Chapter 5

• CHAPTER FIVE He was Twenty five and she was twenty one.
• He was going on some errand for his grandfather or something —he couldn’t remember what it was. Because the moment he saw her walk down the beach toward the dock he had forgotten what he was supposed to be doing.
• She was such a pain in the ass.
• He was Seventeen… And she was Thirteen.
• Jensen discovered that she had an annoying habit of popping up at the worst possible moment. Really embarrassing moments.
• Like when he was at the back of his house drinking one of his dad’s beer. Or when he was making out with some girl behind the old well.
• One time he chased her, all the way to her house. He was determined to teach a lesson… Teach her not to mess with him. But when he caught her, he just couldn’t. He let her go. Then watched as she tried to dust the sand off her clothes. Her face red.
• He smiled. “Kitty Kat” he said.
• She answered by calling him a dork.
• One time she stole a pack of cigarettes from him and broke them all in two. He wasn’t even smoking them, he just carried them around to look cool. He didn’t know what to do with her.
• It was hell. She wore make up now. He told her it was ugly and she looked silly and that she was trying too hard to look older.
• She told him he looked like a geek.
• She pissed the hell out of him. And all her brother Jon did was laugh. That’s how Katherine was. Annoying. He had to get used to it. Jonathan said.
• But annoying as she was. She baked the best cookies he had ever tasted…. And cupcakes. And when she realized he like them, she always brought him some everytime she baked. She would pack them in a shoe box lined with wax paper and bring them to him.
• Sometimes she brought them to school for him. As they grew older he realized she cared about him… She liked him. He knew that. And he liked her too… But just as his best friends little sister… He told himself then. She wasn’t his friend. He wasn’t going to be friends with some kid.
• Then he had lost his parents…And it had hurt like hell.
• No one had ever seen him cry.. But she did.
• All his family members, friends and well wishers were at his house. Everyone one had some consoling words for him. Words that didn’t make him feel better one bit.
• Some said ‘Let me know if there is anything I can do for you’ and then walked away before they even found out of there was anything they could do.
• Some of the women brought food… Anything to make him eat something. But he wouldn’t touch anything.
• His grandfather was going to take care of him and his siblings now.
• He didn’t have appetite to eat anything. He had felt sick inside. Empty. Dead.
• And then he opened the door to find Katherine standing there with a box of cookies. She hadn’t said a word. No “I’m sorry for your loss” or “let me know if I can do anything”. She had just stared at him with her big bright eyes and handed the box to him.
• They both left the house. Went to the a spot on the path leading to the river. And they sat on a rock together. She sat so close he could feel the warmth from her where their shoulders almost touched. They didn’t say anything. Just ate the cookies.
• The cookies and her presence had made him feel better —for a while.
• Then he remembered his parents. He was never going to see them again. Nothing was going to ever change that. Suddenly he wanted to be alone… He wanted to run and hide from everything. From everyone.
• And so he told her to leave… She did.
• And then he had sat there and sobbed in his knees. He thought he was alone. Then he heard a movement. She was back… Or she had never left. He stared at her. He was mad at her for staying. He didn’t like that she had seen him cry. But he didn’t have the strength to yell at her, though he wanted to so bad.
• She folded her hands and hung her head. She walked right up to him and sat down again.
• Then she did something he had never expected.
• She cried with him.
• They got closer after that day. Close enough to make Jonathan a bit jealous. He often told Katherine to go hang out with her own friends. But she didn’t seem to mind.
• She helped him get over his parents death. And he looked after her at school. Like he took care of his sister. Sometimes they walked to school together or took the bus together.
• He remembered sitting with her on the bus one day. Her friend Eva hadn’t come to school that day. She was sitting alone, looking out the window. He didn’t like the way she looked so he had left his friends and came to sit with her. She was so happy.
• She still followed him around a lot . But it didn’t annoy him as much as it used to anymore — though it did sometimes. He still called her Kitty Kat. And she told him everytime not to. But he still did because he loved to tease her. She looked so funny when she got pissed.
• That rock by the river became their spot. They went there together with some of her cookies. And they ate and talked and argued about almost everything. Like why the sky and the ocean was blue and how planes flew and why engines need oil. They talked about a lot of silly things too.
• When he was leaving for college she was very upset. She cried. She didn’t want him to go. He was going to miss her too but he was also excited about going to college. They kept in touch for a while… But then the calls and texts became less frequent and then they stopped. Jonathan told him she left to live with one of their aunts when she got into college.
• He didn’t see her for years after that.
• Next time he saw her he had graduated from college and he was back home. He was supposed to join Dillon at their parents company. But he knew deep down that he wanted something of his own. He hadn’t expected to see her. Nobody told him she was back.
• He was hidden in a group of trees. Oh yes —he remembered now —he was cutting wood from a tree that had fallen when he heard the hinges squeak and a screen door slam. He cast a quick glance toward the house where a girl in bright blue bikini came down the front porch steps and crossed the lawn.
• He leaned a shoulder against a tree and just watched her. She had a great body. He had thought.
• Then he recognized her face. He couldn’t believe it. It was Katherine Kavell—kitty Kat.
• He stared at her, his mouth open.
• Gone was the awkward teen who wore too much make up and followed him everywhere and annoyed the crap out of him. She was taller now. And her shape — that blew him away.
• He shook his head in disbelief. Annoying little Katherine Kavell — The annoying pest who thought she knew everything, spied on him, had seen him cry and became his best friend. Well she wasn’t so little anymore. He was amazed at how much she had changed.
• He felt a stab of something earthy and carnal go clear through the center of him. The axe he was holding slipped from his hand and hit the ground with a dull thud. He swore under his breath and shifted slightly.
• He couldn’t take his eyes off her. And he didn’t want to. So he just fed his eyes.
• Her hair was longer and straighter… It brushed her shoulders as she walked down to the end of the dock where a red and blue beach towel lay spread out and a radio played a tune.
• He leaned against the tree and crossed his arms, then drew out a breath slowly, kind of a half whistle of amazement that a girl could be put together that way. She was so hot.
• She bent over and tossed something on the towel. He groaned and closed his eyes. He heard the music throbbing through the air with the same beat that his heart pounded. He opened his eyes because he couldn’t hide any longer. He had to see her. He couldn’t deny himself the sight of something so beautiful — so wonderfully made. So he stared.
• She was standing with her toes curled over the edge of the dock, her stances stiff and straight, her arms raised high, ready to dive.
• He shoved himself from the tree and moved down toward her. This time things had changed — he was following her. That was kinda funny. He thought. Remembering how many times he had told her to go away and leave him the hell alone. Or how many times he had to chase her away. Now he was the one doing the following. He smiled.
• She dove in.
• When she hit the water, his breath caught and held as if he had to hold his own breath along with her. He walked faster, down the dock toward the water. But when he reached the towel, he stopped. He stood there staring at the rings of water she left behind, while the music from the radio blared out over the cove.
• Her head broke through the surface, sleek and wet. He bent and flicked down the volume on the radio, then he straightened and waited until she turned in the water.
• She froze the instant she saw him. Her eyes widened. She looked surprised.
• “Jensen” she said.
• Her voice was older and throaty. It made him think of things like smooth soft skin and hot deep kisses.
• He took two steps to the edge of the dock and squatted down, resting a hand on his thigh. He didn’t say anything… He just looked at her and enjoyed the view. He didn’t get to see this everyday. Hell — he had never seen her like this. The air grew hotter and tighter and felt heavy.
• She swarm towards him.
• He reached out a hand to her.
• “Hi there, Kitty Kat” He said smiling.
• She put her hand in his and he straightened, pulling her up with him while he watched the water run down her body. She had changed so much. Developed the right curves in all the right places. Sunlight drenched her, outlining her petite figure clad in the hot blue bikini
• Damn. That was an honest to god figure she had there. The curves and indentations were enough to make his mouth water. And his mouth watered.
• He was surprised. He had never thought of her this way before. Up until then, she had been little Kitty Kat. His best friend’s sister who followed him every where and pissed the fuck out of him. His friend who had been there for him in her own way when he lost his parents. His personal pain in the ass.
• And speaking of asses…
• His gaze hooked on her body. He was sure the round ass was gonna be enough to make his stomach howl out. For a split second, he imagined bending her over, pulling that bikini off and sinking something— a part of him into her. And his groin throbbed in agreement.
• He licked his lips and her eyes followed the movement.
• She stood so close to him, so close that all he had to do was lean forward and their bodies would touch.
• Chest to chest. Hip to hip. Mouth to mouth. He had a strange and laughable version of them touching and steam suddenly fogging up the air around them. He grinned.
• She was much taller now. No longer the little Kitty Kat. But it didn’t matter how tall she was because he was still taller and she still had to look up at him.
• She slid her hand from his grip, turned away and grabbed the towel
• She used it to cover herself while she awkwardly pretended to dry off. Taking her time. He couldn’t almost see her mind spinning. He wanted to know what she was thinking. She looked uncomfortable… Good to know he wasn’t the only one.