Southern Seduction

by Alcorn, N. A.

  “Sorry, Penelope,” I shouted as I ran by her at full speed, headed for the house and my truck. Seemed I was going to be doing a lot of apologizing to the women in my life tonight.

  When my truck came into view, I kicked myself into another gear, pushing myself to run harder and faster.

  Maybe if I got there before she went in, we would still have time to talk it out some more. That is if there was any time left after I got done groveling and begging her to leave my balls intact. When she got done with me, I may very well be one of the “lots of guys” who suffer from one swollen testicle. If she was really mad, I might even suffer from two.

  Luckily, Winslow’s crime rate was stupendously low---er, except for us, that is---and I kept my keys on the floorboard of my truck, right under the mat.

  I yanked the door open with more force than necessary, snatched my keys from underneath the mat, hopped in, fired her up, and took off in a squeal of tire smoke.

  My thumbs tapped the steering wheel nervously as I drove, barely a minute passing before I reached my destination a quarter of a mile down the winding road from Mayor Klein’s house.

  I cut the engine in a hurry and didn’t even bother to pull the keys from the ignition this time. Kicking open the door with a shove of my boot, I jumped down and closed it with a lot less gumption than I wanted, hoping to make less noise now that I was within range of the scene of the crime.

  Utilizing a semi-crouched run, I made my way to the big, brick house at the end of the road as quickly as possible, checking my surroundings as I went, and hoping to catch Zoey somewhere along the way before I got there.

  No such luck.

  Just as I was cutting through the yard on the side of the mansion I caught movement at the front and hustled my way to the side of the house for a better look.

  The silhouette of her hair flying over her shoulder as she climbed in the front, first story window was the only thing I could see from my hiding place around the corner.

  I tried to focus harder, to see more details of her pretty face, or maybe even catch a flicker of snark in her eye, but the darkness of night and shadows of the big, old house made it impossible. Another part of me, however, had honed in on wondering why in the hell she thought using the front window was a good idea for a covert mission. I was a skilled compartmentalizer when needed.

  Maybe your first thought is that I’m a stalker.

  I could see that, what with the way I was following a girl without her knowledge and skulking around in the dead of night.

  Sorry to say, but you’d be wrong.

  But, what I was actually doing was probably even more fucked up, so you can take some comfort in that. Or maybe, if you’re normal, that’s the kind of statement that adds to uneasiness.

  No matter how you wanted to categorize it, it was happening.

  Never in my life did I think I would care about someone enough to be following them as they pulled a B & E job, but here I fucking was.

  Obviously, when the heart steps up, the brain steps back. Or takes a tropical vacation. Either way, it just gets the hell out of there.

  My blood roared in my ears as I crept toward the open window where I had last seen her, my effort to be silent shaking violently through every muscle in my body.

  I always found that when I tried to minimize my noisemaking, I felt my loudest. Or when I tried to move with grace, I stumbled all over the place.

  Like a Law of Opposites.

  My adrenaline wasn’t the result of my own fear, but instead inspired by my worry for her. Sure, I was pretty sure this activity was on the exact opposite side of the law from where I should be as a freshly deputized member of the Sheriff’s department, but I would probably get out of it in the end.

  And surprisingly, I was finding that I didn’t really care if I did or not. But I didn’t want a stupid mistake to mess up Zoey’s future. She was smart and funny and deserved a hell of a lot better than tonight. Her intelligence was one of the reasons I was having such a hard time rationalizing this. She was too fucking smart to do something so stupid. She was too fucking smart to put so much weight in one, unbelievably stupid night.

  But I could understand it. The weight of your future can feel unbelievably heavy when you get forced into it. I knew she felt like she was standing at a fork in the road, and instead of having time to rationalize, weigh the options, and think it through, she was just shoved down one side, tripping and careening the whole way.

  That didn’t mean that the path she got shoved down was necessarily the wrong one. In fact, I was pretty sure she would find out it was right. But she didn’t get to choose. She was still finding her way. And when you’re already tripping and slipping, your body moving in a way that’s completely out of your control, you don’t always fall the right way. You don’t always protect your limbs or keep your arm from getting broken.

  And this was just a larger, much less obvious example of the same problem. She was already fighting a mental battle with her fate, and stupid mistakes like this are sometimes casualties of the war.

  I knew how expectations felt and had just recently gotten rid of the load myself. I had a father who needed me and a town that had a whole lot of dreams locked up in my life. My tale of woe always got to people, and the way I carried myself always garnered a lot of respect. I always appreciated that, but like anything good, with it comes bad.

  When a whole town places you on a pedestal, that comes with responsibility, and sometimes, the choices you want to make up don’t line up with the ones they see you making.

  I wasn’t like Zoey, though. I didn’t feel a need to rebel; I just wanted a little time outside of the fishbowl. A little time to mess up, live life, and take it as it came.

  Who knew that our two worlds would come together so perfectly. Zoey’s rebellion might just be the shove that I needed to knock over my plinth.

  I made my way to the still-open window, expensive curtains blowing gently in the breeze of the balmy summer night. Placing my hands gently on the sill, I leaned in close and strained my ears to hear her, hopeful that she would make it out of the house without getting caught and that we would have time to deal with the consequences without the urgency and danger of the homeowners bearing down on us.

  Distracted by the sound of my own heavy breathing, I took a deep gulp of air and turned my ear to the wealthy decadence of the open living room one more time.

  Still nothing.

  I tried to be patient though. Going all commando, jumping in the window, and scaring the shit out of Zoey wasn’t going to help anything. In fact, it would probably do the exact opposite and end up being the reason we got caught.

  A shadow caught my eye, and I narrowed my eyes on it, trying desperately to enhance my vision beyond that of a human.

  She was creeping into the office a few doors down a visible hallway, pushing the door open slowly and moving with caution from what I could tell.

  All I could see was her back, and no details at that, but I still watched with rapt focus. Floorboards squeaked and I tried to pinpoint an exact location, praying that it was at that very door, down that very hallway, under her little feet.

  Blinding light flooded my vision, extinguishing my hopes and kickstarting me into action.

  My weight shifted into my hands on the sill, and I launched myself inside, not even considering tucking tail and running the other way.

  “What’s going on here?” Mayor Klein shouted violently, the whole house seeming to shake with the force of it as he came into view in a calf-length robe, his greying hair slightly rumpled from sleep.

  My eyes skidded right passed him, to the door I knew stood between him and Zoey.

  Of course, that was the absolute stupidest thing I could have done because now his attention was on the very same door.

  Fuck.

  What an absolutely terrible showing on my part.

  Seriously, I was really going to have to work on that if I planned to have a career in law enforcement. Grante
d, I probably wouldn’t be involved in anything this personal, and I might stand a better chance at keeping myself focused just because of that.

  But I was also going to have to be better about taking care of Zoey if I wanted to be in her life long term.

  The Mayor looked back at me, moving his eyes away from the offending door, studied me briefly and, after several seconds of introspection, recognized me for the first time.

  “Miller?”

  “Yes, sir,” I answered unflinchingly, my eyes meeting his with an air of honesty, apology, and confidence. No matter the circumstances, I certainly wasn’t the kind of man who ran from his mistakes.

  “I’m surprised, son,” he muttered solemnly before turning back toward the office and commanding, “You. In the office. I suggest you get out here right now,” with his usual bravado.

  It was fairly intimidating (read: ball shriveling), and I had no doubt I would get a glimpse of some sweet, expressive, amber eyes in the very near future.

  I braced myself, ready to do everything I could to help my girl, even though I wasn’t sure in that moment that I could help myself.

  The creak of the office door cut through the silence, and the shadow of the hall gave way to a feminine figure cloaked in black. Her hair fell like a curtain around her downturned face, and I waited, eager for the moment when her eyes would meet mine and I could offer some sliver of reassurance.

  Dark gave way to light, a sensation of lifting gripping my heart and taking it for a ride, and she finally emerged from the end of the hall.

  My swift intake of air almost choked me with its force.

  Fuck. Me.

  Zoey

  Despite feeling fairly certain that I already knew the answer, judging by the motley crew assembled before me, I asked, “Who’s in there?”

  I had followed Miller all the way back to his house, watched him jump in his truck as soon as he got there, and then failed to flag him down as he peeled out of his driveway and headed back in this direction.

  I ran as fast as I could, but there was only so much I could do. It was a marginally out of shape twenty-two year old versus an old but fast truck. I was doomed to lose dramatically.

  Of course, I had pushed hard, and I made it here just in time to see Miller poised at the front window, studying several unknown entities in the Mayor’s house. I didn’t know what he could see, but I had a pretty good guess that he thought it was me in there.

  I was equal parts flattered that he would put himself on the line for me like that and horrified that he would think I was that dumb. They crawled in the front window, for God’s sake. I was pretty much the antithesis of a con-artist, but these amateurs made me look like a professional.

  Before I got an answer, the lights flicked on, and Miller vaulted himself through the window like an Olympic hurdler.

  Fuck.

  Turning back to the three stooges, I gritted out, “Who’s in there?” again. This time with a little more bitchiness and a lot more urgency.

  “Hannah,” the sniveling weasel, Seth, finally answered me, confirming my earlier theory and adding a little rage to my already boiling pot.

  “What the fuck? You lose your balls tonight? What the hell are you doing sending a girl in there?” I demanded to know.

  Fire engulfed his pupils as he struggled with my insults. “No, I just wasn’t about to start committing felonies for some stupid prank night,” he argued, showing me his brain for the first time.

  “Smart,” I complimented him, which extinguished the flames and replaced them with a smirk brought on by ego.

  Ugh, men.

  “Would have been smarter if you would have convinced the whole little group though, Seth. Why you would let that sweet, albeit stupid, girl go in there, I have no idea.”

  He actually looked properly chagrined at that, but only for the shortest of moments.

  “You’re no freaking genius. Look where you are, here with us,” he pointed out, trying to make himself feel better.

  “I’m here because that idiot,” jabbing my finger toward the house, “Miller, thinks I’m an idiot,” I muttered, before turning my eyes off of Seth and pointing them back to the lit up house. “Jesus, you men,” I whispered on an afterthought, mostly to myself, but I knew Seth could hear me.

  “Everybody get the hell out of here while I handle this. You’re all just going to get in the way,” I declared softly but forcefully.

  Lindsey and the silent kid who really had no balls took off that instant.

  Seth lingered, his eyes trained on the house just like mine. It wasn’t long before he whispered, “What about Hannah? I can’t leave her here,” gaining my respect, that had been flapping away furiously like a really fast bird, just like that.

  I grinned, despite the circumstances, and gave him a squeeze on the shoulder. “Turns out you are a real man, Seth. Congratulations. After this is over, we’ll have a ball reattachment ceremony.”

  A radiant smile lit his face, just before he breathed, “Fuck, you’re funny.”

  I gave a little nod, because shit yeah I was funny, thinking that maybe I would be able to make some long-term friendships in Winslow.

  “Amazing how much easier it is to get to know a person when you actually talk to them, huh?” I asked sardonically.

  He just nodded, glanced between me and the house, and then asked, “So do you have an actual plan?”

  I didn’t. Not really. But I figured it was time to come up with one.

  First things first, we needed to get close enough that we could see and hear what the hell was going on in there.

  Waving two fingers, I gestured for Seth to move with me, and thankfully, he understood my hand signals.

  I kept my weight on the balls of my feet, hoping to keep my movements soft and soundless across the lush, green lawn the Mayor’s landscapers maintained.

  My accomplice managed to move even more quietly than I did, and I thought, not for the first time tonight, that I might not be cut out for all of this cloak and dagger stuff.

  We made it to the window, settling onto either side with our backs to the house, asses resting on our heals so that we could make a quick getaway.

  Carefully balancing one hand on the window sill, I slid my back up the rough brick exterior and peered around the white, wooden frame and into the house.

  I could see the back of Miller’s grey t-shirt clearly, along with the Mayor several steps in front of him donning a stylish plaid robe.

  They were the only two in the room, but both of their eyes were pointed toward the far hallway, and it was easy to surmise we were going to have Hannah’s company in the very near future.

  Seth shifted slightly on the other side of the window, producing no more than a gentle rustling sound, but I put my finger to my lips and commanded him with a, “Shh,” nonetheless.

  Even if they couldn’t hear us, I needed to be able to hear them, and Seth was distracting me.

  Seth rolled his eyes, our friendship taking immediate hold and my commands already becoming old hat.

  My respect for him was growing.

  Turning my attention back to the scene in the living room, I tuned in just in time to hear Miller’s harsh intake of breath.

  And there was Hannah. Right on cue.

  She looked up, surveyed her company, and didn’t bother to hide her surprise at the presence of Miller.

  No doubt she remembered him from high school---everybody knew Miller Laughlin---but she would understandably be at a loss on a reason for his being there now.

  Miller, on the other hand, was visibly just figuring out that Hannah wasn’t me, and that he had royally fucked himself for no reason.

  The bile climbing his throat must have really burned on this one.

  I could see the wheels of his mind churning, even from behind him, and I knew I needed to act fast, even if it didn’t entirely make sense.

  Throwing Mayor Klein for a loop was better than nothing.

  I quickly shucked my hoo
die, eager to look a little less like a criminal, and shoved it toward Seth, urging him to hold onto it.

  Of course, this left me in a skimpy camisole, one that didn’t do that good of a job of containing my bosom, and Seth was a man.

  His eyes bugged out, and his tongue practically lolled out of his mouth.

  “Roll your tongue back inside of your mouth, and keep your dick in your pants, you sicko,” I half-teased, half-ordered on a whisper, turning toward the window and getting ready to throw myself on the sword.

  Wasting no time, fearing that I would lose my nerve if I did, I braced my hands on the bottom of the window and raised my voice to an attention grabbing level.

  “Miller! Oh, thank God!” I declared dramatically with what might have been a touch of overacting.

  “I was worried when you didn’t check in,” I continued when three shocked sets of eyes locked onto me from inside of the house.

  Seth had plastered himself to the bricks, having been startled by my bluster, and was muttering that I was a psycho under his breath.

  He was probably right, but I had to give this a shot. Maybe we were all going to end up in jail, but at least I wouldn’t feel like I forced Miller out onto the cliff and then left him out to dry.

  Miller barely managed to be coherent enough to squeeze out an, “Uh,” and as a result, Mayor Klein was the first person to get his bearings back.

  “What the hell is going on here?” he demanded to know, and with the way his voice boomed, there was no doubt it was a command.

  “I’m so sorry, Mayor, but Miller and I were out on a date,” I enunciated slowly, hoping Mill would get a clue and start backing me up, but that it didn’t sound so stilted that the Mayor questioned my IQ. “And he thought he saw some suspicious activity at your house.”

  “Right,” Mill finally confirmed, allowing himself a half smirk and finally coming out of his stupor. “I know I was just recently deputized-”

  Well that was some unknown information. I guess there were a lot of things we didn’t know about one another.

  “-and I wasn’t on duty tonight, but I knew the timing, figured it was something fairly innocent like prank night, and wanted to give these kids a chance to make the right choice.”