Crescent Bound (39 page)

David coolly replies back,
“
I don
’
t think she wants her face plastered all over the tracks and her father keeps them only
at certain tracks, mostly where
ever he
’
s at.
”
  David places the poster
s
back and
grins at
Marc,
“
And before you ask,
none of them are for sale.
”
 

Marc struts
over to David handing him the poster
he had back, smiling with an offhanded
shrug,
“
That
’
s fine, I
’
ll make my own.
”
 

Standing
here, meshing myself against
the hallway wall
,
I
secretly
continue to listen to them talking
, discussing the track, racing, and I attain this thought
,
when can I
ever
remember a time that David and Marc actually talk
ed to each other so civil before?
I smile with that musing
and then Lisa
shifts beside me and whispers,
“
What are we doing?
”

I peer over at her rolling my
sky-blue
eyes,
“
What does it look like we
’
re doing?
”

We both laugh
at each other
as we walk into the room with Marc and David.
“
Hey,
”
I tell them as I sit down on the couch.
Dawson
comes in
minutes later and Lisa
lights up like a
combustible
firefly; nearly skipping over
and jumps
in his
awaiting
lap.  I look over at her
with a touch of envy, because she and Dawson are the most ideal couple
, no woes linger
at their doorstep like Marc and
I
,
she
sends me a flawless smile encouraging
me
.  Sighing
inside,
I glance back at Marc and find him staring back at me.

Megan prowls
nonchalantly into the
room;
she takes a look around and says,
“
Hey, the gang
’
s all here, are we play
ing
nice
,
or am I going to need my whip?
”
 

David leans against the wall and with an inquiring arched
brow,
“
Did you bring your
chains too
, Megan?
”

She seductively advances
closer to David,
“
I don
’
t think you could handle this.
”
She lays one of her arms over David
’
s shoulder and winks at him.

I know that is my cue to leave.  I look over to Marc and ask
,
“
Will you come outside with me?
”

I start to shift down the hall when I turn and see David is right in front of Marc blocking his way, he holds out his hand to Marc and they do the coven handshake, but David then leans into Marc,
“
I
f you ever hurt her again like you did…I
’
ll fry you into a million pieces.
”

Marc smiles back at David still with a hint of pain in his dark eyes
,
“
Thanks for being there when she needed a
friend.
”
 

For a moment they both stare at each other as if some unspoken message is being
conveyed between
the two.
Eventually
,
the silent stand off ends and
David
nods and shifts back to Megan,
“
Okay, now tell me about your whip.
”
 

“
Well, its only five feet long and I have these grea
t boots that go with it, the hee
ls are so sharp I think I
’
ve drawn blood before . . .
.”
David
’
s hand covers his forehead quickly as he resigns to hearing Megan out completely
, but
, he did ask for it.

Marc and I walk on out and over to our cars,
I lean
on my car. 
“
I guess we need to talk,
”
I say quietly with my head down.

I slowly slip
my hands into my back pockets waiting for him to start talking. There is a long nerve
wrecking silence between us, as
the night sky
seems to stretch out above us with brilliant
shimmering stars.  I take in a
sharp
breath and instantly smell the
remnants of racing tires drift through
the air as my
frosty
breath floats upward.
My ice element drones through me as my emotions are amuck.

I squeeze my
eyes
shut
and start thinking
about something else
,
how I am going to miss the track
.
Keeping my poise and refrain myself from pacing feverishly like I wanted to do.
  Marc finally breaks the
barrier of
silence
.

“
I
’
ve been waiting over nine weeks to talk to you and I thought I had it all down, knowing exactly what I would say
.”
he pauses, his lips are like a hard thin line
.

I g
lance over to him try to dissect his blank visage and softly say,
“
And now
?
”

H
e places
the palm of his hand on my car and
gains a step closer
to
me;
confiscating my personal space
I can feel
his essence so enticingly
.  Smelling his smell, that
unique cool crisp evergreen scent, I inhale quietly savoring it, and
I notice
what
he has on
,
a solid
taut
black T-shirt and his designer jeans that are worn and faded
and shape his body perfectly, making him look surreal. Lost in my lusting zone I’m startled when he speaks.

“
I tried to tell you what happened that night
, but
you were gone so fast.
”
  I can feel his eyes directly on
me
, before I even take a glimpse up.
By the tone of his voice, I realize he is struggling in
telling me his next words.
His jaw flexes and he professes,
“
When I kissed Kelly, it was wrong of me and I knew it then just as I know it now.  She was in so much pain and grief from her brother
’
s death.
”
he pauses
and huffs out a heavy sigh, and continues,
“
I was on my way to get our drinks when a buddy of mine came over and told me Kelly was having some kind of breakdown, so I went to go find her.
”

I really don
’
t want to hear this.
I tell
to myself,
I want to just jump in my car and drive away.
  Instead, I stand
here and listen to him.

“
When I found her, she was in that room
crying uncontrollably
, I knew her brother well and I
felt grief
too. I went to her and was able to get her to calm down when she said how numb she
felt and that
’
s
when she asked me to kiss her, to make her feel something again.  She said that if I were to kiss her one time, she would never ask me for anything ever again.  I didn
’
t want to, it wasn
’
t….
”
  His dark and somber eyes dart
away for a moment like he was trying to find the right words.

I finish his sentence,
“
A kiss
,
you meant.
”
I slowly
walk around to the other side of my car.  At this moment I can
’
t be close to him,
it hurts too much, and
I have to put some distant between us.
I recline
back against the passenger door now and look out
at the drag strip.

Clasping
my arms over my chest as a
warm tear runs down my cheek
,
there
… now you have heard his story straight from the source.  Do I feel better now?
I wouldn
’
t say better, it
’
s going to take me some time.  Time to heal and I know eventually I will be ok
ay
.  Unexpectedly, he shifts
over to my side and leans his back against the car as well.  Neither one of us
utters solitary
a
word;
just stand side by side
a foot apart impassively
looking out at the track. 

His husky voice penetrates
the secluding silence which seem
s to surround us he whispers
,
“
I was the fool.
”

I note
those were the same words I had used that night.  I understand that Marc
’
s heart broke just as mine had.  I can see it in his eyes, no matter how hard I try to ignore his feelings or emotions, he too suffered.  A lesson learned from the consequences of being crescent bound. 
Lifemate
s can never be involved with
anyone
other than their own
lifemate
.

I
casually
move around and lean over my car
, pointing
to the Camaro and ask,
“
So
,
when did you get the yellow beast?
”
 

He dashes a glance
over his
broad
shoulder at the Camaro and replies,
“
The day after the prom, my parents had it delivered to the house, it
’
s a graduation gift.
”
 

Maneuvering around my car I stroll over to his Camaro and
I let my hand
drop and allow my fingertips
to
follow the
curves
of the car
.
I want to move on but some part of me still clings to the fear of
,
what if he hurts me again?
I decide to expose my qualm in a round about way to him, holding my tone
I divulge,
“
I absolutely love cars, the way they are made, the feeling you get when you drive them to their full potential and the new car smell
.”
looking over at him I smile,
and
he smiles back.

“
Did you know that the new car smell can be harmful to you?
”
  Marc just stands there looking at me with a hint of
bafflement and so I continue on,
“
It
’
s the phthalates that are in the new car material
.”
I rest
my hip against the door
,
“
Do you think it
’
s possible that I can love something so much that has the possibility of being harmful to me?
”
 

Marc
arches his
dark sultry
brow
and quips back
,
“
Tell me this, you love racing?
”
I nod and he continues on. 
“
You race knowing that there is a possibility something could go wrong and if you did have a wreck, you would fix your car and race again, am I right?
”