Chapter
22
Around 4:00pm
Wednesday afternoon, Trevor finished getting dressed in a pair of khaki cargo
pants and a pale blue golf shirt, which emphasized his beautiful hazel
eyes. He’d been looking forward to
seeing Emily tonight since the fun fair and, quite frankly, was a little
nervous. Even though he could probably
have any lass he wanted, he really liked Emily a lot and wanted to make a good
impression.
He bounded
down the stairs to find his mum and sister sitting at the kitchen table going over
the details for an outdoor family party next month to meet Stephanie’s husband,
Frank.
“Well, I guess
mum gets to fuss a bit after all,” Trevor said as he looked at the many lists
that Chelsea was pouring over.
“Well, it’s
the least I can let her do,” Stephanie replied. “If only to take her mind off the shock.”
“I wasn’t
shocked,” Chelsea stated.
“No, you’re
right. Daddy was.”
“No, he wasn’t
either. We were just…..taken by
surprise. You’re our first child and,
well, I’m sure he dreamed of giving you away.”
“Mum, if it
means that much to you, I’ll talk to Frank and see if he wants to renew the
vows in church here so I can wear a pretty dress and daddy can walk me down the
aisle, how’s that?”
“That would be
wonderful Steph,” Chelse said.
“Well, I’ll
leave you to your girlie stuff,” Trevor said.
“I’m going to pick up Emily. Um,
I probably won’t be home till after 11:00 or so.”
“Don’t do
anything I wouldn’t do, little brother,” Stephanie giggled.
“Steph,
there’s probably nothing you wouldn’t do,” Trevor replied.
Chelsea was
too into her planning to overhear her children’s provocative talk. Trevor noticed and shook his head.
“She’s
gone! Well, I’m outta here.”
******************************************
Several
minutes later, Trevor arrived at Emily’s house. She answered the door in a pair of fitted black jeans and an off
the shoulder crop peasant top. Trevor
didn’t know that a lass could look so fresh and innocent and so damn hot at the
same time!
“Hey, come on
in and meet my parents,” she said, greeting him at the door.
“The biggest
thing a lad dreads,” Trevor replied as he came inside. After meeting her parents, Emily grabbed her
purse and was ready to leave when Tara came down the stairs.
“Can you two
do something for me? Well, Trevor
actually?”
“What is it
Tara?”
“I need to
talk to Mark. I need to apologize about
the other night. Do….do you think you
can bring me to his house on your way out?”
Trevor smiled
at her contrite face, knowing that Emily got through to her somehow. “Sure luv.
Come on.”
Trevor pulled
up in front of Mark’s house and they all got out. After he rang the bell, Ty answered the door.
Ty looked at
his nephew flanked by two very pretty girls and smirked. “Well, someone certainly hit the jackpot,”
he mused.
As usual,
Trevor blushed. “Uncle Ty, this is
Emily. We’re on our way to the music festival for the night. And this is her cousin Tara. She’d um…like to speak to Mark.”
“Yes I…we ran
into each other at the fun fair and I, well, I need to apologize to him for
something,” Tara stammered.
Ty surmised
that this must be the girl who caused Mark’s little tirade the other night when
he came home. And, judging from her
lovely face, long dark hair and incredible gray-green eyes, he was certain that
Mark would have little trouble forgiving her.
“Sure lass,
come on in.”
“Thank you.”
As Tara came
inside the house, Ty looked at Trevor and Emily. “You two have a good time.”
“Thanks Uncle
Ty.”
After closing
the front door, Ty escorted Tara into the kitchen where Grace was. She looked at the pretty young girl and
smiled at her.
“Tara this is
my wife, Grace. Grace, this is
Tara. She’s here to see Mark.”
“Oh, well,
he’s down in his sanctuary. Been there
for hours,” Grace replied.
“Sanctuary?”
Tara repeated.
“You’ll see,”
Ty said, before studying her face a second.
A sense of familiarity came over him for just a moment before he pushed
it aside and led her downstairs.
Ty came to the
door of Mark’s ‘sanctuary’ and knocked.
But the blaring rock music that was permeating even the soundproof walls
told Ty that Mark wouldn’t hear even if the house was on fire. Ty rolled his eyes and opened the door.
Mark was lying
on his stomach on the small couch bobbing his head to and fro to the music,
engrossed in a drum magazine.
“Mark,” Ty
half shouted.
Mark looked up
at his father then immediately to Tara.
He threw the magazine down, jumped off the couch and lowered the volume
on his CD player.
“What……..what
are you doing here? How….”
“Trevor picked
up Emily for the music festival and I asked if he could bring me here. I want to talk to you about the other
night.”
Mark looked to
his father who got the hint and exited the room, slowly closing the door behind
him.
Chapter
23
When the door
to his ‘sanctuary’ closed, Mark looked at Tara who had a different look about
her. She no longer had that stubborn,
bitchy way about her. It was more a
look of sincere regret and guilt.
Tara looked
around a bit but couldn’t take her eyes off the exquisite Pearl drumkit in the
middle of the room. “You play the
drums?”
“Since I was
about 3,” Mark replied. “So, what do
you want to talk to me about?”
Tara nervously
paced the small room as she wrung her hands together. “I’m….I’m sorry for what I did.
It was wrong, very, very wrong.
You’re right when you said that I’ve been mean to you when you’ve been
nothing but nice, if not patient. I’m
sorry for slapping you, even though I probably deserved what you said to
me. If I probably had pulled that
little stunt with another lad, who knows what would’ve happened…..anyway, I’m
sorry.”
Mark softened
a bit at the genuine anxiety in her voice.
“I forgive you Tara. I don’t
know what it was that’s been bothering you, but I hope everything’s okay now.”
“Well, yes and
no. I mean, something was bothering ,
has been bothering me, and I took it out on you. I shouldn’t have. But,
after a long talk with Emily the other night, I’m trying to put whats bothering
me aside and…….”
Mark heard her
cut off and looked to see what caught her attention. Her eyes were fixed on his Crossfire poster behind his drum
kit. Mark went over and joined.
“See anyone
familiar?”
“Yes,” she
quietly said.
“I knew
it! I knew you recognized my dad. Of course he was only 21 or 22 in this
poster. Makes quite an impressive
frontman, don’t you think? That bloke
on the other guitar is Kevin Schon. He
lives in California now and he and my dad are partners in a record label and
also produce. The bass player is Mark
Shepard and the drummer is….”
“Randy
Spencer,” Tara whispered.
“Y…yeah,
right. Your parents must’ve been fans,
huh?”
“You could say
that,” she replied.
“Anyway, Mark
and Randy are my namesakes. My full
name is Mark Randall Savage. My dad
wanted to honor them because they…..”
“Were killed
in a car accident,” Tara finished.
“Oh, you do
know about it. Um, anyway, now….this
poster here,” pointing to the Def Leppard one,” is of my grandfather’s
band. Both of them actually. The lead singer, the one all in white is my
mum’s dad, Joe Elliott. And the bass
player, the bloke in the yellow pants, is my fathers dad, Rick Savage. He’s Trevor’s grandfather too. My dad and his dad are brothers. And….are
you listening to me?”
Tara hadn’t
taken her eyes off the Crossfire poster.
She hadn’t expected this. She
felt like she couldn’t breath. First
seeing the poster, then the eerie coincidence of Mark playing the drums. It was too
much of a reminder. She thought
she was ready, but she wasn’t.
“Mark, I’m
sorry. I…I have to go. I just wanted to come and…..”
“Go? You just got here.”
“That’s….that’s
okay. I….I have to get home. I’ll walk so you don’t have to take me.”
Mark saw her
eyes fill up with tears. “Tara, what’s
wrong? Tell me.”
“I’m….I’m not
ready, I……”
She took off
out of the room and up the stairs, Mark following right behind her. “Tara, wait!”
Tara opened
the upstairs door that led into the kitchen and ran right into Grace.
“Oh, watch
where you’re going luv,” Grace said, before noticing the tears in Tara’s
eyes. “Tara, what’s the matter?”
Tara couldn’t
take it anymore and leaned against Grace and cried. Grace looked at her son with admonishment.
“I didn’t do
or say anything, I swear!”
Suddenly Ty
came in the kitchen. “What’s going on
in here? Why is Tara crying?”
“Dad, she
won’t tell me. I started showing her
the Crossfire and Def Leppard posters and she suddenly started crying then ran
out of the room.”
Grace held
Tara out at arms length. “Tara luv,
please tell us whats wrong.”
Tara had no
choice. She already let her emotions
gush forth in front of Mark and his parents.
“My full name
is Tara Spencer. Randy Spencer was my
brother.”
Chapter
24
Now it was
Ty’s turn to fill with emotion. “What? Your brother? That’s……that’s impossible. When I met Randy he only had an older
brother. Randy was living with him and
his wife at the time. We used their
basement to rehearse in. And, even if
he did have a younger sister, she’d be much older now than 17. This doesn’t make sense.”
“I assure you,
Mr. Savage, that Randy is my brother, though I never knew him. I was born several years after he died. It’s a long story.”
Ty walked over
to Tara and looked at her face. “You
know, something familiar came over me when I looked at you, but I couldn’t
place. Now I know what it was. It may have been years since I last saw
Randy, but I remember that smile he had.
You have it, lass.”
“Then…then you
believe me?”
“Yes, I
do. But I still want to hear this
story.”
While Grace
put on a pot of water for tea, Ty, Mark and Tara made themselves comfortable at
the kitchen table as Tara began her story.
“My mum had my
eldest brother when she was only 18.
She married my father right away and Randy was born two years later –
1999 I believe. When Randy was 22, my
parents had separated and eventually divorced.”
Ty’s past
memories came flooding back to the time that Randy took off in a fit of anger
during the recording of their first album.
He, Kevin and Mark eventually found him curled up on the ground behind a
pub where he spilled his guts about his parents divorcing.
“Anyway,” Tara
continued, “Randy died two years later.
His death caused my parents to reconcile. My parents were also awarded the contents of Randy’s estate after
he died – his home in Canterbury and the money he made with the band. My father wasted no time in squandering
it. Three years later, my mum found out
that she was pregnant with me – at 47 years old! From what she told me, my dad wasn’t happy about it at all,
especially at their age, and forced her to get rid of it. When my mum refused, my dad up and left,
taking most of what was left of the money they inherited from Randy. We had no idea where he went and never heard
from him. My mum had me and did the
best she could to raise me on her own, but it was very difficult. We were basically poor. We lived off the dole for many years and I
remember how much it humiliated my mum.
Fortunately, my older brother and his wife asked my mum and I to come
live with them, but it was still difficult.
Even though we didn’t have to worry about a rent or utilities, mum was
able to get a job to pay just for our expenses, but it paid very little. Two years ago she found out she had cancer
and passed away 8 months after that. I
continued to live with my brother and his wife until my aunt Jean Prescott, my
mum’s sister, asked me to come live here in Sheffield with her so I could be
with my cousin Emily and at least have some kind of normal teenage life. So, that’s how I wound up here.”
Grace had
tears streaming down her face at this poor lass’ heartwrencing story. Ty’s face was filled with anger for this
girls heartless father and Mark just sat there with his head slightly
bowed. He kinda had a feeling as to why
Tara was so hostile to him, but needed to know for sure.
“But Tara, why
were you so mean to me when we met?”
Tara squeezed
her eyes shut as if trying to block out how she had behaved. “I never should’ve done that, but my
emotions got the best of me. When I ran
into you in school that day and you told me your name, I instantly knew who you
were from when you and your family lived in Canterbury. Your father is well known so it was a big
deal when you upped and moved to Sheffield.
I guess….I guess I was mad at you because you represented all I never
had. Hearing myself say that now, I
know it sounds foolish and petty and totally childish, but I was so
resentful. Randy’s estate was enough to
keep us comfortable for years, especially if the money was managed wisely. Instead, my mum and I were one step away
from the gutter. My only regret is that
she had to live those final years of her life like that. She didn’t deserve that. Not after all she did for me.”
Ty put his
hand over Tara’s. “No lass, she
didn’t. And I’m sorry for what you had
to go through. I so wish Randy was
alive today. Mark too. You would’ve liked your brother. As I said, you have his smile.”
“All I have
are pictures of him, mostly from music magazines, but not many. I’ll never get to know how wonderful he
was.”
Ty stood up
and motioned to Tara. “Come with me
lass.”
Tara got up
and followed Ty into the family room where he went over to a built-in
bookcase. From a drawer, he retrieved
several large photo albums, walked over to the sofa and sat down, placing the
albums on the coffee table.
“Come sit next
to me Tara,” Ty said. “I’m gonna
introduce you to your brother.”
Chapter
25
Around 8:30pm
that night, the first of three local bands took the stage at the music
festival. Up until then, Trevor and
Emily had walked around, looked at some band memorabilia, purchased a couple of
CD’s then got something to eat for dinner.
They used this time to talk and really get to know each other. Since Emily knew that Tara would be
confessing her situation to Mark today, she opted to enlighten Trevor about it.
“Wow, I can’t
believe it” Trevor exclaimed. “I mean, of all people to run into, she runs into
my cousin who takes after Randy by playing the drums.”
“Kinda like
fate, don’t you think?” Emily asked.
“Probably. Maybe once this is all out in the open,
they’ll get on well with each other.”
“That would be
great,” Emily replied. “As you can
tell, she hasn’t had much of a life, especially a social one. I hope that her senior year here at
Westfield will make up for all that she’s missed out on.”
Trevor warmed
over Emily’s concern for her cousin.
“You really do care about her a lot don’t you? You’re a good cousin, and a good friend. Kinda reminds me of Mark and I. We’ve been up each other’s arses since we
were wee tots. And once they moved from
Canterbury to Sheffield when Mark was 5 we’ve been practically
inseparable. Sometimes I don’t even
think of him as my cousin. He’s more
like my brother.”
“Yes, you and
Mark definitely are a twosome,” Emily said with a grin. “Not only are the two of you the most
popular lads in school, not to mention wicked on the soccer field, the other
lads seem to be left in the dust when the lasses look your way.”
Trevor blushed
over her praise. “Aw, stop it. Mark plays the strutting ladies man more
than I. Takes after his Grandpa Joe.
I’m more like my Grandpa Sav and my dad. I never liked a lot of attention and, well, I can be a bit shy sometimes.”
Emily glanced
up at him with lucid, golden brown eyes.
“I rather like you like that.”
Trevors cheeks
flushed pink, but he was rather enjoying it.
The more he talked with Emily and discovered how wonderful she was, he
was getting more and more sucked in.
And this is just their first date!
Why he wasted all that time with Kristin when he could’ve gotten to know
Emily sooner was beyond him?
After the last
band finished up around 10:45pm, they decided to call it a night. But not before Trevor looked over at Emily
and saw how absolutely beautiful she looked with glow of the full moon above
them. Emily turned and saw him staring
at her, then watched as his eyes trailed from hers down to her lips. Trevor was just about to lean in for a kiss
when he heard his name called out from behind him.
“Aye Trev!”
Trevor huffed
and turned around to see Wesley walk over to him, his hand firmly clasped in
Jessica Bishop’s. Sean was right behind
him with Emily’s friend Morgan.
“Can’t a bloke
go anywhere in this town without running into you two?”
“Afraid not
mate,” Sean said.
As Jessica and
Morgan went over to talk with Emily, Trevor found himself stuck with his
friends.
“Trev, I can’t
thank your sister enough for letting us hang with her at the fun fair,” Wesley
said. “Jessica practically had daggers
in her eyes when she saw me with her.
Probably thought that if I’m good enough for a supermodel to hang out
with then I must be something special.
And Sean here hooked up with
Morgan. And from what I see, you
and Emily look pretty cozy.”
“Yeah, well we
would’ve been a little cozier if it weren’t for you.”
“Sorry mate,”
Sean replied. “But I’m sure you’ll have
other opportunities. So, um…leave your
other half at home tonight?”
“As a matter
of fact, we dropped Tara off at his house on our way here. She wanted to apologize for what happened
the other night.”
“Well, I hope
those two kiss and make up so we can make it a happy couple quarter this
summer, Wesley said. “Sean and I are
taking the girls to the lake this Saturday.
Weather’s supposed to be fab.
Do some swimming and sunning and some uh….bikini investigation! Why don’t you guys come with us?”
The thought of
Emily in a bikini was too much for Trevor to pass up. “Perhaps we will. Listen,
I gotta get Emily home. We’ll talk before
the weekend.”
A half hour
later, Trevor pulled his black Nissan Pathfinder up in front of Emily’s
house. He told her about going to the
lake this weekend and she agreed. They
just sat there for a few more minutes, not wanting to leave each other’s
company. Trevor just continued to stare
at her before he blushed and looked away.
“What?”
“Nothing?”
“No, tell me,”
Emily urged.
“Well, I was
just debating whether I should ask if I can kiss you or just go for it.”
Emily leaned
in a little closer and tilted her face up to his. “I say, go for it!”
Needing no more
encouragement, Trevor bent down and placed his lips lightly on hers. Soft and sweet at first, before he applied a
little more pressure. When Emily
reached her hand up to cup the side of his face, he made a small sound in her
mouth that caused her to sigh as well.
Their mouths slowly opened as their tongues cautiously began to touch
each other.
Trevor slid
his hand around her waist and pulled her as close as he could with the center
console between them. Their mouth’s
slanted over each other more firmly as the kiss was become heated. Trevor knew he had to stop before he
wouldn’t be able to stop himself.
He reluctantly
pulled away and looked down at Emily’s lovely face, her peaches and cream skin
aglow from the kiss. “I think you
better go before I try something I may regret.”
Emily smiled
with a blush before stroking his cheek with her finger. “Hmm, if things go well with us down the
line, who knows? I may just let
you try.”
That was the
last thing Trevor needed to hear. He
was already horny out of his mind. He
didn’t need thoughts of what liberties Emily would allow him later on.
“Go inside
before I try right now!”
Emily giggled
softly then got out. Trevor sat there
as he watched her delicious little bottom move as she walked away and disappeared
inside her house.
Yes, this was
gonna be one fun summer, indeed!
Chapter
26
Earlier that
evening, after spending an hour or so going through pictures, magazines,
articles and miscellaneous other media stuff on Crossfire, Grace asked Tara if
she’d like to stay for dinner. Tara
accepted and called her aunt to let her know she’d be staying.
For the first
time in seventeen years she felt like she had some semblance of herself. She actually felt as if she knew Randy after
looking at all the pictures and reading all the interviews and album reviews of
him and the band, not to mention Ty’s personal stories that were clean enough
to repeat!
After dinner,
Ty gave Tara a videotape of Crossfire of one of their live performances in
which she and Mark watched together.
“Hmm, your dad
was quite a looker,” Tara said to Mark with a blush.
“Yeah, he was
quite the ladies man,” Mark replied.
“But, from the stories I’ve been told, he loved my mum since he was my
age. And, if you really want to hear a
sappy, romantic story, you should hear the one about Trev’s parents. His mum and dad hooked up at 15 and were
bonkers for each other until my Aunt Chelsea’s dad got transferred to the
States. She miraculously wound up back
in Sheffield about 6 years later right about the same time Trev’s dad was home
on break from university. My uncle
Scott ran smack into her – and their 6 year old daughter!”
Tara’s eyes
widened. “You…you mean Stephanie? The one we met at the fun fair? He never knew about her?”
“Yes, yes and
no. But, it was like fate that brought
them back together. My Uncle Scott was
in his last year of university and finished up to come back here. As soon as he finished his residency, he
married my Aunt Chelsea. My parents
were married around the same time as well.
Trev and I were born only months apart.
My Uncle Scott convinced my dad to move back to Sheffield so we could
grow up together and, so, here we are!”
“Wow, what a
story,” Tara exclaimed. “That is fate.”
“So is this,
in a way.”
Tara looked at
him. “What…..what do you mean?”
“Think about
it,” Mark answered. “Your brother was
the drummer of my dad’s band. Not only
am I partially named after him, but I play the drums like him as well. Don’t you think that’s kind of eerie that we
met up?”
Tara was
warmed by his words. It was a side him
that she hadn’t yet seen. Up till now,
she thought him arrogant and full of himself, but that partially due to how she
treated him.
“No, not eerie
Mark. Like you said, its fate. So, how serious are you with the drums? Gonna form a band like your dad?”
“No, I have no
plans for that, but you never know. I
mean, my dad was in a band and so were both my grandfathers.”
“Oh, right,
um……what was that funny name…..Deaf Leopard?”
“Right,” Mark
replied. “So, music’s kinda in my
blood. Who knows?”
“Are your
grandfather’s still alive?”
“Oh yeah! And
still bitching at each other like they have been since they met.”
“They sound
like a hoot. I’d love to meet them.”
“Oh, and
they’d love to meet you! They always
appreciated a pretty face.”
Tara blushed
at Mark’s compliment. “Thank you.”
Later on, Mark
took Tara home. When he pulled his
silver Jeep in front of her house, she turned to him.
“Mark, I
really had a nice time with you and your parents. They’re so cool. I guess
I’ll wait up for Emily to come home to see how her date with Trevor was.”
As she went to
open the door, Mark put a hand on her arm.
“Tara, wait. Now that we’ve
resolved all this, I’d like to start all over again. I meant it that day in school that I wanted to get to know you
and I do. I’d like to take you
out. Cinema, dinner, maybe spend a nice
hot day down by the lake.”
“I’d like that
Mark. I’m just sorry that we wasted all
this time. Again, I’m so sorry for how
I acted.”
Mark reached
up and stroked her cheek. “Not a
problem.”
Tara reached
up and lightly grasped his wrist as she stared into his incredible green
eyes. She already knew what it felt
like to kiss him, but that was under malicious circumstances. She badly wanted to kiss him again.
As if Mark
read her mind, he leaned forward as she met him halfway. Their lips touched softly then firmly,
before parting slightly. Tara slid her
tongue inside his mouth first which caused a deep groan from Mark. Not wanting him to think she was too easy as
she acted the night of the fun fair, she slowly broke the kiss then looked in
his eyes.
“Goodnight,
Mark.”
“Goodnight,”
he replied as he watched her get out and go inside the house.
Yes, this was
gonna be one fun summer indeed!
Chapter
27
That following
Saturday, all four young couples headed over to the lake on a very warm July
afternoon. It was one of the oldest
swimming haunts in town complete with a dock and an old towering oak tree which
boasted a swing which allowed you to swing from the dock into the water. It was pure, simple teenage fun.
The girls had
worked out who would bring what for lunch.
Tara and Emily made sandwiches while Jessica and Morgan brought
munchies, pop, ice and sweets along with two big coolers to keep everything in.
No sooner than
they stepped foot on the docks, all four lads pulled their t-shirts off and ran
to the edge screaming like crazies as they all dove into the water. A loud splash that all four bodies created
scared a flock of birds quietly resting in the oak tree.
“C’mon mate,
go grab the swing,” Mark said to Sean.
Sean hopped
back on the dock and unwrapped the swing from around a side branch. It hung from a long, sturdy branch that
jutted outwards from the tree right over the center part of the lake.
“Me first,”
Sean said as he sat on the swing then took off into the middle of the
lake. He then hopped off and fell to
the water with a loud splash. He
resurfaced with a whoop and a hollar.
One by one,
each lad took a turn swinging from the dock to the water. After they sufficiently got all their
pent-up energy out, they all got out and went over to the girls for some food,
sun and, hopefully, a little snogging.
The girls had
spread everything out just in time for the lads to come over. Wesley went over to Jessica and shook his
wet hair in her face like a dog who just came out of the water.
“Blimey, Wes!”
Jessica exclaimed. “You’re getting me
wet.”
Wesley grinned
wickedly. “Ooooh, am I now?”
Everyone chuckled
as Jessica swatted him on the arm. “I
meant my clothes, you wanker.”
“Well, I
assume you ladies have swim attire on under your clothes,” Sean said. “How’s about showing us what you got!”
Trevor shoved
Sean in the arm. He didn’t want any
lewd comments scaring off Emily. After
their date Wednesday night, they talked on the phone every night until seeing
each other today. Things were going
well and he didn’t want anything to ruin it.
Emily saw Trevor do that and decided to speak up to let him know that he
could be comfortable.
“Don’t worry
lads,” Emily said. “We’ll take our
clothes off when the time’s right.
Gotta keep the anticipation up.”
“Mmm, yeah,”
Morgan said. “Also, if we take them off
now, you lads may find yourselves having to go back into that cold water!”
Now it was the
girls’ turn to chuckle as the lads just brushed them off and dove for the
sandwiches. Mark leaned over Tara to
grab a roast beef and swiss, his wet, navy blue and white Hugo Boss swim trunks
brushing up against her warm, smooth thigh in the process.
“Mmm, these
look good luv,” Mark said of the sandwiches, even though his eyes had wandered
to her breasts.
“Well, we knew
you lads would be working up an appetite today,” Tara replied.
Mark raised an
eyebrow. “Oh? Doing what?”
Tara gave him
a look. “Swimming, that’s what.”
“Sorry luv,
just teasing.”
After they all
ate, they decided to relax in the sun a bit as they digested before heading
back in the water. All four lads had
stupid grins on their faces as the girls finally stood up and took off their
shorts and tops, revealing young, tight bodies in bikinis.
“Aw, crikey,”
Wesley groaned as he had to roll over on his stomach.
“Problem
there, sport?” Jessica asked as she laid her body, clad in a pale yellow floral
print bikini, next to Wes.
“Watch out
Wes,” Trevor said. “You’re gonna poke a
hole in the deck!”
“Bugger off,
Trev!”
Trevor
snickered, but soon ate those words when he glanced up at Emily in a black
bikini with a gold clasp in the front of the top and on each hip. He did his best to hide his reaction as she
laid down on the blanket next to him.
Morgan was next, revealing a leopard print bikini that had Mark
commenting.
“Hmm, my
Grandpa Joe would love to see you in that Morgan!” But Mark too was suddenly silenced when he looked up at Tara in a
jeweled, amethyst colored bikini which was striking against her glossy dark
hair. She sat next to him and grinned.
“You like?”
“You kidding?”
Mark answered with eyes as big as saucers.
They had a hard time straying from the swell of her perfectly shaped
breasts in her bikini top.
All four
couples soaked up some sun for about an hour while they listened to a portable
CD player. Tara was the first to sit up
and look out towards the lake.
She was a
different person these last three days.
So many questions about her brother Randy had been answered, she had
made friends and, for the first time that she could remember, she was having
fun. She felt like she fit. But, most
of all, she found herself finding it hard not to fall for Mark. Sure, it was way too soon, but he really
turned out to be nothing as she perceived.
Yes, he had a bit of arrogant swagger to him, but what teenage lad
didn’t? And, Mark certainly had the
means to back it up.
She continued
to stare out into the lake, enjoying the peaceful tranquility of the afternoon,
unaware she was being watched.
“Penny for
your thoughts, luv?”
She turned and
looked down at Mark who propped himself up on his elbows. Her gaze wandered from his hard flat stomach,
to his smooth muscled chest before finding his brilliant green eyes.
“I was just
thinking how I never experienced a day like this. Nor have I been this happy in a long time.”
Mark leaned
into her and gave her a sly grin that almost made her melt all over the
dock.
“I know
what’ll make you really happy, luv,” he said with a menacing grin.
Tara’s heart
began to pound, not knowing what he meant.
“W..w..what?”
Mark’s grin
turned into a full fledged smile as he hopped up, then pulled her up by her hand.
“Come with
me. You’re gonna love this.”
They got to
the end of the dock and Mark grabbed the swing. Tara immediately began to back away. “Uh, no Mark. I don’t
think so.”
“Why not? Tara, you’ll love it.”
“I…..I just
don’t want to.”
“But there’s
nothing to be scared of, trust me,” Mark urged.
“Mark,
I…..really, I can’t.”
“Can you
swim?”
“Of course I
can swim. Its just……”
“What?”
Tara huffed
with frustration. “Okay. You were right the other night at the fun
fair about the big wheel. I am
afraid of heights.”
Mark sat on
the swing and looked at Tara’s embarrassed face. “That’s okay, luv. I’m
gonna swing with you. There’s nothing
to be afraid of. We’ll hold hands all the way down to the water, okay? Trust me.
I won’t let anything happen to you.”
All of Tara’s
life she had never felt safe or sure about anything, considering the dire
circumstances she grew up with. But
now…..the protectiveness in Mark’s voice made her feel as if no harm could ever
come to her.
“Well……maybe….”
Mark patted
his lap. “Sit right here.”
Tara walked
over and snuggled her bottom on Mark’s lap.
Mark fidgeted a little uncomfortably.
“Um, Tara…..I think you better stay still or something unexpected will
pop up.”
She rolled her
eyes and blushed. “Then I suggest you
better get yourself in that cold water fast!”
With a huge
smile, Mark swung them both off the dock as Tara held onto him for dear
life. As soon as they were over the
lake, Mark took her hand.
“Jump off!”
Together they
jumped off and landed in the lake below.
When Tara surfaced, her face was alight with laughter.
“Oh my
God! That was bloody fantastic!”
“Told ya,”
Mark said as he swam over to her. They
both waded around each other for a few minutes before Mark turned her to
him. Her gorgeous gray-green eyes were
even more expressive with her dark hair slicked back off her face.
“Why are you
looking at me like that?”
“Like what?”
“Like you want
to kiss me?”
“Because I
do.”
“Then what are
you waiting for?”
Mark grinned
and leaned down to kiss her. Tara
rested her hands on his shoulders before they wandered down to feel the
definition in his biceps.
As their legs
kept them afloat, they wrapped their arms around each other and deepened their
kiss. They were so into each other that
they didn’t hear Sean’s war cry followed by four loud splashes.
They broke the
kiss to see Sean, Wesley, Morgan and Jessica jump in and break up their little
snogging session.
As the six of
them continued to splash one another, Trevor and Emily remained on the dock
nibbling on Fritos.
“Wanna go in
luv?”
“Not yet,”
Emily said. “I’d rather like having
some alone time.”
“Me too,”
Trevor said as he slowly leaned in to kiss her.
What they
didn’t know was that they weren’t alone.
Up the slope, someone was bent over by the side of Trevor’s black Nissan
Pathfinder. They then straightened up,
walked to their car and took off.
Chapter
28
Waterlogged,
tanned, well fed and kissed out, the four young couples packed up their stuff
and headed back to their vehicles.
Trevor had picked up Mark and the girls while Sean picked up Wesley and
their dates in his dad’s car.
When Trevor
went to open the back hatch of his SUV, he looked at the right rear tire and
groaned.
“Bloody
friggin’ hell,” he said exasperated.
Mark, Sean and
Wesley came over. “Whats the matter?”
“The bleedin’
tire’s flat! Dammit! Must’ve ran over a piece of glass or
something.”
Sean looked
around. “Well, there’s no glass around
here. Maybe you just have a slow leak.”
“Want us to
hang and help?” Wesley asked.
“Nah, that’s
okay,” Trevor said. “You guys go on.”
“Sure mate,”
Wesley said. “Gonna go home and take
nap so I’m fresh for my date tonight.
Gonna take Jessica to the cinema.”
“Didn’t you
see enough of her today?” Mark asked.
“Even in that
bloody bikini of hers, I haven’t seen all I want to see!” Wesley leered.
“Yeah, well
Morgan’s gotta babysit tonight for a neighbor,” Sean said. “She wants me to come over, but the parents
don’t want any lads over the house.”
“So, just
sneak over for a bit,” Trevor said, getting out the jack and spare tire.
“Well I would,
but Morgan said that this lady has snoopy neighbors. They’re probably gonna be on the lookout. I guess I’m gonna stay put tonight. Later mates.”
As Sean and
Wesley took off with their dates, Trevor and Mark finished changing the
tire. Mark went to put the damaged tire
in the back of the SUV before noticing the tear in it.
“Aye Trev,
this doesn’t look like a puncture or anything.
Looks more like it was slashed with a knife or something.”
Trevor looked
at the slice in the rubber. “Huh,
that’s weird. Don’t know what could’ve
caused that.”
“More like who
instead of what,” Mark said.
“What do you
mean?”
“I mean psycho-disillusional-bitch-from-hell
Kristin, that’s who!”
“What? No way, Mark. She may be in denial, but she wouldn’t go out of her way like
this to get back at me. Plus, her and
her family go away every year at this time.
They have a time share in the country.”
“Yeah, well I
hope you’re right, cuz,” Mark said.
“Else you’ve got a real problem on your hands.”
Trevor thought
about it for just a moment before shrugging it off. As the four of them piled into the Pathfinder, Trevor took out
his cell phone and called home, only to get the machine. He punched in the code to see if there were
any messages.
“Trev, its dad. Forgot to leave you a note, but I just wanted to tell you that mum, Stephanie and I are going to grandma and grandpa’s for dinner. Uncle Ty and Aunt Grace are going over as well and her and your mum are going to cook.. They’re bringing Joe and Abby too. Stephanie’s gonna make her big announcement to them tonight. Give a call if you’re gonna go out later, okay? Bye.”
“Well Mark,
seems both our parents are out for the night.
They all went to Grandpa Sav’s so Steph can break the happy news.”
Mark turned to
Tara. “You girls wanna go get dinner
tonight since our mum’s aren’t home to cook for us?”
“What, no
cooking skills Mark?” Tara asked with a smirk.
“Um, no,” Mark
replied sheepishly before leering at her.
“My skills are elsewhere!”
Tara playfully
pushed him away as Trevor looked at Emily.
“What do you say luv? Wanna get
Chinese or something?”
“Sounds good
to me,” Emily replied. “I had too good
of a day to end it now.”
“Me too,” Trevor
softly said as he took her hand and rubbed it with her thumb.
“Uh, if the
two of you are done whispering sappy, sweet nothings, lets get rolling,” Mark
joked from the back.
“Whats the
rush, Mark?” Tara asked.
“Oh,
nothing. Just want to hurry up, get
home, get showered and dressed so I can see you again.”
“Now who’s the
one being sappy, cuz?” Trevor said, looking at Mark through the rearview
mirror.
As Trevor
started the car, and idea came over him.
“Aye, you
girls want to start the evening off with a laugh?”
“What do you
mean,” they both asked.
“How’d you
both like to stop off and meet our grandfathers first?”
Chapter
29
Around 6:00pm,
Mark swung by Trevor’s and picked him up before heading to get the girls. When Mark rang the doorbell, Tara was the
first to answer it. Mark took one look
at her and his body went stir crazy.
She was dressed in black, low rise jeans and a pale green sleeveless
sweater which was cut a bit low but held together by a cream colored satin
ribbon. Her glossy dark hair was pulled
back in a low ponytail so that her exquisite gray-green eyes stood out even
more due to the color of her top and her lightly tanned skin.
“Come on in,”
Tara said, as she eyed Mark up and down in his Hilfiger jean and black, short
sleeved buttoned Ekko shirt.
Meanwhile,
Trevor looked up to see Emily come down the stairs and was overcome by the same
feeling as Mark. Her lowrise Mudd jeans
and sleeveless lavendar top hugged her tight, curvy body to perfection. Mark leaned into Trevor and whispered.
“Why are we
taking these girls out tonight when both our houses are empty? Are we nuts?”
“No, just
trying our bloody damn best to be proper gentlemen,” Trevor whispered back
before smiling back at Emily who approached him.
“Do I look alright?”
Trevor tried
to keep his gaze away from her breasts in her parents house and, instead,
focused on her shiny, honey colored hair and topaz colored eyes. “I can’t keep my eyes off you, what does
that tell you?”
Emily smirked
and blushed as she appraised Trevor in his Gap jeans and white Polo shirt. “I can say the same for you,” she softly
said.
Trevor was
beginning to agree with Mark about taking the girls out when their houses were
empty. But, it was way too early to be
thinking about engaging in anything physical with Emily, even though he’d been
thinking about it since he saw her in his Geometry class the first day of their
junior year.
After a quick
hello and goodbye to Emily’s parents, the four of them took off to the elder
Savage household. As they walked to the
front door, Mark turned to the girls.
“Now, I’ve got
to warn you lasses. Our grandfathers
are not your typical elderly 80-something’s.
Especially my grandpa Joe.
Lets just say that he’s not shy about saying what is actually on his
mind and, most of the time, it isn’t too clean.”
“Sounds like
he gives new meaning to the word dirty old man,” Tara replied.
“Luv, dirty
old man is a compliment,” Trevor cut in.
“But, hopefully, they’ll behave.
Especially with our grandma’s there.”
They rang the
doorbell and it was answered by Stephanie.
Trevor immediately chuckled at the sight of her in a demure looking
shortsleeved maroon sundress.
“Guess dad
read you the riot act about wearing something decent tonight?”
“Don’t know
why,” Stephanie huffed, as she stepped outside to light a cigarette. “Grandpa Sav and uncle Joe have seen more
naked women in the 80’s than the entire male population of Sheffield will see
in their entire lifetime! But, I’m not
gonna ruffle any feathers. What are you
doing here?”
“Taking the
girls out for Chinese, but thought we’d stop by and introduce them to the
grandpa’s.”
Stephanie
leaned into Tara. “Watch out for Mark’s
grandpa Joe. He’s a boob man!”
“Steph!” Mark
exclaimed, a little embarrassed.
“Well, he
is! Don’t worry though. He’ll just look. He hasn’t been allowed to touch for a looooooooong time!”
“I swear
Steph, maybe you should’ve been his granddaughter,” Mark jested. “You’re just as brash as he is. C’mon, lets go in and get this over with.”
Mark and
Trevor escorted the girls inside and immediately saw 12 year old Abby whiz by
before she stopped short upon seeing them.
She got a wicked look on her face then sprinted into the dining room.
“Oooooh, Mark
and Trevor brought their girlfriends over,” she sang out.
Mark came up
behind his little sister and pulled her hair.
“Ow!”
“Shut your
trap, brat, else I’ll send you back where you came from.”
Abby put her
hands on her hips and regarded her brother.
“Show off!”
Before Mark
could respond, he was interrupted by one of his grandfathers. “Well, well, well, what do we have here?”
Mark looked to
see his grandpa Joe eyeing Tara and Emily with a big smile on his face. It was equally matched by his grandpa Sav’s
smile who was looking in the same direction.
Across the table from them, Ty and Scott smirked over the older men’s
expressions upon seeing their grandson’s girlfriends.
“Um,
grandpa’s, this is Tara Spencer,” Mark said as he walked Tara over to
them. “Tara, this is my grandpa
Joe. And that’s my grandpa Sav.”
Joe took
Tara’s hand and kissed it. “Well, I
haven’t seen anything as young and sweet as you in about 60 years,” Joe mused.
“I heard
that!” came a voice from the kitchen.
Mark
laughed. “Um, that was my grandma Abby
who can still hear a pindrop a mile away.
Tara
giggled. “Well, its nice to meet you
sir. And you too, grandpa Sav.”
“Thank you
lass,” Sav said, before looking at Emily.
“Trevor, I believe your lady is waiting to be introduced.
“This is Emily
Prescott, grandpa,” Trevor said.
Emily went
over and extended her hand to Trevor’s blue-eyed grandpa. “Its nice to meet you, grandpa Sav.”
“The pleasure
is mine, lass,” Sav replied.
“Fortunately, I’m not as annoyingly charming as he is.” Sav punctuated that remark by pointing to
Joe.
“Aye, how come
I get called sir while you get
called grandpa?” Joe complained.
“Sit down and
stop whining Joe,” Sav said. “I guess I
just seem more harmless.”
“More like
Paige’ll bite your head off! You’ve
been whipped ever since this one was born,” Joe said, pointing to Ty. “And when this one came along,” he
pointed to Scott, “her nails were sunk so far in you that you couldn’t escape.”
“I heard
that!” came Paige’s voice from the kitchen as well.
Sav smacked
Joe in the arm. “Will you shut up, you
bloody geezer!”
“What? Still afraid of your wife, mate?”
“I’m in my
80’s Joe. I’ve got little left to fear
but the sound of my arteries choking.
Besides, Paige wasn’t ever that bad and you know it. At least she let me stay in the band.”
“What do you
mean let? You don’t let a woman
tell you what to do!”
“I heard
that!” came Abby’s voice from the kitchen again.
“Here we go,”
Ty chuckled towards Scott before looking up at Tara. “Lass, you’re gonna be sorry those two lads ever suggested coming
over here. Why don’t you get some
reprieve by going in the kitchen and meeting the grandma’s.
Tara and Emily
looked at each other and smiled before going into the kitchen. Once they were out of earshot, Mark looked
at Joe. “So grandpa. What do you think of Tara?”
“Well, she’s
got a pair of knocker’s that’ll make me weep.”
Sav rolled his
eyes. “You know, you disgust me even more now than you ever did!” Sav then looked at his grandsons. “They’re absolutely lovely, lads. They look like keepers to me.”
Just then
Stephanie came back inside from having her cigarette. She looked around the dining room then back at her brother and
cousin. “What happened? Did the grandpas scare them off already?”
“Don’t look at
me, lass,” Sav said defensively. “It
was the geriatric snake here that was practically down their shirts.”
Joe looked at
Sav with contempt. “What in bleedin’
hell is keeping you alive all these years?”
“My unending
desire to piss you off,” Sav replied with ease. “So, Stephanie luv. Now
that you’re a married woman, is there any chance of you making me a
great-grandpa before I croak?”
“Grandpa,
please! We’ve only been married for a
month. Not to mention that in October
I’m heading to Antigua for a swimsuit shoot so there’s no way I can get
pregnant now.”
“Crikey,
lass,” Sav exclaimed. “Don’t wait too
long. I’ve already got one foot in the
grave.”
“If you’d
like, I can push you the rest of the way in,” Joe offered.
“Maybe if Abby
poisons your prune juice you can join me,” Sav shot back with a smirk.
“Okay you two
stop it,” Scott said. “I think the
girls are coming back in.”
Just as he
said that, Emily and Tara came back in the dining room. “Well, I think we met just about everyone.”
“Well,
actually, the last one you’ll get to meet is my Uncle J.T.,” Mark said. “He’s my mum’s younger brother. He and his wife live in Dublin. He manages a string of hotels there.”
“Well, if you
lads want, the girls are more than welcome to come to my wedding reception
cookout next month,” Stephanie said.
Emily and
Tara’s face lit up slightly as they looked at their respective lads who waited
for their response.
“Would you
like to, Em?” Trevor asked.
“Sounds
wonderful, thank you,” she replied.
Mark looked at
Tara. “You?”
“I’d love to.”
“Great,”
Stephanie said. “Wait till you lasses
meet my husband Frank. He’s gorgeous!”
“Alright,
we’re out of here,” Mark said. “Between
Steph and grandpa Joe, these lasses are gonna be brainwashed.”
“It was nice
meeting all of you,” Emily and Tara both said.
“Same here,”
came a chorus of replies.
As soon as the
front door closed behind the two young couples, Sav leaned into Joe. “You’re wrong Joe. “They both have impressive knockers.”
“We heard
that!” came Abby and
Paige’s voice from the kitchen.
Chapter
30
One Month
Later
Mid-August in
Sheffield turned out to be nothing short of a heatwave. But for Mark and Trevor it just meant they
were that much closer to the end of summer and going back to school to face
their senior year. Even though the
girls would be attending with them, it didn’t compare to the long, lazy days
and warm nights they’ve been spending together.
Both lads were
becoming smitten with their respective ladies more and more, yet neither of
them made a move to a more intimate level.
Neither one wanted to scare them off or screw things up, but the more
they were around them the harder it was to keep their hands off!
The day of the
picnic to celebrate Stephanie and Frank’s wedding arrived and Scott and Chelsea
were up with the birds to begin preparations for the immediate family to come
over to meet Stephanie’s new husband.
As promised,
Stephanie agreed to a small ceremony so she and Frank could say their vows in
front of everyone. The day before, the
backyard was set up with a flower bedecked tent and chairs and tables. By the morning of the celebration, the
doorbell rang constantly to deliver food, ice, pastry and wedding cake.
Frank had
arrived in Heathrow the night before, along with Stephanie’s longtime
photographer friend, and went to meet them.
They opted to stay in London overnight and taking the tram into
Sheffield early the next morning.
“Yoo-hoo,
we’re here,” Stephanie said upon entering her parents home.
Chelsea looked
up from a plethora of chafing dishes to see her daughter arrive with another
woman and an incredibly gorgeous man.
Frank.
“Mum, this
beautiful creature is is Francesco Triviani.
You can call him Frank, though.”
Chelsea felt a
blush creep over her cheeks at the sight of her tall, dark haired, dark eyed
supermodel son-in-law. “Its so
wonderful to finally meet you, Frank. I
say that Stephanie here dropped quite a shocker on us, but she has told us so
much about you that I feel like I know you.”
Frank took
Chelsea’s hand and brought it up for a kiss.
“Ah, the pleasure is all mine,” Frank said with a sexy Italian
accent. “And, I must say myself, that
Steffi has told me all about you as well.
I feel so at home.”
“Good, I want
you to. You’re family now. Um, my husband is out in the yard doing some
setting up. Let me go get him.”
“Oh, no need
mom,” Frank said comfortably. “Allow me
to go outside and meet my father-in-law.
You seem to have enough to do in here.
I come from a big, Napolitan family and we learn early not to be
strangers or to be shy.”
“Well,
okay. He’s hard to miss. He’ll be the one swearing at the tent pole
that’s about to collapse.”
Frank let out
a wonderful laugh before disappearing through the sliding door off the
kitchen. When he did, Chelsea turned to
her daughter.
“Very charming
indeed, Steffi!. Must be his
Italian blood.”
“He’s always
like that,” Stephanie said. “Sometimes
I think he’s too polite, but it helps because it balances me with my
quick temper. He thinks its fetching,
do you believe it! Anyway, mum, this is
Lucy Vaughn. She’s been photographing
me for about the last five years and she offered to come along and be the
official picture taker for the day.
Chelsea turned
to the late 30-ish woman and extended her hand. “Nice to meet you, Lucy.”
“You too, Mrs.
Savage,” Lucy replied.
“Please, call
me Chelsea.”
“Thank
you. I promise to get some great shots
and put a beautiful album together for you and your husband.”
They were
interrupted when Stephanie looked at her watch. “Crikey, I’ve only got two hours to get ready before the priest
gets here. Oh, mum, I have someone
coming by to do my makeup and hair.
Just send them right upstairs.
Thank God all Frank has to do is put his suit on. Men!
They’ve got it way too easy.”
“Steph, I want
to get some shots of you getting ready, okay?”
“Sure, come on
up. Mum, have daddy come up and get me
when we’re all set. I don’t want anyone
to see me till then.”
“Of
course. Go on, luv.”
Stephanie
kissed her mother and headed for the stairs, followed by Lucy. Just as they were about to go on up, Trevor
came down, attired in black, dress trousers and a white collarless shirt with a
black and gold button fastening the neck.
“Aye, you made
it,” he said to his sister.
“Barely. I’ve got two hours to make myself
decent. Frank’s out in the back meeting
daddy. Go say hi.”
“Sure, I’ll go
meet him before I go to pick up Emily.”
“Oh, Lucy,”
Stephanie said turning to Lucy, “this is my brother Trevor. “Trev, this is my friend Lucy. We’ve worked together on many shoots. She’ll
be the photographer du jour.”
“Hello Lucy,”
Trevor said, extending his hand.
As Lucy took
his hand, her photographer’s eye took in the gorgeous young man in front of
her. “Nice to meet you Trevor. One can easily see that you and your sister
came from the same gene pool.”
Trevor gave
Lucy a bashful glance with his dazzling hazel eyes before his shy smile gave
way to an appealing dimple. Lucy’s
carefully trained eye noted every nuance of Trevor’s features and expressions.
“Thank you. Well,
let me go meet this Italian Stallion husand of yours so I can go get
Emily. See you later.”
As Trevor took
off, Lucy followed Stephanie up the stairs, hoping that she brought enough film
with her today.
Chapter
31
A little over
two hours later, Stephanie walked across her parents meticulously manicured
lawn on her father’s arm wearing an ankle length, crystal beaded slipdress that
molded her model-thin figure.
As she and
Frank reaffirmed their vows for her family, Lucy clicked off several pictures
from different angles. After the
ceremony, Lucy basically tried to make herself as invisible as possible to
enable her to take natural looking, casual shots of Stephanie and Frank
interacting with her family.
With a
cigarette in one hand and a bottle of Guinness in the other, a very undemure
looking bride went up to Joe.
“So, uncle
Joe, tell me what you think of Frank.”
Joe looked
over at Frank who was charming just about everything in his path and
frowned. “I don’t like him.”
Stephanie
gasped. “Why not?”
“He’s too
goodlooking. Probably has washboard abs
too.”
Stephanie
wiggled her eyebrows. “As a matter of
fact, he does. You can bounce a quarter
off them and his bum!”
Joe
laughed. “Ha! You really should’ve been my granddaughter, you know that? I’m only kidding, luv. He seems like a nice chap, even though he
isn’t a Brit.”
“Ah, but
Italians make better lovers,” Stephanie mused.
“Wanna
bet? Aye Sav, come here.”
Sav was slowly
walking by with a tea in his hands as he heard Joe call out. “What?”
“Your
granddaughter here thinks that Italians make better lovers than Brits.”
Sav laughed as
he brought his hand slowly up to take a sip of tea. “Well, that’s just a myth, luv.
One that I think your uncle Joe and I proved wrong in he 80’s and most
of the 90’s.”
“Oh that
doesn’t mean anything,” Stephanie stated.
“Women didn’t want you because you were British. They wanted you because you were rock
stars.”
“Who cares,
they still wanted us!” Joe said.
As Stephanie
laughed with her grandfather and great uncle, Mark and Tara sat by a small
table and savored a piece of wedding cake.
“Blimey, I’m
gonna have to go for a 5 mile run
tomorrow morning just to work this off,” Tara said.
Mark glanced
at her sitting across from him in an
ankle length black chiffon sundress with white gardenias on it. “You kidding luv? There isn’t an ounce of fat on you. And….I’ve seen you in a bikini, remember?”
Tara blushed
as she bit her lip in question. “I know
what you’re thinking, Mark.”
“And that
is……?”
“When you’re
gonna get to see me without a bikini.”
Mark almost
choked on a mouthful of buttercream frosting.
“W..w..what?”
“You heard
me.”
“Have….have
you been thinking about it?” Mark stammered.
“Perhaps,”
Tara nonchalantly said. “Have you?”
“Tara, I’m a
seventeen year old lad. I haven’t
thought of much else. But, I’m trying
my best to be a gentleman because…….”
“Because why?”
“Because…..I
really like you. A lot. I know we started off on the wrong foot, but
then we patched things up. We’ve been
going together for a little over a month and I enjoy being with you. I want to be with you. In every way. But, that decision is yours.
I don’t want to push you into anything you’re not ready for.”
“I appreciate
that Mark, really I do. But, the truth
is…..”
“Yes….”
“I’m very
close to ready.”
*********************
Sitting on a
bench under a large, towering oak tree, Trevor and Emily enjoyed their cake in
the shade. But Trevor had a hard time
concentrating on eating with Emily sitting so close to him, clad in an above
the knee, ice blue sundress with tiny silver stitchings. Her smooth, tanned legs were crossed,
causing the hem of her dress to hitch up to mid-thigh. All Trevor wanted to do was touch her silky,
exposed skin.
He rested the
plate on his lap in a feeble attempt to hide what his randy thoughts were doing
to his body. “Having a good time, luv?”
Emily’s topaz
eyes sparkled as she smiled at him.
“Very good. I didn’t think your
sister could look any more gorgeous than she already does.”
“And what
about Frank?” Trevor asked with a bit of jealousy.
“Well, I have
to admit, he is goodlooking. He’s a
model, after all. But, I much prefer
what’s right in front of me.”
From a safe,
inconspicuous distance, Lucy focused her trusty Nikon camera on Trevor and
snapped off a few pictures of him. He
looked good from every single angle and his quaint, boyish shyness and
lovestruck look on his face whenever he looked at his girlfriend just begged to
be photographed. When she saw him lean into
his girlfriend so she could whisper something in his ear, she waited until he
leaned back and flashed a gorgeous smile that made his eyes come alive. Her rapid shot Nikon clicked off several
shots of that. After snapping about 15
pictures of Trevor, she called it quits when she saw him and his girlfriend get
up. She popped the roll of film out and
put it in a small cannister in her camera bag where it would wind up remaining
for quite some time.
********************
Back under the
oak tree, Trevor leaned down to Emily.
“Letsgo inside a bit and cool off in the airconditioning.”
“Okay.”
Trevor and
Emily went inside the empty house as he led her into the family room. “Wanna watch something on the telly, luv?”
Emily blushed
a bit then glanced around before looking back at Trevor. “Uh, actually, I’d um…….like to see your
room.”
Chapter
32
Tara came
inside to use the downstairs half bath just as Emily was coming out of it.
“Hey, what are
you guys doing in here?”
“Oh, just
cooling off,” Emily replied. “By the
way, stay down here a bit and lookout.
Trevor’s gonna take me upstairs to see his room.”
Tara’s eyes
widened. “Oh? And what else?”
“Well, not
much since his entire family is right outside.
We just want to be alone a bit.”
“No
problem. I was gonna hang inside a bit
and cool off myself. I just abandoned
Mark as soon as Stephanie grabbed him to dance.”
“Too
funny. Well, okay we won’t be long –
hopefully!”
With a wink,
Emily left and went upstairs to meet Trevor in his room.
After using
the bathroom, Tara came out and casually walked around the house a bit. The house was reflective of a man who was a
brilliant sports physician – large and expensively decorated, but had just a
touch of hominess to make it comfortable.
Mark’s parents home was even more luxurious due to his father’s
successful career as a rock star/record label mogul/producer.
Never in her
wildest dreams could she imagine growing up as priviliged as they did, but she
was no longer bitter about it. In fact,
ever since she confessed who she was and learned more about her brother Randy’s
past from Mark’s father, she felt more at ease.
Just then she
heard the sliding door open and in came Mark’s grandpa Joe who was surprised to
see her.
“Well, are you
hiding in here?”
“Oh no,” Tara
replied to the feisty old man. “I just
came in to use the loo and cool off a bit.”
“Me too,” Joe
replied. “Too blased hot out
there. Your poor boyfriend looks about
to die from embarrassment. Stephanie’s
trying to get him to do some stupid dance.”
Tara looked
out the slider window and saw Mark fumble through some moves with an
exasperated look on his face, and giggled.
She then turned to see Joe hold his hand out to her.
“Come with me,
lass.”
Tara took his
frail, aged hand and allowed him to lead her into the family room. She sat down while he went into a built-in
drawer under the coffee table.
“I know Scott
keeps these in here,” Joe said as he took out an old photo album. “Wanna see how young and gorgeous I used to be?”
Tara perked up
on the couch, suddenly engrossed by this appealing older man. “Sure!”
“Thought so,”
Joe said, sitting next to her and opening the photo album. Just then, they were interrupted by the
sound of another voice.
“Thought I
heard someone in here,” Sav said as he walked in.
Joe
frowned. “Quit following me.”
“Check your
ego, Joe, I’m not following you. Its
too bloody hot outside. I came in and
heard voices. And just what are you
doing in here alone with our grandson’s girlfriend?”
“Showing her
what a hot piece of ass I used to be, that’s what!”
Tara giggled,
thoroughly enjoying the banter between these two men.
“Joe, watch
your language, will ya? Tara luv, Joe
may have been goodlooking enough to have women swoon after him, but once you
get a look at what I used to look like, you won’t be able to form a coherent
thought.”
“Oh puleeze,”
Joe drawled out. “You were never this
conceited when you were pretty.”
“Let the lady
be the judge, Joe,” Sav said as he flipped a page to a shot of the band from
the 1992 Adrenalize promos. They both
watched Tara’s eyes widen.
“Well, who’s
better looking?”
Tara’s mouth
dropped open as she looked up at both of them.
“Who’s the buff blonde with the guitar?”
Joe and Sav
looked at the picture then frowned.
“Phil,” they both said in unison.
“Wow, he’s
hot,” Tara couldn’t help herself from saying.
“He’s older
than we are, lass,” Joe quickly said.
“Still alive,
too?” Tara asked.
“With the way
he took care of himself, he’ll live to be 100,” Sav said.
Tara continued
to peruse several other group pictures before she started to have some fun with
them. “So, which ones are you?”
Joe looked
appalled. “What? You mean you can’t tell? I’m only the tallest and best looking out of
all of them!”
“And which one
is grandpa Sav?”
“The girly
looking one with all the hair,” Joe sneered.
Sav shot Joe
an evil look as Tara whistled. “Wow,
you were a looker. Both of you
were. And….hey, who’s that cutie with
the curly hair?”
“That’s Rick
Allen – our drummer,” Joe said.
“Hmmm, not
bad. He’s
really……uh…..oh..my..God! Does….does he
have only one arm?”
“Yep,” Sav
said. “He lost it in a car accident
when he was only 21. He learned how to
play a drumkit with foot pedals.”
Tara was
absolutely amazed. “That’s
incredible! That must be quite a
story.”
“Oh we have
plenty of stories that are clean enough to share,” Joe said.
“Oooooh,
please tell me,” Tara begged.
******************************
Upstairs in
Trevor’s bedroom, Emily glanced around at his belongings which were synonomous
with a teenage lad. Television, dvd
player, CD player and a mountain of CD’s, and, on one wall, a lifesize poster
of Simon Farrell, Manchester United’s goalie.
“I guess he’s
your hero, eh?”
“You bet. I’m so psyched I got to meet him. I sure hope he recovers from his knee injury
in time for the season to start.”
“He is a mega
goalie,” Emily said. “You’ve probably
studied his moves.”
“Every single
one of them,” Trevor said. “I’d give
anything to play in the pros like that guy.”
“I think you
have a brilliant shot, Trev. And being
a senior, there’s gonna be a lot of scouts at the games this season.”
“I know. I’m so nervous, but thrilled too.”
“You look a
little nervous now,” Emily said. “Why?”
Trevor glanced
down at the floor and blushed a bit.
“Well, probably because I have a beautiful lass who I’ve been bonkers
about for quite some time alone in my room, that’s why.”
Now it was
Emily’s turn to blush. “Don’t worry, I
promise not to ravish you.”
“I’d rather
you did,” Trevor blurted out too fast.
“Uh…I mean….I wouldn’t mind.
But, there’s really not much we can do with my entire family outside.”
Emily shyly
walked over to him and snaked her arms up around his neck. “Well, then lets do what we can,” before she
pulled him down for a kiss.
Chapter
33
A half hour
later, Mark finally disengaged himself from his tipsy cousin Stephanie and went
inside to find Tara. When he happened
into the family room, he halted at the sight before him.
There was Tara
sitting on the floor with her legs tucked underneath her as she gave her full,
starry-eyed attention to his two grandfathers, who were sitting side by side on
the sofa telling her stories.
“……that
Monsters of Rock concert was an incredible moment,” Joe was saying. “It was like Rick’s homecoming. The cheers from the crowd nearly blew me off
the stage.”
“But nothing
compared us for what was to come after that,” Sav interrupted.
“What was it?”
Tara asked.
Joe and Sav
looked at each other and smiled before looking back at Tara and saying in
unison. “The Hysteria tour.”
Tara looked
confused. “Was that bad or good?”
“Depending on
how you looked at it, lass,” Joe said.
“If ‘bad’ means ‘naughty’, then it was a good thing!”
Mark decided
to interject. “Uh, grandpas. I have no idea what you’re about to tell my
girlfriend, but it doesn’t sound like its something she should hear.”
Joe thought
about it for a moment. “You’re right
lad. More like something you
should hear!”
Mark perked
up. “Glad to! I’ve only heard rumors from dad.
I even almost broke down once and called Uncle Phil knowing he’d tell me
everything.”
Tara looked
disappointed. “Well, isn’t there
anything decent you can tell me about that tour?”
Joe and Sav
looked at each other again and smiled before looking back at Tara. “No!” they said in unison.
She frowned
and got up from the floor. “Well,
thanks for sharing with me what you did.
It was fun hearing about your career.”
Just then
Scott entered the family room. “Whats
going on in here?”
“Oh, just
giving the lass a little trip down memory lane,” Sav said.
Scott folded
his arms and narrowed his eyes.
“Dad…….”
“It was
clean,” Joe quickly said. “Which mean,
there wasn’t much we could tell her!”
Scott shook
his head and laughed before looking around.
“Um, have any of you seen Trevor?
The photographer wants some posed family pictures and I can’t find him
or Emily.”
“Oh, they’re
upstairs in his………….bedroom,” Tara offered before she realized what she
said. “Oooops.”
Sav
laughed. “Right under your own nose
Scott! Oh, don’t worry. Whats the lad gonna do with his entire
family right outside?”
Scott groaned
and headed for the stairs. “He’s
seventeen, dad. He’ll do whatever he
can get away with. And I don’t need
history repeating itself.!”
**************
While this was
going on downstairs, up in Trevor’s bedroom, he and Emily were heatedly making
out. Emily had her hands in his hair
pulling lightly while Trevor kept his safely on her waist before he couldn’t
take it anymore. He wanted to feel more
of her. Her body was pressed flush
against his and he took it as a sign to dare a little further into uncharted
territory.
He slowly let
his hands slide down her waist to her gently curved hips. He felt Emily sigh in his mouth when he did
so and decided to go further. He moved
his hands around until he was cupping her firm little bum. Emily then whimpered a bit, never breaking
the kiss, and only pulled him closer, if it were possible.
Trevor groaned
deeply in her mouth at how far he had gotten and gently squeezed her bottom and
pulled her tighter against him. He then
slid one hand down until he came in contact with the hem of her dress and then
the silky smoothness of her bare thigh.
“God,
Emily,” he
breathlessly whispered in her mouth as his fingertips lightly caressed her bare
skin.
“Mmm,
Trevor,” she whispered
back. “Feels good.”
Trevor then
began to back up as Emily followed him, their lips and tongues never breaking
stride. When he felt the back of his
knees hit the edge of his bed, he sat
down, taking Emily with him. When he instinctively laid back, Emily was
flat on top of him. The hand that was
on her thigh trailed up until it was under her dress. When it came in contact with a pair of tiny silk panties, he
broke the kiss for a moment and began kissing her neck.
“Jesus God
Em,” he panted. “You’re driving
me crazy!”
Trevor was
beginning to lose control as he thrusted his pelvis upward to rub his rock hard
erection against Emily’s hip. Emily
whimpered again upon feeling that and wiggled against him. Trevor was gonna lose it in his trousers for
certain if this didn’t stop, but it felt too good. He couldn’t stop. Until
something made him stop.
“Trevor!”
The sound of
his father’s voice calling up to him from the bottom of the stairs made him
bolt upright, almost sending Emily sprawling to the floor.
“Fuck,”
he mumbled under his breath as he ran to his slightly open bedroom door and
opened it all the way to see his father’s stern face looking up at him.
“Y…yeah, dad?”
“What are you
doing lad?”
“Um….just
showing Emily my room, that’s all.”
Scott raised
his eyebrow. “With the door closed?”
“It….it was
open. Dad, I was just….”
“Nevermind. Get yourself down here now. The photographer wants to get some family pictures.”
“Alright,”
Trevor said as he went back in his room to find Emily fixing her hair and
lipgloss in his dresser mirror.
“Are you in
trouble?”
“No. I just have to go outside for pictures. Um…Emily, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for it to get that far.”
Emily went
over to him. “Its okay, Trev. I’m just as much to blame too. It just felt too good to stop. I guess…….I guess…….”
“What?”
“I guess we’re
getting closer to where we’re, you know…..not going to be able to stop.”
Trevor thought
he was gonna bust. “I…I…I guess,” he
stammered. “Um, you go on down. I’m
just gonna use the bathroom.”
When Emily
went downstairs, Trevor went inside the bathroom to splash very cold water on
his face. There was no way he could
pose for pictures with a massive boner poking through his trousers.
“Dammit,” he muttered as he took deep breaths and
pictured the hideous face of the girls gym teacher. It didn’t take long before his aroused state had dissipated.
Trevor grinned. “Works every time!”
Chapter
34
A few weeks
passed and with it came the reality of heading back to school. It was a rainy day and Tara was over Mark’s
to hang out for the day. While Mark
nodded off a bit in the downstairs family room, Tara wandered upstairs to the
kitchen where Grace was getting everything ready for dinner later.
“Let me guess.
My son fell asleep,” Grace asked.
Tara
grinned. “How’d you know?”
“Ever since he
was a wee lad the rain always lulled him to sleep. Even when he was a baby.
There were nights that I prayed it would rain because Mark was colicy in
the beginning and had a hard time going to sleep.”
Tara enjoyed
this time with Grace. Because her own
mother was close to 50 when she gave birth to her, she was eligible for social
security by the time Tara was a teenager, with her health beginning to fail as
well. It was just nice to have a
younger mum to talk to.
Tara happened
upon a fashion magazine and went through it while she sat at the table, sighing
as she flipped each page. Grace saw
what she was looking at.
“Gotta be
doing some back-to-school shopping soon, lass,” she said. “I hate shopping for Mark. He’s so fussy
about the style and the brands. I’m
glad he’s stopped growing though. The
lad cost me a fortune to clothe him.”
Tara looked at
all the stylish, youthful clothes on the pages of the magazine. Even though her Aunt Jean had taken her
shopping when she came to live with them, she knew she couldn’t afford
much. Fortunately, her and Emily were
the same size so she could wear her outfits when she didn’t have enough of her
own to choose from.
“These clothes
are so mega,” Tara said as she looked at the pages. “I love all these styles.
Emily’s got a lot of clothes like this which she lets me wear whenever I
want. I see about a dozen things I’d
love to get.”
Grace listened
to Tara with a heavy heart and read between the lines. It was probably just as expensive to clothe
two teenage girls as it was a seventeen year old lad and almost thirteen year
old girl. Grace thought that, even
though it was generous of Emily’s mum to take Tara in, it was probably a bit of
a financial strain.
This was the
first chance that Tara had at having a normal teenage life. She deserved to have her final year in
highschool to be her best and happiest.
After a while,
Tara closed the magazine and ventured back downstairs just as Mark was about to
come upstairs.
“Aye, I
thought you left me,” he groggily said.
“No, I just
went up to talk to your mum since you fell asleep.”
“Sorry about
that,” Mark sheepishly said. “Something
about the rain makes me sleepy.”
“So your mum
told me. Said you’ve been like that
since you were a baby.”
“Aw, crikey,
she didn’t pull out any baby pictures, did she?”
Tara
smiled. “Hmm, no, but maybe I should’ve
asked. You must’ve been adorable.”
Mark pulled
her down off the last step and wraped his arms around her waist. He stared his dazzling green eyes into hers.
“And why do
you say that?”
Tara wrapped
her arms around his neck and met his stare.
“Because you’re absolutely mega-fine now, that’s why?”
“Think so?”
Mark said with a twinkle.
“Oh, you know
you are, so don’t be so humble,” Tara mused.
“You’ll probably be surrounded by girls once we got back to school that
I’ll wind up getting lost in the crowd.”
“No need to
worry about the other girls, luv. Once
they know you’re mine, ain’t nothing they can do to steer me away.”
Tara’s face
warmed with a blush and a smile. “Am I
yours?”
“Mmm, hmm,”
Mark murmured as he leaned down to kiss her.
It started sweet and soft then slowly became hot and heavy. After a few moments, Tara pulled away and
looked into Marks flushed face.
“You know, all
this time I’ve been to your house, you’ve never played me anything on the
drums. I’d love to hear you play.”
Mark’s eyes
were alight. “Sure, luv. Lets go to my sanctuary.”
As Mark led
Tara to his ‘sanctuary’, she had a little more on her mind than hearing Mark
play the drums.
****************************
Meanwhile,
back upstairs, Tyler came in the kitchen through the garage door.
“Aye luv,” he
said to Grace, giving her a kiss.
“Mmmm, what are you preparing here?”
“Well, I
started a sauce early, so I think I’m gonna make lasagna tonight.”
Ty put his
arms around his wife. “How did I manage
to stay so trim with your mega cooking?”
“Probably all
the sex!”
Ty’s blue eyes
twinkled as he leered at her.
“Probably. How’s about a little
workout before I stuff myself with lasagna?”
“Sorry
loverboy,” Grace said. “I dropped Abby
off at her friend’s house earlier and she should be dropped off any time
soon. And…Mark is downstairs with
Tara.”
“Doing what?”
“Well, Mark
fell asleep. The rain, you know. Tara just went back downstairs a little
while ago. I guess she got bored
listening to our son snore and came up here for a little company. Which reminds me…….there’s something I’d
like to talk to you about.”
Chapter
35
Tara sat on
the small couch inside Mark’s ‘sanctuary’ as she watched Mark sit behind his
drum kit and select a song from his tape machine.
“So, what are
you in the mood to hear?” Mark asked.
“Rock, hard rock, acid rock, alternative rock?”
Tara
smirked. “How about country?”
Mark
winced. “How about…not on your life!
Tara
laughed. “Hmm, too many choices. Let me think a bit.”
“I’ll wait.”
“Why don’t you
wait next to me,” she said patting the space beside her.
Mark grinned
and got up to go sit beside her. When
he did, he leaned back and put his arm around her.
“Somehow I get
the feeling that you don’t want to hear me play the drums.”
“Well, I do,
but…..not right now,” she said as she leaned in for a kiss.
Mark forgot
all about the drums as well and kissed her back as he wrapped his arms around
her. One hand stroked her dark, silky
hair as his other arm was firmly clasped around her narrow waist.
As soon as
their tongues met, the kissed turned hot, wet and out of control. Mark was so out of his mind with the feel of
her that he wasn’t aware that she was pushing him down until he was flat on his
back and she was laying on one side of him.
Tara ran her
hand over his chest and slowly trailed it down to his chisled abdomen. When she touched the hem of his t-shirt, she
slipped her hand inside until it came in contact with hard, warm skin.
Mark gasped in
her mouth at the feel of her hand on his bare stomach, so achingly close to
where he really wanted her to touch him.
Since she was being so bold, he decided to be a little daring
himself. After all, Tara told him a
couple of weeks ago that she was getting very close to being ‘ready’. Knowing they wouldn’t get far with his mum
right upstairs, Mark decided to get as far as he could.
He slid his
hand from around her waist to the flat of her stomach. He then inched ever so slowly upward, waiting for any sign for Tara that he should
stop. When she didn’t, he went for it
and very gingerly cupped her firm, round breast in his hand.
Tara whimpered
a bit and arched her back slightly at the new sensation. Mark immediately let go before she whispered
into his mouth that it was alright. He
put his hand back where it was and continued to fondle her while her hand still
ran all over his chest and stomach under his t-shirt. When he felt her hand trail down to caress his skin right along
the waist of his jeans, Mark thought he’d die.
Each time he thought she was going to go lower and finally touch
him. He couldn’t stand it any longer
and decided to take a shot.
“Tara,” he hoarsly whispered in her mouth. “Touch me, please. I want to feel your hand on me.”
Tara was so
overwhelmed by the feel of Mark’s hand on her breast and their lips and tongues
devouring each other that her body had no control over her mind. All she heard was Mark’s sexy plea coupled
with the feel of him touching her.
She let her
hand wander down farther until it felt the length of something very hard behind
his fly. Mark growled deep in her
mouth.
“Mmm, yeah luv. Yeah. That’s it. Stroke it with your hand. God, you feel so good, Tara.”
Tara couldn’t
believe the power she had over him at that moment, yet she felt weak from the
raging desire coursing through her. Her
body was on fire and she knew not how to put it out. All she knew was that it pooled heavily in the forbidden place
between her legs.
Tara tried to
get some relief by parting her legs and wrapping them around one of Mark’s
legs. She slowly rubbed herself against
him as her hand continued to stroke his hard cock.
“Yeah! Oh God, Tara, yeah! Don’t stop. Please don’t stop. Faster, luv. A little faster.”
Tara stroked
him in time with rubbing herself against his leg. She didn’t know how it happened, but Mark had wound up snaking
his hand up her shirt and under her bra.
The feel of his hand on her bare breast made her head spin, but not as
much as the exquisite pressure building up deep inside her as she rubbed herself
against him faster. Her hand moved just
as quickly.
“That’s it luv! That’s it! Dammit Tara, yeah! Don’t stop! Please……don’t……don’t………ah…….ah, fuck!”
“Oh my God,”
Tara wound up gasping herself as the pressure down below exploded. Just as it did, she simultaneously felt Mark
throb against her hand as he let out a satisfied cry of pleasure.
Mark? Tara?
You kids in here?”
The sound of
his father’s voice caused Mark to scramble up.
Tara quickly adjusted her top and smoothed her hair into place, trying
hard to hide the incredible feeling that just overcame her.
“Uh….y..yeah,
in here dad,” Mark replied, trying to ignore the sticky wetness in his jeans.
Tyler opened
the slightly ajar door and looked at the two teenagers with very sheepish and
flushed looks on their faces. He
instantly hoped that all they were doing was making out.
“Whats going
on?”
“Oh, uh, Tara
wanted to hear me play the drums. She
was just deciding on a song.”
Tyler didn’t
know whether to believe him or not.
Considering they were fully dressed, nothing that heavy could’ve
occurred. Maybe.
“Okay, well,
your mum is making lasagna for dinner.
Tara, you’re welcome to stay if you’d like.”
“Uh, oh,
yes. I’d love to. Just let me call my aunt and ask her.”
Tara jumped
off and headed out of the room and upstairs to call her aunt. Mark then looked at his dad.
“Listen, I’ve
got to run back out for a bit,” Tyler said.
“There’s……something I need to do.
I’ll be back in time for dinner.”
“Oh…okay,”
Mark stammered. “Why don’t I go
upstairs and see if mum needs help.”
What Mark really wanted to do was run up to his room and change into a
clean pair of Joe Boxers.
As Mark went
upstairs, Tyler knew something was up.
Mark never offered to help with dinner.
They were definitely doing something down here and he only wondered how
long it would be before it became something more.