The Smell Before Rain

Part 1

I look ahead as the brown leaves are lifted up into the air by the car in front of us. They touch each other and dance with one another, as they slowly float back down towards the road where they came from, then suddenly they are forced off in separate directions as we drive through them. It's us, we're that force that ends their dance. The sun peeks over the mountain tops making this moment, this second, the way everything looks seems perfect just the way it is. But as Mason cracks the windows a bit I can almost feel a storm up ahead, as if the air is full of warning.

Mason has been driving all night and while I tried not to sleep in an effort to not leave him alone, it was nearly impossible to stay awake. I tried to stay up because I know him better than he thinks, I know how much he hates being alone. I know that he rather fight with me than to find himself alone out here amount the mountains. But it's not easy to keep a conversation going with someone who keeps attacking you. His mood feels contagious after hours of being in a truck with him. Somehow him cracking the windows feels not just like a breath of fresh air but like a relief. I realize that while the fighting during our first road trip together has been kept to a minimal it probably has something to do with the fact that he's been ignoring me most of the way. I look over at him study him like I always do, like it might be the last time I ever see him. He's wearing an all black cap just above his dark eyebrows. His dark brown eyes hint at how tired he is, his beard is growing in above his full lips and falling down into his chin, noticing me staring he glances over and gives me a quick smile.

The car in front of us turns  and disappears, leaving us once again alone on this long and endless seeming road. I'm staring out the window when he reaches out to me, a soft hand placed gently on my knee. Pulling my hair back I look over at him and see that smile staring back at me and I know he wants more. He quickly slips his hand under my skirt and in between my legs and I am instantly under his spell. I lean into him as he pulls over to the side of the road. He doesn't even bother to make sure we are still alone on the road, it's as if nothing else matters and that makes me want him even more. He pulls me towards him and crushed my hips into his and begins to tear my clothing off, his eyes heavy with desire. Although we are probably miles away from another soul he leans in to whisper in my ear, "Tell me I still drive you crazy."

Obediently I reply, not simply to please him but because of how true it still is. "You still drive me crazy," the words spill out of me as I'm gasping for air. He lifts me off the seat so he is sitting down and pulls me on top of him. Desperate hands at my hips, he moves me and looks up at me as he slides his hands up to my chest then moves forward and smiles at me, that smile, the smile that has so much power over me. Im kissing him as he slides his hands back down and moves me against him.

Absolutely everything about this man drives me crazy in one way or another. After the first time he kissed me I realized that I could no longer remember the name of every guy I had kissed before him, or they no longer mattered. Every one before him became 'some guy'. I look down at him but and he kisses me again. I can't picture my life without those eyes staring back at me. Like I said, he drives me crazy.

When it's over, I lean over him trying to catch my breath and he quickly slides out from under me. He zips up his pants and steps out of the truck, slamming the door just hard enough to leave me feeling slight regret. I watch him through tinted windows as he smokes and checks his phone. He's walking around the front of the car as I reach for my shirt on the floor of the car. He puts the truck back in drive and pulls back onto the lonely road. It's almost as if he just pulled over to pee. "Hey," I say softly but loud enough that I know he's pretending not to hear me over the music. He's such an asshole but I knew that from the start.