Different Roads

by Lori L. Clark

  He eased along until we were no longer visible from the main road before turning off the lights and jumping down from the truck. When he climbed back in beside me he cut the engine and turned down the radio. I didn’t protest when he leaned over to kiss me. I didn’t even think about stopping him as my head pressed into the passenger door armrest. When he placed himself strategically between my legs, my inner slut smiled in defeat. I was powerless to resist him, and his eyes darkened with desire as he stared into my face.

  “Tell me how bad you missed me Jaq,” Damon breathed as his lips worked their magic along the tender flesh beneath my ear. I moaned something unintelligible and raked my fingers through his dark hair. He continued to tease me with a trail of kisses along my jaw and I arched against his rock hard body. I knew I was fast approaching the point of no return, and I wasn’t entirely sure I cared.

  “Damon, we…” I paused, unclear of what I wanted to say, so I made up something. “The seatbelt’s poking me.”

  He let out a heavy sigh and sat up, “Yeah, you’re right. This sucks.”

  I scooted upright and pulled my shirt back down over my bare stomach, “The windows are all fogged up,” I stifled a giggle.

  He reached across me and wrote: DB, with a heart and added my initials, “I want to do right by you this time Jaq.”

  “Yeah,” I nodded.

  “I mean don’t get me wrong, I’d like nothing better than to be buried balls deep in you right about now, but I’ll behave.”

  I rolled my eyes and playfully slapped him on the shoulder, “You are such an ass Damon.”

  He shrugged, “What can I say? You have that effect on me.” He tugged at the front of his jeans to make sure I got the point he was trying to express.

  “Let’s just go,” I said quietly. Before I change my mind and do something I’ll regret tomorrow.

  He parked the truck a couple of blocks down from my house as I insisted. I was willing to take things slow with him again, but I was not willing to face the wrath of Shelley tonight. I brushed my lips across his cheek and reached for the door handle to let myself out. “See ya, Damon. I had fun.”

  He touched my arm gently, “So are we okay?”

  I couldn’t help but smile at the little boy side of Damon, “We’ll see,” I said as I jumped down from the pickup.

  Chapter 36

  Damon and I had officially been sneaking around for three weeks. It was only a matter of time before we got caught. “Shit, wake up! They’re home,” I shoved Damon onto the floor in an attempt to get him to wake up. Shelley and Tim went to a movie and had planned on going to some party after that so I figured it would be safe to have Damon over. I just hadn’t planned on falling asleep half naked on the couch.

  Damon growled and sat up rubbing his eyes, “What the fuck, Jaq?”

  I tossed him his shirt and grabbed the remaining clothes scattered about on the floor, “Come on Damon. Move!”

  When he heard Shelley’s boots click against the sidewalk leading up to the house, our predicament finally sank into his thick head. He scrambled to his feet and rushed through the bedroom door right behind me. I eased the door closed just as the front door swung open. We’d been so careful. I even made him borrow his sister’s Miata and park down the street.

  “Now what?” he whispered.

  “I don’t know,” my heart pounded as my eyes darted between him and the bedroom door.

  He grabbed my hand, “This is bullshit. It’s your house, too. Come on.” He stood and I started to open my mouth to protest when Shelley’s footsteps stopped in the hall outside my room.

  “Oh Jaq? Can you come out here a minute?” Damon and I stopped breathing for a few seconds and I thought maybe she would think I was asleep. “Come on, I know you’re awake.”

  “Just a minute,” I said. I shot Damon a keep your mouth shut glare and slipped into the hall to face Shelley.

  She leaned against the wall while twirling Damon’s underwear on her finger, “I’m going to take a wild ass guess that these aren’t yours.”

  My cheeks burned and I shook my head.

  “Damon? You can come out now,” she told him.

  Head down, he walked out to face Shelley as though we were two teenagers getting caught with our pants down by mom. “Hey Shell,” Damon muttered.

  “Hmph,” she shook her head and flung the underwear at him and said, “I would have thought a big tough guy like you would prefer to go commando.”

  I bit my lip to keep from giggling, “Normally he does. But well, he’s got this rash and it…” I stopped when Damon snorted.

  Shelley did not find my joke even remotely humorous. Her hand snaked out grabbing a hold of my arm. I flinched as her nails dug into my flesh. She narrowed her eyes at Damon and pointed, “You need to leave. Right now,” she ordered.

  I wrenched my arm free from her grasp, “Wait a damn minute, will you? At least let him get dressed, and then we can talk.”

  She folded her arms in front of her chest and started tapping her foot impatiently, “You’ve got one minute. I’m not playing,” she stomped down the hall away from us.

  I placed the palm of my hand on Damon’s bare chest and backed him through the open door to my bedroom, “Just go, I’ll talk to you later,” I told him.

  “Does Cowbell Shelley own a gun?” he asked.

  “Yes, and she’s a damn good shot,” I said.

  I couldn’t remember a time when I had seen Shelley so pissed off. She didn’t lecture me after Damon left but she gave me a look that could only be described as utter disgust.

  I held up my hand, “Before you say anything, he’s trying really hard to be good.”

  “I don’t want to hear it. You know as well as I do that his good behavior won’t last,” she paced back and forth across the kitchen floor. “What are you going to do the next time he fucks up? Do you have any idea how lucky you are that he hasn’t killed you?”

  I stared down at the floor, “What do you suggest I do?

  “I’ve already told you what I think, but I can’t make you do anything you don’t want to do,” She stopped pacing and sat down at the table. She blinked a couple of times and I realized she was trying hard not to cry. “Jaq, I’m just afraid for you. I don’t want to watch them carry you out in a body bag.”

  I swallowed a grapefruit-sized lump and nodded, “Stop worrying, okay? I’ll be fine.”

  Her chair scraped against the tiles as she stood, “If he ever so much as touches a hair on your head again, I will make sure he pays for it. Do I make myself clear?”

  “Yes,” I said.

  “Can you go to prison for super gluing a guy’s dick to his leg?” She tapped a finger against her chin in contemplation. “I don’t want to go to prison.”

  I shrugged, “How the hell should I know. Why don’t you Google it?” I was only teasing, but she took off down the hall.

  “Great idea!” she called over her shoulder.

  I knew Shelley would never approve of me seeing Damon again. Now she’d planted a seed in my brain. What if he did lose his temper again and no one was around to save me? What if things went too far next time, did I really want to take that chance?

  Chapter 37

  Shelley and I were busy doing the domestic goddess thing when she piped up with the bright idea, “I should totally call Shannon and see if she wants to go to that karaoke bar tonight.”

  I rolled my eyes, “Oh be still my heart. How exciting.”

  “Hush you,” she threw a sock in my direction. “It’ll be fun. You had fun the last time, right?”

  “Which part of that night was fun? The part where that skank was ready to kick my ass for wanting to shoot pool with her boyfriend?” I folded my arms across my chest. “Or watching Shan go full-out cougar?”

  Shelley jumped off the couch, ignoring my sarcasm and invited Shannon to be our designated driver for the night. She smiled broadly at me, “Don’t be that way Jaq, it’ll be fun.”

  The bar wa
s no less packed with country bumpkins tonight than it was the last time we were here. I scanned the room while Shelley made her way through the cowboy clones to get our drinks. Shannon and I managed to find a table with two barstools in a dark back corner. “Right outside the men’s bathroom? Really Shan, obvious much?” I teased.

  She frowned and said, “Do you see any other empty tables?”

  Shelley reappeared carrying a tray with a couple bottles of beer, a soda for Shannon and two creamy-looking shots. “What the hell are those?” I asked pointing to the shot glasses.

  A grin crept across her face, “Cowboys.” She passed one shot to me and kept one for herself and added, “Or Slippery Nipples, whichever you prefer.”

  I quirked an eyebrow at her and downed the sticky sweet drink in one quick swallow, “Ugh,” I said, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand. “I’ll stick to doing tequila.”

  Shannon smirked, “Personally? I’d rather do the cowboys.”

  “God Shan sometimes you are such a slut,” Shelley shoved her sister’s shoulder playfully.

  I laughed at their banter and picked at the label on my beer bottle. I needed to just disappear and anonymously catch a buzz for the night. Shannon announced that she wanted to sing and went to find a book of available karaoke songs. Shelley perched on the stool across the table, and I felt her eyes drilling into me, “What?” I asked, never taking my eyes off my label-destroying task.

  “You know what you need?” she shouted to be heard above the crowded room.

  “Yes, but I have a feeling your idea and mine are at two totally different ends of the spectrum,” I smiled.

  Ignoring my comment, she continued, “You need to find yourself a good man. You know, one who actually gives a shit about you and won’t smack you around for the hell of it?”

  “Maybe I don’t need a man at all,” I took a deep breath and puffed out my cheeks, exhaling slowly.

  She nodded and tapped her bottle against mine, “Nah, you’d miss the sex too much.”

  “There is that,” I agreed.

  “I just worry that Damon’s going to really hurt you one of these times Jaq,” she said and reached across the table to squeeze my hand, “You know I love you, right?”

  “I know you do,” I pressed my lips into a thin smile. “But I’m a big girl and I can take care of myself where Damon’s concerned. Besides, I think he’s changed.”

  Shelley snorted and rolled her eyes, “Of course he hasn’t.”

  Shannon walked up with a mischievous grin painted across her face, “I signed us up to do a song.”

  “Oh, hell no,” I shook my head and slid off my stool. “I’m going to see if I can get into a game of pool or maybe darts. Hell, right now, a barroom brawl ranks higher than singing karaoke. I am not that drunk.”

  Later, after several shots of tequila and bottles of beer, I was feeling no pain and still able to focus well enough on the multi-colored balls on the pool table to win a game or two. I’d just finished kicking some cowboy wannabe’s ass and prepared for my next opponent when Shelley grabbed one of my arms and Shannon grabbed the other. I dug my heels into the dirty floor and said, “I am not getting up on that stage.”

  “Nope, we’re leaving,” Shannon said.

  “I just bought a beer,” I whined. Shelley reached behind us for the nearly full bottle and handed it to me. I glowered at the two of them, “Where’s the goddamn fire?”

  They tugged me out the door and exchanged glances, “Not a fire. Not yet. But I think he told me he’s a fireman,” Shannon laughed.

  “Oh he did not! He said he likes to put out fires and waggled his eyebrows up and down,” Shelley said between fits of laughter as we climbed into Shannon’s car.

  “Same thing in my book,” Shannon said. She nodded her head in the direction of three very fine looking men climbing into a black pickup across the parking lot and said, “Who cares? Fireman, policeman, would you like fries with that? Damn.”

  One of the guys walked over to the driver’s window and leaned in, “Follow me.”

  Shannon snatched the black cowboy hat off his head and said, “Let’s do it.”

  I rolled my eyes from the backseat, “Good god what are you two getting me into?” I muttered.

  Black Hat jogged over and hopped into his Chevy while Shannon peeked at me in the rearview mirror, “We’re going to a party, and oh my god did you see that guy’s tight ass?”

  Shelley snickered, “I know, right?”

  I leaned forward and glanced between the two of them, “Where is this party?”

  Shannon adjusted her newly acquired hat and beamed, “In my mouth and everybody’s coming!”

  “If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were drunk Shan,” I said and collapsed back into the seat. Shelley looked over her shoulder and smiled. I narrowed my eyes at her and said, “And you know better. You have a boyfriend.”

  “Hush you. Just because there’s one loaf of bread on the counter doesn’t mean you can’t have another in the freezer, just in case,” Shelley said.

  “Loaf of bread? What the hell are you talking about?” I stared at her in disbelief. “You’d never cheat on Tim, and we both know it.”

  “Of course not,” she sighed. “I’m just saying it never hurts to look. As long as that’s all I’m doing. I have no intention of buying anymore loaves of bread. For now.”

  The cackling laughter coming from them was infectious and filled the car. It wasn’t long before I was giggling quietly along with them.

  When we stopped the car in the parking lot of some apartment complex, I put my hand on the door handle and said, “Let’s go get bread ladies.”

  Chapter 38

  It was around midnight when we got to the party, which wasn’t really much of a party until we arrived. I didn’t know who the place belonged to, but I vaguely remembered being at a party in the same apartment complex one other time with Seth. Twenty or so people were clustered around the tiny living room when we walked in.

  Some guy came into view carrying a bottle of tequila, and I decided he’d be my new best friend for as long as the tequila lasted.

  “Well, hello,” I whispered to Shelley, nodding towards the skinny guy who wore nothing but a pair of low slung baggy shorts.

  She rolled her eyes and gave me a little nudge, “Get ‘em.”

  I pursed my lips, “Pfft, I just want the tequila,” I told her and crossed the stained carpeting until I stood toe-to-toe with Mr. Baggy Shorts. He arched an eyebrow, and his eyes raked over my body. I held out my hand, “May I?”

  He grinned, carving a deep dimple into his right cheek and handed me the bottle. He said, “It’ll put hair on your chest.” Up close, he looked about sixteen and I thought he probably needed to grow some chest hair of his own.

  I tipped the bottle back and took a hearty swallow. As the tequila began to course through my veins, it started to revive the buzz I’d had when we left the bar. I took another swig and passed the bottle back. “I’m Jaq, and I like tequila,” I announced.

  He reached for the bottle and leaned against the wall. I wasn’t sure if he was getting comfortable or if the wall was holding him upright. His eyes never left mine as he took a slow drink. “I’m Trevor,” he grinned. “And I like older women.”

  My eyes narrowed, “What are you, like twelve?” I teased.

  He grabbed the front of his pants, “I’ve got your twelve right here.”

  “Sure you do, tiger,” I laughed and held up my hands, “Easy there jailbait. I’m not after your body. I just want to use you for your Patrón.” I moved beside him to rest my back against the wall.

  “I’m seventeen,” he muttered, staring at me through heavily lidded eyes.

  “Okay?” I said.

  “The age of consent in Missouri is seventeen,” he said matter-of-factly.

  “I’ll keep that in mind,” I grabbed the tequila bottle out of his grasp and took a big drink. I crossed my feet at my ankles and slid slowly down the
wall until my butt connected with the carpeting. He followed suit and sat beside me. I peered sideways at him and sighed, “I make it a point to never mix business with pleasure, but damn you’re kind of cute.”

  He tipped his head back against the wall and stared up at the ceiling, “I get that a lot.”

  The thing about tequila is that it does strange things to my libido. I swear my inner slut duct tapes the more rational side of me to a chair and sticks a sock in her mouth whenever there’s tequila involved. So it’s no shock that after several extra-large gulps of the eighty-proof, mind-erasing silver liquid, my morals were about to fly right out the window. Buh-bye.

  “Fuck, Trevor, get a room,” some guy barked and nudged his leg.

  I blinked a few times, trying to focus and climbed off of Trevor’s lap to adjust my shirt. He stood, albeit wobbly, and stuck his hand out for me. I let him pull me to my feet and I swayed a little, lightheaded from standing up so quickly, combined with the tequila coursing through my veins.

  “Where’s the bathroom?” I asked.

  “This way,” he grinned and tugged me along behind him and stopped in front of an open door.

  “Thanks,” I moved around him and tried shut the door behind me, but he had other ideas. He pressed against the door and pushed inside the tiny room with me. I folded my arms in front of my chest and said, “Look, I may be drunk but I’m pretty sure I can still manage to go to the bathroom by myself.”

  He crushed me to him and pressed my back against the door, “I think we need to finish what we started, don’t you?”

  I pressed my hand against his chest and shoved him out of my face. He stumbled back, losing his balance and landed ungracefully in the bathtub, bringing the shower curtain down around him. A snort escaped from between my lips, and I turned to leave the room. As soon as I stepped into the hallway, I heard him bellow, “Bitch!” My face turned red when everyone got quiet and turned to stare in my direction. I took a few steps into the living room before he tackled me from behind and sent me sprawling to the floor.

  His fingers fisted in my hair and he pulled, hard. I felt his breath on my skin as he whispered in my ear, “You’re a fucking tease, you know that?”