Forbidden Summer

by Claire Fertile

  “Do you have any plans for the day?” my mom asked.

  I shook my head. “Just going to lay around the house and relax.” I couldn't tell her that I was going to touch myself all day long.

  “You don't want to visit some of your friends?”

  “I haven't seen any of them since high school.”

  My mom snapped a piece of bacon in half and chewed on it. “What about taking Mason out and showing him the town?”

  I almost choked on a bite of eggs. I covered my mouth and coughed to clear my throat. “I don't think he'd be into that. This place isn't very exciting.”

  My mom shoved my shoulder. “Oh come on. I think it would be fun. There are plenty of neat things to see. The library is nice and big. The great park would be a good one too. Plus it would give the two of you a chance to get to know one another. Why don't you go ask him?”

  I had to turn away to hide my flushed face. “I don't think I could do that.”

  “Oh hogwash. I'll go ask him.” My mom left before I could stop her. I wanted to sink down into the ground and disappear.

  But the thought of spending all day with Mason was very appetizing. I just had to act like it wasn't my idea. Which it wasn't but I couldn't let him think otherwise.

  I finished eating and joined the rest of the family upstairs. They were all huddled around Mason's bed. Bobby and my mom blocked my view of Mason.

  I stood in the doorway while my mom asked him the question. She stepped out of the way and I finally saw Mason. He was sitting halfway up in bed and against the backboard. The first thing I noticed was he was shirtless. The second thing I noticed was how god damn good he looked.

  My mouth watered at the sight of this perfect specimen. I wanted to run my hands all over his chiseled chest. That pressing need was calling again.

  Mason's baby blues caught sight of mine and he smiled. “Yeah going out, sounds like a lot of fun.”

  He agreed to my mom's proposal. We were going to spend the day together.

  I went back to my room in a daze. Where was I supposed to take him? What was I going to wear? Was this a date?

  I shook my head. I couldn't think of it that way because I knew for sure that Mason wasn't.

  I opened my closet and sighed. It might take all day just to find an outfit.

  Chapter Six

  The entire family stood at the bottom of the stairs and watched me walk down. I felt like this was prom night or something. It definitely wasn't.

  For starters, I wasn't wearing a dress. Well, I was but not a prom dress. This was more of a sun dress with a flower print. I chose it because it was short and tight around my chest which made my boobs squeeze upwards.

  “You look great, honey,” my mom said. I was surprised she didn't have a camera.

  The whole situation was very awkward. It was like my mom and Bobby were trying to get us together. But didn't they know it was forbidden?

  Either way I wasn't going to question it. I wanted this to happen. And I was going to make it happen.

  Mason stood by the front door wearing a tight gray shirt that was about two sizes too small. Every muscle was perfectly defined. His blue jeans hugged his waist and I wanted him to turn around so I could get a look at his ass.

  Mason's eyes traveled down my neckline and I knew in that moment that I picked the right dress.

  Until we walked outside I and realized that it was fucking winter.

  What the fuck was I thinking? The cold air breezed between my bare legs and I had to rub my arms to keep myself warm.

  “Want me to drive? Mason asked.

  It only took me one look at my 94' Toyota Corolla to realize that Mason's car would most certainly be better. “My car's pretty messy,” I replied.

  Mason pulled out his car keys and we walked over to his black Ford Mustang. I could see my reflection in the shiny paint. There wasn't a scratch on it.

  “Is this new?” I asked.

  The car beeped and the doors unlocked. “Got it last year as a graduation gift from my dad.” Mason disappeared into the driver's seat.

  I hoped I would be that lucky when I graduated. Maybe Bobby would feel pity on me for the clunker I'd been driving around for years and convince my mom to get me a new car.

  I joined Mason in the car and he started the ignition. Heat came out of the vents and instantly warmed me up. I'd be all right if we stayed in the car the entire time.

  Mason put his hand on the steering wheel and looked over at me. “So where are we headed?”

  I couldn't help but laugh. “I have no idea. My mom thinks this city is exciting. She suggested we go to the library.”

  “Shall we just drive around then? You can point out different things?”

  I nodded and Mason put the car into reverse and pulled out of the driveway. “Well which way first?”

  “Let's go right and we can drive through downtown. There's at least things to see there.”

  Mason put his foot on the gas and my body was pushed against the plush leather seat. We drove in silence for a couple minutes except when I told him to make a left.

  I didn't know what to say. Sweat began to collect under my armpits. I knew that anything coming out of my mouth would be all jumbled anyways.

  “What are you studying at college?” Mason asked.

  I was so glad he opened his mouth first. “I didn't really know what major to pick so I settled on history.”

  “Don't know what you want to do after college yet?” Mason looked over at me and I couldn't keep eye contact with him.

  “I'm not sure yet. I figured that I was good at history and it was the best way to get out of school in four years.” I pointed to a street corner. “Make a right here.”

  Mason turned the wheel hand over hand. “You know I still don't know what I want to do.”

  I scoffed. “What are you talking about? Didn't you just get a good job with your business degree.”

  “I wouldn't call serving coffee to executives a good job.”

  I started to giggle and tried to stifle it with my hand. I couldn't imagine seeing Mason having to order coffee for a bunch of men in suits.

  “What's so funny?” he asked. His face was stern but a smile began to crack.

  “It's just with the way you dress and your nice car. I thought you had everything figured out.”

  Mason joined in with the laughter. “I worked so hard in school and ended up a coffee boy. Take it from me, I don't think anyone has life figured out.”

  Tears formed in my eyes from laughing so hard. “I guess you're right.”

  We arrived at downtown with rows of shops and restaurants. Christmas lights hung across the street and connected at the opposite lamppost. Store windows had that white spray stuff to make it look like snow.

  “There's a coffee place that I used to go to all the time. That is if you aren't sick of coffee.” I was feeling more comfortable around Mason. Comedy really opened the door between us.

  “One thing this new job gave me was an addiction to caffeine.”

  “Perfect,” I replied.

  Mason parked the Mustang in one of the slanted spaces in front of Joe's Java. The name wasn't inspiring but it didn't need to be since this was the only coffee place in town. Starbucks and the rest of the big corporations hadn't invaded yet.

  We walked inside the rustic-looking shop. It had changed a lot since the last time I'd been. A vinyl record player played Christmas music by a singer I didn't recognize.

  Mason led the way to the counter. “Coffee's on me. What do you want?”

  I wasn't expecting that. I opened my mouth to argue and decided it was better not to. “I'll have a green tea latte with almond milk.”

  Mason relayed the order to the cashier and paid for us. I found us a seat in the back at a table for two. Most of the people in there were glued to their laptop screens with headphones on. It was a nice atmosphere for a date.

  Even though this wasn't a date.

  Mason arrived with two d
rinks and sat across from me. “What did you get? I asked.

  “Just their house brew.”

  “I don't think I've ever tried it before. I'm more of a tea person than coffee.”

  “Try some.” Mason took off the cap and blew on it before passing it to me.

  “Then you have to try some of mine.” I handed my tea to Mason.

  I took a sip and wanted to immediately spit it out. A little bit of dribble came out of the side of my mouth before I was able to swallow it. “Did you put any cream or sugar in this?”

  “What's the point of all that stuff? Takes away from the taste of the coffee.” Mason took a drink of mine and squished his face. “Why is it so sweet?”

  “That's the point.” I laughed.

  Today was going to be pretty fun. I just knew it.

  Chapter Seven

  We drove around for hours and I pointed out the various landmarks around town. We talked about our school experiences and childhoods.

  Turned out that we had a lot in common. Both of our parents divorced when we were young so we knew the pain each other had been through.

  We stopped in an empty parking lot of an abandoned mall. A large sign that said: Available hung down from the roof. “I used to come here all the time,” I said. I sipped my hot tea and set it in the cup holder.

  “What happened?” Mason asked.

  “There never was enough business in there. Most of the spaces were vacant so it was hard for any of them to survive.”

  I could feel Mason's eyes on me. I wanted to look over at him but I was terrified. I'd been so relaxed around him all day but now it felt different.

  I willed myself to turn my head. Our eyes locked and he looked straight into my soul. “You know you have beautiful eyes?” he said.

  I could feel my cheek turning red. My brown eyes couldn't possibly be beautiful but I still liked that he said it. I wanted him to say more.

  Mason leaned in closer. I couldn't believe this was happening. All those nights of staring at his picture and dreaming about him. Now he was right in front of me with those nice lips of his.

  I couldn't resist any longer. I closed my eyes and shoved my mouth onto his. Mason's hand came around the back of my head and pressed me deeper into the kiss. My body swooned with excitement. It felt like every inch of my skin was on fire.

  His tongue sneaked passed my lips and searched around. I moaned against his touch. Mason's free hand grabbed my breast over my sun dress, squeezing it until it almost spilled out.

  I wanted to live in this moment forever. When everything was new and nothing could go wrong.

  Mason broke away, a deep breath entering his lungs. We stared at each other in awe. What we did was forbidden but neither one of us wanted to say it out loud.

  I went to say something but Mason turned to face the steering wheel and started the car. “We should be getting back before dinner. Don't want our parents to get mad.”

  My jaw dropped to the car floor. Was he just going to ignore these feelings between us? I'd never felt like that with a kiss before. No kiss had ever come close. And Mason just wanted to run away.

  “Are we not going to talk about this?” I asked. “This seems like a pretty big deal.”

  “Nothing happened and we should just keep it at that. Our parents can never find out.”

  I wanted to punch him straight in the face. I wanted to tear off his balls and make him double over in pain. There was no way this problem was just going to go away.

  We drove back to my mom's house without saying another word. Mason got out of the car first and I sat there trying to figure out what to do next. Mason didn't bother waiting for me and went into the house.

  I walked in to find him talking with my parents. My mom came over with a smile and put her arm around me. “Sounds like you two had a good time.”

  One thing that Mason was right about. Our parents could never find out. I could just imagine my mom's disgusted face when she found out. It would destroy her and it would forever change how she saw me.

  I couldn't do that to her.

  I put on my best smile. “Yeah we had fun. I took him to downtown and we got coffee at Joe's.”

  “That place has really changed hasn't it?

  I nodded. “It's really nice in there.”

  My mom guided me into the kitchen to join Mason and Bobby. “Did you guys go to the library?”

  I did my best to ignore Mason. “No, we kind of ran out of time.”

  The kiss cycled through my head again. Mason's hand on my boob felt too good. My finger traced the top of my cleavage. I wanted his mouth on my nipples, sucking hard until I cried out. I had to stop thinking this way. If Mason didn't want to pursue this further then I needed to cut my losses. There were plenty of men out there that would die to have me for the first time.

  But Mason was the perfect one.

  My mom interrupted my train of thought. “Bobby and I were thinking of having pizza delivered. What do you two think?”

  “Fine with me,” Mason replied. “I'll take pepperoni on mine.” He walked away and went upstairs. I could finally breath without him around.

  “Can you get sausage and peppers on one?” I asked.

  My mom wrote down on a pad of paper. “What do you want, Bobby?”

  “I'm not very picky. They both sound good to me,” he replied.

  “And that's why I love you.” My mom stopped writing and jumped into Bobby's arms, laying down kisses all over him.

  The feeling of bile creeping up my throat made me leave the kitchen. I didn't want to go upstairs but there was nowhere else to go.

  Chapter Eight

  I sneaked into my room and breathed a sigh of relief when I saw that my door to the bathroom was closed. I wouldn't have to see Mason until the pizza came.

  I plopped down on my bed and focused on the white ceiling above. How could I survive the rest of Christmas with Mason around? I wished that I could run back to my dorm and forget about the whole thing.

  But there was no way that was going to happen.

  I knew and Mason knew it too.

  This romance was too big to leave behind.

  The doorbell rang, announcing the pizza guy. My mom and Bobby bumbled around downstairs for cash. I walked outside of my room and Mason came out of his at the same moment.

  I cursed inside my head a million times over. Why didn't I just wait a minute longer!

  We both stood frozen in place. “Is the pizza here?” he asked.

  The smell of sausage and pepperoni filled the air. The question was moot but I answered yes anyways.

  Mason walked by me and I got a whiff of his cologne. I'd never be able to forget that smell as long as I lived.

  I joined everyone in the kitchen and Bobby already had his plate full with three slices. We all sat around the dinner table for four. I had to sit across from Mason which made it hard not to look at him the entire time. I wanted to hate his face so much but he was too cute.

  “Is everyone done with their Christmas shopping?” my mom asked.

  I nodded while filling up on a slice of sausage and peppers. I only had to shop for my mom every year and I usually got it out of the way a month before Christmas.

  Mason ignored the question and continued to eat.

  Bobby was already finished with his three slices. “I finished yesterday but I have a lot to wrap still.”

  “Should we all watch a movie tonight? I'm sure It's a Wonderful Life will be playing.”

  Bobby nodded. “Sounds like a good idea to me.”

  I hoped Mason would decline first so I didn't have to but he didn't say a word. There was no way I could watch an entire movie sitting close to Mason.

  I fake yawned. “It's been a really long day. I think I just want to get an early head start on sleep. Will you take a rain check on the movie?”

  My mom made a pouty face. “Well maybe Bobby and I will just go out by ourselves.”

  Bobby smiled and blew a kiss to my mom acros
s the table.

  I finished my meal and asked if I could be excused. I needed to leave before it got even more awkward.

  I retired to my room and closed all the doors. I heard my mom's car leave the garage and then I realized that Mason and I were all alone in the house together.