store Sex Pistols tee for a fitted, button-down, plaid blouse.

I preferred my life to the imaginary song version of it.

I had driven the road between Arcata and San Francisco before. A few times, in fact. But it looked more beautiful now than it had in the past—which was quite a feat, considering how naturally beautiful it already was. But now, the hills seemed more lush, the green of the pine trees deeper and brighter. Everything just felt bigger, better, and more alive when I was with Michelle.

That was the simple fact of the matter. When she was with me, it didn't matter what we were doing—I felt like I was seeing everything with fresh eyes. I noticed every brilliant detail I had glossed over before.

Partway through the drive, I saw one of the signs that marked a scenic view spot and pulled off the highway.

"Oh, are we stopping to check out the scenery? How cool! I love unscheduled stops during road trips. That's always when you see the coolest stuff!"

"Absolutely! Plus, I thought that it might make a nice picture. You know, for your Instagram."

"Oh, that's awesome! Thanks, Sebastian. That's so thoughtful!"

I felt kind of guilty for taking credit for such a sweet and selfless idea. Although the Instagram thing had been part of my thought process, the other plan I had in mind was a lot more of it. In addition to looking at beautiful scenery, after all, there was another thing view spots were well-known to be good for. Parking.

The road off the highway led up into the hills to the west, narrowing and winding as we crested farther up the mountain. When we reached the peak, I drove into a sprawling, largely empty parking lot. Still, even though there was hardly anyone there, I chose to park the truck in the remotest of spots, far away from the small cluster of cars that were in the lot.

Michelle gave me a knowing smirk, and I could see in her quick and intelligent eyes that she knew exactly what I was thinking. That suspicion was confirmed when she opened the truck door and hopped out, tossing a sassy, "Fine, Casanova, but we're gonna go look at the view first," over her shoulder.

We walked up to the railing that enclosed the viewing deck and admired the gorgeous vista. I didn't even mind taking time away from the busy "making out" schedule I had planned for us. Not really, anyway. Standing with my arm around Miche, her head on my shoulder, as we gazed at some of the most beautiful land in God's own creation might not have been naked-time levels of awesome, but it
was
pretty damn awesome.

After fully taking in the scenery, not to mention snapping about fifty pictures of it from different angles, Michelle turned to me, the teasing half smile back on her lips. "All right, Romeo. I think we've looked at the trees enough. We've earned some tongue-on-tongue time. Don't you agree?"

I laughed. "Hell yes. I reached that conclusion ten minutes ago."

Her half smile blossomed into a full-blown grin. "Well, I suggest we collect our reward, then."

We hurried back to the truck, and I opened her door and gave her a boost to help her swing into the high seat. Then I rushed around to my side and got in. I turned to her and found her smiling at me affectionately.

"Hi," she said simply. Her voice was high and sweet, and it made me want to hold her for the rest of our lives.

"Hi," I answered. Then I brushed my thumb against her cheek.

She closed her eyes and pressed into my hand. Her chest rose and fell, her breathing coming faster. And, with that small amount of contact and the tiniest of evidence that she was getting turned on, my cock grew to the point that it was almost painful against my jeans.

Even through the pain, though, waves of intensity and pleasure flowed through me. I wanted nothing more than to set my dick free and feel Michelle touch it. Everything in me yearned to touch her everywhere and have her touch me the same way.

I trailed my hands down her body until my arms were firmly circling her waist. Then I pulled her forward. Her eyes popped open, wide with delight at the forceful action.

"Wow,” she said. “You don't mess around. I like it."

Her seductive, low rasping shot straight through me and drew a low moan from deep in my throat. She leaned forward and started kissing my neck. It was warm and soft, but at the same time insistent. God, if I had thought her lips felt like heaven when I kissed them, I was totally unprepared for the amazing way they felt when she started kissing other parts of my body. It sent me into the stratosphere.

I relaxed back against the seat and lost myself in the sensation of her lips and her tongue on my skin for as long as I could possibly stand it. Finally, though, I had had enough. I couldn't take it one minute longer. I had to touch her, had to claim her. I had to let her know that she was mine.

I sat up, pushing her back into the seat and wrapping my arm around her. I pressed my mouth on to hers and began to kiss her, passionate making my movements even more forceful. The intensity grew second by second as she responded, clinging to me and returning my kisses with even more desperate ones of her own.