Tangled Up In You (A Savioe Family Novel)

by Atkinson, Ginny

  Charles smirked and glanced toward Luke. “We noticed that you hadn’t moved and after the shit Christie tried to pull we wanted to make sure you were okay.”

  I smiled at him put my pad down in the passenger seat, turned off the radio and reached for the door handle to get out. Charles beat me to it and opened it for me to get out. “Thank you. Sorry I just felt rude sitting there trying to talk with the three of you standing about.”

  “No problem, chèr.” Charles said as he closed the door behind me and leaned on it. “How come I haven’t noticed you around before?”

  I rolled my eyes at him. “Because I don’t hit at eye level.”

  Beau laughed at that as he rounded the back of the car. He pointed to the passenger rear. “Looks like you might need air in your tire over there.”

  “Oh thanks. I always forget to check on those things.” I pushed a lock of my hair away from my face and stared at him. His features were a bit harsher than Luke’s was. His cheekbones were more angular. His eyes were a strange mix of green, blue and brown, not quite, what I would call hazel but close. My brain to mouth filter must have started to malfunction because the next thing I realized I said to him. “God, you have beautiful eyes. The color is astounding.” I walked closer to him and stood on my tiptoes trying to get a better look before adding. “I have to sketch you sometime. I will not take no for an answer.”

  He looked shocked for a minute before looking over my head to his brothers. “Um… thanks. Sure you can sketch me anytime you want.”

  “Really? Cool what’s a good time for you?” I asked completely unaware of Charles’s snickering behind me.

  *****

  Chapter Four

  Luke

  Christie’s whining before History class and her confrontation with Roxy had made up my mind. She needed to back off or she was gone. I planned to tell her as soon as I got home until I noticed Bus hugging Roxy and her just sitting in her car for ten minutes while everyone left. I got off my Harley and started to head over that way when my brothers stopped me. After telling them that she’d just been sitting there for that long, they decided to come with me in case something was wrong with her car.

  “So Bus hugged her huh? Bet he loved that.” Beau spat out. “That bastard is always trying to cop a feel on any girl that stands still long enough. He probably thinks she’s an easy target. Do you know if he’s used the ‘you remind me of my sister’ line on her yet?”

  I gnashed my teeth together. “I don’t know. I wouldn’t put it past him.”

  “Damn, that means she’s going to be his latest name in the betting book.” Beau grunted in disgust.

  “Betting book?” Charles asked curiously tilting his head to the side.

  “Last year when I was on the team, the boys decided to start a book about the girls they fucked. Each girl is worth a certain number of points for looks, performance and purity. The player with the highest points at the end of senior year gets a thousand dollars. I bet anything she is at least worth 250. A hundred each for looks and purity, fifty for performance. If he has his sights on her, she is considered off limits until he fucks and dumps her.” Beau explained to our disgust.

  “Did you participate in this book?” Charles asked hands clenching into fists at his sides.

  “They asked if I wanted in but I refused and then later left the team.” Beau said before we stopped by Roxy’s car door.

  She was just sitting there with the radio on, colored pencils in hand. Charles knocked on her door as I leaned against her hood thinking about the betting book. We couldn’t let Bus get her in that book. She deserves better than that. From everything, I had learned about her over the past few weeks, she had never dated. Never really had any experience with the male sex other than just in passing. I heard her soft voice exclaim over Beau’s eye color and her wanting to sketch him. I closed my eyes, jaw clenched in disgust and groaned over his blatant sexual innuendo toward her. Confirming my thought over her naivety, she just took his words at face value and asked when a good time for him would be.

  Pushing away from the hood, I walked up behind her motioning for Charles and Beau to head back to the truck. “I’ll keep her company till Jess shows up. Why don’ ya two head on home?”

  Charles smirked and pulled Beau away from Roxy. “Will do, Luke. Bye, chèr.”

  “Bye Charles, Beau.” She lifted her hand as they left and turned to me. “Oh, I decided to add some color to the cypress. You have to tell me if you like it or not.” She turned and leaned in the car window trying to reach the pad on the passenger seat and presented me with the tantalizing view of her heart shaped ass. Biting back a groan, I turned my gaze upward silently praying for strength from the temptation. “Got it!” She exclaimed and wiggled her way out the window.

  She pushed the sketchpad in my hand. I looked down and saw the bayou come to life in different hues of brown and green. I leaned against the car again. “Damn that’s breathtaking. How long have you been an artist?”

  “Me an artist? Ha, no. I just do things like this when I’m bored. I only take art class because I don’t like acting, getting my hands covered in oil, or the like. I’m allergic to saw dust and I can’t write worth anything.” She brushed a piece of hair away from her face placing it behind her ear.

  “You are really gifted. I bet you could sell some of these for quite a bit of money.” I handed her back the pad my finger accidently brushed hers as she grabbed it sending a shot of electricity straight to my groin.

  She quickly pulled her hand away. “She’s going to be in there for the next forty minutes. You don’t have to wait with me.”

  “I want to. Why don’t we sit in your car instead of standing about?”

  Her lip twitched upward for a brief second. “Okay.” She opened the door before I could and climbed in. I jogged over to the passenger side and waited until she gathered all her colored pencils together before getting in. Once situated in the seat she turned toward me. “So how mad is your sister over yesterday?”

  “She’s pretty pissed but she was beforehand.” I drummed my fingers on the car door.

  “Oh? Why is that?” She asked rooting through her bag.

  “She thought Jess was you when she tried to shove her in the locker.” I admitted.

  Her head popped up her angelic face scrunched up in confusion. “What? So she wanted to shove me in a locker? Damn, that’s a first.”

  “Yeah, um… she thought you said something bout one of us and wanted to find out why.” I shifted a bit in my seat.

  “So why not just ask me?” She said continuing to look in her bag for something.

  “That is her way of asking.” I shrugged and shifted again trying to get comfortable.

  “Move the seat back. The lever is next to the door. Jess likes to sit straight up with her knees pretty much touching the dash.” She mentioned as she removed her purse and a few textbooks from her bag. “Ah here it is.” She held up a pack of gum and held it out to me.

  “Thanks.” I took a piece and felt for the lever on the side of the seat. I leaned the seat back a few inches and then tried to search for the lever in front to slide the seat back.

  “Here let me help you.” She leaned over the center console and reached her hand between my legs to move the seat. I held my breath and tried not to pay attention to her head so close to my lap. I could feel the heat from her breath on my inner thigh and every nerve ending came instantly alive. Her hair slipped out from behind her ear fanned over her shoulder and landed right on my groin. My thoughts ran away with me. I could just picture her turning her head smiling at me as she unbuckled my belt and unzipped my jeans before taking me in her mouth. Closing my eyes, I tilted my head back to let out a quiet groan. I don’t know how I resisted the urge to move her hair back over her shoulder so I could look at her face but I did. She finally moved the lever and the seat slid back.

  “Um… Roxy, can you please move your head?” I carefully demanded my voice hoarse.

&nbs
p; “Give me a second. My bracelet is caught on something.” Her muffled voice drifted up to me.

  I groaned again this time a bit more loudly than intended drawing her attention to me. Her face now turned to look up at me showed a bit of confusion before she realized exactly where her head was and my reaction to it. Her cheeks flushed red as she jerked her arm back trying to quickly sit up. In her haste, she scratched her wrist when the bracelet ripped off it.

  “I’m so sorry. I was just trying to help. I don’t pay attention to what I do most of the time.” She gasped rubbing her pained wrist.

  “Don’t worry about it. Let me see your wrist.” I reached out gently grabbing her hand and turned it over. She had a nasty red gash that started from the bottom of her palm going up about two inches on her wrist. “This looks bad. Do you have any water or anything in here we can use to wash it off until you can get home and patch it up?”

  “Yeah, it’s in the back seat.” She maneuvered her way in between the two seats to grab a bottle half-full of water. I took it out of her hand, opened it and looked around for something to pour it in or at least something to put her wrist over to soak up the water. I sighed and pulled off my t-shirt placing it under her arm and poured a bit of water on it to clean off the grime and drying blood. I heard her swift intake of breath.

  “I’m sorry. Does it sting?” I asked.

  *****

  Roxy

  I can’t believe he is sitting in my car shirtless. I didn’t pay attention to when he removed his shirt until I saw it under my wrist. I know my brain stopped to function at that moment. His lean muscles rippled with each movement he made. I leered a bit more at his defined pecks and… oh god… six pack abs. If I wasn’t crushing on him before I absolutely am now.

  “There that should have cleaned it off. Don’t forget to put some stuff on it when you get home or it’ll get infected.” He cautioned. I just sat there incapable of speech and nodded my head. I glanced down at my phone sitting in its docking station I had twenty minutes left until Jess showed up.

  Biting my lip to keep my head on straight, I asked him. “Do you have another shirt to wear or jacket for your ride home?”

  He smirked at me that dimple making an appearance. “Yes, I have another shirt in my bag on my bike. Actually, hold on a sec. I think I have a first aid kit in there as well.” He hopped out of the car and ran over to his bike. He started it and parked it next to my car. After turning it off, he rummaged through the saddlebag on the side. Found the shirt and first aid kit. He put the wrinkled shirt on much to my disappointment and sat back in the car with the first aid kit opened. “Give me your arm.”

  I placed my arm back on the console. He took out an alcohol pad and wiped the scratch. I hissed at the sudden stinging. His cornflower blue gaze caught mine as he blew on the area to take away the sting. I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from sighing and swallowed. After putting some antibacterial ointment on it, he placed a band-aid over the place. “Thank you.” I said breathlessly.

  “Glad I could be of help.” He grinned. Dammit there is that dimple again.

  “So why did your family move from Louisiana?” I asked trying to get my mind off the chiseled body underneath the white shirt.

  “My dad got a better paying job. One that would allow my mom to stay at home with us kids. So we held a family meeting and voted on coming up here.” He explained putting the stuff back in the kit.

  “That’s cool. Do you miss it much?”

  “All the time. Especially my grandmother’s house. We only get to see her on holidays and a few weeks out of the summer. The sketch that you are going to give me reminds me of her backyard.” He leaned back in the seat arms behind his head. The bottom of his shirt lifted up a bit to tease me with a glimpse of flesh every time he took a breath.

  I popped a piece of gum in my mouth and said, “I could draw you some more like that if you want or anything else really. All you have to do is describe it a bit and I’ll capture it. To be honest I’ve always had a fascination with swamps and the popular cities in Louisiana. For our art project, I’m painting Bourbon Street during Mardi Gras. Oh, here is the sketch.” I pulled out my pad again and flipped it to the picture. I took a deep breath and held it out to him.

  He sat up a bit and took it out of my hand. His eyes darted across the page in appreciation. “Damn, that is very accurate. Seriously, Roxy, you should start selling these.”

  I blushed taking my pad back and putting it in my bag. “I don’t know about that. Like I said I just do it when I’m bored.”

  “Do you ever draw people?” His eyes were shadowed by his arm on his forehead.

  “Sometimes. I have to find something interesting about them first though. Like your brother and his eyes. I’d love to just capture his face when he is mad and his eyes are sparkling with his anger.” I admitted. I clutched my bag a bit tighter when I remembered I had a few of Luke in the back of that sketchpad. Most of those were of his profile during Science class. Though a few were of him in History and English. Now I know I’m going to have to add one of him in my car shirtless.

  He must have noticed the slight movement. His eyebrow shot up in question. “Do you have a few in your bag? You are clutching it awfully tightly.”

  “Yes I do but I am not going to show them to you.” I admitted and pushed my bag behind my back.

  “Aw, chèr, ya know I’m goin’ ta have ta see it now.” He leaned forward and tried to capture my arm.

  “Nope. You are not allowed to see them. So don’t even think about turning on that accent to try to get your way.” I gulped pushing the bag in between the seat and car door.

  “Them? So you have more than one picture of someone. Is it a crush?” He leaned over the console. He was so close I could smell the spearmint gum on his breath.

  I swallowed at his nearness and leaned further back against the door trying to distance myself. “Yes there is more than one picture and no it is not of a crush. I am just embarrassed to show you.”

  His eyes twinkled in amusement. “Fine. I’ll relent for now. But I will get you to show them to me eventually. If you really want to sketch Beau, I’ll ask him when I get home. I know he doesn’t have to work this weekend so he might have time for it tomorrow.”

  I jerked away from the door and leaned close to him in my excitement. “Really? That would be so sweet! Thank you.” I flung my arms around his neck and hugged him. He grunted at the impact of my body hitting his. I felt his heart rate speed up or was that mine? His arms closed around me and returned the hug before he pulled away.

  He shifted slightly in the seat again and cleared his throat. “Here comes Jess.” He pulled out his phone and asked, “What’s your number so I can give you a text when I get his decision.”

  I looked over to where Jess was slowly making her way down the steps. I quickly told him my number. He smiled up at me and got out of the car with the first aid kit in his hand. “Bye, chèr.”

  “Bye, Luke.” I gave him a quick smile back and then removed my bag from behind me. I noticed his shirt was still on the console. When I looked back up to tell him he was already on his bike, helmet on and driving away. I quickly shoved the shirt in my bag and started the car.

  Jess plopped in the seat and gave me a strange look. “Who was that and why is my seat pushed so far back?”

  I took a deep breath as she adjusted the seat back to where she had it and admitted to her. “That was Luke. He and his brothers noticed I was sitting out here and decided to keep me company.”

  “All I saw was the bike. Where was the truck?” She asked putting her seatbelt on.

  “They left a minute or two before you stepped out. Beau had to drop off Charles before going to work. Luke saw you walking out a second ago and left then.” I lied. Again. I so do not need her telling anyone anything.

  “Cool. So are they going to be hanging with us now? If so, I really need to get my hair done and some new clothes. I want to at least appear somewhat presentable
.” She wiggled her eyebrows as we pulled away from the school.

  “I don’t know. We’ll see.” I bit my lip for a second before I said. “I might want to get a few new outfits as well.”

  “AH-HA! I knew it you do have a crush. Which one is it Mr. Babyface Charles or Mr. Stone Cold Serious Beau or the dreamy blue eyed god Luke?”

  “Blue eyed god? Are you hearing yourself?” I laughed shaking my head at her.

  *****

  Luke

  When I got home twenty minutes later, Beau and Charles were waiting for me outside. They both noticed that I had on a different shirt. I walked my bike into the garage and placed my helmet on the workbench. They followed me inside. Charles jumped up and sat on the workbench. Beau leaned against the garage door.

  “So care to explain the shirt?” Beau asked face blank of all expression.

  “She scratched her wrist really bad. I cleaned it off and used my shirt to soak up the water so it didn’t get on her upholstery. I guess I must have left it in her car when Jess came out of the school.” I pulled out the first aid kit and emptied out the trash from the band-aid and alcohol wipe.

  “So how did she hurt herself?” Charles asked in obvious concern.

  My heart faltered in memory of it. I took a deep breath then released it before telling them. “I couldn’t find the lever to adjust the seat back. Before I could get out of the car to find it and move it back. She just climbed over the console and stuck her hand between my feet to move it. Her bracelet got stuck. When she noticed exactly where her head was, she got embarrassed and jerked back scratching her arm in the process.” I replenished the missing supplies and put the first aid kit back in the saddlebag.

  Charles jumped down walked around the bike and whispered something to Beau. Beau silently chuckled shook his head and went inside the house. I narrowed my eyes at Charles. “What?”