Inspire (14 page)

“No, I’m good. Thanks,” I answered.

“I make a mean latte,” Mike offered, waggling his eyebrows.

“No thanks! I’ll remember that for next time though,” I replied sweetly.

“Listen dude, we’ll get out of your hair, since the crowd is here but I’ll call you later,” Travis said, pumping Mike’s fist once again.

“Okay. By the way, you have to start thinking about your new art because that’s what I’m getting you for your birthday.”

“Right, will do. Talk to you later Mike.”

Travis wrapped his arms around my waist and was pulling me backwards toward the door while nuzzling my neck.

“See ya later Paige!” Mike called out.

“See ya!” I responded, giggling at Travis’s advances. He was so playful, and not at all hindered about expressing his feelings towards me in front of everyone. The situation gave me the reassurance I needed, because it truly seemed as though there was only one reason he was keeping us a secret back at camp: Ashley.

“Sorry, I would have introduced you to everyone else, but they were swamped in there,” Travis apologized as we stepped outside.

“No worries, the place was packed. So, are you and Mike close?” I asked.

“Yeah, he’s my boy. He and Scott are my two best friends and pretty much who I spend most of my time with,” he explained.

“Oh. So, where to now birthday boy?”

“Well, there is something that I want to go do with you but that’s not until three o’clock, so in the meantime can I show you my town?” he asked.

“Sure, I would love to see where you hang out and where all of your favorite spots are. So, what are we doing at three?”

“It’s a surprise. Come on,” he said, entwining our hands and pulling me forward.

Travis showed me all around the city. He started by giving me a little history tour of the area, impressing me by how much he knew. Then we wandered down a street to his favorite pizza shop where we shared a slice. Afterwards, we stopped by an ice cream shop for some dessert. The entire time Travis had me laughing telling me all kinds of stories, including one about a ridiculous childhood date he went on, where he ended up knocking the girl’s scoop of ice cream onto the floor and then proceeded to pick it up and put it back on her cone expecting her to eat it.

“Yeah, I had no game back then,” he said, making me laugh even harder.

“So, did she eat it?” I asked.

“She actually ended up taking a bite,” he said, chuckling at the memory. “Our date was done at that point, and needless to say things between us were over.”

“She clearly liked you enough to take a bite, got to give her props for that. I wouldn’t have,” I teased.

“You wouldn’t have wanted to impress me?” he asked, halting in front of me giving me an adorable pout.

“I would have just done this to impress you.” I leaned forward almost touching his lips and then right before our mouths met, I turned to take a lick of his cone. “I’m a fan of sharing,” I added smiling, as I took a step back. He grabbed my waist pulling me in for a kiss, which nearly knocked me off my feet.

“If I had been on the date with you, I would have just given you mine,” he said, smiling sweetly.

“You definitely have game now,” I said, placing another kiss on his lips. We parted as people passed us clearing their throats, apparently offended by our PDA.

Travis looked at his watch and saw that we had some more time to kill so he wanted to take me to one more place. “And this…” he said, as we entered a very brightly illustrated shop, “is where I’ve had all of my tattoos done.” The place was empty, but the music was blasting. A guy came from the back room and Travis walked up to shake his hand. “Hey Tye! This is my girlfriend Paige. Paige this is The Man, Tye,” Travis said, clearly regarding him with high respect.

“Hi Paige! It’s nice to meet you.”

As Travis and Tye took a moment to get caught up, I couldn’t help but admire his tattoos. Other than from a distance, I had never really interacted with people that were covered in them before, and Tye was head to toe covered. There was one running down the back of his neck, and continued to the wrists of both of his arms. From what I could tell it also looked to fall below the front of his neckline, which I figured probably meant that it spanned his entire chest as well.
I guess if you work in a shop like this, you have to be passionate about it
I thought. Tye seemed like a really nice guy though, slightly older than us, but probably no more than twenty-two.

“Hey Paige! So you want to get inked?” Tye asked, clearly trying to get a rise out of me.

“I’m set. Thanks,” I said, moving closer to Travis.

“No way, you’re not touching her. Her skin is too perfect,” he said, wrapping his arm around my waist. “Besides, she already has one. And no, you can’t see it.”

Travis was acting very protective and I found it to be sweet. I was also thankful that he added the last part because my tattoo was very personal to me, and I didn’t want to have to explain the meaning at the moment, nor did I want to have to pull down my pants in front of Tye.

“Nice! Well, if you ever want another, we can take care of you. By the way, when are you coming in man?” Tye asked, turning his attention back to Travis. I was curious for his answer because I hadn’t realized he was planning on getting another one.

“I don’t know. Mike asked me earlier, but I still haven’t figured out what I want yet. I have to think about it.” He looked at his watch and then noted the time. “Hey babe, we need to go or we’re going to be late.” We said our goodbyes and then made our way out.

When we walked into what looked to be a rundown warehouse, I was a little concerned. I was nervous that Travis was taking me to some strange underground club or something. But once we were inside, I learned that it was some kind of old factory that had been converted into different art studios and shops. We walked down the main hall, and Travis stopped in front of one of the stores. “In here,” he said, holding the door open for me.

As I entered, I saw the walls lined with shelves of ceramics, and realized it was a pottery painting shop. “Oh, are we going to pick out something to paint?” I asked, having been to one of these places before.

“Actually, we are going to make our own pottery,” Travis said. “I spoke to the owner and she is going to teach us how to make soup bowls that will be donated to the local soup kitchen. They already have a bunch made, so she we will be adding ours to the big lot.”

Tears pricked my eyes, out of the thoughtfulness of Travis’s plan. No one, especially no guy, had ever gone out of their way to plan anything remotely this considerate before.

“Travis,” I said, then found myself rendered speechless. I couldn’t find the words, so I just leaned up and kissed him expressing everything I wanted to say with the touch of my lips. “Thank you!”

“You’re welcome. Come on, let’s go get started so we can get a bunch done,” he said, pulling me towards the back. He was equally excited by the idea, which warmed my heart further.

After a quick lesson, we found ourselves in a groove making the bowls. The process wasn’t as difficult as I imagined it would be and both of us were actually making decent replicas. So far we had made a bunch.

“This is amazing Travis, thanks!” I said, spinning my hands around in the clay. The wheel was circling, and my fingers were forming the sides of the bowl I was working on. Travis finished another one and placed it on the shelf to dry. Then he came to sit behind me. He straddled my chair, and nuzzled my ear.

“Hey you!” I giggled, trying not to mess up my masterpiece.

“Can I help you with that?” he asked. I nodded and then he placed his hands in the center with me for us to form the bowl together. Although it was messy slimy clay that we were working with, it was one of the most erotic moments I have ever experienced. Our fingers mingled together, and relayed to each other what was really on our minds. Once the bowl was finished, he turned me taking my cheeks into his hands, and kissed me sensually. The burning in my body was making me want to combust and I felt his body reacting the same way.

“Your lips are incredible. I can’t get enough of them,” he whispered into my mouth as his hands cupped my neck pulling me closer.

As we heard a noise in the other room, Travis pulled back to look at me and then chuckled. “What?” I asked, wondering what he found so funny.

“You now look like you’re wearing a clay beauty mask.”

In the heat of the moment, I hadn’t even realized that he was placing his dirty hands all over my face, but now that he had brought it to my attention I felt the goop sticking to my cheeks and neck. “Travis,” I shrieked, feeling the stickiness on my skin. He started laughing even harder at my reaction, which egged me on. So I scooped up a little bit of the clay and smeared it all over his chin. “There, now we are even,” I said, smirking at my handiwork.

“Uh, uh,” he said, shaking his head. I quickly scooted off the seat to avoid his attack, which only encouraged him. Before long, we were in a clay fight, and both looked like we had been doused with mud.

Travis and I were laughing so hard when our lips came together again. “Should we make some more or go get cleaned up?” he asked.

“Where are we going to get cleaned up?” I hadn’t brought a change of clothes, but I supposed I could always buy something.

“My place,” he said.

“Oh, okay.” I was excited that I was actually going to get to go back to his house and see where he grew up.

We quickly cleaned up the mess we had made, before thanking the owner for allowing us to come in. She thanked us in return and admired the fourteen bowls that we had finished. “They will love these! Come back anytime,” she said.

Chapter13

Travis and I headed back to the main marketplace to retrieve my car, and then drove back to his place. We pulled up to a gate and I admired the grand estate that stood behind it. The house was similar in size to mine, and reinforced that Travis came from wealth. It was amazing how nothing about him screamed spoiled rich kid, which was one of the things that I loved about him. He pulled into the drive and parked.

“By the way, how did you get into town?” I asked, wondering if we had left his vehicle behind.

“My parents dropped me off so that they could give me my new car.”

“Oh, right,” I said, having forgotten all about it. I was surprised that he wasn’t eager to rush into the garage and drive the thing. After all, he was a guy.

“Welcome,” he said, opening the front door of his house to let me in. I looked around as I stepped inside and admired how beautiful and modern everything was. His mom clearly had a knack for decorating, because the place was stunning.

“Wow, Travis. Nice digs!” I teased. He shrugged his shoulders as most males would, not really caring about décor.

“So, how about I order some food then we can both get cleaned up?”

“Sure!” I said.

“So what are you in the mood for?” he asked.

“No way,” I said interrupting him, “it’s your birthday, you choose, I pay!” I knew he wouldn’t go for it, but it was worth a try.

“Nope, you are absolutely not allowed to pay. But, how about Chinese?”

“Sounds yummy,” I agreed.

After placing the food order, Travis showed me the way upstairs to his bedroom and bathroom. “Wow mister, you have quite the place,” I said, admiring his very tidy suite.

“Thanks. You ready to get cleaned up?” he asked, waggling his eyebrows. I wasn’t sure how serious he was about us showering together, so I just played along.

“Yes, are you planning on scrubbing me down and getting all of this clay washed off me?” I asked, biting my lower lip.

He looked stunned by my request, and I couldn’t help but giggle. It seemed as though I had caught him off guard. He pulled himself together and moved closer to stand in front of me.

“I would love to wash every inch of your body,” he said, running his fingers lightly down my arms sending tingles to my core. “But, I need to listen out for the food so I’m going to quickly shower in the other bathroom. Can I have a rain check though?”

Wow, a guy actually turning down an opportunity to shower with a girl. He is either trying to be a complete gentleman, which is what I suspect, or nervous about taking things further. Based on his kisses and all of his moves, he clearly knows what he’s doing and has had experience, so I’m going with theory A.

“I’m going to put your clothes in the wash, so you can grab a pair of my sweats or whatever you want from my drawers to put on,” he said, gesturing to his dresser.

“Thanks, here you go,” I said, slowly unbuttoning my t-shirt to hand it to him. “Oh, and you need these too,” I added, sliding my shorts down my legs. Travis had already seen me in my underwear earlier, so there was nothing to be shy about. He watched with lust seeping through his eyes, and then swallowed hard as he took the clothes from my hand. Trying to stay a seductress, I turned to make my way into the bathroom and in a few seconds was tossing my bra and panties out to him. I peeked my head around the door and saw him standing holding my things and looked to be contemplating whether or not he should join me. “Thanks,” I said and then hopped into the shower.

At no point did Travis join me, which left me a little disappointed, but at the same time I appreciated his resistance once again and the respect he was showing me. As close as I felt to him, and as deep a connection was forming, the reality was we still needed to learn more about each other before things were taken to the next level. We hadn’t yet spoken about our sexual history or experience, so that would have to come next.

I took my time enjoying the extra-spacious shower and the hot water. It had been a week since I had had a normal shower, so the feeling was luxurious. It made me wonder though where Travis showered when he’s back at the campground. I figured he must use the shower in the men’s room. Although, he might use the one in his parents’ camper.
I’ll have to ask, I’m curious
I thought, as I was finishing up.

After I dried off, I went ahead and picked out a pair of Travis’s boxers and a black t-shirt. The clothes smelled of him, so I luxuriated in the scent. When I got downstairs, I saw that the food had already arrived and Travis was grabbing us drinks. “It smells good. Can I help with anything?” I asked.