Side by side in the dry shelter of my car, we shake ourselves off, both of us shucking off our rain soaked jackets. The pounding on the roof is loud and quarters inside the Jeep are so close that an intimate atmosphere is created inside the cab that isn't normally there. Weston's large body sits next to me, and suddenly I'm aware of his every breath. He swipes his large hand over his hair a few times, than lets it fall to his thigh.
He turns his head to look at me and exhales. "This could take a while to pass. You want me to call someone to pick me up?"
I consider this and slowly shake my head. "No. Let's see what happens I guess. I probably shouldn't be driving around in this either." I let my neck relax back onto the head rest and stare up at the canvas roof, quickly praying to the Waterproof Gods that it doesn't leak anytime soon.
"So.... I guess since we're stuck here we mine as well.... You know. Talk about what an ass I was back there."
"I thought guys hated talking."
"Yeah, about
our
feelings maybe, but not yours. On second thought, I've been doing a lot of shit lately that's out of character, so what the hell do I know." Weston shrugs and leans his brawny frame on the door. Under his jacket he had on a ratty old muscle shirt that actually has tons of rips and holes in it - like a Freddy Krueger got ahold of it - but it's not bothering me one bit because it's affording me glimpses of the smooth skin underneath.
A shirt that I'm itching to run my fingers under...to feel the smooth skin I'm itching to run my fingers
over
.
Embarrassed that I'm starting to picture him, um,
you know
, I clear my throat and look out the window. "I get that you were annoyed with Mary and Olivia, but...it was kind of embarrassing when you were so..."
"Rude?"
"No. When you were so..."
"Such an asshole?"
"No!"
Oops
, I let a chuckle slip out. "Would you let me finish?"
Honestly, he is worse than Jenna with this interrupting
. "Look. I'll just say this: I have no plans to go to any dances, with you or anybody. But seriously, did you have to sound so disgusted about it in front of Mary and Olivia? First they're talking about me like I'm not there, then you go and get all pissed off when they ask about Fall Formal. We all get it -
Weston doesn't do dances
."
There. I got it all out without sounding whiny.
"Is that it? That's why you got all huffy?"
"Uh, yeah. That pretty much sums it up." I cross my arms and purse my lips. "And to be honest, Weston, I was hoping for a more
enthusiastic
response... so unfortunately for you, I will
not
be making out with you at the end of this date. Or non-date."
His eyebrows shoot up as I throw the words he spoke earlier back in his face with a soft smile on my face.
"Is that
so
?" His question is slow... and deliberate, with a silent suggestion to it that makes me tingle a little in my girly parts.
"Yup."
Weston eyes me silently with no expression on his face, his stare focusing on my lips a heartbeat too long before saying, "Okay Molly. Then, I guess I have no choice but to just lay back for a bit and take a short nap until this rain passes." He feigns a yawn. "Took a real beating in practice today and I. Am. Beat." He reaches for the side level to recline the seat and lays back, crossing those beautiful arms across his broad chest, the tattoo on his right arm a stark contrast to the white of his shirt. "Want to rub my back? I can turn over..."
Seriously?
Is this a joke
?
Because even though not five minutes ago I was pissed off at him, all I can think about now is getting my hands on him -
and he's choosing to take a nap.
I sit ramrod straight in the driver's seat, staring at his strong arms, not really knowing what to do.
WESTON
"I don't even want to know what's going through that thick skull of yours." - Brian Mcgrath
I have to bite my lip so the grin threatening doesn't escape - I can literally feel Molly watching me from her side of the car, even though my eyes are closed. I just know she's sitting there, over evaluating the situation when really all I want to do is get her in my lap. Feel her under my palms. Kiss her neck.
It's that plain and simple.
I hear her shift beside me and I lazily let my eyelids creep open. "Stop staring at me," I drone, knowing damn well it's going to spook her. She says nothing, but Molly's eyes get real wide because I caught her red-handed and her head whips around to look back out the front window. Presented with her profile, I'm given a side view of that pert little bow in her hair, and I smile despite myself.
I decide to put her out of her misery. "It's not that I wouldn't want to take you to Fall Formal Molly. It's that I
can't
."
She turns to face me, confusion marring her brow. "It's fine Weston. You don't have to explain yourself. I mean, it's not like I'm your..." her voice trails off as I tuck my arms behind my head. Her green eyes linger on my bare upper arms, then down over my armpits and finally trail down my torso - her perusal is turning me on, and let's face it: it's taking every ounce of willpower I possess to remain still, and not just reach over and grab her.
Cause lord knows I want to.
I sit up and reach to pull the seat back to a sitting position.
The silence hangs over her unfinished sentence as those last few words sink it. '
I mean, it's not like I'm your'
- girlfriend. She was obviously about to say it, and suddenly this is a moment of clarity for me - that unspoken 'girlfriend' has got my mind working.
So I let the word marinade inside my brain.
"My Uncle Leo is getting married in Chicago at Millennium Park that day and I'm an usher." A little 'O' forms on Molly's mouth as the words sink in, followed by a slow grin that settles onto her lips. Good, I've managed to surprise her. "So obviously, I can't go to Fall Formal." By the way, thanks Uncle Leo. Because let's be honest:
I wouldn't have gone to the dance anyways,
but Molly doesn't need to know that.
MOLLY
"Seriously, one of the Top Five reasons to own a car is so you can make out in it. I'm pretty sure I read that somewhere." - Jenna
That's it - he's going to a wedding. He's not repulsed by the thought of taking me out in public, and he's not ashamed to be seen with me at a school function. I let this new information process inside my brain - and my insides fill with warmth again. All of the rejection and embarrassment I felt a few minutes earlier have fled as fast as they'd arrived and I survey Weston with a new appreciation.
I feel... overjoyed.
Ecstatic.
Giddy
.
Suddenly, he's all the more attractive - and who'd have thought that could even be possible.
The silence (well, technically it's not at all silent because the noise from the rain continues to fill the cab of my Jeep with the sound of tiny drums banging on the side of my car) is too much for me, so I reach forward and take a pack of gum out of the cup holder, offering one to Weston. "Would you like a piece?"
"Sure. Actually, can I have two? One can never be too fresh."
"Of course." I take two sticks out and un-wrap them, setting them in his open palm. Without even meaning to, I let my fingers linger before taking my hand away.
"Mmm, mint makes me sleepy." Weston lets out a short yawn and pats his mouth before popping the gum inside. "Long day." He gives me a look and smiles before closing his eyes, chewing slowly.
"You're not seriously going to take a nap are you?"
Because I seriously don't think I would be able to stand it.
Sitting in this small car with him so nearby is...well, I'll just say it: it's making me want to climb into his lap and kiss him all over. Even the sound of him breathing is making me hot all over.
"Why, did you have something else in mind?" He's smirking with his eyes closed.
Perfect.
And yes, I do have something else in mind but I'm not saying so out loud. "Um... not really."
Liar, liar, pants on fire
.
"Really?" He opens his eyes at looks at me, the skepticism written all over his face. He looks at my lips before saying, "That's strange - because I can think of a few hundred things to do right now and they
definitely
all involve parts of your body." He chuckles to himself and I shiver. "Don't hate me for saying so."
I dig deep inside myself to summon the inner Jenna that seems to want to come out, and only falter a split second before I murmur, "So what are you going to do about it?"
Weston looks at me with his eyes wide and says slowly, "I'm sorry. Did you just beg me to make out with you, or am I losing my hearing?"
I slap the steering wheel and laugh. "I am
not
begging you to make out with me. I was just being...suggestive."
Weston sits up quickly and looks out the window, surveying the parking lot. His hand rests on the door handle. "On the count of ten, we're going to jump out and get in the back seat. One... two... TEN!" Weston's door flies open and rain blows into the cab before I can throw my own door open - but soon we're both in the back seat of my Jeep, wiping the rain from our faces.
"Is this the reason you offered me gum? So I would taste delicious when you finally put the moves on me?" His face is now dangerously close, and I can smell the mint on his breath.
I shrug. "Maybe, maybe not."
"Want to find out?" He digs a piece of scrap paper from his pocket before removing the gum from his mouth and depositing there.
"Yes..." I whisper and my head falls to the headrest. Weston's face is suddenly inches from mine and even though it's dark I can see every line etched in his face. We study each other quietly until his large hand comes up to rest on my face, the only noise from the pounding rain.
I must say: it's incredibly romantic and if there was ever a moment a girl could create in her mind of the perfect scenario, it would be this one... a hundred million times over.
"I've been waiting all day to do this." Weston says, the mint from his breath touching my face before his lips do, soft and light. In the dark of the backseat of my Jeep, his lips linger over the corner of my eyelids, brushing them there for briefest of seconds. "And this..." Now his lips brush the tip of my nose in the barest of touches, so delicately my lips begin to ache.
I inhale the smell of him; his light cologne, the scent of his forest-ey shampoo...the fresh aroma of the rain in his hair - and probably mine too. Without thinking, my cheek grazes the side of his face and I sniff along his strong jaw line, wondering where this self-control is coming from. "You smell so good," I murmur.
Then his fingers are running through my ponytail, caressing the long silky strands before he lets it go and plants his hands behind my head - and I know now he's about to kiss me, kiss me. "I wouldn't mind kissing your lips every day," he says the instant before our lips meet, slowly - almost excruciatingly so - and it's so very different from that urgent first kiss on my front porch... the lightness of this contact has me sighing out loud.
Have you ever kissed someone and you could... feel them
smiling
? Because I swear that's what Weston is doing, and soon I'm grinning too because honestly, I'm so damn blissful right now in this moment.
I could live in this car, surviving solely on his kisses
.
Weston pulls his head back to look at me. "What are you smiling at?" he asks, holding my face in his hands, stroking my temples with his thumb.
"Same thing you are, I imagine. Why aren't you kissing me?" I pucker my lips.
So he does.
WESTON
I'll be the first to admit that being in the backseat of this Jeep isn't the most ideal situation. But it beats the hell out of the front, where there were too many obstacles in the way, one being the clutch separating the two front seats.
So even though I'm way too big to be back here, it's more fun than I've had in a long time, and I can't stop myself from smiling, even though we're in the middle of a kiss.
I pull my head so I can look at Molly directly and ask, "What are you smiling at?"
Her teeth are bright white against her golden skin, and I can see the tiny freckles on her nose even though the only light is from the street lamps in the parking lot - the heavy sheets of rain dimming them considerably.
"Same thing you are, I imagine." The smile hasn't left her face, but then she cocks her head sideways and asks, "Why aren't you kissing me?" Molly puckers those wonderfully juicy lips and being unable to resist, I tip my head forward the smallest inch and suction my mouth to her bottom lip, sucking it and running my tongue along her teeth.
Her mouth opens and our tongues meet in an all-consuming kiss that leaves us both breathless - it's my favorite kind: sloppy and wet, for neither of us care about taking our time. I might even be drooling: who the hell knows.
Who the hell cares
.
Molly's teeth nibble hesitantly at my lower lip and I feel her shiver. I place my hands upon her shoulders, running them up and down her arms before spanning them on her waist, dangerously close to the underside of her breasts. My fingers begin itching to travel south, down to the threadbare hem of her navy blue tank top, and, never one to ignore my inner urges I let them do just that.
Her breath hitches and her back arches in an unspoken invitation.
MOLLY
'Oh my god, oh my god
' are the only words going through my head right now - well, those and '
holy shit he's about to touch my boobs
' as Weston's capable fingers trail the length of my shirt, lightly skimming back and forth along the hem and I bite back the small gasp stuck in my throat, afraid it will make me sound like the virgin that I'm
not
.
And the reality is... I really don't have much experience with guys, and I've only been felt up a handful of times by guys more inexperienced than I am.