From The Wreckage (24 page)

"It's so peaceful here," Jules remarks and looks up at the azure sky.

West props himself up on his elbow and stares at Jules’ profile, which makes her squirm in discomfort. His stare is so piercing, it’s as if he is trying to get into her thoughts; to look past the outside shell and into the real her.

She looks at him and raises her brows as he leans closer. "Can I kiss you now?"

"Shouldn't we talk?"

"I'd rather kiss you first. We can talk later," he hints; his free hand curving over her stomach and rolling her to her side.

She isn’t able to protest when his warm lips touch hers again.

"Talk is overrated, I suppose," she admits. She rolls into his body and kisses him back with one-hundred percent commitment.

West smoothes his hand over her backside, which makes Jules giggle into his mouth.

"What?" he whispers against her lips. His fingers grip the skin where her leg curves into her bottom. Stuart had touched her intimately throughout their relationship, but having West do it makes her giddy.

"Your hand is on my…um nether region."

"Oh...um, sorry?" He coughs and moves his hand. She sits up with a laugh and scrapes her hair back from her face.

"I wasn't complaining," she admits, and sits lotus-style on the ground as he sits up next to her. "It's just weird."

"Weird, how?"

She can tell he’s wary of what she is trying to say, so she thinks hard about her reply.

"It's you and me."

"Could you possibly be a little more vague?"

She rubs her hands together and bites her lip before taking a wary look around. She feels nervous all of a sudden sitting here with him.

"Jules? You can tell me anything," he encourages; reaching across and wrapping her hand in his own.

She takes a deep breath and lets her thoughts out; the ones that built up throughout the week as her anger with his behavior Thursday night simmered.

"You're Spike and I'm Buffy, right? Like fire and gasoline. The rebel boy who walked away from everything and the cheerleader who dated the golden boy. We are so cliché."

West snorts derisively at that. "More cliché than the head cheerleader dating the quarterback?" Jules’ mouth snaps closed. "What's your point? So we're cliché. I can't douse this fire any more than you can."

"Fire?" she blurts.

West looks uncomfortable for a moment and nods. Jules’ heart races when she hears him describe the link between them as ‘fire’. It is exactly how she feels.

"Yeah," he admits. "I want to be near you all the time. Like, freaking stalk-your-house-and-stand-outside-your-window, near you."

A giggle escapes her lips as she sidles up against his side; her hip pressing into his thigh. She touches her head to his shoulder and sighs.

"I get it, West, except for the crazy stalker issues. I meant it when I said that everything changed the moment you touched my hand."

"It changed for me, too. I need you." He places a quick peck on the top of her head.

"Then why did you freak out on me at the park?"

"Because I suck?"

"Not good enough. After the twenty texts you sent me, the conversations we had, the moments we shared last week during the funerals...you walked away from me Thursday night when I was baring my soul to you." She hears the hurt in her voice and knows he did too when he reaches his arms out to her.

"Come here," he whispers, and pulls her across his leg to situate her between them. Her back is pressed to his chest and his arms are wrapped around her tightly.

"You told me you dumped Stuart Daniels because of me. I know I may act like I don't care about much in this world, but I do. It freaked me out. I wanted you to be sure of what you'd done. I don't want to screw this up. You're too perfect for me to screw things up."

"I'm hardly perfect, and Stuart is far from being the golden boy everyone thinks he is."

He buries his face into her neck. "I seriously didn't expect you. I don't like needing things, Jules."

She hears his last comment and bites down on her lip at the soft revelation.
He
doesn't like needing things?
She stores it away for now and wraps her arms around his.

"Well you're stuck with me now."

"I am, huh?"

"Yep. Remember you said you weren't going to kiss me until I was your girl?" She twists and tilts her face up over her shoulder to meet his smiling eyes. "You've kissed me, West Rutledge. You’re done for."

West moves in for a quick peck. "I was done for way before that kiss, gorgeous. Way before," he admits, and captures her mouth in another long kiss.

It’s long past sundown when Jules walks into her brightly lit house with a permanent smile plastered on her lips.

She spent the afternoon with West sitting and talking in the cornfield until the sun began to set. They talked about the past, old friends and memories from middle school, and ignored the present. Much of the time was spent in silence. It is different from what she’s used to. Jules thinks about the hours upon hours she spent with Stuart, and how they were rarely alone and quiet. When they
were
alone, it was all about making out and sex. Not that they ever did much, but if she let him have his way they would have.

They did way more talking than kissing today, but eventually Jules caught West's gaze roving over her. They’d sat across from one another so they could face each other as they talked, although it was also helpful to keep some distance so neither of them were tempted to touch the other. She was watching a group of birds hopping around the husks nearby when she noticed West had stopped speaking. She turned her attention back to him, catching his eyes focused on her. As if they were his lips touching her, she melted as his eyes lingered on her mouth, moving across her jaw and then down her neck. They flickered lower, boldly stopping at her chest before he followed the same trail back to her mouth again, finishing with his hungry gaze locked on hers.

The simple stare made her body so hot she wanted to crawl into his lap and rip his clothes off. She’d inched forward until her hip pressed against his, ready to kiss him, but he surprised her instead. Grabbing her knees, he’d spun her around to face the same way he was; pushing her shoulders to the ground and shifting her to lay in the crook of his arm and chest while he hovered over her flushed face.

West placed sweet kisses along her forehead, nose and cheeks while Jules laughed. "Do you need help finding your way?"

He pulled back from covering her face with his lips, his gaze tender as he tucked her hair behind an ear.

"I found it. I'll just keep following you."

Whoa
, she’d thought as her entire body lit up in flames.

"Jules?" her mother shouts from the kitchen; effectively cooling any lingering passion from the evening as she leans against the front door. She hears the fading rumble of West's bike as he leaves.

"Yeah?" she answers, peeking out the window to watch his taillight fade away in the dusk.

"Where have you been?" Jules jumps at the sound of her mother's voice, now behind her. "Was that a motorcycle I just heard?"

"Ummm, yeah," she replies timidly and turns to meet her mother's annoyed face.

Her mom places her hands on her hips, and a dish towel is clutched tightly in her fist. "Tell me you weren't on a motorcycle, young lady."

"I wasn't on a motorcycle."

"Yeah, nice try."

"If it helps, I wasn't on it for very long. He gave me a ride home." She gives her best, sweetest smile and bats her lashes coyly.

"Don't try to charm me…that only works on your father." Her
mother rolls her eyes and nods her head towards the back of the house, beckoning Jules to follow her. When they step into the kitchen, her mother goes back to the dishes she was finishing up and Jules pulls out a stool to sit at the counter and watch.

"So I gather you've made a decision, then?" she asks carefully while drying a large pot.

"I..."

"Jules, sweetie, I know you were with West, and your father filled me in on the scene between you two in the hospital. I was a teen once too, you know. You can't hide that dreamy, over-the-moon face from me."

"Mom!" she wails, embarrassed by the accurate assessment of her feelings.

"I also know you and Stuart broke up." She raises her brows and gives Jules a pointed look.

Since confessing about her confusion with West after almost kissing him in the field the day of Quinton's funeral, Jules hasn't filled her parents in on anything else that has been going on with her, Stuart or West. Now she feels guilty for keeping things to herself as her mother looks at her.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you."

Setting the towel down, her mom reaches across the counter and squeezes Jules' arm lightly. "Honey, I'm not mad at you for keeping me out of the loop, but I'm here if you want to talk. It's been a rough two weeks, and I simply want to know where your head’s at."

"Honestly?" Jules mumbles, and her mother agrees with a smile. "I have no idea."

"Boys will do that to you, baby."

Jules smiles at that and tries to explain her position to her mother. They have always been able to talk about things, especially boys. With the exception of the more steamy details, her mother has always been privy to her dates and moments with Stuart and the few boyfriends she had before him.

"He was my first kiss, you know."

"Who? Stuart?" Jules wants to laugh at the somewhat astonished face her mother makes.

"No, West. Back in the seventh grade."

"Do tell." She licks her chops resembling a dog drooling after a bone does. Her mom loves gossip, and Jules almost refuses to divulge just to tease her. Instead she explains about the Seven Minutes in Heaven game; one her mom embarrassingly knows quite well…but that’s a story for another day, apparently.

"Could the boy I wanted almost five years ago be the one?"

"You're young, honey. The right one is most likely years away. And what about Stuart? You thought
he
was the one." Jules crinkles her face, signaling that her mother is wrong, and she sees the understanding cross her face. "I guess I'm not as
‘in the know’
as I once was," her mom grumbles.

"It's not your fault. This summer changed things with Stuart. It wasn't something either of us saw coming, either. It just kind of happened."

"Are you sure? I know he went to Houston, but that doesn't mean you two can't continue dating each other if you want."

Jules knows her parents love Stuart, but she wants her mom to know without a doubt that she is certain of them being over. "I'm sure, mom. Stuart and I are going to be friends. It was a nice break-up, as break-ups go, anyway."

"And West?"

She fights to keep the goofy grin from her face when she pictures his chocolatey brown eyes in her head. "I think, maybe...well." She babbles, suddenly not sure how to explain her feelings for him. She knows it sounds crazy. One day spent together, a few quiet moments holding hands, a life changing experience…she’s faced more with West Rutledge in two weeks than she ever has with anyone else.

Her mother's eyes widen and she opens her mouth to speak when Jules’ phone starts ringing in her pocket. Jules pulls out her cell and her heart leaps when the name 'Spike' shows on the screen.

"Hey, can we finish this later?" she asks as she slides off the stool and waves the phone.

Her mom’s face falls, but she gives Jules a reassuring smile. "Sure."

Hitting the answer button, she walks out of the kitchen saying 'Hey' as her mom calls out behind her.

"Jules?" Holding the phone from her ear, she spins around and waits. With a knowing smile, her mother points at her and says, "Tell him no more motorcycles."

She gives a thumbs up and rushes from the kitchen to her bedroom.

"Hey, sorry about that."

"No more motorcycle, huh?" He laughs deeply through the phone.

"Oh, you heard that?"

"I didn't get you in trouble, did I?"

"Nah. She's cool, but apparently your bike isn't." She sighs and throws herself across her bed.

"I can live with that, although I like feeling you pressed up against me."

The deep suggestive tone makes her shiver. "We'll just have to find other opportunities for me to wrap my arms around you."

"Again, I can live with that."

"Mmm hmm, I bet you can. So what's up? Didn't you drop me off like...um, twenty minutes ago?"

"Too soon?" he asks innocently, and she chuckles.

"Not at all."

"Good. I'd hate to know you were getting sick of me already. I just wanted to let you know I talked to Carter, and he put your bike in the shop since you left it there."

"Oh my gosh, I totally forgot about it! Thank you for checking with him."

"Of course."

"Hey, I don't think I told you I had an amazing day with you."