Oakley
Thirteen
My phone jostles me from my dream, and it takes me a minute to reorient myself to my surroundings.
The sun is bright in the motel room, and I fumble blindly on the bedside table until I find the vibrating phone.
A glance at the Caller ID shows me that Danielle is calling.
I press accept and hold the phone to my ear.
“Good morning, sunshine!” Her voice is as bright and cheery as the sun blazing through the windows, somehow managing to fall perfectly across my face. I roll over with a groan and bury my face in the pillow, mumbling an incoherent greeting to my friend on the other line.
“No idea what you just said. Anyway… where the hell have you been? I met with Professor Cormen the other day, and she let it slip that you haven’t registered for the semester yet. Don’t worry, you still have until ten tonight to register.”
I turn until I’m lying on my back, trying, and failing, to detangle my bare legs from the sweaty sheets.
“Yeah, about that…”
“Oh no. Don’t tell me you’re not coming back.” Danielle knows me well enough by now to be able to read between the lines, but I still owe her an explanation.
“It’s a funny story, actually.” Nothing about it is funny. “I’m in upstate New York right now.”
There’s a beat of silence, during which I know she’s probably holding her breath and waiting for the punchline. One she knows isn’t coming.
“It finally got that bad, huh?”
A humorless laugh claws its way up my throat. “Yeah. It did.” I swallow around a lump.
Danielle doesn’t know everything about Travis, but she knows enough.
Ever since I met her a year ago in our first semester of grad school, she’s had an uncanny way of seeing right through me.
Unfortunately, she’s never been one to sugarcoat the truth of what she sees.
She’s younger than me by a few years, having not taken a break between undergrad and grad school like I did.
After meeting Travis exactly one time, Danielle was certain he was bad news.
If only I had listened to her. Shame courses through me, knowing that she tried to warn me, and I foolishly waved off her concern.
“I’m so sorry, babe.”
Emotion pricks at my eyes, and I throw a hand over my face. I don’t deserve her pity. “Yeah, me too. But I’m okay. Really.” I don’t have the energy to make it sound convincing.
Of course, Danielle sees right through me.
“It’s okay if you’re not. The important thing is that you got out, and you’re safe. Just give Professor Cormen a call. I’m sure she’ll understand.”
“I know. I’ve been meaning to speak with her, but with everything going on, it slipped my mind.” I don’t have to tell her that I really did remember, but haven’t had it in me to face the music. She knows what I’m not saying without me having to explain.
“That’s typically how it goes when one is in the midst of fight-or-flight mode.”
My thoughts race, and all I want to do is go back to sleep for a few hours.
I was having the best dream. Flashes of tanned skin, pine trees, sunshine, and green eyes play through my mind as I desperately cling to the dream that left me feeling more than a little turned on before I woke and got slammed face-first back into reality.
“Listen, take all the time you need to figure shit out,” Danielle continues.
“But please know that I will be in the car, on my way to you, the second you tell me you need me. I want to give you the space to figure this out on your own, because I know you’ve got it handled, but you also don’t need to do this alone if you don’t want to. ”
“I love you. You know that, right?”
Her laugh is infectious, and I smile as a tear rolls down my cheek, wondering why I was nervous to tell her in the first place.
Danielle isn’t one to judge me for my decisions.
If I told her I want to join a nudist colony, she’d strip down without hesitation, grab my hand, and walk right through the gates with me.
“I love you too, babe. What’s my story when the others start asking?”
“Just tell them I’m taking a semester off. We can figure out the rest later.”
“You got it. Oh! I’ve been meaning to tell you. Marcia and Gabe finally got together.” She launches into full-blown gossip mode, and I’m thankful for the distraction. We end the call thirty minutes later with her promising to visit during her next break. I’m lighter than I have been in weeks.
Climbing out of bed, I put on a pot of coffee and let it brew as I jump in the shower.
My mind drifts to Levi, and I wonder as I scrub the shampoo through my hair what his Sunday mornings look like.
Does he like to sleep in? Or is he an early riser so that he can watch the world slowly wake as he sips his coffee?
Hiking with him and Bandit was the highlight of my day yesterday.
The easy way I found myself opening up to him feels like that split second at the top of a rollercoaster right before you drop.
Maybe it had something to do with being surrounded by the sounds of nature, but I felt like I could finally take a deep breath without the weight of all this shit on my shoulders.
I’ll admit I felt a twinge of disappointment last night when I didn’t see him at the bar.
I found my eyes constantly bouncing between the door and the corner booth where he sat with his friends the other night, hoping that he would walk in.
I had meticulously picked out my outfit, opting for a pair of dark wash skinny jeans and a white ribbed tank top.
I even went as far as to brush a bit of mascara across my usually bare lashes.
I cut the water and carefully step out of the shower, leaning my body over the tub to wring out my hair.
Dressing in my last pair of clean leggings, I throw on an old T-shirt over my bra.
I need to go to the grocery store and stock up on a few essentials, so I make a note to ask Jessie about a laundromat. I hope she’s working today.
I pull up to the front of the store and smile when I see Jessie through the front window, chatting animatedly with an elderly woman while she bags her groceries for her.
Despite the heaviness of the conversation with Danielle earlier, I practically skip into the store.
It feels good to be excited about something as mundane as grocery shopping, but I’m not going to complain nor question it.
Jessie beams at me when she sees me walk in, calling out a greeting, and I wave back to her before grabbing the couple of items on my list. She’s still chatting with the woman when I get into line behind her and start loading the items onto the conveyor belt.
“Oakley, this is Wendy! She lives up the mountain a little ways.”
I take the woman’s wrinkled hand and give it a little shake. She smiles warmly up at me from her hunched position, nothing but genuine kindness in her eyes.
“It’s so nice to meet you, dear. Welcome to North Creek. I hope you love it here.”
I melt a little at her warm welcome.
“I think I’m learning to. I actually got out for a hike yesterday, and it was absolutely gorgeous. Must be something about the mountain air.”
“What trail did you hike?” Jessie asks as she starts scanning my items. I don’t remember the name of it, but when I start describing the way I drove to get to the trailhead, she nods like she knows exactly the trail I’m talking about.
“That’s a good one! It’s even better in the fall when all the leaves start to change colors.”
“You ready to go, Wendy?”
I look up at the sound of Levi’s voice. God, he’s everywhere. He’s smiling gently down at the woman as he takes the bag from her hand and grabs the rest off the end of the counter.
“Oh yes, thank you. Jessie was just introducing me to our newest neighbor. This is Oakley. Have you two met?”
“I saved her from a mountain lion her first night in town.” His tone is serious, but a playfulness creases the corners of his eyes.
Jessie barks out a laugh, and Wendy swats his muscled arm with all the force of a fly in a tornado, scoffing at his joke.
“That seems like a bit of an exaggeration.” I cross my arms defiantly.
“Your words, not mine, darlin’.”
I roll my eyes, feigning annoyance, but anyone with a pulse could tell I’m faking it. This back and forth feels like a thread pulled taut between us, each little tug on either end threatening to send us toppling into each other.
It’s exhilarating, this push and pull.
“Oakley told me she hiked the trail near your house the other day,” Jessie pipes up, effectively breaking the moment, and I’m grateful for the momentary reprieve as I suck in a lungful of air.
“Is that so?”
I barely register his response as my mind settles on a singular detail.
The trail by your house.
Knowing I was so close to where this man lives makes me feel something I can’t put a name to. Nervousness? No, that’s not it. Excitement? That isn’t right either. Jessie surges ahead, thankfully not picking up on my warring emotions.
“Actually, I’m glad you came in today. I don’t have your number, otherwise I would have texted you. I’m leading a hike to a swimming hole next weekend. There’s even a waterfall. You should totally come with.”
Curiosity gets the better of me. “A swimming hole?”
“Yeah! Don’t get me wrong, the water is cold as hell, but you’ll work up a sweat on the hike in, so I promise you won’t even notice it.”
Levi shoots her a look that says she’s exaggerating and he knows it, but I’m already sold.
“Just tell me where to meet you. I’d love to join.”
“Great! Why don’t you meet me here at nine next Saturday? Don’t forget your bathing suit. Here, give me your phone. I’ll put my number in.”
I hand her my cell and enough cash to cover the groceries. We exchange numbers, and I leave with the promise to see her the following weekend.
Levi, Wendy, and I make our way out to the parking lot, and he loads the old woman’s groceries into the back seat of his truck before helping her into the passenger seat and returning to stand in front of me.
“That’s really nice of you.” I nod towards where Wendy is reapplying her bright pink lipstick in the mirror.
It looks to be the exact shade my grandma never leaves the house without, the swirling cream-colored design on the tube perfectly matching the one my grandma uses.
I should give her a call when I’m more settled.
“Wendy’s husband passed away a few years back, and her children are all grown and moved away.
She’s always looked out for me. The least I can do is return the favor.
Plus, she lives right next door, so it makes it easy to check in on her.
” He shrugs, like it’s no big deal, but I see it for what it is.
He’s not offering his help out of obligation. He does it because he wants to, and he genuinely cares.
I shift the bags on my arms, and he must pick up on the movement, because he reaches out and takes the bags from me without a word before walking me to my car. His broad frame stoops to place the bags on the passenger seat before he stands to face me.
“Thanks. Though, I’m going to have to start finding a way to pay you back if you’re going to insist on always being the ultimate gentleman.” Am I flirting with him? It came so naturally. I’ll take that as a small win.
He takes a step towards me, stopping only when his body is so close that I can feel the electricity sparking the air between us. With him standing this close, he towers over me, my head barely reaching his shoulders, and I have to tilt my head back to look up at him.
Holding my gaze, he moves slowly, as if I’m an animal he doesn’t want to scare off, reaching out to catch a lock of hair and rubbing it between his fingertips before tucking it gently back in place behind my ear.
My breath catches in my lungs. For a moment, we’re suspended in time, something unrecognizable passing between us.
“How many times am I going to have to repeat myself? You owe me nothing, Oakley.”
I love the sound of my name on his lips.
“At least a dozen more.”
A wry grin curves his lips. “I don’t do it to get something out of it. I do it because I want to.”
Without another word, he turns and walks away, climbing into his truck and closing the door. In his absence, the fist wrapped around my lungs releases, and I take a deep breath, clutching desperately at the lingering scent of pine and something else.
Something intoxicating, and masculine, and him.