Nothing had ever looked so good. So appetizing. So right. A rush of euphoria raced through me. I’d never felt so alive.
I rocked with her as the frenzy built, and when I met the end of her with one final thrust, I erupted deep inside. With every movement, every spasm that traveled between us, our connection was sealed.
* * *
Because Sam was hiding my existence from her crazy mother, I dropped her off at the grocery store where she’d parked her car earlier in the day. This was where we’d part ways until the day the two of us could bring our relationship out into the open. My birthday was fast approaching, and Sam feared if her mother caught wind of what we were doing in my truck after hours, she’d try to have me arrested when I came of age. I hadn’t met her mom, but I wasn’t going to mess around. I’d come too far, changed my ways too much, to get thrown in the slammer for loving her daughter.
My family was another story altogether. They’d love Sam, and I wanted to introduce her to them, but she was understandably nervous around parental figures. It had taken some convincing, but she’d finally agreed to meet them on my upcoming birthday.
One place we no longer had to hide was at school. There, everyone knew we were a couple; well, a couple with a ‘plus one’ in the form of one very tall and very skinny best friend named Shannon O’Malley. If ever there was a cock blocker, it was she. But because Sam refused to be that girl who abandoned her best friend for a guy, Shannon had become a constant fixture in our relationship. Luckily, we got along like dysfunctional siblings.
“Are you sure you can’t hang out tomorrow?” I asked, already knowing the answer but testing her for fissures.
“You know Shannon and I are having a girls’ day. But you’ll meet me on the beach Monday morning, right?”
“On a school day?” I asked in surprise, because even though Sam had become a bit of a bad girl, she never neglected her studies. “You rebel!”
“Think, Keith. What have you been talking about for two weeks now?”
“That we should be allowed to bring pillows to class?”
“No,” she laughed. “In what world would that be a good idea? I’m talking about Staff Development Day. We have it off, remember?”
“Oh, fuck yeah!” I slapped the top of my truck. “I totally forgot! We get to spend all day together.”
“We do,” she said, cuddling up to my side. I bent down, smiling as I planted a wet kiss on her lips. Man, I couldn’t ever remember feeling this good. With Sam, the possibilities were endless. I’d already decided that wherever school took her, I’d follow. That was how committed I was to us. But I’d do my part and make something of myself, so I could be the man she deserved. Things were falling into place. Our future looked bright. Gathering my girl into my arms, I nuzzled her neck and whispered sweet somethings in her ear, and then with our surf date confirmed, I gave her a quick kiss goodbye, and we parted ways.
Had I known it would be our last day as a couple, I would have savored the moment, but hindsight was a fickle bitch.
14
Samantha: I Know Him
Shannon and I had spent the day in Los Angeles with her mother, returning late evening after shopping, eating dinner, and watching a movie. Nothing seemed amiss until I stepped through the doors to my house and my mother came at me like a bullet from a gun.
“Oh, my god.” I jerked back, hitting the wall behind me. What had I been thinking? Why had I let my defenses down? Normally I opened the door a smidge and peeked inside first, but my day had been so light and easy I forgot about the loaded weapon inside my house.
“Where have you been?” she screeched, coming straight for me.
I sidestepped her; these days I didn’t allow my mother to get the upper hand. She seemed to understand that I was stronger than I’d ever been, and the days of physical tyranny were over. She could assault me with her words, but her fists would never touch me again.
“I told you I was out with Shannon. You knew that.”
The television was blaring in the living room, and I took in her anxious face. “Well, I figured you’d come home early, under the circumstances.”
“Under the circumstances?” I questioned. “What are you talking about?”
My phone rang then. I checked – it was Shannon. I’d just left her. What could she possibly need from me three minutes later? I ignored her call. It rang again.
“Do you have any idea what’s happening out there? There’s a madman on the loose! And what has my daughter been doing – traipsing around like some whore?”
If she only knew.As far as my mother was aware, I was as pure as the day I was born, so those insults were meant as character assassination and nothing more.
“Wait. What are you talking about, a madman?”
My phone rang again. Shannon. Now I was getting a bit worried, but I knew my mother would go ballistic if I interrupted our little scream session for a personal call. Once again, I ignored it.
“The kidnapper?” Her voice reached the highest crescendo. “How do you not know? Honestly, Samantha, I’m surprised you’re not lying in a ditch somewhere yourself.”
