A/N I wasn't going to post this for another few days, but in gratitude to hilja and LoriDuchess for their much appreciated reviews, here's the next one. Thank you both!
The Imprinted Chronicles: Book One
Chapter Two
Embry liked her.
At least, Samantha thought that Embry liked her. He was kind of hot and cold, one minute flirting outrageously with her, and the next pulling back and growing quiet. It was like there was some invisible line that he wasn't willing to cross, and as best as she could guess, not even Embry knew where that line was. Which was why they were here again, same situation, him standing a little too close, her heart beating a little too fast, with both of them trying to ignore it while they teased each other mercilessly.
"Sorry Sims, sweetheart, but there's just no way."
"Sweetheart my ass, don't make the mistake your predecessors did, Mr. Call. Size does not matter in this."
"Size always matters," he said with a smirk. "And that's Embry to you."
"The bigger they are the harder they fall. And I think I like Mr. Call better. It sounds so much more…dignified, don't you think?"
"You're assuming they will fall, and don't think I don't know you're calling me old."
"Even tyrannical armored bastards fall sometimes. And age is simply a state of mind that you shouldn't let bother you as much as it obviously does…what's with putting words in my mouth?"
"What? No! No words! And when does the tyrannical armored bastard fall, huh? Give me one example."
"Biblically speaking? David and Goliath. Historically speaking? The Nazi regime. Pop culturally speaking? Super Mario World, final battle, Koopa floating around in that weird clown bucket thingy. Bastards all eat ground at the end."
"Wrong! Ha! Koopa flails around and flies away in the bucket thingy. No falling, no dirt."
"You're wrooong," Samantha said in a singsong voice, "Old man." She squealed when he growled at her playfully and ducked his grab. He was faster than she was, she had already figured this out awhile ago when their flirting had started turning into playful sparring matches. A growl always meant that it was on.
Every single one of these spars had ended up entirely in Embry's favor. In fact, he had made it a point to not ever be on the offensive. Even when he blocked her kicks and punches, he always seemed to pull his blocks back, keeping her from connecting with him too hard. At first she thought that was kind of a chicken shit way of fighting, but in the few times she had managed just glancing blows to him, she'd realized that he was doing it for her protection. The man was built like a cement wall, and unless he shifted his body back with the motion of her attacks, hitting him square on hurt.
This time, however, she had a plan. As Embry made a grab for her, she took a step then pretended to stumble. He was a gentleman and as he leaned forward to catch her, Samantha dropped and spun a sweeping kick. It wouldn't have worked if he hadn't been on one foot, off balance as he reached for her. As her leg slammed his ankle, she twisted her lower body upwards, upside down as she attempted to nail him with her heel in the jaw. It didn't connect, he was too fast and she wouldn't have actually done something that might really hurt him, but the unexpected combination attack landed him on his rear end with a thump.
There was silence in the room as Embry stared at her, dumbstruck. Then suddenly a female voice burst out laughing.
"Holy shit, Emb! That little girl just dropped you!"
Samantha rose to her feet and turned to see the cashier, Leah, standing in the doorway with a huge smirk on her face.
"Yeah yeah, keep laughing Leah," he grumbled, accepting the offered hand up Samantha gave. Only instead of her pulling him up, he took the opportunity to jerk her down next to him. Samantha landed on the mat face first with an oomph, glaring at Embry when he lightly smacked her on the ass with his hand.
"That wasn't playing nice," he told her with another playful growl. Samantha grinned, not intimidated in the least.
"Poor loser. I told you size doesn't matter, that I could make you eat mat." She started to roll over, but he stopped her by swatting her a second time.
"Yeah, well I'm still right about the Koopa stuff. What do you want, Leah? Get that smirk off your face!"
"Whipped has a whole new meaning, Embry," Leah told him. This time when he growled it was lower, deeper, and it took Samantha by surprise at the dangerousness of it. Leah just rolled her eyes at him, giving Samantha a thumbs up.
"You just got a lot cooler, chica. Come on, Emb, Jake's calling a meeting in ten."
Samantha watched Embry hop up and jog over to his desk, grabbing his keys off it. Then he frowned.
"Damn, I forgot. Your ten hours are already up."
"I can stay," Samantha told him, to which Embry nodded gratefully. It was only six-thirty and even though the place was dead they technically were supposed to be open until eight for anyone who wanted to come by. As if was, her ten hours was stretching a little more each day.
"I'll pay you for the extra time," he promised as she stood up and took the keys. "If I'm not back in time just leave these on the doorsill. I'll get them later tonight."
"Instead of pay, can I trade extra hours for training?" Samantha asked, grabbing the opportunity. Embry chuckled.
"I would've done it for free, but yeah, that's cool." Samantha blinked at that, but Embry just ruffled her ponytail. "Thanks, Sims, you're the best."
Leah rolled her eyes again but she waggled a finger at Samantha in goodbye. Samantha could hear Leah giving Embry crap as they left.
"You know your girlfriend's a total alcoholic, right? She buys beer from me constantly."
"Shut up, Leah!"
"I'm just saying…"
The rest of Embry's indignant reply was cut off by the roar of an engine. Embry's truck was as loud as it was old, although Samantha would've killed for something like that. Walking everywhere sucked. Despite the bland tone of Leah's voice, Samantha didn't get offended. The other girl didn't talk much but she got the impression that Leah knew exactly the kind of guy her father was. Leah was just polite enough to not give her hell about the fact that four or five times a week Samantha was slipping in the store when everyone else was gone to get Joe his beer. It was a favor Samantha had yet to figure out a way of repaying.
Samantha wandered aimlessly around the dojo for a while, not really having anything to do. She had already worked out earlier today but with nothing better to do she went over to the home gym and jumped up on the overhead bar. Pull ups were one of her least favorite exercises, but training in ways you didn't like was better than only keeping to the fun easy stuff. Fifty pull ups, five hundred crunches, and a hearty snooze at Embry's desk later it was eight. Yawning, Samantha locked up behind her and left the keys where Embry had indicated.
Somewhere off in the distance a wolf howled, joined by several others. The eerie blend of animal voices made the hair on the back of her neck rise. It was the only thing that spooked her as she made these late night walks. An assailant she could handle. A pack of hungry wolves? Yikes. She hurried home, grateful to put the old rickety door between her and the outdoors.
Joe wasn't home, again, but it wasn't a bad thing. The One-Stop paid minimum wage, but they paid her every two weeks and the money she was getting was keeping her fed more than he was. To his slight benefit, Joe did every once in a while bring home some groceries or take out, but avoiding her drunk of a father was a hobby of hers. He didn't really want her there, just the extra paycheck that the government sent for supporting an extra body, but he wasn't too bad as long as she stayed out of his way. So far things had been borderline pleasant…ish.
That night was the first night that Samantha seriously considered calling and asking her father for a ride. She hadn't been able to grab her cat nap, not with the whole reservation echoing with the endless howling of wolves. It was like something had them all stirred up, and the later it got the more they sang. Normally Samantha jogged to work. Tonight she flat out ran. The whole time she felt uncomfortable, but by the morning, as she wandered home in the pre-dawn mist, the reservation felt calm and settled once more.
Idly she wondered what had been wrong.
It had been almost three weeks in La Push High School. Thirteen peanut butter sandwiches, two dubious egg salad ones, and fifteen apples later Samantha had yet to ask if she could play basketball with Embry's friends. If she was being honest with herself, yeah she was a little shy. She normally didn't have that problem, but they had made it clear that Embry had talked about her to them, and that made it more complicated.
At the same time Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays she was always yawning by lunch time from not sleeping because of work, and she had developed a habit of dozing off behind her sunglasses, draped like a blanket over the top of her table. Every once in a while she would wake up long enough to take a munch of the apple in her hand before dozing off again. So far no one had tried to take her table away from her, although it was prime real-estate. It took her the full three weeks to figure out why. Samantha was reclining comfortably, eyes closed and breathing deeply in a half doze when she heard voices a few feet off.
"Leave her alone, Nick. She's sleeping."
"What? You're calling dibs, Clearwater? It's not like you guys talk to her."
"That's Embry's girl. If she wants to sleep, you're not bugging her." It was said without any kind of threat, but a firmness that spoke of the potential if the speaker wasn't obeyed. There was silence, and then a not so pleasant string of words as footsteps fell away. Samantha adjusted her sunglasses and turned her head to the side to where the basketball game had slowed down. She called over to the players in an amused voice.
"So am I actually Embry's girl or was that just a cock block?" Samantha grinned at the stunned looks on their faces, and she turned her face back to the skies, eyes closed. After a moment a shadow blocked the semi-sunshine.
"Sorry, but you looked comfortable," a masculine voice apologized, although he seemed more amused than sorry. "My name's Seth, by the way. Those guys back there are Brady, Collin, and Quil." She already knew, this school gossiped constantly, especially about the four of them. Seth and Quil were both ahead of her, seniors, although someone had mentioned Quil was repeating. Brady and Collin, sophomores, both sat in her combined sophomore/junior history class, when they bothered to show up. She hadn't spoken to any of them, though.
Seth held out a large hand for her to shake. Samantha sat up and took his hand, noticing it was just as hot as Embry's had been. She pushed her shades up on top of her head so not to be rude. From far away Seth had looked like Embry, but closer up he was different. He was less roughened in his handsomeness, more polished…like a clothing model. The really yummy ones.
"Samantha Carter," she introduced herself, feeling a little guilty for thinking he was yummy. Embry was much yummier.
"Samantha? I thought it was Sims." He grinned at her and Samantha groaned, deciding that if he was going to tease her than her shades were going back on. She flipped them down and flopped back on the table, returning to her apple.
"I swear, if anyone else had come up with that nickname but the most adorable child in existence…"
"Yeah, Claire's pretty manipulative." A growl from behind him made Seth chuckle.
"Manipulative? Nah. She just blasts you with her cuteness gun and bang bang, you're dead. I'd probably let her call me Bob or Jeffrey if she wanted. Embry is another matter entirely, what with telling everyone." She cracked her knuckles pointedly.
"I like her," one of the guys declared, gifting Samantha with a huge grin.
"No shit, Quil, she likes Claire. Of course you do," that was Brady, rolling his eyes at Quil before doing a lazy lay-up. Collin went to defend, but before a game of one on one could start the bell rang. Samantha slowly sat back up, yawning and ditching her shades so she wouldn't forget and get in trouble later. Normally she waited until everyone else had pushed back inside, but as she gathered her stuff slowly she realized that Seth was waiting for her. As if this meant something, the other three waited as well. Normally all four just kind of mobbed back inside the school with no order. Samantha remembered the last time she had spoken to them, when they had listened to Seth.
Indicating the impatient guys waiting patiently, Samantha raised an eyebrow as she grabbed up her bag.
"So, you the leader of the pack?" she joked, and one of them coughed. Seth simply laughed.
"Not exactly. These guys are just sweet little sheep that like to follow me around." He managed to say it without sounding a bit conceited, although Collin flipped him off and Brady looked less than amused. Quil still had that huge grin on his face, and he seemed to be off in his own world. That being said, they still waited until both Seth and she were ready before rolling out.
Samantha had seen these guys enough over the last few weeks to know they went down the hallways like a moving brawl, so it was kind of strange when she realized that Seth and Quil were flanking her on either side, with Brady and Collin a half step behind. It was almost like they were in formation. On impulse Samantha slammed on the breaks, and she burst out laughing when it caused a four man pileup.
"Baaaa," she teased, before stepping out from under all those looming heads and shoulders. "Nice to meet you guys." And with that she left them clustered and confused. She got a few incredulous looks as she did so. Apparently ditching these guys was unusual, but Samantha was a little intimidated and knew when to cut her losses. Still she wasn't disappointed when Seth and Seth alone jogged up behind her.
"Embry said you don't play nice," Seth's laughter was not quite as deep as his friend's but it was infectious.
"Apparently Embry's a talker," Samantha noted with a tiny blush. She wasn't used to being openly discussed like Seth was indicating. They had reached her class, which wasn't Seth's, but he didn't seem concerned about it.
"Yeah, well we kind of make a habit of not keeping stuff from each other." He gave her ponytail an absent tug, making her yelp, but he acted oblivious to doing it. "Hey Sims, Mom would kill me for talking to you and not inviting you over for dinner. She's been calling for awhile but not with much luck."
"Oh, was that your mother? Someone named Sue has left a couple messages but my father hasn't seemed too receptive." Samantha noticed the frown on his face and realized she might have offended him. "Hey, I'm sorry… I wouldn't mind but Joe's kind of…"
She wasn't exactly sure how to put it, but Seth held her eyes long enough for Samantha to sigh and cave.
"He's a jerk, but I'm not that inclined to rock the boat quite this early. Sorry Seth."
"No big," he told her with a kind look. "But hey, my mom used to be close with yours, they were cousins or something, and she'd love to have you over. She's big on cooking dinner at home so open invitation, okay? We have apples," he added while waggling his eyebrows, as if that was a suitable enticement for her. Samantha laughed at that, the slight discomfort from discussing Joe and her mom dissipating.
"Apples, huh? Well, that's an entirely different matter. Consider me tempted. You're gonna be late, the bell rings in twenty seconds," Samantha warned him.
"Not a problem for me, babe," he said while taking a step backwards down the hall. "Hey, we're just down the street, fifth house on the left. Dark brick."
"Fifteen seconds, Seth."
"Apples, Sims. Lots and lots of apples."
"Ten seconds. And my name's Sam, Seth!"
"Not anymore. Later, Sims!" Seth bolted down the hall, startling a couple other nearly tardy students. Samantha sighed, but she still laughed as she slipped into her classroom and her front row seat. As her calculus teacher began to lecture, Samantha pushed all thoughts of sheep, boys, and dinner out of her mind.
Much to her irritation, the temptation of apples stayed.
Apparently being escorted to class by Seth Clearwater was a momentous occasion, demanding the attention of the majority of the female sophomores and juniors, all of which seemed to be in her last period history class. History was one of Samantha's favorite subjects but today it was almost impossible for her to work in her group when instead of the project, all the others wanted to talk about was Seth.
"No, I'm not dating him," Samantha hissed for the tenth time in under an hour. Trisha, a buxom girl who had suddenly decided to become Samantha's newest confidant, raised a dubious eyebrow, prompting Samantha to say, "Yes, I'm sure. I just met him."
"You know, gang rumors aside, Seth Clearwater is one of the hottest guys in this whole school," Trisha announced, receiving nods of confirmation from all around Samantha. "He walked you to class and asked you to meet his mom? That is so dating. You're crazy."
Samantha was trying to be patient with them. She really was. Clenching her teeth she continued. "Yeah, anyways, I think question four is actually discussing Prohibition."
"Who cares, Samantha?!" A tiny brunette cooed, looking starry eyed. "Oh my god, he gave you a nickname, right? Seth Clearwater gave you a new name. He named you, it's like you're this whole new person. You are sooo lucky. What was it? Oh, yeah, Sims. Oh my god, that's totally a computer game or something. Totally strange but whatever. Are you sure you're not dating?"
The pencil in her hand snapped in half. From their position in the back of the room, her classmates Brady and Collin found this hysterical. There wasn't a single person in the room who hadn't heard the conversation, with the exception of the teacher who had given the assignment and spent most of the lesson outside the classroom door speaking with another instructor.
"Why don't you ask Brady and Collin? Unlike me, they've actually spoken to the person in question before today."
"Love at first sight, Sims?" Collin called up, beaming at her in his cleverness. "It happens, you know."
"We think you two are sooooo cute, Sims," Brady added. "Like, together forever cute."
"Can you picture the babies?" Collin added in a high pitched voice. The girls sighed dreamily and Brady cackled as she gave them both the finger. Collin cracked up as this caused a new surge of questions. Finally Samantha had had enough. She stood up in front of her class, addressing them from on top of her chair.
"Okay! Listen, La Push High! My name was Samantha Carter. If it is now Sims Carter, it's because of a five year old. Not Seth Clearwater. A little girl. Not Seth Clearwater. No, I am not dating Seth Clearwater. No, I have never talked to Seth Clearwater before today. No, I am not in love with Seth Clearwater. No, I will not marry Seth Clearwater. No, I will not get pregnant and have little Seth Clearwater babies. Is this understood? So everyone else who wants to have Seth Clearwater make them a whole new person, have at him!"
There was absolute aghast silence in the room, followed by a pair of snickers from the back row. Samantha turned to the back with a gleam in her eye.
"But if you all must know, if I was to get pregnant and have babies, I'm really not sure whose they would be. Collin and Brady, you two were there. What do you think?"
This time the silence stuck. Brady turned beat red as all accusing eyes now rested on him and Collin, although Collin just preened under the stares. With a smirk Samantha sat back down in her chair.
She was happy for all of thirty seconds before the brunette whispered in a tragic voice, "Oh my god. Does Seth know you're pregnant?"
The teacher came back in, wondering just who shrieked.
Since they were seniors, both Seth and Quil had a free period at the end of the day, and therefore were waiting after class to meet up with Brady and Collin. Seth gave Samantha a friendly smile as she stepped out of the room, not expecting the reaction he got.
"Oh no! No way! You stay away, Clearwater!" Samantha held up her hands as if warding off the devil, backing down the hallway. "Back! Shoo!"
He looked rather offended, but Collin whispered something in his ear that made Seth's eyes grow wide. Then he threw back his head and roared in laughter, scaring a freshman scurrying by.
"I'm sorry, Sims!" he shouted down the hall, gaining the attention of everyone there. "I'll make it up to you! Apples, babe, apples!"
Samantha let out a screech and fled. Thankfully this time no one followed. Normally she went straight home, but this time she headed to Embry's dojo. He was alone in the middle of practicing different kata forms, but turned in surprise when she burst in.
"Dammit Embry! Your friends…they…they…" she was sputtering in indignation as she dropped her book bag on the ground and gave it a savage kick. "Okay for one, I don't just love apples, okay? Free lunch means an apple a day, so seriously, back off the apple thing, Seth! And I'm not a whole new person and Claire named me. Claire! Not a boy! And there are no Brady/Collin threesomes and is everyone in this tiny little town so bored that all they care about is whose babies I am or am not having? And maybe I don't want to fight with Joe just so some woman I don't know can tell me how sorry she is about my mom, okay? Argh!! So everyone can just stick their nosey noses up their--"
Warm strong arms wrapped around her, trapping her in tightly to a very muscular bare chest and cutting off her rant. It made Samantha freeze. No one had touched her since her mother, and at the end her mother had been too weak for things like hugs. When he didn't release her, Samantha leaned in and pressed her forehead against his heart, listening to it beat steadily in his chest. The strength in his embrace, the feeling of resting against someone else and not holding herself up all alone quieted the frustration that had been in her head the last few hours. Tentatively her arms came up to his waist, and he tugged her in closer when she did. One of his hands came to her hair and rested there.
"I understood some of that," Embry told her in a quiet rumble, running his fingers through her ponytail. "I can kill Brady and Collin for you, no reasons needed there, but what happened with Seth?"
His concern made her feel foolish for letting her cool get ruffled.
"Nothing," she grumbled. "He was just trying to be nice and people blew it out of proportion. Sorry for barging in here, Embry…," Embarrassed, Samantha started to pull away, but Embry kept her close.
"Tell me what happened." His tone allowed no arguments, so she told him. By the end he was laughing just as much as Seth had been but when she tried to pull away in indignation, Embry just picked her off her feet and hugged her tighter.
"Welcome to La Push, Sims. You'll either hates us or learn to love us." He set her down and let her shift backwards. Now that she could see more of him, Samantha blushed a little. Shirtless with gi pants was a really good look for him. The heat of his hands on her waist didn't help her much, especially when her own hands were still on his bare lower back. She coughed awkwardly.
"Sorry, again."
This time he let her move away, his hands falling to his sides. But his eyes stayed on her, warm and chocolate and so beautiful. Everything about him was beautiful. His smile, his laughter, his kindness… He was the nicest guy she had ever met, and the first guy that she just felt drawn to. It wasn't an overwhelming need, just a soft tug at her heart. She liked it here with him; she liked the way his eyes on her made her heart beat faster.
She liked the way he seemed to like her too.
Without even realizing it she had taken a little step back towards him, and with her initiation, Embry closed the distance between them without hesitation. His hot breath ghosted over her ear, his hands entwining with hers as he pressed the length of his body against her own. Samantha made a little noise, shivering when he nuzzled down her neck with his nose. She could almost swear that he smelled her as he reached her collarbone. Instinctively she tilted her head back, granting him access to her throat. The rumbling growl that burst from his chest surprised her as he nipped the base of her neck just once, and his eyes had darkened noticeably when he took her face in his hands and gently lowered her chin. Seeing the confusion and question in her eyes, he simply shook his head.
"Don't expose your throat to me," he whispered quietly, sounding much older than he was. Tiredness and stress tightened his mouth. "You don't know me yet, Sims." Then he kissed her forehead gently, adding to her confusion before he put some distance between them.
"Umm, okay…" She watched for a moment as he returned to his kata. She could see him breathing deeply, could see him forcing himself back to the level of concentration needed to properly execute these techniques. Normally she would have left, giving him some space and herself some time to process, but she really didn't have anywhere to go. Home was between school and the dojo and she had seen that Joe was there. Another hour or two and he'd probably be gone. Not wanting to be a distraction, Samantha grabbed her bag and went back outside. She settled on the porch steps and sat cross legged with her homework on her lap.
She had finished her English prompt and was starting on her calculus when the bell jangled obnoxiously and a large Quileute man settled down on the steps next to her. He didn't say anything, but he did hand her a bottle of water from his private stash beneath his desk. Samantha nodded in thanks, not sure of what to say. He had almost kissed her in there but had stopped after that weird neck comment. She didn't understand, but she didn't have to understand Embry after only three weeks. It was enough that he didn't seem uncomfortable around her afterwards.
Embry bumped her shoulder with his deliberately, causing her pencil to jump off the page and Samantha tisked at him. Then she scooted ninety degrees and leaned her back against his shoulder. She wiggled a little to find a comfortable position, settling down when he finally wrapped one arm across her upper chest and pulled her back into his side. The weight was like a hot blanket, heavy enough to make her feel like she was being rested on as well. Letting out a sigh of satisfaction at the contact, something she had so greatly missed, Samantha leaned her head back against his shoulder and returned to her calculus.
If she had turned and looked up at Embry, she would have seen the softest smile on his tired face.
It was going to be a bad night.
She had been able to tell from the way her father and his friends had been drinking since they had stumbled in this afternoon. It was Friday, Samantha's only weekday evening free of work and volunteering, and that should have been a good thing. Unfortunately around here it wasn't. There were four of them total, and they had brought enough whisky with them to get completely trashed. Two of the guys just seemed like harmless rowdy drunks, but Samantha had been forced to educate the third on why it wasn't a good idea to get grabby with her.
She hadn't taken years of martial arts training for nothing.
Still, it was uncomfortable as hell, especially since the four of them seemed completely against her leaving. Apparently children were born to pour shots of whisky and fetch ice cold beers. They were also born to fill bowls with chips and cook dinner for drunken assholes. The longer the evening dragged on, the madder she got, although Samantha managed to keep her irritation off her face. Hiding in her room didn't help, not after having the grabby follow her in there and her having to not so gently shove him back out. Locking the door only made Joe start yelling and cursing at her, so Samantha gave up and went out onto the porch, leaving the door open and screen closed so that they could see that she wasn't leaving.
Samantha sat down on the top step and rested her head in her hands as the noises behind her in the house grew louder and more raucous. There was the sound of a bottle breaking, apparently from hitting the dart board they were playing with in the living room. She could hear Joe laughing, before the telltale moment of silence when they all took another shot. Afterwards a string of curses arose, because it seemed that her father had spilled half his shot all over himself.
"What a fucking asshole," Samantha muttered, shaking her head.
"That's been our general opinion for awhile now." Her head snapped up and she saw a tall muscled man standing in the middle of the street. For a moment she thought it was Embry, but she quickly realized it wasn't. He was older, taller with heavier muscles. Across the street a second figure immerged from the woods, and she knew this one. It was Seth Clearwater. Both were shirtless in cutoff shorts, she noted absently.
"Heya, Sims," Seth gave her a big smile in greeting as he stepped up next to the first guy. "Whatcha doing?"
"Babysitting," Samantha snorted as the cursing rose in volume as Grabby joined in. "How about you, Seth?"
Seth looked at the other man, who for a moment gave him a glare as if daring him to say something.
"Oh, just running around. Protecting the world from evil. Superhero stuff, the usual. Sam here needed to stretch his legs, and I was bored." Sam, the older man, rolled his eyes. There was a large snarl from inside the house near the kitchen, someone disagreeing with someone, and a chair crashed into the screen door, tearing it and cracking the doorframe. Despite herself Samantha jumped at the bang directly behind her, swiveling around as she instinctively ducked. She blinked after she turned back around, surprised when she realized that Sam and Seth were both at the base of the porch steps. She'd never even seen them move.
"Woah. I must be more tired than I thought." She leaned over, offering her hand to Sam. "Samantha Carter, nice to meet you, sir."
"Sam Uley." Sam reached forward, taking her hand and shaking it firmly. His hand was just as hot as Embry's and it caught her by surprise, enough that it took a moment for his name to register. He was staring over her head inside the house, a coldly disapproving expression on his stern face.
"Oh hell," Samantha moaned and jumped to her feet, placing herself as much as she could between him and the door, not that she could do much to block the noises from the men inside. "Hey, I know it sounds bad in there, but they're just having some fun. Nothing but some good harmless fun. In fact I was just going back inside, we're going to… ahhh…play Scrabble…"
"Samantha, get the fuck in here and get us some more fucking chips! Sam!" Joe's timing was impeccable. Samantha died off at Sam Uley's penetrating look, and she sighed.
"Look, Mr. Uley, I know who you are and I'm supposed to call you and everything, probably for things like this, but please…I can handle it, okay?"
"Play Scrabble?" Seth was chuckling. "You're a bad liar, Sims."
"I don't try to make a habit of it," Samantha groaned. She sat back down on the steps. "And technically they tried about an hour ago. They just didn't make it very far. And don't call me Sims."
Seth hopped up on the railing by her head, his long legs swinging near her shoulder. He tugged her ponytail and Samantha glared at him, but Seth was busy craning his head as he peered inside the house.
"Looks like Mr. Jennings just threw up on your sofa," he said nonchalantly. Samantha shrugged.
"Whatever. Dad sleeps there, not me. What are you guys doing over here, anyway? Did that Carol lady send you to spy on me?"
"I wouldn't call it spying…" Sam murmured, sounding a trifle offended, but Seth just laughed.
"Bullshit. I don't know who Carol is but Mom said that if we want any more of that pineapple cake we needed to come over here and see just what ol' man Carter was inflicting on his poor helpless offspring," Seth tugged her hair again. "That would be you, Sims." She swatted at his hands.
"Lord, Seth, what are you? Five? Quit it!"
"Nope." He popped the 'p' at the end. A third tug at her hair got him a punch in the calf that hurt her hand way too much. Samantha had enough pride to pretend it didn't but Sam actually gave her a tiny smile and Seth patted her head. They listened to Joe bellow at her again, but he was getting that slurred tone that meant he probably didn't even know he was yelling for her.
"Want to come get some cake?" Seth asked hopefully, sounding excited at the thought.
"Nope," Samantha popped her 'p' too, just because she could. She did have some dignity, and she refused to hide from her problems. Crawling away from here, as good as it sounded and with a valid excuse of meeting Mrs. Clearwater, was still crawling away.
"Would you like us to break that up in there?" Sam questioned her quietly. Samantha shook her head.
"If I wanted them gone, I'd just do it myself." When he raised an eyebrow at her, Seth chuckled.
"Don't doubt her, Sam. Sims here dropped Embry like a sack of flour. Right on his ass. Have Leah show…tell you about it sometime." Seth patted her head again, as if he was proud and Samantha rolled her eyes at him when he left his hand there. The sounds of snoring started to come from the living room.
"What is with you and my hair, Clearwater?" She asked, trying and failing to duck out from under Seth's hand. Sam and Seth shared a look she didn't understand.
"Hush," Seth told her absently. "The adults are thinking."
"What?!" Her voice rose an octave at that and both men grinned at her this time. "Excuse me?!"
"We're deciding what to do with you," Sam told her with an air of authority that was slightly annoying. Samantha shook her head in exasperation.
"Listen guys, I appreciate it, but-"
"This really has nothing to do with you, Sims," Seth informed her. "Mom's gonna kill me if I don't do something and I want that cake. It's reeeeally good," he added that, actually drooling a little as he thought about it.
"Mr. Uley?" Samantha pleaded, but he shook his head. She expected him to give some serious lecture based on his expression, but he simply muttered that yeah, it was really good cake. Samantha was silent for a long time then she very quietly spoke.
"Listen, Seth. I get that you two are being the good guys here, but I've got a lot riding on my not getting thrown into foster care. I have to be able to get along here, and I can handle myself without the locals coming round to intervene. Frankly you two are making a scene. A quiet, half naked, eight pack abdominal scene, but a scene nonetheless."
They both smirked a little at that. Buttering up the people you were evicting from your property always helped the transition go more smoothly. Samantha was less certain she could get them to leave against their wills. She continued in a pleading tone. "If it gets back to the wrong people that the local authority figures felt it necessary to intervene, then it's going to cause problems for me. I'm asking you to leave me alone here. Please Seth, Mr. Uley. Please."
Sam Uley sighed and looked away. Then he looked over her head at Seth. Whatever passed between them made Sam nod grudgingly, and the older man slipped away quietly. Seth however stayed where he was, despite Samantha's pointed look.
"Listen, Sims, Embry's my friend," he told her softly, and his eyes were kind. "And he talks about how good you are at the martial arts stuff. I know more about you than you think, and I know you can take care of yourself. But I can hear that asshole yelling at you all the way from my bedroom, and it upsets my Mom that you're all alone over here. I don't like anything upsetting my Mom. So can we just hang out until they all pass out or something? For her? Please?"
Seth threw her please back at her while simultaneously hitting her with the most potent set of puppy dog eyes that she'd ever seen, even worse than Claire's had been. Samantha held her ground for all of ten seconds before she sighed, caving. "Fine. But you have to go get said cake and bring it over here. And tell your mother thank you for the concern but it's unnecessary."
He gave her a grin and hopped down off the rail, jogging off towards his house. Samantha took the opportunity to slip inside and survey the damage. They had broken just the one chair and there was glass all over the living room. Joe and Grabby were both passed out, with Grabby's face dangerously close to the vomit on the sofa. She decided not to clean it up quite yet. The other two were slumped in both recliners, eyes glassy as they attempted to discuss a Seahawks game. Samantha gave them each a fresh beer for good measure. Maybe they'd be out soon as well.
"Damn, they trashed the place, huh?" His voice made her jump.
"That was fast," Samantha told Seth, and he shrugged from where he stood filling up the front door with a glass pan and two forks in his hands. He sniffed delicately.
"Puke. Gross."
"You're telling me. You want me to grab some plates?" she offered.
"Naw. There won't be any of this left when I'm done. Be thankful I'm sharing, it's very gracious of me," he informed her. Samantha laughed despite herself. They ended up eating the cake on her front porch, where the smell of vomit only lingered lightly. Seth hadn't lied. After he portioned out a large piece for her with his fork, he quite literally inhaled the rest of it. Then he sat back contentedly, rubbing his belly and staring up at the single star visible through the cloud cover.
"Do you like it here, Sims?" he asked her as she picked at the absolutely delicious cake. Samantha was tempted to lie. She was tempted to gloss over everything. But for some reason that just seemed rude, lying to someone who already knew better. Finally she stuffed a huge bite in her mouth and swallowed.
"The only things I like here are Embry, this cake, and the cashier at the store, Leah," Samantha told him. Then she smiled a little. "Maybe you too, if you're lucky. I haven't decided yet."
"Hey," he sounded a little injured. "You like Leah, but not me? That has never happened before. She's my big sister, by the way."
"Yeah? That's cool. For you, not for her. And for the record, Leah hasn't supposedly impregnated me, Seth."
"Ah. Yes. Well, those were the good times. Alas, all relationships must end in some way or another. I'll always remember how it was between us, Sims, but I must admit that we're better as friends."
"You're an idiot, Seth. We've only known each other a couple days. And don't throw the 'f' word around like that; those stupid girls at school are still bothering me about you. I'm not admitting you as a friend until your trial period is over, and it doesn't look too good so far." Samantha took a huge bite of cake and made a purring noise, causing Seth to laugh.
"You like me, Sims, despite your cruel tendencies to play off my insecurities. Otherwise you wouldn't accept my bribes. You like me and you know it."
"Maybe...but only in the way someone likes an ugly abused shelter dog. You feel guilty not liking it a little."
"So you admit it, though."
"Maybe, I said, Seth. Maybe."
"Definitely, Sims, definitely."
"Definitely maybe."
"Finish your cake," Seth encouraged. "You'll like me better."
"Seth, your Mom has officially made the list. Damn, this is good."
"Made the list after me?" he asked hopefully.
"Nope. Before."
"Right before?"
"Waaay before."
"You're so mean, Sims. Just like Leah."
"She, I like."
Silence, then, "I'm never sharing cake with you again."
"…I like you too, Seth."
"Damn straight. All the ladies do." Out in the distance a wolf howled. Samantha looked at the woods nervously but Seth just closed his eyes and smiled. When a second then a third wolf echoed that hair raising howl, his eyes opened and met hers. Instead of concern all she could see was the peace that lay there. At the fourth howl Seth gave her a huge grin, as wolfish in nature as the howls around them. Samantha tilted her head in confusion to his reaction, but instead of asking him about it, she found herself smiling right along with him.
Seth leaned over and pulled her ponytail, just because he could.