I.
The evening sky boiled a blood red, burnt cinnamon and golden hues of orange and pink. A lone dusky swirl of wind danced between two low buildings, driven by the fading heat of the day and the cooler evening air as the sounds of distant thunder rumbled on the horizon. Tiny raindrops began to fall across the parched landscape as the raindrops became a downpour and within minutes, the sunset washed away in a flash flood that fell from the darkened skies.
Thunderous clouds shook Ashley Spinelli as she darted beneath the red canopy of NAS Fullon Officer's Club, brushing off the sprinkling of raindrops that had beaded on her incredibly tan, smooth skin. The base taxi, which had brought Spinelli to the club, accepted a waiting passenger and slowly pulled away in the downpour, while Spinelli fetched her compact mirror from her small purse and checked her reflection one more time. The steady, dull pounding of music and the sounds of glasses clinking together mixed with various smells of food and drink filled Lt. Cmdr. Ashley Spinelli's senses, but did nothing to quell the feeling deep within her.
She ran a quick comb through her long black hair, pretending not to notice the stares she got from the various fighter jockeys that had positioned themselves just outside the main entrance to the club. Like a tender young lamb that had found herself in the midst of a pack of hungry wolves, Spinelli sidestepped several attempts to engage her in conversation as she gave an apologetic smile at all of the unfortunate fliers that simply stared at her figure, hidden just beneath shimmering red silk. The unintended effect of the raindrops on Spinelli's golden skin gave her a primal allure that few men could resist.
"So, there we were," Johnny Vermachelli continued, as Gus and Gretchen Griswold, Billy Barton, Tonya Peterson and T.J. Detweiler listened, "surrounded on all sides by our instructors, when Spinelli decides she's going to do a full mach-tuck; she slams her plane forward and overtakes the lead instructor, finishing him off before he even knows that Spinelli flamed him!"
The small group at the table laughed lightly as Gretchen sipped on her mineral water.
"I understand that Spinelli finished at the top of her class at Pensacola," she said lightly, "and was assigned to the ABRAHAM LINCOLN her very first time out. But I've always been curious as to how she acquired the nickname of Eightball."
"Actually," Johnny V. conceded with a chuckle, "Spinelli's nickname has nothing to do with her flying."
Gretchen looked over curiously at Gus, who watched Johnny V. intently. It was something of a rarity that one learned something about Spinelli so personal.
"When we were in flight school," Johnny V. remembered, "Spinelli was something of a pool shark."
Johnny V. paused as he took a sip of his whiskey while T.J. sat next to Gus, quietly listening. T.J. had said precious little since Johnny V. had joined their little group not more than a half hour before. Johnny V. continued.
"Anyway, one night Spinelli and I were at the recreation hall, shooting some pool, while other cadets are crowding around to watch this girl play. I don't think it was as much her pool as it was her looks; she must have had half the male population of Pensacola trying to court her."
There was a brief flurry of light laughter from the others, while T.J. downed the rest of his soda in silence.
He sure loves to hear himself talk, T.J. mused to himself, while outwardly keeping a neutral, almost innocent expression on his freckled face.
"Then this older guy in civilian clothes comes up and challenges Spinelli to a game and she accepts. Of course, she mops the floor with this guy, but at the end of it all, he decides he's going to get fresh with her."
"Oh, dear," Gretchen gasped softly, knowing that was often a dangerous mistake to make with Ashley Spinelli. A person simply did not touch the girl unless you wanted some part of your anatomy handed back to you.
"The next thing I know, Spinelli picks up the eight ball off the pool table and beans this guy right in the face with it; breaks his nose in two places and takes out his front teeth."
"Ouch," Gus winced.
"Later, we find out that this older guy is a full bird colonel, and he wants to press charges against Spinelli. However, the Courts-Martial determined that she acted in self-defense. It really burned that colonel's ass, I can tell you. Spinelli got the worst duties after that little fiasco. Nevertheless, she kept her spirits up, with a little help from yours truly. I actually coined the nickname 'Eightball', and it stuck."
"I never knew you gave her that nickname," T.J. said flatly. Johnny V. sidestepped the awkward comment with a shrug and dazzling smile that T.J. was starting to find a bit nauseating.
"Just dumb luck, I suppose," Johnny V. said politely.
"Yeah," T.J. said, as he headed for the bathroom, "sounds like it. Excuse me."
Johnny V. watched T.J. walk past him, while Gretchen busied herself with her mineral water. Peaches looked at Jackass sitting next to her, who whistled softly.
"Sounds like Detweiler's got a soft spot for the Boss," Billy Barton commented. Peaches rolled her eyes and was about to rib her pilot when someone caught her attention.
"Speaking of which," Peaches added, as she motioned to the front of the club, "look who just walked in the door."
It was difficult to tell just who it was that first spotted Ashley Funicello Spinelli at the door, but within seconds, nearly the entire male population of the officer's club transfixed their disbelieving eyes on the heavenly creature that slowly entered. The buzzing chatter of the club faded completely as Spinelli entered the officer's club and made her way over to the bar, pretending not to notice the stares and soft whistles as she past. Every pilot in the club watched Ashley Spinelli walk by, their eyes invariably shifting her shapely posterior as she paused at the bar.
The bar tender, which had been cleaning a glass turned and stopped cold as Ashley Spinelli motioned to him to order her drink.
"Can you give me Sex on the Beach, please?" Spinelli said in her sultry voice. The bartender just stood there, unmoving.
"Huh?" he asked dumbly. Spinelli blushed.
"A Sex on the Beach?" Spinelli repeated with a sly grin, "You know... the drink?"
"Oh, yeah … right," the bartender shook off his confusion as Spinelli noticed someone move in to stand next to her, leaning on the bar. Spinelli glanced over and smiled dazzlingly at Johnny Vermachelli as he looked back at her with a mischievous grin of his own.
"You'll have to forgive Carl," Johnny said politely, motioning to the bartender, "that's probably the best offer he's had in a long time."
Spinelli giggled lightly as Carl the bartender offered an apologetic smile of his own.
"We didn't think you were going to make it," Johnny continued.
"Sorry, Johnny," Spinelli blushed, "Angelina was a bit fussy about going to sleep, and the base taxi took its sweet time picking me up because of the rain."
"You should've called me," Johnny V. replied easily, "I live just around the corner from you."
"I know," Spinelli said, not able to meet his incredibly blue eyes, "but...I wasn't sure that...I-"
"You weren't sure how T.J. would take it, if he saw us arriving together?" Johnny finished for her. Spinelli just nodded.
"It's been so weird, seeing him again," Spinelli sighed softly, as Carl slipped her a Sex on the Beach. Spinelli started to pay for the drink, but Johnny V. put his hand on hers.
"Your money's no good tonight, Ash," he said, "come on over and join us."
Spinelli looked at Johnny V. then at then table that held her friends. Spinelli looked about for a moment in confusion.
"Where's?" she began.
"Where's T.J.?" Johnny V. repeated her question before Spinelli could complete it. Spinelli looked at him, her luscious red lips puckered into an amused smile.
"I see you haven't lost your touch, Johnny," Spinelli blushed, "you still know exactly what I'm thinking."
"That's what happens when two people spend as much time together as we did," Johnny pointed out. Spinelli shifted her weight, leaning one slender elbow on the bar, cradling her drink.
"Johnny, do you think it really would've worked out between us?" Spinelli asked after a moment of silence. She did not look back at her former fiancée, who cast his own gaze into his drink.
"Two Navy pilots married?" Johnny V. smiled, "Not a chance in hell; but the sex was good."
Spinelli flushed a brilliant red. Johnny had lied. The sex was fantastic.
"It was great," she agreed, "and there were times when even I had a hard time seeing past the sex. But there's more to love than that, Johnny."
"Now she tells me," Johnny V. joked, flashing Ashley Spinelli a dazzling grin.
"I always thought that, given enough time, we would have…." Spinelli's sultry voice trailed off.
"Don't kid yourself, Ash," Johnny said, looking directly at her, his mischievous grin dissolving into a warm smile, "we both know that you've been in love with T.J. Detweiler since the fourth grade."
"God, I'm so sorry, Johnny," Spinelli shook her head, her long, dark bangs still matted against her cheeks, "you didn't deserve half the shit I put you through. I owe you big time."
"You don't owe anyone anything," Johnny V. said firmly, pointing a finger at her, "least of all me. But there's a guy here tonight that worships the ground you walk on and he needs you."
"I hope Teej hasn't been a problem," Spinelli offered, "he can get so jealous sometimes."
"He's got a lot to defend, from where I'm standing, Ash," Johnny V. said, "I don't blame him one damn bit for being jealous; women don't come any better than you."
"Why did we break up, Johnny?" Ashley asked seriously. Johnny thought about it for a moment.
"I guess some things just don't work out, even when it should," Johnny reasoned, "maybe if we both didn't have such hectic schedules...maybe if we both weren't so set on becoming fighter pilots, maybe it would have worked out. I know you too well, Ash; you would have hated being at home all of the time. You belong in the clouds."
"I feel so damn guilty about that sometimes," Spinelli murmured, "I love having Angelina in my life; she's my whole world. I also know that I will not be a pilot forever, either. I hate being away from her even for a day, but I love flying so much."
"No one said that life was fair, Ash," Johnny V. pointed out, "but you don't have anything to feel guilty about. You've done a hell of a job with Angelina; she's such a good kid."
"She still asks about you, you know," Spinelli whispered into Johnny V. 's ear, "I still think she's got a crush on you."
"What's not to love?" Johnny V. brushed aside with a grin, "And don't forget; I'm still that girl's godfather. Any boy who breaks her heart will have to answer to me."
Spinelli giggled again, feeling more at ease by the moment.
"We'd better go join the others," Spinelli advised, taking Johnny V.'s arm, "otherwise, they might start getting ideas."
Gustav P. Griswold, lean and taught in his Marine uniform, pushed the men's room door open slowly as his small, blue eyes spotted T.J. Detweiler over by the sinks, splashing water on his face repeatedly. Gus made a quick check of the bathroom in a single glance, and then went over to stand beside his old friend as he started to wash his hands in another sink. Gus looked up into the large mirror at T.J., who just glanced at him and offered a quick, if sincere, smile.
"Something on your mind, Gus?"
"Spinelli just came in," Gus said flatly, "I just wanted you to know."
"Thanks," T.J. responded.
"So, how's it going?" Gus asked after a moment. T.J. took several paper towels and briskly rubbed his face with them, then proceeded to dry his hands.
"How's what going?"
"Between you and Spinelli?"
"Okay, I guess."
"Johnny V. still gets to you, doesn't he?" Gus asked as he tilted his head to one side.
"Is it that obvious?" T.J. asked in return, which caused both men to chuckle briefly. Gus watched T.J.'s smile fade quickly, replaced with something between fear and awkwardness, "When Johnny V.'s around Spinelli, I feel like I'm coming in second in a one horse race."
"If I were a betting man," Gus said slowly, "I'd put good money that Spinelli came here tonight to see you."
"I told her I usually hang out at the club after hours," T.J. shrugged indifferently as he tossed the paper towels in the wastebasket.
"What's going on, Teej?" Gus asked more pointedly, "Ever since this morning, you've been distant."
"I just get this strange feeling when I see Spinelli and Johnny V. together," T.J. said, leaning against the sink, arms folded, "I can't quite put my finger on it, Gus, but something tells me that those two are more than just a couple of fighter jocks from the same carrier."
"Remember what Mikey always said," Gus stated, as he dried his hands off and prepared to leave the men's room, "A feint heart never won a lady fair."
"What's that supposed to mean?" T.J. asked with a lopsided grin.
Gus stopped at the door, "It means, Teej, that if you want Spinelli in your life for good this time, you got to let her know how you feel."
Gus did not wait for any response from T.J., but left the men's room while T.J. turned back around to face his own inner demons concerning Johnny V.. It was no secret that Spinelli had once had a crush on Baby tooth that had almost blossomed into a full-fledged romance. Of all times Detweiler did not need the added complications of Johnny V. in his life while he struggled to deal with his feelings for Spinelli.
His hand, guided by some unseen force, took hold of the small box that T.J. had tucked inside his dress uniform. Mildly startled, T.J. Detweiler retrieved the small velvet covered box and opened it to reveal the diamond ring that sparkled back at him. Spinelli's engagement ring had become something of a strange good luck symbol for him; like a rabbit's foot or four-leaf clover. He had carried it with him everywhere he had ever gone in the last seven years, convinced that it protected him from harm. A silly idea really, T.J. conceded. T.J. simply was not the superstitious type.
A fleeting smile played itself across his boyish face as T.J. remembered once, in the fourth grade, when Gustav Griswold had found a fortuneteller on the playground, and how it had predicted that Gus had only one day left to live. Gus, believing that he was doomed, set out to build the ultimate trap to capture Gelman, a bully, as Gus's last defiant act. Of course, the fortuneteller was wrong, but it was the idea that mattered.
T.J. had always known that as long as he possessed Spinelli's engagement ring, nothing would happen to him. It simply was not the proper time. T.J. swore that nothing would stop him from giving that ring to Spinelli one day….to hell with what happened after that. He sighed inwardly.
"Okay, Detweiler," he asked his reflection, "what's your brilliant plan this time?"
T.J. returned to the table, when he first caught sight of the beautiful Ashley Spinelli, sitting next to Peaches. Both were chatting quietly about something or other, when Peaches looked up and nudged Spinelli, pointing to the handsome young man who stood at the head of the table, his mouth agape.
"Hi, Teej," Ashley said shyly.
"H-hi," he mumbled, "wow, Spinelli; you look fantastic tonight."
"Thanks," she said, as she motioned to a conspicuously empty chair next to her. T.J. sat down slowly, his eyes never leaving hers. Gus, who had switched chairs while T.J. had been in the bathroom, looked over at Gretchen, who crossed her fingers while she innocently sipped on her mineral water.
"Would you care to dance, Ashley?" T.J. asked.
"Sure, why not?" Spinelli said, as both she and T.J. stood
T.J. looked around the table briefly, "Would you guys excuse us?"
T.J. stood and gently took Ashley Spinelli's warm hand in his own, as he absently put his other hand on the small of her back. He could still feel the dampness of Spinelli's silk dress as he led her to the dance floor and pulled her close. Spinelli put her long, tan arms around his neck, resting her elbows on T.J.'s shoulders, while they began to sway in time with the music, their faces inches apart.
At first, Spinelli looked away from T.J.'s face; those baby blue eyes and sprinkling of freckles reminded her of that night so long ago at the lake. Spinelli pulled him closer still, resting her head on T.J.'s stong, muscular shoulder, while she closed her eyes and revelled in the safe feeling that being in his arms gave her.
"It's been a while since we did this," T.J. breathed into Ashley's ear, "I'd almost forgotten how nice it feels."
Spinelli glanced shyly up at the boy-turned-man, kissing him gently on his cheek.
"It feels wonderful," she sighed.
"Ashley?"
Spinelli looked back at T.J. again, her dark, fathomless eyes dancing with his baby blue eyes. She said nothing, but watched him.
"There's something that I'm worried about," he mumbled.
"What?"
"I…I want to be a good father to Angelina," T.J. said, "but I don't know anything about being a father."
Spinelli's eyes filled with tears as she held him close.
"Just be Theodore," Spinelli said, stroking his freckled cheek with a brush of her fingernail, "everything else will come naturally."
"I've been thinking about Angelina a lot, lately," T.J. said, "and the more I think about not being there for her, the angrier I get at myself. Do you think she'll ever be able to forgive me for being such a coward?"
Ashley Spinelli thought back to the moment as Angelina prayed for her father's safe homecoming. Spinelli nestled her face on T.J.'s shoulder.
"I don't think you have much to worry about, baby," she smiled to herself.
"But she's never had a father in her life," T.J. bit, worried.
"That's not true, Teej," she confided, "Johnny's been a really good-"
Spinelli stopped, cringing to herself, as T.J. looked at her.
"Johnny's been a really good father to her?" he finished.
"He's a good man, T.J.," Spinelli defended, "he was there for me-"
"When I wasn't….right?"
"Right," Spinelli said quietly but firmly.
"It's my own fault, really," T.J. shrugged.
"What's your fault?"
"If I hadn't been such a coward, you never would have been driven into Johnny's arms."
Spinelli looked at him.
"It wasn't like that, Teej," she said sourly, "I wasn't driven anywhere; Johnny and I simply were close friends who got closer, that's all."
"How close, Spin?" T.J. stopped dancing. Spinelli winced, knowing what T.J. was thinking. Spinelli silently berated herself for not steering the conversation away sooner.
"Johnny and I…..we were engaged," Spinelli said as she forced herself to look directly into his eyes.
"You were engaged?" T.J. repeated, stunned.
"We were," Spinelli affirmed, "but that was a while ago. We're just friends now."
"Well," T.J. smiled softly, "I always knew you had good taste in guys, Spin. Johnny's a good man."
It was Ashley Spinelli's turn to be stunned. She stopped dead in her tracks as she looked, bewildered, at T.J. Detweiler.
"What?" she replied dumbly.
"Johnny V. is a good man, Spin," T.J. said flatly, "it's too bad that you guys are just friends now."
"But, I thought that-" she started.
"That I would be jealous?"
"It would be nice if you were just a little bit, sweetheart," Spinelli said, raising her eyebrow at Detweiler.
"Just because I think Johnny V. is a good guy, doesn't mean I'm not jealous, Spin," he winked. Spinelli just looked at him, suddenly feeling very stupid.
"If it were someone else, then I'd be upset," T.J. said, "but I know how you always felt about him."
"That was a long time ago," Spinelli said.
"When did you guys break up, anyway?"
"What does that matter?" Spinelli said, sunconciously searching for a reason to be angry with him. Feeling angry was so much safer than feeling love.
"I'm just curious, Spin," T.J. said, "because there's something I have to tell you."
"Are you married?" Spinelli asked, horrified at the thought. T.J. laughed softly.
"No, I'm not married, not even engaged," T.J. said, "at least…not yet."
Spinelli's mind was quickly becoming a swirling mass of emotions, all of which were completely alien to her. For the past seven years, Spinelli had defined for herself why T.J. had done what he did, what he would say when he discovered that she and Johnny V. were more than just friends.
Only now, T.J.'s reaction was not what she had expected.
"Not yet?" Spinelli shook her head, trying to dislodge the confussion that fogged her mind.
T.J. did not answer, at least not in words. He gazed into Spinelli's dark, smoldering eyes as he gently took her left hand in his right. Spinelli stood there in front of him, too stunned to move, as T.J. Detweiler slipped the diamond ring on Spinelli's finger.
"Marry me, Spin," he breathed.
Ashley Spinelli's mouth fell open as her disbelieving eyes stared at T.J. Detweiler.
What did he say? Part of her mind screamed.
Marry?
Marry him? Me?
Marry T.J. Detweiler?
Ashley Spinelli and T.J. Detweiler married?
"No…."
T.J. Detweiler stood on the dance floor, the diamond ring in the palm of his right hand as Ashley Spinelli quickly made her way through the crowds back to the table where Gretchen, Gus, Johnny V., Peaches and Billy still sat. Spinelli came up to the table quickly and tossed a wadded twenty-dollar bill on the table as she seized her purse.
"Spinelli?" Gretchen fumbled, "Are you alright?"
"No, I'm not," Spinelli said quickly, "I've got to go. I'll see you guys tomorrow."
Spinelli did not wait for any reply, but quickly exited the club as T.J. came over and grabbed his keys off the table.
"T.J.?" Johnny asked, "Is Spinelli okay?"
"Sure she is," T.J. said, "But I got to go."
T.J. Detweiler crossed the club floor quickly towards the front door, while Gus looked at Gretchen and scratched his head.
"I wonder what that was all about?"
He did not ask me to marry him!
He did not ask me to marry him!
The words kept echoing in the head of Ashley Funicello Spinelli as she walked down the road, gasping for air between sobs as the rain continued to pour down in torrential sheets. Though the officer's club was not more than a hundred feet behind her, Spinelli was completely soaked as she continued to walk home.
He did not ask me to marry him!
Spinelli held her sides as she walked, crying in the rain as her mascara ran down her face, mixed with rain and tears. Spinelli angrily wiped away the makeup as the rain fell harder, her exposed skin stung by the cold drops. Ashley tripped and almost fell as she paused and lifted her right leg behind her to realise that she had broken the heel of her shoe. Spinelli ripped off the shoe and threw it as far as she could away from her, then removed the other, tossing it to the ground as she continued her trek home.
He did not ask me to marry him!
Yes, he did.
No….
Yes. It's what you've always wanted and you know it.
He just blurts it out like-
Does it really matter? You love him; that's what's important here.
So, if I love him, then why am I-
Running away?
Ashley Spinelli stopped as she let the rain fall on her face, mixing with her tears, as if the rain could have washed away all those years of loneliness and fear. Fear of raising their baby on her own, fear of losing everything she had worked so hard for in her life. Fear of that demon inside her that now had broken free of its chains that Spinelli had forged with her will, threatening to consume her in its rage. Ashley Spinelli stood in the rain, shivering in the darkness as a lone headlight appeared behind her and grew steadily brighter as she both felt and heard the low rumbling of T.J. Detweiler's Hogg approach.
Spinelli did not look back, but started walking faster as T.J. came up along side her, steadying his Hogg, while he rode beside her. Spinelli's arms wrapped around her sides as she shivered and cried uncontrollably, her mind swirling like a tempest and her heart a small boat that being tossed about in a stormy sea of emotion.
"Get on the bike, Spin," T.J. said softly, but from his tone, it wasn't an offer.
"Leave me alone!" Spinelli spat in the rain at T.J..
"I did that once," T.J. said flatly, "now get on the bike."
"No," Spinelli shook her head.
"You'll catch cold-" he began.
"I don't care!" she shot back with a wave of her hand.
"I do," T.J. said firmly, "get on the bike."
Spinelli tried to walk faster, but T.J. simply gunned the Hogg's engine and pulled in front of her as Spinelli came to a sudden stop.
"Get on the goddamn bike," T.J. said quietly, as his own tears fell in the chilling rain.
"Go away!" Spinelli pleaded.
"No, I won't," T.J. shook his head.
"I won't marry you!"
"Fine, then don't marry me," T.J. growled, "but you will get on the bike. You're not walking home in the rain."
"Maybe I want to," Spinelli pouted.
"Tough," T.J. dismissed, "get on the bike."
Ashley Spinelli's dark eyes burned holes right through T.J. Detweiler as Spinelli tried to initimidate him with the coldest stare she could manage; but T.J. just looked right back at her. Spinelli broke her gaze, walked over to the back of the bike, and swung a leg over the back as she wrapped her arms around T.J. Detweiler's muscled frame. With a small push, T.J. set the Hogg into motion as Spinelli felt the powerful engine roar to life.
The rain stung Spinelli's eyes, face and exposed shoulders as she tried to burry her face in T.J.'s back. Her long, tan legs tingled with thousands of tiny raindrops as she softly cried, holding on tight. The rushing sound of the rain was drowned out by the roar of T.J.'s motorcycle as Spinelli and T.J. headed off into the rain soaked night. Spinelli could feel the warmth of T.J.'s well-muscled body beneath his leather jacket and smell the colonge which-
-which Spinelli herself had given him long ago. Ashley's hand's closed around his jacket, her long manicured fingernails dug deeply into T.J.'s skin. God, how she hated him sometimes...
...because T.J. Detweiler was the only one who could ever make her angry and happy, both at the same moment.
T.J. brought the Hogg to a slow stop and put a foot down to catch the bike as Ashley Spinelli looked around in a haze of confussion. Instead of Spinelli's billeting quarters, Spinelli found herself on a large slab of concrete that once had been the foundation of a small building that had been torn down years before. A lone krypton streetlight lit the area with a brilliant yellowish glow as T.J. shut off the engine.
"What are you doing?" Spinelli asked. T.J. turned around as far as he could manage; taking hold of Spinelli's left hand.
"You don't have to marry me, Spin," T.J. sobbed softly in the rain, "but I bought this for you several months before graduation. I want you to have it."
"Before graduation?" Spinelli repeated, "But why didn't you?"
"It never seemed to be the right time, I guess," T.J. smiled sadly, "so I kept it with me. It has been like a good luck charm for me all these years. But now, I think its time that I give this to you."
"But-" she began.
"It belongs to you, Ashley," T.J. said quietly, "no strings attached. I just wanted to ask you to marry me. I always told myself that I would ask you if we ever met up again."
Spinelli said nothing, but gazed, almost hypnotized, by the simplistic beauty of the diamond ring that T.J. held out to her in the palm of his hand.
Spinelli watched wordlessly as T.J. took the ring and slipped it onto her finger once again, her skin shivering more from the feel of the ring than from the chilling rain that had soaked her dress. Large raindrops fell from her eyelashes, down her cheeks, onto her luscious red lips as T.J. came close, and kissed her once more. Spinelli let him kiss her softly at first, then more forcefully as her blood began to boil deep within her. She returned the kiss offered, drinking in the taste of T.J.'s lips in the desert rain as she ran her fingers through his soaked hair and pulled him closer. Spinelli then ran her tongue along T.J.'s lips, first the bottom, then the top, as she began to both eat and drink the boy that she had loved long before she even understood what love really was all about.
Spinelli slid off the back of the Hogg, never taking her lips from T.J.'s, as she moved around to the front of the bike and straddled it once more to face T.J., pulling him close. Her strong hands grasped T.J.'s soaked shirt and ripped it from him as effortlessly as she disengaged her kiss and pushed him back slightly as she began to gently kiss his chest, made all the more inviting by the summer rains. Wordlessly, T.J. reached up with one hand and slid Spinelli's dress straps from her shoulders, one at a time, as Spinelli seized him and pulled him into her chest, moaning softly as she shivered in delight.
As T.J. held her close, Spinelli's mind drifted back over the years…
Back to a small room by a lake.
And somewhere withing the shadowbox of Ashley Spinelli's memories, she heard one song…
Her favorite song.
And as the rains fell…
Ashley Spinelli went where her heart would take her.
However, this time….
She decided she would not travel alone.