Shoe Strings

 
    “Ty home tonight?” he asked to break the silence that had
taken up residence in the car since they left the restaurant nearly half an
hour ago.
    “No, he’s staying at Cal’s.   They’re working on the landscaping or
something.”
    She fell into silence once again and he felt like brooding
himself.   Soon they were exiting at
Sequoyah Falls.   “Is your car still
at the Den?”   He pulled onto Main
Street.
    “Yes.   You can
just drop me there.”
    He’d like to drop her all right, right on her gorgeous
ass.   “I’m not comfortable dropping
you off at work and having you drive home alone, especially at this hour.   Why don’t you just run in and get your
keys and I’ll follow you home?”
    She turned to face him for the first time since leaving the
restaurant.   He pulled the car to a
stop along the nearly deserted street.   “Don’t be ridiculous.   I
drive home every night alone, later than this most nights.”
    “This isn’t most nights, Kerri Ann.”   He touched her arm when she reached for
the door handle.
    He saw the stubborn set of her chin as it warred with the
wary look in her eyes.   “Bryce, you
don’t have to go out of your way to follow me home.   It’s not like this is a real date or
anything.”
    He felt his smile fade in an instant and his hand left her
arm.   He wasn’t going to slink off
with his tail between his legs like normal.   “We’re two unattached adults sharing an
evening out.   Sounds like a date to
me.”
    “Bryce…” she looked away, but not before he saw the color
rise in her cheeks.   “You don’t have
to pretend this was real.   I know
Lita put you on the spot and you were just being nice.”
    Being called nice was the last thing he wanted to hear and
it served to ignite the temper he rarely let loose.   When she got out of the car and headed
to the door of the restaurant, he grabbed her arm and spun her around so fast
she gasped and grabbed his chest to steady herself.   “I’m not doing this to be nice, Kerri
Ann.”
    His mouth was on hers in an instant.   He didn’t give her time to think or
breathe or react.   His hands
threaded through her whisper soft hair, holding her head in place as he
assaulted her lips.   When he felt
her jerk in surprise, then sag against him, he dropped a hand and gathered her
to him at her waist.   He felt her
hands on his chest, pulling at his shirt as her lips parted to let him take the
kiss deeper.   And he was lost in
her.   He had no concept of time or
place or propriety.   His every
thought, his every breath, was of Kerri Ann.   The way her scent drifted up from
beneath her hair, the feel of her slender waist against his own, the sound she
made deep in her throat when he gentled the kiss and yet took in more of her
than he’d ever imagined possible.  
    When he dragged his mouth from hers, she stumbled into
him.   Her eyes were clouded and her
breathing unsteady.   “I don’t
typically end an evening with a friend with a kiss like that.   Do you, Kerri Ann?”   He turned and left her standing on the
sidewalk as he walked back to his side of the car.   “You think about that and ask yourself
if we just went on a date.”
    All he could see as he pulled away from the curb was her
standing in the streetlight, hugging herself and staring after his car.   He’d gone and done it—taken all
the mystery out of his feelings and left himself exposed to her with one
reckless act.   He’d never regret the
kiss.   How could he regret something
that left him shaken and vulnerable and closer to the truth than he’d ever
been?   But he had to wonder where it
would leave them come the first light of day.

 

 
    Chapter 13
    Jesse made his way to his father’s house, his head reeling
from Angelita’s touch, her scent, her nearness.   How in the world had he come to care
about her so quickly?   It made him
uneasy and anxious to spend the weekend with her and explore his feelings and
hers.   She was a mystery and Jesse
loved nothing more than to hack away at a good puzzle.
    Cal and Ty had moved inside, as they often did after
watching the sunset.   Jesse assumed
they’d be playing checkers or watching TV.   Cal surprised him by appearing at the door as soon as Jesse opened
it.  
    “Where the hell have you been?”   Cal asked, irritation evident on his
face.
    Jesse moved beyond him into the den.   “I went to see about Angelita.   You knew that.”   He could hear the