“Bath, actually. I think it would feel good to soak.” I sighed. “But the zipper on my dress is stuck…would you mind helping me?”
He grinned. “You want me to undress you?”
“Please.” I said, going back into the bathroom. He was on my heels in a flash, hands sliding around my waist to pull me back against him. “If you get too close you’re going to smell like the ditch.” He’d changed clothes.
“I’ll take my chances. Besides, I could use a shower too.” He kissed my shoulder and shut the doors. “Just in case. I’m not in the mood for company.”
“Me either.” I nodded, tugging on the back of my dress. It was tricky, but he worked it halfway down, and then it stuck again.
“Is this thing trash?” he asked.
“Yeah, it won’t wash, and it’s ripped.” I held up the hem.
“Okay.” He grasped the back and the sound of it ripping echoed off the tiled walls.
“You’re so predictable.” I let it fall to the floor and stripped the rest of my clothes off. With a groan I sank into the tub, my body sang with relief. “Thanks for the help.”
“No problem.” He moved to the shower and turned it on.
“So, tell me when you stopped being mad with me.” I scrubbed every inch I could reach. “A couple hours ago you looked like you wanted to rip my head off and lob it out a window.”
The shower curtain muffled his laughter after he got in. “I heard you and Lana talking.”
Part of me rejoiced, and then another part of me cringed, knowing he knew how I really felt about him. I loved him.
“Why don’t you start the story from the beginning, Chloe,” I heard him rinsing his hair, “and don’t leave anything out.”
At first I wasn’t sure I’d be able to pour out every secret I kept. But once I started, it was easier than I expected. I told him everything. About the crush I had and the game I started during recess. More about spying on him for fun than hero worship. Then I told him how he hurt me when he took my streamers, and that I decided to hate him forever. I finished by telling him the last meeting I attended was to stop the girls. Not just because I was suddenly afraid he’d discover my secret, but because I really liked him. It felt wrong to let them invade his privacy.
He was very quiet. The shower shut off and he wrapped a towel around his hips and sat on the side of the tub.
I was still getting used to parading around naked in front of each other. The first time I saw Zack in the buff, fully, was a few days ago in the dorm room. I covered my eyes and stammered an apology. He just waited until I got the nerve to peek.
When I did finally see him, head to toe, I had to keep from gaping in awe. I’d never seen a guy naked before.
“Chloe, you’re blushing.” A smile spread across his face, making his baby blues glitter.
“Hey, you would too if you were me.” I splashed him with soapsuds. “I’ve never been this close to someone before.”
He shook his head, “I have to give you credit, babe. I’ve been in plenty of games that spiraled out of control, but you must have broken a record.”
“Yep,” I couldn’t look at him, not knowing what I was about to say, “I guess we made a good pair. Too bad we were doomed from the start.”
“Why do you say that?”
I shrugged, ducking under the water to rinse my hair. Then I unplugged the drain. “I used to be afraid that you truly didn’t like me. And now…now I can understand if you really don’t.”
“Look at me Chloe,” He touched my chin, turning my face so I looked him in the eyes. “I want to apologize.”
“For what? I’m the one who started this. Thanks to me, there are about fifty girls sporting buttons that say: Proud member of the unofficial Zack Warren fan club.”
“Fifty, wow. I’m flattered.” He laughed, helping me out of the tub and wrapping a towel around me. It was official. Zack had seen me in my birthday suit. Completely naked. But it felt as natural to me as anything else. “I’m not mad anymore. I’m more amused. In fact, I find it hilarious, and my feelings for you are as far from hate as humanly possible.”
“I hoped we could at least be friends.”
He grabbed a clear pair of boxers and followed me into my room. I threw on a tank top and a pair of black panties. Zack seemed to like the black cotton more than the frilly stuff I favored.
“Let me tell you something, now.” He brushed his fingers over my cheek and tucked a lock of damp hair behind my ear, pulling me onto the bed with him. “I don’t get this close to people, not since my mom died. My dad is great. He’s just not a feelings kind of guy. He loves Molly, but you know he’s not spouting sonnets.”
I slid closer to him, resting my arms my knees. “That’s not a bad thing.”
He shook his head, fighting a grin. “That day I pulled the fire alarm, when I saw you, it was like I was really seeing you for the first time. The look on your face…you were disappointed in me. It made me realize what I was becoming. I wanted to tell you things, but I didn’t know how.”
“Zack…”
He put his hand up. “The last time I told someone I loved them was when my mom dropped me off at school in the sixth grade. The last day I ever saw her. She pulled out of the parking lot, and ten minutes later a car ran a red light. I have not said those words since.” He took a deep breath, “I know that’s probably not a good thing, but Chloe, you make me want to say those words again.”
I tears stung my eyes. He was teary too. “Zack, I’m so sorry.”
“I was scared of feeling. I felt for my mom, she’s gone.” He smiled, rubbing his thumb over my bottom lip. “And all those times I glared at you in the hallway, I was trying not to feel because I didn’t want to loose anyone else. But that’s just crazy.”
“You don’t want to be an emotional ice cube.” I wiped the tears from my eyes. “You did such a good job of making me think I was a thorn in your side. Sometimes, I saw how you felt. It was in your eyes.”
“Yeah, I couldn’t make myself hide it anymore.” He hesitated, his gaze flickering from my eyes to my mouth several times. “So, where do we stand?”
“We are friends.”
“Just friends?”
I beamed up at him, wrapped both hands around one of his arms and pulled him back against the pillows with me.
“Are we talking about a relationship, Warren?”
“Yeah. What do you say, Baker? You want to give this thing between us a shot?”
I wound my arms around his neck. “Yes, but on two conditions. One, we don’t tell our parents.”
“Done.” He kissed me.
“Two,” I said, looking at him seriously. “I like my virginity.”
“Really?”
“Yes, but you are welcome to take it when I’m ready.”
He pulled my arm down to inspect my palm, managed to dig out the splinter. “I like the sound of that. You can have mine when you’re ready too.”
“You’re a virgin!”
“Yeah, amazing, huh?” he said. “I came close to loosing it a few times, but I just couldn’t.”
“What about me? Could you have sex with me?”
“Happily. I love you, Chloe.”
“Good. But I have news for you. You’re going to stay a virgin for a while.”
“Till when?” He teased.
“Hmm, I’m not sure.” I flipped off the light and we snuggled under the covers, with Kirk curled at our feet.
Epilogue
Summer break
“We’ll be back later.” I said to mom and dad, following Zack out the front door. As soon as our parents couldn’t see us, he tugged me close and draped his arm around me.
“Much later,” his heated whisper sent a thrill through me.
“So where are we going?”
“It’s a surprise, but first we have to hang with Stella and Carlos.” He winked at me as we got into the truck.
“Uh, can I drive?”
Zack paused outside
the door; the side of his mouth kicked up. “Really?”
“If you don’t mind. I understand you have a thing for this truck so…”
“I have a bigger thing for you.” He climbed up next to me in the passenger side.
I slid behind the steering wheel. My feet didn’t touch the pedals. The steering wheel was too high up. It took a couple minutes of adjusting until I was able to back out of the driveway. “Holy shit.”
Zack buckled himself into the middle seat and put his arm around me. “You’re doing fine. Just don’t take out any mail boxes.”
I gripped the steering wheel with both hands tightly. “I tap the gas and it lurches forward. What kind of truck is this again?”
“The kind with a hemi. It produces enough horsepower to give any gearhead a hard-on.”
“Men can’t get erections from cars. Unless they have some weird fetish.” I frowned, taking my eyes off the road for just a second to glance at him. “Is there something you want to tell me?”
“Babe, I do not get erections from cars.” He chuckled. “If you were washing the car in a bikini, that would be another story.”
I accelerated once we were on the highway. “So that’s what you dream about? Me washing your car half naked?”
“All naked.”
“Dirty, dirty mind.”
“Hey, I see you checking me out, miss innocent. You like to stare at my ass when you think I’m not looking.”
I went red. “Oh, look we’re almost at Carlos’ house!”
“Chicken.”
“I flaunt my feathers with pride.” I kissed him at the stop sign.
When I parked in the driveway, Zack nodded in approval. “You did good, Baker.”
“I drove, like, thirty miles per hour the whole way.”
“Yep, baby steps. That way you stay safe, and the truck stays in one piece.”
I smiled, “I should be irritated you said that, but I’m not.”
Carlos’s house was ready for a movie night. Everyone was there, including Regina. She saw Zack and I together, and it wasn’t awkward…much.
Regina, clearly a sore looser, snuggled up with her date, some bland blond guy. Max wasn’t allowed to hang out with us anymore. He’d spent a couple nights in jail and got community service and counseling. Stella threatened bodily harm if he came around again. But she wasn’t very scary, so she said Carlos would do the dirty work.
“Popcorn!” Stella shouted from the kitchen, and we all settled in to watch a cheesy horror flick.
It was turning out to be one of my best summers, and at the end of the movie, it seemed like Stella and Carlos wanted some time alone. Zack and I said goodbye and went back to the truck.
Zack drove since the destination was a surprise. He parked in a field overlooking a winding canal and helped me out of the cab. With a grin, he opened the back of the truck to reveal an air mattress, twizzlers, some flashlights, a mean looking baseball bat…and a pink bike complete with a basket and plastic flowers hidden under a sheet.
“Where did you get this, Zack?” he helped me up into the bed of the truck and I sat on the air mattress, running my fingers over the shiny new spokes.
“Oh, I happen to have connections.”
“Really?”
“Coach’s son owns a bike shop on the beach.” He came up and sat beside me. “And with the bonus I got for signing with the Rays…lets just say I could buy you a bike every day for the rest of your life.”
“You shouldn’t have, Zack.”
“But I wanted to.”
“Thank you.”
He flicked on one of the flashlights and set it next to another, then another, and another until the back of the truck was glowing.
I smirked, “I’d say you’re pretty cocky to bring out the mattress.”
He laughed, “It doesn’t matter. Sleeping in the same bed and showering together makes this look tame.”
“Then I can do this without seeming easy…” I kissed him. “I get to plan the next surprise.”
As long as it has nothing to do with fan clubs.”
I shoved his arm and he tackled me back onto the mattress. “Actually, I was thinking we could take our first vacation together.”
“Yeah, where do you want to go?”
“I don’t care, as long as it doesn’t have a swamp. In two months it will be our six month anniversary. We should go then. Get a nice room, with a big bed…” I wrapped my legs around his waist, loving the feel of him pressed against me.
“And what will we be doing in this bed, Chloe?”
I smiled and whispered in his ear. “Anything you want.”
“Really, anything?”
“As many times as you want.”
“I think that’s a great idea.” Trailing Kisses trailing down my throat, he pushed up on his elbows abruptly. His baby blue eyes were so serious it wiped the smile off my face. “I’ve never used this air mattress for anything, except camping.”
I ran my fingers over the scar on his cheek. He told me last night he got it playing beach volleyball a couple years ago. Dove for ball and slammed headfirst into the pole holding up the net. “Good.”
His lips slanted over mine, so sweetly. “I love you, Chloe Baker.”
“And I love you, Zack Warren.”
“We’re going to have to tell Molly and dad sooner or later.”
“I vote for later.” I said. “Dad is getting used to having a daughter. He might keel over if he finds out she’s dating her stepbrother. Wait, why did you bring a baseball bat?”
He pulled a marker out of his pocket and signed the bat. “The fans like it when you sign stuff, and I know I’ll be signing eventually. This was the bat I used in high school. I want you to have it and my fist signature.”
“Zack!” I cried, hugging him and the bat. “You jerk! You are spoiling me. I have nothing to give to you.”
“That’s my intention. And Chloe, you don’t have to give me presents. You’re best gift I could ask for.”
I wiped my eyes. “God, you’re making me cry.”
It was crazy we ended up here of all places…lying on the air mattress in the back of his truck, staring at the stars. But it was fitting too. I was the only girl who’d ever been in his truck bed and proud of it. I knew the truth about my boyfriend. He was some sort of jock-marital arts master- hybrid, and I loved him more than I could comprehend.
“I got you one last present.” He reached over my head and pulled something out of a backpack. I lifted up a flashlight to see what he laid it in my palm and grinned.
It was a blue button.
Proud Member Of
The Unofficial Chloe Baker Fan Club
Thank you for reading the Unofficial Zack warren Fan Club by Janine Field. Look for her next young adult romance, Chasing McCree, spring 2012.
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