Dismantled (Girls on Top #2) (20 page)

When I get home, as expected I find Wyatt in the kitchen cooking. I say a curt hello. I have to figure out a way to “touch up” his food before they start to eat.

“What time is Ciara coming, because I much rather not be here when that happened.”

He looks at me with suspicion. “She will be here around seven.”

“What are you making?”

“Chicken Alfredo with garlic toast and salad.”
Perfect.
I feel so evil. But all is fair in love and war – isn’t that what people say?

“She’d like that. That girl loves Italian food.”

He smiles at me and for a brief moment I feel a sliver of guilt. It was very brief.

“Hmm. It’s good.” Says Wyatt after testing his sauce. “It needs to simmer for a little while. I’m going to hit the shower. Do you mind keeping an eye on this, and stir every few minutes?”

Ding!!! We have a winner
. “Nope. Not at all.”

He sets the cooking spoon on the counter after rinsing it, and heads to his room. I go into the living room and wait for the shower to start, before I do some damage to that awesome meal. When it’s time, I head quietly into the receiving area, where I left my keys and a small bag with white pepper, sriracha sauce, and wasabi powder.

I go in the kitchen and doctor his sauce with white pepper and wasabi powder. I don’t think I can put the red sriracha sauce on anything, because the color will not blend with this particular meal. I also put a hefty dose of white pepper on the salad and on top of the garlic toast. I do a quick finger test on the sauce, and after coughing for a few seconds, I decide that should do it.

I hear the shower stop. I walk to the hall and tell Wyatt that since he’s finished, I was going to head out, at which he agreed that it may be a good idea.
Asshole.

Last night I stayed up thinking about all of
this
. Maybe I should not get my hopes up, but yesterday when Traxx came by to drop off the spare tire, I think I recognized a person who was not giving up. I think he still has a little fight in him. Not sure what he’s planning, but he’s planning something, which makes me hopeful and…
excited
.

As I go upstairs to have dinner with Wyatt, I’m hopeful that I get to see Traxx again. He’s acting a little passive-aggressive, and that’s not his regular type of behavior. I ring the bell and after a few seconds, a good looking Wyatt opens the door.

“Howdy, girl! Come on in! I hope you are hungry, because I slaved in front of the stove making one of my more famous dishes: Chicken Alfredo.” His smile is contagious.

“Hmmm, smells great! I’m so hungry!”

“I was waiting on you to get here so I can stick the garlic bread in the oven, it will be ready in a few minutes. Would you like some wine?”

“Sure.” Disappointment fills me, because the wine offer shows how little Wyatt knows about me… Traxx would have known that my favorite alcoholic beverage is beer, Michelob Ultra to be exact, even if it doesn’t go with the meal.

I smile politely when he brings it to me, and take a small sip. Wine gives me a headache. So I will not be drinking a lot of it.

“So Ciara, how was your day?”

“Long but never boring. I updated a lot of patient records. I truly enjoy listening to the recorded sessions. You know, there are a lot of people out there with major issues. It really helps to put my life into perspective. It helps me appreciate my life a lot more. What about yours?”

“Well, I don’t have to report to work for another ten days. I’m hoping that I’m able to find a place soon. There’s only so much brooding I can put up with around here. I don’t know how Notso does it.” He smiles right as the timer goes off.

“It takes a special person. Traxx used to be so lighthearted and fun to be around. He was getting to be that way again, although he had some setbacks here and there. It was wonderful to be able to see him carefree and happy, even if just for a little while. So worth it.” I smile thinking back to all our outings and conversations. Even thinking about it gives me a gooey feeling inside my heart. *Sigh* I wonder what is he up to right now. “Need help?”

“Naw, I think I have everything setup already, come on, please, sit down.” Wyatt pulls out a chair for me. I smile and sit down as he pushes the chair in and moves to take the seat across from me. Everything’s already plated and ready to be eaten. “A toast to new friends.” Wyatt raises his wine glass, so I meet him with mine.

“Yes, to new friends.” I smile and take another sip of the wine. I set the cup down and grab my fork. “Looks really great, Wyatt.” He smiles at me and we start to eat. The pasta is cooked to perfection and the chicken is sliced rather than diced, which is my favorite. Wait. Something’s wrong. At first I thought that it was just really hot and needed to cool off, but the heat! Oh shit! The heat is burning my mouth and I feel hot from head to toe. My eyes start to water… I look at Wyatt and he’s having a similar reaction. The shock on his face tells me this is not meant to happen. I want to spit it out because my throat is on shutdown mode and it won’t allow me to swallow. I take the napkin and spit the mouthful on it, grabbing the wine glass and gulping that mother fucker all the way, but after a few seconds it comes back hotter, if that’s even possible. I see Wyatt reaching for his glass and I force him to put it down, while we are both coughing and crying like crazy.

This is a disaster. Wyatt is having trouble breathing and tears are falling down both of his cheeks. I’m crying in agony as well… Then I get an idea and run to the kitchen. Milk, milk, where is it? Spotting a jug of milk, I grab a hold of it and a couple of glasses from the cupboard. The milk is supposed to neutralize the heat – I think I read it somewhere, God I hope so. With two glasses full of milk, I run back to the dining area and hand Wyatt one of them. We chug them down, leaving the last sip on our mouths for a few seconds longer before swallowing.

I sit back down on the chair, and after a few minutes, I am able to start breathing again. I look at Wyatt, who’s still wiping his eyes, and ask him point blank, “What the fuck was that?”

“I swear, Ciara, I have no idea what happened. I tasted the sauce right before I went to take a shower. I even asked Traxx…
Mother Fucker!
”

“What?”

“Traxx! He did this. He fucked up our dinner. Everything was fine until I asked him to keep an eye on the food. You know, I thought that was weird that he didn’t say anything about you coming over for dinner… It’s all so clear now…”

The whole thing is so crazy I start to giggle. Traxx
does
care. Shit. My tongue feels heavy and still burns. The heat may have skinned it… I can’t taste anything, that’s for sure. I giggled louder, and Wyatt looks at me at first like I’m crazy, then understanding flashes on his face and he joins me with a snort. Soon after it becomes full belly laughing. We are crying again, but for a whole bunch of different reasons. Fucking Traxx.

“I don’t think I can taste anything right now, but I’m still hungry. I don’t feel like taking a chance on the rest of this food. Let me throw it away and how about we go eat a bucket of ice cream?”

“That sounds like a great idea. Here let me help you.” I get up and start carrying things to the kitchen. I rinse the dishes and put them in the dishwasher. After drying my hands, I’m ready. We are heading downstairs and I notice Wyatt furiously texting on his phone.

“I think I know who you are texting.” I look back and wait for his answer.

“Payback is a bitch and my brother has it coming.” He gives me the most devilish smile I have seen on him yet.

I’ve been sitting at the office, waiting to hear from Wyatt and Ciara.

Ding.

There goes my text message alert. Let’s see what my dear brother has to say.

Wyatt: Good one, asshole

Traxx: What are you talking about?

Wyatt: I’m not gonna play games with you. Dinner’s ruined. We are going out instead. Ice cream. We both like to play with whipped cream. Perhaps kissing her sweet lips tonight will be the cherry on top. Full report to come later

Fuck. Now all I can think of is licking ice cream off of her sweet lips.

Traxx: I’m going to kick your ass

Wyatt: You’re gonna have to catch me first

Traxx: Stay away from her

Wyatt: Last I checked she was a free agent. Thanks for putting her right on my lap, brother. She’s fantastic

Motherfucker.

The other day, after Wyatt had texted Traxx, I thought Traxx was going to come and find us at the ice cream shop, but he didn’t. This is the reason why I’m so confused. Sometimes he acts like he’s jealous and sometimes he acts like he is not. I realize that it takes two, and I can easily go find him and clear the air, but it’s hard.

When he turned his back on us and left me alone, that moment, that pain was bottomless. Not because it was a rejection, but because it was Traxx’s rejection. He’s the one man that I’ve always wanted. I love him and all his imperfections. I’m not about to lay my heart down for him to stomp on it once again. I don’t know if I could withstand that kind of agony again. I want him to come to me when he is completely sure that I’m what he wants, but in the meantime I need to keep living. I cannot put my life on hold because of him.

Wyatt and I talked about us and where are we in our lives. He’s on the rebound and I’m obviously very much in love with his brother. We are good friends and during our conversations we agreed that there is no attraction between us. It was good to get it out in the air, because that helped me understand that he’s just trying to get his mind away from the past and I’m trying to look out for my future.

Today we are hanging out with Notso and Keagan at the ballpark. Its baseball season and I’m ready to admire players in their uniforms, drink beer, eat hot dogs, peanuts and cotton candy. Bring it on.

“They are ready and coming down!” Keagan yells from her room.

“Okay, I’m ready!”

The doorbell rings and Keagan and I step out of our rooms simultaneously. She opens the door and I make a stop in the kitchen to get a couple of bottled waters for the road.

As we come out into the hallway, Traxx gets our attention from the top floor, so when we get to the stairs, we look up.

“Y’all be careful driving and take your time even though you are itching to get there.”

When I look up, my eyes lock with his. He looks sad and disappointed. I almost asked him if he wanted to come along, but didn’t. I could not take my eyes away from his. I could just sit there and stared at him all damn day.

“Ciara, are you coming?” Keagan is calling me.

“Yeah, on my way.” Nothing is said between Traxx and me. It was not necessary, because the silence carried the sadness and dejection of our situation.

The guys sat in the front seat and us girls in the back. I was lost in thought and looking out the window. The guys and Keagan were having a discussion on players and stats. The car line to parking took a while, but we finally made it to the ball field and found our seats. The guys went to get us beers, and as they were walking away, I noticed that Wyatt kept scratching his shoulders. How strange.

Keagan and I are just looking at the fields, some players are warming up, there is great music on the speakers and the cameras are zooming in and out looking for people – especially kids – doing funny stuff. Although the weather feels great, once you are sitting down without a breeze coming through, makes it kind of warm.

“Hey, Keagan, have you spoken to Traxx lately?”

“Not really. I see him around in passing, but we have not carried a conversation. I think all the progress you had made with him is slipping away. He hardly ever smiles and is obviously immersing himself in work.”

I nod to let her know I heard her. Perhaps Traxx and I need to come to a truce so that we can continue his “treatment.” But can I withstand being near him and not touching him? Can I keep all contact on a professional level? Impossible. It would be more than I could handle. Our time together was pure perfection. I felt him give himself to me the same way I gave myself to him. We spent that time doing a love dance of our own, where the music branded our hearts and now that we are apart, the music has died and there is no rhythm to our existence. Neither one of us can find our way back to the other.

I look back at Keagan. “I was wondering if he was making progress. I’m having a hard time moving on, and I was hoping he was not having a hard time, since he was the one who wanted to stay away. Well, you know…”

“Yes, I do. I also know he is stubborn and an idiot when it comes to the real thing because he has never had it. I believe that he realized the truth. You’ll see.”

I give her a sad smile and then take out my chapstick and I apply some of it. When I lower my mirror, I noticed this good looking guy staring at me while he was trying to locate his seat. He smiles and I smile back. At that moment, Wyatt and Notso come around, and after the guy notices they are with us, his smile fades and he quickly looks away. Perhaps I need to re-evaluate hanging out with these boys. They are really cramping my style.

By the time the game starts, I’ve eaten my hot dog and I’m already tearing into the cotton candy.

“Hey Ciara, can you please scratch my back?” Wyatt asks me.

“Sure thing, where, exactly? I ask him.

“Everywhere. I don’t know what’s going on. The hotter I get, the more it itches.”

I start to scratch him, but as I do, I start to feel these tiny bumps.

“Hmmm, Wyatt, I’m not trying to get ‘fresh’ with you or step over the line, but I’m feeling some bumps and I need to look at your back... Can you raise your shirt a bit?”

He looks at me and gives me a dirty look. I stare back at him with a questioning look.

“Can we at least go to the corridor? I don’t want to flash these people.”

“Wyatt, I’m not asking you to take it off, I’m just saying let me take a peek.”

He nods and leans forward a bit. I lift a little, and I don’t need to see anymore. I know exactly what’s going on.

“Guys, I hate to break it to you, but we need to go, like, right now.”

Wyatt looks at me with major concern on his features. “What’s going on?”

Now I’m the one who’s leaning forward and try to tell them as quietly as possible. “Wyatt has a Poison Ivy breakout all over his back. We need to go, he needs to get treated or will end up with a back full of huge blisters and a lot of pain. So we are leaving, right now.”

I grab my phone and start to locate a nearby pharmacy. The connection is a bit slower than I would like, but at least it’s working. As we get closer to the car, a flashback hits me:

“Y’all be careful driving and take your time even though you are itching to get there.”
Shit!

We are in the truck and I’m giving Notso directions how to get to the pharmacy. As soon as we get there, I go to the allergy section, get some Benadryl, calamine lotion and Cetaphil wipes. After I pay for them, I grab Wyatt’s hand and take him to the family restroom.

“Take your shirt off.” I ask him.

“I’d rather not.” He tells me with a stubborn voice.

“Wyatt, there is a good chance that the shirt is what’s full of poison Ivy and giving you the hives. I will text Keagan to buy you a t-shirt from this store and we just need to throw this one away.

“Fine, okay!”

He takes his shirt off and I can see all the hives. They are still small, so I think we are treating this right on time.

“I’m going to use these wipes first all over your back, arms and shoulders. They are like soapy water, but for very sensitive skin. They should clean up the oil that the plant releases, which is what causes the irritation. Then the calamine lotion will dry out the allergy blisters and will help with the itching.”

Keagan knocks on the door and I open it. She brings in the new shirt for Wyatt to use.

“Ouch!” She says to him.

“It feels better now. It was getting pretty bad. I didn’t know what the hell was happening. I thought I was bitten by some type of bug.”

Keagan and I are blowing on his back so that the medicine dries out and when he puts on his shirt, it won’t come off. After a couple of minutes Wyatt starts thinking this situation out loud.

“How in the hell I got near a poison ivy plant, I have no idea… I have not been outside, my shirt was washed and put away right after it came out of the dryer…”

Oh, crap…
I look at Keagan on a silent plea that maybe she can change the subject… She looks at me like I’m going crazy…

And the lightbulb goes off… Wyatt has figured it out.

“Motherfucker! I’m going to kick his ass, for real this time!”

I close my eyes, because I don’t really know what to say. Keagan is alarmed. “What are you talking about, Wyatt?”

“I’m going to kill Traxx! It had to be him. No! As a matter of fact I know he did it! Especially after that little comment he made as we were going downstairs. Fuck! That’s it. I’m done trying to help his ass out. He’s officially going to get his ass kicked.”

Oh boy! This it ain’t going to be pretty.

“Where’s Notso? We’ve got to go.”

I take a deep breath and I’m actually laughing on the inside at all of Traxx’s shenanigans. This is the third time he’s tried to sabotage my outings with Wyatt, and he really has nothing to worry about. There is not even one drop of attraction between Wyatt and me. This is about to get interesting. I’m almost tempted to text Traxx and let him know what’s coming… Well, almost.