Chapter 3 Part 3

Kruz

“There’s Mr. Quarterback!” Jason’s voice cut through the gathered crowd and Kruz grinned. He’d won MVP of the season on the school’s varsity team, unheard of for a sophomore. “When is that article being published?”

“I think it’ll be in Wednesday’s paper,” Kruz said, accepting the beer that Jason held out to him.

They’d won every match, every championship available to them, despite the odds of coming in as the underdogs, and next year they planned to do the same. Kruz couldn’t complain. Their school didn’t have the usual cliques, maybe because nobody in their town was excessively rich, they were more or less on the same level and everybody was friends with everybody.

“Hey,” Natasha said, wrapping her arm around his waist. They’d been exclusive for six months and ironically enough, she wasn’t a cheerleader. She worked part-time at the local library, was second in their class and her father was the school janitor.

His arm tightened around her shoulder and he bent his head to kiss her. “Hey.”

Two hours later, Natasha was in the passenger seat of his truck and he drove them to the look-out point. He turned off onto a dirt road and pulled off to the side in a small clearing. Natasha met him at the back of the truck and he lowered the tailgate. She wrapped her arms around his neck as he leaned back and she stepped in between his legs, their mouths coming together in a frenzied kiss. Kruz’s hands slid beneath the hem of her T-shirt and he unclasped her bra. They broke apart just long enough to remove their shirts and Kruz tugged her bra away. His hands cupped her breasts, rolling her nipples between his fingers as she pulled her underwear off. She unbuttoned his jeans and pulled the zipper down, freeing his dick. He shifted back onto the tailgate and pulled a condom from his pocket. Natasha straddled his lap the moment the latex covered him and sank down, fusing their bodies together as Kruz wrapped his arms around her tightly.

They moved together, sweat coating their bodies, their moans muffled as their tongues danced together. She clamped down around him, her head thrown back and Kruz’s mouth found the side of her neck. The itching in his gums flared up so quickly that his breath caught in his throat. For a moment, he felt entranced. The pulse in her throat was thrumming, calling to him. He could hear the rush of her blood just beneath her skin. It was enticing, exhilarating, and for one single sick moment, the urge to bite into her neck overwhelmed him.

She was milking his dick now, riding out her orgasm and he clenched his eyes tightly. He envisioned his mouth latching onto her throat, his teeth piercing her skin and sucking. He could almost taste the coppery tang of her blood and his release shot into the condom, his orgasm taking his breath away. The realization of what he’d fantasized hit him and he pushed her off his lap and got to his feet.

“Kruz? What’s wrong?”

He stepped away from his truck, taking deep breaths through his mouth. “I just need a minute.”

His skin itched and his jaw was throbbing, the itch in his gums the worst it’s ever been. He didn’t feel comfortable in his own skin, like something was missing. Natasha kept looking at him as she put her clothes back on and he turned his back on her, his gums now tingling as the sensation and urge lessened. What the hell was wrong with him?

“Kruz?”

He turned back to face her, his gaze going to her throat. “Let’s get out of here.”

He pulled his T-shirt over his head and fastened his jeans. As they neared the town, Natasha’s hand sought out his and he interlaced their fingers. She was a nice girl, maybe too nice for him. Nobody had expected them to date, least of all Sandra, the head cheerleader.

“Are you okay?” She looked questioningly at him.

He glanced at her and smiled. “I think I’m just tired. I had a long day and Mom was lucid for most of it.”

Natasha smiled and squeezed his hand. “I’m glad. Do you want me to stay over tonight?”

“Are your parents out of town again?” She almost always spent the night when her parents were gone, not wanting to be in their house alone.

“Yeah, they’ll be back tomorrow night,” she said.

Kruz drove them to his house, parked his truck in the driveway, and opened her door for her. They walked into the house quietly, Kruz stopping by his mother’s door to make sure she was still asleep. Everything was just as he left it.

Natasha grabbed a T-shirt from his dresser drawer and slid into bed as he discarded his clothes. Tomorrow was a rest day, Joseph’s Auto Shop was closed and even Natasha had the day off. They laid in bed, Kruz wrapping his arm around her waist and closed his eyes. Sleep didn’t come quickly, his mind going back to what had happened in the woods.

He woke up the next morning, Natasha’s head on his chest, her fingers trailing up and down his abdomen. He kissed the side of her head and she shifted slightly.

“Do you think you’ll stay here after school?”

“Probably,” Kruz said. He couldn’t go to college and leave his mother. He felt guilty about it at times because he wanted to go to college. If he kept working for Joseph, they’d have a mediocre life, forever, but college could change that.

“I know you don’t want to talk about it, but you deserve to have a life too,” she said.

He sighed. It wasn’t a new conversation. Natasha meant well, but she had no idea what it was really like. He was responsible for his mother. Would it really be fair to have her committed while he went off and lived his best life? He didn’t think so. She was his mother. She’d raised him and done the best she could. Her illness wasn’t her fault.

“I know… but I can’t leave her.”

A little later, they got out of bed, made breakfast and Kruz took Natasha home just before sunset. They’d spent the day watching old soaps on the TV with his mother and suffered through only one meltdown. He liked that Natasha knew the truth about his mother. She’d never shied away from it, instead she left the room while Kruz calmed her down and she had the world’s patience with his situation, never asking for too much.