Stay Wild: A Curly Shepard Love Story

- Chapter 14 -

Ella Rae was sent to live with her aunt and uncle for a year in Pennsylvania until he parents regained custody in a long court battle. When Ella Rae returns she's practically unrecognizable, a total rebel. Curly broke her heart and she made it her mission to be the heartbreaker that he was…but she still had a soft spot for him.

Curly Shepard's Point of View

"You hear about Ella Rae?" Ricky asks. "Parents say she's coming back to Tulsa." I shake my head. 

"Nobody comes back here," I reply simply. "Her parents couldn't get custody of her if they tried." I haven't even seen them around here. I couldn't tell you what they looked like if I tried. Ella would never come back here by choice. 

"Well, that's what her folks been saying. What, just don't want to believe it?" I scoff, shaking my head. She can come back for all I care, do whatever she wants. It doesn't bother me none. I don't care. She still thinks I was the one who told, if she does, she wouldn't come near me anyway. 

I grab my beer from where it's sitting on the ground and exchange my cigarette for it. Ella Rae could chug a beer better than me. God damn it, now he's got me thinking about her again. We're better off apart. We're different. 

"Come on, man. Admit it. That chick had you wrapped around her finger. She shows back up around here and you'd be in love all over again, Shepard." I shake my head. I'm over her, she's nothing. She didn't believe me, anyone who doesn't trust me can eat shit, her included. 

"Uhh guys," Curtis says. "I think her parents might actually be right." He nods across the street to where I see…oh my God. That can't be her. There's no way that's…

The girl's blonde hair is in a curly bob just below her chin and she's wearing a red shirt that's more like a bra than anything. A black leather jacket with studs is across her shoulders, matching the black skirt that goes down just a nice her ankles. When she turns to us, I catch her eyes. That's Ella Rae and suddenly, I think Ricky might be right. 

Instead of a cigarette between her lips, she has the stick of a sucker between her bright red lips. Her eyes are a smokey gray and there's a satisfied smirk on her face that fades when our eyes meet. 

I look merely the same, just taller and more muscles--more like Tim. She quickly turns away forward again. She is back. That is her. I know those eyes. I know that anger and resentment reserved for me. 

"So those goo-goo eyes are or aren't for her?" Ricky taunts. I shake my head, setting the bottle back on the ground. I tuck the cigarette back between my lips. Looking both ways, I jog across the street. Walking fast to catch up with her, a smirk grows on my face. 

Right as Inget behind her, I grab her arm and pull her into an alley. I pin her against the bricks with my hands on both of her wrists against the wall. I press my leg against hers to hold her there. I quickly snatch the sucker from her mouth and stick it in my own. 

"Well well well, Princess," I murmur. Ella Rae looks up at me with icy eyes. "What're you doing walking around alone, especially dressed like that?" She pushes against me, but I just hold her hands even harder. "Didn't know you were coming back to town, princess." 

"Get off of me, " she spats back. I can tell from her eyes that have softened slightly that she only partly wants to go. Ella is very easy to read, she never believed me. "Curly, let go." 

"Still think I told the cops?" I whisper. She doesn't answer me, just fights more. I smirk. "Do you?" 

"I think you're a coward," she retorts. "I think you couldn't handle-"

I grab the side of her face in my hand and kiss her hard against the wall. She wraps her arms around my neck and slightly tugs on the hair on the back of my neck. I pick her up and she wraps her legs around my hips. I break the kiss for a second to readjust her. Damn this feels nice. 

"Still think I'm a coward?" I whisper, slightly out of breath. I kiss behind her ear and she tilts her head up. "Do you?" I stop, leaving my lips lingering just barely touching her skin. 

"Shut up," she pants, unwrapping her legs and placing herself onto the ground again. "You're an idiot," I smirk and grab her waist, digging my fingers into her skin. 

"I'm not a fucking snitch, " I snarl, backing away and walking out of the alley again, as hard as it was. Damn, I don't wanna walk away. I want to destroy her right here and now but I can't. Instead, I walk back to Curtis and Ricky. 

"And what was that about?" Ricky asks, smirking at me and digging an elbow into my side. 

"Nothing, man," I answer and I leave it at that. That's all he needs to know.

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I knock on the window with my knuckle, tapping the edge of my cigarette on the gutter. I knock again and the blinds open. Ella's on the other side, her hair pulled out of her face in a stubby ponytail, a few pieces framing her face outside of it. I wink and she opens the window. 

"What do you want, Curly?" 

Instead of answering, I slide into the room, shutting the window behind me. Ella jumps back and looks me up and down. 

"So if you didn't call the cops, who did?" Ella Rae asks, sitting down on her bed. She pulls the covers over her bare legs beneath the long t-shirt she's wearing as pajamas. I shake my head and lean on the wall. I blow out a cloud of smoke and she rolls her eyes. 

"I sure as hell didn't, I know that, Princess."

"And what if I don't believe you?" She raises an eyebrow. I shake my head and chuckle, biting my lip. I put my cigarette out on my jeans and toss it in the bin next to her bed. 

"I'd love to see how you kiss the people you believe, huh, princess." I stalk over to the side of her bed. She looks hot as fucking hell right now, man.  My God, she looks nice. I didn't think she could look better than she did but she managed to prove me wrong. 

"Shut the hell up." She throws a pillow at my face, but I catch it and jump onto the bed. I shove the pillow onto her stomach and tickle her sides, straddling her hips. Again, I grab her hands and pin them next to her head. 

"Watch yourself, princess, you hear me."

Ella Rae smirks back up at me and licks her lips. 

"You watch yourself, Shepard."

"I'd rather watch you, dear."