Searching for Moore (13 page)

He gently ran a finger down her swollen, bruised cheek. “It wasn’t a dream, Baby Girl.”

A tear squeezed from her eye, “I thought you’d stopped. Then, I just thought that maybe you never really did.”

He wiped her tear away with his thumb. Shaking his head, he whispered. “Never stopped. Never will.”

“Me neither,” she tried to smile, but the pain and the swelling stopped her.

“Awww, poor baby,” kissing the tip of her nose, he could see the smile forming in her eyes.

“Mia, I want to talk to you about something,” he paused to stare into her beautiful eyes for a moment, “I don’t want to upset you, but I also don’t want to fuck up. And more than anything, I don’t want to lose you. Ever.” He sighed and looked up at the ceiling, “I will do this anyway you want to, my only concern is you, keeping you safe and making sure that you don’t have to deal with any shit.”

Schooner could tell by the confusion on her face that she wasn’t following. “I’m not leaving your side Mia, from now until the end of the semester. And maybe not even then,” he smiled and ran his thumb down her cheek. “So, I know I am going to get some flack and I want to make sure I handle it in a way that there isn’t fallout for you.”

“You’re talking about CJ,” she whispered and he nodded.

“I don’t want her or any of her bitchy little friends bothering you. She still wants a relationship and…”

“ … and you were at the Spring Fling with her last night.” Mia interrupted, her eyes starting to fill up.

“Yes, I was.”

She thought for a moment. “So, it will be a shock to her for everything to just be different.”

“I could tell her I love you and she just needs to deal with it. I just want to do what’s best for you. And I want to protect you from any nastiness that you don’t need to deal with.”

“You could tell her we’re friends and you’re helping me deal with something. That’s not a lie.” His brows furrowed and she continued, “and then maybe that way she’ll feel less threatened and won’t act out. I’m ok with that. As long as she doesn’t know what happened to me.”

“She’ll never know. It’s not her or anyone else’s business.”

There was a knock on the door and Schooner got up to answer it. Rosie and Henry had trays of food.

“Nice outfit.” Rosie reprised her remark of the night before, gesturing at Schooner’s plaid boxers.

“Very nice outfit.” Henry concurred, taking in Schooner’s bare broad chest and tennis player arm muscles.

Henry bit his lower lip and made a hand motion fanning himself to Mia, who attempted to smile. “Don’t make me laugh, it hurts,” she scolded.

“Oh Girlfriend, you are rocking some poufy lips.” Henry kissed her cheek, softly.

“You just watch, they’re going to come into vogue. You know what a trendsetter I am,” Mia countered, “it’s a New York thing.”

Schooner looked through the food offerings. “Good job, guys. Mia, there’s a bunch of things that are soft. Scrambled eggs, grits, oatmeal, applesauce.”

“Ok.”

“Ok to all?” Schooner was surprised and thrilled as Mia nodded yes. Her resilience and spirit were just a marvel to him. A good appetite was a good sign, he thought and as soon as he got food into her he would make sure she took her meds.

Schooner was sitting in the middle of Caroline’s bed with his back up against the wall and after eating her entire breakfast and taking her meds (at Schooner’s insistence), Mia came and sat down between his legs, leaning back against him. His arms were around her and she was holding onto his hands. It was then, in the safety of Schooner’s arms, that Mia began to open up about some of the details of what had happened to her. Schooner was learning along with Rosie and Henry of her ordeal. They sat silently listening, not a breath taken between them.

She had been working late in the darkroom, which had been virtually empty all evening with many people off-campus for the Spring Fling. As the last person to leave, she locked up the darkroom for the night and left to come back to the dorm. Shortly after exiting the Fine Arts Building, she was jumped by two guys and dragged to the park across from campus.

When they were done, they left her there on the ground, casually walking out of that park as if nothing had happened. Mia was choking on her tears as she finished recounting the details. All Schooner could do was hold her tighter to him. She felt very small and defeated in his arms.

Schooner could feel his intense anger building and he knew that Rosie and Henry saw it on his face and in his eyes. He was glad Mia’s back was to him and that she could not see his rage. It scared him to realize of what he might be capable.

He felt very close to the Animal Kingdom.

This is really not going well, Schooner thought. He hoped she would be cool about it, but there was nothing cool in her demeanor at the moment. CJ MacAllister was spitting mad.

“I don’t understand why you are going to be spending time with her and not with me.”

He tried to stay calm and appeal to reason. “CJ, if there was some shit going down in your life, wouldn’t you want the people you consider your friends to be there to support you? Mia is my friend. I know you don’t get that, but she is a really sweet kid and she needs my friendship right now.”

“And you’re not going to tell me why?” Her hands were now firmly planted on her hips.

“Would you want me sharing your shit with other people?” He just shook his head. She didn’t answer, so he continued, “No, you wouldn’t. And I wouldn’t share your personal business with other people.”

Then he had a stroke of brilliance. “This is really important to my dad, CJ.”

“Your dad? What does your dad have to do with this?” He had her listening now. CJ labored overtime at Christmas working her magic in an attempt to ensure Gavin Moore liked her. She wanted Gavin as her father-in-law and now her curiosity was piqued.

“My dad and Mia’s dad became friendly. And my dad asked me to take care of this. I don’t want to let him down, CJ.” Ok, it was a stretch on the truth, but it was based in reality and it seemed to be doing the trick.

She sighed, “Oh, I didn’t realize that.”

“Look, there’s only a few weeks left of school here, just let me do the right thing.”

She nodded her head ok, but it looked to Schooner as if her wheels were still spinning.

“And I’m telling you now, CJ — Mia gets no shit from you or any of your friends. Is that clear?”

“We would never,” she began her protest, and he cut her off.

“I am dead serious, if anyone fucks with Mia in any way, shape or form, I will be so fucking pissed. Clear?”

“Clear,” her wide-eyed, tight-lipped response belied her words. CJ was not happy.

What he really wanted to tell CJ was that there was not a shot in Hell that they were ever getting back together again. He wanted to tell her that Mia was the love of his life and that all he cared about was Mia’s happiness and well-being.

But he knew if he did that, CJ and her evil minion would do something heinous to hurt Mia and all he really wanted to do was keep them all away from her through the end of the semester.

As he left CJ’s dorm, he thought, crisis averted for now and by the time fall semester comes, he and Mia would be old news and CJ would be moving on.

Protecting Mia was his utmost concern.

Schooner was laying in bed holding Mia in his arms. “So, tell me about New York beaches.”

“They are wonderful.” Mia’s smile was back to its adorable state now that her stitches were out.

Schooner made a face at her. “I’m from Newport Beach, California — it’s going to take a lot to impress me.”

“Ok, well we have different kinds of beaches.” He loved seeing how excited she would get talking about home. “Up on the North Shore we have rocky beaches. That’s on the Sound and there are great harbors and little 300 year old whaling towns and the sailing is great up there. And on the South Shore we have ocean beaches, so it’s just miles of dunes and sand and good waves. The east end is really nice with Montauk and the Hamptons.”

“That’s where the Hamptons are?” Schooner asked and Mia nodded. “I’ve heard my dad talk about ancestors that were in Southampton, Long Island in the 1600’s. Does that sound right? 1600’s? Could that be possible?”

“Yes, absolutely. That is when those towns were first settled. We could research your family. Maybe find some old family graves. And maybe some living relatives, too. Wouldn’t that be amazing. I can’t believe your family was in America in the 1600’s. That is so cool.”

“That would be a fun thing to do,” he kissed her lips, softly. He was loving being able to kiss her lips again and was treating them as if they were made of porcelain. “What are you thinking?” He was looking at her dreamy face.

“I was thinking about after a day on the beach, when the sun goes down and it gets chilly and you’re even colder because you’re all sunburned, so you throw on a sweatshirt with your shorts. And I was thinking about us doing that and going to one of the lobster places on the water and picking out our lobsters from the tank and getting steamers and corn and just sitting out at a picnic table by the water, having the perfect night, after having the perfect day.”

Schooner just smiled at Mia who was painting a picture for him of memories with her that they were yet to create, but that he could see vividly. He could see the late afternoon sun on her sunburned, freckled cheeks, smell the salt on the breeze, hear the tide lapping against the shore, feel the salt water dried in her curls.

“I love you, Mia and I really don’t want to be away from you this summer. I will find a job there. I can teach tennis, lifeguard, bus tables — I don’t care. If your parents are cool with me staying, I really want to spend the summer with you in New York.”

“My parents loved you, Schooner — and they have plenty of room, so I don’t think it’s going to be a problem.”

He pulled her close to kiss her some more. “Mmmm, I feel that.” She was referring to his hard-on that he was trying desperately not to press into her. He inched the lower half of his body away from her, hoping he wasn’t making her fearful or uncomfortable.

“Mmm-mmm,” she shook her head “no” while continuing to kiss him and slung a leg over him and used it to pull him closer to her, his cock now pressed up hard against her.

He pulled away from their kiss to search her face. She smiled and touched his cheek. “It feels good,” she whispered and he moaned just hearing her say that.

“Tell me what you want, Baby Girl. You have to call the shots here.”

She gave him a shy smile and cast her eyes down for a moment before returning his intense gaze. “I’m ready, Schooner. I really am. I don’t think I can wait another day. I don’t want to wait another day.”

“You sure?”

And she nodded.

His deep kiss was soft as he said against her lips, “I love you so much, Baby Girl, but I’m so afraid I’m going to hurt you.”

Mia pulled back to look at Schooner, pushing fallen blonde locks from his forehead and smiled. “Hurt me? Schooner, you have been my protector, you watch out for me, take care of me. You keep me safe. I know you’re not going to hurt me.”

“You know we’re the real deal, Mia,” he watched the smile from her lips reach her eyes. She nodded.

Pulling her underneath him, with arms on both sides of her head, he kissed her lips softly, exploring her mouth, pulling back to look at her and smile and then kiss her some more. He was used to being turned on and feeling the heady rush of sex, but he wasn’t used to feeling his heart brim and overflow. He wasn’t used to caring or wanting the experience to be amazing for his partner. He had never really thought about what it was like for the other person. In the past, it had been about his own physical release and need for control. It had been about the hunt and the victor, but as he looked down at Mia’s sweet face, he realized the only thing he cared about was that this was wonderful for her, that she knew how much he loved her, that this was the ultimate expression of his love for her.

He pulled his shirt off over his head and her hands went to his shoulders, gently moving down his arms, reverently. He watched her face as she explored him, loving that she was enjoying his body. Schooner tugged her tee-shirt and pulled it over her head, swinging it like a lasso before tossing it off into the room. They both laughed. His eyes were smoldering like pale sapphires. He had never felt so turned on. Pushing the shoulder straps from her bra down, he lifted her gorgeous tits out of her bra. He rimmed one nipple with his tongue and she moaned. He grazed it in his teeth, before saying, “You absolutely have the most gorgeous tits on campus.”

“Oh, do I?”

“Without a doubt,” and between sucks, “The day we met, I noticed your gorgeous eyes and smile and this damn fine rack.” She giggled and he bit down on her nipple, causing a yelp. “My damn fine rack. Mine.” He staked ownership.

Her fingers threaded through his thick blonde locks as his sucking and pinching drove her wild. She wrapped her legs around him, moaning. “You have such sensitive nipples. I love that,” he marveled, as he moved back up to her mouth, kissing her deeply. She pulled at his hair and he ravaged her mouth without restraint. He felt her hand reaching for him and he curled into her so that she could grasp him, gasping into her mouth, when her little hand encircled his throbbing cock.

She gently ran her fingernails over his balls and he shivered. “Feel good?” she asked.

“Oh yeah,” he breathed into her neck.

“And this?” She gently kneaded his balls in her hand. He knew his cock felt like steel. It was so hard, it hurt.

“Feels damn good,” he looked at her face to see her satisfied little smile.

“I love getting you hard,” she smiled at him.

“You have quite the knack for it,” he was gasping. He gave her a hard kiss and her arms went around his neck. “Are you ready for this?”

She nodded and he got off the bed, rustled through his duffle bag and came up with a condom packet. He sat down on the edge of the bed. She looked at him wide-eyed. “I don’t want you to feel like we have to do this.”

She was shaking her head. “I want to do this. I want to do this with you.” The look in her eyes was pleading and he realized that she needed this to wipe away the nightmare and replace it with something wonderful. He leaned forward and kissed her. Schooner was honored to help make wonderful memories with her.