A Few Little Scars

by Casey McMillin

  It was all she could do to focus on smiling and watching her posture. She was thinking about exactly those two things when Nick stopped short, making her almost bump into him. Jason had come over to greet Nick when he saw them come in the room. She watched them give each other a guy hug before pulling back to look at how blue they both were. They laughed and gave each other a hard time about their clothes like guys do.

  Both of them looked gorgeous even in their joke outfits, and Molly did her best not to stare at them as they talked. She shifted her attention around the room, looking for someone to talk to, and was relieved to find Michael, Hannah's boss from the coffee shop. He was talking to a woman she assumed was his wife, and Molly decided they'd be as good as anyone to start mingling with. She walked toward them without so much as a glance in the direction of Nick and Jason.

  She'd only taken a couple of steps when she felt a big hand come around her upper arm. Startled, she looked down at it before letting her gaze follow it up to Nick's face. He leaned in and spoke into her ear so no one could hear. "I think we should go for number three in spite of the boyfriend thing. There's no reason that has to stand in our way. You're not married."

  Molly's eyes had gotten progressively wider the whole time Nick was speaking, and when he pulled back to regard her face, he could see that his remarks left her speechless.

  He leaned in again. "It's fine if you're not into it, but just know that I'm ready to make that happen at the drop of a hat."

  She reached up and tapped the top hat he was wearing. "Keep it on for now," she said. She stared into the darkness of his eyes thinking about how it would feel to throw caution to the wind and do what tempted her, which was reach out and kiss him right that very second. "Oh, hey, I forgot to say thanks for sharing your stuff." She smiled. "I'm feeling good."

  Nick gave her a confident wink. He was staring at her mouth, which made her bite at her bottom lip shyly. His eyes snapped up to meet hers. "What you're doing right there is an invitation, you know."

  Molly rolled her eyes. "No it's not," she said. "I'll tell you what. When I'm ready for you to kiss me, I'll just come right out and say it, that way you won't misread the signs again."

  His eyes narrowed slightly. She could see he wasn't used to girls who didn't fall right into his arms when he asked them to. Someone called Nick's name, and Molly used it as a way to end the conversation. She looked over his shoulder at the guy who was yelling.

  "Someone's looking for you," she said.

  He continued to stare at her. He couldn't get over the way she looked. He stared into her caramel colored eyes. They were dark brown around the outside edge, but faded into a light color that was close to gold near her pupil. Nick was mesmerized.

  He felt a hard slap on his shoulder and turned to find their friend Trip, a guy who grew up with Nick and Jason. "What's up bro? I haven't seen you since you've been back," Trip said, coming around the side of Nick. By the time Nick looked back in the direction of Molly (which was only a few seconds later) she was walking away.

  Two hours passed. It was after ten when Nick saw something that made him feel a surge of anger swell in his chest. He had been determined not to let Molly, or her smile, or eyes, or scar distract him. He'd never had problems with the art of seduction, and Molly's refusal to flirt left him feeling a sense of rejection.

  Nick had been all over the place that night. He knew pretty much everybody in the room, and had never once been without someone or some group to talk to. He and Molly caught glances of each other, but they did their best to avoid situations where they had to be in close contact.

  Zeke had just shown up, and Molly stood along the edge of the living room with him and his friends. Thankfully, they had taken Molly seriously about the blue thing. They were underdressed compared to some of the guests, but he and his two friends had on blue shirts and all looked good. Molly caught herself being proud of having Zeke there as her date. It was the first time she'd seen him since the show a month before, and he was at least as cute as she remembered. Plus, he was the lead singer in a band, and how can you beat that?

  They all stood around with drinks in their hands talking about the song that was playing and rap music in general. They mostly made fun of it since they were in a rock band, but Kade, Zeke's roommate defended the guy who was being played at that very moment, saying, "Drake's okay, though."

  Without warning, Zeke reached out for Molly and pulled her into his arms. He turned her so she was facing out, and when he had her settled in front of him, he left his arm around her waist. It wasn't the first thing Zeke had done to let her know where they stood, either. There'd been a few other examples of PDA already, and he hadn't been there long.

  Molly had a couple of drinks in her, and was feeling good. She was reasonably sure she was a fan of this guy Drake who was playing, because she easily relaxed into Zeke's arms, listening to the smooth beat and feeling like all was right with the world.

  She had been situated in Zeke's arms for all of thirty seconds when Nick Logan spotted her from across the room. He immediately excused himself from the person he was talking to. He walked through the crowd, ignoring a few people who called his name, until he reached the place where Molly was standing with some skinny jeans wearing garage band rocker. He was holding onto her like she was his property, and the sight of it made Nick feel like he wanted to do things to that faggot that could get him arrested. He walked straight up to them, sticking a hand out to the little emo boy.

  "I'm Nick Logan," he said.

  "As in Leroy Logan?" Zeke asked, smiling and shaking Nick's hand. She could tell Zeke was kidding when he asked, and Molly smiled to herself wondering how he'd react when he found out he was dead on.

  Nick held the handshake for an unreasonable length of time to stop him from putting his hand back on Molly. "He's my dad," Nick said.

  Zeke gave a guarded expression that made it obvious he didn't know what to believe, and Nick just smiled and looked at Molly.

  "Hey, Molly, Taylor needs you in the kitchen," he said.

  He was smiling at her when he turned to walk off, and Zeke stared at Molly in disbelief at how familiar she was with Nick Logan. "Is that seriously Leroy Logan's son?"

  Molly nodded, feeling a bit like she was in the Twilight Zone.

  Zeke couldn't believe Nick Logan knew her by name. She hadn't given him all the details about Hannah's boyfriend and his ties to ultra famous people in Nashville, and she could tell he was really impressed. He had no idea those types of people would be at the party.

  "You should probably go help Taylor, whoever that is," Zeke said. He smiled. "Next you'll tell me it's Taylor Swift."

  "I'm afraid not," she said. "This one's in charge of the catering. I should probably go see what she needs."

  "Go ahead," Zeke said.

  She smiled and walked to the far side of the kitchen where she saw Taylor. Molly walked toward her, trying to get her attention by waving a hand in the air. Before Taylor even had the chance to notice she was coming, someone came up and grabbed Molly by the hand.

  It was Nick, and she was helpless to stop herself from following him. He ducked down a hall that was off the kitchen.

  "Can you at least let me see what Taylor needed?"

  Nick looked back at Molly with an expression that told her she needed to get with the program.

  "Taylor didn't need anything?" she guessed.

  Nick just shook his head and turned to walk again. He took her to a tiny little half bathroom that was between the kitchen and laundry room. He pulled her inside, turned on the light, and closed the door. They were so cramped that their bodies were touching in multiple places.

  She had just been staring at Zeke, and couldn't help but compare the two as she regarded Nick. Zeke had a cool look, but was in no way comparable to the traditional good looks of Nick. He had a square jaw with the shadow of a beard, and his dark eyes and hair gave him an element of mystery that Zeke lacked.

  Molly knew what kind
of guy Nick was and how many girls he was with on a regular basis. She wasn't fool enough to get her heart set on changing him, and she was smart enough to know that a chance with someone like Zeke was something she shouldn't pass up for a fling with Nick.

  Nick stared down at her. The light was on, and they could clearly see each other's faces. "Is that your boyfriend?" he asked.

  "Yes," she said, "and it's not gonna look very good if someone's standing out there when we walk out of this very tiny bathroom at the same time."

  He regarded her for several long seconds with a serious expression. "No one's out there, and even if they were, you think I give a shit what people think?"

  "That's what I'm saying Nick. Maybe you don't care since you're with a different girl every day of the week, but there's a guy out there that I've been talking to for the last month, and he might wonder."

  "He's not gonna follow you," Nick said. "Besides, he probably wouldn't blame you."

  She laughed. "Oh that's classic," she said. "You think you're so irresistible that even my boyfriend wouldn't blame me for kissing you?"

  "You're thinking about kissing me."

  "No I'm not. I just know that's what you're thinking about."

  "Damn straight that's what I'm thinking about." He touched her under the chin and gently lifted up on it forcing her to look up. "When you're with him, I want you to compare him to me. I want you to remember the way I kiss you and know for yourself that he has no idea what the hell he's doing."

  "Nick don't." The words came out of her mouth, but it was clear by the desperate undertones that she didn't mean them at all. She let out a resigned sigh, and he smiled, knowing she was feeling the same thing he was.

  "You need to know that he'll never be able to please you the way I could."

  She narrowed her eyes at him. "And how would you know that?"

  He took her by the face and moved in to let his cheek brush hers. "I know how to make you feel good," he whispered in her ear. He pulled back just far enough to put a kiss on her lips. He was moving slow and staring directly into her eyes, which was a total contradiction to the previous two times they kissed.

  "I hope you're haunted by the memory of this kiss," he said. He gave her a slow, breathtaking smile before placing his lips on hers again. He put kiss after gentle kiss on her mouth.

  "Nick?" she whispered, finally.

  "What?"

  "Please don't tell anyone."

  "I won't."

  At his word, she met his mouth in a kiss that was considerably more urgent than the previous ones. She opened her mouth to him, and he didn't hesitate to let his tongue roam inside. It was warm and slippery, and she sucked on it gently.

  Both of them let out sounds that made it apparent they were aroused. He wrapped a hand into her hair and forced the back of her head toward him in an effort to go deeper. A few deep strokes of his skilled tongue, and he pulled away.

  They were both breathless. The desire that flowed between them was palpable. Molly felt a sudden wave of paranoia hit her. She thought she and Nick would surely be caught if she didn't get out of there, pronto. She peered around him into the mirror, and was relieved that there was nothing on her face that made it obvious she'd just been kissed.

  He drew her in, hugging her tightly, and she put her forehead onto his chest in confusion and frustration. How would Zeke ever compare to that? There was no way he ever could, and the thought of that made Molly feel somewhat pissed off at Nick.

  "Good luck with that other guy," he said, smiling and reading her mind.

  She glared at him, knowing she'd never get the memory of that kiss out of her head. "Already forgotten," she said.

  "Who? Him?" Nick asked. "See I told you."

  "Not him, stupid. I'm talking about that kiss. Already forgotten."

  "That's too bad," Nick said. "Because it's gonna haunt me, I'll tell you that right now."

  She looked at him like she wanted to say something but stopped herself. Without another word, she opened the door, and walked out.

  Chapter 9

  Molly didn't get caught kissing Nick, thank God. She went back out to the party and found Zeke and his friends without anybody knowing what had just happened. The music was good, and most everyone had a few drinks in them, so by eleven thirty or so, just about everybody at the party was dancing. Zeke's friends were hanging out with other people, and Zeke was able to focus his attention on Molly.

  Their bodies rubbed together as they moved to the music, and Molly had herself pretty convinced that she was lucky to be in his company. He had good rhythm, and their hips ground together as they swayed to the music.

  Molly looked up to see Nick a few feet from them dancing with a girl she'd seen there all night. He was touching her as they danced, and Molly looked away intentionally so she could avoid the annoyance that rose up at seeing him dancing with her.

  Her eyes roamed the room, looking anywhere but at Nick. That worked for a few seconds, but she was simply too curious and had to look at him again. Zeke and the redhead Nick was dancing with were turned in such a way that they couldn't see Nick and Molly making eye contact—and that's exactly what they did. Nick was already looking straight at Molly when her eyes passed over him and locked in his gaze.

  The eye contact they experienced during the next minute or so was totally freaking epic. Their eyes were locked on each other so completely that there was absolutely no looking away. Molly even tried it one time. Her face shifted to the side in an effort to make her eyes follow suit, but they refused. She was utterly helpless to look at anything but Nick. It was one of those rare moments in life where you just know the other person is feeling it too.

  Then a movement caught her eye. She glanced downward to see that Nick's hand was cupped securely around the redhead's ass. It had probably been there the whole time, and she was just too distracted by his cotton-pickin' face to notice. Without thinking, she put her arms around Zeke's neck and pulled him in for a kiss. She felt a small amount of smug satisfaction thinking Nick would be effected in some way at seeing her kiss Zeke like that.

  Once she finished the kiss (which in no way compared to the one she just had with Nick) she risked a glance in Nick's direction. Super crap. Her plan had backfired, and she was forced to witness him kiss the girl he was dancing with. Really? Is he really kissing this girl to get me back for kissing Zeke? A smile touched her lips when she thought she might have made him jealous enough to kiss the redhead. Her amusement faded once she glanced at them again and realized they were still locked at the lips. That was a terribly long make out session for someone who was doing it just to get back at someone else. She suddenly felt disappointed at the thought that maybe Nick was just kissing the random girl because he wanted to.

  Molly just looked away. She knew it was the wisest thing to do.

  "Kade's gotta go back to Nashville in a little bit," Zeke said, looking at his watch. "You wanna ride with us when we bring him?"

  "I'm spending the night here," she said. "I'd need a ride back."

  Zeke shrugged. "We'll get you back."

  Molly thought about it, but came to the conclusion pretty quickly that she wanted to go. She certainly didn't want to stay at Jason's where Nick was getting friendly with other girls. She knew she was to blame for starting the whole kissing war, but that didn't make it any easier.

  "Give me about ten minutes to get my stuff together and tell everyone goodbye."

  "Take your time," Zeke said. "They're serving top shelf drinks."

  "Who's driving?" Molly asked. She certainly was in no state to be driving, and hoped the person who had the job was more qualified than her.

  "Chris," Zeke said.

  Molly looked at his friend Chris who held up a Coke. "I'm fine," he said. She chose not to speculate about whether or not there was rum in it or not.

  She smiled at Zeke. "I need to run upstairs to get my stuff," she said. "I'll be back in a little bit." She turned on her heel and took off in the directi
on of the staircase. She had her things in the same bedroom she'd stayed in before—the one Nick had snuck into. Everyone at the party stayed downstairs, and Molly took a deep breath in the doorway of the bedroom. She was relieved for the moment of peace and quiet. Even though the music from downstairs was still loud, it was a heck of a lot quieter upstairs than it was down there.

  "Why did you have to go and kiss him right in front of me like that?" She heard the deep voice say from behind her. The shock of his voice and the fact that he had come up behind her suddenly had Molly so startled she hadn't even heard what he said.

  "What? Oh my God," she said, turning to find Nick, who was standing directly behind her. She reached out and put a hand on his shoulder to balance. "You seriously scared me. I didn't hear you come up behi—"

  And just like that, his lips were on hers. He kissed her a couple of times before he reached out, closed the door behind them, and pushed her against the wall.

  "We can't do this anymore," she said breathlessly. "I have to go. They're waiting for me down there."

  He put a hand on either side of her making it clear that she wasn't leaving quite yet. She didn't resist or try to escape. He put his lips close to her ear and whispered, "I want you to think about me when you're with him."

  He reached down and let his big hand slide over her tights up her thigh. When he reached the spot at the top of her legs, he left his hand there. It was warm and Molly felt like she wanted to force her hips into it, but she didn't. She closed her eyes, lost for a second in the sensation caused by the feel of his hand down there.

  His mouth was literally on her ear as he continued speaking, and the way his breath hit her ear made her feel as if she could come undone. "I know I can't stop you from being with him, but I can tell you that he'll never be able to please you the way I could."