Perfecting Patience

by Tabatha Vargo

  “Oh shit. Fuck yes, baby,” he called out with a growl.

  Warm heat filled me as I settled down hard one final time.

  Collapsing against his chest, I buried my face in his neck. His hard pulse hammered against my cheek. The sounds of our loud breathing filled the car and the windows were so fogged up, I could no longer see out of them.

  Kissing the top of my head, he ran his palms up and down my back.

  “Holy shit, I don’t know if I can drive home after that.” He chuckled.

  “That’s fine. I can sleep here,” I said against his neck.

  “Sounds good to me,” he said with a heavy breath. “Of course, food does sound nice.” I could hear the smile in his voice.

  “Food,” I said roughly.

  He patted my ass and helped pull down my skirt. Then I worked myself back over the center console and into the passenger’s seat. I adjusted my skirt and pushed my sweaty hair from my face.

  Zeke reached down and zipped up his pants and buckled his belt. Looking over at me, he laughed at little to himself.

  “What’s so funny?” I asked as I buckled my seatbelt.

  He chuckled again and shook his head.

  “Nothing. I was just thanking God I have leather seats.”

  Eight

  Zeke

  What’s hotter than a jealous Patience? A seductive Patience.

  I had no idea she had it in her, but when she stood and pulled her skirt up to straddle that speaker, I almost blew my load right there in my jeans.

  Fingering those strings and watching her ride that speaker like it was a vibrating cock was the highlight of my life. No porn would ever compare. Snowflake was by far the sexiest creature to ever walk the earth.

  She held my hand and smiled sleepily over at me as I drove to the closest fast food anything and then took her back to my place.

  The guys were already there. Two girls I’d never seen before were sitting on the kitchen counter, tossing cheese balls at Chet as he tried to catch them in his mouth. Both girls smiled seductively at me when I walked in, and I felt Snowflake’s hand tighten in mine.

  I nodded at everyone and pulled her through the kitchen and straight to my room.

  “Ah, look! The sweet couple is going to hide in their room. I never thought I’d see the day when ol’ Zeke was tamed,” Chet yelled across the kitchen with a laugh.

  I didn’t even respond. Instead, I flipped him off as I pulled Patience through the sleek condo. It was unlike anything I’d ever lived in before. When the record company had promised us a place, I wasn’t expecting anything so rich.

  Once in my room, I set our bags of food on my dresser and turned to face Patience. She stood there with a lost look on her face while she wrung her hands and took in the room.

  “You okay?” I asked.

  I didn’t like to see her so vulnerable. She’d grown from the girl she used to be, and I wanted her to stay in control and better.

  “Yeah. I’d just really like a shower. Can you help me bring in my bags?”

  I went up to her and put my arms around her middle. She fit perfectly as usual. Kissing the top of her head, I ran my hands down her chilly arms.

  “You sit and eat. I’ll go get everything.” I turned to leave the room.

  “But I can help,” she called out.

  “Sit. Eat.” I shut the door behind me.

  When I got back in my room, I dropped all her luggage in front of my closet. The food hadn’t been touched and Patience was nowhere to be found. I heard the shower water turn on in my bathroom and thought I’d crack the door open and get a little show.

  I crept up to the bathroom door and grabbed the knob. It wasn’t locked, so I turned it and pushed the door open a little. I looked around the bathroom and through the glass shower, but she was nowhere to be seen. Then my eyes skimmed the floor and that’s when I found her.

  She was huddled up beside the bathroom counter with her knees pulled up to her chin. She was without a drop of color; even her trembling lips were white. Her eyes were closed and her entire body shook violently.

  I pushed the door open and dropped to my knees in front of her.

  “Snowflake?” I plunged my hands into her hair and brought her face up to mine. “Baby, are you okay?”

  I was starting to freak out. She looked similar to how I’d found her the very first time I ever saw her sweet face. Except this time, she looked even closer to death.

  Sweat poured down her face and when she open her eyes to look at me, tears drained from them and slid down her pale face. I jumped up and ran to my cell phone on the dresser. When I got back to the bathroom, I dropped down to my knees again and started to dial 9-1-1.

  I was about to press send when she placed a shaky hand over mind.

  “Don’t,” she said softly.

  I held my phone there, ready to call.

  “Let me call the ambulance. You need to go to the hospital, baby.”

  Fear. I’d known this fear with her before. The thought of something happening to her made me crazy. It made me lash out at anyone and anything close to me.

  Her grip tightened on my hand and she attempted to smile at me. The side of her pasty lips lifted into a weak smirk.

  “I’m f-fine. I p-promise,” she stuttered.

  When she fell into my lap and wrapped her arms around me, I didn’t stop her. I laid my phone on the bathroom counter and held her in my arms as the bathroom fogged up from the hot shower.

  Ten minutes later, she looked up at me with sad eyes.

  “I’m so sorry,” she said.

  “Don’t apologize. Just tell me what happened,” I said as I used my thumb to wipe away an errant tear from her cheek.

  “I really don’t want to talk about it.”

  I let her go when she started to get up. I followed her from the floor and stood in front of her.

  “You can tell me. If something’s wrong with you, just tell me. It’s my job to take care of you, snowflake. I want to take care of you. “

  And I would. For the rest of my life I’d make sure she was protected. I couldn’t stand seeing her like this and I’d do whatever it took to make sure she never felt sick or sad again.

  She shook her head and took an aggravated breath. “It’s nothing, Zeke, and it’s not your job to take care of me. It’s my job to take care of me. Just drop it, please.”

  She stepped around me to pull a towel down from the shelf, and then she started to pull off her clothes.

  “Please shut the door behind you,” she said bluntly.

  I wasn’t sure what had just happened, but the girl in front of me was not the girl I’d just had carefree sex with in my car. This wasn’t the girl who spread her legs for a speaker just an hour ago and seduced me with her soft moans and cries. This was a sick and stressed girl. One that I thought no longer existed.

  I said nothing as I turned and walked out of the bathroom. I closed the door behind me and stood there in shock. Her words had hurt my feelings and I didn’t fucking like it one bit. Feelings were new to me in general. The happy ones I could handle, no questions asked, but when Snowflake cut me, it hurt worse than having my ass beat every day by my dad.

  I didn’t bother eating. Instead, I left the bedroom and went into the main room with the boys. They were passing around a blunt and the smoke around the room was thick. I fell into the chair next to Finn and, without asking any questions, he passed it to me.

  I’d slowed down on smoking since finding Patience again. She was good for me in more ways than one. I didn’t need to feel numb and buzzed all the time when I had her on my side. That wasn’t the case in that moment. I needed to relax and I needed to block out the hurt I felt in the pit of my stomach by being pushed away from her.

  I hit the tip hard and sucked the smoke into my lungs. Leaning back in the chair, I let the burn work its way down my throat and into my chest before I exhaled. I hit it once more and passed it to one of the strange girls who was probably going to be o
ne of the boys’ playthings for the night.

  I looked over at Chet who was stuffing his face with peanut butter-dipped sour cream and onion chips. Eating fucked-up foods was Chet’s thing when he was high. He tossed a chip in his mouth and then licked the peanut butter from his fingers.

  “What?” he asked when he noticed me staring.

  “That’s fucking nasty, bro. That’s what.”

  “Have you ever tried it?” He tilted the bag of chips and jar of peanut butter toward me.

  “Hell no.”

  “It’s like ugly girls, man. Don’t knock it ‘til you try it. The ugly girls try harder.” He laughed.

  One of the girls sucked her teeth at him and threw a couch pillow at his face.

  “That’s not very nice.” She chuckled. “Are you trying to say an ugly girl would be better in bed than me?” She ran her hands down her body to make a statement.

  “Who’s to say you’re not one of the ugly girls I’m referring to?” He lifted a brow and stuck another chip in his mouth.

  The rest of the room laughed, including her friend, but she was pissed.

  I’d had enough of the whole scene, and I wanted to check on Patience. I went back to my room, but the lights were off and she was cuddled up in my bed, sleeping. Instead of waking her and trying to get her to talk, I stuffed a burger down my throat, jumped in the shower, and went to bed. We slept on opposite sides like an old married couple. It sucked.

  The next morning, after a shitty night of sleep, I was up before her. She’d rolled over toward me during the night and had her arm and leg thrown across me. I ran my fingers through her hair and lay there until the sun was full in the sky.

  Her breathing changed when she woke up, and I waited for her to pull herself away from me. I didn’t want to let her go. Instead, she looked up at me and smiled.

  “Good morning,” she said in a sleepy voice as she leaned down and softly kissed me.

  I kissed her back and captured her face in my hands. I wasn’t sure what the hell happened the night before, but I no longer cared. As long as she was okay, I was okay. Everyone was allowed to have a moment, especially Patience, considering what she’d been through. I assumed I’d walked in on her having a moment and she was embarrassed.

  She looked sick more than anything the night before, but everyone gets upset differently.

  “So can we sight see today?”

  She got up on her knees and straddled me. She looked beautiful in the morning sun with a sleepy smile and her hair falling around her face. Being with her would never get old. I’d never want another woman for the rest of my life.

  I hadn’t realized it when I got in bed the night before, but I could see now that she was wearing my T-shirt and a pair of my boxers. She never needed to wear her clothes again if she didn’t want to. She looked amazing in my clothes and something about it felt personal. I liked it.

  “I’ll show you some sights,” I said as I leaned up and kissed her again.

  She laughed against my lips and pushed me back.

  “No. No keeping me trapped in this room. As much as I adore the feel of you between my legs, I’ve never been to California and there’s so much I want to see. I’ll only be here two more days.”

  “I’m sorry. All I heard was you liked the way I feel between your legs,” I said as I flipped her over onto her back and climbed on top of her.

  I loved it when she laughed. Real laughter, not the fake shit she used to do when I first met her. It made me feel good to be able to make her face light up.

  I kissed her harder and she whined against my mouth, making my cock swell and throb. I broke the kiss and looked down at her again. She wrapped her arms around my neck and played with the hair on the back on my neck.

  “Please, Zeke, show me California,” she begged sweetly.

  “I’ll show you the world if that’s what you want.”

  Anything she wanted.

  * * *

  After seeing the Hollywood sign and walking the entire Hollywood Walk of Fame, we ate lunch at a cute sidewalk café, and then I took her to the coast so she could dip her toes in the Pacific. She looked like a beach goddess running into the water just deep enough to cover her ankles. Her sandy hair blew in the breeze and every now and again she’d look over at me and smile.

  She wrote our names in the sand and took a picture of it with her phone, and then I carried her piggyback style back to my car.

  “Today was perfect,” she said as I opened her car door for her.

  “You’re perfect.” I kissed the tip of her nose and waited until she was seated to close the door.

  I didn’t know who I was anymore, but whoever this new person was, I liked him, and Patience seemed to like him, too. I was the happiest I’d ever been, and I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was about to swoop in and destroy it all.

  When we got back to my place, we walked in on Chet and one of the new girls going at it on the couch.

  “Damn, man, you’re just now tappin’ that?” I asked as I threw open the refrigerator door for a drink. “She’s been here since last night. The one you fucked two days ago dropped panties for you in the first hour. You’re getting rusty.”

  I winked over at Patience when the girl got pissed and climbed off of the couch. She pulled her dress down, grabbed her stuff, and slammed the door behind her.

  “What the hell, man? When did you become a cock blocker?" he yelled as he buttoned up his jeans.

  “I'm not a cock blocker. I'm a ball buster. Do that shit in your bedroom when Snowflake’s here or I’ll display my ball-busting skills.” I threw his shirt at him and he caught it in the air.

  He mumbled something that I’m sure was rude as fuck as I grabbed Patience’s hand and took her to my room.

  We decided to do the club scene for the night, and I got the pleasure of watching her slip into a sexy little summer dress and sandals. She didn’t need to show a bunch of skin to be sexy; she just was.

  After showering together and then getting dressed, we met the boys out in the main room and left together. I took my own car just in case the boys decided they wanted to pull an all-nighter and Snowflake and me wanted to go home for fun.

  The night was good. Getting drinks wasn’t an issue for me, and I made sure Patience got whatever she wanted from the bar. An hour into the night, she was buzzed and dancing freely on the dance floor as I watched from the bar.

  Every now and again, a girl would come up to me and flirt, but I let them know real quick that I was taken. I noticed a few guys checking out my snowflake, but as long as they were just looking and not touching, I was fine with that. She was mine. Let the fuckers envy me.

  She made summer look like seductive innocence. She didn’t know what she was doing, but with that cute summer dress sticking to her sweaty skin and her sandy hair bouncing all around her face, the men were bound to look.

  I slow danced with her a few times and watched from afar as she and Finn danced together a few times. I’d had a good bit to drink and was seriously considering slowing down so I could drive home safely. If by some chance I didn’t sober up fast enough, I could just grab a cab to the house, no biggie.

  I turned to put my final empty bottle on the bar and when I turned back, my eyes collided with some strange guy who was slowly dancing his way up behind Patience. The liquor in my system sparked a fire in me that spread throughout my entire body, and once he wrapped an arm around her and pulled her roughly against him, I was off of my barstool and making my way across the dance floor.

  Patience clawed at his arm the way she’d done mine so many months ago, and the fear in her eyes was my undoing. I pulled his arm away from her and spun him around to face me.

  “If you touch her again, I’ll kill you,” I said with so much force I shocked myself.

  “Listen up, asshole. This has nothing to do with you.” He pushed me square in the chest and my pulse jumped.

  He’d pushed my go button and I was down for kicking so
me major ass. I lifted my fist to put it straight through that fucker’s ugly face, but Patience grabbed my arm and stopped me

  “Stop it, Zeke. You’re drunk. Please, let’s just go home so you can sleep this off.” She dug her fingernails into my skin.

  I was turned on and pissed off at the same time, but hearing her say the word home soothed me some. I looked down at her tiny hand against my inked-up skin and then I looked at her face. She was afraid. I wasn’t sure if she was afraid for me or for the guy I was about to fight, but I didn’t like seeing her scared.

  I nodded down at her and started to back off. My fist ached to feel his cheek, and I wanted to take that ache away, but then I felt Patience softly kiss the top of my hand and I knew I had much better things I could be doing besides fucking around with a douchebag like him.

  I turned my attention to her and her blue eyes sparkled.

  “Let’s go,” I said as I ran my hand down her back and cupped her ass.

  “That’s right, you little punk ass. Listen to your bitch and go home.”

  My control snapped and I went straight in for the kill. I grabbed him by his collar and tried to put my fist through his face. His blood spattered everywhere, including Patience’s pretty yellow dress, when my fist hit him.

  It felt amazing to hit something. I hadn’t done it in so long. I wasn’t as angry as I used to be, but old demons are hard to kill. Hitting him was like a trigger. Instantly, I was transported back to a time when fighting was my only release, and I could feel the beast inside me ripping through.

  He was a ballsy one and instead of backing off like he should have, he came back at me. I smiled inside as I let him get in a hit. Patience screamed beside me and I felt her hand grab my arm, but Finn was there pulling her away. Knowing he would keep her out of harm’s way, I didn’t stop. I hit him over and over again until he was down on the floor.

  Once or twice, someone tried to pull me off him, but after letting myself loose, it was hard as hell to reel it back in. When he stopped fighting and I could no longer see his face, I backed off and got back to my feet. All the alcohol I’d drunk swirled around my brain and kept me off balance.