Protected

Chapter 9 - Protected

Chapter 9

            Lunch was awkward. Everyone sat around the dining room table. Josie and Jolie fidgeted restlessly, no doubt wanting to talk about their new found powers and what they did in the woods. My mom never took her eyes off of Rory. I knew she was reading his every emotion and feeling. Tessa grinned at me wildly the whole time and Tasha looked a bit disappointed, probably wanting Cameron next to me. Nana of course was perfect. She had tried endlessly to keep up a conversation but it lapsed eventually. 

            I ate as fast as I could without choking, trying to hurry things up, but Rory insisted on helping my Nana clean up. I liked how thoughtful he was but the inside of my house was making my skin crawl.

            Finally we were done. I walked out to his truck turning on the hose as I went. Rory grabbed a bucket of cleaning products out of his backseat. He hosed off the dried mud and we took huge sponges to the gray truck. 

            I enjoyed the peaceful silence with him. It was comfortable with him. I'm not sure what changed but overnight I had found an inner peace, whether it was from Rory or Spirit I wasn't sure. Maybe a bit of both. I know he likes me as much as I like him. Spirit must have boosted my confidence a bit more as well.

            As we were finishing up we met at the tailgate, both of us finishing a side of the truck. I rung my now clean sponge out on the back of his neck. I laughed as he jumped back from me.

            "You will pay for that" he snarled as he took off his t-shirt.

            WHOA. He was gorgeous. His body was gorgeous. Perfectly tanned and muscled. My breath hitched in my throat. I was stunned. I involuntarily licked my lips.

            "Are you alright" he chuckled.

            I peeled my eyes off of his chest. "No" I said laughing at myself. He had been watching me stare at him. I wasn't embarrassed though, I should be allowed to stare at my own boyfriend.

            He looked down at himself and back to me. "Do you like what you see?" he asked arrogantly.

            I looked back down at his stomach. Big mistake. His abs were amazing. I had to suppress a moan. I shook my head trying to clear it and turned away. He grabbed me from behind and lifted me off of my feet.

            "Was that a no?" he asked astonished.

            "What?" I asked confused.

            "I asked you if you liked what you saw" Rory said into my ear.

            "Of course" I replied earnestly.

            He set me back down on the ground. He leaned down swiftly and grabbed the hose and backed away from me. "I told you, you would pay." He pulled the trigger on the nozzle. He was lucky he had changed the setting. I was only getting a mist. I stood there with my hands up in the air. "You're no fun" he said dropping the hose to the ground.