LUCKY KISS

by Kidman, Jaxson

  My eyes were crusted shut like I had been asleep for a year. My mouth bone dry. I licked my lips and peeled my eyes open, figuring I was asleep in my truck again. This was probably the worst of the worst - me teetering on being hungover. Meaning I’d feel like hell for a few seconds but then it would pass.

  It always passed.

  All I needed was some black coffee and some greasy food and I’d be fine.

  There was one problem.

  I wasn’t in my truck.

  I was in a bed.

  A woman’s bed.

  Shit, I was in Lauren’s bed.

  The night started to slowly come back to me. I had been in a war with Jared for more than a few days. The words we threw at each other kept getting worse. And Tristian was the middle man. I got pissed yesterday when Jared let Jessie finish a job I had been working on for a month. I went to punch Jared and Tristian offered to buy me a shot, or ten, at the strip club.

  I drank more than my fair share of ten.

  And somehow, Lauren ended up there.

  And somehow, I ended up in her bed.

  But the rest…

  I went to rub my face and my hand wouldn’t move.

  “Holy shit,” I whispered.

  My right hand was tied to the bed.

  So, I tried to move my left hand.

  That hand was tied too.

  Around my wrists…

  A leather belt on my right wrist.

  Some kind of cloth around my left wrist.

  That meant…

  “She tied me to the bed,” I said.

  I looked down, wondering if I was naked. If things got a little wild last night. Not that I was going to complain for a second.

  But I was fully clothed.

  And I had no idea what the hell was going on.

  At least not until the bedroom door opened and in walked Lauren.

  She was in a black bathrobe and looked beautifully pregnant, glowing, her messy bed head pointing in all directions. She carried two coffee cups as she approached the bed.

  Her black framed glasses matched the robe.

  Her eyes were locked to me.

  Her lips were thin, straight… she was a woman possessed.

  “Morning,” she said.

  “What the hell is this?” I asked as I pulled at my hands.

  “We’re going to talk,” she said.

  I laughed. “So, you tied me to the bed?”

  “That’s exactly what I did. Do I have your attention?”

  “Shit… pregnancy hormones, huh?”

  Lauren slowly shook her head. “More like revenge.”

  “Ah,” I said. “Are you going to throw a frog at me?”

  “No,” she said. She looked at the coffee mug in her right hand. “I’m going to pour this on you.”

  Before I could comprehend what she had said, she turned the mug upside down.

  * * *

  I yelled, trying to ready myself for the scalding hot coffee.

  Except it wasn’t scalding hot coffee.

  It was ice cold water.

  All over my shirt, soaking through to my stomach and the front of my jeans.

  Not wearing boxers meant… well… it was damn cold down there.

  “What the hell?” I growled.

  Lauren put the coffee mug down, cupped her own cup and sipped it. “That’s good coffee.”

  “So, this is what you’re doing? Going insane on me?”

  “You said you loved me,” she said. “And you said you loved our baby. So, I’m cornering you. To get the truth once and for all. Because I’m not playing games anymore.”

  I looked left to right, nodding. “I can see that.”

  “I’ll let you go when you answer me.”

  “Ask the question then,” I said.

  “Say it sober. Say exactly what you feel… sober.”

  “That’s still not a question.”

  Lauren curled her lip and positioned her coffee mug over me.

  Now, to be fair, I had been in more than one kinky situation in my life. Ice cubes. Sure. Hot candle wax. Yup.

  But hot coffee… that was a whole other version of it…

  “You want me to tell you I fucking love you?” I asked. “That’s what you want to hear?”

  “I want you to pick a side and stay there,” Lauren said. “I’m not your… call when you need someone… thing.”

  “Correct me if I’m wrong, sweetheart, but that’s what I am to you.”

  “For now,” she said. She touched her stomach.

  I gritted my teeth. “So, the second you have the baby, I’m gone, huh? You’ll be a single mom playing the field wide open.”

  “My life is my business.”

  “So is mine then.”

  “Then keep it to yourself. Don’t ruin me. Or this baby.”

  “I didn’t tell anyone to call you.”

  “But they did. Because you keep talking about me.”

  “Because I love you,” I said. “That’s why.”

  Lauren just stood there, staring down at me.

  I hated being tied to the bed. But the fact that she did it… that dorky girl next door who turned into a beautiful dorky woman… that was able to have the guts to tie me up when I was drunk.

  Damn… that was hot. Maybe the hottest thing anyone had ever done to or for me.

  “You love me,” she said. “You love the baby.”

  “Of course I do.”

  “Then what kind of father are you going to be?”

  “The one who does the right thing,” I said. “For you. For the baby. For himself.”

  “And that’s not the answer I wanted to hear.”

  “But it’s the truth.”

  “Exactly what I just said, sweetheart,” I said. “I won’t tell you what you want to hear. I already got into your pants. You’re carrying the evidence of that.”

  “Screw you, Asher.”

  “Slide my jeans down then,” I said. “I’m more than ready.”

  I raised an eyebrow and looked down at myself.

  When Lauren did the same, she let out a gasp. “How are you hard?”

  “How am I not? Look at you right now.”

  “Look at me how?”

  “You’re fucking beautiful, Lauren. Your messy bed head. Those dorky glasses. Your tits are so damn full right now. The shape your body keeps changing each time I see you, driving me crazy…”

  “No, I mean how can you get hard when you’re tied up?” she asked. “Aren’t you afraid?”

  “Fear turns me on, sweetheart.”

  She shook her head. “I should have known. You probably have those women tie you up. You probably pay extra for it.”

  “Jealous?”

  “No,” she said. She walked to my right wrist and tugged at the belt to undo it. “This was a bad idea.”

  “What did you think I would do? Cry?”

  She didn’t answer me.

  My wrist fell free and Lauren climbed onto the bed and leaned over to get to my left wrist.

  I smelled her hair.

  She smelled like shampoo and sleep.

  Her bathrobe could only hide so much of the curves of her body. The slip in the front opened just enough for me to see the swell of her breasts, hanging right over me.

  I gritted my teeth as I felt my left wrist become free.

  As she made a move to get off the bed, my hands moved for the attack.

  She wasn’t going to do this me and get away with it.

  * * *

  My hands held her hips as she straddled me.

  Her belly was so round with plenty of time to go.

  I couldn’t wait to see her nine months pregnant.

  What the fuck, Asher? What the fuck is this with you?

  Our eyes met and she tried to keep up the pissed off at me act, which was fine. She had every right to be pissed off. She had every right to tie me to the bed. I was fine with it.

  I pulled her against the bulge of my jeans.
<
br />   She swallowed hard.

  She was starting to crack a little.

  “I mean what I fucking said,” I whispered. “I kept my promise to you. To the baby. Take that for what it’s worth and stop worrying about the future.”

  Lauren put her hands to my chest and clawed.

  My hands slowly inched up the front of her robe, finding her beautiful swollen breasts over the top of the robe. Gently, my fingers pried the robe open until I was able to touch her bare skin.

  As I cupped her tits, my thumbs raced over her nipples. They were bigger, firmer, her body working so hard, preparing for everything that was happening.

  I moved to sit up, my mouth suddenly hungry.

  In a fast move, Lauren managed to close her robe.

  I grabbed her hands with a playful smile.

  She fell into me.

  And she burst into tears.

  24

  (Lauren)

  THEN

  “You should totally kiss him,” Sarah said to me. “He wants you to.”

  I was finally able to convince myself that the whole kissing thing wasn’t a big deal. Sarah had kissed a lot of boys. She never had a baby. And thanks to being able to look some stuff up on a computer, I had a much better understanding of how it all worked.

  Derrick had bright blonde hair, bright blue eyes, and looked ready to go surfing.

  He stood in a sleeveless shirt, showing off cut muscles that for some reason impressed me. He was tall, with a wicked smile, and everything about him screamed he was going to break my heart. Yet, he had the look that would make any girl’s mother wish her daughter was going steady with him.

  “Go,” Sarah whispered.

  She pushed at my back.

  I stepped forward in the late summer sun, hoping I didn’t start sweating and look stupid in front of him.

  “You were watching us practice,” Derrick said.

  “So?”

  “I like your glasses.”

  “Nobody does,” I said. I touched them.

  Derrick touched my hand to move it away from my face. “I’m serous. They’re cool. Makes look you smart. I like that.”

  My face burned red hot. “You do?”

  “I heard what your friend was whispering.”

  “Oh…”

  “Do you want me to kiss you?” Derrick asked.

  I didn’t know what to do.

  I stood in silence.

  Derrick reached down to his bag and took out a coin. It looked like a quarter.

  “Tell you what,” he said. “I’ll flip a coin. If it’s heads, I’ll kiss you. If it’s tails, I won’t.”

  I looked back at Sarah.

  She nodded and slowly started to back away.

  She was leaving me.

  “What do you say?” Derrick asked.

  From the corner of my eye, I saw a few of the other football players joining Derrick.

  “Okay,” I said.

  Derrick flipped the coin into the air.

  It hit the ground and I was quick to see… tails.

  “Tough break,” Derrick said.

  He started to laugh.

  The other football players started to laugh too.

  He picked up the coin and smiled at me. “Come on… I might be the backup quarterback, but I’m not that desperate.”

  He showed me the coin.

  It was a trick coin.

  Both sides were tails.

  I gasped and felt my cheeks burn hot again.

  This time it was with horrible embarrassment.

  “Fucking dork,” Derrick said as he turned to join his friends.

  I wanted to cry.

  “Hey!” a voice bellowed. “Hey! Asshole!”

  I turned my head and saw Asher.

  Running off the field, dropping his bag and then his equipment.

  He ran right after Derrick.

  Derrick faced off with him.

  Asher threw a punch and cracked Derrick in the jaw.

  Derrick went down hard.

  The other players jumped at Asher and he started swinging, keeping them back.

  “Don’t ever do that to her again!” Asher yelled at Derrick.

  “Oh fuck, man,” Derrick said. “You fucking do it…”

  “She’s my fucking neighbor,” Asher growled. “Nobody bothers her. Ever. Do you understand me?”

  Asher showed a cocked back fist and Derrick waved his hands. “Fine, man. Fine. But I’m going to Coach with this shit. You’re going to get kicked off the team. Fuck head.”

  Asher stepped at Derrick.

  Derrick kicked back to get away.

  Someone touched Asher’s shoulder and he turned, hitting that guy in the mouth too.

  “Asher!” I cried out.

  He looked at me. Anger all over his face. “Go home, Lauren. Now.”

  I turned and started to run.

  Tears streamed down my cheeks from what Derrick had done.

  But there was a smile on my face from what Asher had done.

  He saved me.

  He helped me.

  I… I think I maybe loved him a little…

  * * *

  I waited on the porch for hours.

  I had to sneak out the back because if Gram saw the dress I had on she would question me. It was hard to have her question everything I did anymore. Always worried about boys. Yet, she was the one who brought it up all the time. I never once mentioned boys. She was scared I was going to get involved with the wrong boy and get into trouble. Or get hurt.

  Well… she would have to deal with me being with Asher.

  That was for sure.

  There was no stopping me tonight.

  What he had done earlier… I was going to kiss him. Like really kiss him. Like kiss him in the way I had seen in movies. The way Sarah told me she kissed a couple boys. And I was going to tell him I loved him.

  I bit my nails down until they were nubs. I told myself I needed to stop doing that. So my nails could grow and I could get them done nice.

  I touched my hair.

  I wished I had more time to do my hair.

  But it was too late.

  I heard the smacking of the gate against the fence around back.

  I jumped at the side railing and leaned forward, almost going up and over it into a picker bush.

  I waited and listened.

  I heard Asher’s voice.

  “I don’t give a shit if Coach boots me,” he said. “I kind of hate football anyway. It was just something to do. I’m not worried about it.”

  “I don’t think it’s fair,” another voice said.

  A girl’s voice.

  I gasped.

  They came into view, at the side of Asher’s apartment building. The narrow walkway that separated my building from his.

  He was with a girl.

  He stopped walking and so did the girl.

  She faced him.

  He faced her.

  “Seriously, don’t worry about it,” Asher said. “Those guys are losers anyway.”

  “So, does this mean you’re not a loser anymore?” the girl asked.

  She was pretty. Funny. Taller than me.

  Dammit.

  “I never was a loser,” Asher said.

  “That’s not what I heard.”

  The girl was flirting. Really good, too.

  Dammit.

  “Would a loser do this to the backup quarterback’s ex-girlfriend…”

  Asher touched the girl’s cheek and moved in for a kiss.

  My chin instantly started to quiver.

  It wasn’t a quick kiss either.

  It was slow.

  It was… it was…

  My eyes filled with tears.

  I stepped back out of sight and hurried down the porch steps.

  I ran around the other side of the building and snuck in through the back door.

  Gram was watching the news.

  I snuck into my room and ripped the nice dress off and put on my
favorite sweatpants and hoodie. I curled up in a ball and tried to sleep, but I kept thinking about Asher kissing that girl.

  I hated him.

  I no longer loved him.

  I really just hated him.

  And I promised myself from that moment on I would always just hate him.

  25

  (Lauren)

  NOW

  My idea had seemed so perfect as I sat there and watched Asher sleep. Tie him to the bed. Scare him a little. Find a way to break him open and get him to confess how he felt about me with sober words. I even dumped icy cold water right on his crotch for good measure, making him think it was hot coffee.

  But that wasn’t me.

  None of it was me.

  It was what Asher did to me.

  And when I went to let him free, hoping he would just leave, of course he had to grab me by the hips. Of course he had to touch me in a way that I had been aching for. Of course he had to open my robe and the look in his eyes at the sight of my bare breasts made me feel bloated but beautiful. None of it made sense.

  I wanted him forever.

  For some reason, my heart twisted with a broken, achy feeling as an old memory of Asher kissing that girl that one night came rushing back to me. As though that was the hint of what it would be like with him. He was within reach but never truly obtainable.

  His strong hands moved up and down my back, over my robe as I wept into his chest.

  “Hey, sweetheart,” his voice said softly. “I need you to look at me.”

  I shook my head.

  Asher moved his hands to my face and made me look at him.

  Ugly tears and all.

  My glasses were crooked.

  I looked like hell.

  Asher took his time as he wiped the tears off my cheeks and then fixed my glasses for me.

  “Don’t cry,” he said.

  “I have to cry. You make me fucking crazy. I hate you as much as I love you. And what I want from you you’ll never give me. So, we’ll never be together.”

  “Lauren. I’ve liked you from the moment I met you. And everything I ever did was done the wrong way.”

  “What?”

  “Your big glasses and flower dresses. Your hair. Your eyes. Your smile. You were always the prettiest girl. And look at you now. You’re this amazing woman. Smart. Successful. You’re carrying our baby. Yeah, it’s all fucked up, but who cares? We’re tied together forever, sweetheart.”