The Hard Way

by Katie Ashley

  “Besides I thought Jake might have told them first.” As soon as the words left her lips, she widened her eyes like she’d revealed a great secret.

  “Wait, are you telling me that Jake knew about the baby?”

  Presley slowly nodded her head.

  The world became tripped out Willy Wonka again. I steadied myself by leaning against a tree trunk. “Are you shitting me?”

  “No.”

  “When? When did you tell him?”

  Presley refused to meet my intense glare. “The day before the accident,” she said in a whisper.

  “You’re kidding me, right? You’ve known for five weeks that you’re carrying Jake’s kid, and you didn’t tell anybody? What the fuck, Presley!”

  She continued staring at the intricate floral design on her toenails.

  “Didn’t you think that was something I needed to know?” I demanded.

  “You wouldn’t understand.”

  “Try me.”

  She jerked her head up to glare at me. “I was afraid if I told people Jake knew I was pregnant, they’d think that—you know he killed himself or something instead of it being an accident.”

  Oh geez, I felt like an ass. “But Presley, people wouldn’t have thought that,” I protested.

  “Get serious, Noah. Of course they would have. A guy like Jake finds out he’s gonna be a father, and then he mysteriously blows up on a tractor? Wouldn’t you have thought that?”

  I shook my head. “No, I wouldn’t.”

  “Yeah right.”

  “I’m serious. Jake was never the kind of guy to kill himself—no matter what kinda shit had gone down in his life.”

  Presley seemed to appreciate my answer. “Whatever,” she mumbled.

  I took a tentative step towards her. “Um, what did he say? You know…about the baby.”

  “He was pretty shocked. I told him I was sorry I had to tell him over the phone, but I’d just gotten back from the doctor, and I was scared. He was really cool and calmed me down. He asked me what I wanted to do, and I told him I wanted to have it. I also told him I didn’t expect anything out of him—least of all marriage. He said we’d just have to see how it went, but that no matter what he would support our baby.”

  “Oh,” I said.

  “And—” she began as tears welled in her eyes. “And he told me he really cared about me, and that he always had.”

  “That’s pretty wild.”

  She smiled. “Yeah it was.” She reached out and touched my arm. “Noah, I’d really appreciate it if you wouldn’t tell anybody about Jake knowing.”

  At the pleading look in her eyes, I realized it would only cause more trouble and heartache if people knew the truth. I didn’t want to do that to Presley in her condition, and I didn’t want to do it to Jake either.

  “Yeah, I promise.”

  “Thanks,” she said, and kissed me on the cheek.

  “So how are you going to play this off?”

  She drew in a deep breath. “Well, everybody saw us together the day of the Pre Break Binge—I thought I’d just let them assume it happened then.”

  “I guess that makes sense,” I said. “So are you like what two months or something?”

  “Ten weeks actually.”

  Suddenly, it hit me like a searing bolt of lightning. “Whoa, wait a minute! You knew you were pregnant when—when you….when we….” I couldn’t even finish the sentence. Oh Holy Hell! Not only was I crushing on my dead best bud’s girl, but now I’d been in a partial hookup with the chick who carried his child. Seriously, I felt like I was on a warped version of the Young and the Restless or some lameass reality show.

  For once, Presley actually blushed. She shifted on her feet. “Yes,” she said.

  “Dammit, how could you!” I shouted. Like a raving maniac, I ran my fingers through my hair and then turned on her. “Don’t you know how sick and twisted that is for me? I defiled the girl having my dead best friend’s baby!”

  Presley rolled her eyes. “You didn’t defile me, Noah. It was just a make-out session,” she protested.

  “Oh, no, don’t cop out on me. You had your hand on my-my…”

  I couldn’t even finish my sentence. I glanced up at the sky. Oh yeah, I was going to hell for this one. I frantically thought about maybe going by Pastor Dan’s house and confessing my sins or something. Of course, I’d never be able to see Maddie after that. They’d probably ship her off to a convent or something—anything to get her out of my sinful presence.

  “Look Noah, I’m sorry. I really, really am. Yes, I came in the room that night with the intentions of doing stuff to get information out of you.”

  “But why not just ask me directly in the first place instead of talking to this,” I said, as I touched my crotch.

  Presley rolled her eyes. “Would you calm down?”

  “I’m sorry. I’m not the manwhore, remember?”

  “Look, I just needed to know whether Jake had told you about the baby or if he’d told his parents. I had to do it in a way that you wouldn’t suspect, and for me, that was making out with you.” She cocked her eyebrows at me. “It wasn’t like we hadn’t before.”

  I wagged my finger at her. “That was 9th grade for Christ sake, and I barely touched your boobs then!”

  “I’m sorry, Noah, but I was desperate.”

  I heaved a defeated breath. “Okay, whatever.”

  “You can’t imagine how surprised I was when of nowhere you said something about a ring, and then I knew he hadn’t said anything. In the end, Jake would understand.”

  In a really warped way, I knew she was right. I started to open my mouth to protest when I heard cheering and yelling through the trees.

  “TAKE IT OFF!”

  “Yeah, Maddie’s got game!” someone else replied.

  Oh shit, I’d forgotten all about Maddie. “Presley, I’ve gotta go,” I said, before I turned on my heels.

  I started sprinting back through the woods. When I broke through the clearing, I skidded to a stop. Everyone was stripped down to their underwear and was swimming in the pond. I scanned the half-naked bodies for Maddie. My heart skipped a beat when I saw her.

  Casey McKenzie had her pressed to him, and his hand was inches from the curve of her ass.

  I didn’t bother taking off my shirt or short. I ran full force into the water, knocking people out of the way. When I reached them, I pulled Casey off of Maddie. He threw me a pissed look. Man-handling wasn’t on my top ten list of favorite things to do, but I grabbed Maddie by the arm and began dragging her out of the pond.

  “Way to be a cock blocker, Sullivan. We were just trying to have some fun!” Casey called.

  “Yeah, it’ll be real fun when I punch the shit out of you,” I mumbled.

  I pulled Maddie into a thicket of trees away from the others. She stood before me in the moonlight in a pretty daring white thong and a thin, white camisole that clung to her frame like a second skin and left very little to the imagination of what was beneath. Before I could stop myself, the horny male in me did a perverted rove over her body.

  It took only a nanosecond for that traitorous part to rear his head. I shifted on my feet. Quit being a perv, asswipe and think of something else!!! Then the most horrific images flashed in my mind. Presley and me together in her room, my mom and Greg hitting it on the couch, and finally, a furious looking Pastor Dan punching me in the face for thinking about his daughter in that way. The last one was the one that did the trick.

  I cleared my throat. “What the hell are you doing?” I demanded.

  She cocked her eyebrows at me. As she brought one of her hands to her hip, she swayed back and forth. “What does it look like I’m doing?” she slurred.

  “Well, it looks like you’re half naked and drunk off your ass!”

  “Maybe I am. What’s it to you?” Maddie questioned.

  “Jesus Christ, I leave you for less than thirty minutes and you’re drunk?”

  I knew in her defense sh
e was a lightweight who had never tasted alcohol before. Hell, it probably only took one to get her in the condition she was in.

  “I was just trying to have a little fun,” she protested.

  “Yeah and so was Casey,” I countered.

  At the thoughts of Casey feeling her up, the blood rushed to my head, which thankfully caused the other part of me to fully simmer down.

  Maddie’s lips curled into a smile. “Noah, will you do something for me?”

  Oh, shit. I didn’t like the sinfully sing-song tone of her voice. “What?” I croaked.

  “Would you stop acting like a gentleman for five minutes and kiss me?”

  I swear to God her lips were already pursed, and she was purring. No lie, she was freakin’ purring like a cat in heat. Before I could protest, she wrapped her arms around me. Her full breasts pressed into my chest, and I groaned. She stared up into my eyes, and I couldn’t help myself. I brought my lips to hers. They were everything I’d imagined they’d be. Warm. Soft. Inviting. Sexy.

  One seemingly innocent kiss sent my hormones up and raging again. Almost on autopilot, I thrust my tongue into her mouth to dance against hers. My arms snaked around her waist, jerking her flush against me. I groaned against her lips as I thrust my hard-on against her. Instead of pulling away, Maddie rocked her hips back into mine. Holy hell! How was this chick a virgin? She was so fucking responsive to everything I did.

  Maddie released my lips and dipped her head, kissing along my neck. When she ran her hands teasingly down my chest, I moaned. She glanced up at me through hooded eyes. “I’ve wanted to touch you here for so long.” Raising my shirt up, her warm palms rubbed against my chest, and she giggled. “That day when Josh puked on you, and you had to take your shirt off—I wanted to touch you so bad.”

  I laughed. “I think I got that impression from the way you were ogling me.”

  “Noah,” she whispered, her breath was like fire scorching against my neck. “Will you be my first?”

  Motherfuckingshitdamnhell! My eyes snapped open as the world around me screeched to a halt. I shrugged away from her. “Maddie, you’re drunk. You don’t know what you’re saying,” I protested.

  She slowly shook her head at me. “No, I know what I’m saying, and I know what I want.”

  “Well, I know you, and I know the sober you would never be standing here in your underwear propositioning me to sleep with you.”

  Her face fell. “Don’t you want to sleep me? I mean, don’t you find me…sexy?”

  At her words, my lower half caught on fire, causing me to shift on my feet. I cursed under my breath. “Oh come on Maddie. Don’t ask me things like that.”

  She pressed herself closer against me. “Please Noah,” she begged.

  So let me recap here. I was out in the middle of Eastbumblefuck. The girl I thought I was in love with was standing before me, soaked to the bone, in nothing but a white camisole and her underwear. Oh, and she was begging me to sleep with her. What do you think I did?

  Like some testosterone raging Incredible Hulk, the horny asshole in me broke free, and I seized the moment. I crushed my mouth against hers. Her lips opened momentarily, and I took the opportunity to plunge my tongue in her mouth, thrusting hard and fast against her.

  Panting, we rammed against the trunk of an oak tree. Then I became an eight armed octopus, raking my hands over her body. I cupped her breasts, teasing her nipples to hardened points. “Noah,” Maddie moaned.

  All the while, I moved my hips against her, mimicking what I wanted to do once we weren’t clothed. I slid my palm along her thigh and then between her legs. When I began stroking her gently, she cried out and rocked against my hand.

  But as I dared myself to slide one finger in her heat, an overwhelming feeling of disgust and regret washed over me. That was all it took for the Horny Hulk to deflate. I jerked away from her. I tried catching my breath while I raked my hand through my hair. “I can’t,” I murmured.

  Tears sprung in her eyes. “Why?”

  “Because I care about you too much to do this. You’d hate yourself in the morning, and you’d hate me even more. It’s your gift, remember? It’s yours to give, and I’m not your husband to take it.”

  “It’s me, isn’t it?”

  I rolled my eyes. “Jesus, are you even listening to me? More than that, are you incapable of feeling how much I wanted you?” I gestured wildly towards my crotch. “Damn, I’ll probably either have to go take a dip in the pond or take a cold shower tonight because of you.”

  My little pep talk didn’t help. She started sobbing. “I just want someone to love me.”

  Man, you’re so fucking blind. Jake loved you…hell, I love you. I tentatively put my hand on her shoulder. “You have lots of people who love you, Maddie.”

  She shook her head. “Not like that. I mean a guy—a guy like you who wants me as more than a friend. I’m almost eighteen years old, and I’ve never had that!”

  There had been so many times that I should’ve told her about the ring, and here was another example. Most of all, I needed to tell her how I truly felt about her. I opened my mouth to say something, and then it happened. She turned around and puked all over a bush. I grabbed up her hair as she heaved over and over again. She wiped her hand on the back of her mouth.

  When she finally glanced up at me, there was such hurt in her eyes. I stepped forward just in time for her to tip forward and pass out. I stared up at the sky and rolled my eyes. “Fuck my life!” I grumbled as I gathered her up in my arms and started towards the Jeep.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  Holding Maddie, I couldn’t unlock the door, so I had to ring the doorbell. Thankfully Mom, rather than Greg, answered the door. At the sight of me carrying an unconscious Maddie in my arms like some hunk off the cover of a trashy romance novel, her eyes widened. “What in the world?” she demanded.

  “She got drunk at Blaine’s party and passed out,” I grunted as I stepped through the foyer.

  Mom slapped my arm. “Noah! How could you let her get drunk?”

  I rolled my eyes. “Jesus Mom, I didn’t force her to drink it.”

  “Don’t say, ‘Jesus’,” she admonished.

  “Whatever.”

  “Well, you should’ve been watching her better.”

  “Presley needed to talk to me,” I replied.

  Mom arched a dark eyebrow skeptically at me.

  “Yes, she really needed to talk to me,” I said.

  Mom sighed. “Get her settled on the couch and then you and I are going to have a long talk about this party,” she ordered, in a no-nonsense tone.

  I didn’t argue. Instead, I gently laid Maddie down on the couch. I pulled the mauve throw off the back and draped it over before rubbing her cheek tenderly. When I turned around, Mom’s expression had completely changed. Instead of being in a pissed Rambo mode, she was gaping at me.

  “What?” I asked.

  “You love her,” she murmured.

  My eyes bulged. “No, I, uh…shit!”

  Mom smiled knowingly at me. “Yes, you do. I can’t believe I didn’t see it until just now.”

  Maddie stirred on the couch, and I stiffened. “Can we please discuss this somewhere else?”

  Mom nodded and motioned for the sun room. I followed her out there and shut the door behind me.

  “There’s nothing wrong with you loving her, honey,” Mom said, softly.

  “I know that.”

  “Then why are you fighting it so much?”

  Grimacing, I jerked a hand through my hair. “Because….of Jake.”

  Mom’s brows furrowed in confusion. “What does Jake have to do with Maddie?”

  “Everything,” I muttered before I plopped down in a wicker chair across from Mom. “You know that night that Mr. Nelson and I were in Jake’s room?”

  She nodded.

  “Well, we found something that was pretty shocking.” From the look on her face, I could tell my mom was preparing herself for anything co
nsidering it was Jake. “It was an engagement ring.”

  Well, maybe she hadn’t prepared herself for that. “What?” she questioned in a high, pitched shriek.

  I nodded. “Yeah. He had the box wrapped up in the song lyrics to You Were Always on My Mind”.

  “But who in the world was Jake in love with?”

  I drew in a painful, ragged breath. “Maddie.”

  Mom widened her eyes. “You can’t be serious! Jake Nelson, who was never faithful to a girl for over five minutes, was in love with a preacher’s daughter?”

  “Yes.”

  “How?”

  I rolled my eyes. “I don’t know how. Why do any two people fall in love? It just happens.”

  “You’re right, sweetie. That was a silly question.” Mom cocked her head in thought. “And I suppose Jake did have his good points.”

  “And he changed,” I admitted.

  “He did?”

  “Yeah, in the last few months of his life. Then he’d also told me he’d fallen in love, but he wouldn’t tell me who because he hadn’t told the girl yet. I just never imagined it was Maddie.”

  She leaned forward and took my hand in hers. “But did Maddie love Jake?”

  Even though I knew the answer, I didn’t want the words to leave my lips. “Yes, she did,” I murmured.

  “And does Maddie love you?”

  My gaze snapped to meet Mom’s. “What?”

  Mom smiled. “You heard me.”

  I got up from the chair and started pacing around. “I don’t know if she does or not. I mean, I know she loved Jake—she probably still does. Jesus, what kind a friend am I to hit on my dead best friend’s girl?”

  “But she wasn’t his girl, Noah,” Mom protested.

  “Yeah, she was. He may not have openly acknowledged it as well as he should, but he loved her. I thought he was incapable of loving anyone but himself, but I was wrong.”

  “Have you talked to Maddie about any of this?”

  “No.”

  “You haven’t told her about the ring?”

  I couldn’t help squirming under Mom’s intense glare. “No.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because I was waiting. I wanted to be sure it was her before I said anything.”