Pure Will

by Kristi Pelton

  “Think Kate! Where could she be?” I shouted not meaning to sound so gruff.

  “I don’t know! It’s Tuesday. I can’t even think of who she tutors. I’ll try Ham.”

  She dialed her phone as I flew through stop signs and stoplights up Naismith, past the Fieldhouse. The trees on campus were swaying in the harsh wind and students were running as the overcast sky turned near black. After living in Kansas my whole life, I’d been taught what to look for and what funnel clouds looked like. And these clouds seemed suicidal—seemingly hell bent on destroying each other the way they rumbled through and crashed into each other. One cloud eating another.

  “Ham hasn’t seen her,” she said. “He’s calling Eli and Landon. Will, we need to take cover, that looks bad,” she said staring up at the brewing sky.

  “I’m not leaving her out here!” I gritted through clenched teeth.

  “Will! We don’t know that she’s out here. If she was in trouble, the two people she would call are right here. She has to be safe.”

  Kate was right. She would call me, right? I floored the truck and sped down the road. You know how people say they can smell rain before it rains. A panic inside left me unsettled and I could certainly smell rain just about the time that the lashing wall of water met my windshield, but the black curling clouds seemed to promise death. The tornado sirens began to howl.

  Kate and I both leapt from the truck and bolted into the house as thunder crashed so fiercely the house shook and you could feel the jolt in your chest. Kate stepped onto the stone floor and slid…falling hard because she was wet.

  “You OK?” I asked with my phone to my ear as I tried Cam again.

  “Yep,” she said jumping up.

  I pointed her toward the basement door and we both ran toward the stairs. Still no answer. This was like Matty all over again. Kate took the steps two at a time and I followed.

  “Wrigley, come!” I shouted. “God damn it, Kate, where is she?” I asked, pacing. Finally, I laid my phone down waiting for her to call.

  “I don’t know Will. I don’t know,” she whispered staring at her own phone.

  I flipped on the television and watched the weather. That’s all I could do. A giant red blob on the radar hovered over Lawrence, Kansas; in that moment, even though I swore I wouldn’t ever pray to God again, I did and I prayed to Matty too.

  Chapter—Will

  Even in the basement and under the staircase, the wind howled around the house and the windows rattled as if they would shatter any moment. My cell phone remained in my hand during the storm and still nothing from Cam. The storm had clearly calmed at least by the sound of things and Kate and I made our way back up the stairs.

  “The house seems ok,” Kate said as she topped the stairs and grabbed her phone. “Nothing…you?”

  I shook my head and threw her a clean, dry t-shirt from the drier. Then I tried to call Cam again. Nothing.

  “Let’s go back to the apartment,” I suggested and she nodded.

  Once we were outside, the sky had lightened but was tinted a dark yellow and the sun wasn’t out at all. The sirens still echoed in the distance but no longer blared in the neighborhood. The sky to the east continued its fight with Mother Nature. Clouds rotated close to the ground but I saw no funnel.

  Kate and I hopped in the truck and I backed out only to find a tall oak split right in the middle and blocking the street. I drove through the yard leaving big ruts in the grass and giving the truck gas when back on the street.

  Broken trees and limbs were scattered across streets and yards and a trampoline sat upright in a front yard. The powerful winds had left a trail but so far no significant damage.

  My phone rang and the screen read Camden.

  “Baby, where are you?” I fought hard to control my emotion.

  “I’m at the apartment or what’s left of it. Will, I don’t know where Kate is. Are you ok?”

  “Kate’s with me. Are you ok?”

  “Just pretty shook up.” Her voice cracked. “I need you, Will,” she whispered.

  “Hold tight. We aren’t far.” Her wanting me…needing me was like heroine to an addict. Hearing her say that sealed the deal.

  “Why are you with Kate?” she asked and my stomach turned over when for the first time, I heard insecurity in her voice. I could only imagine what she might think and Kate was in my shirt for shits sake!

  “Long story. I’ll tell you when I see you. Almost there.”

  “OK. See you in a few.”

  “No Cam. Don’t hang up. Just wait,” I said. There was no way in hell I was hanging up. Not until I saw her with my own eyes.

  “Holy shit!” Kate said and I looked over at her then followed her eyes in the direction she was looking.

  Something stronger than winds had taken out a path of the apartment complex and the Home Depot building in front of it. People stood everywhere staring at what was left. Ambulances and fire truck lights flickered red and blue and it was still dark enough that the lights ricocheted off the buildings. The loss of life could be substantial.

  That’s when I saw Cam. Some guy had his arms draped over her shoulders as they watched what was unfolding in front of them. My fists instinctively tightened on the steering wheel. But, my girl was alive.

  “She was with Kobe,” Kate said. Before I had a chance to ask who he was, Cam spotted us and started running toward me. I left my truck door open and wasn’t sure I’d put it into park. When she landed safely in my arms, I couldn’t get her close enough. I gripped her cheeks between my hands and my eyes rummaged over her face in search of the tiniest wound. She was perfect outside of the fear in her eyes.

  “Camden! Why didn’t you answer us?” Kate got on to her and I hated that she used the word us. Kate and I were not an us. Not even close.

  Cam reached out to hug her, and I watched as her mouth parted when she saw Kate’s shirt…my shirt. Fuck.

  “I’m sorry. Kobe and I were in the library down in the basement looking on a microfilm for a newspaper article. I had no service at all until we came out and that was after they made us take shelter in a back room. I’m sorry,” she said staring up into my eyes.

  Her eyes held unnecessary questions and I needed to squash them now. I pulled her close to me again and nestled my nose into her ear. “Listen to me. Kate was wet from the rain. I came here looking for you. She was with Liam and she and I together went looking for you. We darted to my house right before the storm hit, when we couldn’t find you. I gave her the shirt to change into. I want no part of her. I have who I want in my arms. Now look at me,” I ordered and she did. “Did you hear all that?”

  She nodded as a group of firefighters approached us.

  “We need you all to clear the area.”

  “That’s our apartment,” Kate explained with her hands on her hips.

  All of us stared at the apartment. For the most part, it appeared intact but the neighbor’s apartment had missing walls.

  “Do you see Elsie and Barb? Cam asked.

  “No. But they weren’t home earlier when we were here.”

  There was that ‘we’ thing again coming out of Kate’s mouth.

  “Sir,” Cam said trying to draw the attention of the firefighter.

  “Yes, Ma’am.”

  “Can we go up to our apartment?” she asked and I noticed news vans from Kansas City were showing up.

  “You can go collect a few things. But I’d probably find a different place to stay for a few nights.”

  “OK. Thank you.” She turned to me. “Will you help me?”

  “You bet.”

  In her room, we both started throwing things into some bags. We hadn’t really discussed where she was going yet, but I knew where. She was coming to my house. And I prayed she didn’t fight me on this. There were pictures on her walls. Her and George Brett. Her and Cal Ripkin. Her and Derek Jeter. Holy shitters. Her phone rang.

  “Hello?” “Hi daddy.” “No, I’m fine.” “I promise.” “Y
es. She’s fine too.” “No but our apartment was a direct hit.” “We are getting some things together now. We can’t stay here for a few days.” “I don’t know for sure. Maybe a hotel.”

  I stood and eyeballed her shaking my head with a slow smile creeping across my face. She gave me an inquisitive look.

  “Daddy. We will be fine.”

  She raised her brows.

  “You’re staying with me,” I said.

  And she placed her finger over her mouth as if to shush me.

  “That was my friend Will,” she said. “Denton.” “We are sort of going out.” She gave me an evil glare that wasn’t even a little ferocious.

  A proud smile spread over my face. Her dad needed to know who I was and that he could be relieved of duty…I would take care of her.

  “Yes. He does cross fit. How did you know that?” She ran her fingers through her hair. “You just Googled him?? Oh my God Daddy. I need to go.” “I love you too.”

  She tossed the phone in a chair and fell onto her bed. “You can be found by your name on Google?” she asked.

  “So can you,” I said. I knew this because I’d Googled her. I’d found pictures of her when she was little with her father at the ball field and I’d found her Facebook and Twitter pictures.

  “Hand me my laptop over there,” she ordered grinning. “I must see what my father saw.”

  I handed it to her, but the cord was caught in the drawer of the nightstand, so I opened the drawer to release the cord. When I did, a vibrator was in the drawer. I glanced at Cam whose eyes widened to the point I was afraid they’d pop out of her sockets. I reached for her little toy and held it up with my biggest smile yet.

  Chapter—Cam

  Blood rushed to my face leaving my toes and fingers tingling. The guy I was nuts about was holding my vibrator in his hands…my damn vibrator! And the smile that I’d fallen in love with over the past couple of weeks…was wickedly taunting me. The way I saw it—this horrifically embarrassing situation—I had two choices. I could curl up in a ball of shame or I could turn the tables on him.

  “Jealous?” I asked.

  Will examined the vibrator. “Maybe.”

  I stood up and walked toward him. “I understand. That’s known me longer than you have. We’ve established quite a relationship,” I teased taking it from his hand and throwing it in my bag.

  “Now I’m really jealous. And a tad afraid I might suffer by comparison.”

  I think we both knew that wasn’t true but I went with it.

  “I understand your fears. It will be a tough act to follow,” I whispered and leaned up to kiss his neck. “I’m not sure he is something that I could ever part with.”

  Will wrapped his arms around my waist and lifted me off the ground. “Baby…I won’t ask you to part with it. But I will ask you to give me a tutorial of how you use it.”

  With those words, my mouth parted and he grinned a shitty little grin.

  “I only tutor people that don’t understand,” I quickly said.

  He shook his head. “What do you mean? I’m not following. I don’t understand. I am dumber than shit.”

  “Shit is an inanimate object. It has no life. Meaning it has no brain. The implication is that you can’t be dumber than shit because it’s immeasurable.” I smiled, very proud of myself.

  “I’m going to the dean tomorrow to request you as a tutor,” he said and my feet continued to dangle. With my hands, I rubbed over his shoulders and biceps truly appreciating his hard work at the gym.

  “The dean likes to make sure I tutor fairly. So if I give you a tutorial on Vibrators 101, I’m going to have to give one to Ham, Eli, Blake, Landon, Kobe…”

  He spun around, falling and we landed on the bed. He stared down at me. “That’s too bad because you will be the sole reason for the KU athletic department adding 10 guys to the injury list and being unable to play. You will have let the whole university down. Do you really want that on your shoulders?”

  My phone rang again and he picked it up…laughing. I giggled and didn’t stop him from answering my phone. But when he looked at the screen his jaw tightened and a low growl reverberated through him. He flashed the screen at me. Max…

  He handed me the phone. I wasn’t sure what he wanted. The phone stopped ringing.

  “Did you want me to answer?”

  “What did you want to do?”

  I shrugged. “My guess is he knows about the storm and is just checking on me. But I don’t want to talk to him.”

  He kissed my forehead and got off the bed.

  Will carried my bags and helped Kate too as we loaded up in his truck. For tonight, Kate and I were staying with Will. When we left the area, the police took our names and numbers so that we were accounted for. So far, most everyone had been.

  The first thing I saw when I walked into Will’s was Kate’s shirt in the kitchen. He spotted it too and handed it to Kate.

  “OK girls,” he said. “I only have two bedrooms because the other two have been turned into a training room. So…Cam and I will stay in one and Kate, you can have the other,” he chuckled.

  Kate laughed…a wicked laugh, which made me laugh too.

  Will spun around and lifted me. “So, you think that I’m kidding?”

  I pecked his nose and Kate moaned out loud. “Shoot me now! You two lovebirds are going to make me go crazy! Point me to my room in this luxurious place. What the hell do you do Will? Maybe I should have kept you after all!”

  Unaware that my brow lowered and I frowned, with two fingers, Will pushed up the sides of my mouth and then my brows. He shook his head from side to side.

  “Don’t go there in that little mind of yours. It isn’t Kate that I want nor is it Kate that I want to watch use that little toy of yours,” he whispered.

  “Holy bat shit, this place is awesome. Look at these pictures of you, Will.”

  Will gritted his teeth and made a funny face. “First thing tomorrow, I’m putting that girl up in a hotel.” He winked and threw me over his shoulder when the back door that we had just come through flew open.

  “Will!” A woman’s shrill scream came from the doorway and his mother’s wide eyes held a fear I’d never known until she saw us…him and then the tears came. The fire in his father’s eyes scared me. Will set me down and took his mother gently into his arms.

  “You didn’t answer your phone. We came by and you weren’t here. You didn’t answer. I didn’t know Will! I didn’t know!” she wept.

  “Don’t you ever do that to your mother again! Do you understand me, Son?”

  Even his father’s eyes glistened with tears.

  Will held her against him. “I’m sorry Mom. I was looking for Camden. I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking.”

  She shook her head and smiled at me. “Cam. We are so happy you are okay too. Forgive us for barging in,” she said, her voice still shaky. She looked up at Will and he wiped her face with his palms. “Does she know about Matty?”

  A grimace flashed across Will’s face. “A little.”

  “Where’s your phone?” His father was clearly still angry.

  Will patted his pockets and looked at me.

  “Maybe in the truck,” he said.

  “Find it and you answer your mother’s calls, got it?”

  Will nodded and hugged her again.

  “I’m sorry, Mom. I am. I wasn’t thinking about that for once. I’m sorry.”

  “William. Look at me. You should be moving on. You have a life to live and he would want that. Don’t get lost in the past. I’m glad you were thinking about Cam.” She smiled at me then opened her arms to me.

  Kate’s mom is the only mother I’d hugged in a long time. Without hesitation, my arms slid perfectly beneath hers.

  It was obvious; she was a mother foremost before anything. She’d lost her son, Matty, somehow and the thought of losing Will crushed her. It would destroy her. I made a mental note to make sure he checked in with her so that she didn’t wor
ry. I envied that she worried about him.

  I opened my eyes as she released me and Will’s father had that shit-eating grin again. Will took my hand.

  “You all want to stay for dinner?” Will asked.

  His mother shook her head. “No, we are going by Dwayne and Carol’s house to check on them. They are fine but they had some damage.”

  “OK. Tell them hi.”

  “We will. Love you sweetheart.”

  “Love you too Mom.”

  Will was serious about wanting me to stay in his room. He offered to sleep in the recliner near the bed and even on the floor next to my side of the bed. I had told him he was being silly that we could sleep on the same bed. This decision seemed to thrill him, and he promised he would be good, but there was a huge piece of me that hoped he wasn’t. Since Max, I’d never wanted a guy to even touch me. I held some secret obligation to him in my head but Will had changed that for me. His kiss…his lips…his tongue…even his breath, were like…perfect.

  When I had been with Max, I was young. Five years had passed and to think of all that time I had gone without touch…without feeling…without a guy. Suddenly, I wanted it all. I wanted all of Will. When I was with Kobe in the library, it was Kobe that sheltered me and all I could do is think about Will. I wanted him by my side. He was the first person I thought of when the sirens sounded and the first person I wanted to know was OK.

  The thing is…I still felt like a sexual cripple. Frozen in time by a man I allowed to hold me hostage. Now that I had experienced the gentleness of Will’s touch, his kiss, his kindness, his patience…I hated Max for the things he’d done. It wasn’t fair to compare Will to Max, but already Will had him beat without a doubt. I wanted to know if he was that gentle with everything…I’d never had gentle.

  Will walked out of his bathroom brushing his teeth. I sat on one side of the bed.

  “You OK?” he asked.

  I nodded. “I have a goofy question.”

  “OK,” he said with toothpaste foam gathering around his mouth.