Twenty-Nine
TWENTY-NINE
It took me longer than the usual three hour drive back to school after storming out of my house last night. The tears that wouldn’t stop falling made it difficult to see, causing me to drive well beyond the speed limit. Plenty of people honked as they passed me, but I just couldn’t gather myself enough to care.
I cried myself to sleep, completely ignoring Mara, Janelle, Sami and Lizzie when I walked in. I threw my things down on the floor, not bothering to take off my clothes, and fell face down to my bed.
I don’t know how long I cried for, but I know it’s definitely not morning time as my phone goes off. I’m groggy and my hands feel like they’re on a sandy beach. Then I realize that it’s not my alarm going off but my phone ringing.
My eyes pop open and I reach for my phone that is still tucked tightly into my back pocket. I pull it out to see the time read four-fifteen and Hendrix’s name on the caller ID. My fingers fumble as I try to swipe over and over, then take a deep breath to steady myself and try again.
“Hendrix?” I answer, worried that it might not be him.
“Hey little mouse.” His voice is tired and gravelly, like he’s been trekking across a dry desert for days. “I’m sorry I didn’t call you.”
“It’s okay. Malik told me why you couldn’t.” He grows quiet, only puffing out air. “What happened?”
“It’s a long story that I really don’t want to get into right now. Is that okay?”
“Yeah. Of course.” I can tell his mind and his body are exhausted and the last thing I want to do is push him when he’s already had such a rough day. “Are you alright? Aside from being arrested?”
“I’m a little rough for the wear to be honest. Danté wears this fucking ring that has a pointed end on it. He uses it for…stuff. Well the asshole sliced me right above my eye with it, so I’m definitely going to need stitches. It’s my first stop in the morning.”
“Oh my gosh. Does it hurt?” I sit up in bed and look over at Lizzie who is snoring away.
I decide not to wake her, and quietly tip toe out of my bedroom and out onto the back patio.
“It’s fine. I’ll just have a gnarly scar, but he should have one too. I caught him good on the cheekbone. We also have cuts on our arms from rolling in gravel and several bruises, but it’s whatever. I just don’t know if we’ll be able to recover from this.”
He sounds hurt, not just physically but emotionally. If I could reach out and take his heart in my hands and keep it safe I would. Something occurs to me and I just have to ask.
“Hendrix?”
“Yeah, baby?”
“Was your fight about me?” His silence tells me everything I need to know.
I pull my legs to my chest and hug them tight, resting my head on my knees. A chill blows in the early morning hours, and shivers roll through my body. But it’s not from the cold.
“I don’t want to be the reason you and your brother fall apart.” My voice cracks and I sniff.
“Dagen, you won’t be. Trust me. Danté has a chip on his shoulder and doesn’t like when someone puts him in his place. He’s stubborn and hard headed and doesn’t know when to just shut up. He runs his mouth and it’s the source of many of our fights. This one got a little more…heated.” I can hear how worked up about it he is and I feel even more guilty.
“Well if you ever need a break from there, you’re always welcome here,” I tell him.
“Be careful what you say little mouse. I may drive up there and steal you away. Maybe hide us from the rest of the world.”
“That would be perfectly okay with me. Just tell me when and I’ll be ready.” I smile, my heart feeling a little lighter than it was hours ago.
“You better go back to sleep. It’s late. I’m sorry for waking you.”
“Wake me any time you want. I’ll always answer.”
“I’ll remember that. Good night, little mouse.”
“Good night, Mr. Wolf.” He laughs softly and the line goes quiet.
I stay up for the next hour, staring up at the navy blue sky and wishing I was back in Cattywump Bay, far away from the problems that chase me down.
A week passes with Hendrix and I talking every chance we get. He sends me texts while he’s at work and I’m in class. Once the evening comes, we’re on the phone until our eyes were weary and our yawns abundant. He spent little time out of his house aside from work, and my friends grew increasingly angry with me over my lack of communication.
They knew the reason why I ran from my house that day, and have since come to know about my time in Cattywump Bay and Hendrix. But I just don’t have the energy to be the person they know me as. Something changed in me. I can’t say whether it was finding out about Stephanie or meeting Hendrix, but I know that it shifted my life’s trajectory.
Last night, we spoke about the possibility of me flying down for a weekend, soon. I’m trying to find a way to pay for it without my parents knowing about it, since we are still on very limited speaking terms. I mainly call to talk with AJ and Sloane.
Hendrix said he would buy me a ticket, but I don’t feel right asking him to do that. I know he is not lacking for money, but I don’t want him to think I expect things from him.
I’m staring at my laptop screen, finishing up the last of my project and waiting for Hendrix to call when I hear Lizzie yell out from the living room.
“Any of y’all expecting someone driving a sweet ass car to be making a visit tonight?” I pop up from my bed and shuffle down the hall.
Sami and Mara crowd around the window, peeking out of the blinds like the nosey neighbors they are.
“Where’s Jenelle?” I ask.
Sami looks over at me and replies, “Lab. She said she’d be home around ten.”
I look at my watch and see that she has another hour before she gets home, so it can’t be that she got a ride with someone who is dropping her off.
“Holy fuck me hard. That is one morally gray glass of water,” Mara moans.
“I call dibs,” Sami shouts.
“You can’t call dibs on someone you don’t even know. What if he’s not even–oh my god. He’s walking up the sidewalk.” Lizzie scrambles about, her hands flapping around.
Sami and Mara jump back from the window and scurry around the living room. I decide to take a look at this person they are in a tizzy about, and walk over to the window. When I look out and see the face of the man approaching our front door, I too turn into a horny chicken with her feathers on fire.
I hurdle over the coffee table and lunge for the front door, yanking it open and practically ripping it from the hinges.
“Hendrix!” I shout and fly out the door and straight into his arms.
“Hi, little mouse. Miss me?”
I grab his face and plant kisses all over it. Cheeks, nose, eyes, forehead, just everywhere. He holds me tight, squeezing my ass and snaking his arm around my back. He smells of cedar and motor oil, only a scent he can pull off.
“Can we go inside?” He mumbles into my neck.
Without lifting my head or letting go, I nod and he walks in.
“Hey. I’m Hendrix. You all must be Dagen’s roommates,” he greets, his voice so deep and so smooth.
“Yeah-huh.”
“Yip.”
“Us. That’s us.”
My three friends suddenly have tongues too big for their mouths and forget how to form complete sentences. His boots echo over the wood floors and the girls begin picking up various items that are laying around.
“You can sit on that leather chair,” I tell him.
“Okay, little mouse. Are you going to let go?” I shake my head that is still buried in the crook of his neck. “Good.”
He gently sits in the comfy chair and readjusts me, my knees bent and tucking in on either side of his lap.
“What are you doing here?” I finally ask.
“I missed you. Figured I’d visit for a few days. Is that okay?”
I lift my head and stare into his blue eyes. “More than okay. Thank you. I don’t think you realize how much I was needing this. Needing you .”
“I think I do because it was the same way I was needing you.” I bat away my tears because dammit, I’m tired of crying all the time. “Is there somewhere private we can go?”
“Kinda. I share the master with Lizzie, and the other three have their own room. Maybe I can see if we can borrow one of the singles.”
“Nah. Don’t do that baby. How about I just get a room and we can stay there for the weekend?”
I sit up tall and place my hands on his shoulders. “You don’t have to do that. I don’t want you to waste money when we can stay here for free.”
He raises a brow at me with a smirk. “Dagen…I think I can afford to get a hotel room with my girl for the weekend.”
My stomach erupts with a swirl of butterflies in it hearing him call me his girl . “I know. You just drove such a long way, and now we have to find a hotel.”
He wiggles around, still holding me to him, and digs for his phone. With one hand, he slides his thumb across the screen. I try to sneak a peek at his screen, but he holds it higher and out of my view.
“Done. Go pack a bag,” he orders.
“Bossy.”
“Don’t act like you don’t like it. Now hurry up.” He kisses my forehead and smacks my butt, urging me to get up and do as he’s told me.
I fidget, working to free my knees, then hurry off to my bedroom. My Louis duffle seems to be getting quite a bit of use as of late. I run into my bathroom, snatching my toothbrush and toothpaste from the holder, and pull open the cabinet under my sink to retrieve the toiletries I just unpacked days ago.
Rummaging through my dresser, pajamas, leggings, t-shirts, shorts, undergarments, all get tossed into my bag. I slip my feet into a pair of shoes then run back into the bathroom to grab a brush and my makeup bag. Five minutes of tornado-like chaos, and I’m back in the living room.
“So your last name is Dare? That’s not like a pen name, or whatever?” Lizzi, Sami and Mara all sit on the couch, their chins propped in their hands and all staring at Hendrix like he’s a greek statue come to life.
I won’t lie, he’s pretty amazing.
“Nope. It’s my real last name. My brothers and I changed our names when we were eighteen,” he tells them, a kind smile on his face.
It’s a very strange look as all I’ve seen when he speaks with people outside of his friends is a scowl that says fuck off to anyone who dares to speak to him.
“Cool cool. So you have brothers? How many and do they look like you?”
A small, muffled chuckle vibrates in his chest and I hurry over to save him.
“He has two brothers and they do not look like him. I’ll be gone for the weekend so y’all better not die of alcohol poisoning.” I step to each friend and kiss their forehead. “Do the dishes. Go to your Saturday class. No, you do not need to buy another book. Love you.”
I give them each a little piece of advice before leaving and grab Hendrix by the hand, tugging him to his car, more than ready to spend some time with him.
Once we are both tucked inside his car and belted in, he reaches over to me and pulls my face to him. His lips land on mine, hard and lustfully, and finally delivers a real kiss. My mouth opens and a moan escapes, tasting him like he’s my favorite dessert. His fingers tangle in my hair and tug at my strands, and his teeth nip at my bottom lip.
“How far away is Hotel Gatsby?” He asks me, mouth still glued to mine.
“Ten minutes. Straight down Franklin Street.”
“I’ll make it in five,” he says and pulls away. “Hold on tight.” The engine revs and he throws it into drive.
A blaring screech fills the night air, but Hendrix Dare has filled my heart.