Broken Road (30 page)

 J
arrod wanted to say something. Angel could sense it. He seemed withdrawn and hesitant, and his mind seemed to be wandering endlessly today. She wondered if he was still upset with her for not telling him about the pictures and phone calls; yet he was still extremely demonstrative in his affections toward her. He held her hand everywhere they went, kissed her passionately when he thought no one was looking, and constantly told her how much she meant to him. If he were angry or bothered, he wouldn’t be exhibiting that tender, sensitive side of himself, would he? She decided she should just flat-out ask him about it. There should be no secrets between them, she thought, but then grimaced and frowned when she realized how many secrets she had kept from him regarding her “stalker dude,’’ as Ileana had begun to call him.

“Jarrod?” she said. He was lying on her bed while she folded her laundry at the foot of it. His shoulder was troubling him today, and he had a heating pad on it to try to relax the muscles. He didn’t respond, so she repeated his name again a tad louder. “Jarrod?”

He opened his eyes and murmured, “Hmm?”

“Are you okay?” Concern laced her voice.

“Yeah. Just sore. I’ll be alright in a little bit.” He closed his eyes again, but Angel continued talking, so he grudgingly opened them. The workouts were getting more intense as he got closer to the start of the season, and between training and rehab, his body was constantly aching.

“Is something bothering you today aside from your shoulder?” she asked tentatively.

“No. Why?” He straightened up and removed the pad from his shoulder.

“It just seems like you’re worried or that you want to tell me something, but are hesitant to do so.” She placed her folded laundry in the laundry basket and then placed that on the floor next to her dresser. She sat down next to him on the bed, and he scooted over to give her more room, which wasn’t easy on a twin-size bed pressed up against the wall. He took her hand and brought it up to his lips, palm side up, placing a gentle kiss there, and motioned for her to lie beside him, which she did. She lay on her side, leaning toward him as he put his arm around her. She placed her head gently on his chest and her arm over his rock-hard abdomen. He covered her arm with his and whispered in her ear, “Aside from worrying that some madman is going to hurt the woman I love, nah, not much else going on up there,” as he tapped his head with his finger two or three times. He paused a moment and said, “Well, actually…um…never mind.”

She leaned up to face him. “You see, that’s the fourth time today you’ve started to say something and then ended the sentence with ‘Never mind.’ I know there’s something you want to say to me, so just say it, okay?”

“Um…”

“C’mon…please?” She pouted.

“I was just sort of wondering if we could…um…maybe spend this weekend together.” There, he said it. Now he could breathe again.

“We always spend the weekends together. Actually, now that you mention it, I forgot to tell you my parents are planning to visit next weekend. I’d like for you to meet them, and I know they’re dying to meet you. Do you think you could join us for dinner or something?”

“Sure, sure. That’ll be nice. Getting back to this weekend, how about it? Can we spend it together?”

“Of course. I just don’t get why you’re asking. We’re always together on the weekends,” she said, puzzled.

“I mean
really
together,” he said, smiling seductively.

“Not getting your meaning.” Angel wondered why he was being so cryptic.

Jarrod thought that this couldn’t be any more difficult. How do you ask someone to spend the night with you without sounding like some sex-crazed maniac?

He whispered into her ear, “Remember when you said you wanted to be with me the way I want to be with you, but you wanted it to be in a private setting where we wouldn’t be rushed or interrupted?”

“Oh…,” she said, placing her head gently back on his chest so he wouldn’t see the look of worry and fear that had replaced the look of perplexity.

“Uh-huh,” he said, realizing she was finally getting his meaning. “I was thinking that maybe we could go away for the weekend together…”

“Hmmm. Wow. Umm, well…” She began to nervously drum her fingers on his chest. Jarrod didn’t say anything. He didn’t know what he had expected, but he definitely didn’t think she would be so irresolute and tentative. Did he think she would be jumping for joy and ripping her clothes off at the same time? No. But neither did he think she would become silent and uncommunicative.

“What are you thinking?” he asked uncertainly.

“I’m just nervous. It’s a big step for me.”

“I know. And if you’re not ready, then we’ll wait until you are,” he said while silently thinking, “Please be ready, please…please…please.”

She smiled up at him. “But you’re hoping I’m ready, aren’t you?”

“I’d be lying if I said that I’m not,” he said, grinning.

“Can I think about it for a bit?”

“Sure. Take your time.” He waited approximately ten seconds before asking, “So, have you made a decision yet?”

She smacked him in the stomach. “You’re unbelievable.”

“It’s just that you’re so beautiful and sexy. I’m going nuts here.”

“You think I’m sexy?” she asked incredulously.

“Of course I think you’re sexy. Especially in that shirt,” he said, eyeing her wantonly.

“This is your shirt.”

“I know and I want it back. Now,” he said in a bold, cheeky tone.

Was he daring her? Hmm…what would he do if she called his bluff? It’s not like he hadn’t seen her without her shirt on before. They had never completed the act of lovemaking, but they had gotten pretty close. She immediately jumped up onto her knees and straddled him while she slowly and teasingly began to raise the shirt over her head, tossing it on his chest when done.

He didn’t say a word. He just opened his eyes wide and leaned forward to pull her atop him. He began to kiss her with earnest desire. She was secretly thinking how happy she was that she had worn that brand-new, silk push-up bra she had just purchased at Victoria’s Secret yesterday afternoon. He continued kissing her as he slowly began to lower his head, lower and lower.

“Ohhh…,” moaned Angel. He was beginning to lower one of her straps, and she knew she should put a halt to things, but God, this felt so unbelievably good. She loved the feel of his hands on her body, the way his kisses made her feel as if she would explode from pent-up desire, and the emotions he made her feel when he spoke his sweet, loving words to her in that soft, husky voice of his.

Her hands were tangling in his hair, then roaming over his shoulders and back. His hands began to retrace the path where his lips had been. As he joined his lips to hers again, he teased and tormented her with the rhythm he had created with his tongue while thrusting, retreating, and thrusting again as it engaged in an erotic dance with hers.

Suddenly Jarrod lifted his head and said in a frustrated tone, “No…no. No. Not now.”

“What?” she said when she realized someone was knocking on her locked door. “It must be Ava. I’m sorry.” Angel quickly jumped up, threw on the discarded shirt, and checked to see if Jarrod was composed before unlocking the door. He sat up on the bed, quickly placing a pillow over his lower extremities, and said in a defeated tone, “I’m ready now.” She smiled tentatively at him and repeated the words, “I’m sorry.”

“Do you love him?” asked Ileana. She had come by after her last class to see if anything new had happened with the stalker dude. Thankfully the answer was no. She sat on Ava’s bed facing Angel, who was staring out the window with her arms crossed in front of her.

“With all my heart,” responded Angel.

“Then what are you worried about?”

“I don’t know. I’m scared. I’ve never done it before. What if I don’t know what I’m doing? What if I’m bad at it?”

“You won’t be bad at it. If there’s love involved, it’ll be perfect. You’ll see.” Ileana remembered her first time with Heath. It had been Heath’s first time as well. With both virgins having zero knowledge in the art of lovemaking, the experience had been somewhat challenging and awkward, but they somehow were able to muddle their way through it and learned over time and lots of practice just how to get it right. She smiled as she recalled those memories.

“What was it like the first time you did it with Heath?” Angel asked as she turned to face Ileana.

Ileana bit her lower lip and hesitated answering. She didn’t want to scare Angel more than she already was, but she needed to be honest so she would be prepared.

“Hmm, let’s see. The first time wasn’t so wonderful. Neither one of us knew what we were doing. And I’m not going to lie, it hurt a little. But the pain does pass fairly quickly. I have to say that after we finally got it right, it really was pretty great. Very, very special.”

“Too bad he and his family moved to California. I always liked him. I wonder if he hadn’t moved, if you two would still be together.”

“We’ll never know” responded Ile with a sad smile.

“I’m just so worried,” Angel replied as she sat next to Ileana on the bed. Her head was bent low, and she nervously began to fidget with her fingers.

“You shouldn’t be. Like I said, Heath and I didn’t have any experience. But Jarrod does, right?”

“Don’t remind me. The subject sort of came up, and he admitted that he and Morgan had had sex.” She so detested picturing the two of them together and immediately tried erasing the image from her mind.

“Yeah, well, that
puta
would have sex with a doorknob,” said Ileana.

Angel screwed up her face at the picture Ileana brought to her mind and said, “That’s disgusting,” causing her best friend to laugh loudly at her reaction.

“Seriously, Angel, don’t think about it too much. If you’re sure you’re ready to be with him and this is what you want, just relax and enjoy it. Having an intimate relationship with someone requires trust and respect, and that already exists between the two of you. The only thing you really need to think about is protection. If he’s been around the block, or even if he hasn’t been around it all that much, but has been with Morgan, who has been around the block enough times to earn Frequent Flyer Miles, then you seriously need to use a condom. I don’t want you getting sick or pregnant. There’s no truth to the myth that it can’t happen the first time.”

“I know. I have been thinking…” She wasn’t able to finish her sentence because her phone rang. She stood up and walked over to her desk where her cell phone lay and looked at the phone. She glanced at Ileana and said, “Crap. I think it’s him.” Based on the grim look on her face, Ileana knew she wasn’t speaking of Jarrod.

“Give it to me,” Ile said as she grabbed the phone. “
Hola
?” she said in Spanish. Heavy breathing was her only response. “
Hola, quien es
?” she repeated, asking who was at the other end.

Suddenly a woman’s voice asked harshly, “Who is this?” Ileana widened her eyes and continued speaking in Spanish, hoping the more she heard the other woman’s voice, the better the possibility of remembering and recognizing the sound of it, should the occasion arise for her to do so at a later date.

“
Quien habla
?” Ileana continued to ask who was calling, hoping this person was stupid enough to offer her actual name.

“Do-you-speak-the-English?” the person asked irritably.

“
No inglés. Solo español
,” responded Ileana. The voice sounded somewhat familiar, but she just couldn’t place it. Angel was looking at her inquisitively, but Ileana quickly signaled her to be quiet.

“I must have el wrongo numero,” said the unknown person. “I try againo. Sorryo.”

Stupid idiot. Just because you add an
O
to a word doesn’t automatically convert it to Spanish. She hated it when people did that. Suddenly the person hung up the phone.

“She hung up.”

“She?” asked Angel in a surprised tone when the phone rang again. Ileana immediately picked it up and answered in Spanish once again. “
Hola
?”

“Son of a bitch,” and the person hung up once again.