by Cassie Mae
A bird chirps from a nearby tree, and my shoes hit the pavement with heavy slaps in the quiet air. Instead of ringing the doorbell or knocking, I stick the Gatorade into my pocket and shoot Brink a text.
I’m here. ☺
I’ve also become an emoji guy. Damn love.
There’s movement just behind the door, muffled but rushed, and my heart picks up. Maybe, just maybe, she’s as excited as I am to spend an entire day together.
I adjust my camera bag and my board, tucking my phone away and pulling the Gatorade back out. I’m a killer boyfriend—if that’s what I am—having the drink ready for her the second she opens the door.
A creak cuts through the early morning, and Mad’s hazel eyes peek out from the crack as she slides through. I take her in as she eases the door shut behind her—the excitement in her eyes and the bounce in her step. Her fingers curl around her board, and there’s a Dr. Pepper tucked in the crook of her elbow.
“Aww,” I tease, nodding to the drink. “Were you thinking of m—oof!”
My voice disappears as she flings her entire body on mine. I drop the Gatorade, and it thunks and rolls off to no man’s land. Mad’s lips crash against mine, and a surprise laugh interrupts our kissing for a second before I catch up to her.
I adjust her on my hips so my camera isn’t digging into my rib, then take two steps forward, trapping her against the door. She tastes like spearmint toothpaste, and even though we’re in the last week of August, it feels like a fog of breath would puff out between us the moment we break apart.
I use the door to hold her weight and slither a hand up to her jaw. My tongue dips into her mouth and she lets me, tangling hers with mine. She kisses like she handles a board—in effortless talent.
Not even in my most elaborate fantasies did I picture something like this. I was always told passion like this was supposed to wait. It was too fast, too much, but those thoughts make little sense right now. How could anyone get kissed like this and think it was too much? If anything, I can’t get enough.
Knowing my brain is starting to wander into panic zone, I bow out of our kiss as gracefully as I can, breathing hard as she continues to pepper kisses across my cheeks and nose and down my neck.
I chuckle at her enthusiasm, her lips tumbling over my Adam’s apple. “Hi.”
“Hi.” A grin takes over her face before she presses a brief kiss to my lips.
“I brought you a Gatorade. It’s around here somewhere.”
“Yeah… probably with the very shaken up Dr. Pepper I got you.”
She slowly drops from my hips, and I take a few steps back to give her room. Her fingers pull at her red Kylo Ren tee that bunched up during our greeting.
“Well, don’t open it for a while,” she says, tucking her hair behind her ears, her bright eyes on something just behind me. The Dr. Pepper is all foam, the bottle banged up from tumbling down the few steps leading up to Mad’s door.
I scan the ground but can’t find her Gatorade. “I’d say you could open yours if I could find it.”
She waves her hand and then smoothly lets it land in mine. “I’ve got a whole pack in the car. Let’s get to Indy!”
A chuckle rumbles my chest as she tugs me toward her car. “Someone’s excited.”
“I’m so ready to get out of here.”
She says it playfully, but there’s something hiding in her tone. More family drama, I’m guessing. We’ve got a few hours of road time if she wants to talk about it.
We pack our boards in her trunk, and she takes me to the passenger side. She opens the door for me, and I humor her, giving her a peck before taking my seat. After shutting me in, I take a look in the backseat. Sure enough, she’s got all the road trip necessities: Gatorade, Dr. Pepper, water—for some reason—Doritos, Oreos, and sunflower seeds. I meet her eyes as she slides behind the wheel.
“We going for the whole weekend?” I ask, gesturing to the food and sliding my camera bag off.
“If you change your mind about the sex thing, I bet that can be arranged.”
She gives me a wicked look, and I swallow my tongue. I never said I wasn’t up for that possibility… just that I have to tell her first. Tell her I love her.
Which I’ll do today.
I will.
If I can get my tongue to work.
“So,” she says before I manage to get a word out, “ready to blow this popsicle stand?”
A dorky chuckle is all I can do to answer, and she gives a proper laugh and leans over the center console. “I was only teasing, boyfriend. Let’s just have fun, okay?” She presses a kiss to the tip of my nose, and I assume a high school Tanner grin wraps my dopey face.
I guess I am her boyfriend.
***
About three hours later, Maddie pulls into the Amateur Boarding Competition’s parking lot. It’s not as packed as I assumed it would be, but we’re a little early. She pulls into a spot, and we both get out with a groan.
“Feel like driving on the way back?” she asks through a sky-high stretch. I try not to get distracted by her stomach as her shirt lifts.
“I can do that.” I stretch my arm across my chest. “But only if you open my door again for me.”
“You got it, boyfriend.”
That’s number five. She’s been very liberal with the term since it slipped out in her parking lot back home. Once at our first rest stop about an hour into the trip. The third time was when I dozed off, and she woke me up with a poke and a “you’re supposed to entertain me, boyfriend!” Number four came when we were at a stoplight, and she pulled me by the collar and demanded a kiss.
I’m not used to being with a girl so outspoken about being with me. It’s different, weird, and I’m unsure how to navigate, but I love it all the same.
We each grab our preferred drinks, and I take my camera out of its bag and sling it over my shoulder. Then, being bolder than I usually am, I take her hand and interlock our fingers. The wide smile on her face tells me it was the right move to make.
The competition is at a rec center that converts to an ice skating rink during the winter months. But summer is the board’s time to shine, and the closer we get to our seats, the faster Brink’s feet move. We take a spot close to the middle so I can get good shots of not just the pipe tricks, but the floor work, too. We’re across from the judges, and I plan on making sure their faces are in several shots. After all, we’re here to study what is gonna impress them.
I put my camera up and adjust settings. I zone out from what’s behind me, to the side, and only focus on the screen, panning around, zooming in and out, pressing buttons until I’m satisfied. I imagine Brink down there, landing a pop shuvit and then waving at the camera like it was nothing.
Mad bounces in the seat next to me, and the corner of my mouth picks up. I stop fiddling with my camera, setting it in my lap and taking her hand again.
“Think they’ll let us go down there when it’s done?” I ask.
“Gosh, I hope so.” She rests her head on my shoulder and heaves out a contented sigh. “I’d love to board on that. And I could use all the practice I can get.”
I snort. “You’d wipe the floor with all of them.”
“I’m still a granny on wheels.”
“Tony Hawk is still around, right?”
“Still… I think this year is my last chance. Gotta make it count.”
I don’t argue with her. It’s unfortunate, but yeah, twenty-five years is pushing it. At twenty-six, she won’t even turn a head, no matter how good she is. There’s too much at stake at that point. Big investment for not as many years, potentially.
I kiss her crown, and we settle in… me with my camera and her with her Gatorade. The place fills up, and I’m glad we got here early because I have prime recording from where we’re at, and since we’re in the front, I don’t have to worry about random heads getting in the way.
A buzz rumbles between our hips, and Mad pulls her R2D2 covered phone out. Her smile immediately
drops, and she rolls her eyes before stuffing the cell back in her pocket.
“Drama?” I ask.
“Always. I’m ignoring it today.”
I squeeze her knee. “Sounds like a good idea.”
The faintest of smiles crosses her lips, and she moves my hand so that my arm wraps around her shoulders. She tucks in and nods to my camera.
“Tell me how it works.”
I put the camera between us. “Well, this button here is super important.”
She gives me a glare. “That’s the on button.”
“And it’s important.”
She elbows me in the rib. “Tell me techy stuff, silly boyfriend.”
Only because I’m a sucker when she calls me that, I take her through what I plan on doing, how I plan on editing it, and what I hope to do for her audition tape. If she’s bored by my rambling, she doesn’t show it, her eyes meeting mine every time I look at her. And she asks questions, making me feel like I’m some sort of virtuoso videographer, when really, I just like it a lot.
The lights dim on the audience and cheers erupt as the first boarder waves from the top of the half-pipe. An announcer tells us it’s Eric Greer from Indianapolis, and then a timer chimes down from fifteen seconds to zero.
I hit record and get Eric’s run. He doesn’t do too shabby, but he’s nowhere near Mad’s runs. The more boarders we go through, the more I realize how great the judges’ poker faces are. They don’t have a single tell from what I can see, but I’ll have to study the tape later to be sure.
After an hour and a half, the lights go up, and they announce they’re breaking for forty-five minutes. I shut my camera and sling it over my shoulder, eager to stand and stretch. Three hours in the car added with another couple hours in a hard seat, and my butt is beyond numb. I give it a couple of good smacks, much to Brink’s amusement.
“I’ll wake it up,” she says, then whacks my ass so hard that it wakes up every other part of my body.
“Easy. I’m fragile.”
She giggles and goes for another hit, but I catch her wrist and pull her to her feet, wrapping her in my arms. Her hands link at the small of my back, and I love how easy that was.
I could tell her right now. I love you. I could let it slip on out, and it would feel right.
But I don’t.
“Are you okay to risk losing our seats?” she asks after a minute.
“You hungry?” No judgment if she is, but she ate that entire bag of Doritos on the way up.
“No. I’ve got the itch. And that parking lot has so many good curbs.”
I silently chuckle and nod above her. “I’ll tape you out there.”
“No, boyfriend. I want you to board with me. Let’s just have fun.”
I raise a brow, knowing there is something behind her tone but being too chicken to ask about it.
We make our way outside, and already, there are several boarders out, taking advantage of the parking lot. Pretty sure it’s not legal, but the security doesn’t seem to give a shit, so we jog to Mad’s car and grab our boards. I settle my camera in the trunk, carefully like a baby, then we board toward the hot spots.
Mad’s a woman possessed. The competition must’ve really inspired her, because she’s doing things I haven’t seen done in years. She lands most, misses a few, but she draws a crowd. I knew I should’ve kept my camera.
“Hey, Tanner… get in here!” she says, and I casually slide in, staying on my board and doing the basics. Sure, I can do the half-pipe, but my floor work isn’t up to par. Guess that’s courtesy of having access to the pipe nearly every day.
Mad pushes over to me, and I reach out to catch her as she kicks her board up and it lands in her hand with ease. There’s some applause, but she doesn’t seem to notice it’s for her.
“You should’ve let me record you.”
“I’m just messing around.”
“Exactly.”
She rolls her eyes, then pushes up on her toes. Her lips tap mine, then press harder. She’s kissing me in front of a crowd, and not just any peck either, and I want to kiss her back, whisper I love yous, and never let her go.
But would that be too much? Would it be too fast? This weekend could be just a getaway for her—a time to do things she wouldn’t normally. Am I part of that?
I try to shake the doubts from my head, and I cup her neck, smoothing my thumb across her jaw. She opens for me, and I hear the muffled sounds of our audience around us, but it’s just me and her as far as I’m concerned. And I’m going to tell her.
“Hey Mad,” I say in the small space that opens between our lips.
“Hmm?”
“I—” The world spins, and my stomach soars to my throat. My ass lands on the pavement with a painful thud that ricochets up my spine. The board I completely forgot I was on soars across the cement, and one of my shoes flies into the air and bounces toward the asphalt-covered parking lot.
Mad’s eyes circle big, and her lips press together hard as she gazes down at me. Her cheeks turn pink with the effort to keep from laughing. “Are… are you okay?” she chokes out around amused chuckles.
I check my hands—scraped but not anything serious. My butt will be bruised for a month, but I’ve taken harder falls.
The corner of my mouth picks up at her. “Your kiss literally threw me on my ass.”
She laughs and takes a spot next to me on the cement. “I’ll make sure you’re on solid ground next time.” Then she plants another on my lips, and I forget everything I was going to tell her.
How have I survived years of knowing Tanner without kissing him? It’s like Leia and Han Solo dancing around before finally admitting to themselves they’re suckers for each other. Only I’m an oblivious idiot. If I was paying attention, maybe I would’ve seen it—seen him—a lot sooner.
I rub his poor butt that had more than its fair share of abuse today as we walk back to my car. His arm is slung over my shoulder, my arm bent at the elbow and my fingers linked with his. I’m a back pocket person girl, apparently, because after giving his butt a sweet tap, I tuck my free hand into his pocket and keep it there.
There was a book I read forever ago about love languages. I picked it up after Pete and I moved out together, and I was on a kick of finding out who I was spiritually, emotionally, physically, romantically… Having never really had a relationship, I didn’t think I’d get much out of it, but I quickly learned that my love language is touch. It was that section that spoke to me, that made me crave someone to hold me, hug me, kiss me. Our family isn’t big on affection of any kind. I don’t remember the last time my mom hugged me, and my dad was too out of it to know when one of us was in the room.
As for my siblings, Pete and I high five or knuckle bump all the time, which is more than enough for us. But Dem… before this preteen mess, she was a hugger. She would bounce into my arms the moment I opened the door for her, and she’d stay there for as long as possible. There were nights she spent in my bed, tucked safely under my chin. There were always hugs, couch cuddles, tickle fights… and I knew that no matter how short I fell as a bread winner, I was loved by my sister.
A dark cloud starts to hover over me with the reminder that things are no longer that way between us. No. Not now. Not while I’m here with Tanner, boarding, laughing, hugging, kissing… This cloud will not touch me, and I tuck farther into Tanner’s side for cover.
As promised, I open his door for him, and he lets out a dorky laugh and gives me a kiss before squeezing behind the wheel. He’s not as tall as Pete, but he’s for sure taller than my petite body, and he reaches under the seat and slides all the way back with a thunk. His eyes widen, and he makes the cutest “whoops” face, and I smile to myself as I shut the door.
I do a little dance for him as I make my way to the passenger seat, wiggling my butt for good measure. He’s hilarious, his ears going red as he shakes his head at my antics. I slump into the car and lean over the console for another kiss. I can’t get enough of them.<
br />
His fingers fumble over the keys as he puts them in the ignition, and I grin to myself. I like throwing him off his game. Tanner has no clue, but he’s pretty darn smooth. Even falling on his butt earlier, he did it with style.
The engine turns over but doesn’t turn on. My brows furrow, and panic boils in my belly.
“Uh… it’s never made that sound before.”
Tanner tries again, and the car sputters and then doesn’t make a single sound at all. “Yeah… that doesn’t sound good.”
My shoulders slump, and I slap a hand on the door handle. “Pop the hood. I’ll see if I can get a jump from someone.”
He ducks to the side of the wheel, searching for the button. I don’t think it’s the battery, but we might as well try.
My mood is shot to hell though after grabbing someone and hooking the cables up. Tanner turns the key and no bueno. My decades old car has finally kicked the bucket.
We thank the kid who was happy to help, even offering us a lift home until we told him we’re about three hours out. Then Tanner runs a hand through his hair and leans against the hood.
“You wanna call Pete?” he asks, and a good amount of dread drops into my stomach.
I shake my head hard, and I think he senses all the emotions crashing through me. He stretches his arms wide and wiggles his fingers.
“You need a hug, Brink?”
My bottom lip juts out the tiniest bit, and I nod, falling into his open arms. He squeezes me tight, planting a kiss to my crown, making things better for a split second.
“I can call Aislynn,” he offers over my head, the rumble of his voice right up against my cheek. “I could probably convince her to take a drive.”
“What about my car?” I pat the reliable—well, up till now—vehicle, adjusting in his arms enough to peer up at him.
“You got AAA?”
“Maybe.” I honestly don’t know. Seems like something I’d get. I’m responsible for the most part. “I think it came with my insurance policy.”
