Chapter 13
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
DEF LEPPARD, “HYSTERIA”
Kyle
I met Melinda at the beginning of my senior year of high school. She had moved to Colorado from Connecticut. Her inquisitive amber eyes, glowing brown skin, and crooked smile melted my insides like a handful of chocolate in late July. After one date, I knew I loved her. Adam called me a pathetic lovesick puppy when I had to go two days without seeing her because her family spent most weekends camping or skiing once the resorts opened. He, on the other hand, rejoiced when Lizzy had plans because he said seeing her every day was a little too much.
Melinda and I’s relationship persevered long distances between us, college, two breakups, and her mother's death, only to fall apart when it seemed that we found our happily ever after. How did easy become so hard? It’s like we weathered the storm only to choke to death on a piece of chewing gum while staring at a rainbow.
I lost her, but she lost everything.
At that moment, everything had my whistle, and he ran around the field, blowing it at my players as I scanned the area for my favorite neighbor before the Friday night game.
“Eve!” Josh pointed behind me and dropped the whistle on the ground.
I turned, breathing a sigh of relief. Her long brown hair flowed behind her, part of it tied with gold and red ribbons—the high school’s colors. She wore a Devil’s Head hoodie, stone-washed jeans, and white high-tops.
It took me back to my senior year when the prettiest girl in school eyed me on the football field. And I knew I’d break a new record, get the win, refuel with pizza or burgers, and strip her from the waist down in the back of my car.
Josh hugged Eve, and she ran her fingers through his hair. I was so envious. She smiled at me with her teeth trapping her bottom lip. It was as sexy as it was innocent.
“What are you doing after the game?”
I looked behind me when Drew asked Eve about her post-game plans. He wore a cocky grin as he gawked at her. I turned just as she casually shrugged.
“I have someone else who can start tonight if your head isn’t in the game,” I warned him.
His smirk fell off his face. “Sorry, Coach,” he said, jogging in the opposite direction.
“Are you friends with my quarterback?” I asked Eve.
She watched him over my shoulder. “It’s a small school. I’m friends with everyone.”
“Just friends?” I asked and regretted the question before it made it all the way out of my mouth.
Josh took her hand and tried to pull her away from the field.
Her white teeth peeked out from her glossed lips. “Coach, are you jealous of your quarterback?”
It wasn’t the time or the place to discuss my fucked-up feelings, so I nodded toward the bench. “Have Josh grab his backpack. Do you have the money I gave you for the concession stand?”
“It’s in my back pocket. Do you want to check?” she baited me.
I’d met my match. But I never imagined she’d be eighteen.
“You have plans after the game,” I said and immediately turned to approach the players as they finished warming up.
We won.
I didn’t like how Drew looked at Eve, but the kid could light it up on the field. He threw two touchdowns, passed for one, and ran it in for another from the five-yard line.
After a post-game celebration in the locker room, I left the players to take their showers and stepped into the hallway, where their girlfriends were waiting for them.
Eve was on the floor with her back against the wall, legs outstretched, while Josh slept hugged to her with his cheek on her shoulder.
I gave her an apologetic smile and took him from her. “Sorry. That can’t be comfortable.”
She stood. “It’s fine. I’m not an old man like you.”
“Twenty-eight is old, huh?” I pushed through the door to the parking lot and held it open with my backside while she stepped out in front of me.
“Erin and my other friends left because I said I had plans. I wish I knew what they were,” she said, following me.
I unlocked my truck and lifted him into the back seat. He stirred while I fastened his seat belt, and then he collapsed onto his side, returning to sleep.
I pulled a twenty from my wallet and handed it to her. “Pick up something greasy.”
She chuckled, taking the money. “Such as?”
“Surprise me.”
“Anything for Josh?”
“He’s down for the night. I’ll be lucky to get him to go to the bathroom and wrangle him out of clothes and into pajamas.”
“Okay. I’ll see you in a bit. Crack open a cold one for me.”
I grinned, climbing into the truck. “Root beer?”
“Minus the root,” she called, walking to her car.
When I got home, Josh was as helpful as a rag doll, but he peed, mainly in the toilet and a little on the floor for me to clean up. Pajamas weren’t worth the effort, so I tucked him in with just his Micky Mouse underwear.
By the time I drank half a beer and turned on the news, Eve came through the front door with a Taco John’s bag.
“I was totally expecting pizza,” I said, taking the bag from her.
She dug the change out of her pocket and deposited it on the kitchen table before joining me on the sofa. I pulled the tacos and Potato Olés out of the bag and set them on the coffee table.
“If you wanted pizza, then you should have said pizza,” she wrinkled her nose at me.
“I’m kidding. You did good.”
She grabbed my beer, and before I could stop her or protest, she took several big gulps.
I frowned, reclaiming the can. It was easy to compare her to Melinda, but she reminded me more of myself at her age. Fred was the perfect child, always following God’s and our parents’ rules. I, on the other hand, had a knack for finding trouble. I wasn’t a leader or a follower, but I rarely passed up the opportunity to have a good time, even when Melinda tried to talk sense into me.
“Good game, by the way,” she said, unwrapping a taco.
“Your quarterback friend lived up to the hype.”
Eve stared at the TV and nodded while slowly chewing. “He’s good,” she mumbled.
“Did Josh give you any trouble?” I popped a Potato Olé into my mouth before unwrapping a taco.
“No. He’s adorable. All the girls were totally going crazy over him. He should be the team’s mascot.”
I chuckled.
“By the game's last two minutes, he leaned his head onto my lap and fell asleep. Even when the crowd cheered, he didn’t flinch.”
“He’s a sound sleeper like his dad.”
“I’ll get us another beer,” she said, standing.
I grabbed her wrist and shook my head when she peered back at me. “I don’t want another beer.” I lied. There were too many lines I wanted to cross with Eve, but giving her alcohol felt most wrong because it wasn’t legal for her to drink.
However, it was technically legal for her to do other things I wanted to do with her, but not drink.
“You’re no fun,” she said with a pouty face.
“I’m a little fun.”
She stared at my fingers around her wrist, then glanced back at my face. With a nervous laugh, she pulled away and cleared her throat. “So you said you have root beer?”
“Not in the fridge.” I followed her into the kitchen and grabbed a Dad’s Root Beer bottle by the back door.
She watched me with wide, cautious eyes as I filled a glass with ice and poured the root beer over it. While I capped the bottle, she took a sip. When she licked the froth from her top lip, my dick stirred to life.
Our tacos were getting cold. Josh was upstairs, although dead to the world. There were ten years of life between us. And all of that was above and beyond the family connection and her father being the town’s preacher.
Still, I pushed the hair off her shoulder, and she swallowed hard before her lips parted. I took the glass from her and set it on the counter with my other hand.
“Why do you have to be eighteen, Eve?” I said, gazing at my hand as my knuckles brushed her neck.
“Because my parents had unprotected sex in 1968.” She bit her lip.
This. Girl. Was. Me!
I was a wise guy at her age. Trouble found me, and I welcomed it. Conforming felt like a crime, and rebellion flowed through my veins. Had I been dead, I would have said Eve was my reincarnation.
When I looked into her eyes, she rolled her lips together to suppress her grin, but I made no effort to control mine.
“They had it in 1966 too, but my twenty-year-old sister is taken.”
She made my face hurt from grinning nonstop. “Why do I want to kiss you so badly?” I murmured.
Her chest rose and fell faster and faster, and her lips parted to accommodate each quickening breath. “Um …” Again, she swallowed, and her face tensed with concentration.
“It’s a rhetorical question,” I whispered.
Eve bobbed her head several times.
“We should finish eating. I’m terrible at just kissing.” I handed the drink back to her.
Eve inhaled a shaky breath and took the root beer, but she didn’t look at me.
There was no logical reason to kiss her. The math didn’t add up. But I loved the sparkle in her eyes when she looked at Josh, and the way she bit her lips to hide her smile when she gazed at me.
The fire in her belly ignited something inside of me.
For a stolen moment, I wasn’t a single dad; she wasn’t ten years younger. I was a man who wanted to kiss a woman.
Because she was beautiful.
And funny. God, I loved her humor.
Her insatiable curiosity and rebellious desire.
The way my little boy squealed with joy in her presence.
Her shy grin.
Long, fluttering eyelashes.
Tart apples.
Sweet cinnamon and sugar.
Stargazing on the dock.
Defiant chin lifts.
And the sheer euphoria I felt when she walked into any room because she was so unpredictable.
Eve stared at her drink for several seconds before returning it to the counter. Then she rested her hands on my chest (a really bad idea) and lifted her gaze to mine. “I’m not that great at just kissing either,” she murmured.
I gave her credit for feigning confidence, but her voice trembled. Her whole body shook.
I couldn’t uncross the line, so I idly stared at it. “This is a terrible idea,” I whispered more to myself than her.
She shrugged a shoulder. “How do you know? You haven’t kissed me yet.”
Take a bite of the apple.
“I hate cold tacos,” I said, stepping backward and turning to lead the way back to the sofa.
“You can’t do that to me.” She followed on my heels.
I sat on the sofa and resumed eating my taco. “Do what?” I mumbled, slowly chewing.
Eve parked her hands on her hips. “Tease me. I will not be toyed with like a cat. You can’t say that and not kiss me.”
God, she was even more beautiful when she was mad. Her pink cheeks and the determination in her dark brown eyes tried to unravel me.
“It was just an idea,” I said, watching the TV. “Talking out loud. Like should I go fishing or hunting? Then I think over the pros and cons of each and make a decision.”
“You didn’t give me a say in the matter.”
I swallowed and licked my lips, shifting my attention to her. “Sorry. What say you?”
She crossed her arms over her chest but didn’t speak.
My heart raced because whether or not it was a good idea, I knew she’d let me do just about anything to her. And that made my mind go in directions it didn’t need to go. It was a war between my fleeting rational thoughts and my dick that wanted me to let things happen, fuck the consequences.
“You’re getting in over your head,” I said, shifting the blame to her. I was fine, completely in control.
Liar .
I was the wolf, the hunter.
Eve was my prey, and I was giving her time to run.
But she didn’t have a bone of self-preservation in her body. Eve didn’t just gravitate toward trouble, she was trouble.
For three full seconds, I felt like my self-control was winning because her hands fell to her sides as she deflated. But in the next breath, she shrugged off her hoodie and then her T-shirt.
Fuuuck …
Her tan skin flushed, but she kept going despite her visible nerves. And I didn’t stop her.
Not when she removed her jeans.
Not when she stepped closer to me, so close that I had to spread my knees to let her stand between them. The women in the magazines under my mattress didn’t hold a candle to Eve.
My hands remained at my sides on the sofa's edge while hers threaded through my hair. I curled my fingers into the sofa to keep them from touching her. But I wanted to unhook her bra and slide her thin, white cotton underwear down her long, toned legs.
Eve’s nearly naked body shredded my common sense. My nose brushed the hollowed space between her cleavage. She smelled like flowers and sweet spice. Responsibility lurked over my shoulder like a good little angel.
I slid my hands up the back of her legs, pausing when she drew in a sharp inhale. But then her fingers curled, tugging my hair, bringing my face closer so that my lips grazed her breast over her bra.
Teetering on a razor’s edge of control, I slid my right hand into her panties and palmed her butt.
She buried her face into my hair, kissing my head.
There was only one problem. Well, there were many problems, but my waning sense of responsibility focused on the most immediate one: I didn’t have a condom.
Not a single, fucking condom in the entire house.
But my dick was so hard that my irrational mind played the bartering game. Maybe I didn’t need a condom.
You need a fucking condom!
We could just kiss. Yeah, that’s what we would do.
I leaned back and guided her to straddle my lap. That seemed like the smartest position to just kiss.
“I won’t be anyone’s regret,” Eve said, teasing her fingers down my neck.
“Not kissing you is the only thing I would ever regret,” I whispered, ghosting my lips over her cheek, dancing around the point of no return.
“What are you waiting for?” she murmured.
“Just taking my time. We only get one first kiss.” I teased her earlobe with my teeth while both of my hands breached her underwear, gripping her perfect ass— a bad idea.
She rubbed herself along my erection—the worst idea.
I rested my forehead on her shoulder and watched as she worked her pelvis back and forth over the bulge in my jeans. I was so damn mesmerized, tightening my grip on her ass to guide her. Her fingers dug into my upper back.
We needed to stop.
I couldn’t stop. I was dying. So, I tortured myself by keeping my left hand on her bare ass while my right moved between us. I teased my fingertips along her inner thigh before snagging the crotch of her panties, pushing it to the side so her flesh rubbed along my denim. I wanted to see how wet she was for me, and I was hellbent on killing myself.
Eve paused her motions and leaned back, lust-filled eyes finding mine. As she wet her lips, her delicate fingers unbuttoned my jeans.
Stop her.
She eyed me the whole time as if she were silently asking permission.
Stop her .
As she started to pull down my zipper, I framed her face in my hands. She froze as we stared at each other, our lips a mere breath from touching.
“Eve,” I whispered while grinning.
Her smile mimicked mine, face flushed, wayward strands of hair teasing her eyelashes that fluttered shut as I kissed her for the first time.
I felt ten years younger. The hottest girl in school was straddling my lap with her tongue teasing mine and ribbons in her hair. The perfect mix of naughty and nice.
Everything inside me buzzed with need. I wanted to kiss her harder and deeper, but I didn’t. She deserved my patience, after all, I had no clue what I was doing or where things were going between us. But I liked kissing her, and I liked pretending that it was okay to touch her. Before it ended, she reached behind her to unhook her bra.
I broke the kiss. “We can’t,” I said, taking a deep breath while running my hands through my hair.
“I’m not,” she quickly said. “I’m, uh … not a virgin.”
She was so fucking irresistible.
At the same time, where the hell was my head? I hadn’t thought about the possibility of her being a virgin.
“I’ve just never had someone look at me like you’re doing,” she said, blowing her hair out of her face. “That’s why I’m a little shaky.”
“How am I looking at you?”
She slowly shook her head. “I don’t know because I’ve never seen that look before,” she murmured, leaking more vulnerability.
I suddenly felt a wave of responsibility—but not necessarily to do the right thing in someone else’s eyes. She deserved to be acknowledged as a beautiful, desirable woman who held a lot of power over the man looking at her.
“Eve, you’re happiness personified and fucking gorgeous. That’s how I’m looking at you.”
A tiny smile broke through her nervous expression. “Like the centerfolds in your magazines?”
I felt like a pervert. She would never forget about those magazines.
“No one compares to you. But that’s not?—”
She kissed me while her hands made another attempt at unzipping my jeans.
“No.” I lifted her off my lap and scooted to the sofa’s edge, rubbing my eyes while trying to settle my breathing. “Dammit. I’m sorry.”
Eve quickly righted her bunched-up underwear. Her hair covered her face, and she kept her chin tucked.
I leaned back to button my jeans, then reached for her wrist as she stepped away to get the rest of her clothes.
“I don’t want to hear it,” she said, yanking her arm out of my hold and wrestling with her jeans to right the legs that were inside out.
I sighed. “Eve?—”
“No. Don’t say a word. I told you I wouldn’t be anyone’s regret, and you?—”
“And I don’t have a fucking condom.”
She stilled with her back to me, jeans on but not zipped, hair covering her shirtless torso. The buzz of cicadas through the screen door was the only sound between us while I waited for her to process what I said—while I waited for my stupid brain to process the possibility that Josh could have woken up to see Eve straddling me half-naked.
I’m an idiot.
After a long pause, she turned. God, she was beautiful. Eve made me want to burn every magazine under my mattress. I stood, sliding past her to retrieve her shirt. Then I pulled it over her head.
She didn’t help me. Instead, she stood there, staring at my chest with a blank expression and rosy cheeks. So I guided her arms through the holes like dressing Josh.
Finally, she lifted her gaze to mine. “What if you had a condom?” she murmured.
“I’d be deep inside you, probably with a hand over your mouth to keep you from waking Josh.”
A grin bloomed along her face. “You think I’m a screamer?”
I smirked. “I think I’m that good.” It wasn’t not true, but I only said it to get a reaction.
“Will I be graded on a curve, Mr. Collins?”
I stepped back and laced my fingers behind my neck. Worth noting (on record) that I never had inappropriate thoughts about a student or anyone who had ever called me “Mr. Collins.”
Until Eve Jacobson. It had to be in the name. Eves were evil temptresses. Period.
God must have smacked his hand against his forehead, laughing at me.
Her name is Eve, and she loves apples.
“It’s just a metaphor,” I whispered to myself. There was nothing in the Bible specifically stating it was an apple.
“What did you say?” Eve asked.
“Nothing.” I pressed my lips together and looked at her while swallowing hard. “You can’t call me Mr. Collins. Got it?”
Her tongue made a lazy and torturous swipe along her lower lip before she grinned. “Not into roleplaying?”
“Not unless it’s with Josh and we’re playing with toys. And we call it pretend play, not roleplaying.”
“What do your students call you?” She cocked her head to the side.
“You’re not my student.”
“You’ve been teaching me things. And I’m eager to learn more from you.”
I was going to hell despite having been baptized. The “once saved, always saved” only applied to guys who didn’t kiss preachers’ daughters named Eve.
“Kyle,” I said. “You can and should call me Kyle. Or Handsome. Even Awesome works. But not Mr. Collins.”
“Coach?” She stepped closer.
I shook my head.
She grabbed my shirt, head tipped back. “Boss? After all, I work for you.”
“Call me Kyle,” I whispered.
That adoring gleam in her eyes seemed less innocent and more evil. Eve made me grateful that I had a boy to raise instead of a little girl who might someday use her body and flirty smile to drive men wild.
She glanced at her watch.
“Do you have a curfew?” I asked.
She shook her head. Then she laughed and nodded, covering her face with her hands. “It’s so embarrassing. I’m an adult and no longer in school.” She dropped her hands. “But since I still live at home, I have to be back by eleven during the week and midnight on the weekend.”
It was almost twelve.
“I’ll walk you to your car.” I nodded toward the door, stopping while she put on her shoes. “Thanks for getting the tacos.”
She pulled her keys out of her pocket and descended the porch steps. “Thanks for buying them.”
“What are you doing tomorrow? Want to target shoot?”
She turned at her car door. “I’d love to, but I offered to fill in at the motel since Rose is on vacation.”
“Another day then.” I fixed one of her untied ribbons and pulled a few stray hairs from around her eyes.
She nodded. “Another day.”
“Good night,” I said, ducking my head to kiss her.
She wrapped her arms around my neck, pressing her chest against mine. Her tongue teased my lips, and the kiss intensified when mine darted out to meet hers. I couldn’t remember the last time I enjoyed kissing a woman so much. Every time it slowed, and I thought I should end it, she leaned into my body a little more and it fed the fire.
Finally, I ended the kiss, adjusting my erection.
Her gaze followed my hand, making her grin stretch to her ears, but she didn’t say anything about my uncomfortable situation. “I have to go so I can talk to my parents about us before they’re in bed,” she said, opening her door and plopping into the driver’s seat.
“You can what? Wait!” I held open the door.
“What can they say? We’re consenting adults.” She shrugged, putting the key into the ignition.
“Eve …” I narrowed my eyes.
Her gaze washed across my face before she relinquished a shit-eating grin. “Are you panicking?” She smirked. “Of course you are because I’m that good .”
“Evil.”
She laughed while I shut her door.