A Many Splintered Thing / Day 6: God help him but it elicited a Pavlovian response in him. His dick got hard, his ears perked up.

I keep posting on Twitter and FB in the morning that I've written my entry and that it will go up later. I've done this nearly every day since I started. So...duh...let's just say I wouldn't look for AMST until after noon or so on any given day. On a day like tomorrow (the man starts a new chemo and it's an all day affair, sadly. 7-8 hours.) you might not see me at all. But I'll try.
I have officially settled into an addiction with this thing. LOL. This entry is longer than normal. They seem to flow easier and easier at this point. We'll see when/if that changes.
Happy Monday.
XOXOSommer~~~~~ 
She didn’t have to love him. He realized that. In fact, for the most part, he was fine with that. But Caleb couldn’t help but wonder her intentions. Was he just a quick change from what she’d grown accustomed to? Or maybe something to flaunt in Harrison’s face.
In the past Caleb and Harrison had a stilted politeness between then. Harrison almost seemed to like Caleb and Caleb had felt kind of bad for Harrison. His feeling being that the young man was a pawn and no more interested in marrying Jasmine as she was in marrying him.
A cluster fuck is what it had been.
“And I don’t believe in love. Not really,” he told Alice. She panted softly and broke from looking at the scenery to gaze at him. She grew bored quickly and went back to keeping watch on the Oklahoma landscapes.
His stomach rumbled and he glanced at the dog. She looked at him again, thumped her tail and seemed to grin. “If I’m hungry, I’m sure you are too,” he muttered. He kept his eyes trained on the passing green signs, searching for a blue one. Finally, lodging and gas 25 miles popped up and he sighed. Some food and a place to sleep would be good. The sun was going down and the sky looked like possible rain. The Wagoneer had grumpy windshield wipers. Sometimes they worked perfectly and other times they barely did their job.
The last thing he needed was to get pulled over for something like windshield wipers.
He pulled into a gas station, the first he found, and filled up the Wagon. Then he used the rest room, took Alice to a patch of grass and stuck his head in the convenience store portion. The clerk looked up from his smart phone and raised his eyebrows.
“Nearest motel? Like cheap-cheap kind of place?”
The guy grinned. “One hour and out kind of place?”
Caleb laughed, shook his head. “Not that cheap. Just an overnight that won’t charge me and arm and a leg and doesn’t give a shit about Wi-Fi or cable. Just somewhere to crash. Literally.”
The guy’s phone burbled and drew his attention away for a second. Then he looked back to Caleb. “There’s a small mom and pop restaurant down the road about seven miles. It’s bright green, you can’t miss it. Beyond that, I want to say nine or so miles is a motel. Little cabins. The name is something tropical, I think. But don’t quote me on that.” He grinned. “I don’t think you need to worry about Wi-Fi at that place.”
Caleb nodded. “Thanks. Appreciate it.”
They guy didn’t notice. His eyes had strayed right back to his phone.
“See,” he said to the dog, starting the Jeep. “This is why I have a dumb phone.”
Alice didn’t respond, she was busy watching a squirrel raiding a bird feeder by the restrooms. Caleb hoped the motel allowed pets. He wasn’t’ sure what he’d do if they didn’t.
He drove past the restaurant and finally found the motel. It was the Sand Dune, which made him laugh seeing as there wasn’t any sand for many, many miles, unless you counted sandboxes in surrounding neighborhoods, which was doubtful.
The guy in the office took his money, grunted at the mention of a dog and mumbled something about twenty dollars extra which Caleb didn’t argue about. He just handed it over. He wasn’t leaving the dog in the car and he wasn’t getting into a pissing contest with a man who looked as friendly as a rabid badger. He pulled around to unit five and put his bags in the room. He fed Alice, gave her water and then took her out on a leash he’d managed to make with a bungee cord. It was only for show because he didn’t want to get hung up with leash laws.
“I’ll be right back. Running down to that place to get some food and then you and I have a date with a six pack, if I can find one, and bad movie on cable.”
She climbed onto the bed, wagged once and shut her eyes. He was glad to see she’d gone from cowering in the dirt to assuming she was welcome on his bed. It made Caleb feel a little lighter on the inside. He might have trouble loving people but he was really starting to love that mutt.
The waitress—Dottie, dontcha know—had just brought him an iced tea when the phone rang. The number showed a California area code so he answered.
“Where are you, Caleb?”
“I’m in Oklahoma. I ran out of steam.”
“Ran out of steam? Why can’t you just take a plane like a normal person?”
He dumped three packets of sugar in his tea and began to stir. “Well, for one thing, I can’t afford a ticket. Not really. And then I’d have no car—no vehicle, Jas—you know how I feel about that.”
“Yes,” she sighed. “A man needs his own wheels. Above and beyond all things.”
He chuckled. “You remember.” Dottie came his way, holding a plate piled high with an open faced turkey sandwich and fries. He’d really need to hit the gym or run every morning for a few weeks to make sure the sitting all day and eating on-the-road food didn’t go right to his gut. Or his arteries.Dottie set it down in front of him, winked and whispered, “Catsup? More tea?”
Caleb shook his head no and gave her an OK symbol with his hand. Then he mouthed “sorry”. He was a firm believer that talking to someone on a cell phone when a real live person was standing there was the epitome of rude.
She winked again, and bustled off, wide hips swinging. Caleb was almost certain Dottie had been a real looker in her day.
“The point is, where areyou?”
“I told you where I am.”
He could hear her frowning. He could sense her annoyance.
“Look, Jasmine, I’m not piloting a time machine. I’m driving an old Wagoneer across country. For you, I might add. And it’s going to take a few days. And that’s with pushing myself to the point of exhaustion.”
“Fine,” she said. That clipped I’m-not-happy Jasmine tone he did not miss. Not at all.
“You can stop pouting now.”
“I’m not pouting,” she said.
“Hmm, sounds like it.”
“Caleb. Don’t be an ass.”
He inhaled deeply and then held the breath for a moment before exhaling. The flip side to them being a menace together in bed was out of bed she could make him quite insane. He’d almost forgotten that. Hadn’t taken long to remember, though, and he wasn’t even to the right state yet.
“I have to go. I have a hot meal in front of me and a hot brunette waiting for me back at the room. Call you later,” he said, hitting the end button.
Cruel, yes. But he felt a tiny bit justified for it. The phone instantly began to ring and he smiled, laughing to himself. Okay, a lot cruel and only a tiny bit of justification but Jesus. What did she want from him? Did she want him to materialize there? She wanted him to be at her beck and call. Another Jasmine trait he’d forgotten and not missed.
Back at the hotel he stuck a beer—he’d managed to find a six pack—into an ice bucket full of ice. When it rang, he gave in and answered the cell phone. “Yes, Jas?”
“What do you mean you have a hot brunette back at the hotel?”
Caleb didn’t say anything, he simply held the phone up to Alice who promptly licked the receiver and then began to pant. He couldn’t help but laugh when he put the phone back to his ear. “Her name is Alice and she’s about a hundred or so pounds give or take a few. I think she’s part Rottweiler and part Lab. But don’t quote me on that. She likes meaty kibble and long walks on the—“
“Jesus, Caleb,” Jasmine sighed. “That’s not funny.”
“I think it is,” he chuckled.
“I miss you, baby,” she said.
He picked up that purr in her voice. God help him but it elicited a Pavlovian response in him. His dick got hard, his ears perked up.
“You remember that time I gave you a hand job at his birthday party?”
By ‘his’ she meant her father and fuck yes. Yes, he did. Caleb wasn’t fool enough to think that hand job ad been about him. It had been all about daddy-dearest, but as they say, beggars can’t be choosers.“It was right there under the table. With that stuffy old couple the—“
“The Parkers,” he filled in.
“The Parkers across from us. I put my hand down there and unzipped you. Like you’re going to now…”
Caleb shut his eyes. Was she really trying to trigger phone sex? He dragged his hand down the front of his fly, felt his hard cock respond to that small pressure. Groaned. Was he really going to go along with phone sex?
When was the last time he’d had a woman in his bed? He shook his head because he couldn’t remember.
“Jasmine—“
“Shh,” she said. Put your hand on your cock, Caleb. Do it for me. I’m out in the guest house, I’m all alone, and I want to get off with you. Until you get here and I can get you off myself. And then get myself off on you.” She laughed at her own joke…

photo credit: Walt Stoneburner via photopin cc