nights ago I left Charlie in her hallway with tears rolling down her face because I had to get away from her psycho friend. There was so much I wanted to tell Charlie, but I fucking can't. I can't just tell people everything about me! I don't have that privilege anymore.
Bev's tried to get me to talk for the past three days but I really don't have much to say. I think I broke up with the first girl I've actually had real feelings for. It wasn't part of the plan to break up with her, but to be honest, making her my girlfriend wasn't either. I stupidly brought us to a level I shouldn't have because I couldn't stand the thought of someone else stealing her away. Someone else enjoying her body, touching her, looking into her eyes. Then I went and fucked it up anyway. But this fuck up is huge. Colossal. And the thought of looking into Charlie's pretty blue eyes after finding out how she went blind makes me sick.
"Hey, loser," Violet says, still pissed at me for Sunday's dinner. I never apologized. "Your EpiPen fell out of your pocket, fucking dork," she snorts. "My friends laughed so hard when I told them how much of a pussy you are. A tiny bee can kill you. Then…then," she says through hard laughter. "How you couldn't even handle the story about how that girl went blind."
"Shut your fucking mouth!" I scream as my entire body shakes; the look on her face as she takes a step back satisfies me. "Fuck," I grunt. "I'm sorry for what I said on Sunday, okay? I shouldn't have called you a little bitch." I rub my tired face then drop my hands and look at her.
Her lips frown and she doesn't look scared of me anymore. This look is more like I'm pathetic.
"I didn't really tell my friends you’re allergic to bees," she quietly says. "You can't help that. You're only a dude."
I stare at her a minute. "Seriously though. I'm sorry."
"Whatever." She shrugs and starts picking again. "So what happened with that girl?"
"We broke up," I mumble.
"That's kind of lame. Why?"
"Because we're not compatible."
"Wow…is it 'cause she's blind?" she scoffs like I'm a huge dick.
"Yep," I admit.
"Wow, Travis. You are a loser." She walks to another tree.
Bev trusts her in the orchard for some reason, so I don't have to wait around here for her and I get on my four-wheeler and head back for the house.
"Travis!" Bev calls out from the radishes. "Come pull this out."
I sit down and yank the root, severing it. "Motherfucker!" I growl.
"Travis," she sighs and her hand lands on my shoulder. I drop my face to my knees and try to compose myself. "That's enough," she quietly snaps and I feel her sit next to me. This is Charlie's life, only feeling the motions of others around her.
"What happened with Blue?"
"Don't, Bev." I try to stand but she yanks me back to the dirt with a hell of a lot more force than I expected. "Damn, BB," I snap.
"Next words out of your mouth better be you telling me what's going on," she barks.
"I broke up with her." I look over and we stare eye to eye. This is the first person I could trust in this world and not even she knows why I'm living in this shitty town I've grown to love in Oregon.
"But why? She was a nice girl. Is it because of her challenge? Because to her, it's not challenging anymore, Trav. But having a good guy like you around to help her out if needed would only make her life better."
I stare at her aged hands covered in the dirt from the hard work she puts in on this farm before I tell her, "I'm the reason her life's hard to begin with."
"Oh, Travis, you only knew the girl a week. You didn't cause her grief in that week."
"I don't mean that." I lower my voice and make sure Violet's not around, though I didn't hear the other four-wheeler so I know she's not. "Bev, you know where I'm from?"
"The Bronx."
"Yeah, the Bronx. You never wondered why I ended up in this tiny town across the country?"
"We all have reasons, Trav." Her hand grabs mine because she knows I need the comfort of touch right now.
"I went to prison," I quietly tell her. "I went to prison for having involvement at that party Charlie was at that blinded her." These words haven't left my mouth in years. "We were there to get money owed to our boss. Shit went south and shots were fired. It was pure chaos, Bev." I close my eyes thinking back to that day.
"But…how do you know that was the same party? You knew her? Back then?"
"No. She went to school in Ithaca and there was only one party ten years ago in that yuppie town that went down the way she described it to us."
"Travis," she whispers and grips my hand. "Go on."
"Two people were shot, one dead, not to mention the other injuries caused that night. Like to Charlie. Well, I tried to run and I got caught. Me and one other guy from my crew. I wouldn't talk though. They wanted to know who my boss was." I lower my voice. "I wouldn't talk so they locked me up, holding me accountable for the shit that popped off even though I didn't fire the shots. I was accomplice. At first I didn't talk because I thought I was a hard ass. I wasn't a rat. Then a year later when they gave me the deal again, I didn't talk because I knew I'd be a dead man. They never found my boss because my boss was Ernesto Caputa." Her brows furrow like she's heard the name. Everyone's heard the name if they ever watched the news. "It's the guy you're thinking. Mexican cartel. Once you're in, BB, you don't get out except by death. So I turned their offer down. Three years later they offered me the deal again, just wanting to get the other names of the guys in my crew that were involved that night. I told them why I couldn't rat anyone out and we came up with a deal. They'd enter me into witness protection. I spilled everything I knew, served another year and a half then they moved me here. Three thousand miles away, Bev, and I meet the best girl I ever will and I'm the reason she's struggling now."
"Travis," she whispers again and gives my hand a gentle squeeze while she tries to think of what to say. "That wasn't your fault. What happened to Charlie wasn't your fault. She was knocked down."
"Because me and my guys went in busting skulls and firing shots, Bev. That shit was my fault." I stand and brush my ass off. "How the hell can I keep something like that from her? And there's no way I can tell her. I'm not exactly supposed to be talking about anything right now, but you're all I have." I look at her with worry she might disown me now.
"We got each other."
"I'm sorry I never told you. They assure me I'm safe here. As far as Caputa knows, I'm still locked up. Bev, I'm sorry." I've put her at risk, but they promise I'm safe.
I was told to live a normal life but I had to make up a new past. A new name, birthday, hometown. I changed my name and birthday, but my hometown has only been told to Bev and Charlie. There was a past made up for me, but I've never had to use it. I keep to myself and Bev never asked questions like that. She knows everything about my life right now. Everything that's happened for the past three and half years. She's not a stupid woman, and she probably knew she didn't want answers about my past for this reason.
"Don't you worry about me. You didn't directly do that to Charlie, you have to realize that."
"You know this is my life?" I mutter. "This is how my life's been since I can remember. One good thing gets taken away by something shitty that I've caused."
"Alright, now listen." She brushes off my shirt as the sound of the other four-wheeler heads toward the house. "You go make it up to that girl. Whatever you did after you left here Sunday night. But you don't tell her what you just did me. You can't endanger her life like that. You young kids are curious and you don't need her trying to trudge up things from your past unintentionally. Listen, you deserve that blue-eyed princess. And she deserves my handsome Trav." She smiles at me. "You can't hold yourself responsible. You didn't before knowing Charlie, did you?"
"Not in this way. But now I've actually met someone from that night, it's way different, BB," I insist quietly as Violet comes pulling up.
"It's different because you like the girl and it's human nature to protect things we lo—"
"Don't say that, BB," I snap quickly. "Don't say I love her."
"I wasn't. I wasn't." She smiles and walks toward Violet.
I pull my phone out and stare at her contact info for a minute. I want nothing more than to tell Charlie the entire truth, but Bev's right. I can't endanger her like that.
I'm sorry. Call me. I text.
I go the day not getting a response and as shitty as it makes me feel, I can't say I'm surprised. I'm not giving up though. I'm going to drive into Portland and try to stop in after I take Violet home.
"Shit," she huffs as we pull down her street; I glance over at her. "My brother's home."
I slow the car down. "Can you stay somewhere else?"
"It's cool, just drop me." She zips her coat looking annoyed but tinged with worry.
"No. Do you have to go home tonight?"
"My mom's not home," she mutters, watching her house as I pull up.
I get out and walk around, opening her door. "Let's pack you a bag."
"Trav, don't worry about it. I'm fine."
"You can stay on my couch tonight," I insist. She stares at me for a minute. "Come on."
As we get closer to the house, country music is being blared through speakers and it sounds like there's a party going on. "Great," she mumbles and pulls open the screen door.
We make it through the empty living room and when she opens a bedroom door, I stand in the hallway, folding my arms over my chest.
"Vi?" a laughing voice calls out and a skinny kid wearing only basketball shorts and a beanie comes down the hall with a cigarette in one hand and a beer in the other. "Who the fuck are you?"
"I'm Travis."
"Violet!" he yells, pushing past me into her room and that's when I step a foot inside. "Fuck you doin'?" he barks at her.
"I'm going to stay at a friend's," she answers without looking at him as she packs her things.
"You're not going to stay at this guy's house! I'll fuckin' tell mom!"
"He's Brooklyn's brother. He's just giving me a ride." She pushes around him them squeezes past me and out the door.
Her brother and I stare eye to eye for a minute before I walk out the front door where Violet's already getting into my car. We don't say anything. There's not much to say.
"He's gonna tell my mom. You shoulda waited in the car," she mutters as I pull up to my house.
"Then I'll talk to your mom."
"Trav, just stay out of it. Thanks for the place to stay, but it ain't your business."
"When you show up on my farm with a black eye and lookin' to hide from school, it's my business."
"It's Bev's farm," she grumbles following me inside.
I catch Pete as he lunges and kiss him before heading to the kitchen. I'm not going to argue with this little girl.
After feeding Pete, I lay out a sheet across the couch, "Use the couch pillows. Sorry, I don't have extra."
"This is cool, thanks," she mutters.
"Help yourself to whatever." I walk into my bedroom and lean against the door hoping I'm not doing the wrong thing here. She should be staying at Bev's but I'm not comfortable with that. Not until we actually know this girl will I trust her to stay at Bev's like that.
I text Charlie, not expecting a response because she never responded from before, but it says she read it. How does it work? I get that her phone reads it to her, but how accurate can that be? I test it out by texting a sentence with typos, hoping to get a response stating she has no idea what I'm trying to say.
I'mmm rossy. You please me call. I hit send before I realize it just looks like I'm drunk.
With a groan I lay my head back at my stupidity. As expected, I get no response.
Violet crashes on my couch the next few nights and we develop a routine where we leave each other alone. I drop her off at school, she shows up at the farm for a few hours of work, then we're back here by nine. The biggest problem with our routine is that means I'm restricted to my bedroom. That also means I've texted Charlie for the past four nights, and each day she ignores me, I get more irritable.
"Travis!" Bev snaps when I drop a crate of cherries because I'm out of it. "Get the hell out of here, would ya! Me and Violet are fine. Go into Portland and pay the stand dues," she barks.
I know I'm getting on her last nerve with being depressed over this shit with Charlie, but she won't even text me telling me to fuck off or anything! She reads them! They've all been read!
I head to Portland and slam on the brakes when I pass a storefront that has a Blind Date Dating Services sign. I've never noticed it before, but I was never aware it existed. It's funny what you'll notice when you learn a little about it. Lately I find myself checking for signs of people being blind or deaf. Everyday things that I take for granted because I've never had to deal with it.
A horn blows behind me and I quickly round the block to find a parking spot. If she won't take my calls, she can't really ignore me face to face.
When I walk in, a loud ding echoes around the small office building that looks comfortable, but not really a place people randomly walk into.
"Hello?" I call out and a dude rounds the corner.
"Sup, man? I'm Kevin," he says, stretching out his hand for mine.
I shake it and look around. "Hey."
"Hey…so what can I help you with today?" He looks confused and glances around.
"Yeah, uh, I'm looking for Charlie. She in?"
His eyes narrow as he looks me up and down. It's like something clicks and a grin spreads on his face. He starts to nod, then holds his finger to his lips. Nodding toward the back, he turns and I follow him down a hallway. We pass a couple closed doors but the one at the end is wide open and he grins and gestures to it, giving me the thumbs up.
She's sitting at a computer with a headset on and I just take a minute to watch her. I didn't expect to feel this much relief seeing her again. I know I like her, and I miss her like hell, but actually seeing her makes me feel like I can breathe again.
I quietly cross the floor and stop to stand behind her. She pauses what she's doing and cocks her head before sliding off the headset.
"What are you doing here?" she whispers, not turning around to face me.
My brows spring up and I shift then wave my hand in her face, wondering if she's really blind. She bats at my hand, but her eyes don't blink.
"The smell I hate most just walked in through my door, Travis. How many times do I have to tell you my sense of smell is amazing? That stench hits my nose and of course I'm going to know who brought it." She huffs, spinning in her chair and crossing her arms across her chest.
I stare at her tits a minute, loving their perfect size for her body, and remembering how perfect they felt on my lips. Then I just go for it. I grab her face and kiss her but she yanks back and shoves me.
"Charlie—" I try to say.
"No you fucking don't," she snarls. "If you want to keep your balls attached I suggest getting out of here before Frankie finds you and rips them off." Her jaw clenches and she points to the door. When I don't budge she whispers, "Please."
"Chuck, I miss the hell out of you." I reach out to touch her but she yanks back before I make contact.
"You had your chance, Travis," she whispers, almost like she's scared to alert anyone that I'm here. "You blew it when you forgot to tell me one massive thing about your life. One fucking thing. I asked you how many times about your past and you never thought to tell me you went to jail?"
"What the hell does that matter, Charlie?" I scoff. "You don't want to see me again because I spent some time locked up for drugs?" I yell. I don't give a shit if Frankie's here. I'm not leaving until Charlie actually says the words she won't see me again.
"No, Travis. It's not the jail thing at all. That, surprisingly, doesn't bother me. It's the fact that you can so easily omit a very huge part of your life from me and think that it's okay. What else are you hiding from me, huh? I mean, I'm blind, so maybe I just can't see something that's very blatantly in front of me."
"That's really fucking shallow of you, Chuck." I cross the room and she perks up, probably hoping I'm leaving, but I'm not. "I don't recall the specific words 'have you been incarcerated?' ever leaving your lips. I didn't omit shit. I wasn't hiding it, I just wasn't talking about it yet. Not exactly something you tell a girl you're crazy about after only a week of knowing each other."
"Were you ever going to tell me?" she whispers, raising her eyebrows.
"Yes!" I blurt the truth. I wasn't going to keep it from her, it's just everything else I don't feel like lying about. "Not while I was inside you. Not the morning I woke up with you. Not while we sat at a dinner table at Bev's. Especially not over a text! Fuck, you didn't even give me the chance to. If that's really why you won't talk to me, then fuck it." I'm still not leaving. Leaning against the wall, I cross my arms over my chest, mimicking her stance.
She stands there, eyes cast down toward the floor, her breathing steady. "I don't like being lied to." She clears her throat. "I put a lot of trust in you, Travis. Something I don't do with many people."
Fuck, don't do this to me, Blue.
"I didn't lie to you. Not in my head at least. Just because you didn't find out the first week we knew each other, doesn't mean I lied to you about it. I got locked up for a few years. It was for dumb shit I'm not involved with anymore. I was a shitty kid, I did shitty things, and I got put away for it. Lesson learned," I confess as I cross the room toward her.
A small grin slowly turns up her lips. "I can picture you as a shitty kid. I have a feeling you gave your parents hell." A full smile breaks on her face until she sighs and her smile falls. "But why'd you freak out Sunday? That hurt, Travis." She turns away and I squeeze my eyes closed.
"That was…stupid. I was feeling emotional, overwhelmed or something by what you told us. I overreacted. I'm sorry." I cup her face and slowly move in, giving her time to pull away before softly kissing her lips. "The guy in front of you right now is the man I am. This is the only me that's mattered. Accept me for this new guy. Okay?"
When a smile starts to appear on her face again, relief comes over me. "I'll accept you, but promise me no more 'omissions.' I need to know everything."
"I'm Travis Austin Burr…" It's not entirely a lie. My real name before I became Travis is Austin, but I'm not Austin anymore. "I grew up in the Bronx." Not a lie. "I only have Bev in my life." I lost contact with my brother when I left prison. "My parents died when I was locked up." I softly run my thumb from her chin to her ear. "My favorite colors are blue and red, like your favorite fruit." I smirk when she grins. "I tattoo on the side just to put my artistic abilities to work and I really miss not having the time to devote to it much anymore. And I don't trust people. People are crooks, thieves, and liars, and I don't have time for that shit anymore. We haven't even known each other long, but you're the first girl I've wanted to get serious with. Lastly, I'm asking you to take me back. Let's get back to that vag/pecker contract we both signed." I bite my lip while she laughs and shakes her head.
"You're such a pervert, you know that?" She hits my chest softly. "My favorite color was once red, not like my favorite fruit. But I really don't hate cherries. And yes, I'll take your ass back. Where do I sign?"
I glance back at the door, but the last thing I need is phsycho-bot to walk in on me screwing Charlie again. I grab her hip and tug her against me. "We can sign that again tonight," I tell her before kissing her.
"Can't wait. I've missed you," she whispers on my lips. "But you should really get out of here before Frankie finds you. I'll need a few cartons of ice cream and wine to break the news that we're back together. You're pretty persistent, you know that?"
"Yeah." I rest my forehead on hers. "She don't scare me, Blue." I kiss her again. "But I gotta go pay the stand fees, so I'm gone." I touch her bottom lip before kissing it softly. "I'm sorry about last Sunday." I stare into her eyes feeling the guilt that's heavy enough to push me away, but I can't lose this girl.
"I'm not angry about it anymore, Travis. Life's too short to stay angry over something so small for long."
"You're fucking incredible." I smile and kiss her. "I'll call you later. For a date. I'm taking you to the orchard." I turn for the doorway. "And don't ignore my texts, Charlie. I'm not trying to blow your phone up, but a simple 'fuck you' response will do." When I look back, she's smiling, her attentions off to the side, but I could stand here and stare at that smile for hours. "Bye, Blue."
She waves her fingers at me but I don't walk away and when she thinks I left, I watch while she takes a deep breath and grins so wide I almost laugh at how happy she looks. Then she does this cute wiggle dance and lets out a tiny squeak before flopping back down in her chair. She sighs again and spins in her chair, getting back to work and I take a few minutes to watch, like a creep, until I hear someone coming. It's only that Kevin guy and when he sees me he smiles and gives me thumbs up in question, which I return with a smirk and walk away as he calls her name.
Bev knows something's changed in the past few hours, but she hasn't said anything yet. I'm waiting for it though. When I look at my phone at quarter to five, she crosses her arms and stares at me.
"Did we find a new blue-eyed princess to distract us now?"
I glance at her and roll my eyes. "No. Definitely not. There's only one blue-eyed princess for me," I mutter walking away while I text Charlie.
'Part of that contract is you can't say no to this date. So I'll pick you up as soon as I'm finished here. If you're working, make it wait.'
"Travis," Violet calls my name. "Hey, thanks for letting me crash at your place. My brother won't be home tonight though. If Bev says it's okay, can I take off? I have plans."
"What kind of plans?" I quiz, and only because I want the girl to stay out of trouble.
"Uh, the kinds I made," she snickers.
"Normal, kid plans?"
"I'm going to Brooklyn’s, Trav, stop trying to act like my dad."
"I'm not your dad, but I'm a friend that's not going to let you screw up your youth. But yeah, I'm cool. I don't need anything else. Just go tell Bev."
I look at my phone and smirk at my response from Charlie, 'I have a feeling you'd track me down if I said no. See you soon.'
"Later," Violet says on her way out the gate and I walk over to Bev.
"BB, you think it'd be cool if I went and picked up Charlie? I want to take her to the orchard."
"So the blue-eyed princess is back." She smiles. "I don't mind. With Violet's help, you two have been bringing in double compared to last year's pickings. Thank you, Trav." She hugs me and I smirk, kissing the top of her head. "Oo! I know, I'll get you two a little picnic basket together. Go do a romantic dinner in the orchard."
I grin, liking that idea, and thankful she's around to come up with them.
"I'll be back." As I head for my car, I warn Charlie I'm on the way.
" nice to see you again, Blue." Bev smiles at Charlie and touches her shoulder.
"I wish I could say the same," Charlie says before she starts to laugh. "Because…ya know…can't see you! Sorry. Have to laugh sometimes."
"God, the girl's cute and a comedian." I nudge her and earn a nervous giggle
"Thanks for letting me come back, Bev. Last time I sure caused a commotion."
"No you didn't," I mutter.
"She'll do just fine here. So you're wanting to smell the orchard today then? Travis told me cherries are your absolute favorite. So I baked you a few pies and I knitted you a sweater with cherries on it."
"Oh… Well, I ate the last pie all in one night so I'm sure these two won't last long. It's pretty warm though, you didn't need to do the sweater." Her attention’s directed toward the ground, eyes wide and fingers fidgeting.
When Bev starts to laugh, I can't hold back and I wrap my arm around Charlie's shoulders. "Bev doesn't knit. And I told her you hate her cherries. She only cried herself to sleep one night. She's over it now."
"I don't hate them," she quickly blurts.
"Nonsense." Bev takes her hand and pulls her away from me, heading out the back door. "I've eaten so many damn cherries in my life, I wouldn't be angry if I never saw another. But Travis would be devastated."
"Yeah, I would," I snip and take Charlie's other hand to get my date back. "Don't talk like that, BB, and please leave me and Chuck alone. This is supposed to be romantic."
"Travis, don't be rude!" Charlie snaps at me. "I'm enjoying my time here with Bev." She pulls her hand from mine and takes hold of Bev's with both hands then grins. "Tell me everything about him."
"Well, he wet the bed until thirteen. And he still sucks his thumb. Sometimes he naps in the orchard, but he has to have a blankey, and—"
"Alright, get the hell out of here." I grab Charlie's waist and spin her to the other side of me. "I don't nap in the orchard, I work. But right now, I'm going to ride Charlie around and act like I'm cool because I can ride a four-wheeler with no hands, so Bev…if you don't mind."
"What if I mind?" she quips and I grit my teeth with a chuckle. She's enjoying this way too much, and by the look on Charlie's face, she is too.
"You should go bake some pies." I wave my hands at her with eyes wide.
"Yeah, yeah, pies," she mutters. "Oh! Trav, don't forget your EpiPen!" She tosses it to me and I jerk my head to look at Charlie, effectively feeling humiliated she knows my deep, dark, nerdy secret.
"What's out here that could kill you?" she asks, following me to the four-wheeler.
"B…ears."
"The tiny yellow and black ones with wings?" She bites her lip through her grin and gives my hand a squeeze. "Unless they actually make EpiPens for bear mauling."
"Yeah, no." I chuckle, helping her on the four-wheeler. "Just tiny little fuckers that can kill me in minutes. Kinda lame, I know." My chuckle of embarrassment is stupid. This isn't something I can help, but usually people see a guy like me and think nothing can take him down, and that's usually the case… except a fucking bee.
"It's not lame, it's scary," she says, wrapping her arms around me. "Have you ever been stung? I mean…what happens? Shit, now I have to worry about you being out here?" She jabs my side and laughs.
"No." I laugh. "You don't have to worry. Bev protects me." Grinning, I start the four-wheeler and direct her arms to wrap around my waist. "Hold on."
She lets out a squeal as we take off and her arms tighten around me, pushing her body even closer to mine and I feel like an ass for missing this for over a week. I'll never do that shit again. This girl is what I want and need. Nothing should feel as good as I do when I'm with her, but I'm addicted.
"Answer me, Travis. What happens if you get stung?"
"So, what happens is…my throat closes. That's pretty much it. Usually there's swelling and hives, but not me, straight to the killing. I've been stung a few times, but I always have my pen, aaaaand, I learned real quick to look out for the deadly bastards. So, enough about my weakness, this is the orchard." I slow down and look around, wishing she could see this.
"Tell me what it looks like. Don't leave anything out. I've never been to a cherry orchard before." She smiles and takes my hand as I help her off the four-wheeler. "It smells amazing."
"She's got over sixty trees," I say as I begin to appreciate the orchard in a different way than I have before. I can see it, my vision tells me what I'm curious about, but having to actually describe it is so different. "They don't grow flowers, just cherries, and right now they're in full bloom with deep green leaves and bright red bunches. The trees are in rows of eight and they're spaced just enough, but their branches are reaching for its neighbors." I smirk. "Right now the grass is tall. I need to cut it tomorrow. But it's deep green." I stare at the ground a minute. Never would I have thought I'd have to explain what this grass looked like. And it doesn't bother me, it fucking kills me for Charlie's sake. "It's beautiful out here, Chuck. My favorite place to be." I touch her hair, wanting to tell her she's my other favorite place to be, but I'll show her soon.
"Can I feel them? The trees? Or will that mess with Bev's ju-ju?" She grins up at me.
"You can touch them." I walk her toward the tree and guide her hand upward, but let her finish her reach to find what she's looking for. "Just watch out for the man-eating thorns."
Her fingers pause before she glances behind her towards where I'm standing. "Cherry trees don't have thorns, you dork." She grins and her fingers continue their dance up the trunk of the tree as she follows the branches out and grins when her hands wrap around a bunch of cherries. "It feels beautiful." The setting sun is beaming through the branches, lighting up that smile on her face.
"Yeah," I mutter, not able to look away from how happy she looks right now. "I know you hate them and all, but they're even better fresh." I yank a cherry off and put it in her hand. "Save it for later, when I'm not looking, if you want."
She smiles and holds it in her hand for a moment like she's staring at it, then brings it to her lips and takes a small nibble before popping the entire thing into her mouth and smiles. One chew and she cringes a bit. "Ver's a pit," she mumbles with a mouthful of cherry, spitting the pit out and laughing. "That was incredible!"
"I knew you loved cherries!" I softly pin her to the tree and kiss her before the taste leaves her mouth. "My two favorite flavors." I moan and kiss her again, this time harder, feeling more needy. "I'm at one of my favorite places," I say kissing her. "I need to be inside my second favorite place, Blue. Let me feel you," I'm panting with anticipation and I feel like a fucking teenager as my hands cup her tits over her shirt.
"What if Bev comes out here?" She gasps, then pushes her lips to my neck and grinds against me.
"Bev's not coming out here," I promise and in a swift yank, pull her shirt off, dropping to my knees to kiss over her stomach while I unbutton her shorts. Her hands are in my hair and she's panting as hard as I am right now. I yank her thong down with her shorts and reach my tongue for her clit.
"Oh God," she groans, her hand in my hair pushing me into her. She starts to grind against my face, her back leaning against the tree for leverage. "Fuck, Travis," she pants. "Fuck me."
As much as I want to finish this, I haven't been inside her for two weeks, and I've only been inside her once. I can't wait anymore to feel that again. I stand and kiss her while she yanks at the button on my jeans, fumbling as her hands shake eagerly. After a little help, I drop my pants, not bothering to remove my shirt then lift her; her legs wrap around my waist as she lowers down over my cock with a gasp. Slowly taking us to the grass, I hold her tight while she bounces over me as she sits in my lap. She's like a slow rolling wave that crashes onto me and makes me feel like I've reached the euphoric state of drowning.
She hums and brings her hand up to her tit. I can feel her tightening around me and soon she's rocking harder. "Oh fuck, Travis!" she moans as I thrust up to meet her, each pump harder than the first. "Oh God, don't stop! Fuck, I'm so close." Her panting is as heavy as mine and her nails dig into my chest as she falls forward, slamming her lips to mine to muffle her screams.
I can't hold back and twist my fingers in her hair as I thrust one last time and kiss her harder, unable to withhold a grunt while I come inside her. When I let her go she leans back with a chuckle, but doesn't move to get off me. We're both breathing heavy like we ran a race and won. Watching her giggle and trying to catch her breath makes me start to laugh.
"Fuck, Blue," I huff, leaning my hands back to hold me up. "Fuck… Blue." The sting on my palm makes my heart drop. "Fuck!" I grab her waist and stand, carefully setting her on her feet before stumbling my way toward the four-wheeler with my jeans around my ankles.
As my airway closes, I start to panic, more for her sake. I know what to do, but the fact she's going to witness it has me tripping over myself and I fall before I make it to my pen. I gasp in the last solid breath I'll get and look back at her as she stands in one spot confused.
"Travis?" she screeches. I try to say something, make any noise for her, but it barely comes out and my eyes start to water. "Shit!" I hear her huff. "This isn't funny, Trav!" She mumbles something about her clothes and I see her blurry figure reach to the ground to find them.
I can't worry about her right this second. I have to get to my pen before I fucking die and leave her out here until Bev thinks it's safe to come looking for us. My movements are getting slower but I'm not just going to fucking die on her! I grip the seat of the four-wheeler and yank myself up, frantically reaching for my pen I left in the bucket by the seat. Stabbing it into my thigh, I gasp in a breath as soon as I can and my watery eyes watch as Charlie perks up, finally realizing I wasn't hiding on her.
"Oh my God, Travis, are you okay? What happened?" she screams in panic.
I gasp in another breath, not wanting to talk yet but she's just standing there with fear on her face. "Charlie," I rasp out and start moving to pull up my pants. "Charlie," I say again, a little clearer and slowly move toward her, a little disoriented at the moment.
She's talking but my head's throbbing from that taking too long.
"Are you ok? Should I call Bev? What happened? Did you get stung? Why the hell wouldn't you have your pen right on you at all times?"
I reach her and pull her to me, still out of breath and dizzy with a pounding headache, but she needs to shut up for a minute.
"You scared me," she mumbles into my chest, wrapping her arms around me.
"Shit, Chuck." I inhale deeply. "Your pussy is killer." I quietly chuckle, still needing another minute to collect myself.
"I don't see anything funny about this." She hits my chest. "We need to get you back to the house. I can call Bev to come get us." Her arms wrap around me again and it feels like she'll never let go.
"No. Just wait." I walk her to the back of the four-wheeler and shine my phone light on the ground as the setting sun is almost hidden. After making sure there are no bees, I guide her to sit. I intended on coming out here and doing what we did, but I had other plans of a romantic dinner in the fucking orchard, and almost dying isn't going to change them. "Let me just catch my breath."
"We need to get you back, Travis. You need to rest." She moves to stand but I pull her back down gently.
"Sit down a minute, Charlie. We're resting right fucking here." I reach behind us and grab the basket Bev put together for me. "I brought you out here to spend time alone without the world being loud around us. The sun's setting." I shift her closer to me and clear my throat as the tightness starts to relax.
"What color's the sky right now," she whispers.
"Uh." I look up and smile, letting my thumb make circles on her side under her shirt. "It's three colors right now. The blue is being swallowed by pink and orange while the sun drops to the horizon. That blue looks like my favorite thing in the world." I turn my head and let my nose brush against hers.
"Why?" she whispers, gently bringing her hand to my face. "You're always talking about my eyes and how much you love the color of them. But why? They're just…blue."
I laugh. "Your eyes aren't just blue, Chuck." Turning her face so I can study them, I gently run my fingertips around the soft skin surrounding them. "They're all my favorite blues." I kiss her cheek. "And they're big." I kiss her other cheek. "And bright. There's so much life in them. You see more than anyone else in this world." I kiss over her right eye. "And you're the only person that sees me." I kiss over her left eye.
She laughs and pulls back. "You're insane, they don't even work." She blinks away a tear.
"Your eyes work, Blue." I hold a pineapple chunk up to her lips and notice the way her nose wiggles when she smells it. She takes the bite, making sure to wrap her lips around my fingers.
"Mmm, pineapple," she hums. "That's my favorite fruit."
The only reason I know that is because the one time I was in her house I saw a cupboard full of canned pineapple and there were two empty cans in her trash. "I've got a whole basket full of pineapple for you." I kiss her lips, licking the juice away.
"What color are your eyes?"
"My eyes are…uh, brown. Just brown."
"I always wanted brown eyes growing up." I want to kiss that grin, but I let her go on. "I always thought it was so cool how dark they were. I felt like light eyes were just…weak."
I frown over at her before feeding her another bite of pineapple. "There's nothing weak about your eyes. And my eyes aren't dark, they're light brown. Almost a weird gold color and they look…alien-like." I laugh and before she can respond, I place a piece of pineapple between my teeth then move toward her mouth and press against her lips. She grins and opens, our lips connecting as she sucks the pineapple then pulls back.
"That was the best piece yet." She giggles, wiping the juice from her chin.
"Let me feed you like a baby bird," I say and she cringes, pushing me away. "Come on, Chuck," I laugh as she tries to fight me while I'm pinning her down to the grass. "Come on, baby bird, open." I laugh as she tries to block her mouth. Taking her wrists, I pin her hands above her head then suck her bottom lip between mine. "I love being with you." I kiss her softly as I release her wrists. I need air right now, but I'd die a happy man if it were from her kiss.
"I happen to love being around you too," she says, smiling up at me. Her fingers play their way up my arms and when she cups my face, letting her thumbs brush across my lips, she smiles softly.
"I bought you something." I shift to hover over her and rest my leg between her thighs, kissing her chin.
"What is it?" She curls into me and lets her fingers rest on my chest.
"Are you busy three weeks from now?" As she opens her mouth, I put my hand over her lips. "You are, with me." I pull the concert tickets from my back pocket and read the name again. I've never bought anything for a woman except Bev, and it wasn't anything like this. "I don't want to steal your freedom, I don't want to change your mind, I don't want to make you love me, I just want to take your time," I sing in her ear.
"You're a pretty good contender...just might replace my boyfriend." She giggles when I nip in her earlobe. "I love that song," she sighs.
"So if I tell you you're going to hear that song live, will you love me? At least as much as your old, fat boyfriend Sam Hunt?"
"You got me tickets to see Sam Hunt?" Her face brightens and she shoves me off before sitting up. "You bought tickets to my boyfriend?"
"You've got tickets to me anytime you want, Chuck." I put the tickets in her hand. "But yes, I bought us tickets to Sam Hunt… Frankie included," I grumble the last words with a roll of my eyes that she can't see thankfully.
"You bought all three of us tickets?" she whispers with her eyes wide and lips parted in surprise. "Frankie? Frank. My Frankie. The one you hate, you spent money on her?" A grin slides across her face and she squeals when I grunt a response. "Oh my God, Travis!" When she moves to throw her arms around me, it's a messy connection, but I grab her tight and ease her against me. "Thank you so much," she whispers before pulling back. "Frankie's going to love you for this. I think she may love him more than I do."
"That's the only reason she's coming. So your attention’s on me instead of your boyfriend." I bite her lip before kissing her. "Say I'm your boyfriend."
"Can I have two boyfriends? Or are you making me choose between you and Sam?"
I bite her lip again. "You have to choose. And I'd choose wisely or I'm going to Sam Hunt alone."
"I mean I really do like your dick." She chuckles. "I guess you're pretty cool. And your voice is sexy as hell, so that's a plus."
"My dick is bigger and my voice is better. So say it."
She gently kisses me before smiling across my lips and says, "You're my boyfriend, Travis. The only one I need."
I kiss her through my smile, liking hearing her say both those things. "I'll always be the only one you need." Before she can explain the actual meaning of her words I intentionally took out of context, I lock our mouths again.
"I'm making you invite Frankie yourself, you know," she says, grinning from ear to ear.
"Concert tickets aren't enough?"
"Nope. You'll call and invite her. You're the best. Now where's the pineapple?" She grins.