Non-Concent/Reluctance. It's a slow burn with a lot of teasing.
Lost In Hawaii 02
Mitchell plunked down in the seat beside me, blessed coffee in one hand and a bag in the other. I took the coffee and sipped in glorious addiction. I was not a get up at 6am guy. I'd stay up till 4am with no problem. That's what I should have done, but Mitchell had insisted on a good night's sleep. Unfortunately, I'd barely slept and was hardly human at the moment.
"Thank God for coffee," I sighed after several more sips.
"No doubt." Mitchell squeezed my knee in agreement. My foggy, sleep-deprived brain barely registered the move. He'd promised to behave but sleep deprivation made people stupid.
"I have one other thing for you. It's actually a set." Mitchell plopped the bag in my lap and four jewelry boxes fell out. "I saw them on TV. Supposed to help with motion sickness and travel anxiety."
"Really?" Nothing had helped with my fear of flying. I'd usually spend the next 24hrs after a flight recovering pieces of my stomach. How I hated to fly, but Hawaii was going to be worth it, damn it.
In the first box was a bracelet of twisted silver, bronze and copper metal. Each strand wove between the others as they stretched from end to end. The ends looked like they'd fit seamlessly together.
"Wearing these will help me stay calm?" I asked dubiously.
"Yep. Here, let me put this on."
Mitchell wrapped the first one around my wrist and snapped the ends together. It was just loose enough to twist around my wrist without cutting off circulation. It wasn't loose enough to slide up over my hand, though.
He opened the second box and had that one on my other wrist before I was done looking at the first. There was no obvious way to unclasp the bracelet. I looked like an over eager pimp flashing his bling around on both wrists. Of course, maybe the sleep was making everything seem way out of proportion.
"Okay, I guess. Now, how do you unclasp them?"My eyes narrowed to sleep-deprived, angry little slits as Mitchell laughed at me.
"If you can't figure it out, I will seriously question how you got into Stanford." Mitchell grazed his thumb across my wrist below the bracelet. "They said to wear them on your ankles, too. Something about the four corners of some psychic road mambo-jumbo. So, I got some for your ankles, too."
"Nah, man. That's okay. The ladies will think I'm really desperate to wear so much jewelry all over. Once I can take them off, or you tell me how, I'll think about ankle bracelets. The wrist ones will work just fine... I think."
"No, if you get anxiety on the plane you'll blame the bracelets for not working. It's all or nothing. If they work, you'll be cured of your fear of flying and we can travel by plane more often."
I took another sip of coffee and grimaced at his logic.
"Fine. Give me one." I held my hand out in irritation.
"Nuh, uh. You drink your coffee. I'll get these on."
Mitchell knelt on the floor at my feet and took my shoes and socks off. He carefully fastened each anklet and gave them a good tug to make sure they were secure. It got awkward for a moment as he stared at my ankles and caressed the skin underneath my new bling. I almost kicked him but didn't want to start a scene.
"These look good on you. Might not tell you how to take 'em off. See how long it takes." Mitchell gave me a wicked grin and got my socks and shoes back on. I didn't occur to me that he didn't need to take my shoes and socks off at the time. The bracelets didn't slip over my heals, afterall. He sat back down beside me and threw an arm around my shoulders. I thought about shoving him away but the coffee held more interest then having a pissing contest with Mr. Handsy.
"Whatever. They better just work," I grumped.
They must have worked. We boarded the plane five minutes later. By the time we taxied off the runway I was dozing off on Mitchell's shoulder. I'd never dozed on a plane before. And apparently, I slept a solid four and a half hours. I woke up just in time for landing. I'd never felt better getting off any plane.
Hawaii was beautiful. Trees, flowers, the scent of the ocean, and the heat all pressed in on me. Honolulu instantly wormed it's way into my heart. The cab driver gave us the scenic route from the airport to the harbor. Just that first glimpse of Hawaii took my breath away.
"You look like a dog who wants to stick his head out the window and let his lips flap in the breeze."
I grinned and flipped him off. Neither of us could stop gawking. Mitchell looked more relaxed then ever. Maybe he needed this trip more then I'd anticipated. My mom's cancer had taken most of my attention these past few months.
"I do not. Just waiting for you to get these bracelets and necklace off. You're a jerk for putting the necklace on while I was sleeping. I would have said no. Not my style. Time to take 'em off. I Still can't figure the damn things out." I held my wrists out and shook them. "What's the trick, mister?"
"Ha, no trick. I'm just not going to tell you. You'll figure it out soon enough." He hooked a finger under the necklace that was the same design as the bracelets and anklets. I latched onto his wrist as he pulled me to within an inch of his face. His minty breath washed over me as his lips brushed mine.
"Relax," he whispered. I was too stunned to deck him from kissing me a bit more. "I will always take good care of you. Promise."
With a sigh, he let me go. I scooted close to the door of the taxi and stared blankly at the scenery I couldn't see anymore. I'd liked the feel of his lips against mine. I crossed my legs as my little brain tried to jump for joy in approval. That's why I was going to a hardware store to get a bolt cutter.
I spent the last half hour of the drive trying to figure the damn things out and got more irritated when I couldn't. Mitchell watched me with a slight smile. He was getting a real charge out of my growing frustration.
