Coming soon-ish ^^ Zeke and Charlene's Story 😉

Chapter 32

Bard left that night and never returned. It was a relief. I needed space; time away from the intense aura that always surrounded him. Every time he came near, it seemed to swallow me up and leave me gasping for whatever form of oxygen I could find.

Bard was like one of those ugly ass fish that only occupied in the deepest, darkest parts of the ocean. You see their little lights and go oooh pretty. You know it's dangerous to approach, but that stupid fucking light continues to draw you in.

Bard's light was blinding. An Adonis in the form of a bearded pillar of all things mysterious and sexy.

And I was a stupid ass little fish.

Two days after Bard disappeared, Boe asked for another tattoo. A massive tattoo. A dragon, full of fine details and large enough to cover the full expanse of his back. I'd spent hours drawing it up, only to have him add to it, over and over, more and more detail.

When he'd finally been satisfied, I'd shot him a look. "This is going to take more than one session."

"That's the idea," had been his response, that cat-like smile full of flirtation.

In that moment, with him looking at me as if I were a pie on the windowsill, I'd considered turning it down.

Then I'd eyed the sketch again and reconsidered. I needed the money, and Boe wanted close to an eight hundred dollar tattoo.

Needless to say, it'd been two weeks, and we did sessions every other day. As much as I fucking despised myself for it, I actually enjoyed his company.

He wasn't like most of the men I'd met in my life. Ever since Boe told me about his past, he stopped blatantly hitting on me. He made no advances, didn't try to sleep with me. Instead, he did something that was even more outrageous.

He asked me questions.

Not personal ones, nothing too deep. Stupid ones.

What's my favorite color? To which I'd responded, black.

What's my favorite food? To which I'd responded, edible.

What's my favorite flower? To which I'd gagged.

Still, he continued on, every session, question after question, never minding my snarky and blunt responses. Instead, he seemed to revel in them, finding humor in my general attitude towards the world.

This session, however, would be the last. The tattoo was almost complete. Another hour and I'd have it finished.

"You're awful quiet today, Jessie," he said, cutting his face over to try and glance at me.

I smacked his shoulder. "Don't do that! It jars your whole body!" I was positioned behind him on a chair, while he sat hunched on a stool with his forearms on his thighs for support.

He rumbled a laugh. "Awful testy, too."

I smirked. "Well, I'm almost finished. Then you can focus on your own clients and never have to put up with me again," I joked, but in reality it was the truth.

Boe stiffened. "You can't be done already."

"I'm not," I replied, pausing to wipe off the area I was working on. "But I will be in about an hour or so."

He was quiet for a long time, and I returned my focus to coloring in the dragon's tail.

I'd just stopped to wipe it down again, when Boe spoke. "Jessie?"

I paused at the sound of his voice. There was no playfulness to it, and the absence of it was so foreign, it caught my attention. "What's up?" I rolled my chair over so that I could see his face.

Boe's light eyes bore into mine, his face reluctant. I watched his Adam's apple bob once, before he finally spoke. "Let me take you to dinner tonight."

I froze. Dinner? That wasn't a tattoo session. Dinner was a whole other thing entirely. "You mean, like a date?"

He eyed me a moment, his smirk returning. "Yeah."

"I don't do dates." I started to roll back behind him.

Boe reached a hand out and held the chair in place. "Did I say yeah? I meant no, not a date." His smile widened. "C'mon," he pleaded. "Go on a not-date with me."

I wanted to tell him to fuck off, to glare at him, to do whatever I needed to do to put him off, but instead I laughed. I couldn't help it. His smile, the way he said the words, it adhered to whatever good nature was still left buried deep inside of me; so deep, I didn't even know it existed myself. Somehow, though, he'd found it.

"Not a date?" I clarified.

If possible, his smile grew wider. His eyes lit up. "Nope. What makes you think I'd want to date you?" He leaned towards me and pulled my chair closer.

I laughed and kicked him away. "Fine. Dinner."

Boe made a fist and lightly jabbed the air in front of him.

"Not a date, though." I shot him a pointed look.

"Not a date," he agreed, tone teasing.

I busied myself with finishing the piece; my chest surprisingly light.

T shirt and jeans, T shirt and shorts, or ... T shirt and jeans. Those were the options. The only things my wardrobe consisted of.

The minute I'd gotten out of work, I'd showered and dried my hair back into the feathery style. That had taken less than an hour, but for forty-five more minutes, I stood next to the bunk staring at the same five outfits. I'd pair one t shirt with one pair of jeans, another with another, and so on and so forth as if they'd suddenly become something different.

When I realized what I was doing, I growled at myself, heaped the clothes into a pile and grabbed whatever my hands touched first. I didn't do dates; it didn't matter what I wore.

I dressed quickly, more than ready to be somewhere other than the empty RV, more than ready to have someone to keep me company.

The motor home seemed abandoned with just me living in it. I didn't bother turning lights on most of the time, and the living space had darkened significantly along with the setting sun.

It was eerie, and my nightmares had become more frequent and much more aggressive since Bard left. The space didn't feel the same without him. Nowhere near as safe. I lied awake each night and listened, waited for someone to come, for them to find me.

The night played tricks on me. Numerous times I'd thought I'd seen Seb, hovering in the corners, barely hidden in the shadows, back for revenge. Then I'd wake up in a cold sweat, and the dark would toy with my brain.

Maybe that was why I'd agreed to go out with Boe, despite my heart's sole focus to remain singular. It would be nice to have an escape from it all. To get away.

The front door opened, and I whipped my head towards it so fast, my neck cricked.

His large imposing form was unmistakable. Bard threw his keys down onto the counter and flipped on the light.

I froze. Why was he back? Why was he here? My heart thundered against my ribcage, and I suddenly felt like a kid playing hide and seek, my seeker dangerously close to success.

Regardless, I knew I couldn't stay in the hallway forever. Boe was probably already waiting for me.

Tentatively, I made my way down the dark hallway and into the living space.

Bard was sitting at the booth, and his eyes locked with mine the moment I stepped into view. "I didn't know you were here. None of the lights were on," he said, that deep voice of his hitting me like a drug I'd been deprived of.

"I've been leaving them off." I shrugged. "So, you're back?"

Bard continued to study me, his eyes landing everywhere, drinking in each and every inch. "Yes."

I offered a tight smile. "Well, welcome home. I'll catch you later."

Bard jumped up and blocked my path before I could make it past him. "Where are you going?"

I narrowed my eyes. "Out."

"I'll come with you."

I crossed my arms over my chest and asked, "Why?" even though I already knew the answer.

"It's not safe..."

"I won't be alone."

His expression went blank. "Who else is going?"

I smiled. "Boe's taking me to dinner."

He paused for a long, drawn out moment. "He's taking you to dinner." His jaw twitched, barely detectable. "Are you... with him now?"

I lifted an eyebrow. "I'm not with anybody, Bard. It's just dinner."

"With Boe, it's never just dinner." He hadn't  moved an inch, but he suddenly felt much closer.

I stepped back and met with the wall behind me. Once again, cornered.

We really need a bigger place. This is fucking ridiculous.

Bard closed the gap between us, and my stupid body responded. A flush of heat cascaded from my head down to my toes, and my breath caught at the sensation.

It was too much, too tempting. I needed to stop it and blurted out the first thing that came to my mind. "Maybe you shouldn't wait up then, huh?"

Another twitch, barely noticeable, right at the corner of his jaw.

Storm clouds raged within those dark eyes of his, and his fingers curled as if ready to reach out and grab me.

I leaned back until I was flat against the wood paneling.

Bard took in the reaction and pulled away. His eyes shot to the ceiling, and the same hand fisted and fell to his side.

Tension made the air seem to fizzle and crack, and I held my breath, waiting for what would happen next.

Bard turned back to me and stared, looking like he wanted to say something, or maybe he wanted me to say something, I wasn't sure which.

Whatever he wanted must not have happened, because with each passing second, his eyes only sharpened more.

"I really don't want you to go," he murmured. "Stay."

I snorted. "I'm not cancelling my plans because you randomly show up and want me to play goo goo eyes with you."

He turned away from me. "Fine." He didn't look back, nor did he make another move to stop me. He flopped back down at the table and filled his glass to the brim. "I guess have fun then."

Dammit. How did he do that? I wasn't doing anything wrong. I'd told him there could never be anything between us. He left! But for some fucking reason, I felt... guilty.

Well. Fuck that. "I'm sure I will."

He emptied the glass and slammed it down, his other hand gripping the bottle too tight.

I walked away before my stupid brain convinced me to stay.

I had a not-date waiting for me.

Hope you enjoyed!
What do you think?
Should Jessie have stayed?
Should she forget about Bard and have a go at Boe?