The Impact of Intimacy

Chapter Ten - Goose

"My first time gassing up as a non-virgin..." I muttered as I filled my old faithful Volvo. Despite Betsy's chipping powder blue paint, and missing rear hub cap, she was as good as gold in my eyes.

I'd never imagined Gran and Pops could afford to buy me a car. So, when Lenny Miller down at the junk yard announced he had one 'still in working order' with my name on it, I'd nearly kissed him. He'd said I could drive it home for a hundred and fifty bucks, and one of Gran's famous apple crumble pies. She'd made the pie, and I'd scraped the money together, and the rest was history.

"My first time rolling my eyes at you as a non-virgin..." Hudson groaned as he dislodged the fuel pump.

"I'm pretty sure that's happened since Senior Sleepover."

"Really? When?"

"I dunno." I put a chipped black fingernail to my pouting lips. "Maybe when I tried to kick you out of my bed last night?!"

"Woah, woah! No eye rolling on my part. Just a good honest debate."

"Which was?" I ducked as he opened my drivers side door, watching him waltz around the front.

Lately, Hudson had been acting like he owned the place. I didn't know if it was the fact that he'd be leaving for New York next week, or that we were finally graduated as of last night. High school was over, saluted with an anticlimactic speech by Emma Leigh Stanton, and a handful of parents and alumni in the audience.

Hudson's large hand found my thigh as I pulled Betsy's rusted lever into Drive. Maybe his over-inflated ego had nothing to do with either one of those things...maybe it had something to do with conquering my illusive V-Card.

"Last night, I was simply stating I didn't understand why we couldn't sleep together."

"We've never slept together in the same bed before. Why is it some big issue now?" I popped my brows at him over my thick black shades.

"Because I was inside of you one second, and the next I was being banished onto my sleeping bag on the floor..."

"Well if our sleeping arrangement is such an issue...we don't have to do the other...thing...anymore." It was an empty threat, but I still wanted to give Hudson an out.

We'd been having sex, a lot of it, since the sleepover and I wanted him to know that this was a two way street. That consent worked both ways. If our agreement had gotten too blurred, he was allowed to walk. Even if I didn't want that...not in the slightest. My mind replayed the athletic angle he had my leg in last night as one of his large hands clamped over my mouth to muffle my very loud moans.

"Of course I don't want to stop doing that! Do you?!"

"No." I let my eyes drift over to him at the red light, which was only one of three in Vertie. "I like having sex with you. Very much so."

Hudson's cocky grin reinforced my theory that his recently inflated ego had nothing to do with graduation, and everything to do with me. And him. And our shed. And my shower. And my bed. And my bedroom floor. And my car. Twice.

"Sawyers!" A muffled shout outside of my window brought my head around. "Bailey Sawyers?!"

The manual lever for my window stuck and groaned in protest as I lowered it, and Hudson's hand on my thigh tightened. If it weren't for our years-long friendship, I might've mistaken it for a possessive gesture.

"Well hells bells, Bryce Hall, you're sure a sight for sore eyes..." I drawled in what could've been the worst southern accent in US history. I tried to bat my eyelashes up at him, but the overall altitude of his lifted truck made that difficult. I remembered when Hudson had joked that Bryce was trying to compensate for his testicular inadequacies with his vehicular taste.