folklore; conrad fisher

9: tattoo kiss

The feeling of Conrad's lips still lingered over mine from the previous night. I closed my eyes again, re-playing every detail of it in my head. The thought of his touch left me with a burning sensation, a culmination of every emotion I had felt right in that moment; emotions I longed to feel once more, and as soon as possible.

Looking up at the blushing dawn sky, it then occurred to me that Conrad had allowed me to sleep the entire night.

Typical, Conrad.

I tried to comb my hair with my hands, frizzy and tangled after the ocean water had dried off. The rustling noises from my sleeping bag caused Conrad to turn around. His eyes met mine, and he just as quickly shifted back towards the view of the ocean.

"Morning." He said, quietly.

I raised an eyebrow, "Good morning, I guess?"

He bowed his head, "I'm sorry. I really didn't want to fuck up things last night, I just couldn't help it. It was stupid."

"Not to me."

I gave up trying to detangle my hair, and instead tied it up into a messy bun. Then, I walked across the deck and sat next to Conrad, both of our legs dangling against the side of the boat.

He looked at me before kissing me again. His right hand cupped my face while his left graced my inner thigh. Conrad kissed desperately, as if the moment his lips escaped mine they'd never find their way back. He moved against me, my back steadily leaning closer to the floor. I held onto his waist, as he was nearly on top of me. When I was finally on my back, he kissed my forehead and then laid his head on my chest.

I ran my hands through his dirty blonde hair. I never realized how much I had longed to do so. To feel all of him.

I allowed him to lie there for a moment longer, and then got up and sighed.

"This isn't right, though. What about Nicole?"

Conrad winced, "Yeah. That."

"I can't do anything else with you unless you break up with her. It's not fair."

"I know," He stared at me, pleadingly, "You just don't understand the situation I'm in. I've already done all of this deb ball stuff... My mom's really excited..."

His voice trailed off, mouth hanging slightly open.

He continued, "She'll never get me the way you do. If I would've known that you were coming, and that this would happen, I would've never agreed to any of it."

I rubbed my temples with my fingers, and I could tell Conrad felt guilty for causing me all of this frustration. I hated my father for being a cheater, and now Conrad had become one for me. Still, I couldn't imagine losing Conrad right as I had just gotten him. Not when something in my life, for once, was starting to finally make sense.

Conrad packed up our stuff as I sat there, lost in thought. It wasn't long before Cleveland showed up, his camera crew trailing behind him. He slipped us each two 100 dollar bills and thanked us profusely for watching the boat overnight. I assured him that it was no big deal, but Cleveland insisted that it was a 'very brave' thing for us to do, with the vandals still out on the loose. I was more mortified at the thought of some teens coming in to spray paint the boat while Conrad and I were making out, but I kept that thought to myself.

We waved Cleveland goodbye, and then proceeded to lug our things into Conrad's trunk. I climbed into my seat in the car, and watched him rev up the engine. The car ride home was silent. I kept picturing Nicole's face. Her flawless skin, her straight, pearly smile. Her kind voice. How could he possibly break her heart? She'd done nothing wrong. I detested myself for getting in the middle of something that didn't belong to me.