Spirit Desire

I quickly placed the jean jacket over my shoulders as I shut off the car. The music from the small Garcia's house could be heard from blocks away and was drowning out Salvador's voice who was telling me to not call him too late because he had to work early in the morning. I nodded before quickly grabbing the present bag from his hands and walking towards the door and knocking loudly.

Natalie smiled widely as she opened the door and pulled me inside of the small living room that was already full of people. Our friends from high school were mingling throughout the house along with her brother's friends and Chris' band mates.

"Happy Birthday," I exclaimed as we stopped before the kitchen and shoved the gift bag towards her.

She acted surprised, "I thought I made it clear I didn't want any presents," she chided but laughed and dug her hand into the small bag. "Thank you!" she exclaimed as she pulled out the small leather jacket I had bought her, "I love it, in fact I think it matches this outfit." She muttered before wandering off to her room to try it on.

My eyes scanned the packed living room as I looked for someone familiar to talk to and stopped at a familiar mess of black hair in the middle of the kitchen.

"Javier!" I yelled as I saw him through the crowd of people in the kitchen. As always he was standing by the various bottles of alcohol, brooding and glaring at people who he deemed too drunk.

"Adri," he yelled and waved me over.

"Javi," I muttered as I threw my arms over his shoulders and hugged him tightly. His hands grabbed a hold of my hips as we swayed for a bit before separating.

"You look good Adriana. As always," he laughed as I struck a pose in front of him. "Tequila?" he asked. I nodded my head enthusiastically, he smirked before grabbing my hand and pulling us towards the second floor where from experience I knew the good alcohol was hidden.

"Listen," he started as he poured tequila into two glasses, "I'm sorry I couldn't make it to your graduation."

I shrugged my shoulders. I had already gotten over the fact that one of the people I wanted at the ceremony the most hadn't been there. "Don't worry about it. Like you said, commencements are boring. I wish I could have skipped it myself."

"I really am sorry though," he took a seat next to me and placed his hand on my leg.

"It's fine." My face scrunched up as I downed the shot of tequila and felt the warm liquid down my throat.

He nodded his head before kissing my cheek and standing, "come on, Natalie's probably looking for you." He grabbed my hand and pulled me up from the bed, "if you want any more good stuff you know where to get it."

I laughed before we walked off into the kitchen again and began talking about our summer plans. Javier was planning to--along with Natalie-- visit his parents in Seattle, which would leave me without my best friends for the summer. He just shook his head once I told him I was going to spend my summer looking for a job now that I had graduated.

"God, you're such a good girl," he laughed. "Just wear a tight skirt and a shirt that shows your chest. You'll get the job."

"You're such a pig sometimes, Javi."

"I'm just teasing," he wrapped a hand around my waist and pulled me towards his side before pouring various liquids into a cup and handing it towards me. He quickly poured himself a glass of whiskey and squeezed my hip before moving us throughout the party.

Javier was as you would say a social butterfly. What I lacked in confidence in going up to people and making small talk he exuded. So we made our rounds throughout the party as we said hi to everyone there and I was forced into awkward encounters with people I would have been happy if I have never seen after our high school graduation.

The backyard was as full as the living had been, people standing around the conveniently located coolers full of beer and some were even inside the small pool. Javier and I sat in the small gazebo in the crisp air, he muttered about there being too many drunk people already, even though it was only half past eleven. I forced smiles whenever Javier talked about upcoming projects with bands and how great his life had been going this past year.

"You're friends are looking for you," Javier muttered and angled his head towards their house where Natalie was waving her hand frantically as she tried to get attention. I smiled and waved before looking at Javier, "I'll see you later then Javi."

He nodded as he stood up for a hug, "if you need to stay here, know my room's still open."

I just smiled before walking towards Natalie. "It looks good," I commented as I noticed she was already wearing the leather jacket I had given her a couple of hours ago. She smiled widely and turned to Chris to explain how she had wanted the jacket for months and how I was such a considerate friend.

"Have you opened my present?" he asked timidly as he kissed her temple.

"No!" she exclaimed before grabbing his hand and dashing off inside to her room where all her presents were hidden.

"It's a purse," Leone said from his place beside me, "he had his mom pick it out. You should have seen how nervous he was when he asked his mom for help. His sister had just refused and laughed at him."

A cigarette dangled from his thin lips as he ran his hands through his hair. In the darkness of Natalie's backyard.

"I'm sure she'll love it, she likes the act of people buying her presents more than the actual items," I shrugged my shoulders as I swirled my drink.

We fell into an awkward silence as he looked out onto all the people in the backyard and I desperately wanted to leave or create some sort of conversation. Whether it was awkward or flirtatious. Truth be told, I kind of wished it had been flirtatious because my mind was just imagining all the tattoos on Leone's body and his shirtless form. Jesus, I could have been drooling at that moment but he spoke after a few minutes.

"Are you and," he paused and looked over at Javier who was currently serving himself more tequila inside, "him...together?" he asked.

"Javier?" I asked as I followed his line of vision. He shrugged nonchalantly before taking a large gulp of his coca cola. "I don't know..." I frowned, "I don't think so." I took a sip of my drink before shaking my head, "No. No we're not."

"Seems awfully confusing," he commented before leaning on the wall behind him, his eyes scanning the crowd in the backyard before giving me a once over.

"We never officially ended it, we just needed time apart" I started before placing myself beside him, "but it's over, it has been for almost a year."

"Why?" he shifted until he was looking at me.

"Distance," I muttered somewhat angrily, "couldn't handle the fact I had to live in Los Angeles for another year while he lived in another city."

"Los Angeles is like a three hour drive from here," he pointed out.

I rolled my eyes, that was exactly what I had told Javier when we had a talk at the beach. He had said it wasn't working out too well between us and we should take time to think about our relationship. San Diego to Los Angeles wasn't too far and we each other almost every weekend, but apparently the thought of just one more year of living in different cities was too much. Through the time to rethink our relationship we had just naturally broken up but remained friends.

"Still some distance, whether it was three hours or a fifteen hour plane flight" I shrugged my shoulders. "It's over," I ended the conversation before it could get too deep.

"So..." he grabbed a bottle of water, "you didn't come to our show last week." He licked his lips and my eyes followed the movement before he spoke again. "You kept me waiting all night for you to show up."

"I had better things to do," I smiled.

"Tell me, what was better than going to my show?" he grinned widely.

"There was a Love It or List It marathon on and I couldn't miss that."

"I hoped they listed all the houses, that Hilary's a fucking nightmare," he shook his head.

I couldn't help but smile as I turned to looked at him and rested my head on the beige wall, my head pulsating along to the beat of whatever song had been playing. We made eye contact and for once in my life I didn't look away, nor was I scared of the silence around us. I was perfectly content just looking at him while he did the same to me.

And by God, I had thought he looked attractive up on stage with bright lights shining upon his lean body but it didn't compare to now. He was even more attractive clothed in black jeans and a shirt that tightened on his defined muscles and with his honey-coloured eyes looking at nothing else but me. I sighed contently as his eyes crinkled in a barely there smile.

"Come on Adriana," I swear I almost fainted at how he had pronounced my name, "let's go sit down."

And so we did, back in the small gazebo where Javier and I had been only minutes ago. Two more bottles of soda later for him and a screwdriver later I had knew of small things that gave me some insight into his life. His favorite food was arancini--which he claimed his mother and grandmother made the best due to their family recipe straight from Sicily--, he rooted for Napoli and his favorite color was blue. He was fluent in Italian and I swear I wanted the conversation to continue in that language--even though I wouldn't have understood half of it. His favorite book was 'The Divine Comedy' and I laughed at him for being a typical Italian and relating all his likes back to his heritage.

"No, De Niro's best role was in The Godfather. He was Vito Corleone for Christ sake," he argued as I tried to convince him De Niro had been better in Taxi Driver.

"Come one, who can forget that scene when he's in front of the mirror with the guns," I made the motion of shooting a gun, "You talkin' to me? You talkin' to me?"

He laughed loudly and placed his hand over my shoulders, his fingers wrapping themselves around strand of black hair. "You're something else tesorina."

The screwdrivers and shots of tequila I had taken flew straight to my head at the sound of him bestowing me a pet name.

"What are you talking about?" I laughed, "I assure you, I'm a hundred percent regular girl."

His eyes darkened and slowly scanned my body, "I believe that, but I'd love to prove it" he spoke huskily and I was thankful we were sitting down.

I gulped before nodding my head, "maybe after I get some of your mom's arancini."

"Already trying to meet my mom aren't you?"

His hand dropped to my waist where his fingers lightly skimmed the sliver of skin between my blouse and jeans--goose bumps broke out over the skin and my arms. His hand lightly squeezed my side before he spoke again, "It's getting pretty late."

I nodded my head before taking a quick look at my phone. 2:37 and unread messages from my brother lit up the screen. "I should get going. Salvador is already texting me asking if I need to be picked up, he works early tomorrow." I rolled my eyes as I unlocked the phone.

"Is that your brother?" Leone asked, his hand leaving my side to grab his bottle of soda on the glass table. I nodded my head as I began dialing his number, "don't bother tesorina, I'll take you home."

"No it's fine. I'll stay in Javier's room, he offered already," I shrugged my shoulders.

"I'll take you home Adriana," he took a sip of his drink before standing and offering me his hand.

"You haven't been drinking?" I narrowed my eyes as he pulled me up from my position on the small love seat.

He rolled his eyes, "nothing besides coca cola and water, you saw," he grinned as he pulled me behind him through the throng of people still occupying the backyard.

"Happy birthday," I told Natalie once more as we met her at the front room, happily sitting on Chris' lap. "I'm heading out now, enjoy your party."

She stood up for an extremely tight hug, "Thank you! Is Salvador here? I'd like to personally yell at him for not even bothering to get out of his damn car to say a simple happy birthday."

"No, Leone is kind enough to offer me a ride home. He says he lives nearby," I shrugged my shoulder as we looked over at him. He was currently deeply engaged in a conversation with his band mates.

"Oh okay then," she said with a surprised expression which slowly turned into a Cheshire grin with a wiggle of her eyebrows. "He's definitely cute," she whispered, but it came out at a regular volume.

"Oh knock it off," I mumbled, as Leone began walking near us. He nodded his head before saying a happy birthday and a quick goodbye to Natalie.

He led us both out of the packed house and into the front porch where Javier and his friends where sitting and drinking. Javier quickly stood up and with a chaste kiss said goodbye before shaking hands with Leone. He was silent the rest of the way to his car that was inconveniently parked about four blocks away from Natalie's house.

"This is a beauty," I smiled as he opened the passenger door to an older looking Ford Mustang. It smelled like the cologne Leone was wearing and the fresh smell of pines from the small freshener hanging off his rear view mirror.

He rubbed the dashboard as he slid into the driver's seat, "she's gotten me through a lot of tough times."

"She?" I questioned as he began driving towards the general area of my house.

"We decided it was a she as soon as we began working on fixing her. Here lies all my teenage years," he sighed fondly.

We settled into a comforting silence, the only sounds were from some smooth jazz cd--which he said his mom ordered him to always keep in his car in case of company-- and me dishing out directions toward my home. He parked his car silently at my driveway and shut off the car before shifting in his seat towards me.

"Thanks for the ride," I smiled as I took my seat belt off and turned towards him.

"You're welcome," he murmured and placed his arm along the back of my seat. His fingers played along the nape of my neck and I shivered as he turned his window down and the cold air made its way into the car.

"I had a nice time talking to you," he placed a stray hair behind my ear and I could feel my cheek break out into a deep blush even though he hadn't actually touched my skin.

"I did too," I replied as I felt him run his fingers along the collar of my jean jacket. I shifted closer to him--almost magnetically--as he shifted towards me. Our legs were touching and I wanted to at that moment rid myself of the fabric just to get closer to him.

Never before had I wanted to kiss someone as much as I did at that moment. His honey eyes were smoldering and the moon light illuminated his face, contouring all the delicate lines throughout his face. His lips were parted and my eyes could not pull away from the sight.

"Tesorina," he mumbled as he placed his hand on my cheek and pulled me closer, our breaths intermingled as I stared intently into his eyes. My fingers reached towards him and his hand dropped to my hip, giving it a tight squeeze. After a short growl he pushed his lips onto mine, the force startling me and making me grab a tighter hold of his biceps. He whispered words I couldn't quite catch as he kissed down my neck and my fingers trembled upon his inked arms.

The moment was broken when I saw someone turn on the living room light in my house. I gently pushed him away from me and couldn't help but tremble a bit as I saw his face. His cheeks were flushed red and his lips swollen; his breath was ragged as he checked me out slowly. Jesus, I wanted to kill whoever had decided to wander through the house this late at night.

"I'll see you some other time Adriana," he smiled before nipping at my lips once more.

My voice failed me so I nodded slowly before dropping my hands from his arms and exiting his car.