Raw: The Ultimate Mc Collection (142 page)

“Watch out!” he said, as we tried to untangle ourselves and stand back up.  It seemed to take forever, but finally we were upright again.  “Now pay attention!”

I tried to focus, but this was the first time I had been this close to a boy, and it was making me feel funny.  He was so hot, his body radiating heat, and he slightly smelled like sweat.  It was gross, I decided, and I put my head down to watch our legs, so I could move at the same time that he did.

After a few circles around, we got the hang of it, and were walking pretty well together.  The only way to do it properly was to wrap our arms around each other’s waists, and move as one being.  I could feel his hip bones digging into my side with each step we took. 

We waited at the starting line and when the coach blew the whistle, we took off in a flash.  Colt was skinny, but we was strong.  For the most part, he carried me along, my limbs flailing like a puppet as I tried to keep up with his quick movements.  His stride was longer than mine, and after a few seconds, our rhythm was off, and I was pulling when he was pushing, and his leg was going forward while mine was still backwards.

The crowd was filled with teachers, students, and a few parent volunteers, and they cheered us on as we made our way past them.

The finish line seemed so far away and I looked up for an instant to measure the distance, surprised to see it was actually approaching quickly.  I looked over our shoulder and saw everyone else behind us.  We were winning!

Unfortunately, the act of me looking backwards messed up our rhythm so badly that I stumbled, mere inches away from the finish line.  We both went down. By the time we got back up, two other couples had crossed the line.

Colt was pissed. I kept apologizing, but he ignored me, sulking.  

When it came time for the tether ball event, he was almost starting to forgive me, if only out of the hope that I would shut up.  

A huge crowd stood in a circle watching the matches.  When it was our turn, my hands started sweating.  I was nervous.  I had never liked tether ball, and had rarely played it.  I barely knew what to do.  I hated that the school forced us into doing stuff we didn’t like, for the sake of promoting ‘team spirit’.  It was team humiliation, as far as I was concerned.

Colt stood on one side of the pole and I stood on the other.  He looked at me, nodded and hit the ball hard.  It spun around the pole, the string almost hitting me in the head as it flew over me.  By the time it came around again, I jumped, attempting to hit it, but missing by a foot.  This happened time and again, until the one time I finally did hit it, and it flew back in Colt’s direction.  I surprised him, and that made me happy.  He hit it again, swinging it back my direction and I ducked to miss it hitting me in the head once more.  

Over and over, we repeated this pattern, getting nowhere.  I didn’t even understand how a winner was determined, but I assumed someone was keeping score or something somewhere.  I was confused, but since everyone was watching, and Colt looked so intent on playing well, and because I had felt so badly about ruining the race earlier, I kept going, mindlessly hitting the ball, running around the pole aimlessly as I tried to hit it.

Colt was a master, though.  He hit it every time, and it seemed that with each slap of the ball, he hit it harder and harder.  I was getting a little scared, and I panicked.  I kept flailing my body around, jumping up in the air, and not paying any attention to where I had traveled to.

Before I knew it, I was right next to Colt.  He didn’t see me, and he turned around fast to keep his eye on the ball, running right smack into me, our faces smashing together because I was in mid-jump.  Our lips touched, our noses touched, our foreheads smacked together painfully, and the crowd around us roared with laughter as we tumbled to the ground and landed hard on our butts.

Our eyes met for the briefest of seconds, disbelief registering on both of our faces, before we both turned bright red and jumped up and ran in opposite directions through the crowd.

The sound of laughter and taunting voices followed me as I ran into the school, locking myself in a stall in the girl’s bathroom, knowing something terrible had happened, but not understanding exactly why.

Colt didn’t look or talk to me for a year, but Ciara and I ended up getting much closer during the next school year, and he was forced to hang out with me.  Eventually, we became friends on our own, and after that, we pretended nothing ever happened, and never spoke about it again.

And now? Here he was. And he was fucking hot as hell, there was no other way to say it.  Every single time I looked at him, it took all my concentration and willpower not to undress and beg him to take me.

But this morning?  Seeing him sleeping, practically naked, the outline of his huge package straining against his underwear?  It fucking slayed me.  

Too bad he had adopted his all business attitude.  I abandoned all my fantasies, and left him sleeping to go shower.  But they time I was out, he was up making coffee.  Still in his fucking boxers.

“Hey, Mr. Professional,” I said jokingly, as I walked into the kitchen. “Maybe you should put some clothes on.”

He turned to me, smirked and ignored my comment.

“Good morning! Coffee?”

“Yeah, sure…” I replied.  “Tons of cream and sugar. Tons.”

His laughter echoed through the room.  I watched him as he moved skillfully around the kitchen.  His torso was covered in muscles that were in turn covered in tattoos - snakes, skulls, creepy monsters, even a horse on his arm, and on his back, a full piece that replicated the patch on the back of his cut - every inch of him was inked and rippling.  

“Tons? How do you keep that girlish figure?” he asked, teasingly.

“In case you hadn’t noticed, I sweat buckets for about an hour and a half every night. It tends to work.”

“Yeah, good point,” he said, handing me a steaming mug with a devilish smile.

“So, what’s on the agenda for today?  I need to meet with Seth this morning; I want an update on the investigation.  And I need to know several days in advance what the schedule is going to be, so I can plan ahead.  This taking things moment by moment thing isn’t going to work out for me, if I’m going to protect you properly.”

“I have an itinerary on the bus.  I appreciate you taking this all so seriously, Colt.  You seem to be the only one doing it.”

“Yeah, it appears so, doesn’t it?” he grumbled, his smile fading.  “It’s fucked up, Jett.  You should have a team of bodyguards, not just some big bear that looks like he wouldn't hurt a fly.”

“Yeah, I guess,” I replied.  He was right.  I knew it.  I had felt the same way for years, but nobody would take me seriously.  They just dismissed me, and handed me a drink, in hopes of keeping me complacent.  It usually worked.  I let it work.  Having Colt here was like wrapping a warm, fuzzy blanket around me.  

“I slept better last night than I have in days,” I said.

“I can imagine. But I’m glad to hear it, Jett,” he said, walking over to stand in front of me.  He reached up and pushed a strand of hair behind my ear as he stared down at me.  I could smell him, and since I had decided it wasn’t so gross anymore, my nipples hardened in response.

“Listen, you don’t have to worry anymore.  Nobody is getting close to you again, I promise.  Not as long as I’m around.”

“Thank you,” I whispered gratefully.  

“You’re welcome,” he replied, turning away from me.  My eyes slid down to his muscular ass, the white cotton of his boxer shorts draped across it.  I wondered if I’d ever get a chance to unveil it, touch it, feel the muscles move under my fingertips.

I sipped my coffee, watching him, and I sighed heavily.

“I need to do some shopping this morning,” I said, trying to bring myself out of my fantasy.  “You’re coming with me.”

“Shopping. My favorite thing,” he replied, sarcastically.

I walked towards my bedroom, calling to him over my shoulder.

“I’ll pack. You should put some clothes on, before I rip those boxers off of you.”

He chuckled without replying, and I shook my head as I closed the bedroom door, flopping onto my bed in exasperation.  

By the time I came back out, he was fully dressed.  Jeans, black t-shirt, his leather cut again, his tattoos on full-display.  Fuck.  He almost looked better in clothes than he did out of them.  Almost.

“Do you have to wear that everywhere?” I asked.

“Yes. Yes, I do,” he answered without hesitation.

“Okay, if you say so,” I replied.  I didn’t really care, it was sexy, actually.  And I knew it unnerved Rex, so it secretly delighted me.  “Sam just called.  The limo is waiting outside.  We’ve got three hours to do some shopping and get back to the bus.”

“Right on, whatever,” he said.  I watched as he picked up his gun from the table, and put it into the back of his waistband. When he saw me watching him, he shrugged.  “You can never be too prepared, Jett.”

“Yeah, I guess,” I said.  Why couldn’t I just be normal? I yearned for a normal life that didn’t include crazy people and the need for guns to protect me from them.

Now, walking down the boulevard, having Colt by my side, I was simultaneously still yearning for that, and yet thankful that I had a reason to call him.  

“I’m never going to find anything remotely like what I’m looking for.  Let’s go have lunch,” I said, ready to give up.  “I still can’t believe Sam lost my fucking jacket.”

“Lunch sounds a whole lot better than this shit,” he replied.  “Shopping sucks.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah…I know.” I replied, pulling him down the sidewalk to a burger joint I saw earlier.  “Let’s get you a burger, big guy.”

“Men gotta eat, Jett.  I’m a man.”

I laughed, my nipples hardening once again as I remembered the package I saw between his legs while he was sleeping earlier.

“Yeah, I saw that,” I agreed teasingly.

CHAPTER EIGHT

COLT

“I need you to tell me everything you know,” I said to the annoying little man sitting in front of me on Jett’s tour bus as we drove to the next town.  I had insisted Seth ride with us, instead of following in his own bus behind us.  I couldn’t believe he needed his own fucking bus, but maybe it was Jett that needed her own bus.  I couldn’t imagine wanting to be in this asshole’s company more than necessary.

“I don’t know much, to tell you the truth.  The police haven’t told me anything.  When Jett found the note, we called the cops.  They came and fingerprinted the room, but they didn’t find anything.”

“What about security cameras in the hotel?”

“They only have them in the lobby.  No cameras on the penthouse floor. Celebrities hate them. Any hotel worker could sell them and make a fortune.  Nobody wants the public to know who they’ve invited to their room.  Especially Jett,” he said, pushing his glasses up his nose.

“So how the fuck did this guy even now where she was?” I asked, ignoring the jab he made at her. “Why isn’t the fact of where she is staying on any given night kept confidential?”

“Colt, I don’t think you understand how the entertainment business works.  If Jett doesn’t get publicity, she will wither away into oblivion.  People only remember the last thing they saw.  She has to stay out there, she has to be in the public eye.  It’s the nature of the game.  Fans love her.  They want to be her.  They want to be near her.  That’s just how it goes.  You take that away, and Jett doesn’t exist.”

“She doesn’t exist? What the fuck kind of attitude is that? She’s a fucking human being!”

“I know that, Colt!  But she’s also a star.  And stars have to give up their anonymity…and their privacy…or it doesn’t work.  If people aren’t lining up outside her hotel, then they won’t line up to buy tickets to her shows.  It’s a game we’re forced to play.”

“Whatever, fine.  That still doesn’t explain how this fucker got into her room.  How did he know what room she was in?  Did he just walk up to the front desk and ask?”

“We always use a fake name for Jett when she checks in at every hotel.  Anna Silver.”

“So, you use the same name for every city?”

“Yes. But it’s not made public, obviously.  Only her immediate team is aware of it.”

“Well, maybe you should change it every time.  Obviously, there’s a leak.”

“There’s not a leak.  And we can’t change it, that would involve entirely too much work.  We have reservations made in advance for the next several months.  It would be impossible to change it now.