7 Long ride home (1/2)
”Yeah, no.” She said as she ducked under his arm. Irritation built in her as he then grabbed her arm. She turned toward him with the intent of telling him why she was there, but before she could say a word his mouth came crashing down on hers. She could smell the alcohol on his breath as his tongue pushed harshly against her sealed lips. Using her free hand she pushed his head away. She tried again to speak, ”I'm actually…” She was interrupted by yet another attempted kiss by him. [What an asshole!] Finally at the end of her patients she let him pull her closer once again, loading all her weight onto one leg as she brought the knee of her other leg powerfully into his groin. As he fell to his knees, she popped up the other knee. Her knee hit him hard under the chin. {Men like him pissed me off to no end!} She bent down to whisper in his ear, ”I eat douche-bags like you for breakfast, remember that before you try to fuck with another girl.” She straightened upright and dusted her hands off.
She heard a light laugh from behind her as she watched Dante crash to the ground. ”I see you've met Dante, my partner.” Xavier said coming up behind her. He bent down and patted Dante on the cheek, then glanced up at her from a squat beside Dante's still twitching body. ”Nice job.” Xavier's attention went back to Dante as he struggled to move. ”Dante, this is Joslyn. We're cutting out early, close up and I'll come back later to break everything down.” He when to stand but laughed before bending back down over Dante, ”Ah, little brother it's nice to see you get your ass handed to you by a girl.” He let out another laugh as he stood up and took Joslyn's hand. Xavier then led her away, leaving Dante as he struggled to stand. It deserved him right for being such a womanizer all the time.
Xavier stopped in front of a large red Wrangler with Rubicon written down one side and Bite Waves Surf shop logo across the front glass, and another phrase written upside down over the running boards of either side. Joslyn stepped a little closer and tilted her head to try and make out the writing. She leaned closer to make sure she was reading it right, and then read it out loud. 'If you can read this flip me over.' ”What does that mean?”
Xavier laughed, ”Ideally you wouldn't be able to read it unless the Jeep was upside down.” He laughed again when she wrinkled her nose. ”Some guys who work for me did it all when I opened my last shop.” He waved his hand to indicate the whole jeep. ”It started out only being the company logo across the windshield.” He opened the passenger door and offered her a hand for her to get inside.
Joslyn studied Xavier's features as he walked slowly around the jeep. His hair was messy and still slightly damp from their swim earlier; he had dark brows that twisted into natural mischievous arches, and his soft lips seemed to always curve into a pout that made you want to bite and nibble at the slightly protruding lower lip. The masculine curves of his jaws were blanketed by a light dusting of stubble leftover from a long day. If anyone could give Russ a run for his money in the looks department, it would be this man. The two men were complete opposites in may features except for the fact that they were both unrealistically beautiful. Her gaze moved to his eyes, but she frowned when she noticed he still wore the sunglasses. No wait they had a lighter tent that the ones he had worn earlier, he must have changed them out, but why would he be wearing them at all? ”Are your glasses prescription?” she asked curiously as he climbed into the other side of the vehicle.
”You could say that.” He answered vaguely then elaborated, ”I have light sensitivity, and headlights at night kill me.”
”Too bad.” She answered, recalling the glimpse she had gotten of them earlier. She gave him directions as they traveled away from the beach and back toward the university.
”So the jerk back there was your partner AND brother?” Joslyn asked as they pulled up to a red light.
”Yeah, I'd love to tell you he's only a dick when he drinks but…” Xavier laughed and shrugged his shoulders as he looked over at her. ”But he's pretty much always a dick. What can I say…”
Joslyn laughed, it was hard to be in anything but a good mood around this guy.
”So, is your friend always so good at handling his booze?” Xavier asked with his eyebrow raised trying his best to imitate a serious face.
”Oh man! You don't even want to ask. This is just the latest of his shenanigans! You wouldn't believe me if I told you half the gross crap he's done.” Joslyn laughed as she held her hands up, through the open jeep top, letting the air blow over her hands.
Xavier let out a small laugh as he glanced over at her, ”Try me.”
She laughed again and sat up in her seat to turn toward him so she could watch the different expressions work across his face. ”Well let's see….” She ran through Russ's more recent mishaps. ”Well, let me tell ya, it's never uncommon for him to come home from a full moon night covered in disgusting things. Last month we had to flea bomb the whole apartment after Russ when out 'frolicking' in a dog park.” She rolled her eyes before continuing, ”A few months ago he apparently thought it would be a good idea to roll in road kill while in wolf form, and if that isn't bad enough he brought the damn thing home!” A shiver ran through her body as the memories of the smell came back to her. ”I'm also pretty sure he knocked up a few of the neighborhood dogs…. If that's even possible…” She shook her head as she watched the corners of his eyes crinkle behind his glasses as his smile widened.
”Sounds interesting. I bet you have your hands full with two of them.” The slight tone change in his voice hinted at the question he hadn't asked.
Joslyn gave out an uncomfortable laugh, ”Yea, Shelly's a mess too, but not nearly as bad as her brother. She mostly just ransacks mine and our other roommate's closets.”
He looked back over at her as they pulled to a stop in front of another red light. She could see his eyebrow arch up over the top of his glasses frames. ”So, you all live together? That explains a lot, I guess.” He smiled down at her before reaching over and taking hold of her chin. He pulled her face over toward him and placed a light kiss on her lips. As she started to respond to him a car behind them blew their car horn loudly. He snickered as the car sped off past them in the other lane. He put the jeep into first gear and back into motion. ”Do you want to stop and grab a bite to eat? There's a pretty good diner near here.”
Shocked, Joslyn glanced back toward him, ”Ah, it's ok. I don't want to put you out. I feel bad enough you're driving this far out of your way to take me home.”
He laughed and reach out to take her hand. He glanced over at her as he brought her hand to his lips, ”Then reward me for going out of my way to take you home, by eating with me.” He propped his elbow up on the armrest between the seats, her hand still held firm in his. He gently rubbed the tops of her fingers back and forth along the stubble of his jaw.
She followed the trail of their hands, mesmerized by the sensation of the soft stubble. She couldn't help but think about how nice it would feel on her sensitive body.
He glanced back at her and chuckled lightly, ”So yes to food?” As he said the word food he moved her fingers to his lips and placed light kisses against her knuckles as he moved them across his lips.
”Um…” She continued to watch as he placed kisses on her hand. {It has been too long. I'm losing my mind over the smallest of sensations.}
He released one finger as he focused on the road in front of them. He brought the finger to his mouth and nipped the tip, before sucking the whole finger into his mouth. ”If you turn down the diner, I may just have to eat you instead…” He turned a wickedly mischievous grin in her direction as they stopped in front of yet another red light.
”Keep looking at me like that and I may just let you eat me.” She continued to watch him kiss and lick her fingers. {Shit, what am I saying…}
”Promises, promises.” He teased nipping at her pinky finger. This time he didn't delay as the light turned back to green. ”We're almost there, I promise they have a great late-night menu.”