Test (A Gentry Generations Story)

by Cora Brent

  “It wasn’t just about Candy Man. I was thinking about something else, something that happened a long time ago. I was little, five years old, so the memory is kind of hazy. My mom was supposed to take me to my first day of kindergarten and instead she brought me to her dealer’s house to beg for a fix. There was another man there who she owed money to and he threatened me with a knife and told her she needed to start working the streets for him. They went into the bedroom, and, well, I’ll leave it to your imagination what happened next.”

  The tale was horrifying. It made me feel sick to imagine Paige as a vulnerable little girl in that situation.

  “Did he hurt you?” I asked, my voice rough.

  She shook her head. “No. My mom came out of the room eventually and we left. I hadn’t thought about that day in a while. Actually I try not to think about her, about Sara, at all but she’s always there. She’s the infinite unanswered question.” Paige cleared her throat and tried to smile. “Anyway, there’s nothing to be gained by dwelling on the things that can’t be changed. At least this time I didn’t stay in the bathroom and, um, I mean I didn’t stay in the bathroom for too long.”

  I felt like I’d missed something. “Why would you have stayed in the bathroom?”

  She was embarrassed. “No reason. I just meant that I stopped hiding in there and making myself crazy.”

  Kellan’s words came back to me, the first conversation we’d ever had about Paige. That Todd asshole had told him something about Paige leaving high school for a while because she was sick. It might not have even been true. In any case I wasn’t going to ask her questions about it. I just wondered what the reason was.

  “You don’t have a television in here,” I noticed, looking around the living room. At our house the living room was dominated by the television. If Thomas was around the screen would be blasting a sports program. My dad would invariably switch to cartoons. My mom would watch cooking shows featuring meals she’d never attempt to make. The thing was always on though, just one of the reasons the house was rarely quiet.

  “My grandparents hated televisions,” Paige explained. “The only one in the house is up in my room but at least there’s satellite service.” She’d recovered from her moment of sadness and became cheerful. “You want to go see if there’s anything worth watching?”

  “Yeah,” I said, having some thoughts about being in Paige’s room, in Paige’s bed. Last night had been innocent. Tonight might not end the same way. My dick stirred, agreeing that going up to Paige’s bedroom sounded like a fucking fantastic idea.

  She suggested making some popcorn so we visited the kitchen first. I stood back and watched as she made it the old fashioned way, heating oil in a heavy pot and then dumping the kernels in.

  “I never liked the microwave stuff,” she said, shaking the pan back and forth to help the rapidly popping kernels find heat. She’d slipped her flannel shirt off and stood there barefoot in only her tank top and shorts. It took some willpower to keep my distance.

  “Voila!” she announced proudly after she shifted the popcorn to a giant red bowl. “You want salt?”

  “Sure.”

  She dumped a little too much salt in, picked up the bowl and looked over her shoulder. “Can you grab a couple of waters out of the fridge?”

  “Absolutely.”

  I opened the fridge and found more than water. There was a carton of milk, eggs, celery and a wedge of cheese. There was also a bottle of wine tucked way in the back on the lowest shelf. For all I knew the wine belonged to her grandparents and had been hanging out in the back of the fridge for years. Paige might have forgotten about it altogether. I couldn’t tell what the brand was but it didn’t matter. I could drink it so fast I’d barely taste it. Alcoholics were rarely connoisseurs. We drank to get drunk.

  The loose bottles of water were lined up on the top shelf. I grabbed two of them and left the wine alone for now.

  Paige was waiting for me at the top of the stairs. I hadn’t peeked inside her room at all when I stayed here last night. We’d slept downstairs in the time capsule of a bedroom that had once belonged to Sara Morrissey. Paige’s room was neat and rather minimalist. There was a bed with a white comforter, a dark wood dresser that looked like an antique, a narrow bookcase and a wall-mounted television. No pictures hung on the walls, except for a giant bulletin board that featured sentimental things like concert tickets and photographs. One of the photos caught my eye, a close up of Paige flanked by matching dark-skinned beauties, all three of them dressed in purple graduation gowns.

  “Those are your best friends?” I asked.

  Paige came closer and beamed at the photograph. “Yup, those are my girls. Sam and Ric. I was in second grade when they moved to town and they’ve been my best friends ever since. They’re in Havasu right now for spring break. Oh, and they live in your apartment complex. Did you know that?”

  “I think I heard something about that,” I said, turning my attention to a new issue. Aside from the bed, there was no place to sit.

  Paige had set the bowl of popcorn on the bed and was scanning through the program menu on the television. “What do you want to watch?”

  I dropped down on the floor. The surface was hardwood, not ideal for sitting. “I’m not picky.”

  She was still searching the menu. “You like The Godfather?”

  “Never saw it.”

  “You’re kidding.” She spun and was surprised to find me on the floor. “Are you comfortable down there?”

  Her floor felt like the concrete in my old prison cell. “No,” I admitted.

  Paige laughed. “You can sit on the bed, Derek. I mean, we slept in the same bed last night and didn’t get all freaky.”

  This was the first time she’d mentioned that fun little fact out loud. And it got me hard.

  Paige finished with the remote and haunting music filled the room. She climbed onto her bed, grabbed the half dozen pillows that were stacked up at the head and propped them up against the wall before settling against one with her legs crossed and the bowl of popcorn in her lap.

  Since I didn’t want to get footprints on her white bedding I kicked off my shoes and joined her. She smiled at me and twisted the cap off a bottle of water.

  “Better?” she asked.

  I nodded. “Better.”

  She passed me the bowl. “Have some popcorn.”

  At first I thought the movie was weird. It was an older picture and included a lot of guys in dark suits who had long conversations about killing people they didn’t like. But after about an hour I was really getting into it. That Michael Corleone was one cool badass.

  The movie was long. When the credits finally rolled I was surprised to see three hours had passed.

  “Did you like it?” Paige wanted to know.

  “I did.” It wasn’t a movie I’d expect a girl to be all excited about but maybe I didn’t know shit about girls after all.

  “There are two sequels,” she told me, beginning to push the pillows back to their original location. “Maybe we could watch the others another time.”

  “Sure, that sounds great.”

  Paige had hardly moved a muscle during the movie but now she was all fidgety, fussing with the pillows, moving the half empty popcorn bowl. She seemed nervous.

  “I’m really glad you came over tonight, Derek,” she said while staring down at her stupid pillows as if they were the most fascinating objects in the room.

  I wanted to see her face. I reached out and gently tipped her chin up so she’d look at me.

  “I’m glad I came over too.”

  She wet her lips. She was definitely nervous. She shouldn’t be nervous around me. I’d never do anything to hurt her. I took my hand away from her face but she didn’t look away again.

  “Are you tired?” she asked in a small voice, her breath catching.

  I wasn’t fucking tired at all. “A little.”

  She swallowed and glanced at her menagerie of frilly pillows. “You w
ant to sleep here?”

  “I’ll behave myself.”

  “Like hell.”

  “You sure that’s okay with you?” I asked.

  She flashed a smile and my heart jumped. “It was my idea, wasn’t’ it?”

  “Yeah. And I’d like to stay.”

  I moved to my knees, slowly reached my arms up, grabbing the back of my shirt and pulling it over my head while Paige watched. It was times like this I was glad I’d put in so many hours lifting at the gym. Her eyes roamed over my chest and she squirmed. She liked what she saw and she was getting turned on. I could tell. My hand moved down to undo my jeans even though once I did that there was no turning back. My dick would be pitching a mammoth tent in my boxers for all to see. The snap on my jeans popped open.

  “My god, you’re so gorgeous, Derek,” she blurted and it was the cutest thing anyone had ever said to me before. She clapped her hand to her mouth and widened her big brown eyes like she couldn’t believe those words had come out of there.

  I decided to leave my pants where they were for now. I’d slept in jeans last night. I could do it again tonight if I had to.

  “You don’t know, do you?” I asked her.

  She cocked her head, confused. “Know what?”

  “What a beautiful girl you are.”

  She exhaled and bowed her head, her soft hair hiding her face. “Give me a break, I’m average.”

  I pushed her hair aside. “You’re beautiful, Paige.”

  “Derek.” The way she said my name, almost a moan. “What are we doing?”

  I eased her back until she was lying down on her pillows. “Only what we want to do.”

  Her chest was rapidly rising and falling. I knew if I put my hand on her I’d find out her heart was beating a mile a minute.

  “Turn out the light,” she whispered and I had to get up to reach the light switch. There was still some light streaming in from the hallway so when I turned back to the bed I could see her sitting up now. Paige hesitated and then took her shirt off while I stood back and stared. She had a cute body and a black bra that I could imagine tearing off with my teeth.

  “Come here,” Paige whispered in the semi-darkness and I grinned, remembering when I’d said the same words to her last night.

  When I got close she put her hands on my shoulders and I slipped my arms around her waist, pressing against her. I’d already decided I wouldn’t push my luck tonight but I wanted her to know I was hard as shit. She sucked in her breath and leaned into me and I knew she’d feel so fucking good I could hardly stand not getting inside of her.

  She kissed me. Softly, tentatively at first, our lips simply connecting and teasing. Then I gave her my tongue and felt her melt. She tightened her arms around me and kissed back harder. I usually skipped this part, kissing. Mostly because I was typically wasted and just looking to get my dick satisfied. But kissing Paige was something else.

  We fell back on the bed, our mouths still locked together, and I never knew how hot this could be, making out in the dark with everyone’s pants still on. We played that way for a long time, kissing up a storm and not going any further.

  Until it wasn’t enough for either of us.

  I rolled to my back and moved her on top of me, pushing her legs apart so that her knees were on either side in a straddle. We sat up together, my mouth on her neck now, probably leaving a mark because I fucking could and because she loved it, clutching at me and grinding in a steady rhythm while these soft moans escaped her because she was so into it. I wondered if she could come like this, dry humping and kissing. I decided to find out.

  Her bra came off and her sweet little tits were in my hands and then inside my mouth, one and then the other, while an alarm bell rang somewhere in my mind that I was about to go too far. I didn’t want to do that, didn’t want Paige to look at me tomorrow morning and wonder if she was just another score added to my legend. She wasn’t.

  But I was still going to make her come. Fuck yes, that was still happening.

  I kept my hands firmly on her hips and changed my position, getting on my back again while keeping her upright with her legs spread. She really liked this, rubbing one out against my dick with her tits bare while her palms explored the hard muscles of my chest. Watching her grind away was so insanely sexy and I wished the lights were still on so I could see her face better. Instead I had to settle for keeping my hands on her hips as I helped her move until she shuddered and moaned, leaving no doubt that HELL YEAH she could totally come this way and she could come hard.

  Paige exhaled shakily and said my name as she finished. I could have stayed down there just watching her and trying to instigate a repeat performance but I had something to take care of or else I’d be tearing into one of those condoms after all.

  She collapsed at my side, breathing hard, running her hand lazily over my stomach. “You feel so good,” she said in a sleepy voice. Then she lifted her head and noticed what I’d started doing.

  My pants were unzipped and my dick was out and Paige’s slight gasp left me wondering if maybe she’d never seen a guy jack off before. I liked that idea. My stroke quickened. This wouldn’t take much. I was already on the verge after all this torture of kissing and grinding and feeling her come on top of me.

  “Let me do it,” she whispered and wrapped her soft hand around my dick.

  “Fucking hell,” I groaned and came into her palm. She didn’t pull away. She kept stroking until I’d exhausted everything I had.

  Afterwards we stayed where we were, trying to catch our breath. I snatched my shirt off the floor and mopped off her hand and my stomach.

  “I’ll be right back,” I said, giving her a quick kiss before exiting in search of a bathroom.

  I found the same one I’d used last night and cleaned up as best I could. There was some old mouthwash on the counter so I swished a capful around in my mouth while staring at my reflection. The bottle of wine in the downstairs fridge came to mind and I was ashamed. Hell no. I wouldn’t go down there, wouldn’t touch it. Maybe I hadn’t behaved myself tonight as much as I’d sworn to Kellan I would but at least I’d stopped before I went too far too fast. If I could stop myself from having sex with a girl I desperately wanted then I could stop thinking about the damn bottle of wine too.

  I spit the mouthwash in the sink and returned to the bedroom where the light had been turned on again.

  Paige was now wearing a Snoopy t-shirt and a loose pair of mesh shorts. She looked down at herself and self-consciously crossed her arms.

  “I don’t have a drawer full of sexy pajamas,” she said.

  I leaned against the door and yawned. “You look perfect.”

  “Are you still staying?” she asked and the question was timid, like she thought now that I’d gotten a little action I’d have no reason to stick around all night.

  But I had every reason to stick around.

  I raised an eyebrow. “Is it still all right if I stay?”

  She nodded with a happy smile and pulled the covers back on the bed.

  I stripped down to my boxers after all, reasoning that I’d already exhibited a little bit of willpower and could keep it up. Besides, we were both legitimately tired.

  Paige crawled into bed and waited for me. I turned off the light and joined her, glad that she immediately moved into my arms. She felt soft and smelled like toothpaste.

  “Good night,” she said and lifted her head for a gentle kiss before settling down.

  “Good night.” I held her and stroked her hair until she slept soundly.

  Before I fell asleep I wondered if this was how it felt to really be with someone. I’d never had that before, not really. All I’d ever had were good times. A fuckload of them. I wasn’t trying to get ahead of myself. I hadn’t even taken the girl out to dinner yet. However Paige was already occupying a lot of space in my head. I knew that tomorrow I’d be thinking about her and counting down the hours until I saw her again.

  Getting this girl to come
tonight had been hot as shit. But getting her to smile at me had been fucking incredible. Maybe this level of connection was what other people felt with each other every day.

  If so, it was pretty amazing.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Paige

  Sam was shocked. “You’re joking.”

  I smiled, memories of last night flooding back. “Definitely not joking. I can give you specifics if you want.”

  She gagged. “Please don’t. I just ate two donuts. I don’t want to see them again so soon.”

  I snorted. “Don’t be rude. And you were the one who was urging me to cut loose and go hook up with someone.”

  “Someone is not Derek Gentry. He’s definitely a fine looking package but Derek Gentry is still Derek Gentry and-“

  Ric was actively trying to shush her sister in the background. They had me on speaker on Sam’s phone.

  “So,” Ric interrupted, sounding artificially cheerful. “You’ve been hanging out with Derek, huh? He was the guy who smacked down the psycho at the Super Q, right?”

  “That’s right.” I hoped the conversation wouldn’t start rehashing that experience. “I don’t know what would have happened to me if he hadn’t been there.”

  “And I’m sure you’re grateful,” Ric said slowly.

  “That’s not why I’m with him,” I shot back and then felt like a fool because I wasn’t really ‘with’ Derek. We’d spent a lot of time together over the last few days but that wasn’t long enough to discuss any so-called status even though being with him last night had felt more real than anything I’d ever experienced before.

  My hands strayed down between my legs and I suppressed a delicious shiver while recalling how good he’d made me feel. I wanted him so bad last night. He could have done anything he felt like doing and I would have cooperated. With extreme eagerness.

  “We didn’t even have sex,” I told my friends because it was technically true and because I was feeling defensive, wanting them to understand that Derek wasn’t the guy they thought he was. “He took me to meet his family and he even invited me to his brother’s baseball game tonight. That doesn’t sound like just a hookup, does it?”