Little Conversations (7 page)

Joanie’s small truck bounced along the mountainous
road.  Devin sat in the middle, Joanie driving and Amy perched on Matt’s lap to
her right.  Matt was an old high school friend of Shane, Joe, and Ronin’s who
had shown up back in town a few weeks ago.  Amy really liked Matt.  Like
really,
really liked Matt.  Devin saw him as not bad, albeit a little too pretty
for her tastes.  Amy tended to go for the GQ-smoothie-type though, while Devin
seemed a bit more into the rugged type.  And Joanie?  Joanie liked all types. 

With an exceptionally large hit, Amy bounced up, cracking
her head on the door jam.  “Holy fuck, Joanie,” Amy moaned.  “Slow down.”

“Sorry, Amy,” Joanie said.  “Bad shocks.  Jeez, what the
heck are they doing clear out here, anyway?”

“We used to come out here to drink before we were, well, old
enough to drink,” Matt explained.  “It’s far enough out of town that the cops
never patrol.  The other guys like to come back here once or twice a summer,
for old time’s sake.  I haven’t been up here since high school, though.”

Amy saw another large rut in the road and braced her hand
against the door to keep from flying around.  “Oomph!  Holy heck!”

Devin looked straight ahead, doing everything in her power
to not become carsick, quite a feat the way Joanie was driving.  Suddenly she
saw it, a glimmer through the trees—a bonfire.

“Joanie, look!” she pointed off to the side of the road.  “There
they are!”

“Thank goodness!  I was starting to think we’d never find
them.  Jeez, Matt, remind me
never
to rely on you for directions again,”
Joanie grumbled.

Matt began to defend himself.  “What?  It’s been a while!  I
haven’t been out here in five or six years!”

“Yeah, I suppose.  Plus it’s kinda hard to see any landmarks
or where we’re going when you’ve got your tongue shoved down Amy’s throat,” Joanie
laughed.

Joanie pulled the truck off of the main road, guiding it along
the narrow tire tracks towards the fire.  Parking next to Joe’s truck, the crew
piled out.

The crowd around the fire mostly consisted of the usual
suspects.  Ronin, Shane, Joe, and a couple others that Devin had seen at Ronin’s
house parties.  Of course, there were a few skanky party bitches, one of them
who appeared to be trying to wrap her boobs around Ronin’s arm. She kept
whispering to him, caressing his muscled forearm, gazing up at him through her
lashes.  Ronin seemed to be leaning slightly away from her with a grimace on
his face.  Devin instantly didn’t like this girl, but did her best to ignore
them as she sipped her beer and laughed, maybe a bit forced, at Joe’s story.

“I couldn’t believe it,” Joe was saying.  “What the fuck did
he expect when he literally met the girl in his bed!  He kept telling me over
and over how amazing she was.  How deep and thoughtful and sweet.  And I kept
telling him she was bad news.  But she must have had a pussy made of gold
because damn Shane just had to follow his dick.”

“Fuck off, Joe,” Shane muttered. 

But Joe continued as though Shane hadn’t spoken.  “Needless
to say, she wasn’t exactly faithful to him.  We can’t all be Casanovas and lure
pussy from miles around like Ronin here.”

Unwillingly, Devin’s eyes migrated back to Ronin, who looked
rather uncomfortable with Barbie-girl plastered against his side.  Whether if
it was from Joe’s comments or Miss Bimbo attached to him, Devin wasn’t sure,
but she didn’t really want to analyze it while the leggy, trampy thing started
smoothing her well-manicured fingers up his shoulders.

“Joanie, hold my beer.  I’ve gotta tinkle.” Devin whispered
and handed Joanie her drink.  She crept unobtrusively away from the fire into
the dark woods.

The night was cool after the hot day, the thin mountain air was
clear and fresh.  Devin picked her way through the underbrush and pines as the
forest began to swallow her, muting the boisterous conversation from the bonfire. 
As she walked into a clearing in the old growth, she looked up to see the stars
gloriously twinkling down.  Stars always seemed so much brighter away from the bright
street lights.   The Milky Way flowed across the expanse of heavens above her,
almost magical looking as it misted its way through the sparkling, velvety
expanse.  A bright gibbous moon shone so boldly and looked so incredibly large
as it cleared the mountains, the sky right around it practically as bright as day.

Devin sat on the soft ground, basking in the shadows of the
pines, occasionally hearing an especially loud guffaw or a girly giggle.  For
how long she remained there, she had no idea, knowing she was avoiding the rest
of the crowd, wishing she hadn’t come tonight.  It was never the same when a
girl was all over Ronin.  It had happened once or twice before over the past
few weeks since she first met him.  A time or two, he had seemed somewhat
interested in return, although Devin never stuck around to see where it led.  

More often than not, though, he was her partner in crime at
these things, the two of them and their unattachedness poking fun at the
couples and their public displays of affection.  Ronin was truly the one she
enjoyed hanging with the most. 

A stick cracked behind her, and Devin turned towards the
fire to see Ronin hiking through the trees.  He stopped to scan the woods for a
moment, then saw her light-colored jacket glinting in the moonlight.  He headed
right for her.

“Need your help, honey,” he said in a low voice as he got
closer.

Devin snorted wryly.  “I think you’ve got all the help you
need tonight, Ronin.  She’d probably drop and blow you right in front of the
whole crew.”

“Yeesh, probably.  She’s hinted, a
lot
.  But, by God,
I am really am not interested.  Honestly, and I’m not sure why, but she’s kinda
fuckin’ scary.  So I made a big production of coming over to find you, saying I
thought you were upset… because you were probably jealous.”

Devin’s jaw felt as though it hit the forest floor.  “Ronin!
 What the fuck!?”  Even if it was true-
ish
.  
No, wait.  She wasn’t
jealous.  That was ridiculous!

“Everyone else was a bit shocked at first, too.  Amy stared
at me for a minute, then flew into a tirade about how I was all you talked
about all the way up here.”  Devin’s mouth dropped even more.  “Joanie looked a
bit mystified at that, but Amy nudged her and gave her that wide-eyed, get-with-the-fucking-program
look she gets.  When Matt started to say something, Amy just laid one on him
and dragged him off to Joanie’s truck.  Of course, Shane about died and quickly
went to break up that little party,” Ronin laughed.  “Jesus, it was actually
pretty comical.”

“So everyone else over there thinks I’m out here pissed
because you’re with a skanky party ho!?” Devin asked, affronted.

“Nah, the only one who really thinks that is the skanky party
ho that was about to rape me over there.  The other guys know us a little
better than that.  Well… and maybe except for Matt, but I think he’s probably
been filled in by now.  But…”

Devin cocked her eyebrow.  “But what?” she asked warily.

“Well, now I need you to kiss me.  Make out with me.  Otherwise
she’ll know I was full of shit and start hittin’ on me again.”

“You want me to slut it up with you so you don’t look like
an asshole to some little ho-bag you’re trying
not
to nail?  You know,
Ronin, you could just tell her you’re not interested.”

“I like my way better,” he grinned.  “Besides, you could use
a true tongue-mashing make out session.  I get the feeling it’s been a while
and you’re starting to get crabby,” Ronin teased with a smirk.  He dropped to a
knee and gave her a pleading look, grabbing her right hand and kissing her
fingers.  “C’mon, baby, please…”  A humorous glint in his eyes reflected the
bright moonlight.

“Fuck, Ronin…”  Devin rubbed her forehead with an
exasperated motion.  “Fine.  But you owe me!”

“Oh, baby, I’ll make sure you like it.”  And he stood with a
devious smile, giving her a quick kiss on the forehead.  “Now hop on my back.  I’ll
give you a piggyback ride back to the fire.”

“You’re insane, you know that, right?” she muttered in his
ear as she climbed on his back.  Making their way back to the fire, Devin
slipped into character, letting out a twitterpated giggle as they approached the
others.

“Soooo, everything, um, okay now, Devin?” Joe asked with a
grin while Devin slid down from Ronin’s back.  Ronin quickly pulled her to his
side, eliciting another exaggerated giggle.  Devin gazed up at him with a
besotted expression and then snuggled against his broad chest, nuzzling the
softly worn chambray of his shirt.

“Mmmm, never better.”

Ronin cupped her jaw, bringing her lips to his, kissing her
softly, then deepening the kiss.  She softly moaned into his mouth.  

At some point, somewhere in the midst of that kiss, Devin’s
mind began to fog.  She could taste a bitter hint of beer on his lips, and
somehow she began to forget that this was an act.  Her hands mapped out his
shoulders and back, discovering every ridge of muscle from his triceps to his
waist.  Ronin reached his hands down, cupping the curves of her backside as he
picked her up.  Her legs encircled his hips and her arms clutched him closer as
he continued to kiss her.  Ronin turned on his heel, taking a few steps back
out into the darkness of the trees around them. 

A voice drifted over from the fire.  “What the…?”  

Devin didn’t even know who said it.  She didn’t care.   All
her focus was on the burning want Ronin was evoking in her as he pressed her
back up against a pine.  The rough bark sharply poked its way through her light
jacket, digging into her skin, and the odd pain pushed her to increase the
force of her kiss as she clawed at his back.  His grip on her ass tightened,
and Ronin groaned down her throat. 

“Ronin,” she whispered as he raised his head, lightly
kissing her once, then twice.  He looked at her wet, swollen lips for a moment
as they caught a glint of moonlight.  He kissed her hard again, then voraciously
mouthed his way down her throat, tasting and nipping the sensitive skin just
behind her ear.  From what seemed like a great distance, muffled through her
haze of passion, Devin heard voices.

“Whatever, let’s go,” one of the skanks was muttering to the
other.  “I just lost my fuckin’ ride for the night.”  Car doors slammed, and
the little hoochie SUV jerked its way down the road. 

Ronin raised his head, looking at her with triumph.  Devin
clasped his cheeks and pulled his lips back to hers.  When they were a scant
hair away, Devin murmured, “Oh no, buddy, I’m not really done with you yet.”

“Is that so?” he smiled against her lips.

“Nope, I need you to kiss me some more,” she whispered.

“The Barbie twins are leaving, honey.  No need for the
charade any longer,” Ronin mumbled against her lips, but, belying his words, his
lips tasted hers yet again as he kissed her deeply. 

Their tongues tangled and thrashed, and she tried to absorb
him with her body, pulling him closer and closer.  A moan erupted from deep within
her throat, and her hands clasped the sides of his head as she nipped at his
lip with her teeth.  Ronin’s body increased its pressure on her, pressing her
harder yet into the tree.  His lips left hers gasping as he began to lick and
kiss and suck his way to the lobe of her ear. 

“You sure you want to do this, honey?” Ronin mumbled.

Devin froze, her breathing stopped, only to return in
stilted rushes.  Ronin felt the instant change in her as he stood still before
her, his body not leaving hers, but he had stopped moving as well. 

“I take it that’s a no,” he said under his breath.   He
leaned his forehead against the tree just above her shoulder, and his own
labored breathing fanned the downy hair on her neck. 

“Ronin,” Devin quietly and carefully said, “it doesn’t
really have anything to do with you.”

“Mmm hmm,” Ronin mumbled as he loosened his grip, letting
her feet slide to the ground.  He took a step back and looked at her closely,
brushing her swollen lips with his thumb.  “Except that I’m not Jake, right?”

Devin couldn’t look him in the eye, didn’t want to see the
anger or disgust that might be there.  Shamefully, her gaze dropped to the
forest floor.  The moonlight gave it all an unearthly glow, and the whole
situation took on a surreal feeling.  The sound of the fire crackling in the
distance could faintly be heard above their ragged breathing as the passion
cooled. 

What could she say?
  Jake was… Jake.  Her first
love.  Her only.

“I’m sorry,” she said in a small, choked voice. 

Ronin closed his eyes for a minute, and he took a deep
breath.  “No, honey,” he said.  “It isn’t all on you.  It was my shenanigans
that got us moving down this path in the first place.  I’m the one who went all
cave-man and carried you off into the woods.  I’m the one who asked you to get all
lushy to help me chase away the party ho.”  Devin’s eyes had yet to lift to his
face, and he nudged her chin up with his fingers.  “Friends.  We’re friends,
Dev.  It’s okay.”

She swallowed hard against the lump in her throat. 
Friends.

“Go on back to the fire.  Give me a few minutes to calm
down, and I’ll be there, good as new like nothing happened.”

Devin nodded as she bit her lip.  Ronin’s gaze flickered
over hers for a split second longer before he turned around and took a few steps
deeper into the woods.  A war waged deep in Devin’s heart as she watched him
disappear into the trees.  The urge to follow him, to wrap her arms around his
neck and murmur against his lips that she wanted him… not Jake, but
him!
 
She stood there for a second longer before she turned to run back to the fire. 
Back to the others to clear her mind of the confusion that suddenly seemed to
pull all the air out of her lungs.