Faster We Burn

for it anyway.
    Instead of attacking her, I stayed perfectly still, letting her skin melt into mine. I kept my hands and tongue to themselves and just savored the sweetest and softest of kisses.
    And then the door opened and I heard a gasp.
    Katie pulled away and we both looked over our shoulders and I met the livid eyes of Mrs. Hallman.
    “Mom,” Katie said, scrambling to her feet. “This isn’t what it looks like.”
    “Really? Because what I saw was you kissing a guy you claimed was just a friend who needed a family to spend Thanksgiving with, who happens to look like he just got out of prison.”
    “Mrs. Hallman—” I started to say, but a single glare from her shut me up. Mr. Hallman was right behind her, putting his hand on her shoulder and talking softly in her ear. That was my cue to make myself scarce.
    “I’ll give you a minute,” I said, heading for my car.
    Katie tried to stop me, but this wasn’t my place. She had some issues to work out, and my being there wasn’t going to help. I didn’t know if I should still get my stuff or not.
    I couldn’t count the number of times I’d been kicked out of a house, but this one felt shittier than any time before.
    Deciding I should give them a few minutes, I got in my backseat and stretched out, grabbing the violin I’d brought. It seemed like a better choice than the guitar or my uke.
    I plucked a few strings and wondered how the conversation with Katie and her parents was going. I really shouldn’t have let Katie convince me to come. I also shouldn’t have kissed her, but what was done was done.
    I’d had a lot of “shouldn’t haves” with Katie.
    I pulled out my bow, swiped some rosin across it and started playing. I started with “Holding On and Letting Go”, by Ross Copperman and moved to “Hysteria”, by Muse and then to “I Want You”, by Andrew Allen.
    Every song made me think of Katie. I poked my head up and glanced at the porch where they were still talking. It didn’t look good, because Katie was using her hands while she spoke. She only did that when she was especially pissed. She was also leaning heavily on one hip, which was another bad sign.
    The thing that almost made me laugh was that her mother was doing the same thing. Guess the apple didn’t fall far from that tree. Mr. Hallman looked like a referee who was trying to let both sides win.
    My phone chose that moment to chime with a call from Trish.
    “Hey, how’s Thanksgiving with the Cleavers?” she said, sounding quite cheerful, for Trish.
    “It’s been…interesting. How’s yours?”
    “Well, I’ve been invited to move in, so that’s good, I guess. Lottie’s parents are pretty cool. They’re both seriously smart though. You’d fit right in.”
    “Probably better than I do here,” I said under my breath.
    “Her mom’s freaking out, isn’t she?”
    “Just a bit, but she did catch us kissing on the porch after Katie told her I was just a friend.”
    She snorted. “Dude, can’t you keep it in your pants for one day?”
    “It wasn’t that kind of kiss.”
    “What kind of kiss was it, lover boy?”
    “Look, I’m not discussing this with you right now.” Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Katie storm off the porch and march her way toward my car, her face as dark as a hurricane. “Gotta go. Say hi to everyone for me.”
    “Will do. Bye.”
    Katie wrenched open the car door and climbed in without further ado.
    “How did it go?” I said. She pushed my violin out of the way and lay on top of me. That was unexpected, but it didn’t mean my dick didn’t respond accordingly.
    “Will you take me somewhere so we can fuck?” Her hands started working on my shirt and it took every ounce of willpower I had to grab them and make them stop.
    “Now? You want to fuck in the middle of your family’s Thanksgiving dinner?” Even for me, that was a little extreme.
    “Not in the middle of it. I just…I need to get away for a little while. I need a physical distraction.”
    She tried to wrench her hands away from my grip, but I wouldn’t let her, so she started grinding her hips against me. Damn, she knew how to push all the right buttons.
    “Katie, stop. Seriously. We can’t fuck every time you have a problem and don’t want to deal with it. Not that I don’t enjoy every second of it, but it never solves anything.”
    She looked down at me and I watched her face break and the tears start to fall on my shirt. I let her have her hands back so she