Bears of Burden: WYATT

by Candace Ayers

  They had an early dinner and walked around town a while until it started to get dark. They passed a group of people outside a pool hall and one of them shouted to them, "Hey Mason!" Mason turned and his face grew a shade lighter. He dropped Emma's hand.

  "Hey," Mason said, "Kenny, what's up?" He peered in through the window and saw several more of his friends hanging out inside.

  Kenny's eyes moved to Emma, who blushed. She stood just behind Mason, waiting for him to introduce her.

  "You wanna get in on this game we've got going?" Kenny asked.

  Mason shook his head. "Nah, another time."

  There was an awkward silence where Emma looked at Mason, who looked at Kenny, who looked at Emma. "Well okay, have fun."

  Mason turned and walked down the street, hurrying away from the pool hall. Emma hurried to catch up. "Mason," she said. "What was that?"

  "What?" he asked.

  "Who was that? Why didn't you introduce me? Are you... are you ashamed to be seen with me?"

  Emma's heart felt like it was cracking. Clearly, Mason did not want his friends knowing she even existed.

  "It's not like that," he said.

  "Then what is it?"

  "I just... I hate that guy. He thinks we're friends and I try to be nice to him because his father knows my father, but I can't stand him."

  "Oh," Emma said. She supposed that made sense. Mason had acted somewhat cold and aloof because he just wanted to get away from Kenny, not because of anything she'd done. She wasn't sure she entirely believed him, but she was willing to accept the possibility he was telling the truth.

  "Let's get out of here," Mason said, ushering her into his car. "Before we see anyone else I don't like."

  Chapter 11

  They got back to school and Mason parked in his spot outside his dorm. It was so dark, there was hardly anyone around.

  "So," he asked, grinning at her. "Are you feeling more relaxed?"

  She nodded and turned her head shyly towards him. She didn't know why she should still feel so uncertain about him. Hadn't he just spent almost the whole day with her?

  "You look like you still don't trust me," he said.

  "I trust you."

  "Can't you tell how much I like you?" he asked, pulling her tightly to him and wrapping his arms around her. She felt her body melt the tighter he held her. Her blood pulsed in her veins, making her heart throb. "I missed practice today to be with you," he whispered. "My dad is gonna kill me. So you better trust me."

  "You missed practice?" Emma's mind raced. Oh my God oh my God. He really does like me! Sudden passion overtook her and she flung herself at him. Her lips mashed against his and he laughed as he held her back, catching his breath.

  "If I knew you were gonna act like this, I'd have told you that sooner," he said.

  But Emma didn't want to talk anymore. He had told her to trust him, and she'd made her decision. The time they'd shared in the lab the night before had been special, but Emma had almost been too nervous to enjoy it. Now, despite the racing of her heart, she relished each sensation her body afforded her.

  Mason reached down and pushed the button beside his driver's seat that slid the seat backwards, and Emma was able to climb on top of him. She was glad she'd worn a skirt. His body was warm and she pressed herself against him, drowning herself in the scent of his skin. He massaged her neck with his tongue, gently pulling at her skin with his teeth as she leaned back. The horn honked and Emma jumped, giggling. Mason laughed too.

  "Trying to draw a crowd?" he asked. Then his mouth was on hers again. His kisses were deep and sensuous. She took a long breath and held it as his hands worked their way under her shirt. He lifted it over her head and Emma looked around them to see if anyone was watching. She thought she'd die of embarrassment if anyone caught her and Mason naked in his car. But there was no one there.

  The light next to Mason's car was burnt out; the lot was so dark that Emma doubted whether anyone would be able to see them anyways, even if they were standing no more than a foot from the car. His kisses trailed from her mouth to her neck to her chest, where they stopped at her bra. He slid the straps over her shoulders and pushed it down. Her breasts were so white and creamy that they stood out even against the blackness of the sky.

  Mason's tongue flicked over them, causing her nipples to jump to attention. He tasted her dark pink nubs; they were sweet and creamy and he couldn't resist teasing them with his tongue. Emma's back arched as Mason's tongue slid over her stomach and back up, landing once more on her perfect pink centers.

  She had no idea how to move things to the next level. The car was cramped and when she shifted her legs to get her panties off she fell back onto the horn, sending a loud honk ringing across the night.

  Mason's eyes lit up with laughter. "Need some help?" he asked.

  She looked away, embarrassed. Mason put his hand under her chin and forced her eyes back onto his. He kissed her until she forgot her embarrassment. Then she tried again. Mason helped her slide her panties passed her ankles and then unzipped his pants, pushing them down just enough so that he was exposed to her.

  She hovered over him, stretching her legs as he reclined in the driver's seat. She wasn't sure she was doing this right, but then she felt Mason's manhood between her legs and let herself sink onto him. They both closed their eyes as Emma and Mason let their bodies merge, becoming one.

  "Oh boy," he said, opening his eyes. He looked at her with such tenderness that Emma wondered how she could ever have doubted him. She lifted her hips off his body, then dropped them down again. The resulting friction was slow and deep and filled them each with an increased passion they had not anticipated.

  Emma moved faster now, pushing her hips against him over and over. Mason met her with his own hips, lifting them off his seat and driving them harder against her. Their bodies smacked together, creating a kind of music only they could hear. Emma allowed herself to feel everything her body had been too shy to feel the first time they'd been together. Emma's toes curled, her heat raced, her breath dipped in and out of her lungs like someone testing out the deep end of the pool.

  Mason's own heart thumped hard in his chest. He had been with lots of girls, but he had never experienced anything like what he shared with Emma. He wished his father could know what a good person she was, what a good influence she was, then she bounced her body harder against him and all thoughts of his father fled his mind.

  Mason moved his hips, trying to meet hers, but his position was somewhat cramped, confined as he was by the seat and the arm rests. But Emma didn't need any help from him. Her natural rhythm took over, and she rocked on top of him as Mason's legs began to tremble. Every time her soft mound pressed into him his body quivered more violently and his heart rate increased.

  "I'm not sure how much longer I can wait," he said.

  "Shh," she whispered. "Just another minute." She rocked back and forth, moving her hips in a circle before thrusting her weight forward once more. Her eyes grew bright and her skin began to glow. Mason reached out with one hand and caressed her cheek. She felt his erection grow and moved her hips faster, Mason meeting her beat for beat.

  Finally, her head fell back and her arms dropped to her sides as her body began to shake. Mason let himself go and Emma felt him explode inside her, their bodies feeding off of each other's energy as the sky wrapped around them, binding them together in its darkness.

  After they had caught their breath, Mason walked Emma to her dorm. She leaned in to kiss him goodnight, but he pulled back at the last minute.

  "I don't want to give Zoey any more ammunition," he said. She nodded, pretending to understand, but she went to her room more confused than ever.

  Chapter 12

  It had been two days since Emma had last seen Mason. He had missed biology and when she texted him he hadn't responded. She didn't want him falling behind with his work. She knew he didn't take his classes seriously, but she had hopes that maybe she could change that. She ch
ecked her phone all throughout chemistry, hoping Mason would finally respond, but he never did.

  During class Emma kept thinking that people were watching her. She'd turn to look and see someone quickly look away. You're just being paranoid, she told herself. But then she'd feel another pair of eyes on her and the same thing would happen. She began to wonder if she had a sign stuck to her back and tried to nonchalantly reach behind her and feel her shirt. She didn't feel anything though, except her clothes.

  Maybe there's something on my face.

  She reached up and began wiping around her mouth and cheeks with a Kleenex, trying to remove the offending matter. Nothing seemed to come off, and she decided to just let it go. She was probably just imagining things.

  Emma left class with her mind lost in her thoughts. What was Mason doing? Was he ignoring her on purpose? What if he was sick? That last thought struck her as the most reasonable. After all, he'd missed practice to spend time with her, so why would he suddenly ignore her now?

  She was so deep in her thoughts that she didn't even notice Zoey come up behind her. "Hi Mouse," she said.

  Emma turned, her face flushing. "Leave me alone Zoey."

  "Sure. I just thought I'd let you know that if you blow things for Mason, the whole school is gonna hate you."

  "What are you talking about?" Emma felt her blood starting to burn. Why couldn't Zoey just leave her alone?

  "Well it's all over the school how you're stalking him," Zoey said.

  "What?" she asked, her eyes bugging out of her head. "That's not true."

  "Oh really?" Zoey asked, acting innocent. "I heard that's why he missed practice the other day. Well gee, I don't know why anyone would think that if it wasn't true."

  Emma wanted to punch her pouty little mouth in. "You're just making that up because you're jealous of me and Mason," she said. "If you start spreading rumors about me I'll go to the Dean."

  Emma saw Zoey's eyes darken. "Listen Mouse, it's not me who's spreading anything. You think Mason likes you? Think again. I'm doing you a favor right now. You can't trust him. You're not his type. Leave him alone before you get hurt."

  Zoey stormed off in the opposite direction then, leaving Emma feeling like she'd just been threatened. Instead of going back to her dorm, as she'd planned, she veered and headed to Mason's frat house. She'd never been inside one before. When she rang the bell a buff looking guy answered in his boxers, holding a beer.

  "Wassup?" he asked her.

  "Uh, is Mason here?" she asked, forcing her feet not to turn and run the other way. Frat houses were not her thing.

  "Sure," he said, opening the door for her. Emma breathed a sigh of relief and stepped into an entryway littered with pictures of naked girls and beer cans. "He's up in is room," the guy in his boxers said.

  "Thanks." Emma started up the stairs but stopped when the boxers guy called after her.

  "Hey, wait a second. Are you her?"

  "Excuse me?"

  "The stalker."

  Emma's face burned. "No," she snapped, "I am not the stalker." She turned around to finish her ascent. She heard the guy mumble something about being "so touchy," but she decided to ignore him. Upstairs, she was faced with a series of doors going down two long hallways that criss crossed each other. She had taken two steps in one direction when she heard Mason's voice and turned the opposite way, following the sound to a door with a poster of some football player on it.

  She knocked lightly and almost jumped when a severe looking man in a suit answered the door. He scowled at her. "Um, hi, is Mason here?" she asked.

  The man turned away from her and Emma saw Mason standing in a corner of his room.

  "Mason," she said, relaxing a bit and stepping into the room. "Where have you been? Didn't you get my messages?"

  Mason's eyes shifted from her to the man behind her. She realized how upset he looked.

  "Is this what you're doing with your time?" the man screamed at Mason, veins bulging in his neck. "How can you be a football player when you're busy fooling around with some little tramp?"

  Emma's eyes began to blur as Mason stood by, saying nothing.

  "Is this why you missed practice the other day?" the man demanded.

  "Dad," Mason finally said. She'd never heard him sound so fearful and uncertain. "It's not like that."

  Mason's father raised his eyebrows.

  "Oh? Well why don't you tell me how it is then. Because from where I'm standing it looks like you care more about your girlfriend here than you do your career!"

  "She's not my girlfriend," Mason screamed. "I barely know her. She's... she's been following me."

  "Is that true?" Mason's father turned on her. "Well I want your name. I'm gonna have you thrown out of this school if you bother my son again, do you hear me?"

  Emma turned and fled from Mason's room. All of her fears had just been confirmed. What was even worse was that everything Zoey had told her was true. Mason didn't care for her. He'd been using her all along. She ran to her dorm and was grateful that, at least, Zoey wasn't there to watch Emma flood her pillow with tears.

  Chapter 13

  Emma woke up tired. Her alarm buzzed and she rubbed at her eyes as they tried to focus on her surroundings. She reached across her nightstand and shut the alarm down, looking at her phone. She had five new missed calls from Mason. She deleted them without listening to one of them. There were a slew of text messages that he'd sent her too. She started to read one of them then deleted those too. Why didn't he just leave her alone? He obviously didn't care about her. She felt like a fool.

  It had been three days since the incident at Mason's frat house, and Zoey had not let Emma hear the end of it. "I told you so Mouse," was the new running phrase in their room. Oh, and Emma's personal favorite, "Poor Mouse, she got screwed by a rat."

  The only consolation Emma had was that she wouldn't have to deal with Zoey much longer. She picked up another pile of clothes and threw them in a box, then pushed it against the wall with the others. Her father was coming for her in the morning; she would be back home and in her own bed within twenty-four hours.

  She made her way to biology, dreading seeing Mason again. Maybe he wouldn't be there. If he had any class he'd leave her alone and drop bio altogether, especially since he didn't care about his academics anyway. She walked into the classroom and was surprised to find Mason already seated. He stood up when she came in and she almost turned and left, but unless she was planning to switch majors she was gonna have to get used to seeing him in here. She needed biology before she could advance to the four hundred level class she'd need to graduate.

  "Emma," Mason said as soon as she sat down.

  She ignored him.

  "Please, let me explain." She glanced at him and saw his eyes were moist and sincere looking, but that did nothing to sooth her anger. He could cry her a river for all she cared. There was nothing he could say to fix this.

  "Emma, please. I just freaked out when my dad showed up like that, and then you came in, and I didn't know what to say."

  "So you told everyone I was stalking you?" she snapped.

  "No! Well... yes. Kind of, I mean. I told the coach that when he laid into me for missing practice. Emma he threatened to kick me off the team, I had to tell him something."

  "Uh huh, and your dad?"

  "I just... I froze. I didn't want him thinking—"

  "Thinking what? That you would lower yourself to date someone like me?"

  Mason's face turned red. "That's not what I meant," he said.

  "I don't care what you meant Mason. Just leave me alone."

  "Maybe this weekend we get together. Let me try to make it up to you. There's a frat party at my house tonight and I thought—"

  "I won't be here this weekend," she said, not taking her eyes off her notebook.

  "Oh. Where are you going?"

  "Home. I'm moving back in with my parents."

  Mason's jaw dropped and he started to say something but Professor D
ouglas began his lecture. Emma tried to concentrate but couldn't stop sensing Mason's eyes on her. When class finally ended she gathered her things and ran into the hall. Mason followed after her, catching her arm as she tried to flee before any more tears could fall.

  "Emma, would you please just listen?"

  Just then Mason's football buddies filed out of class. "Look, it's the stalker," one of them quipped. The others laughed. Emma's cheeks went red and her eyes grew wet.

  "Hey stalker. Why don't you stalk yourself a better grade in this class? I heard you bombed the last test." They hunched over laughing, and Mason turned on them.

  "She is not a stalker," he shouted.

  The guys stopped laughing and stared at him.

  "Why don't you guys go throw the football around and leave her alone? That's all you're good for anyway. I hope you make a lot of money playing the game, because you'll never be able to use your brains to make one dime."

  The expression on his teammates' faces made it difficult for Emma to suppress a smile. She was glad Mason had finally stood up for her, but she couldn't forget how he'd treated her. His teammates shuffled off, looking hurt, and Emma turned to go.

  "Wait," he said. "Don't you believe me now?"

  She hesitated. "Maybe. But the thing is... I don't care." He looked at her with questioning eyes that couldn't grasp what she was saying. "You hurt me so much. You humiliated me. There's no coming back from that."

  Then she fled from him before he could try to change her mind again.

  Chapter 14

  The library was packed, but Emma knew it would empty out soon. The frat party at Mason's place was tonight; she'd heard Zoey and some others talking about it. Apparently it was a big deal. It was alumni night—past members and new members got a chance to welcome each other. Everyone was trying to cram their studying into one short, intense session before heading over there. Even Zoey was here right now, her nose grinding against her books. When seven o' clock hit though, Emma would have the place all to herself.