She liked doing things on her own.
“I think so.”
She continued to struggle until I could no longer watch and had to help. I stepped up behind her and reached around her to grab the pole and help her pull it in. The feminine muscles in her arms twitched, her back pressed against my front, and when the swell of her plump ass settled against my cock, I started to get hard. I panicked and let go of the pole.
Thankfully, I let go just as she was pulling her catch in.
“Oh my God, it’s huge!”
She turned with a large grin on her face, holding the fishing string with a massive bass on the end. The fish was huge, but all I could think about was the tent in my pants and trying to hide it from her.
We caught eight more before heading back to my house. My mom was happy with our catch, sending my dad out onto the back porch to clean them the second we handed them over. I grabbed two bottles of water out of the refrigerator and walked out onto the front porch to find Jenny perched on the tailgate of my truck, waiting for me.
Her tan legs were dangling off the end, and her thick thighs were spilling from the cutoffs she was wearing. She was barefoot and still wearing the trucker hat, which was hiding her piercing green eyes.
I paused, bottles in hand, and watched her without her knowing she was being watched. She was playing on her phone, her head down and her feet swinging back and forth. She looked perfect. Everything I ever wanted but knew I could never have. At least not the way I dreamed of having her these days.
7
Jenny
Josh was called before me, and I watched as he crossed the stage with a large smile on his face to get his diploma. The group cheered for him as he high-fived a teacher on his way and shook hands with Principal Reeves. Once he had his diploma in hand, he faced the crowd and pumped his fist in victory.
Everyone loved him.
I loved him.
In my own way.
I think.
I wasn’t sure how I felt about Josh. I knew I cared a lot. I always had, but there was always something underlying my feelings for him. Something deeper that simmered just below my surface.
When they called my name, I walked up to the stage, my fancy flip-flops, courtesy of Lilly, flopping with my steps. Once I took the stage, I smiled down at my family and Josh, and once I was handed my diploma, I made a show of copying Josh, making the crowd laugh. He clapped from below, laughing with everyone else.
At that moment, something strange happened. We locked eyes. His laughter stopped, and my smile dropped, and what seemed like forever stretched between us. It wasn’t until Principal Reeves laid his palm against my back and I heard them calling the next person that I looked away and made my feet move.
Afterward, there were pictures. I was surround by my family. Dad and his new girlfriend, Janice, who Devin and I approved greatly of. Lilly, who was pregnant with a Devin Jr., Devin, and little Emma, who was my favorite three-year-old spitfire. Dad and Devin swore she was just like me, but I thought she was going to surpass me with the sass since there was no way I was such a smart-mouthed cutie when I was three.
“I still can’t believe my baby girl is a high school graduate,” my dad said, pulling me into his side and scrubbing at my hair, loosening my low ponytail.
“Dad!” I pushed at his side, making him laugh.
As soon as I pulled away from my dad, Vaughn scared me, grabbing me from behind and lifting me. “We did it, Scrappy! We’re free!”
I laughed. “Put me down, Beast.”
He set me on my feet and surprised me yet again when he leaned over and pressed a kiss to my hairline. I wiped at the spot with the back of my hand, making him laugh. “When do you leave for Oklahoma?”
Vaughn had applied to Oklahoma and had gotten accepted. Lucky for him, his daddy was loaded and could afford it because the boy’s GPA wasn’t pretty.
“Leaving in a few days to settle into the new apartment. Then it’s party all day and all night until the first day of class in August.”
“Yeah. Have fun with that.”
“Oh, I will. See you around, Stone Maiden. Don’t go breaking too many hearts in Texas.” He winked.
“Yeah. Like that’s going to happen.”
He shook his head as though he wanted to say more, but before he could, Josh moved up beside him and bumped shoulders with him.
“Are you over here harassing Jen?”
“Nah, man. Just saying goodbye. See y’all on the flip side.”
And then he was gone, leaving me to wonder what he was going to say before Josh interrupted him.
“Did that fucker kiss you?” he asked, his dark brows pulled low.
“Yeah, on the head like I’m a two-year-old.”
“How about we head home and get to celebrating this graduation thing,” Devin said, interrupting my conversation with Josh. He patted at his flat stomach and yawned. “I’m starving and ready to get some steaks on the grill.”
“You’re always hungry,” Lilly joked, wiping the chocolate my dad had given Emma from her face.
“Hungry for you,” Devin responded, reaching out and swatting at Lilly’s ass.
“And we’re done here,” I said, making everyone laugh.
By the time we got back to our place, the yard was full of familiar cars. We didn’t have a large family, but we had made our own little family out of our customers at the shop. Plus, since Lilly had come into our lives, her mother stopping by was a regular occurrence. Lilly’s friend Shannon and her new husband, Matt, showed up. And Janice, my dad’s new girlfriend, had a daughter who was older than Devin and seemed nice was starting to come around more often.
Everyone brought graduation gifts that were going to be super awkward to open.
I looked over the familiar cars, figuring out who was going to be in the backyard waiting to celebrate my graduation when my eyes landed on a car I hadn’t seen before.
A ’66 Ford Mustang GT.
At least the frame to one.
It was rusted, and the tires were flat. The front windshield was cracked, and it looked like it was missing the passenger side door from what I could see, but he was beautiful.
Dad put his truck in park and sat back, resting his arm along the back of the bench seat. His beer belly was prominent in the nice dress shirt he had worn to my graduation. When I looked at his face, his eyes crinkled at the sides with his smile when he saw what I had noticed across the yard from us.
“Whose is it?” I asked.
“It’s yours.”
“You lie.” My breathing was accelerated.
The desire to get out and go touch it was extreme. I had dreamed of a ’66 Mustang since I was a little girl.
“Nope. True story. It’s your graduation present.”
As soon as the words left his mouth, I leaped from his truck and ran across the yard to the trashed car waiting for me.
I set my palms on the rusted hood, feeling a rush of tears pressing at the back of my eyes.
Dad and Devin joined me; I could hear them chuckling behind me.
“Are you serious, Dad? It’s mine?” I asked again to be sure.
I couldn’t believe it.
Most girls would have wanted a brand-new ride. Not me. The old rust bucket parked in the yard was perfect.
“Thought it might be something we could work on when you come home to visit.”
“Basically, this is your way of making sure I come home?”
He laughed. “Damn straight. By the time you graduate, I think she’ll be ready. What do you think, Devin?”
“I’d say so. It’s rough but a nice project.”
“He,” I said, running my fingers over the windowsill of the driver’s side door.
“He?”
“His name is Carlos. You name your cars after women, but Carlos fits him.”
My dad and brother laughed, and I took the moment in.
My life was about to change a ton, but I wanted to soak that moment in and h
old it close to my heart forever.
We had a nice turnout. Some people I had only met a handful of times but who were friends with my dad and Devin. My gift table was loaded down, and the smell of barbecue filled the backyard while Devin manned the grill.
Lilly and Janice, Dad’s new girlfriend, filled the tables with homemade foods. A few women brought casseroles. And by the time I tossed my paper plate in the trash, I felt like I was going to burst. I ran around the yard with Emma, chasing her and playing tag to work off the massive amount of food I put down.
By the time the night was settling over the yard, people were leaving, and the ones who were staying had already popped a bottle and were laughing over old times with my dad.
“Shouldn’t you go in and get dressed? Aren’t you going to a party with Josh tonight?” Lilly asked from the kitchen sink when I went inside.
Six months before, Home Depot had showed up at our door and put in a brand-new high-tech dishwasher. She was loading it.
“Yeah. I’m about to go shower and throw something on now.”
She pressed the button on the dishwasher, starting it, and stood. She moved a hand to her lower back, bringing my eyes down to her pregnant stomach.
“Are you okay?”
She nodded. “Yeah. He’s just an active little guy.”
I grinned. “Like his daddy.”
“Oh, yeah.” She chuckled. “I’m definitely going to have my hands full.”
“I hate that I’m going to miss so much.”
“I’ll make sure to send you tons of pictures. It will be like you never left.”
“I know you’ll keep me updated, but it still sucks.”
I turned and started toward my room.
“Hey, Jen,” she called out, stopping me.
“Yeah?”
“I might have put something on your bed. Wear it to your party if you want. If you don’t, no hard feelings.”
Then she smiled and went out the back door and into the backyard with everyone else.
I went into my room to find a blue sundress on my bed. It wasn’t fancy, which I appreciated, and the seams were a little frayed on purpose, making it look comfy and used. It was made to look distressed, and I found myself liking it the longer I looked at it.
It was going to be my last night out with high school friends. Everyone was going their own ways. It was time I did something a little different. Fuck the consequences.
I grabbed the dress from my bed and went to the bathroom to wash the heat of the day from my skin. An hour later, I found myself standing in front of the mirror with my hair brushed out and down, a pair of white Converse on my feet, and wearing the cute blue dress Lilly had bought me.
It was different for me, but in a way, I liked it.
I was standing on the front porch when Josh’s black truck pulled into my driveway. I didn’t wait for him to get out. Instead, I went to the truck, pulled the passenger’s side door open, and climbed in.
After I shut the door and put on my seat belt, I turned to face Josh, finding him staring over at me like he had no clue who was.
“What?” I asked, annoyed.
“You look nice,” he said.
“Shut up. I look stupid.”
“You don’t, Jenny. I’m serious. You look really pretty.”
My skin heated. “Whatever. Lilly bought it for me, and I didn’t want to hurt her feelings. It’s no big deal.”
He stared at me for longer than usual. His eyes moving over my face in a way that made me feel exposed.
“Are we going?”
He turned away, putting the truck in reverse. “Yeah. Sorry.”
The party was at JJ’s family’s lake house. We drove the twenty minutes to the house, laughing and listening to Jason Aldean on the radio. I left my hair down for the first few minutes of the ride, but once the wind came whipping into my downed window, I found myself pulling it up to keep it out of my face.
We were welcomed by white Christmas lights strung in the summer trees and teenagers all over the lawn in front of the house. The lake glistened behind the house, a few boats with lights strung on them floated with what looked to be more partygoers. The entire senior class was there.
“Let’s do this,” Josh said, opening the driver’s side door.
I opened my door and climbed down from his truck. It was warm out, but a slight breeze caught under the skirt of my dress and lifted it. The dress was knee length, nothing too short or too long, but I felt exposed like I never had before. I hadn’t even entered the party yet, and I already wished I had worn a pair of shorts or a pair of jeans.
The music was loud, thumping from a large DJ booth set up on the corner of the lawn. JJ’s parents had gone all out. We passed people on our way to find our little group, and Brandy Miller grabbed Josh’s arm and pulled him in for a hug.
“We did it!” she called out over the music.
He laughed and pulled away as nicely as he could. His mouth was moving as he said something in return, but I couldn’t hear what over the loud music.
I turned away from the two of them, and my eyes met JJ coming across the lawn toward us. He held up a drink and pointed at it. I nodded. I was going to drink to calm my nerves. If Josh wanted to drink, then I would only have the one. It would be out of our system before the night was over.
When JJ reached my side, he put the drink in my hand and pulled me in for a side hug.
“Glad y’all could make it.” He took a sip from his drink and then pulled away, looking me up and down. “Looking good, Scrappy.”
I smoothed down the skirt of my dress and shrugged. “It’s the end of school. Might as well go out with a bang, right?”
His eyes dropped to my legs, and he bit his bottom lip. “Hell, yeah. I’ll give you a bang.”
“Whoa,” Josh said from my other side, pulling me away from JJ. “I think that’s enough.”
JJ’s eyes lit up, the red around the rim going darker. “What the fuck, Josh? Let her live. If you’re not going to do something about it, let the rest of us try.”
Confused, I looked up at Josh. “What’s he talking about?”
Josh’s face was red, his teeth bared. “Nothing. JJ’s fucking around. Right, J?”
JJ’s face cleared, and he smiled, the smile not reaching his eyes. “Try to have fun, Jenny. I’ll see y’all around here. I need to go be a good host.”
He walked away without waiting for a response.
“What is going on with you lately? These are your boys, and all y’all seem to be doing is fighting.”
He shook his head, the red tint on his cheeks slowly dissolving. “They’re being dicks. They’re only hitting on you all the time because they’re trying to get under my skin. They know you’re my best friend.”
His words stung.
“Right. Because who in their right mind would hit on me because they find me attractive? That’s just unheard of.”
I walked away, downing my drink and trying to douse the flames of hurt in my stomach. He followed, reaching out to wrap his warm fingers around my arm and stop me.
“Stop. That’s not what I meant.”
“Well, that’s what you said.”
He let go of my arm and sighed. Pulling his hat from his head, he ran his long fingers through his thick hair.
“Nothing ever hurts your feelings. When did you get so goddamn girlie?”
His words fueled the flames of hurt in my stomach, turning them into anger.
“I was born a fucking girl!”
Then I walked away again, going for the house, which seemed like the less crowded place. Not to mention, the music was outside, not inside, and my head was pounding. Before I went through the front door, I grabbed two beers to take with me for good measure.
Fuck it. If Josh drank, I would have someone come and pick me up.
Inside was a haven. The music thumped from outside, but it was nothing compared to being outside and close to the speakers. Except for a few stragglers, no on
e was inside. I went to the plush sectional, sat back, and put my feet on the coffee table. I finished the drink JJ had given me and popped the cap on a bottle of beer. It wasn’t my favorite, but it would do the trick. I needed to wash away the fears and hurt. I needed to forget for the night about how badly things were about to shift in my life.
Josh stayed outside, leaving me alone, and I was glad. I was sure he didn’t mean to hurt my feelings, but for some reason, his words had. Sure, I wasn’t overly girlie. I didn’t dress up usually, and I wasn’t flirty, but that didn’t mean no one found me attractive.
Right?
I visited the front porch, grabbing a new bottle of beer every time I finished one until I lost count. The night outside grew darker, and the house grew empty as the partiers moved from the front yard to the back where the lake water was. When I went to the back door, I could hear them splashing around and laughing, but I stayed inside in the darkening house, getting drunk and wishing I had stayed home.
“Are you going to ignore me all night?” Josh asked from behind me, making me jump.
“I don’t know. Are you still being a condescending asshole?”
He tapped his chin in thought before smiling. “I’m sorry, okay?”
He tossed a small bag of candy at me, and I caught it.
Gummy bears.
“Did you go to the store for these?”
Did the boy walk around with gummy bears in his pockets?
“Maybe.”
I rolled my eyes. “Fine. I forgive you, but just so you know, I’m hot, and the boys around here all think so.”
No.
I was drunk.
I hadn’t noticed it before, but now that I was speaking, I could hear the slur in my voice.
At my words, he laughed. “Noted. Think you’ve had enough?”
He moved down the back hallway toward me, and the lights from the back shone across his face.
I giggled.
Like giggled as if I were one of those annoying airheads. “Nope.”
He reached out and took my beer from my hand and set it on the table at our side. “I disagree.”
I snorted. “You would.”
“Hey, what’s that supposed to mean?”
Thick & Thin (Chubby Girl Chronicles Book 3) Page 6