by Claire Adams
I wasn’t going to pay her loans off, not automatically. I didn’t want to stress her out even more. I’d be lucky if she stayed with me after I paid off her father’s doctor bills, but I had to do something.
That was an eventuality, even with decent pay. She wouldn’t have been able to pay for her school loans and pay her bills. She certainly couldn’t do it if she ended up having to take care of her mother. They wouldn’t make it at all if she had to take on the role of breadwinner.
Their house would crumble, her mother would deteriorate, and Mercedes would start to fade away just like her family. The extra money she’d save would give her enough to live independently and gain some freedom.
When I ultimately made the decision to pay her student loans, it was because I knew that Mercedes might never have a chance to leave her parents’ house if I didn’t. I wanted to get her out of that world where everything was waiting to die, and put her in a place where she could have hope.
When I got off work, the second I hopped in the limo, I called Mercedes.
She answered. “Hello?” The TV blared in the background.
“Hey,” I said.
“Oh, hey.” I heard a bang, muffling the sound of the TV. “Sorry, it’s kind of loud.”
“You’re fine,” I said. “What are you doing tomorrow?”
“First, I’m going to get out of bed. Then I’m going to sit on the couch.”
“So, you’re free tomorrow evening, then?”
“Yes.” I could hear her smiling.
“Good, because I am just itching to see you.” I held her up a second longer to see if she’d tell me about the job.
“What are we doing tomorrow?” she asked instead.
“I’d like you to choose this time,” I said.
“Then it’s a surprise.”
Mercedes hung up.
Chapter 28
Mercedes
I walked out of my room. My mother sat in the living room with a novel and a cigarette. “Sweetie,” she said, setting her cigarette down.
She motioned for me to sit in the seat across from her. It was meant to be a casual gesture. Really, she just wanted to interrogate me.
“How are you, darling?” she asked.
I sat down. “I’m okay, I guess.”
“Good.” She took a long drag off her cigarette and blew the smoke up over our heads. “How’s your friend?”
“Mother… don’t you dare do this.” I got up, grabbed two sodas, and walked out into the living room where my dad was sitting with the TV turned on full blast. He grabbed both sodas and put the TV on mute.
“Who was that at the door?”
I shot up off the couch and ran into my room. As soon as I slammed the door, they burst out laughing. They were tag-teaming me. I locked the door and took out my laptop. I had to be with Jake in six hours, and I knew they were going to hound me every time I left my room. I didn’t have to work today, though now I was starting to wish I did.
When I did start getting ready, I had to find a way to sneak my makeup bag and curling iron past my mother to get into the bathroom. I waited till it was time, then wrapped them in a towel. That way, I could bunch the towel up and carry it with me.
When I left the room, the towel scraped against my leg, and my makeup bag fell out. “What are you getting all dressed up for?” My mother stared at my bag. “Huh?”
“It’s nothing.” I dipped down. The towel came loose, and the curling iron fell out.
“Are you going out with your friend?”
“Ha!” My dad laughed from the living room.
“Mercedes, I’m your mom. You know you can tell me anything, right?”
“Leave me alone.” I grabbed my things and ran into the bathroom. When I walked out of the bathroom after getting ready, my dad sat at the table, and they both stared at me. “Go away.”
“Sorry, sheesh.” My dad walked back into the living room.
I called Jake as soon as I got inside my room.
“Hello?” he said.
“My parents are torturing me. They won’t be happy until they run a full background check on you.”
“Are they being persistent?”
“You have no idea,” I said. “Call me when you get here, and I’ll climb out my bedroom window.”
“Are you sure you’ll be able to make it out of there okay?” Jake asked.
“No, hurry up. Get me out of here.”
I laid back down on the bed and closed my eyes. Where did I want to go? It was my choice tonight. He’d probably take me for sushi in Tokyo if I asked him to, and that bothered me. He was too giving, too complex.
Jake deserved a chance at being with a girl like him, somebody who could move easily through his world, and look natural in couture gowns. I couldn’t be that girl. I was a simple worker. I could cook, clean, and count numbers. A woman in his world would have to be cultured, intelligent, and wealthy.
The money did matter. It would put us in different standings in the relationship. He could give me anything he wanted, but I’d have nothing to give him. So I’d just keep finding ways to pay him back.
It wasn’t enough. He should have a woman that brought something to the table. Instead, he chose me, and I still didn’t understand it. Maybe he was right. Maybe I didn’t know how beautiful I was. I could almost believe that when he looked at me.
He wasn’t a normal person. It was impossible not to look at him when he walked in the room. He was animated, and it made him stand out no matter where he was. I couldn’t help it. Every single time I saw him, I stared. I always had. He did the exact same thing to me.
I caught his eye every time I walked into a room. The chemistry was instant. Our bodies gravitated toward one another. He’d walk behind me and surprise me by taking a bite out of my neck. There was nothing sexier.
I laid in bed when Jake texted me that he was outside. I opened my eyes and looked at the window above my headboard. I thought I could just stand on my mattress and climb out my window, but the mattress was too soft, and my foot sunk into it. I would just have to run out of the front door.
I hopped down off the bed and stared at my bedroom door. I could hear my parents talking in the kitchen. They knew it would be the easiest place to confront me. I ran out as fast as I could, grabbed my purse, and walked out the front door before even looking back. Jake was waiting for me by his car.
“Hurry, before they come outside.” I said, opening the door to his car and jumping in and then ducking.
Jake put the car in drive and started driving away from my house.
“Thank you,” I said.
“See, wasn’t that fun?” he said.
“Boy, I should slap you.”
“Do it.” He smiled and stuck out his cheek.
I grazed my lips across his cheek instead. “Where are we going?”
“I don’t know,” he said. “It’s up to you.”
I still couldn’t decide.
“What city?” he asked.
“No, you’re not doing that. I want something local.” I had to try it. “Let’s go to Golf Land.”
“Golf Land? You know there are so many places like that that are a thousand times better.”
“Where? Dubai? I’m not going anywhere tonight. I want something simple. Besides, you have a thousand dollar limit this week.”
“I just won’t tell you how much I spend,” he said, grinning.
Golf Land had a big sign, saying “Free Golf Tuesdays!” taking up half their golf course. Jake stared at the building.
“What?” I asked.
“You’re not going to like this.”
“What?”
“You’re getting wet,” he said.
“What? No. What are you going to do?” I crossed my arms over my chest. “You’re not getting me wet.”
“Oh, yes I am.” He parked in front of the arcade.
“Fine.”
We walked inside. There was a glass counter display filled with plastic
ticket prizes, and a young man sat on a stool behind the counter.
Jake paid and led me outside to a patio seating area. It was lined off with bushes where we could see the rides stretching out in front of us. “I’m not doing anything dangerous tonight.”
“Go-karts,” Jake said.
He hopped up out of his seat and grabbed me up. There was really only one reason to go to Golf Land, and everybody knew it. They had a track that ran around the entire golf course. The go-karts were waiting in a long line behind a metal barrier. On the front gate leading out to the track, there was a sign that said, “Be Right Back.”
“Well, what is that supposed to mean?” I asked. “There’s only one person here.” I turned around to see Jake holding a phone to his ear.
“Yeah, can you come start up the go-karts.” He paused. “Yeah, come around back, and I’ll meet you at the door.” He pecked me on the cheek. “I will be right back.”
“Where are you going?”
“I’m sorry.” He walked off, leaving me wondering until I heard him walk up behind me.
“God, how do you do that?” I asked.
“Do what?” He wrapped his arms around me and pressed his lips to my neck.
“You know exactly what you’re doing.” I reached back and smacked him away. “You’re trying to get me excited so I’ll lose the race, but it won’t work. I’m going to whoop you good.”
“I never said we were racing.”
“Oh, we’re racing.” I pushed past the gate, onto the track where cars lined up in a row in front of us. Jake ran up to the one at the head of the line. He opened the hatch on the back, pulled something out of his pocket, and used it to start the go-karts.
“You got him to give you the key?” I asked.
“That way, we have more privacy.” He stood up and started the second go-kart in the line.
“Have you ever been on this track before?” I motioned to the long, winding trail of pavement that circled around the other side of the park and back again. It was lined with tires that they used as a buffer to keep the go-karts from flying off the track.
“No.” He got in the first kart and pulled on a helmet that was laying on the back. Once I had my helmet on, I pulled up to the starting line.
“On your mark!” he said.
I gave him the finger and drove off. “Ha!”
My kart flew straight into the wall of tires. I backed up and hit the wall behind me. I jolted forward, straight into the wall ahead. I flipped the wheel to the left and pounded the gas. Suddenly, I was flying down the track. One wrong movement would send me flying.
Jake was already nearing the finish line. He waved at me when I entered a castle tunnel at the back end of the park. He was past the finish line when I got out of the tunnel.
I rounded the bend, and he disappeared. Then, I heard him. He was right behind me. When he pulled up beside me, he was holding the wheel with one hand, waving with the other. I wanted to ram right into him. Instead, I maintained my speed and focused on the oncoming left turn, right next to the front lobby.
He dropped his speed to keep up with me and rode beside me. “Hey, how’s it going over there?”
I slammed on the gas and rounded the corner. He sped up just before we got to the finish line, and I gunned it. Our front bumpers vied for position. Then, he slammed on the gas and threw his car onto the runway.
I pulled up behind him and jumped out of my car. “Let’s go. I’m getting you back for that.” I grabbed him by the wrist and made him follow me to the pool where they kept the bumper boats.
“I told you, you were going to get wet.” Jake stripped off his shirt and led me to the front entrance. He hopped over the gate, pressed the key between his lips, and jumped in. “Come on.”
He was facing me, wading in water.
“I’m not getting in,” I said.
I jumped over the gate and emptied my pockets into the footlockers sitting next to the lifeguard’s post.
Jake grabbed onto a boat sitting in the pool and used the key to start it. He moved easily through the water. Swimming was natural to him. When he was done, he swam to the entrance where I waited, then met my eyes. He grabbed onto the pool ladder and pulled himself up slowly, so the water dripped down his chest.
I tried not laugh, but it just exploded out. He hopped out of the pool like he was climbing a step and got right in my face, a few inches away. My breath caught, and he wrapped his arm around my neck before he dipped in to kiss me. His lips were cold, and his arm was wet.
I snatched the key out of his hand and jumped into the water. It was cold and stung terribly, but my body began to get used to it as I swam closer to my goal: a yellow padded boat near the far corner.
I clenched my fingers to make sure I still had the key—good. I flapped around and flailed, but I got to that boat, and I even managed to get it started. When I looked up at the seat, I realized there was no way that I could climb inside it. It was too high up.
“Mercedes.”
I turned back to see Jake. He was pulling a boat up to the edge across from me. “You have to dive into the boat.”
“Shoot.” I had to push the boat closer to the edge if I was going to climb into it. I splashed and threw water everywhere while I struggled to push the boat closer to the edge of the pool. When I finally grabbed onto the hard surface, I was breathless. Jake was coming around to help me, so I braced myself and pulled myself out of the pool, then collapsed on the ground like a beached mermaid.
“You want to skip the bumper boats?” he asked.
“No way.” I was on my feet, hopping into my bumper boat before he knew what was happening. There was a squirt gun attached to my boat that pulled water up from the pool, so I could use it as much as I wanted.
I had my sights set on him long before he got into his boat. I slammed down on the trigger, and he shot me right in the eye. This was serious chemical warfare. There was a boat pressing up against mine. I swung it around and ducked behind the seat to use it as a shield.
A blast of cold water hit me in the back of the neck. “No!” I looked up. His boat was directly in front of mine, and he was only a few feet away. “Let my boat go.”
“No.” He swung the wheel and pressed my boat up against the wall. “You’re not going anywhere.” He slammed into my boat again and sprayed me on the throat.
I lunged forward out of my seat to claw at him, but he pulled his boat back so I couldn’t reach him.
“Oh, no. Don’t you dare.”
He had his finger on the trigger, and the gun pointed right at me. “I’m sorry.” He let the gun drop. “I won’t squirt.” He held up his hands for me to see.
“Is this a formal surrender?”
His boat shot forward and slammed straight into mine. My boat flew back, skirted along the edge, and when I looked back, it was about to slam into the corner. He had me pinned. I held my hand over my face and grabbed my squirt gun, letting off blast after blast from left to right. There was no way I could’ve possibly missed him.
When I pulled my arm away, he was leaning back in his seat, completely dry. He blasted me right in the nipple.
“Hey, that’s a foul.”
He hit the other.
“That’s not fair.” I put my hands over my chest, but he just aimed at the little holes between my fingers. I had to retaliate. This was completely unacceptable. I put my arm over my chest and ducked down to aim. He leaned forward, firing bursts at my neck.
“Okay! Okay!”
“Is that a formal surrender?” he asked.
“Never.” I turned around and climbed out of my boat. Water dripped off both of us when we walked into the lobby, staining the red theater carpet. Jake wrapped his arm around my waist and led me out to the car.
There was a sense of anticipation in his step. It made me shiver when he first touched me. When he moved his hand away to open the car door for me, his touch lingered. His driving was controlled but purposeful. And very fast. The whole
ride, his hand laid on my thigh, and every time the car jolted, his fingers would move up higher.
I couldn’t tell if that was something he did consciously, or if instinct drew him closer. With Jake, it was hard to tell the difference between his animal and human side. The two overlapped each other. He was both a predator and a gentleman.
He stopped the car in front of the house and opened the door for me. I started to get out, and he grabbed me by the wrist to pull me the rest of the way, then closer. His arm wrapped around my back, and I leaned against his chest, looking up at him.
There was a moment where his eyes narrowed, and he ruffled his brow. Then he kissed me. He seemed to fly forward. Our lips crashed together, and his tongue dove through my mouth. I tried to reach around and grab onto the back of his shirt, but he grabbed my wrist and pulled me inside.
I followed him into his room, where he collapsed sideways on the bed. He had himself propped up with his arms behind his head so he could watch me. “You’re all wet,” he said.
“I am.” I swung my hips and grabbed the bottom of my shirt. I loved the way he bit his bottom lips when I peeled my shirt off. Then, I reached back to unhook my bra. As soon as it fell, he was off the bed, his fingers on my nipple while he pressed his tongue past my lips.
His fingernails dug into the tip of my nipple. I jolted, and he laughed. He picked me up, whirled me around, and pressed his knee between my legs as he laid me on his bed.
He was on top of me, looking down, while his tongue played between our lips and his hands moved down my side. He explored me, feeling with his lips and his fingers trailing up my stomach to cup my breasts
He didn’t dig into my nipple when he pressed it between his lips. Instead, he swept his tongue around it, flicked the tip, and tugged on the skin. His touch was more focused. He was experimenting.
His hand fell down my stomach, and he latched onto my belt loop. Then he pushed his tongue into my mouth and ripped my pants off. I was still wet, and the air was freezing. He had pulled back. Now he was on his knees on the bed with his pants unbuckled. He thrust his hips forward to press his cock up against his jeans, and I saw the outline of the head and the shaft hanging down his thigh.
