Beautiful Burn(16)

I breathed deeply and pulled into the parking spot at the end of the row nearest to me and farthest from her. I quickly shut off my lights in hopes she wouldn’t notice. After rolling the window down quietly, I tried to tune into her melodic voice across the small lot.

I didn’t hear her, but I heard him.

Jason, Josh, Jack-off? I didn’t know, and I didn’t care.

Her charming laugh filled the night and before I knew what I was doing, I turned the key and the engine hummed to life. Thrusting my foot on the brake, I tossed the vehicle into reverse and pulled out. With heart pounding, I drove with averted eyes, hoping she wouldn’t notice it was me, but willing to take the risk as long as I didn’t have to see her with him.

I passed them standing at the edge of the treeline talking, and I couldn’t help myself. I glanced over. My heart fell and I knew I failed in that one brief look. Our eyes connected, surprise in hers, probably some form of frustration in mine. Her eyes widened in surprise before she took two steps to my vehicle and I knew I had to run with this. I was here and so was she, and it was exactly the reason I'd come here, to throw caution to the wind and make sure I was really living life before it was too late.

Be calm, be cool, play it off.

“Hey.” Her voice, one octave lower than normal, filtered through the interior of my vehicle and fell on lovesick ears.

“Hi. Couldn’t sleep so I thought I’d see if you were here. I didn’t see your car, so I was just leaving.”

“Stay,” she said simply. And somehow that one fucking word was the only word that mattered. I only nodded, put my car in reverse, and returned to the parking spot I’d just vacated. Stepping out of my truck, I hit the lock and pulled my hoodie over my head in the hopes that any former students wouldn’t recognize me. Maybe I could get in and out of here without being seen. My mind ran over possibilities of the story I could tell if we were caught, but nothing seemed sufficient and it was then that I realized I really didn’t care.

I took long strides to Auburn and we met in the middle of the parking lot. She looped her arm in mine and walked me towards the shore where the flickering of firelight danced in the darkness.

“Where's your boyfriend?” I murmured in her ear once we'd stopped at the edge of the treeline before it sloped down to the riverbank.

“He left.” She informed just as an engine fired to life. A shiny black Rover spit rocks as it whipped out a moment later. “And he isn't my boyfriend, not anymore.” Her dark eyes caught mine in the silver moonlight.

“Poor bastard.” I muttered, the sarcasm in my words making it more than clear how I felt about the end of that relationship.

“I don't think he cared too much.”

“Losing you? How could he not care?”

She shrugged before responding, “Rumor is he fucked the captain of the volleyball team. I'm not worried.”

“Shit. You're not upset that he cheated on you?” I covered her hand with my own and interlaced our fingers.

“I told you, we weren't that serious. And we'd only been dating for a few months. It was time, regardless of,” she gestured between the two of us. “this.”

“Well, I can't say I sympathize.” I caught the shell of her ear between my teeth and gave a gentle tug. “I'm a man with selfish interests.”

“And just what are those interests?” She purred and twisted her neck to grant me more intimate access.

“You. And all things you-related.” She sighed and before she could answer, I hauled her off past a line of cars and down a small path that was out of sight of the group drinking and laughing around the fire. My heart thundered with urgency, my blood pumped with excitement. “What would you tell them if they saw us together?” I hummed as we stopped near an imposing maple tree, branches gnarled and hanging low, partially sheltering us.

“I dunno,” she breathed, eyes averted. She'd been drinking. Her eyes swam with something other than the sparkling amusement I was used to. It made her flirty, sexy, bold. Seeing her that way had the blood charging through my veins to the only area on my body that I could focus on.

“Does it turn you on?” I rotated her soft form and faced her towards the fire, her back to my chest, her pelvis pressed against a fallen and oversized tree, the bark smooth with years of exposure.

“Reed,” she moaned and shook her head. That perfect contradiction again. Her words told me one thing, but her body told me something entirely different.

“I think that husky tone in your voice says yes,” I breathed against her ear, my nose dusting along the smooth line of her neck. With my hands on her hips, I rocked her back and forth against me gently letting her feel how uncontrollably turned on I was. “You shouldn’t be out here with me, Auburn Lawrence.”