It took me a few seconds to put it together, but I assume that he had glanced down at his watch before realizing that he’d taken it off with the rest of his clothes. That’s why the “crap” comment. The whole situation was almost comical. Almost.
I asked a second time. “What should I tell them?”
“Just tell them what happened and that you crawled out of the car and found the cell phone and then called for help.”
He made a noise, as if he’d started to say something, but changed his mind.
I’d discovered I didn’t like him keeping things from me. Bo’s secrets tended to be a pretty big deal, so I prompted, “What?”
“Well, they’ll probably want to check you out.”
“Yeah. So?”
“Well, it might be a good idea if you got rid of that bloody shirt with a hole in it and just wore mine.”
“Oh. Good idea,” I said. At least someone was thinking. I was still having trouble getting rid of the image of a naked Bo only a few inches away.
“Would you mind if I checked your side?”
I didn’t have to see his face to know that’s what he’d been hesitant to ask. He was so careful with me, so considerate of me. I just smiled and shook my head.
“Let me help you up,” Bo said, tugging on my hand.
I stood and pulled Bo’s shirt over my head. “Here. Hold this,” I said, holding his shirt out in his general direction. He took it and the shirt just hung there as if suspended in mid air. I tucked the vision away for later, when I’d likely pull it out and remember, with awe and wonder, what crazy things I’d seen in my life since I’d met Bo.
I took a deep breath and sucked in my stomach before reaching for the hem of my tattered t-shirt and peeling it up to my shoulders. I was careful not to get more blood all over me, though it wasn’t too difficult since most of the blood had already dried.
As I pulled the shirt over my head and shook my hair loose, I became aware of heat traveling up my stomach and across my breasts. Even though I couldn’t see them, I could actually feel Bo’s eyes on me, like he was touching everything I was exposing. It was incredibly unnerving, but one of the most erotic things I’ve ever experienced.
Letting my shirt dangle from my fingertips, I raised my arms over my head and turned slightly to the side so Bo could look at my belly.
My abdominals clenched when I felt his fingertips brush lightly over the bloody skin where a hole had been not so long ago.
“Give me your shirt,” Bo said, his voice hoarse and low, not much more than a deep rumble in the quiet forest.
I handed him my shirt and I watched as he used one of the clean spots on it to rub as much of the residual blood from me as he could. He was so close I could feel his cool breath on my skin and a rash of chills broke out across my stomach and chest.
I closed my eyes and let the stimulation of my senses flood my mind. I could hear Bo’s shallow breathing. I could feel the gentle rasp of cotton on my skin. I could smell Bo’s tangy scent enveloping me. My body tingled and throbbed with every beat of my heart.
Though I couldn’t see him, in my mind’s eye, I could plainly see Bo’s head at my navel, as if it played like a movie against the backs of my lids. It wasn’t hard to let my imagination rewrite the scene in a much different way.
I saw Bo’s arms wrap around me and I felt his lips on my skin. I felt his thick hair running through my fingers and his rough palms against my bare breasts.
Warmth poured through my veins as I lost myself to the fantasy. When Bo spoke, his voice startled me.
“Ridley, if we’re gonna make it out of here, you’re gonna have to stop thinking about stuff like that.”
I felt heat rush into my cheeks. How could he know what I was thinking?
“Stuff like what?”
“Stuff like what you were thinking. This is hard enough for me as it is, without that,” he said.
“How could you possibly know what I was thinking?”
“I can smell it on you. It saturates your blood with hormones and heats it up,” he explained. “And it’s driving me crazy.”
If possible, even more heat scorched my cheeks. I’m sure they were probably beet red.
“I- I—” I stuttered, not knowing what to say.
I saw his shimmer as he stood. He was so close I knew that I could nip his chin with my teeth without moving more than an inch.
“And knowing that my blood is pumping through your body, that a part of me is inside you,” he paused, his sigh a shaky puff of air that tickled my face. “It’s killing me.”
His words poured through my veins like lava, making my knees weak and my skin flush.
“Bo,” I groaned.
I felt it when he stepped back.
Bo thrust his shirt at me. “Here, put this on and get to the road. They’re coming.”
In the quiet, I could hear the wail of sirens from far away. As I pulled Bo’s shirt on, I heard him turn and walk through the woods and then I saw his pile of clothes rise into the air, as if by magic.
“I’ll see you later,” he called softly and then he was gone.
When I could hear Bo no longer, I turned and made my way toward Drew’s car. I had no trouble finding it; I could smell it. He’d always kept a cherry scented air freshener hanging from the rearview mirror and I followed the aroma through the forest like a trail of bread crumbs.
I jogged easily through the woods, feeling more energetic than ever. Once I got to within a few hundred yards of the car, I could see it—clearly, as if I was standing near it in the bright light of day, even though dusk had almost given way to night.
The ambulance pulled up a couple of minutes after I arrived at the car and, as Bo suspected, they immediately wanted to give me a thorough once-over. Luckily, because I was walking around and making sense and I didn’t appear to be bleeding, they didn’t dig too deeply (like underneath my clothes). One of the cops who accompanied the EMTs did, however, dig into my story as he drove me back to my house.
When a cop dropped me off at the house, I got the fifth degree from Mom and Dad, which surprised me. I think it brought back terrible memories for them. I’m sure they were terrified of losing another child in a car accident, even if that child was like a phantom houseguest to them most of the time.