Falling for Autumn (15 page)

Blake leaned me against the passenger door and teased my lips with his thumb. When his lips met mine, it was hard to recall the promise I made to my mother about being careful. His tongue slipped inside the warm recesses of my mouth and I shivered from anticipation. He traced a line with his forefinger down from my chin to my collarbone as we kissed and my skin protested when his touch disappeared. I squeezed his shoulders before rhythmically stroking my hands up and down his biceps.

When Blake pulled away, he playfully bit my lower lip before nuzzling his face into my neck. My spine tingled as I heard his choked whisper against my ear, “I’ve been waiting all week for that.”

Minutes before, we arrived at Valley Amusements and by the look of the steamed up windshields in the parking lot we weren’t the only ones making out. After I returned downstairs with my mom’s heels in tow, she shuffled us out the door. I figured she was too rattled by our conversation and decided to stop questioning Blake prematurely. Blake seemed to pick up on something being off, but didn’t ask me about it. Instead, he said my parents were nice and it was sweet how overprotective they were.

Shivering, I slipped my hands beneath his shirt. I massaged small circles around the hard planes of his stomach before walking my fingers lower, just above the hem of his jeans. Blake reached for me again and his kiss felt urgent. His hands were always controlled when we kissed, but his movements had turned reckless. Clumsily, he knocked the cardigan from my shoulders as his palms ran alongside my silhouette. He cupped my ass and yanked me to his body. Our breathing was labored as we broke the kiss. He grunted, “I missed you. I know you’re back on campus in three days, but I had to see you tonight.”

“I missed you too.”

“We better go inside before I keep you out here the entire night.” He kissed the tip of my nose before releasing me. When he took my hand in his, I liked the way he intertwined our fingers instead of limply grasping my palm.

I paused slightly at the entrance, but took a fortifying breath before pushing through the glass double doors. Although Valley Amusements was popular in Newpine, I hadn’t spent a lot of time there. My feelings were neutral about the hangout and it was the reason I suggested it for our date. My high school friends had preferred house parties where they could raid their parents’ bars and medicine cabinets. We had also gone to the mall outside of town often and it was the reason I steered clear of there on breaks.

“It smells good. Do you like the pizza here?”

“No, it’s awful.” I giggled at Blake’s expression, still giddy from our kiss. “But you’ll eat anything so I figured it was fine.”

“You act like I’m a caveman.” He lowered his already deep voice and growled, “Blake play football. Blake
eat food.”

“I like your caveman side, especially when it comes out when we kiss.”

He looked placated. “That was hot outside. My mind has been in the gutter since I came to pick you up and saw you wearing something tight and black again.” He gripped my hand tighter. “You have no idea what you do to me.”

“You weren’t the only one, I might’ve had a naughty thought or two…”

“Really? You’re going to have to tell me all about these dirty thoughts later. Preferably in long and explicit detail.” Blake’s tone was joking, but his gaze burned as he stared down at me.

“I think you’re corrupting me, Mr. Preston.”

“Funny, because I think it’s the other way around, Miss Dorey.”

I silenced my retort when we reached the food counter. After we debated for a couple of minutes, we settled on a pie, wings, and a pitcher of soda. The tables were mostly filled, but we were able to snag a booth once a family got up to leave.

While we waited for our food, Blake twisted around to survey the bowling alley. Valley Amusements had a retro feel with yellow plastic chairs at the square tables, disco lights hanging from the ceilings, and linoleum flooring with decades’ worth of scuff marks. Leaning back in his chair, he said, “Is this where you hung out growing up?”

I shrugged. “Sometimes. More so when I was younger. My mother was big on setting up
playdates since I was an only child and when the weather was bad, this would be where we’d go.”

His eyes widened. “Is that laser tag over there?”

I spun to look in the direction of Blake’s stare. “Yup. Probably the only upgrade done here besides a few new arcade games.”

“We’re playing. I haven’t played laser tag in years and I was outstanding back then.”

“Well, I’m good at it too. So prepare to get your male pride wounded when I beat you.”

His smile lit up his entire face. “And here I was planning to let you win…”

I groaned. “You were not! You’re only saying that now because when I win, you can pretend to have thrown the game.”

“Okay, I’ll bring it when we play.”

“Good,” I said, appeased. I pulled at the hem of my cardigan. “Sorry to spring the whole meet the parents thing on you. They insisted once I said we were going out.”

“It was fine, your parents were cool.”

“Are you sure? Because you seemed a little off when you came in.”

He wet his lips, triggering my need to memorize every indentation on them. His mouth was perfect and felt perfect when crushed against my own. His lower lip was swollen, a slightly bit fuller than his upper lip, leaving a permanent sexy pout expression on Blake’s face.

Finally, he admitted, “I never met anyone’s parents before. I wasn’t sure how to act.”

I sensed his sincerity by the embarrassment I heard in his voice. Confident and sexy Blake was brought to his knees by the thought of winning over my parents. It was adorable.

We hadn’t gotten to the point of exchanging romantic histories, but I assumed he had left behind a trail of girlfriends nursing broken hearts. Blake knew about Hunter in the vaguest of terms. His understanding was I dated a dick who spread rumors about me. It was a half-truth, but close enough to understand why I’d been reluctant to get close to another man after Hunter deserted me.

“Were you ever in a serious relationship?” I colored as I realized how leading my question must sound. “Not to label us that way. I only mean meeting the parents is a normal step when you’ve been dating someone for a while.”

“No. The longest I’ve ever dated someone was about a month.”

I eyed him carefully. “But I assumed you were burned by someone. The way we met…”

“It was a bad night for me and I was caught by surprise when I saw you. I hope you haven’t thought this entire time I liked you because you looked like an ex.”

Blake was only twenty-one, but I wondered how his lack of committed relationships boded for us. I didn’t want to be another woman in a long line. I liked him a lot and it hurt to think of his interest waning after only a few more weeks.

He reached across the table and took my hand. I watched his thumb trace careless circles around my knuckles. “Autumn, I’ve kept things casual because I’ve never wanted anything more from someone. You make me want more. And if I hold back from you, it’s only because I’m afraid of you seeing every mistake I’ve made in my life and finding out you no longer want to be with me.”

“You’re so hard on yourself. You keep telling me what a bad guy you are, but I feel like the only one who believes that is you.” I lowered my voice. “You’ve never been disrespectful to me and it gives me an idea about how you treat the women in your life. I left myself completely vulnerable with you when we shared a bed, but you never took advantage of that. Your mom and sister obviously drive you crazy, but you put up with their antics because you’re a good guy. The whole school worships you—and believe me it’s not only because of football. It’s because you’re down to earth and don’t believe you’re better than us peons who can’t catch a football.”

“I do actually believe that,” he deadpanned.

“And your self-depreciating sense of humor is appealing.”

“Well, if I never need to have my ego stroked, I’m calling you.” He looked over at the counter and said, “I think our food’s going to be ready in a sec. I’m going to use the bathroom and then I’ll pick it up. I’m starved.” He stood up and pecked my cheek. “Try not to miss me.”

“It will be hard, but I’ll manage.”

He left and jogged across the linoleum to head to the men’s room on the other side of the building. Relaxing into my chair, I smiled as I recalled our conversation. He had admitted wanting more from me and I was willing to give it to him. He made me laugh and the best thing he did was make me forget. With Blake, I was able to look forward to the future. Blake wasn’t a diversion—he was opening up my eyes to the possibility of not letting one person define my future.

“Autumn?”

One word, one voice, and I was vaporized on the spot. My chest ached from how hard my heart started pounding. Although I didn’t want to acknowledge the voice, my head swiveled toward the sound. Hunter was standing before me and had the decency to look shocked to his core over my reappearance in Newpine. The last time I’d seen him was on my final day of high school. The next day, my mom had pulled me out after I told her about the boys grabbing me in the stairwell. I hadn’t resisted her decision but regretted it later on. It was giving Hunter, Faye, and the football players another win—because they were powerful enough to run me out of school for good.

Hunter’s shock and awe lifted from his expression as two of his friends banged into his shoulders from behind. I recognized the men as former teammates of Hunter—Sam and Daniel Nichols, who were cousins. They were Hunter’s lackeys and were partially responsible for spreading the lies about my promiscuity. At first, Hunter resisted believing what everyone said about me. Eventually, he came to embrace the lies and started adding his own to the mix. The rumors were his way of salvaging his pride. He had to put distance between us. If he turned me into a slut, it somehow granted him immunity to my actions. He could say our relationship was meaningless and he was in it for sex alone. If only the student body had known how far-fetched Hunter’s claims truly had been.

Hunter hadn’t changed a bit in the year and a half since I last laid eyes on him. No scars marred his perfect face despite the ugliness living inside of him. His flaxen hair fell in front of his forehead and he pushed it out of the way as he gaped in my direction. He had always been thin and tall, but his arms looked more defined since I last saw him. His friends were carbon copies of Hunter, all dressed in athletic T-shirts and baggy jeans. Sam’s brown eyes were wary while Daniel sneered at me with open hostility.

“Oh shit,
Whorey Dorey is back in town,” Daniel chuckled.

The boys were idiots and I had wasted way too much time mourning the loss of people like them in my life. Why had it mattered so much what the popular kids of
Newpine High School thought about me? They were completely insignificant. If I could go back to high school as a freshman, I would have a do-over. I’d never aspire to be one of the elite. Because I would know that to be at the top of the high school food chain, you had to devour everyone below you.

“Fuck off, Daniel.”

Daniel found my remark unnaturally funny and clutched his sides as he let loose a loud and obnoxious laugh. “Damn, babe, if I knew you were back in town, you could’ve gotten me off. My dick hasn’t been the same since you left.”

Hunter’s eyes narrowed, but he didn’t come to my defense. Not that it was expected. Hunter was weak and selfish. When my world was coming apart at the seams, he didn’t bother to put himself in my position for a split second. Hunter only wanted what he felt was rightfully his. He demanded sex because he didn’t want to be considered the cuckolded boyfriend.

“Let’s go. Isn’t this shit getting old?” Sam demanded of his cousin. It gave me hope that at least one of the apes had evolved.

“What’s going on?”

I hadn’t sensed Blake’s approach and neither had the three men. I could see each of them sizing him up, wondering if they could take him on. Blake gave me a concerned look, pulling his eyebrows together, likely picking up the tension emanating from me. I felt as if I had landed in a surreal dream where my life at college was colliding with my high school existence.

Daniel slithered over to Blake before patting him heartily on the back. Blake looked at him with disdain as Daniel spoke. “Is Autumn your girl? No judgment here, dude. We’ve all been there,
done that
.”

Blake pushed Dan’s arm away roughly, making him stumble backwards. “I’d watch what you say next. Because unless I hear an apology to Autumn, your teeth will end up on the floor.”

Finally, Hunter snapped out of his stupor and rose up to face Blake. They were almost the same height, but Blake was constructed from solid muscle. Hunter would never win in a one on one fight with Blake, but Hunter had his ass clown friends as backup.

“I’m not sure what you know about Autumn, but I’ve known her for a long time. I was her boyfriend and the bitch fucked around on me the entire time we were together…”

Blake poked the center of Hunter’s chest with his pointer finger. “If you’re her ex, then you definitely deserve at least a punch in the face.”

After grabbing my purse, I jumped out of the chair. I addressed Blake while turning my back to Hunter and his friends. “I want to go. They’re looking for a fight and I don’t want to give it to them.”