Tag You're Mine

by Catherine Charles

  She shakes her head, no.

  No, I’ve never hurt her or no she won't answer? I know I can't press the issue in the middle of the dance floor, so instead, I whisper the chorus in her ear. It’s as if the song was chosen specifically for us.

  I close my eyes against the music, against the eyes of those around us, and simply focus on her. This one semi-perfect moment, quickly ripped away when she decides to abruptly run out on me. I look at Liv who waves her arms in the direction of the exit door, and I sprint after Presley, catching her as she reaches my truck. Tears stream down her cheeks as I pull her into me, enveloping her in a tight hug as she fists my tuxedo jacket.

  “I can't do this, Robert. Please don’t make me go back in there. We can go wherever. We can do whatever you want, but I can't go back in there. This wasn’t how tonight was supposed to go. We were supposed to be happy. We were supposed to be together, and now my heart is hanging by a thread, and I can't do this tonight.”

  Her shoulders shake with each sob, forcing me to hold her tighter, giving her the support she desperately needs. Weeks of pain seem to rush out of her as we stand there. I’m not sure I’ll do this correctly, but tonight she needs to know she’s not alone anymore.

  I press my lips hard against her hairline, leaving a small smacking sound as my lips break from her skin. “Shhh. We’ll go. I’m sorry, Presley. I didn’t know. I didn’t think. We’ll go.” My hand rubs her back in slow motion before I open the truck door and help her inside.

  Liv, Trey, and Marcus all followed us outside. Liv’s eyes are red as she struggles to win the fight against her tears, Trey gives a slight nod letting me know he and Liv will find another way home, and Marcus yells out to let him know if there is anything they can do as I round the front of the truck and climb in.

  Presley’s sobs have tapered off to hiccupped breaths as she looks out the passenger window, her forehead leaned against the glass. She looks exhausted in the passenger seat alone as she tries to reign in her emotions. She’s been alone for far too long. Struggling with my issues by herself. So tonight didn’t go the way she had envisioned it, but it didn’t mean I still couldn’t make it memorable for her, for us.

  She said she would go anywhere, do anything, and now that we were finally alone, I knew exactly what I needed to do for her.

  Before I could talk myself out of it, I lifted the center console, unbuckled her seat belt and pulled her into the center seat, my arm wrapped tightly around her legs as I gripped the backside of her knees. She didn’t fight me, and as I eased out of the parking lot, her head easily rested against my shoulder, driving in a comfortable silence as I’m sure we had done so many times before.

  -----

  Presley fell asleep on the forty-minute drive out to the one place that always seemed to bring me peace. Her whimpers had faded to nothing, while she clung to my arm. This felt natural between us. I kissed her forehead, my free hand brushed back the few wispy tendrils off her face, her skin so delicate, so soft, and for the first time in weeks I could honestly say she looked at peace. I always knew she was struggling with something deep; it was written behind her eyes. No matter how hard she tried to cover it, the pain I caused her was there, lurking, gnawing at her.

  “Presley, sweetheart. Wake up. We’re here.”

  She nuzzled her head against my neck, gave my arm a tight squeeze, and pulled her head off of me. Her hand quickly rushed to cover her mouth as she turned bright red in the glow of the cab light. Mortification washed over her face, and she was so damn cute.

  “Oh my God! Robert, I’m so sorry.”

  “For what?”

  She wiped her mouth again and pointed at my shoulder.

  I glanced down and noticed a small wet stain on my shoulder. “It’s a rental Presley, I don’t care you drooled on me. Instead, I kinda take it as a compliment. I’m either incredibly sexy, and you can't stop thinking about me”—she giggles and rolls her eyes—“or you feel safe with me and can completely relax. Either way, I’m not mad about it.”

  She begins to take in her surroundings as she looks around, confusion written on her face, and as she slides over to open the door and asks, “You brought me back to the ranch?”

  I must have brought her out here before. I’ve never shown anyone this place, but she knew exactly where we were.

  “I come here when I need to think. When I need answers, and I’m not sure where to get them. Something about this place gives me a fresh perspective on things.”

  She closes the truck door, and I roll the windows down, turning on an old alternative station and setting the volume loud enough to whisper out of the open windows. I make quick work of setting up the bed of the truck with a couple of pillows and blankets I stashed in the toolbox at the back and then extend my hand out to her to pull her up into the bed of the truck with me.

  She glares at me and crosses her arms over her chest. “What the hell did you think was gonna happen tonight, Robert? Pillows, blankets? A romantic view of the night sky and a rushing creek for ambience sound? If you think you’re getting lucky, you’re dead wrong mister.”

  She’s cute when she’s feisty.

  “No. I didn’t think I was getting lucky, unless by lucky you meant finally being able to talk to you without anyone interrupting us or outside distractions, then yes, yes, I was hoping to get lucky, very lucky. You said we could go anywhere, do anything, and this is what I want to do. This is what I need to do to be able to move forward, I think. In whatever capacity that might mean. And as for the pillows and blankets, I always keep stashed in my truck, I figured sitting on these was far more comfortable than sitting on cold hard metal. Now quit being so damn stubborn and give me your hand.”

  She continues to glare at me. “You do realize I’m in a floor-length gown and heels, right?”

  “Yea, so?”

  “And you have at least a six-inch lift on your truck. Do the math Robert, I’m not climbing in there tonight. I don’t exactly feel like breaking my neck. Throw me a blanket, and we can sit down here.”

  She does have a point but damn it, I want to sit with her in the bed of my truck. I want to feel her next to me, and if I give into her, we’ll end up sitting on rocks, and the chance of staying out here all night with her is almost zero. She knows where we are, she knows the house is a little way away, and she’ll want to go home when she gets tired. So, I do the only logical thing, I jump down, throw her over my shoulder, and toss her up into the bed. A small squeak sneaks out along with a few giggles.

  “Better?”

  “Did you have to be such a brute about it?”

  “Depends, is this better?”

  “I guess.”

  “Then, yes. Yes I did have to be a brute. Now settle in and get comfortable, because I have questions and you have answers.” I climb up next to her and settle in against the toolbox, patting the seat next to me waiting for her to get comfortable and join me.

  “Question one. Did I hurt you?”

  She takes a deep breath and her voice turns somber. “Why won't you let this go.”

  “Because I need to know, Presley.”

  “And what happens when you don’t like the answer?”

  “Then I’ll at least know what to work on. How to move forward. So, for the last time, did I hurt you?”

  She’s quiet for what seems like hours, her eyes locked on the stream in front of us, the full moon illuminating her features as I watch her struggle with what to tell me.

  “Yes,” she whispers.

  I knew deep down I had hurt her; I saw the way she broke an hour before. She was strong, but somehow, I knew I pushed her to be stronger than any reasonable person would have been. “How?”

  She takes a deep breath and opens up to me.

  “Robert, there are seven months missing from your memory that I don’t know if you will ever get back. I trust you with every fiber of my body, and yet you don’t have a single clue who I am.

  “You woke up, and I terrified you, you
sought refuge with Heather, not me. You believed her and never once approached me. We began planning a future together, and not even seventy-two hours later, I watched you play fucking tonsil hockey with her. I watched her hang over you day after day, and you let her. It bothers me that you didn’t push her off. And yea, maybe it was my fault. Maybe had I not stayed away, she would have backed off, but then in your eyes, I’d be this jealous friend of Liv’s if I even made it to that classification. But you would probably have stopped at crazy psycho stalker.

  “The way you looked at me when you woke up was gut-wrenching, because I caused you fear, that moment has haunted my nightmares day in and day out. So yes, Robert, you hurt me. Am I mad at you? Damn right, I’m mad at you, but then I’m mad at myself for being mad at you. It’s a vicious circle going around and around. It’s not like you knew what you were doing. You had no idea we were together, and yea, your friends tried to tell you, tried to fill in the missing pieces, but you didn’t trust them. You have to figure out things on your own. It’s how you work.”

  I can feel the heat radiating off of her, her chest rises and falls with every deep breath she takes, trying to calm herself down. There it all was. There was nothing left to say. Nothing left to ask. I’ve unknowingly hurt her deeper than I could have fathomed. We sit there in total silence, “Kings of Leon” playing in the background. Her eyes are fixed on something along the stream’s edge as she sits detached. I thought I would be picking up the pieces of an emotional woman, but not even a tear forms in her eye, and I feel guilty as hell.

  “Do you have any other questions?” Her voice is soft and quiet, void of any emotion.

  I didn’t have a plan for tonight, but this certainly wasn’t expected. “No.”

  “Then will you take me home. I’m tired.” She stands in the bed, taking a few steps forward before I grab her wrist and retch her back into me. I use my body to soften her fall.

  “Let go of me.”

  “No.”

  “Excuse me?” She’s fighting mad as I pin her against my chest. She beats against me with a flying fist and I take every single blow coming my way. I deserve this and so much more.

  “I won't take you home because I know it’s not what you really want, and I’m not done with this conversation.”

  “You know what I want?” she screams out through panted breath as she continues to fight me.

  I refuse to let her go. I hold her against me as she continues to twist and turn in my arms, but she hasn’t once tried to truly get away from me. I know somewhere deep down inside of me I know this girl, and she wouldn’t hesitate to claw my eyes out, break my nose, or try any number of things to get away from me if she wanted to. It’s as if with each twist and turn, she burrows deeper into me. Her jabs lose the power they once had behind them and soon her forehead rests on my shoulder as I stroke her hair.

  “I know you’re tired, but not because you’re exhausted, but because you’re tired of feeling like you’re alone. I know you’re not truly mad at me but mad at the situation. Yes, I fucked up with Heather, but you knew you had to step back and allow me to come to you; otherwise, you would lose me for good. You were playing the long game, Presley.

  “You say you trust me with every fiber you have in your perfect fucking body, which means I must have done something big to earn your trust. You have been patient and kind, not wanting to push too hard or cause me to get frustrated, which tells me you love me, your actions speak louder than your words. I know you have been at every practice, every game, and at my signing, which tells me you support me.

  “I’m drawn to you, Presley in a way I never thought possible. I don’t know what tomorrow holds or if I will ever gain any of those memories back, but I do know I need you in my life, in whatever capacity you can be there. I need to make new memories with you and only you, if we need to start as friends and work our way back to where we were, then so be it, but know I’m attracted as fuck to you so it’s gonna be hard not to touch you, or be affectionate with you, but I’ll try to keep my hands to myself if that’s what you want.”

  She giggles and shakes her head.

  I want to see her eyes, hopefully to see relief behind them instead of pain. Sliding my knuckle under her chin, I slowly raise her head up to me, those green eyes peeking out from under her eyelashes. She bites the corner of her soft pink lips.

  “I’m going to kiss you, Presley,” I say in a whisper.

  Her breath catches as my lips brush against hers, soft and gentle. Sipping here, pecking there. My lips formed perfectly against hers, and with a subtle brush of my tongue, she opens for me. Each stroke pulling her closer to me, needy whimpers spurring me onward until I’ve rolled us and am hovering above her. My hips fit perfectly between hers as I massage her breast and nip at the sensitive skin along her neck.

  Her breath grows ragged as she rolls her hips into me. I desperately want to see her in nothing more than the lingerie I bought her for tonight. Her knees spread wider as I tightly grip the material pooled at her waist, my cock begs to be released from its confines as it rubs against her sex.

  “Fuck, Presley, you’re gonna have to tell me to stop baby girl. I want you so fucking bad right now,” I growl out.

  She continues to grind her hips into me as she rakes over my hair, and I bite hard against her collar bone.

  “Presley, talk to me, baby.”

  “Please, just make me forget. I don’t want to think. Just make me feel good, Robert. Please.” She’s pleading.

  God my dick jumped at the excitement of her. I was going to give her everything she wanted, until a tear slid down her cheek. Fuck. I couldn’t have her if she was crying, and I didn’t want to fuck her either. She deserved more than a quickie in the back of a truck.

  Quickly I roll off of her, leaving her in stunned silence.

  “I’m sorry. I can't do this, Presley. You deserve better than this.” I look at her over my shoulder, anger and sadness are etched across her face as she fixes her dress and covers herself. Her shoulders fold inward as if she was ashamed, her eyes never meeting mine.

  “Take me home, Robert.” she mumbles out without looking at me.

  “Will you quit saying that? We both know damn well it’s not what you want.”

  “And what do I want?”

  “The same fucking thing I want, Presley, but you were crying.” I slide off the truck and begin pacing back and forth, I can feel her watching my every move.

  “Maybe some other guys would have been able to push past your tears, but not me. I know this is going to sound crazy since for me, I’ve just met you, but every piece of me wants to see you happy. I want to take away every ounce of pain I’ve caused you. I want to be the reason you smile. I want to fix everything I’ve messed up. I love you and it makes no fucking sense to me how I can say those words and be so sure of myself, but I do. I love you, Presley. And one day I want to make love to you, not just fuck you in the back of a truck. You deserve a hell of a lot better than what I can give you, but yet, here you are, and I am so damn grateful.

  “You’re still here waiting on me to show up, and I don’t know if or when it will ever happen. You have memories I don’t have and may never have again, and it pisses me off. I don’t want to be told about our life together. I want to experience it. So please, can we stay out here tonight without you asking me to take you home whenever you get mad at me? I’m know I’m gonna fuck this up P, but I need you too.”

  It’s quiet as I rest against the dropped tailgate. Tonight, has been a whirlwind of emotions as we go from one extreme to another. Crying, laughing, fighting, making up and making out. I don’t even know what emotion I’m supposed to feel right now. All I know is I want to close my eyes and feel her next to me.

  I hear her start to move around behind me, the occasional curse slips from her lip as I watch the blankets settle out of the corner of my eye.

  “Robert?”

  “Hmmm.”

  “Will you hold me?”

&n
bsp; I look back, and she’s arranged the pillows and blankets into a makeshift bed with the top corner pulled down where I was sitting.

  “Please?” She bats her eyes above a cautious smile, and she knows damn well I’d do anything for her.

  I kick off my shoes and crawl under the blankets with her, my arm outstretched allowing her to scoot in closer. Her head rests on my chest as her leg drapes over mine, her fingertips absentmindedly make a trail across my chest and down my abdomen, circling low and make their way back up again. One arm is wrapped around her while the other is folded behind my head.

  “I love you too, Robert. In case you were wondering.”

  “I know, Presley. I know.”

  Chapter Thirty-two

  Presley and I lay there in the bed of my truck. Suddenly full of energy once again, she rejuvenates me. “Pres, you said we talked about a life together. What did you mean? What did it look like?”

  She kissed the underside of my jaw and steadied her breath. “I was going to Arizona with you. I was giving up my dream school, South Carolina, to be with you.”

  “And now?”

  “Robert, you have to understand the schools needed an answer for me to claim my scholarships. You hadn’t even talked to me, and I was so confused about what to do.”

  “It’s fine, Presley, I understand.”

  “But you don’t. Robert, I chose Arizona. Coach had shown me a video of your practice, you were still using our signal, and it gave me enough reason to believe one day you would remember me. I still wanted to be able to support you, to be close enough if you needed to talk or had questions. I wasn’t gonna push you, but be there for you as a friend.”

  “So when you were gone last week?”

  “I was in Arizona. I wanted to see the school. We went to Surprise where you will play and drove the two hours to Tucson where the school’s at.”

  “I didn’t think it was fair to give you a couple of weeks to remember me before making a huge decision, which affected us both. I didn’t want to put any pressure on you, and I still don’t want to. Instead, I figured I could do a year there and then reevaluate next spring. I’ll be taking my basic classes anyway. What’s one year in the grand scheme of things?”