The Enclave of Jyme (G Street Chronicles Presents) (21 page)

“I ah…” gargled from her throat.

“I don’t care where. I want you alone, now,” I whispered in her ear.

“Ohh,” she breathed out loudly. I couldn’t help but chuckle in her ear. She was feeling the same as me. The beast stirred again.

“Shall we?” I asked her, glued to her ear.

“I can’t,” she said quickly.

“Why not?” I growled.

“Ayashe,” she almost whined out. Some fucker behind us cleared his throat. Cricket straightened herself, but I had her all locked up with me. I pulled away from her and turned to face the asshole who interrupted us. The scared original waiter and his sidekick stood there holding our dinner plates. I just turned back around and kept my eyes on her. Ayashe came back and sat in my seat. She poured a glass of wine and was halfway through it when she poured herself some more.

We all started in our plates and everyone was quiet while they took their first bites. Everybody oohed and ahhed about their entrees. Loon passed Kanoke his plate, Ayashe passed Loon hers, Cricket passed me hers, and I gave her mine. By the end of dinner, everyone had eaten something off of everyone else’s plate. After dinner, I ordered the table coffee and dessert. Everyone laughed at me when I ordered one of every dessert off the menu. I explained to them they only had six and that was just enough for us to share.

Cricket set her napkin down on the table and then looked at me.

“Excuse me I need to get by; I have to go to the ladies’ room.”

All I could think about was me inside of her in one of the private stalls. I gave her a grin. Her hair fell covering her left breast. I brushed her hair off her shoulder. I put my lips right against her ear.

“Can I see you later tonight?” I asked her.

“Um, I need to think about that,” she told me.

“Okay,” I stood and held my hand out for her. She gave me the sweetest smile and picked up her little round purse. She placed her hand into mine and I pulled her up from her chair. We walked hand and hand to the bathroom and then she went through the doors. When she came out, I was standing right there waiting on her. I reached for her hand again and she gave it to me. We walked back to the table hand in hand. We sat back down and I pulled her chair a little closer to mine. We all shared our desserts and everyone was smiling and talking.

“So, Jyme when was the last time you saw Elle?” Ayashe asked me.

Chapter 12

Once again I felt all eyes on me, but this was not in a good way. My eyes stayed glued to my cup of coffee. I knew that if I were to look anywhere else right now I would fuckin’ loose it. I heard someone at the table drop their spoon, but I didn’t look to see who it was. My blood was now boiling through my veins, and I wanted to punch something. We had made it through a nice evening, and now she wanted to start some shit with me. I felt Loon shift next to me and I could see in my peripheral that Kanoke was sliding his fingers through his hair.

I took a sip of my coffee and then turned to face her head on.

“I guess seven or eight months now,” I lied, just to get a reaction from her. Although seven or eight months was the last true time I saw my Elle; this girl that was visiting her body now wasn’t the Elle I knew.

“I hear she’s engaged to that guy,” Ayashe told me. She gave me a side smirk and I had to keep my hands on the table. If she had been a guy, I would have rearranged her face by now.

“Cricket, what kind of…what do you do?” Loon asked. I knew shit must have really looked bad because Loon never stepped in shit like this. I had to get out of here and I had to do it now.

“I’m an auditor,” Cricket said.

“How long have you been doing that?” Loon asked. He was really trying to cover up the awkwardness. Yep, I was drowning. I had to leave.

“About two days now,” she said.

I flagged down the waiter for the check. He came over and I handed him my credit card quickly. “Hurry up,” I whispered. He nodded and rushed off.

“I was going to pay for Ayashe’s dinner; I didn’t bring her for--”

I glared at Cricket and she moved away from me a little.

“I don’t want you to see me like this,” I growled.

“Like what, what’s wrong?” she asked.

“I have to go, right now. I will call you later,” I felt my hands started to shake and I had to get the fuck out of this restaurant. I stood to my feet and Kanoke and Loon did the same. The waiter was walking back, but he had been stopped by another table. I walked toward the exit, meeting the waiter on the way. I signed the slip and the waiter handed me the receipt. When we made it outside the restaurant, I got worse. My breathing got harder and harder, and I felt like I was about to explode.

“Give me the keys,” Loon demanded. I reached into my jeans pocket and tossed him the keys. We rode in silence on the way back to the condo. As soon as we pulled into the parking lot, I jumped out and headed to the building. When I got to my condo, I left the door open behind me and went straight to my closet and put on a dark sweat-suit with a hood. I had to run or I was going to kill someone. I needed to clear my mind. I ran two blocks and then stopped to send her a text message. I had to see her before it was too late. I needed to explain my actions.

“Can I please see you tonight?” I silently prayed for a miracle.

“When and where?” she replied back. Yes, she still wanted to see me.

“Where do you feel safe?” I could only imagine what Ayashe was filling her ears up with. She probably was telling her about all the rumors on the Res. She probably told her that I had apparently raped Elle and that I jump people and almost beat them to bloody pulp. She texted for me to meet her at the big Catholic church close to the women’s shelter. The church was almost six blocks away from where I was. I started running that way.

There was a thin woman walking around outside and she looked nervous and scared. She was pacing back and forth on the front steps. I jogged up, stepping around her. I walked in and saw my caramel goddess sitting on the back row. I sat down right next to her. I was breathing hard, trying to control my breaths.

“Did you run here?” she whispered.

I nodded.

“Where do you live?” she asked.

“On the reservation,” I replied out of habit.

“But why are you in Seattle?”

“I work here.”

“You fish here?”

“I own my own fishing company.”

Her eyes widened and she blew out a hard breath.

“I wanted to tell you all of this tonight, but things got a little carried away, and then you showed up with Ayashe.”

“You told me you were a fisherman,” she snapped. Someone from behind hissed at us. Cricket did the making of the cross thing on her chest and then put her head down.

“Are you Catholic?” I asked her.

“No, I’m Methodist.”

“Why are we here?”

“Methodists don’t leave their churches open twenty four hours a day,” she explained.

“This isn’t right,” I shook my head.

“God is God; and He doesn’t care what church I’m in.”

“I’m sorry about tonight. I’ve never been on a date with someone I don’t know,” I tried to explain myself to her. “Kanoke and Loon both work for me and they wanted to meet you. They didn’t believe me when I told them I was going on a date. I normally go by myself to nice restaurants and watch other people on dates,” I admitted.

Zedd would have me people watch. He wanted me to see how people interacted with each other in a nice setting.

“Who is Elle?” she whispered. I swallowed hard and tried to prepare myself. I looked over at Cricket.

“My ex.”

“Oh.”

“She really messed me over and it took me a long time to get over her,” I admitted. The nervous lady from the steps was watching us from the shadows. It didn’t seem creepy though. She looked like she was more in a daze than spying on us.

“Are you over her?” she asked.

“Yes.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m positive.”

Cricket pulled my face toward hers. She stared into my eyes. I could gaze into those chestnut eyes of hers for the rest of my life.

“Well, why did you get so upset when Ayashe asked you about her?”

“I wanted to tell you about her myself, and she caught me off guard. She pissed me off,” I explained.

She looked at me as if she was looking for something in my eyes. I didn’t blink. I wanted her to find whatever it was she was looking for. She sucked both of her lips into her mouth and started biting them. She closed her eyes and then her cheeks were turning red. My caramel goddess was having impure thoughts.

“Let’s get out of here,” she told me.

“Good,” I sighed.

Cricket did the cross chest thing again and then kicked her leg out and bent down awkwardly. The lady in the shadows was smiling at us. Cricket made me chuckle with her weird bending over thing she did. I pulled her hand into mine and we headed for the door. We walked out the church and walked toward her car.

“Do you need a ride?” she asked.

“I can walk.”

“Get in,” she demanded. I went to the passenger’s side and slid into the car and buckled my seatbelt. I pushed the seat back as far as it would go and leaned it back.

“How tall are you?”

“6’4”.”

“Which way do I go?”

“Take a right at the light.”

We rode in silence for a while before I pulled her hand into mine. I touched each one of her nails and played around with her owl ring.

“You like bold pieces of jewelry,” I stated.

“Yes, I do. I get bored quick with regular pieces.”

“How about people? Do you get bored with them quick?”

“I don’t know.”

“Make a right at the next light.”

“So what do you normally do for fun?” she asked.

“I like all sports and I like all kinds of toys,” I grinned. I’d let her simmer on that for a bit.

She squirmed in her seat a bit and chewed on her upper lip with a stern look. I had to cough out a laugh that was stirring up in me. She started grinding her teeth together.

“Why are you grinding your teeth like that?” I asked her.

“Uh.”

“Make a left at the next street,” my eyes didn’t leave her, watching her in this car trying to compose herself was quite comical.

“What are you doing tomorrow evening?” I asked.

“Nothing that I can think of. Why? What’s up?”

“Pull in there.”

We pulled up to the gate. I told her my entry code and she punched it in. She pulled up right next to my truck, put the car in park, and turned it off. I let her hand go and she looked down at it then at me. I smiled at her and she turned away quickly, looking out the window. I had been tracing the lines in her palm and it seemed to settle her, but I wasn’t sure. I wondered if she liked holding my hand or not. I’d never really done it before and it felt nice.

“My cousin plays in a string quartet and they’re pretty good. They have a show tomorrow night at one of the amphitheaters across town. I thought we could grab a bite to eat then go,” I said. I didn’t know how she would like Native music, but she seemed classy enough to appreciate the art.

“Sure, that sounds fun,” she said. She seemed to be in a good mood, so maybe she wanted to see me again too. I would make up shit to go do or see just to spend time with her.

I unhooked the seat belt and she sighed out loud. I don’t think she wanted me to leave, but I wasn’t sure. She was so hard to read. I leaned over to her and she leaned forward into me. I went to the side of her face and kissed her softly on her cheek. Her breathing was quick and I sensed she wanted more. That’s all the satisfaction she would get from me tonight. I opened the door and walked away from her car.

When I got inside, I looked back. She was still sitting there. She let her window down, started up the car and then drove out of the parking lot. When I got to the condo, the guys were waiting on me in the living room.

“You talk to her?” Loon asked.

“Yeah, I just saw her.”

“Shit where?” Kanoke asked, both of them sitting up from the back of their chairs, resting their elbows on their knees. We were more alike than we could ever imagine.

“I texted her while I was out running. We met up and talked.”

“Well?” Loon asked.

“We’re good,” I assured them.

Kanoke fell back in the chair dramatically. “Man, listen…your love rollercoaster got us all on edge.”

“Sorry about that,” I apologized.

“No,” Loon and Kanoke both shook their heads. “We love this. We haven’t had some real good excitement since…well, you know,” Kanoke broke off. We sat there laughing and talking about dinner. Loon said they talked to Sheen and he’s going to check his girl, Ayashe.

“She came for me like I owed her some money or something.”

“Right,” Loon said.

I got up and told the guys goodnight. I needed a shower badly and I wanted to call Cricket before she went to bed. I went and turned on the shower. I sent Cricket a text asking her if she made it home alright, and then I got in the shower. When I got out, I checked my phone and there were no messages. It had only been twenty minutes and Cricket lived less than that from me. I called her and there was no answer. I went to the closet and sat in my favorite chair. I checked a couple of messages from Mom, Patty and Sheen. He left me a message telling me he would handle his girl and I was grateful for that. I didn’t need Ayashe throwing a monkey wrench in my shit.