We were somewhere near the Nebraska state line. Farm and land for miles as far as the eye could see. For the past couple of days we had been staying at my Aunt Greta's house. She's not really my Aunt but she's been a friend of the family's for a while and the only thing close to family that I have living in the same state. By this point, we figured if we were about to put our lives in danger, we might as well enjoy our lives up until then.
Aunt Greta had gone to church which meant she would be there all day. We basically had her historically-aged secluded house to ourselves. The next house wasn't for at least about a mile. I'm pretty sure this house has been around for a while. Enduring two World Wars and then some. The wooden panels were a faded white and covered in whatever nature threw at it between old darkened cobwebs, vines, and branches. She had a porch swing that looked out at the swaying wheat field and I loved sitting out there while Nate slept. But now we were both out here enjoying the quiet with the exception of the creaky swing porch. He was resting his head in my lap and I hummed a children's song because it was the first thing that came to mind.
Mary, Mary, quite contrary, how does your garden grow...
He grinned with his eyes closed. "You know what that song makes me think of, right?"
"Yeah." I leaned down to give him a little kiss. "One step ahead of you."
I lit up the blunt that was next to my leg and took in a long first draw, passing it down to Nate.
"Mmm," he hummed. "Mary, Mary, Mary."
"I'm jealous," I joked. "You love Mary more than you love me."
"Not possible," he smiled and took another hit, passing it back.
The weather was perfect today. 77 degrees with a nice breeze. I thought to myself as I took a couple more hits, letting the high set in; wondering if the sounds of nature I heard were actually happening. I wondered how far my imagination could go when I'm like this.
Nate brought me back down to Earth when he started caressing my thigh with his fingertips. Instead of it startling me, it was giving me pure bliss.
"What do you think is gonna happen when we get to Cali?" I asked.
"We're gonna get the stuff, give it to Foosh and Evan, then we're gonna go about our business," he answered.
"But what about this King Bach guy? Is he dangerous?"
"I don't know, baby." He took a deep breath and sat up to look out at the fields too. He never let go of my hand. "Can you promise me something, though?"
"Anything."
"Promise me we'll live in the moment from here on out," he said. "You all I've got."
"I promise."
He stood up and fixed his jeans, holding his hand out to me. I take it and he whisks me up into his arms, quickly picking me up.
"What are you doing," I giggled.
He kissed me and carried me inside. The wooden floor panels creaked and the front screen door slammed shut behind us. Our cups of tea and half-eaten pieces of buttered bread still sat on the table we passed by. We got to the guest bedroom and he put me down on the bed before going to lock the front door and then our room door.
"Take me to church, I'll worship like a dog," he mumbled the song lyrics while taking his watch off.
I pushed myself back further onto the bed, playing with the bottom hem of my white ribbed tank. The warm breeze blew through the half-opened window. I could stay here forever with him.
He ruffled his hair before laying down on top of my thighs again, taking a deep sigh of relief. I pulled down on my tank top to cover any revealing skin.
"What did you do that for," he asked. I only shrugged. So he messed up the bottom of my tank top again and traced the stretch marks before him. "You know you're my tiger."
"Sorry...lion" I ran my fingers through his wild hair.
He growled like an animal and bit down on my shirt, making me laugh. Then he left soft bites all over my stomach.
"What time is it," he asked.
"A little past 2," I answered.
He hummed. "Four more hours. What to do with all that time?"
"We can totally dance around the house," I joked.
"Hmm, nah."
"We could play house?"
He smiled up at me. "What, like you play mommy and I play daddy?"
I bit my lip and nodded.
"Damn," he said. "Lookin' at me like that makes me wanna skip all that extra shit."
He tugged at my waistband and kissed my stomach. But we were both easily startled by a loud bang on the front door. It was only one bang that left it rattling a bit. I screamed before quickly covering my mouth. Nate jumped up and grabbed his gun out his bag, peeking out the door before entering the hallway.
"Be careful," I whispered.
It was quiet for a while until I heard the front door creak open and shut. Nate soon returned to the doorframe and held up what looked like a rolled-up newspaper, then let it drop to the floor. I took the deepest sigh of relief and covered my face. He could tell it was taking a toll on me, living life full of fear. He didn't want this for me and I'm sure if he could, he'd send me right to Pennsylvania to be with my family, safe and sound.
I laid back down, pulling the sheets over my head and stayed still until Nate joined me.
"Hey," he spoke softly. "Everything's gonna be okay. I got a friend in Colorado, we're gonna chill there for a couple of days, then I'm takin' you to the four corners."
"What's that?"
"It's where you can be in four places at once," he grinned. I poked one of his dimples. "Make sure you take pictures. I haven't been there since I was a kid."
I smiled at him. "You're so good to me."
"Minus gettin' you in this mess, though." His face fell.
"Hey," I touched his cheek. "I don't mind mess if I have you to roll around in it with. I'm your ride or die, remember?"
"My ride or die?" The dimples came back.
"Always, babe."
"Yeah?" He slowly moved in kissed my neck.
"Mmhmm," I giggled.
"Good," he whispered as he grabbed my inner thigh, bringing my leg over on top of his lap.
He was so familiar with me and I was comfortable with him. He loved my body more than I loved my body, but that was still a work in progress. I can't deny everything that has happened has transformed me into a new woman. Not because of him, but I had to change to survive. The old Liv, she ran and made excuses, afraid to take a chance on a different life yet again. It was a bit of a cycle.
Nate touched me softly between my thighs, just enough to tease over my clothes and making me want it all. It didn't matter if I saw him everyday; I craved his touch by the second. And every moment without it was sweet torture. It was all in the little things he'd do. Like biting his lip without knowing, walking around shirtless and always reaching across with his arm to scratch the back of his neck while on his phone. He'd piss me off every time he shaved his scruff but I always quickly forgive him when he goes down and shows me why he did it, telling me I'm his favorite form of nourishment. Sex has been an olympic sport as well as a form of medicine to help drown out the troubles and night terrors. Call it a threesome with us and Mary Jane.
...
Dinner was always oddly quiet but tonight it was almost eerie. Aunt Greta slurped her soup as if it were painful to.
"Did you enjoy church Aunt Greta?" I spoke up, playing with my dinner roll.
Nate seemed uneasy too, moving his broccoli around his plate with his fork. Something was off.
"It was fine," she spoke lowly. "You two should've came with me."
"Oh," I chuckled. "That's okay. We just relaxed."
"Mmhmm," she nodded.
Strands of gray hair looked almost silver amongst her black hair and varicose veins were starting to show on her arms. When she used to live closer to civilization, she didn't look as old but kids used to think she was a witch. If she was a witch, then she was the devout Christian version of it. She used to hand out Holy Rosaries & prayer cards to the Trick-Or-Treaters.
"When are you two leavin'?" She stood up from the table, taking her empty bowl and spoon with her.
"In two days," I answered. "If that's okay?"
"Tomorrow." The dishes crashed loudly into the sink. "I want you outta here tomorrow."
Nate and I looked at each other. He shook his head and looked back down at the dingy fork.
"Okay," I agreed. "Tomorrow's fine. But did we do something wrong?"
She turned around, grinding her teeth as if she were biting her tongue. "I don't know what you're doing with a guy like this."
"Like what?" Skate asked almost defensively.
"A sinner," she snapped. "I saw your gun while you two watched the sunset. I don't want it in my house! You let the Devil in this house and he could shoot me in my sleep."
"Aunt Greta," I said in a higher tone. I didn't want her talking about him like that.
"You could do so much better, Olivia." She pointed her finger at me. "Bringin' this hoodlum up in my house. What happened to Wesley? He was a nice young man and didn't have his pants hangin' off his backside!"
That name still bothered me, still had painful memories attached to it. It made me tug on my shirt at all the thoughts of when he made me feel insecure.
"This is crazy," he laughed.
"I'm not crazy!" She snapped.
"This!" He stood up. "I said this was crazy, not you! With all due respect, I'm in love with Olivia, I'd jump in front of a bullet for her. I'm definitely not the devil. You don't see me burning to death in here, do you? Because God knows you got enough crucifixes in this house. Forget tomorrow, we can leave now if it means I don't have to be talked to like this."
God...I loved when he stepped up, standing tall with his shoulders broad and strong.
"Sit down," she waves him off, backing down. "I'm going to bed. Wash the dishes. I expect you two gone in the morning."
She tiredly shuffled her way down the hall and we packed up later that night.