by Hammond, T.
Bas was quiet. He still held me close to his body, which like him not slamming the car door earlier, was unexpected. Experience suggested he would push me away and storm off. Maybe there had been a few changes in him over the years.
“I propose a compromise,” he broke the uneasy silence. “A truce, if you will. I don't think I'm the only one with illusions in my head. I think you may be carrying a few preconceived ideas of your own. You're right. We both have changed. I'm not the stupid kid I was back then. You don't know me anymore than I know you. I find you attractive, and God knows if you said yes I'd have you on your back so fast you'd be dizzy. But, I understand we need to know each other better if there is any hope of our relationship lasting past our first week in bed.”
First week in bed? Like one continuous feet-never-touch-the-floor-for-seven-days type of thing? Geez, I'd spend the following week in bed waiting for my legs to work again. Boy, wouldn't Ken razz me about that!
“Let's date,” he suggested. “Real dates for dinner, movies, whatever. No sex, unless you beg me, of course. Let's get to know each other. Even if you still decide a sexual relationship is not what you want, some time together may help us learn to be more at ease with each other.”
“You seem to be deliberately overlooking the comment about not being interested in a man—any man—with a penis the size of my forearm.”
Bas was laughing again. He tilted my face up for a playful kiss. “And you seem to discount the fact I have some experience with this. I believe, once you recognize I'm not a club-wielding Neanderthal, pun intended,” he added for my benefit, “you might relax enough to realize women smaller than you have been in my bed and not only survived, but came back for more.” I received another playful kiss and a nibble of my lower lip. “Let me take you out to dinner tonight.”
“I think it would be nice to spend some time together, but I can't tonight, Bas. I am having dinner with David.”
There are times when I need Red to explain the nuances of body language, and there are times when body language is obvious. Even to a blind woman. Resting in Bastian's arms, his response to learning I have a date with another man ranks really high up in the “obvious” column.
“Someone is moving pretty fast,” he growled. Was he talking about me, or David? Deciding silence was the better choice, I waited passively for his next comment. He didn't exactly push me away, but there was definitely a little more room between us than there had been a few seconds prior. “You only met him this morning and you already have a date?”
“I like David. He's your friend, so surely you must think he has good qualities too; don't try to convince me he's a douche. Didn't you and I agree dating was a way to get to know someone better to see if there is potential for more? We had a nice time at breakfast and when we dropped him off at the hotel he... ahh, asked me to have dinner with him.” My brain hiccupped on the thought of that world-class kiss he laid on me at the curb.
“You're planning to sleep with him.” Bas asserted. Since I was still partially in the circle of his arms, I moved forward with him as he reached for something on the coffee table. “That's why you got the lube? Hoping to get lucky?” At the insult, I stiffened in his arms, although I was tempted pull away and call him a bastard.
Oh snap! I simply wasn't trying hard enough over the last twelve years if I hadn't thought of Bas-turd. Damn! Now, since we are probably going to be nice to each other, I won't be able to use it. Then again, this is Bastian. I'll have to assume he'll give me an opportunity.
“Not that it is any of your damn business, but Bas, did you see a box of condoms on the counter? No, you didn't. All you see is a box of Astro-Glide, and surely a man with your breadth of experience knows I don't need to be with a man to use it.” Oh crap, tell me I didn't say that out loud? I groaned and did a head tilt which took full advantage of my new haircut. “I have no idea if it was worse to say what I just did, or if I should have remained quiet and let you be mad.”
“Oh woman, you have successfully diverted my attention and derailed my train of thought.” I could hear his smile; he pulled me back closer against his chest… and other parts. “I am already building a whole list of images to add to my 'stuff I want to do with a naked Teresa' list.” He nuzzled my hair. “It is a long list. I don't think I'll be fully satisfied until we've tried everything at least twice. We could be naked for years if you keep making comments like that.”
“Or we could never be naked together at all, Bas. This whole idea of us hanging out with each other is to see if there is potential for a closer relationship. The fact is, you and I are starting out as acquaintances, not friends. We have a lot of shared memories, but those memories are from different perspectives, and as we have discussed, not entirely similar.
“You make comments about your long list, but I'm still at the point of creating list headings and drawing columns. I am not fully immune to the sex appeal and charm of you, Bastian, but I am not ready to fall into bed and see where it goes. For all my life you have been Janey's over-sexed brother. Not a potential lover.” My exasperation was growing, “How can we possibly date when we have such wildly different expectations of where this will go? You already have us in bed. I am trying to move to a place where I don't feel as though I need to hide from you.”
Bas set me to the side and stood up. “Yeah, Teresa, I'm on a way different page. It kills me your last mental picture is of me having sex with another woman. It’s even worse to know, if I'd kept my dick in my pants for ten minutes longer, I would have been standing in the kitchen with a glass of milk in my hand and looked up to see a muss-haired, sleepy-eyed girl in the doorway. That could have been the moment when you saw me as more than merely Bastian, Janey's horndog brother.
“I'm pissed you're having dinner with David,” he told me frankly. “In one day, he lands a date. I've tried for twelve fucking years just to get you to stand still and look at me.”
Bastian started walking around the living room, and beyond; it wasn't until I heard the tap of a glass bowl on the counter I realized he was putting away the items he'd used in our guessing game. He returned to the couch and grabbed both of my wrists. With a seemingly effortless tug, he pulled me to my feet, bringing me to where I was almost touching the front of his body. For all the impatience I could feel, in the stiffness of his posture, Bas' hands were gentle as he finger combed my hair.
“I put everything away, and there's a fresh mug of coffee on the table in front of you. I'm sure Red can point you to it.” There was a smile in his voice when he added, “The bottle of lube is on the nightstand by your bed. I threw away the box for you.”
His hands bracketed my jaw. “I would like to spend the afternoon with you tomorrow. Maybe you, Red, and I can take a picnic to Riverfront; listen to the water and talk for a while. I'd like to know what you've been up to for the last decade. I want to talk about what I've been doing, and give you a chance to decide if there is something between us to build on.”
I nodded, “I'd like a chance to know you better, but no expectations beyond an open mind and my promise not to avoid you. I'll ask Ken to put a lunch together for us when he comes in today.”
The clock on the mantle started to announce the noon hour in deep thrums. Was it only twelve o'clock?
Bas' lips were tender as he gave me a quick, but hungry, kiss. He pulled away and looked into my face for a moment before he stroked a thumb over my right eye. I felt him lean toward me, then five soft kisses landed along the scar, from brow to cheek.
His hands on my shoulders pressed me back onto the couch, and he playfully waved my coffee mug enticingly below my nose until my hands came up, reflexively, to grab it. “I'll pick you up at one o'clock tomorrow,” he stated.
Somewhere between three sharp raps on the front door and the solid “thump” of that same door closing behind him, I fell a little bit in love with Sebastian Declan. Who woulda thunk it?
Chapter Fourteen
“Hey Baby, wanna fool around?” Red
asked, dropping a tennis ball in my lap. With those five words, my dog returned the smile to my face. He was quoting Ken from the other day. We really did need to start paying more attention to what we said around him.
“Would you like to go to the park instead? Shadle Park is close to Janey's house. We can take a bus there, and you can watch the kids on the playground.”
It had only taken five minutes into our walk at Riverfront Park for me to discover children fascinated Red, and vice versa. While some kids were intimidated by the large, black German shepherd puppy, the majority of them were crawling over him within minutes. Red told me kids smelled interesting, and he liked their high little voices and grubby hands. Red enjoyed the opportunity to be a non-working dog, playing chase and barking to make the children laugh.
It only took a few minutes to get ready, and Ken walked in while I was grabbing a light jacket off the pegs by the door. I asked him if he could put together something for Bas, Red and me to take to Riverfront the next day. Also, I mentioned I was going to dinner with David (which I'm sure Janey had already told him—probably in vivid detail) and I asked if he could pick an outfit for me. He suggested black slacks and a red silk blouse, which I thought would be fine; he'd put out all the stuff to go with it. It was strange to know he'd be pawing through my bras and panties. Oh well, it’s not like he hadn't been dressing me for the last few months anyway, right?
I gave myself a mental high-five for having remembered to put the lube in the proper drawer; one less thing to get razzed about. Although, upon reflection, Janey'd probably told him about that too. Sigh.
Ken thought it would take a couple of hours to get the laundry done, so he would probably still be here when we got back from our outing. Ha! Better him than me. I always hated washing and folding clothes.
Ken handed me a backpack with a thin blanket, my fold-up cane, a couple bottles of water, and a portable dish. I hadn't known Ken anticipated I would need something like this when I was on impromptu outings. Expanding a great idea, I suggested we add a bag of dog treats and some waste bags. Yes, Red was smart, but he was still a puppy and I would not be a good owner if I weren't prepared for his needs.
The walk to the park took less than ten minutes from where the bus dropped us off by Shadle High School. Since he was in his harness, Red was working, but we brought a long retractable leash so he could do some exploring once we arrived at the playground.
It was summertime, and I was happy there were children enjoying the swings and various climbing apparatuses so my dog could have kids to play with. Red gave me a heads up there was another leashed dog near the street. But, it was traveling along the edge of the grass, away from us.
When Red had gotten us to the first of the park pathways, I clipped on his leash and pulled out my cane. This let him wander with a little freedom. He let me know which way to go since I couldn't rely on the direction of his lead, which at the moment, led straight to a bush Red felt a need to mark as his. Possessive much?
Red chose a spot in an open area of grass and I spread out the blanket. My kid magnet was soon covered in squirming little bodies as the children migrated from the play area to the “cute puppy” who barked and lunged playfully to entertain them. I had to assure a few moms, and even a dad, that yes, the dog was nice and it was okay for their child to pet him. I appreciated the parents asking.
One little girl squealed in delight when Red singled her out and covered her in “doggy kisses,” which really meant he was enjoying the flavor of the lunch meat which covered her sticky little fingers. Eww, sometimes dogs were gross. He picked out a couple of other children to lavish extra attention on, based on an interesting taste or smell. At one point, I counted up to five different kids playing with him, but it could have been more.
Red kept me amused with a running commentary of his observations. His sense of smell could pinpoint which kids were healthy, and which ones were scared or excited. After some careful deductive questioning, I also learned he could tell which mothers were on their periods, had sex that day, or were pregnant. It was like talking to a teenager without a physical or verbal filter. Whatever he was thinking spilled over to me, and I started to understand a little more about how a dog’s thought processes worked.
Red kept a watch for other dogs. I was worried if another male came by, it might posture aggressively or attack. Even though Red was completely reliable, I didn't want any kids to get injured if another dog lunged at him.
It was funny to listen to Red scoff about the little “ankle bitters” (who knows where he picked up that term) with their fast-action legs trying to keep up with long-legged owners. As much as Red loved children, he was also excited when other puppies were brought over to “make friends” or socialize. Red was a very gregarious dog, and he enjoyed opportunities to simply be a dog, falling naturally into typical healthy canine behavior.
One little girl brought a kitten to visit Red. He dutifully sniffed and licked it before telling me he liked the kitten. “But why would anyone want a cat?” he asked.
After I told the little girl it would be okay, she put the kitten down on Red's back. He tormented it by swishing his tail so the little kitten could pounce on it.
Red was disappointed I couldn't let him off the leash to run, but I tried to console him with the idea of a dog door for the house so he could go outside whenever he wanted. He was excited over the prospect of going outside at night when it was cooler, and he mumbled something about stalking the cat from next door.
We had been at the park for over an hour when one of the moms started calling out for a child who had probably wandered from her view. Within a couple of minutes, she was frantic, her tone fully migrated from annoyance to concern.
“Red, do you see any children wandering away together? Maybe a child hiding in the bushes, or walking alone?”
“No, all the kids look like they are close by, or with a grown-up,” he told me.
“Do you understand what tracking is? If I let you smell something the child owns, like a toy, could you maybe find a place where the smell is and follow it so we can find the child?”
“I can try. It’s not a game we have played before. There are a lot of scents here, but my nose is pretty good.”
I smiled at his earnestness. “Lead me to the mom who lost her child, and I will ask for something you can smell, okay?”
The mom was now hysterical with worry and screaming her child’s name: Maya. I calmed her as best I could and reminded her we were across the street from a community police station, a Spokane COPS Shop. My first question was if any of the adults had gone across the street to see if a police officer was available to help. Someone volunteered, and said they'd be right back.
“This is my dog, Red. He is still a puppy, but I have been doing a little tracking with him.” I didn't think it was necessary to let her know the full extent of his tracking practice usually consisted of finding a lost shoe under the bed. “If you have a toy, or item of clothing, which belongs to Maya, he might be able pick up her scent and trail her.”
Maya's mother handed me a lightweight fleece her daughter had taken off shortly after arriving at the park. I held the coat low so that Red could smell the fabric.
“This belongs to one of the girls who was playing with me,” Red sounded excited. “The man picked her up and was walking away with her when the mother started to yell.”
This just got a whole lot more complicated.
I gave the jacket back to the mom and told her Red and I would see if we could pick up a trail. I think people started to follow us, so I called over my shoulder, “If everyone can stay back, there is a better chance someone won't walk over Maya's scent.” To Red, I said, “Let's head back to my blanket, look like you're trying to find her scent.”
“I've already found her scent,” he told me. “She came over to the blanket to play, and after a few minutes her dad came over and picked her up.”
“You mean it was a man who picked her up?” I clarified,
remembering what he said when he first sniffed the coat.
“The little girl called him 'Daddy' and she was happy to see him. I would have said something to you if she was scared.” Red told me. “When you asked me to look for a lost child, they were still in the park. I didn't know she was the child we were looking for.”
“Since you knew she was with her dad, you couldn't have known she was the girl we thought was lost. Did you see him get into a car or truck?”
“No, I was looking around for a child without an adult. So I didn't watch.”
“Which direction did he take her?” I asked.
“They were by the path where you put my leash on.” Red replied.
“Well, let's walk in the direction of where you saw the dad pick her up. Are you able to tell the dad's smell?”
“I'm not sure, Teresa. There are a lot of scents here. I can guess which one is the dad, but I can't tell for sure without having something to smell which belongs to him.”