by JJ Ross
I began to kiss down his neck and down his stomach, pulling his shirt out of the way. I stopped by his jeans as I looked up at him. He rubbed my ear and massaged my hair. I felt him gently nudge me down as the truck slowed.
I began to kiss down further before taking him in my mouth. Then he moaned as I pretended to know what I was doing.
I pulled my hair back into a ponytail as I looked out of the windshield. Drew had pulled the truck over onto the side of the road and he was busy tucking his shirt in and adjusting his pants.
After he got back into the truck, he looked over at me and grinned.
“So, um, wow , ok, Sonny…”
I smiled shyly, “umm….thanks….”
He pulled me into him with his arms around me, “that was pretty good. You know…for someone who hasn’t done that…you seem practiced. ”
“Shut up, ” I said as I playfully punched him.
“I’m teasing you, babe. Seriously though, that was impressive…” he said as he began to kiss me again.
“What if, what will happen if you are late tonight?” he whispered onto my mouth.
“I don’t’ know,” I sucked his bottom lip, “and I really don’t care…”
“We can’t stay here.”
“The lake,” I said suddenly.
“The lake? No way Sonny. How typical. No, the lake is overdone.” He began to drive as he thought it over, “How about…the high school?”
“The high school? Where?”
He snickered, “The ball fields.”
“The ball fields.” I repeated. I sat back into the seat as my heart raced. Memories of taking his pictures came flooding back. I wanted him then and I wanted him still.
He passed the high school and took a small dirt road behind the school. It passed the practice football field and the tennis courts, and finally we were at the baseball fields.
He shut off the truck and got out quickly. I climbed out of his side of the truck and stood in front of him facing the field. I wrapped my arms around him and leaned into him, letting him hold me close.
“You wanna run the bases?”
“Yeah! Actually, I do,” he said as he followed my lead. We started on home plate and then took off at a full sprint around the bases. Drew easily passed me and made it to home plate as I rounded third base. He grabbed me into a bear hug when I rammed into him coming into home base. We laughed hysterically as we leaned into the fence behind home plate. He kissed my forehead as he looked up.
“What?” I whispered.
“I wonder if the scorekeepers’ box is unlocked,” he said looking up again and grinning at me. He grabbed my hand and walked me through the dugout and up the stairs to the little building. My heart began to beat faster with each step we climbed. He reached for the door and I heard a click as it swung open. He turned to look at me and smiled.
“After you,” he said as he pushed the door open more. I stepped in front of him and into the scorekeepers’ small office.
There was a single desk in the office with an office chair pushed in and a couch with an old blanket on it. I wrinkled my nose as I looked at Drew.
“What’s wrong?”
“It’s kind of stuffy up here,” I replied.
Drew reached behind the door and turned on the air conditioner that was in the window. The air conditioner hummed quietly as he shut the door and locked it.
He walked over to me and gently lifted me onto the desk as he kissed me slowly and then pulled my shirt over my head. I grasped his belt, pulling him close to me, letting him know how much I wanted him, but he moved my hand away.
He shook his head at me, “No, ma’am. It’s my turn now,” he said as he carefully pulled my pants off. He sat down in the chair and pulled my body toward him. He slowly kissed up the inside of my thigh and then back down. I giggled from the tickle of his slightly unshaven chin.
He laid his hand on my stomach to lay me back as he began to kiss up my thigh. I felt my legs begin to twitch, as he worked his way higher. My breath caught in my throat as I moaned slightly. It was a repeat of the night in his frat room, only he was using his mouth not his hands. I was a goner, for sure.
“Oh my God Drew,” I whimpered as I began to shudder. I softly grabbed onto the collar of his shirt as my body began to shake. He firmly held me by my thighs to keep me in position.
“Drew…” I breathed.
We quietly made our way back to his truck and headed away from our secret place. I sat as close as possible to him on the ride home, nuzzling into his shoulder and then I fell asleep before I could stop myself.
“Sonny, wake up.”
“Hmmmm….” I stirred.
I felt him lift me out of the seat of his truck and stand me up. I wrapped my arms around him sleepily to steady myself.
“Sonny, we’re home. Wake up, babe.”
My eyes fluttered open as I realized my surroundings. We got out of the truck quietly until we were standing next to his truck, in front of his house. I stretched and yawned before I turned to him and grinned.
“I had a really great time tonight, Drew.”
“Me too,” he said as he scanned his surroundings. He kissed me quickly on the mouth, “so, I guess I will see you tomorrow?”
“Yeah, unless I’m grounded.”
“Right, hopefully it won’t be as bad as you think it will be.”
I glanced down at my phone. “I’m only 30 minutes late anyways.”
“I don’t think your parents will look at it like that. 30 minutes is a long time.”
“I know. I gotta go.”
“Hopefully I will see you tomorrow.”
“Hopefully,” I sighed as I turned and headed home.
**********
“Of course I got grounded,” I whispered into the phone, as I paced my room the next morning.
“What are you grounded from?” Drew asked.
“Well, I don’t really know. I still have my computer for school and I still have my phone for emergencies and my car for school. I guess I am just grounded from going out.”
“So, a movie or something is out of the question?”
“Definitely.” It was quiet for a moment.
“You think I could come over and see you?”
“I really want you to, but I don’t know.” He was quiet again, probably thinking.
“I miss you already,” he said quietly.
“Me too.” Butterflies. In my stomach.
“I am gonna drop by today. Are your parents mad?”
“Not really, just disappointed. They just said how I should have called…blah blah blah.”
“You think they are mad at me?”
“No. I don’t think Mom even knew who dropped me off. They were in bed last night when I got home and then she talked to me at breakfast with Dad sitting there. He said I should have been more responsible and called. She said she heard me come in and if I hadn’t been in by one that she was going to get up and start looking for me. I don’t know…whatever.”
“You know she just worries about you.”
“I know but I am probably the only senior with a curfew,” I whined.
“I doubt that. Besides, it’s not about their curfew; it’s about the state curfew. It’s illegal for you to be out after midnight under 18. I think your mother is just trying to keep you out of trouble.”
“When did you become the voice of reason?!”
“Look Sonny, you know I went through a lot of crap when I was in high school, and hopefully you and Chance learned from that. I mean, I was lucky to have a good coach and parents that care about me and worked so hard to keep me out of real trouble. It could have been bad.”
“I know, but sometimes I just feel like going crazy. I want to go do things I have never done. I want to get trashed and stay out all night and…”
“Sonny, stop. You don’t want to do all that, and you will be thankful you didn’t. You are too smart to be so dumb.”
“And you are too hot to k
eep a secret.”
He laughed finally, “Whatever. I will come by later or something. I need to squeeze in one more day with you before I have to go back to school.”
I was quiet for a moment. He did have to go back, and I realized that, but I just didn’t want to think about it.
“Sonny?”
“I’m here.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. I just don’t like to think of you having to be so far away all the time.”
“It’s only a few hours.”
“But you don’t visit the way you used to, like when you first left for school and you don’t call as much. All I get from you is an email or text every other day if I’m lucky.”
“What if I try harder? I will try to make every three day weekend and maybe some in between. Besides, it’s almost summer break. I may just wait to take a job until after August.”
“Drew, when are we going to be open about us? Don’t you think your parents will wonder why you come down for weekends all of a sudden?”
“When you are 18. My parents would kill me if they knew I was messing around with you. You’re only 17 and I’m 21, and on top of that, they thought so highly of you and Chance. It just doesn’t look good, you and me.”
“Okay.”
“Besides, I still need to find a way to tell Chance.”
“You don’t think he knows?”
“Actually, I know he doesn’t. He asked me and I told him a bold faced lie and said that it wasn’t like that for you and me and that I had been seeing someone.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah, so, yeah. There are a few things that just need to fall into place before we can really be together. Besides, I don’t think you should get too wrapped up in me. You need to stay focused on school work.”
“That’s kind of being a hypocrite, don’t you think?”
“How so?”
“Because you say you are just as into me and want to be with me and now you are telling me to back off.”
“I am not telling you to back off; I am asking you to stay focused. I will still be here when you graduate; there is no need to rush.”
“How exactly do you feel about me, Andrew?” I asked a bit sharply.
“Awe….come on Sonny. You know how I feel.”
“No, really, I want to know where I stand with you.”
“I can say that I have never felt for a girl what I feel for you.”
“Yeah, but…do you lo…”
“Sonny,” he interrupted, “I gotta go. Mom is calling me to help her. I will see you later, okay?”
“Okay.” I said as I heard the phone click. Okay, I guess that conversation would be avoided at all cost.
Chapter 15
Later that evening, I was sitting on the back patio when Drew walked across his backyard and toward me. I had lit a fire in the fire pit and was just watching the flames and poking them with a stick.
He pulled a seat up and sat across from me. The nights still got pretty chilly sometimes, so I had a blanket across my lap. The flames danced in Drew’s eyes, hitting each fleck of gold, as he watched the fire.
“Drew?” I started. I stopped suddenly and looked up to see Chance walk up the steps to the patio. What was he doing here, I wondered in disgust? I needed these last few hours alone with Drew. I wanted to spend as much time as possible…ALONE...with him.
“Hey Chance,” I mumbled.
He pulled his hands from behind his back and presented a bag of marshmallows, chocolate bars and graham crackers.
“I figured we could have s’mores,” he said as he took the chair closest to me and began to open the bags. He handed me a marshmallow and smiled, “I know how much you love them,” he said as he took my stick and then the marshmallow he had just handed me. He pierced the sugary treat and handed me the stick.
I smiled and took my spear from him, placing it over the flame.
Chance began to talk about the party as he started to assemble his sandwich and then passed the ingredients to Drew. He continued to talk and became more of a background noise for me as I fixated on Drew and kept his gaze.
Drew watched me as I caught my marshmallow on fire and blew it out, seductively, of course. A chance to tease him was something I just couldn’t pass up. He slightly raised his eyebrow and smirked to acknowledge he was thinking dirty thoughts too.
I made my s’more sandwich and took a big bite, then playfully licked the extra chocolate from the edges of my mouth. I winked and then grabbed another marshmallow to roast it as if nothing had happened.
“So, what did you do last night?” Chance asked as he leaned back in his chair and took a bite, as he looked up into the sky, oblivious to Drew and I. He chewed as he waited on me to answer.
“Well,” I swallowed quickly, “Drew brought me home and then I went straight to bed. I was pretty tired.”
“Oh,” he replied, “and what did you do, Drew?” he asked as he turned his head to face his brother. Was it me, or was he fishing for an answer as if he already knew something?
“I dropped off Sonny and went home.”
“Hmm….” he said as he took another bite.
“Hmm, what?” asked Drew, noting his brother’s tone.
“Nothing.”
“What is nothing?”
“Well, it’s just that, this morning, I was talking to Mom and she said you got home after midnight, maybe closer to one. I kinda brushed it off and then I thought, you left the bowling alley kinda early. So, how does a ten minute car ride turn into an hour and a half?” he asked looking at me and then Drew waiting for an answer. I froze as I looked to Drew to answer.
“Well, we left there, got something to eat, and then came here. We sat in the truck, eating our dinner and then talked for a while. The time got away from us and next thing you know, it was later than we thought.”
Thank God Drew was a quick thinker.
“I see,” said Chance, sounding unconvinced. I watched his face and I thought for a brief moment he looked hurt, “Well, I gotta get going. I am meeting up with Chris later. Sonny, did you want to come?”
“I can’t,” I said quickly, “I’m grounded.”
“For what?” he asked in disbelief.
“Missing curfew.”
“Last night?”
“Yeah.”
“But, you were right out in front of the house.”
“Yeah, well, my mother didn’t know that, and I didn’t stick my head in and let her know I was home,” I thought quickly. The lies were already starting to build. I didn’t like it.
“Oh. Oh well. Maybe next time?” he asked as he stood up. I could tell he wasn’t buying my story but left it alone.
“Sure. Tell everyone I said hi.”
“I will,” he said. He hesitated and then reached down to hug me. He stopped to look me in the eyes, “can I come see you later?” he whispered.
I slowly shook my head.
“Alright. Whenever you’re ready,” he said and then quickly kissed my forehead before he left. I watched him walk away before I stuck another marshmallow on my stick. As I placed my marshmallow into the flames, I looked up at Drew.
“What was that all about?” he asked curiously.
“Nothing. I just think that Chance may think there is still a possibility for us to get back together.”
“Well, is there?” asked Drew as he looked down at the fire.
“Of course not!” I said in shock that he would even ask.
“Okay. Just checking,” he said as he got up and took the seat next to me, “Cause, I really need to know that I am not wasting my time loving you…”
I blushed slightly. “You’re not wasting your time, Andrew,” I said as I carefully picked the burnt layer off of the marshmallow and ate it. I would almost take that as him saying I love you to me. I swallowed and looked him in the eyes, “Are we going to work?” I asked.
He thought for a moment and then took my face in his hands. He quickly glanced around
us and then he kissed me slowly and pulled me closer to him. Well, as close as we could get without me being in his lap. He leaned away from me to gaze into my eyes.
“There is no one that I would try harder with to make sure it did.”
I smiled at how sweet he was.
“You always say the right thing.”
“You bring out the best in me, I guess.” He kissed my hand and then held it as we watched the fire crackle in front of us.
My high school graduation was the next time I got to see Drew. I was in my bedroom, zipping my graduation robe, when he walked into my room.
“You look amazing,” he said as he walked across the room. He pulled my Valedictorian sash over my head and paused to look at me.
“Are you excited?” he asked.
“Yeah, and nervous, and sad, and happy….and about five billion other emotions. I just wish it was over already.”
“I got you something,” he said pulling a small box from his pocket. He flipped the top of the box open revealing a small silver charm bracelet with three charms already on it. A book, a tennis racquet and a #17 charm was already on the bracelet.
“Your jersey number?” I asked. He nodded as he began to take the bracelet out of the box. I held out my arm for him to fasten the bracelet around my wrist. After he had clasped the bracelet, I wiggled my wrist admiring the gift. I threw my arms around his neck.
“I love it Drew!” I whispered into his neck.
“I guess it could be your ‘good luck’ charm today,” he smiled.
“Thank you. I really do love it,” I said without releasing my hold on him.
There was a soft tap on my door and I immediately sprung away from him to face the door. It cracked open and dark brown hair peeked inside. I felt tears come to my eyes when I saw her face.
It was in that moment that I realized everything with Chance didn’t even matter anymore. Glancing at Drew, I knew right away that I already forgave Maggie. It wasn’t even an issue anymore. We would need a lot of work, but we had a long history of friendship to work from.
