Because of Ellison (4 page)

We landed in a puddle, the mud from which splashed up into
my eyes, momentarily blinding me. It gave my attacker an advantage, one that
she immediately exploited. Straddling my midsection, she pushed herself up,
holding my shoulders down with her hands.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing, asshole
?!
Leave my dogs alone before I have to break both your
fucking legs and shove my foot so far up your ass you’ll be able to taste my
nail polish.”

My hands quickly traveled to my eyes, wiping away as much of
the mud that I could. Blinking two or three times, I was finally able to squint
up at the mud-covered and snarling blonde.

“What the fuck do you have to say for yourself? They’re
small
dogs that were just trying to play
with you. That paint-can could have hurt them, you piece of shit!” Slamming her
hands down onto my chest, the girl pushed herself off of me and walked over to check
out her dogs.

I sat up, attempting to wipe more mud from my face, and
stared out at an angry, trembling, and beautiful girl, covered head to toe in
mud — and not much else.

Rage swirled in her eyes as she glared over at me while she
consoled the frightened dogs. “Well? Are you going to say anything or are you
just going to sit there staring at me with your mouth wide open? I don’t
understand how everyone is calling you a genius considering you’re acting like
a damn fool at the moment.”

My eyes glanced at the ruined wall, instantly stripping me
of my shock and replacing it with vehemence so intense, I saw red.

Standing up, I asked, “Did you see what your
mutts
did to the wall I just painted
?!
” I took a step forward with my finger pointed directly in
her face.

Lily ran over to where her friend and I stood, immediately
moving between us and placing her hands out to ensure we remained separated.
“Guys! Stop it! Calm the fuck down.”

I didn’t look down at Lily because my stare down with her
friend had not yet finished. Her blue eyes shone out at me, a scowl peeking out
from the mud splashed and smeared over her face.

“Hunter McCormick, you better look at me right this second!”
Lily’s voice took me by surprise; the use of my full name snapped me into a
Pavlovian response instilled by my mother’s classical conditioning as a child.
My eyes shot down to Lily to find that she was smiling back up at me in
apology.

“Hunter, I’d like to introduce you to Ellison James.”

Ellison

He was an asshole. An angry, dog beating, asshole
who
was creepy as all hell because of the way he kept
staring at me. It was a good thing Lily had gotten between us because one more
word out of his mouth and it would have met with the back of my hand.

While we continued to stare each other down, my brother,
Jake, and my ex-boyfriend, Finn, wandered over to see what all the screaming
was about.

Jake opened his big mouth first, amused at the situation, to
say the least. “What the hell is going on over here?” His words were barely
discernible due to his laughter. Finn didn’t seem as amused by the muddy
debacle.

Lily and Hunter turned to look in Jake’s direction and I
noticed how Hunter took a step back after seeing Jake up close. At six foot
four, and three feet wide, Jake was definitely not someone with whom you would
want to get on their bad side. Add to that, his shaved head and long beard and
you had an intimidating looking man that most people would try to avoid.
Although Hunter had a good inch of height on Jake, he was nowhere near as thick
and, thankfully, realized that fact and backed down as soon as he set eyes on
my brother.

Finn just stood there eyeing me with obvious disapproval as
if I’d intended to roll around in the mud with a complete stranger in nothing
but a small yellow bikini.

After eyeing Hunter for a few seconds longer, I gave my
final warning. “I’m
mean
it. Stay away from my dogs.
They weren’t trying to hurt you.”

Hunter seemed to calm down and stepped towards me causing
Jake and Finn to step forward as well. Seeing that he was outnumbered, he
stopped short, but reached his hand out to shake mine. “I apologize. I wasn’t
trying to hurt them. I normally love dogs. I just lost it when they messed up
the paint job. My name is Hunter, by the way, it’s
nice
to meet you.”

I continued eyeing him, not in a forgiving kind of mood and
definitely not interested in accepting his hand. “Whatever, Hunter. Just keep
your distance and control your temper. They’re defenseless animals.”

A sigh escaped his lips while his eyes traveled between
Lily, Jake, Finn and me. “Listen, I’ll say it again: I wasn’t attempting to
hurt the dogs. But, I think I deserve an apology for the dogs ruining the
wall.”

I looked him over, but my anger wouldn’t allow me to feel
sorry for the destruction of the wall and therefore, I couldn’t apologize.
Reaching for Sasha and Bear, I grabbed their collars and limped them towards
the house. My ankle was killing me and I just wanted to get away from the
situation. When I first spotted him swinging that paint can out at the dogs, I
jumped from the rooftop, injuring my ankle from the impact with the ground. It
didn’t stop me, though. I was on a rescue mission and I didn’t allow the pain
to get in the way of my objective.

After this experience I wanted nothing to do with Lily’s
cousin, despite Lily’s assurances that he would be a great person to have
around for the summer. She’d talked him up like he was a superhero, constantly
babbling on about his intelligence and good looks. While I could admit that I
could see where he’d be a charmer with his muscular build and naturally tan
skin, it wasn’t enough to make him attractive. And although he had warm brown
hair accented by amazingly clear blue eyes, his looks were ruined when his
personality took a shit on all of his favorable attributes.

As I stormed away, I overheard Lily making the introductions
between the boys. And when I heard Finn’s footsteps following behind me after
he gave Hunter a curt ‘hello’, I groaned knowing he wasn’t going to let this
little charade go.

“El, wait up.”

I stopped where I stood, knowing full well that Finn
wouldn’t drop it until I spoke with him.

“Babe? What was with the tackle maneuver? I kind of believe
that he wasn’t trying to hurt the dogs.”

Spinning so that I could look Finn in the eye quickly, I
reminded him, “I’m not your babe and I haven’t been for over a year Finn, so
just call me El if you need to talk to me.”

I was even more annoyed now that Finn had attempted to call
me by a pet name he’d used while we’d been dating. Ever since we broke up we
remained friends but I could tell that he still carried one hell of a torch for
me and it frustrated me that he hadn’t moved on. We were best friends before we
dated and I’d hoped that we could simply go back to that. No such luck. I
couldn’t understand it either. Finn was a good-looking guy with black hair,
hazel eyes, and a thin muscular build. With his optimistic outlook and carefree
personality, most women flocked to him. Yet, he still pined for me, even after
a year-and-a-half long separation. I’d hoped to put some space between us after
we split, but during the time we’d dated, he’d also struck up a friendship with
Jake; therefore, I saw more of Finn around the house than I would have liked.

Holding up his hands in surrender, Finn cocked an eyebrow at
me questioning my immediate defensive response. “
El
, I’m just trying to figure out why you got so mad — I’m
just making sure you’re okay.”

The roll of my eyes was involuntary, but Finn was ever the
peacekeeper and it was pointless continuing forward in my anger. “Finn, just
drop it for it now, okay? I don’t want to talk about it.”

Storming towards the house, I threw open the door and
dragged the dogs to the bathroom to wash the mud from their fur. When I’d
accomplished bathing them, I went into the kitchen to feed them and grab a bowl
of cereal for myself. While chewing the sugary rolled oat goodness, my mind
drifted back to Hunter. I couldn’t wrap my head around why any rational or sane
person would lose it on a defenseless animal. Looking down at the two begging
mutts at my feet, I smiled. Their fluffy faces turned up at me, tongues hanging
low from their mouths, and the only thing I could see in their warm brown eyes
was loyalty and love.

The front door slammed shut suddenly and the sound of Jake’s
footsteps preceded his entry into the kitchen. He smiled brightly, not even
attempting to hide his delight in witnessing the impromptu mud-wrestling event
in the front yard.

“Where’s Finn?”

Jake used his thumb to motion over his shoulder when he
answered, “Took off. Said something about you being in a ‘Class-A’ bitchy
mood.” Chuckling to himself, he opened the refrigerator door to pull out a cold
beer. Leaning against the counter, he popped the cap and took a long sip before
saying, “You might want to get yourself cleaned up and in more clothes before
Dad gets homes. I don’t think he’d appreciate finding out his baby girl was
wrestling a strange man in the mud today.” Another chuckle.

I looked down at my mud-covered body, thankful that my
bathing suit had stayed in place during the event. Shrugging my shoulders, I
said, “Alright, I’m getting a bath and going to bed. I’m heading out on the
green trail tomorrow morning, so I won’t be around when you wake up. Tell
Daddy, I said goodnight when he gets home.”

Jake nodded at me while taking
another swig off his bottle and I left the kitchen to take a long shower and
soak my ankle in hopes it would feel better in the morning.

~
   
~
   
~

The green trail is a 10-mile trail that winds its way
through the nature preserve that’s behind of my house. I had to cut a smaller
path to reach it, but eventually, I made my own little private entrance into a
secluded piece of paradise. That was a definite advantage to life in the middle
of nowhere. Nature was not a great distance away and it was a quick journey for
me to escape modern life when the need overtook me. My trek had started in the
morning when it was cool, but by midafternoon the heat surged and I was
sweating buckets by the time I made it back to the house. Walking between
Lily’s place and mine, I noticed that all the cars were missing from the
houses, which was a pretty good sign that nobody was around. Since I was alone,
I decided to wash off outside before tracking in dirt, leaves and other bits of
the woods inside the house with me.

I always kept extra towels in a stowaway bench on the front
porch, so I grabbed one and went around the side of the house to rinse off in
the showerhead I’d rigged up the summer before. Stripping off my shirt and
shorts, I stepped under the cool spray of water in only my underwear and a
sports bra; and a sigh escaped my lips as the water washed away the sand and
heat from my skin. After drenching my hair, I pushed it back out of my face and
opened my eyes to the crystal blue shock in Hunter’s eyes.

Jumping back, I fumbled for my towel while Hunter stood like
a deer in headlights staring at my … well … headlights. His jaw hung open and
he had a paint canister in each hand. Brown primer smeared down his shirt and
was splattered over his legs. I held the towel up to cover my assets while
using my hand to reach around and tuck it behind my body.

“Do you mind? Turning around would be the polite thing to
do!” I huffed a lock of hair out of my face as I stepped off the concrete slab
of the shower into my flip-flops. Hunter turned suddenly, paint sloshing out of
the cans as he spun, his feet stumbling over themselves from the awkward weight
of the liquid in motion at his sides.

“I’m sorry … really … sorry. I had no idea you were out here
and I came around the corner, and, well … ”

“And well, what? You thought staring at a half-naked girl
without alerting her to your presence was a smart idea? They have a word for
that, you know.”

His shoulders straightened allowing the thin material of his
t-shirt to stick to his body with sweat. The material clung so closely, in
fact, that every muscle that ran along his shoulders and down his spine was
perfectly defined beneath the material. With his arms held out to his sides
from holding the cans, I was able to see the perfect ‘v’ of his abdomen and it
wasn’t a bad package — until he opened his mouth.

“Look. I didn’t intend to ogle you, but I came around the
corner, you were just
there
and in my
shock, I didn’t react as fast as I should have. However, and in my defense, YOU
are the one presently taking a shower in the front yard.”

“I didn’t think anybody was here! That’s what I’m talking
about. You had a voice to warn me of your presence and yet you chose not to use
it!”

“Well, I thought I was alone as well! Maybe you should wear
a bell or some shit so I’m alerted to your presence before I have the chance to
walk in on you while you’re naked in your front yard!”

I could not believe he’d just suggested that I wear a bell
on my property. Who did he think he was
?!
And if I
wanted to get naked on my property, I believe that I have that right without
worrying about voyeurs lurking the grounds. There was no use in arguing, though
… so I had to get even.

“Turn around, Hunter.”

“What
?!
No! You’ll just call me a
creep again!”

“Turn around.” My face was straight and my tone of voice was
even. I’d made my decision.

Hunter’s body slowly rotated in my direction and his eyes shut
to a point where the skin wrinkled at the sides. I laughed. I couldn’t help it.

“I’ve been around you, in total, for less than an hour.
Within that hour, all we’ve done is argue. So, I’m getting even, Hunter, and
then we’ll start from the beginning. Sound good?”