Chapter Eleven

Dylan

Every night for the past few days I’ve had the same dream.

I’m standing alongside the edge of a beautiful river, the sun is shining brightly in the sky illuminating the earth around me, setting everything off with a glow so bright I almost shield my eyes. I can always feel the warmth of the sun on my skin as I stand there soaking up the rays. It isn’t until a slow darkness creeps around me, so subtly I don’t notice until everything around me is shrouded in it.

When I look up at the sky I can see it’s taken on such a dark gray hue, it’s almost black. Suddenly, as if on cue with my line of sight, everywhere my eyes touch the living thing that’s there begins to wilt and die. The grass turns a pretty pale green before turning brown then gray and black before crumbling and blowing away in the wind. Trees take on the same characteristics and collapse right before my eyes, some almost falling on me but I can’t move from the spot I’m in.

I feel the winds pick up and they’re so strong they whip my hair all over the place in a dizzying array of directions before I finally feel the pain. The hair, my hair, is being blown from my scalp in patches. The sting is excruciating and yet I can’t force my legs to move, I can’t even use my hands to try and hold on to the few strands I have left. Searing hot pain shoots through my entire body and without looking I know the wind is blowing my skin off as well. Blood is pouring from my body like an open tap and I know it won’t be long before I collapse from the loss and die. It’s in this moment that I prepare myself. I can physically feel the pain and I just want it to stop.

It isn’t long before I feel my eyes get heavy and I know I only have seconds before I’m gone. In a twisted final goodbye to myself I look down into the river. What once was a crystal clear rushing body of water is now a nearly dried puddle of murky green liquid. Although the conditions are as they are, I use the slight reflection and take my last look at myself.

My skin is falling off in chunks, I possess one patch of hair, and there’s blood surrounding a face that isn’t my own. Even in the state the skin of the face is in I realize it’s not my skin that I’m in. The urge to clean whomever this is up, maybe even try to help them hold on to what little life they have left is overwhelming. I feel protective of this woman, as if she’s my sister. And under my watch she won’t go out this way.

Determination drives me and I force the woman’s hands to dip into the puddle. Although it isn’t sanitary, I need to get the blood off to help her. The second her hands dip into the water I feel the burn but continue to splash the water onto the face we share. One look into the reflection the puddle gives is enough to know I went the wrong route. Every ounce of skin that remained is now gone. I look down at our hands and the skin there is gone too. Nothing is left but bones.

I wake up with a start. Breathing hard and trying to calm myself. It’s the same thing every night. I know it’s a dream. I know that the woman in the dream is not me or anyone I know for that matter. And yet, I can’t help but feel an attachment to her. The more I sit and try to catch my breath the more the dream replays and I force myself out of bed and into the shower. I can’t stop from doing a full check in the mirror to make sure everything is where it needs to be.

Work was easy and went by surprisingly quickly today. Reed and I hung out and he forced me to pinky promise that I would go bowling with him soon. As much as I don’t want to set foot in those stinky shoes a promise is a promise.

I take the time out after work to stop by my favorite boutique downtown and pick up my outfit I had on hold for tonight. Karter is coming over after he hangs out with his family for his birthday. He thinks we’re just going to chill at my place for a while but I have an entire night planned. After stopping by the dry cleaners to get the suit I purchased especially for Karter tonight, I head home.

It’s been almost two months since he stumbled onto my doorstep bleeding to death. I laugh out loud at that thought. Who meets a potential boyfriend that way? As much as I’ve wanted to know what in the hell happened that night and what is going on with him that makes him so tense and secretive, I’ve held back. Part of me has been hoping he’ll trust me enough to tell me on his own but the other part of me, the bigger part, doesn’t really want to know. As things are now, he can come over and we can spend time together without incident. I have deniability and ignorance is bliss. If he’s tied up in anything unsavory, which I assume he is, that’ll be the end of this…thing, that we have. As a nurse I can’t be caught with people who are not on the right side of the law. I’d be taking a chance of losing my license and career and that is not okay with me. I won’t lose what I’ve worked so hard for but a piece of my heart would break if I had to let Dean go. It may not have an official title but what the two of us have together is really special to me and I’d be devastated to lose it.

As the time for him to come over nears I start to rush. I’ve spent so much time stopping and thinking that I haven’t even gotten fully ready. I feather my curls and smile at the growth of my hair, what was before shoulder length is a little longer, touching the spot where my back initially dips for my spine. Who says relaxed hair doesn’t grow? Honestly, since I’ve been doing even less to it than usual I’m surprised it’s grown at all.

I slip into the skin tight red dress that hugs my curves and shows off my shoulders. The straight neckline leading into off the shoulder straps intimidated me at first. Thoughts of looking too wide and not feminine enough fluttered through my mind when I found it. The one thing that made me put it on hold instead of putting it back were Dean’s words from earlier this week. “I want you to want me to fuck you until you’re sore every single night.” The words sent shivers up my spine then and they don’t fail to do the same now. A woman that would want that from him wouldn’t think twice about putting on such a sexy dress and by hell or high water I will be that woman.

I play with the gold bracelet on my wrist before moving to the buckle on my gold stilettoes. Dean is late. Not just by five or ten minutes either, he should’ve been here an hour ago. I’ve called and text him three times and I won’t do it again. The only reason I reached out so much this time is because it’s his birthday. He’s got five more minutes before I get out of this constricting ass dress and call it a night. His black suit, white shirt, and black tie are laid out on the bed. It’s a casual suit really. And although it probably won’t do him justice in comparison to one tailored for his fit frame, it’ll still look nice on him. That’s if he ever decides to make an appearance.

The sudden rap on the door makes me jump but I recover quickly and walk over to open up for him. I don’t even wait to talk to him. Instead I immediately turn around and point out the clothes on the bed for him to put on before waltzing my ass to the kitchen. I hear him start undressing behind me and my body inflames from head to toe. A part of me is embarrassed but the bigger part of me is enticed, intrigued even and I speed my steps up to keep out of trouble. When I reach to get shot glasses for his birthday shots I sneak a peek and nearly drop the glasses on the floor. He’s bent over pulling the pants of the suit on giving me an eye full of the flex of his muscular arm and shoulder along with the tightening of his abs. His build is lean and yet very muscular and toned. He looks like he could stop a truck with the power of his arms alone and I’m lost in the hypnotic way his arms tense and release as he pulls the pants up.

Shoes, a shirt, and suit jacket later he’s walking over to me to accept his shot. He looks stunning. It’s the only way to describe him. Although the suit isn’t tailored for his build, it fits him almost perfectly and the shirt beneath accentuates his abs just enough to let you know they’re there. My eyes trail down to the slight bulge at his crotch that can’t be missed thanks to the snug fit of the pants. I’m suddenly very glad I picked out this outfit.

“You like what you see?” he asks, a cocky little grin playing on his lips.

I mull my eyes, “You’re okay I guess.”

His grin breaks even more, “Says the woman who was just eye molesting me.”

He snatches the shot glass from my hand and I try to hide my embarrassment behind mine. Fuck me for staring so hard and fuck him for being so alluring. This wouldn’t even be an issue had he worn something else. Suddenly I hate that suit. Fuck that suit.

“To me and my twenty sixth birthday,” he toasts, holding his shot into the air.

“And may you have many more,” I finish before we down the liquid. It burns something fierce but that’s tequila for you.

After driving around for a few minutes I finally pull to a stop outside of Lemont, one of our nicer restaurants in town. The owner’s mother was a patient of mine before she passed away. I handled her at home hospice and the owner promised to repay me for being there for her when he couldn’t.

As soon as we walk in I see Lemont, the owner, and he comes right over. He shut the restaurant down for me tonight for a few hours to make this happen and I know it’s coming at a cost, the least I can do is be polite.

“Hello Ms. Trevino, don’t you look absolutely ravishing,” he murmurs, kissing the back of my hand. I can’t be certain but I think I hear a growl come from Dean.

“Lemont you’re too kind. Thank you so much for doing all of this, I appreciate it so much,” I reply, trying to ignore the vibrations coming from beside me.

“It’s no problem really. You took such good care of my mother while I was overseas, this is the least I could do. I assume this is the birthday boy? Lemont Freeman I own this place, nice to meet you,” he extends his hand to Dean and I can see his reluctance to shake it.

“Karter Jarreau, likewise,” Dean replies, shaking Lemont’s hand firmly and tightening his grip on my waist. The look in his eyes is cold. They seem to glow slightly but it could just be the lights in here.

With their tight exchange over, Lemont leads us to our table and bids us adieu. Our waiter comes over moments later to take the drink order and instead of allowing me to order what I want Dean orders for us both.

“So are you going to explain why you showed up to my house an hour late or?” I let the question hang between the two of us, the elephant print curtain in the room.

“You do look absolutely ravishing tonight,” he replies, his eyes still giving off a serene glow.

I roll my own hazel orbs before staring at my menu, if he wants to play that game then fine. “You don’t want to be upfront with me then cool, don’t expect any conversation from me tonight. I’m going to sit my ravishing ass here, eat my free food, and then you can take my ravishing, silent ass home,” I don’t stop my attitude as it shows it’s head. Lately it’s been harder and harder for me to control my temper.

I don’t have to look up to know he’s got that damned smirk on his face and I won’t let him sway me this time. The only thing that will do that is the truth, a foreign concept to him obviously.

“Can I see your pretty hazel eyes,” he stops to click his tongue, “or nah?”

I want to laugh at his lame attempt at the overused joke but I stop myself. Freezing him out is going to be harder than I thought if he keeps this up, laughter is my kryptonite.

He sighs, “Fine. The truth is, I fell asleep and didn’t wake up until someone woke me up.”

I drop my menu and look at him, mouth agape. “That’s it? You fell asleep?”

He nods his head yes.

Not able to contain it anymore I laugh. A good hearty laugh I feel from my gut to my toes. “Why are you acting like that’s a crime against humanity? It’s okay to be tired especially at your age old man,” I joke, trying to lighten the mood.

My attempts work and we dive into conversation. Halfway through dinner however, Dean’s entire demeanor changes. He becomes very short with our waiter and he’s agitated. Every move he makes is quick and brusque and he rushes through his meal.

“I’ve been feeling this weird like surge of energy lately. It’s like I have this ball of electricity inside of me and I just have to move. I’ve worked out almost every morning and every evening because I just can’t rest until I do something,” I look up from my plate to see that his eyes are completely focused on the fact that I’ve stopped eating, “and sometimes when I really need a good energy drain I fuck the alien next door.”

His eyes quickly meet mine and they’re glowing, they have been since we walked in here tonight. “What?” he snaps.

“You haven’t been listening to a word I’ve said,” I say with a light laugh. I’m not upset I just want to know what all of the sudden is on his mind.

“Sorry, I just…are you done?” he asks pointing to my plate.

It’s over half full but I nod anyway and he calls the waiter over to get a to-go box for me. I sigh, realizing that he wants to be anywhere but here with me, even after I tried hard to make tonight special and it hurts. It hurts so fucking much and I can’t explain why.

After a tense drive back to my place we get out of the car and instead of walking to the door with me he gets into his own car and waits until I get my apartment open and then he drives off. I half expect Ashton Kutcher to pop out of the kitchen and tell me that I’ve been Punk’d. There is no way on planet fucking earth that he just treated me like that.

Once I finish my shower it sinks in that tonight was a huge bust. I went all out for him. Closing down a restaurant, getting all dolled up, buying him a suit, and for what? He left here looking good enough to eat and I didn’t even get a kiss goodbye or even just a goodbye for that matter. That bullshit about him falling asleep probably was just that, bullshit. More than likely he was with some girl and that’s who he was trying to get back to in such a hurry. It hurts my heart to know that my company isn’t enough for him. He obviously wants a girl like he described. “I want you to want me to fuck you until you’re sore every single night.” I’m not her. I can put on as many sexy dresses and pairs of stilettoes as I want but the truth still remains that I’m a big naive virgin and I can’t give him what he needs. That truth resonates in me like a branding iron to the heart. It sears and seethes until it feels like it’ll overflow right out of my body.

A few tears later I pick myself up and try to rationalize things in my head. Maybe something happened with his business…whatever that is. That has to be it. I can’t tell if I’m lying to myself or not but I decide not to poke the lion tonight and warm up my left overs.

******

A/N

Hello my good people! This A/N will be short and sweet! I just want to say that the next chapter will show Karter's side of the day and it gets a little *ahem* yeah. I'm going to start on it right now since I'm in a writing mood and hopefully Sunday I should finally be on time for an update XD

Anywho, thanks for all of the support on all of my stories! I appreciate it SO much!

Comment! Vote! Share! Fan! Please :)

Until next time,

WBN