Easy Silence (12 page)

“Look at me!” His voice was loud and fierce. I moved my head away, purposely refusing to do as he asked. He caught me off guard when he grabbed my face in his hands, forcing me to look at him. “I care about you. I care about you a lot. I fuckin’ jumped into a raging ocean to save your ass; do you really think that I would do something stupid to risk it now?”

“Why do you care about me?” I asked, my face moving closer to his with each passing second.

“I-I don’t know,” he whispered. I could see his tension growing, noticing the deep pulsation in the side of his neck. “It’s like…you get me, Samantha. That’s never happened before with anyone.” He swallowed hard as my lips grazed down his neck, and I gently nuzzled on his earlobe. He closed his eyes and let out a deep breath when my hand skimmed over his erection that was forming under his jeans.

I stood on my tippy toes with my hand continuing to tease him and whispered in his ear, “Then get me the hell out of these woods, and don’t even think about driving that thing that way again.” He opened his eyes, snapping back to reality. I could tell that he was a little shocked and was hoping I would take care of the problem I had created for him down below. He stared at me, speechless, trying to pull it together. “Payback’s a bitch isn’t it,” I gave him a quick smile and headed back to his quad.

He raced up behind me and turned me around, lifting me up and prying his tongue into my mouth. He grabbed my arms and backed me up against an enormous tree with our tongues still locked together. His hands slipped under my shirt, and his mouth trailed down my neck as we both slid down to the ground. He moved my hair from my face and stared down at me, and his eyes began to glass over. “What’s wrong?” I whispered.

He shook his head. “I just—you’re just so beautiful.”

“And so are you, Jaxson.” He creased his eyebrows. “You are beautiful on the outside, and you have a beautiful soul on the inside. I get you so well because I can see the real you. The one you’re hiding, even from yourself. You deserve that happiness that you’ve been running away from for so long. You are worthy of it, Jaxson. So worthy.” He looked away as if my words pained him. “Let me prove it to you.” He quickly sat up, resting his back against the tree and stared into space. I sat up next to him and took his hand in mine. My heart fluttered when he placed his head on my shoulder.

“I’m sorry if I scared you, Samantha. I would never do anything to hurt you or put you in danger.”

I kissed him on the top of his head and closed my eyes as the warm welcoming breeze rustled the leaves in the tree above, but the only thing I could feel at the moment was Jaxon’s heart opening ever so slightly, allowing me to take that first step in.

* * *

My neck was aching when I lifted my head from Jaxson’s shoulder at the sound of a revving engine coming near. I looked up at him, and he was wide awake in the same position that he was in when we first sat down under this tree. The only difference was that my head somehow landed on his shoulder. “Oh my god, your shoulder must be killing you.”

“It’s fine.”

“What’s that noise?”

“Pete.” Jaxson stood up and walked off toward the sound of the motor, just as Pete came into sight, riding a quad that was very similar to Jaxson’s, with Bonnie on the back.

“What’s the matter, Pete? Couldn’t get the
clutch
working on the dirt bike?” Jaxson teased. Pete stood up and smacked him lightly on the back of the head.

“Nope, Bonnie wanted to take the quad out instead.”

“Ha…you’re so whipped.”

“Sam, you survived,” Pete said.

“Barely, but Jaxson promised that he will slow it down. Right, Jaxson?” I raised my eyebrow at him.

“Ha…who’s whipped now?” Pete teased back.

“You want to head down to the stream?” Jaxson asked.

“You go your way, and I’ll go mine, and we’ll see who gets there first.” Pete challenged. For some reason, I didn’t like the sound of that.

“Well, that’s not fair because Samantha doesn’t like going fast.”

“Excuses. Excuses!” Pete shouted, getting back on the quad, while Bonnie shook her head and laughed at the two of them.

“You promised you wouldn’t put me in danger,” I said, walking up behind Jaxson as Pete and Bonnie took off.

“Yeah, I promised you I wouldn’t drive like that again, and I meant it.”

“Well, I trust you, and as long as you promise you’ll keep me safe, let’s beat Pete.” I bit my lip and smiled.

“You sure?” He grinned ever so slightly. I nodded and took the helmet, adjusting it on my head. He got on, and I followed behind him, wrapping my arms tightly around his body. “Don’t be scared. It will be fun. Trust me. Okay?” I nodded, squeezing my eyes and burying my face into his shoulder when he revved the engine, and we took off. My body jerked with every bump and turn, becoming covered in mud as we flew through a puddle. I finally found the courage to open my eyes and found that it really wasn’t that bad. He was in complete control, and I was feeling much like I was on a ride at an amusement park. By the time we reached the stream, Pete was nowhere in sight. Jaxson turned around and high fived me just before I stood up and looked down at myself covered in mud. When Jaxson stood up, I couldn’t hold back my laughter, he looked ten times worse than me.

He took off his helmet and placed his hand on the small of my back, pushing me into him. “Thank you for trusting me,” he whispered.

“No problem.” I stared up at him, hoping that he would soon be able to place that same trust in me. The sound of Pete’s quad approaching us broke our gaze. I looked down at Jaxson’s hand still latched tightly onto mine and smiled as we walked over to meet Pete.

“What’s the matter old man? Still couldn’t beat me even with a head start?”

“What the heck happened to you two?” Pete asked, letting out a loud chuckle as his eyes passed over our mud covered clothes.

“Hey, you can’t be afraid to get a little dirty when you want to win.”

Bonnie’s eyes moved down to Jaxson’s hand in mine, and she smiled. “Well, I’d say you two are more than a little dirty!”

“Well, there goes my idea,” Pete said.

“What idea?” Jaxson asked.

“I was thinking that we could head over to Duke’s restaurant on the other side of the woods and grab a burger, but you two can’t go looking like that.”

“I don’t give a shit,” Jaxson muttered.

“I know you don’t, but I’m sure Sam does.” Pete laughed.

“Umm…yeah, just a little.” I giggled, picking at the mud that was hardening on my arm.

“Okay, well then why don’t you two get cleaned up, and Pete and I will ride for a little longer, then meet ya at Duke’s in about an hour,” Bonnie suggested.

I wanted to go more than anything, but I didn’t want to be too quick to answer because I didn’t want Jaxson to feel trapped into going with me.

He shrugged. “Whatever,” he muttered.

All eyes seemed to be on me…except for Jaxson’s. His lack of enthusiasm made me wonder if he really wanted to go or if he felt obligated. “Umm…well, if Jaxson has other plans then I can just go home.”

“Who says I have other plans?” he asked in defense.

“I—I don’t know. I just didn’t want you to feel like you had to say yes just because I was standing here.”

“If I didn’t want to go I would have said no, regardless if you were here or not.”

“Oh. Okay.” I could feel my face reddening a bit over the sharp matter of fact tone he was using with me in front of Pete and Bonnie. It amazed me how he could go from being super sweet one minute to cool and crass the next.

“Okay then, we’ll see ya at Duke’s in an hour,” Pete said, revving up the engine and taking off once Bonnie jumped on the back.

He was silent, waiting until Pete’s quad was just a low hum in the distance before turning to me. “If I don’t want to do something, I don’t lie and say I do. I can’t stand people who do things just to appease other people. I’m not that guy.”

“That’s fine. I appreciate your honesty.”

He rubbed his thumb along the side of my face and suddenly nice, caring, gentle Jaxson was back again as he took my hand and led me back to his quad.

“Can I drive?” I joked.

“Umm…I promised you I wouldn’t do anything to put you in danger, remember?”

“Oh, yeah that’s right.” I let out a sigh.

“Besides, I’ve never let anyone drive this before.”

“Well, there’s a first for everything.” I raised an eyebrow.

“Not for that.”

“Well, have you ever had sex on it before?” His eyes widened, and he shook his head. “Can I be your first for that?” A slow sexy smirk came upon his face.

“Thought you said having sex in public places was gross.”

I shrugged. “Well that was before I tried it, and just like catching frogs…I kinda like it.”

He broke out a full smile and moved my hair from my face. “Oh, little girl. You’re totally turning me on right now, but…” He leaned in and kissed me on the cheek before quietly placing my helmet on my head. “Paybacks are a bitch.” My jaw dropped over his first ever attempt at humor, and even though my body was left with want, my heart had been fulfilled.

I pulled my wet hair back into a ponytail and hurriedly dressed, knowing that Jaxson would be here any minute to pick me up. I scurried off to the front porch to wait for him and was surprised to find that he had already arrived and was talking with Hadley and Henry. My stomach dropped; I could only imagine the daggers Hadley must have been shooting him while he waited for me.

“Nothing wrong with that Jax, go in and do your four years and then come out and they will pay for all your schooling. I did it, and it did me a world of good,” Henry said.

“Did what?” I asked, sneaking up behind Jaxson.

“The Army,” Henry answered.

Henry actually didn’t seem to have the same low opinion of Jaxson as everyone else, which surprised me, because I was fairly certain that Jaxson had probably had a few run-ins with the law.

I looked over at Hadley and gave her a quick smile in an attempt to butter her up. She was expressionless, just staring straight ahead.

“Well, you two have fun,” Henry said. “And stay out of trouble,” he directed to Jaxson.

“See you guys later!” I said, staring at Hadley a little longer. Her only response was a raise of her eyebrow. Her silence didn’t bother me at all; as long as she didn’t say anything to leave Jaxson feeling uncomfortable, I was okay with her remaining mute.

We were halfway down the steps when I heard Hadley clear her throat. “Jaxson,” her voice hesitated. I bit my lip, not wanting to hear what she was going to say to him. He turned around and faced her without saying a word. “Did Sam mention about helping out with the bake sale at my church?”

He remained still, like a deer caught in the headlights.

“Oh, no. Umm…I didn’t get a chance to yet,” I chimed in.

I could feel my face burning with embarrassment. I hated putting him on the spot like this, but I remembered from earlier when he said he didn’t do anything that he didn’t want to, so I blurted it out, “Hadley is having a bake sale at her church tomorrow and wanted to know if you’d be able to help set up.”

He raked his hand through his hair like he was deep in thought. “Oh, umm…well, I don’t really do church.”

Hadley stared at him questionably.

“Well, you wouldn’t actually be going to church,” I clarified. “The bake sale is after church lets out.”

“Or, he can come to church before. It’s never too late to start
doing
church.” Hadley raised her eyebrow, and I was praying this didn’t end ugly.

“Yeah, sure I can help out. Just let me know what time,” Jaxson muttered.

I let out a deep, thankful breath.

“The bake sale is around eleven, but if you care to join us ahead of time for church that’s at ten. We would love to have you there, and I believe Miss Samantha will be joining us for services as well. Right, Sam?”

I hadn’t planned on it, but judging by the gaze she had set upon me I knew there was no way out of it. “Right,” I conceded, turning back around and walking off to Jaxson’s truck.

“I know you said you won’t agree to anything you don’t want to do, but I’m sorry Hadley put you on the spot like that.”

“It’s fine,” he mumbled as he started up his truck, and we drove off.

“Her church is on the corner of Central and Union. I can just meet you outside at eleven.”

“Yeah. Okay.” He seemed totally disinterested, and I was hoping that he wasn’t planning on blowing if off.

“I had a lot of fun today. Thanks for helping me get over my fear.” He nodded and stared straight ahead at the road. I was guessing that he wasn’t much in the mood for talking which was the norm for him. So, I just shut my mouth and enjoyed the quiet as we headed to the restaurant to meet up with Pete and Bonnie.

“Wow, what a difference a shower makes!” Bonnie joked as we took a seat.

I was hoping that Jaxson would liven up a bit and speak. His silence was leading me to believe that he didn’t want to be here. “So, Jax, did you want to come in for a few hours tomorrow at the station and help out? John’s mom is in the hospital so he won’t be in.”