Aaron & Slade Ch. 07

The bond between siblings is a powerful one when given the chance. Candace and mine made stronger through illness. Slade and Juliet's bond forged at birth when he helped to deliver her when he was only eleven. From the second he held her, he was her protector. He would do anything for her even if it means ripping his own heart out by walking away.

I lift his head towards me as I wipe his tears. "There's no way she'll ever forget about you. You're gonna find a way to keep in touch."

"Not with Pa convinced I'll corrupt everyone in the house," Slade whispers.

"I sorry it didn't work out they way you hoped it would." I pause before asking the hard question, "When is your auntie expecting you?"

Shrugging, he answers, "I'll have to call her. Mama said she would handle the transfer for school, but it's up to me to do everything else. I'll have pack up my things, and tell my job I'm leaving. What should I tell the guys about why I'm leaving?"

Shit! I haven't even thought about Josh or Randy for the past couple of days. I haven't been a very good friend to either of them with my focus set on Slade.

"We can decide later what to tell them."

"Sounds good to me," he responds.

"Do you want me with you when you pick your things up from the house?" I ask hesitantly.

"I don't think that's a good idea. Can I ask your dad?"

"Sure. Ask him tomorrow," I answer, trying to hide how hurt I am.

"Aar, I would take you but I can't," Slade says, the regret obvious.

"No, I understand. Let my dad take you to get your things, but let me drive you to Norfolk."

"What? No way," he exclaims.

"Hear me out. I'm fine with driving you. If you decide to leave when we leave for Boston," I state calmly.

"That'll take you two hours out of the way. Y'all already have about a ten-hour drive ahead of you. I can't ask you do that for me."

"You didn't ask, I volunteered," I remind him. "It would be nice to see Miss Bernie again. It'll give me some peace of mind knowing you're settled. And, it'll give my family a chance to say, 'see ya, later'."

He's silent as he thinks over his options. "I'll agree but only if everyone else is okay with making the drive."

Slade stares down at the pool. There's so much going on in his head, and I have no clue how to help him, so I ask, "Jones, what do you need from me? Right here, right now, and I'll try my best to give it to you. "

"I need to sleep for the next twelve-hours," he says, looking me. "But what I really need is to work out all this aggression. If you have something to help with that, I'll gladly do it."

What can I do to help? The light bulb goes off above my head. It's perfect!

"Do you trust me?" I whisper, looking him in the eyes.

Apprehensively, he asks, "What the hell are you talking about, Aar?"

I repeat, searching his eyes. "Do you trust me?"

"Yes, I trust you, despite what you did earlier," Slade says quietly. He apologizes when he sees me flinch.

"It's okay. I'm not expecting things to go back to normal so soon. I want you to trust that I have your best interest at heart and wouldn't intentionally try to hurt you. I want you to trust me by not asking questions. Please?"

"Okay," he says with a nod of the head.

"You're right. These bugs are crazy. Let's go inside," I tell him. He helps me recover the pool and we head inside.

I close the door and flick the locks. Slade presses me up against the door, and kisses my back. His arms circle around my waist; he lays his head against my shoulder, and says, "I love you."

I cover his hands with mine. "I love you, too."

Slade turns me around, and while holding my hands he looks up at me and says, "Promise me that I'll never have to worry about you like that again."

Seeing the hurt still in his eyes conveys the unneeded stress I put on him tonight. I cross my heart, hold my hand in the air, and say, "I promise I'll never let you worry about me."

Every breath he exhales on my skin warms me. He locks his arms around my neck, rises on his toes, and kisses me. My hug lifts him off the floor, and he wraps his legs around my waist. I brace my back against the door. Adjusting himself so he can lean back a little, he asks, "Are you okay?"

I mutter, "I need to take a cold shower." He laughs, unwraps his legs, and slides down until his feet touch the floor. Hastily, I retreat upstairs after planting a kiss to his forehead.

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"Working out is your big surprise? You couldn't come up with something better?" Slade asks, sliding on a sneaker.

"Hurry up," I urge. "We have to drive to Richmond."

"Richmond? What's in Richmond?"

Smiling, I say, "You'll find out when we get there."

"Okay," he says giving up.

I hold back my laughter watching him try to figure out what I have planned for this early Monday morning. "Ready?" I ask, walking to the front door.

Slade follows but stops. "Wait, what about breakfast?"

"We don't have time. We'll stop when we get to Richmond."

He walks backwards to the kitchen. "I can't wait that long to eat. I'm gonna grab something to tie me over. Do you want anything?"

"I'll have whatever you have but no bananas," I call out and shudder.

Slade laughs, shaking his head and he says, "I know you don't like bananas." He disappears and reappears a minute later with muffins, apples, and bottled waters in hand. "Alright off to Richmond we go."

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"Are you gonna tell me now what you have planned?" Slade asks, as we leave the restaurant.

Nodding, I say to him, "What do you think would be the best way to get rid of all that anger you have?"

Mischievous smile spreads across his face when he replies, "Sex?

I nod and smile at him. "Good answer, but no, we did other things before sex, and I want to keep that part of our relationship going."

"What'd you come up with?"

"I thought the best way for you to take out your aggression would be to take a boxing class. For an hour, you get to pound on a punching bag, and learn the basic techniques," I tell him.

Slade nods and smiles approvingly. "Boxing? That actually sounds like fun."

"We might even get a chance to spar."

He lights up at the thought of it and says, "I'm definitely gonna like this. You're going down."

I pull out of the restaurant's parking lot. "Really, you think so? How about we make a friendly wager?"

"What's the wager?"

I think a moment before telling him, "If I win, I get a full-body massage, and you cook me whatever I want."

Slade rolls his eyes. "Okay, if I win, you have to, uh, I don't know. What do I want you to do for me or to me?"

I can't help but laugh. "You gotta come up with something before we get there."

"Don't rush me, I'll come up with something," he says smugly.

"If you say so, Jones," I announce, unimpressed by his boasting.

About five minutes goes by when I hear him laugh naughtily, and says, "I know what I want."

Jeez, what did he come up with for him to laugh that way? Apprehensively, I ask, "What is it?"

"You as my love slave for 24 hours," Slade says with a sly smile.

"What?!" I exclaim. No way, I didn't hear him right.

"You heard me. You have to be my love slave and do whatever I want you to do. It might be sex, a blowjob, a hand job, or it might not be sex at all, and it's for a whole day. Do you think you can hack it?" He asks, holding out his hand for me to shake.

The fact he's even suggesting this has me wanting to throw the whole thing in his favor. However, I'm competitive and hate losing, so if he wants the win, he's gonna have to earn it. "Bring it on," I say, shaking his hand.

"Don't worry, I'll bring it. You're goin' down, Brooks," Slade says holding up his fists.

"I don't think so, Jones."

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Well, I lost. Slade took a clean shot knocking me on my ass. I laugh to cover up my embarrassment as I lay in the ring.

"We're gonna get you checked out. Make sure you don't have a concussion because you look a little dazed," the disembodied voice above me says, as I try to focus. I soon recognize the voice as belonging to Bob, our instructor.

"I'm fine," I announce to everyone looking down at me.

"Yeah, well, let Doc here be the judge of that. He's all yours," Bob says, turning to the thin, balding man climbing in the ring.

Doc is thorough with his questions. I answer them, quickly and precisely. I tell him I feel fine other than the slight headache I had before we started the lesson and my now black eye.

"Okay, you don't appear to be concussed. Take extra-strength pain reliever for the headache. Here's a cold pack for your eye, ten minutes on and ten minutes off until it's warm. Keep icing it other than that there's nothing you can do for it. Avoid contact sports. If your headache worsens or you become dizzy and/or nauseated, go to the hospital immediately. Understood?" He says with a commanding tone.

"Yes, sir. Thanks, Doc," I say standing slowly to me feet.

"Sure you're okay?" Slade asks the worry evident.

I gingerly apply the ice pack to my eye as I climb out the ring. "I'm fine. Embarrassed but I'm fine."

"Let's go," he says, leading the way to the locker room.

"That was one hell of a punch," I admit, sitting to face him on the bench in an isolated area by our locker.

"I honestly don't know what came over me. Baby, I'm sorry," he whispers sincerely, scooting closer.

Shaking my head, I say, "Don't be. I knew what I was doing. I knew it wouldn't take long for you to get in the punches you wanted to take last night and you did. I'm just happy all I get is a black eye."

He laughs, leans in, and plants a kiss to my cheek before saying, "I have to admit I'm not as upset, and I even feel more relaxed."

I smile, pointing to me eyes, and say, "Then this was worth it."

Slade plants a sweet, lingering kiss on my lips, but remembers where we are. He grasps my thighs. "Are you ready to go?"

"Yeah, but can you do me a favor? Can you drive back?"

His eyes widen in shock. "Are you serious?"

"Yeah, I have no choice. I'm having a hard time focusing. I can't take the chance driving while feeling like this."

Soon, a smirk replaces his look of shock. "I told you I'd drive your truck before the end of the summer."

"Jones, if my eye wasn't swelling, you wouldn't be driving my truck," I tell him undoubtedly.

"Whatever. Do know what else this means? You're my love slave. Baby, unpack your red jock 'cause I plan on collecting," Slade boasts.

"I let you win," I tell him, as I pass him his things and the truck keys from our shared locker.

"Sure you did. I won fair and square," he says, throwing multiple punches through the air, and then holds his fists up in victory. He bounds out the door with a renewed spring in his step.

When I follow him out, Bob hands me an extra ice pack. "Hey, your friend has a lot of pent up anger. I saw it when y'all walked in. Tell him if he wants to stay out of trouble, he can come here anytime he wants, and we'll help him channel his anger the right way. Give him my card."

I look at the simple business card. Waving the extra ice pack, I say, "I'll tell him. Thanks for this."

"No problem, kid!"

I amble out the door. Slade's already in the driver's seat searching through my playlists.

Groaning, I climb in and say, "Damn."

"What?"

"The sun is bright," I mutter shielding my eyes from the sun. He takes a quick peek and makes a face. "It's not that bad, is it?"

"It's bad enough that I don't think we should date anymore. I can't be seen with someone so hideously deformed!"

I give him a hard nudge. "Shut up. Fuck you."

"Maybe later, but right now, we need to get you something for your headache," Slade says smiling at me.

I hold the balled business card in my hand, and clear my throat. "Bob wants to help you channel your anger in a healthy way. He gave you his card."

He takes the card and shoves it in his pocket. "Boxing isn't for me. Even if it were, I'm moving back to Norfolk."

"He might be able to hook you up with a gym closer to your auntie's house. What could it hurt?" I ask, leaning back to look at him.

He lovingly caresses my cheek. "Okay, I'll think about it, but I'm not promising anything. Now, are you sure, you want me to drive?"

I nod. "Practice makes perfect, as long as you don't kill us or my truck, you can drive however you want."

"Cross your fingers," Slade says turning the key. The truck jerks suddenly. "Shit, sorry, sorry, okay, here we go, I got it." He cautiously pulls out of the parking lot and onto the main street. We arrive at the drug store moments later. "I'll go in and grab what you need. What else do you want besides the drugs?"

"I want butter toffee popcorn and sour worms."

"Butter toffee popcorn and sour worms, are you kidding me?"

"No, they taste good." I remove the ice pack from my eye. "How does it look now?"

"Looks like I need to start shopping around for a new boyfriend. I'm gonna miss you, baby," he says with a straight face.

I pout, sitting up to look in the mirror. "I really wish you'd stop doing that 'cause you're starting to give me a complex."

"Sorry, Aar, I was kidding, I'll stop." Slade laughs, grabbing my hand. "I'm going in. Try not to go to sleep or anything. You might not have a concussion, but better safe than sorry."

"I'm not goin' to sleep. Go get my popcorn," I say, placing the pack back over my eye.

"Yes, your majesty. I'll be right back." He jogs into the store.

"I don't look that bad," I mumble to myself, and hum along to 'Shining Star' by The Manhattans.

Slade returns five minutes later. He places two pills and bottled water in my hands. "Take those now."

Tossing the pills back, I turn to him and smile. "Thanks. You're too good to me."

"Yeah, I know." He starts the truck and we're off. When he hits a red light, he turns to me, and smiles. I rest my hand on the back of his neck, and he kisses my wrist several times.

I hold up the box of popcorn. "Do you want some?"

"You're gonna have to feed me 'cause you don't want me driving with one hand," he says, pulling away from the light.

"Check this out, I'm the injured one, but I'm feeding you. How does that work?"

"Them's the breaks," Slade says with a shrug of his shoulders.

I place a few kernels in his mouth. "You're feeding me ice cream tonight out on the back porch."

"We'll see about that. Dang these are good!" He says chewing loudly.

I nod in agreement. "Just wished they filled the box. They're stingy with the goody goodness."

We finish off the treats. The closer we get back to South Hill, the more I'm not looking forward to my mother seeing my eye. She's going to flip her biscuit. I should've had Slade buy me earplugs too.