Super Avenged

“Looks like rain.”

“Relax.”

“I’m telling you: I can almost see the rain falling.”

“But you can’t. So relax.”

“I’m doing this for your sake.”

“Oh, I thought it was because you melt when water makes contact with your skin. Don’t worry: I’ll be fine.”

“Well, not really for you personally, but for your sketchbook. I’m sure it disagrees with water.”

“Jimmy, really, it’s fine. It’s a new sketchbook. If it gets wet, only this sketch will be ruined.”

“If you say so...” Jimmy muttered uncertainly. We sat on a bench in Central Park: I was sketching, and Jimmy was occupying himself with staring up at the clouds. His head was slung back, his blue eyes staring at the dark gray sky. He was concerned about it raining and ruining my sketch. It wasn’t turning out too good anyway, so if rain came, I would at least have an excuse to ditch it.

“Central Park is rather empty today,” I commented as I looked up from my sketch. We appeared to be the only ones in the park, which was unusual, seeing as it was about three o’clock in the afternoon. Usually, the park was bustling with activity at this time. Now, it was a desolate and abandoned place.

“Because they didn’t want to get rained on,” Jimmy answered, still looking up at the sky. I sighed and shook my head. His worry was unfounded, really. I flipped my sketchbook closed and placed it on the worn brown bench beside me. I shifted my Indian-style crossed legs into a more comfortable position before resting my hands on my legs.

“What shampoo did you use?” Jimmy asked, running his hand through my hair. He straightened up from his slouching position and leaned over to smell my hair. “It smells good. And it’s soft.”

“That’s not at all stalker-like of you,” I answered, looking around at him. Jimmy smiled before pressing his face against my neck. He wrapped both of his arms around me, pressing a kiss to my throat.

“You like it,” he whispered, breathing in the smell of my perfume that clung to my clothes and skin.

“Keep telling yourself that,” I joked, patting his knee. Jimmy chose to take the high road and ignored my comment. I smiled and turned my head to press a kiss to Jimmy’s head.

“The rain is coming,” Jimmy said suddenly, sitting bolt upright. And seconds later, the clouds opened and rain began to pour from their gray depths. It was heavy rain, too, that kind that penetrates every defense you put up. Within moments, Jimmy and I were soaked to the skin. Jimmy and I looked around at each other before bursting into laughter.
“You’re good,” I yelled over the pounding of the rain.

“I know,” Jimmy replied, forced to yell as well. “I’m surprised it took you this long to figure that out.”

“C’mon,” I said with a laugh. I grabbed my sketchbook and supplies before unfolding myself from the bench. Jimmy followed my lead. We linked hands and started on our way back to my apartment.

“Wait,” I just barely heard Jimmy’s voice above the rain. He jerked me back around to face him and dragged my lips against his. His lips were wet with rain, but I figured mine probably were too. I dropped my sketchbook and supplies in favor of wrapping my arms around his neck. I buried my hands in his sopping wet hair. I could feel his fingers delve into the depths of the dark, wet mess of my own hair. Our tongues played patty-cake with each other, having just a fun old time.

Reluctantly, Jimmy and I pulled away. I remained on my tiptoes, something I was forced to do just to be in reaching distance of his lips. We stared into each other’s eyes, pale blue into sky blue. Rain dripped down his face out of his hair, which was plastered across his forehead in thick chunks. Water dripped off the end of his nose and poured down his face in endless torrents.

Jimmy pressed one more lingering kiss to my lips before sliding his arms away from my waist. I dropped back on my heels and quickly recovered my stuff from the rain-splattered ground. As heat gathered in my cheeks from the surprisingly lustful kiss, Jimmy seized my hand again and we continued our journey back to my apartment.

((*****))

“So much for having a good hair day,” I muttered beneath my breath as I wrung my hair out into the sink. The rain still hadn’t let up, and I could hear it pounding against all the windows in my apartment. Jimmy and I had hurried back to the apartment, even though we were already soaking wet. The feel of that amazing kiss back in the park still lingered on my lips.

Jimmy appeared beside me in the mirror. He shook his head, and water droplets sprayed out of his hair. I shrieked and shielded my face with my hands. Jimmy just laughed and leaned over to press a kiss to the side of my neck. I smirked around at him before wringing my hair out on him. He shrugged and wrapped his arm around me. Very casually, he steered me around before shoving me into the shower. He turned the cold water on, and it splashed right on me.

“AGH! Cold water!” I shrieked, hopping out from beneath the spray. Jimmy turned the water off and laughed, bent almost double and clutching his stomach. I scowled and climbed quickly out of the shower as indignantly at I could. I seized a towel out of the cabinet before leaving Jimmy to laugh in the bathroom. I walked across the living room into my bedroom, which was extremely dim even though the blinds weren’t covering the windows. I flicked my light on and walked over to my dresser. I began to search for some dry clothes.

Only seconds after I began to dig through my dresser, an arm wrapped three times around my waist and dragged me about a foot off the ground. I huffed, crossed my arms, and looked over my shoulder. Jimmy stood leaning against the doorway into my room, one hand buried in his front pocket, the other stretched out and wrapped around my waist.

“Boo,” he said. I just shook my head.

“You don’t scare me,” I told him. Jimmy raised his eyebrows and advanced into the room. He flicked the light off as he went. He stepped forward and pressed me against one of the walls, his arm still wound around my waist. I still dangled a foot off the ground, level with him now. His blue eyes caught what little light came from outside, turning them bluer. I could just barely make out his outline, but his blue eyes were clear as crystal.

“How about now?” he asked. I could tell this was amusing him. He stood about a foot from me. I rolled my eyes, something I was sure he saw.

“A teddy-bear would scare me more than you do,” I told him. Jimmy advanced slowly closer, until his body was inches away from brushing against mine.

“And now?”

“Oh, boy, I’m a-quivering in my socks now,” I answered sarcastically. Jimmy’s eyebrows rose higher as he stepped closer and leaned in until his lips just barely brushed against mine.

“Scared yet?” he breathed.

“Never,” I breathed back before pressing my lips hard against his. His tongue snuck past the seam of my lips as his arm unraveled from around my waist. His hands tightened instead on my hips as he backed me towards my bed. I sank back onto the mattress, and Jimmy followed me down. My stomach clenched involuntarily as Jimmy dragged his lips away from mine and began to drop kisses down my neck.

He pulled back for a few seconds to peel his t-shirt away from his torso. He pressed one more light kiss to my lips before moving down my body. He pushed my tank top up a bit to unveil my abdomen. He traced a line of kisses across my skin, right above the line of my jeans. My heart thundered against my ribs and in my ears, so loud that I couldn’t hear the rain still splattering the windows. When Jimmy began to push my tank top further up, following its ascent with his lips, I blurted out,

“Wait.”

Jimmy raised his head and looked up at me, his clear blue eyes still clear as could be. He looked patient and calm, perhaps because he already knew what I was going to say.

“I...I just don’t think I’m ready for this little...encounter,” I told him, struggling for the right words. Jimmy blinked once before looking back down. He rolled my tank top back down so that it covered my abdomen before climbing back up my body and lying on his side next to me. Thinking that maybe he was disappointed or upset, I rushed to explain myself.

“It’s not that—”

Jimmy silenced me with his lips against mine. He pulled away and rested his lips against my forehead.

“You don’t need to explain,” he whispered against my skin. “I understand. It would’ve been quite a stretch for you to be ready for this sort of thing after being single and brokenhearted for so long.”

He didn’t sound disappointed or upset. I caught no tone of anger or unhappiness in his voice. He actually sounded calm and collected, and definitely more patient than I thought I deserved. He brushed a lock of my damp hair away from my face and pressed a kiss to my temple.

“We had better get in some dry clothes,” he announced as he rolled off of the bed. “Or we’re bound to get a cold.”

“Jimmy,” I said, grabbing his arm before he could walk away. He turned back, looking down at me out of patient blue eyes. “Thank you.”

Jimmy smiled. Something in my eyes told him that I was thanking him for his patience and his calmness and his acceptance of my limits. He didn’t need to ask about my reasons.

“No problem, Miya.”