Stroke Of Fear

    Cassie is still out with Eric when I tuck myself into bed. Who knows what the hell they’re doing? Well, I’m pretty sure I know what they’re doing. They just met this morning and they’re already running off to make-out in some secluded spot. A small rap of knuckles hit against our cabin door, and I jump.

   I can’t help it, but my heart starts pounding. Who in the hell could it be? “Who is it?”

   “Me.”

   Shit. Rolling my eyes, I uncover myself and open the door for Jake. He’s leaning against the doorframe, arms crossed. A tight, white shirt stretches over his chest and down his thick arms.

   Looking up at me through dark, thick lashes, he asks, “Can I come in? Or are you going to make me stay out here?”

   I cross my arms over my chest, realizing I don’t have a bra on. Not that Jake hasn’t seen me naked before, he has, plenty of times. But, not now. Not in weeks. “You want the real answer to that?”

   He sighs, and kicks off the door. “You don’t need to be alone. Let me in, please. Just for a little bit and I’ll leave you alone.”

   “It’s against the rules.”

   Reaching past me, he opens the door for himself. Sighing, I shut and lock it behind him.

“I think your cabin is bigger than ours.” Walking around, he runs his fingers over my bedspread. “It smells like you. I’ll never forget that smell. Lavender. Flowery. It makes me remember our first month of dating. We’d lay on your bed, tangled up with each other and kiss until those pouty lips were swollen.”

   Heat flushes my cheeks. Suddenly the floor seems very interesting.

   “What’s happened to us?” I hear, then feel his hands wrap around my shoulders and move toward the crease in my elbow. “I miss you, Aubrey.”

   I miss me, too. “I do, too.”

   Pulling me closer, he wraps his hands around my lower back. “Then let’s give it a shot again. Let’s fall in love again.”

   Tears. Damn it, they’re threatening to fall down my face. “I’m not ready, Jake. Not yet. I just… I need some time to myself.”

   He growls and retracts his hands. “Is this still about the water incident? I mean… I apologized. I had no idea you were afraid of the water. I had no idea you would almost drown, Aubrey.”

   “Exactly. You had no idea. If you knew me just a little you’d know what h—” My voice cuts off. I can’t tell him. It doesn’t feel right. The conversation feels forced.

   “What? What happened?” Jake takes another step toward me, closing the rest of the distance. The heavy smell of his AXE spray tingles my nose. It’s so familiar. So approachable.

   Shaking my head, I wrap my hands over my chest. “It’s nothing. I don’t want to talk about it. I’m sore from the fall. I’m tired from today, and I want to go to sleep.”

   Jake runs his fingers through his dark blond hair. “Can we give it another try? I’ll give you a week or so, and then we can see where we’re at? Please? You won’t regret it.”

   Pressing my toe into a spot on the hardwood, I shrug. “I guess. But, I need space until then. I need time.”

   Jake smiles and presses a soft kiss to my forehead. “Okay, baby. Lock the door when I leave. If you need anything call me. Text me. Just please come to me if you need anything.”

   I nod so he’ll leave, then shut the door behind him. I click the lock and scoot back into my bed. The warmth settles my nerves and before I know it, I’m drifting off into a dark abyss.

* * *

   The wind from the water was cold. So cold. Freezing, actually. My fingers laced over the edge of a railing. A railing I knew all too well. As if on schedule, my breath started to come in quick, hard jabs.  The cool air formed an invisible weight against my chest.

   “Oh, Aubrey. That hair. I’ve always loved to touch those golden locks.”

   No. My mouth was wide open, but something kept any words from forming on my lips. It was his erection poking into my lower back. I felt it pressing harder, harder. A silent scream ripped from my throat. I imagined it filling the air, imagined someone hearing me. Helping me. Rescuing me.

   “Oh, Aubrey. I’m going to finish the job this time. You won’t wake. You won’t have to dream anymore,” a hoarse, familiar voice, whispered in my ear.

   Something was tied tightly around my wrist, bounding me together, again. I yanked and pulled, but it didn’t budge. I was trapped. My hands surrendered, my body capitulated. It was happening again. Not again. He couldn’t be out. He couldn’t be here.

   My silent voice made its appearance and my voice wrecked through the air. It was too late. I was moving closer to the edge. I screwed my eyes shut. Don’t open them. Don’t look into the eyes of your killer— into the eyes of your death.

   “Open them, Aubrey. See what’s in store for you.”

   The rough hands that were wrapped around me released, and I fled—falling down toward the water below. But when I opened my eyes this next time, I wasn’t on the bridge. There was no railing. No concrete structure staring at me. It was woods. A cliff. My screamed echoes through the trees before I was pushed down so far under water that I would never resurface.

Chapter Four

Tanner

I’m getting use to the woods here. It’s not too much different from back home. Just here no one talks with a drawl. It’s all fast and busy. The woods are comforting. When I moved into my brother’s extra room in downtown San Francisco, I knew I was giving up the outdoors. Well, my kind of outdoors. This is a great substitute.

   The crickets play a soft tune underneath the sound of the trees blowing in the wind. Then there is the water close by, rustling against the rocks in its way. These two months may not be too bad after all.

   I’m passing the girls’ cabins when I hear a small knock. On the step of Aubrey’s cabin is Asshat. He’s leaning against the doorframe like he owns the fucking place. If I had any sense, I would have knocked the fuck out of him at the cliff.

      “Me,” he says.

      “Asshat,” I mumble underneath my breath. Stepping to the side, into the shadows I watch. What the hell is happening to me? I’m watching like a fucking stalker.

     Aubrey opens the door, and I take a large breath in. Fucking, shit. Her thin, white tank top is stuck to her breasts. And holy mother if she doesn’t have a bra on. Christ. I    press my eyes close and curse underneath my breath. Why? I’m never going to get that out of my fucking head. Then she shifts, and I see her short pajama bottoms. Torture. My dick moves in my jeans, urging me to walk over there and rip off the little clothing she has on.

   “Can I come in? Or are you going to make me stay out here?”

Kick his ass out.

   “You want the real answer to that?” she asks.

   I hold back laughter. That a girl.

    He kicks off the door. “You don’t need to be alone. Let me in, please. Just for a little bit, and I’ll leave you alone.”

   “It’s against the rules.”

   Reaching past her, he opens the door for himself. He comes so close to her. I wish I was walking into that cabin to toss her little ass on the bed and have my way with her.

   What. The. Fuck. “No,” I whisper. “Not. Going. To. Happen.”

   I continue my walk toward my truck. My baby. It’s an old pick-up, blue, rusted spots all over it, but she’s mine. I bought her last summer from one of my dad’s friends at the lumber yard. He gave me a great deal for her.

   Opening the tailgate, I stop when I hear a moan. What the hell? Damn kids. It