Touch Screen: a small town romance

by L. B. Dunbar

  “You have no idea how amazing that feels. Or how long it’s been for me. You’re making me feel things I shouldn’t feel, Gavin. And it scares me to feel this good.”

  “I want you to feel good, always, Precious,” I said, kissing the side of her mouth as I applied more force with my finger. She separated her legs slightly, allowing me more access to her, and I took the invitation for another finger to join the first. Her hands slid down to my shoulders and she gripped them hard, pulling herself forward.

  “Gavin,” she moaned into my neck. I kissed her cheeks, her nose, her jaw, and returned to her neck as I increased the pace of my fingers. I could feel the tremble of her legs and I knew from the way they fell open farther that she was lost in the pleasure I was causing her. She arched her back and let her head fall backward, looking up at me with her soft blue eyes. I felt her crash down on me, softly, slowly, and she closed her eyes with a flutter as she moved on my fingers. It was the most intense orgasm I had witnessed. As she calmed, she shifted her legs together, holding my fingers between her.

  “It’s not over,” I moaned to her. I removed my boxers hastily before pulling down her thong. I rolled over her and her legs spread for me as I braced myself at her entrance. I slipped a hand around her back, pinching the clasp of her bra. Slipping it off her, I threw it to the side of the room.

  She was watching me as she lay bare under me. I couldn’t remember a time other than in the barn when we had been so free to explore each other. No fumbling backseat or quick moment on a couch. No groping and grinding in the dark of a beach party or feeling each other behind a briefly closed door. I could have her, all of her, and she was giving herself to me.

  I pushed against her slick center and she opened her legs by raising them up to my waist. I was so hard, and with a mind of its own, my erection pushed into her warmth. She made a sound from the back of her throat and it was different even from the night before. On the couch last night, it was hurried. I felt seduced by her. Tonight, I would take my time with her.

  We moved as one with me setting a torturously slow rhythm. Together we slid across each other as her legs moved up and over mine. My tongue traced down to her breasts. I took her in my mouth, teasing the nipple to a ripe peak, then moved to the other and repeated the caress. She rubbed my sides and ran her nails gently down my back. This only hardened me further, which I didn’t think was possible. I imagined having my way with her in a more demanding position, but not tonight. Tonight would be slow and sensual; a re-acquaintance with her body.

  When I thought I couldn’t handle anymore, I slid my hand between us again and rubbed her sensitive spot as I temptingly glided in and out of her.

  “I like that,” she moaned to me. I sensed she was still relatively inexperienced after all these years. I also realized I wanted to be the only one to teach her.

  “I want to please you,” I said gruffly.

  She made that sound in the back of her throat. I knew she was close to exploding again. She was picking up the pace herself, forcing me to speed up the rhythm. In, out, circle her. In, out, circle her.

  “Let it go again. I want to feel it around me,” I grunted softly.

  “Gavin,” she breathed. “I don’t know…”

  “Let me make you feel good,” I pushed harder with my circling fingers. I was buried deep inside her, and I felt her tremble against me. She was squeezing me inside her, and I felt the quickening coming up my own legs.

  “It’s gonna happen together,” I warned her, groaning as I leaned forward to take her mouth forcefully, opening her lips with my own as I sucked them. She pushed her hips up around me. Once, twice, and then groaned deeply into my mouth as I felt her clench a final time. I released into her with an overwhelming sense of fulfillment. Then cursed internally as I realized what I’d done again. I moved quickly to pull out of her, but she trapped me with her legs, holding me in place by wrapping them around my waist. Her hands on my ass forced me to remain inside her. We stayed like this for a moment, pressing against one another, releasing around each other. Trying to get as close as any two humans could be.

  Gently, she relaxed under me, letting her hands slip to my hips and her legs slide from my waist. I pulled out of her, but remained at her entrance.

  “That was dangerous, my Precious,” I said softly.

  “That was delicious,” she mumbled against my neck, and I forgot my concern.

  I kissed her eyelids then rubbed my nose against hers playfully, tickling. I braced my arms to balance around her, but I was trembling from the intensity of moments ago. I kissed her lips once, twice, and pulled back on her bottom lip before rolling us to our sides.

  “Do I need to go to the couch?”

  She nuzzled into my chest like the night before; only this time there was no barrier between us.

  “Not yet, please,” she whispered, but I didn’t miss the tear that streamed down her cheek.

  Take 31

  Under the Moonlight

  When I woke, the bed was empty and the room was dark. I recalled I’d been holding her to my chest when I fell asleep. We had awoken during the night to rediscover each other a second time with hungry mouths and desperate hands. I was forceful, and at times, I thought I hurt her. But she took each thrust and met me in response, at one point, begging for it to be faster. I was so drained when round two ended that I collapsed in sleep immediately.

  I was surprised to find her awake and sitting in the small wicker chair in the corner of the room. A blanket was wrapped around her and she was looking out the window at the early morning sky. It was still dark, but dawn was coming, and I strangely recalled the saying it was always darkest before the dawn.

  “Hey,” my voice said gravelly.

  “Hey,” she smiled sheepishly.

  “Are you okay?”

  “Of course. Why?”

  “I thought I might have hurt you a little.”

  “Mmmm. It might be a sin how good I feel at the moment,” she purred softly and looked out the slight opening in the curtain covering the sliding door.

  I liked her sounds and loved that she was being open with me. She was pleased and satiated by me.

  “What are you doing awake?” I asked.

  “I couldn’t sleep. My mind is racing,” she breathed in a sigh.

  “Tell me,” I sat up on an elbow and the sheet slid to expose my chest.

  “I…” she blinked when she looked over at me. Something stopped her words and her mouth fell open slightly.

  “What?”

  “Nothing. Gavin, my God, you are perfect.” She pinched her eyebrows together as she looked at me with confusion on her face.

  “That sounds bad.”

  “Not bad. You just seem so different from what I remember.”

  “That sounds worse. Different how?”

  “Well, your body for one.” She blushed. “But other things too. Things I wouldn’t have expected from you.”

  I waited for her to continue. I was about to ask her for an example when she spoke.

  “You are so good with Gee, and I didn’t think you ever wanted children. It’s strange to see you interact with him. And then with me, you’ve been…almost possessive…and I don’t remember that about you.”

  I snorted. “Are you kidding? I could hardly keep my hands off you when we were younger. I didn’t want anyone to look at you unless they were looking at me, holding onto you, knowing that you belonged with me.”

  “That’s just it,” she began, “I remember us always touching, but I don’t remember that possessiveness about you. Like you think things, people, can belong to you.”

  I was uncertain as to where this conversation was headed or what it was even about.

  “And?”

  “And, I’m just saying that I know you’ll leave, but I don’t want you to think you can just come and go. You implied earlier that things could be different, but they can’t really. I don’t want to overanalyze this right now. I just want to enjoy it for wh
at it is, and worry about what it isn’t later. Which is kind of how I felt every time I was with you when we were young. I lived in the moment and sucked in every ounce of you I could to last me the rest of the year. But I’m not a girl anymore.”

  She paused and looked out the window. Her hand came to her forehead and she rubbed it as if she had a headache.

  I didn’t know this about her. Not really. We talked with emotion at times in those summers with teenage confessions of I love you and I can’t live without you, but we both knew that our summers would end despite the love we felt. We were young. But her words right now were said with such intensity that I realized she might have felt even more than I ever imagined.

  “What are you saying exactly?” I looked at her.

  “I’m saying I don’t want to overcomplicate things and think there can be anything more than the next few days. And I want you to know that I understand your life, your work. I do. I have no illusions of anything else from you, Gavin. That’s all.”

  I continued to stare at her. She looked sad and confused, and I had put that look on her face. I’d had sex with her two nights in a row, without protection, and although it had been amazing, it was messing with her head emotionally. I’d been so wrapped up in my memories that I was forgetting the reality sitting in the chair across the room from me. I was going back to California. There was no way I was staying in this town, not even for her, and I selfishly knew this, deep, deep down inside.

  This was what always confused me about women. She seemed fine with everything up front, but not fine when it was finished. Not that I was finished with her yet, but I sensed she might be done with me. She had replayed her memory or relived a fantasy. Her mind was surpassing her body’s desire and she was closing me off again.

  “Come here,” I whispered.

  I watched her unfold her legs and the blanket slipped from her shoulders. As she crossed the room, she was naked and exposed to me in more ways than one. She climbed over me and I pulled her down next to me, wrapping myself around her again. This time her back was to me, against my chest, and my arm was over her hip. Her feet rested on top of mine as our legs molded together. I breathed in her summer fresh scent mixed with the hint of our night together.

  “Please don’t overthink right now,” I whispered behind her ear. “Not yet.” I repeated her words to me, and I felt her relax in my arms. When I was certain she was asleep an hour later, I stole from her bed.

  I woke with my morning ritual of Gee on my back, but today I wasn’t staying. The dress rehearsal for the wedding was this evening and the final touches for the barn needed to be completed. I suddenly felt like the wedding planner from a thousand chic flicks, but I also secretly enjoyed the work to keep my own mind from thinking too much.

  I called Ethan, waking him, and telling him how to get to Britton’s. I encouraged him to come sooner rather than later. I sensed that something had shifted between us last night and I didn’t want to make things more complicated. I helped Gee to some cereal this morning, skipping the grand production of breakfast since I had to take Ethan out as payment for the ride.

  Britton found us in the kitchen again. Freshly showered, she was dressed in a simple, casual dress.

  “You look pretty,” I said without thinking.

  “Gavin, you have to say she’s beautiful,” Gee corrected without looking from the back of the cereal box.

  “You look beautiful,” I tried again with a smile at Britton.

  “Gavin, it doesn’t count if you have to be told to say it.” Gee still looked at the cereal box as if the secrets to relationships were printed on the back of the box.

  Britton had a half smile on her lips as she shook her head at us. She uncrossed her arms, walked to the table, and kissed the back of Gee’s head.

  “You really are going to be the perfect man one day, lovie,” she said to his blond hair, and I felt a pang of jealousy knowing I wasn’t the perfect man for this woman.

  “You do look nice. What’s the occasion?” I casually asked.

  “Friday. I have errands to run before I have to work.”

  I didn’t understand the relevance of Friday and I didn’t know she had to work today.

  “Work? What time?”

  “Noon to eight.”

  “What?” I snapped, sharper than I intended. Gee looked up from the cereal box. Britton only raised her eyebrows at me.

  “I thought…” I tried again. “Tonight is the rehearsal dinner. I just assumed you were coming with me.” I looked at her, hopeful.

  She blinked, truly stunned.

  “Uhm…you didn’t ask me to the dinner. And I have to work if I’m taking off Saturday. I mentioned to you about not skipping work the other day.”

  “Well…” I stopped myself. I hadn’t asked her to the dinner. As a matter of fact, I’d never asked her properly to the wedding, but she’d agreed to attend. I just assumed that she understood the invitation was for all the activities of the wedding.

  “Besides,” she started, “this is a family night. Rehearsal dinners are only for the immediate wedding party, which I am not one of, nor am I part of the family.” Her voice was rising and she paused for a beat, hesitant. “It’s the last chance to be with just the family before the big celebration.”

  I knew she was right, but I wanted her to be there. I was part of the wedding party, and as my date, she should be part of tonight as well.

  “I just assumed you were going to everything with me when you said yes. You went to Emily’s party.”

  “Emily invited me to her party, Gavin. And if there’s one thing I’ve learned as I’ve gotten older, it is never, ever assume anything.” There it was again. That feeling that this, whatever this was, was over for her.

  Ethan arrived a little after nine and I was instantly sorry to leave the tension of the morning behind. I had to fix whatever was going on between us. I rode in silence next to my brother through the north side of town, and I absentmindedly answered my phone when it rang, hoping it was Britton.

  “Hello,” I said, almost enthusiastically.

  “Gavin, where have you been?” It was Zeke Steinmann.

  Shit.

  “Zeke,” I looked left at my brother as I exaggerated the name. “It’s great to hear from you. What’s up?”

  “What’s up? What’s up? Have you no idea that my daughter is in New York? And have you not heard the rumors, which I’m sure are not true?”

  “Um, no, sir. Remember I’m still in Michigan for a family wedding tomorrow.”

  “Well, I thought my daughter was in Minnesota with you.”

  “Michigan,” I corrected firmly.

  “Whatever. Why is she in New York instead?”

  “Probably because we broke up a week ago, but I can’t be certain.”

  “What?” Zeke yelled so loudly into the phone that I had to move it away from my ear. Ethan raised an eyebrow from his position in the driver seat.

  “How did this happen?” Zeke said tensely into the phone. I paused and Zeke began to answer his own question.

  “It’s that actor, isn’t it?”

  What?

  “I told her months ago to get rid of him. Nothing good comes of hanging around an actor. Plus, I knew you were a rising star and she would be better off with you.”

  I held the phone as if I was having an out of body experience. This could not be happening to me again. She could not have been cheating on me over the months I was making my movie, and yet, I somehow knew, didn’t I? The fact that she didn’t come to Michigan with me was a sign. The strange phone call from the dance club and the hushed voices in the background. Her father made her come to Michigan for her reputation, not my film. Somehow, I’d known this, but it still wasn’t pleasant to learn the truth, and from her father of all people.

  “Sir. Zeke. I think now might be a good time to tell you, I quit Steinmann Financial. I don’t think it’s in my career interest to continue to work for you when I’m no longer with your daug
hter.”

  “Gavin, don’t be rash. Zoe will come around again. You come home and I’ll send someone to collect her from New York. This is workable. I told her to marry you.” Zeke’s voice was rising in a rambling panic.

  “No disrespect, sir, but I have no interest in marrying her. We discussed it years ago and she refused to think about it. Then when she wanted me to marry her, I had my film to think of and she cheated on me, again. For the third time. It seems like our timing never worked out, sir.”

  “Timing. It’s not about timing, son. It’s about business.”

  Ethan must have heard that because he raised an eyebrow again.

  “Actually, sir, I don’t know if I believe it’s timing, either. I think it’s about love, and I don’t love your daughter after all the times she’s cheated on me. And she obviously doesn’t love me.” I sighed, knowing that I was pissing off a very powerful man.

  Zeke Steinmann was silent for a moment before he growled, “You’ll never find work in this town without me,” and hung up. I stared at the phone in my hand after the line was dead.

  “Shit. That was…crazy,” Ethan said as he glanced at me.

  “Yeah, well, he’s an intense man with a lot of money and a lot of power and a lot of friends.”

  I laid my head on the back of the seat in the old, comfortable truck.

  “Did I just quit my job?”

  “Uhm…I think so,” Ethan smirked.

  “Because I’m not dating his daughter?”

  “Thank God for that one,” Ethan mumbled.

  “And he threatened that I’d never find work again?”

  “Sounded like it.”

  “What have I done?” I muttered, running a hand over my face.

  “Sounds like it’s about time,” Ethan said toward the front windshield.

  “It’s not about timing,” I groaned.

  “Then it must be about love.” Ethan grinned as he raised an eyebrow at me and pulled into the parking lot of Maybelle’s Breakfast Diner, home of the hangover solution.