Current

by Abby Mccarthy

  “Where’s Matt?” I question, surprised he isn't still with her.

  “Ugh, Matt had too much to drink and had some issues.” She scrunches up her face as she shifts into downward dog.

  “That bad, huh?” I ask.

  “So bad, I needed to relieve some pent up energy.”

  Lucas is still taking in the apartment, when he asks, “Which room is yours?”

  “Last door on the left,” I explain to which he replies, “Mind if I check it out?” This might seem strange to some, I mean how often does your one night stand come home with you and check out your room? I can tell by the way Liz is looking at me that she finds it peculiar, but for some reason it seems natural to me.

  “Go right ahead. Just don’t mind the mess.” Lucas kisses me tenderly on the shoulder and then walks into my room.

  “Wow, so you had a better night than me, I take it?” Liz asks switching positions again. She’s talking to me with her head between her legs and I can't help but laugh.

  “I had an amazing night. We’re going to hang out today. Mind if I borrow your laptop, so I can get my article done today?”

  “Not at all. Have fun.” She stretches her arms up over her blonde head.

  “I intend to.” I flash a huge grin as I walk away and into my room with Lucas.

  My room is a mess. Being neat and tidy has never been my thing. Clothes from last nights ‘what do I want to wear’ are in huge piles on my twin bed. On the floor is a pile of laundry I need to wash and sitting right next to that is a basket filled with clothes I need to put away. When I walk in, Lucas is standing in front of the tall dresser. He’s looking at something that I can’t quite see. The look on his face is tender. I get closer to see what he is looking at and my breath hitches. Of all the things he singles out in my cluttered room, he’s looking at the one thing that means the most to me.

  It was the last morning I’d ever spent with Jake. Of course, I didn't know it at the time. I thought we would have more time together.

  I slip on my flip flops and have one foot out the door to head to the river when Mom yells, “Don't forget your camera, June.” She knows me so well. I keep telling her how I want more pictures to capture this summer. She thinks Jake and I are cute. Whenever she says it I laugh at her and tell her cute is for babies, but what I really want to say is that what we have is so much more than cute. What we have is once in a lifetime and I’m just lucky enough to find it when I’m fifteen. I thank her for reminding me, grab the camera dangling from the short black rope on her hand and make a mad dash to meet Jake. He’s in a bad mood, kicking dirt when I sneak up on him. I hate to see this side of him. It truly breaks my heart. I hate his dad. He can destroy the best days for Jake in minutes.

  “Jake!” I call out and take a picture of him as soon as he looks up to meet my stare. He hates getting his picture taken. His face breaks out in a silly grin when he sees me. “You know I hate that. I’m going to get you for it,” he says and chases after me.

  I’m laughing hard as I dart in and out of trees trying to evade him, but it’s useless. He's quick. In seconds, he grabs a hold of me and begins tickling me. Before I know it, we are both on the ground and he has my hands pinned over my head. He grabs the camera from me and begins snapping shot after shot. I turn my head away from him laughing, “Stop Jake! I want pictures of you, not me.” I squirm and buck under him. For the first time, I feel him grow hard against my body. It shocks me, and the air instantly changes. He’s embarrassed. I can tell by the way he quickly gets off of me and lets go of my wrists. I’m not embarrassed, though. I’m curious.

  “Don’t do that, Jake. Don’t you dare shy away from me.” I don’t like when he hides any feeling from me.

  “Sorry, June. I didn’t mean for you to feel that,” he puts space between us.

  “Why? It’s part of who you are.” I’m still on the ground. Jake is on his knees. I crawl to him and get close again.

  He moans, “Don’t do that, June.”

  “Do what?” I ask flirtatiously.

  “Crawl to me.”

  I can't take it. I’ve been curious about him and what he looks like, what he’d feel like. “Can I touch you?” I ask.

  With my question, it’s like everything has changed. The air is thicker, or maybe I am just more aware of everything. My heart is beating hard in my chest and I’m so close to Jake now that I can smell his Ivory soap.

  “Oh my, Juniper,” he groans, “I’ve been trying so hard to go slow with you. You’re so young. I don't want you to do anything you’re not ready for.”

  “How about we stop if it’s too much?” I ask seeing the war rage in his eyes. I decide for us as I reach my hand to his zipper, unzip it and slip my hand inside feeling his hard length against his boxers. His eyes widen in shock, but I know he won’t pull away. He grabs my chin with his thumb and forefinger and lifts my eyes to his.

  “You sure?” He asks leaning in and pressing his lips to mine. His tongue glides into my mouth and I feel my panties begin to dampen.

  I answer his question by finding the opening in his boxers and gliding my hand against him. He groans in response. “Can I touch you too?” he asks breaking the kiss.

  I only got my period about six months ago, and I’ve only recently touched myself for the first time. Jake makes me feel comfortable like I’m the one with all of the power. I nod my head yes, both excited and nervous.

  “First, let me show you what I like,” he says and undoes his belt buckle and slides his pants over his hips. I let out an audible gasp when I see him. I’ve never seen one in real life before and his is pretty. I giggle and tell him this. “It’s pretty,” I say.

  “You can't call my dick pretty,” he sucks in my earlobe suddenly I'm serious again.

  “What do you want me to do?” I ask wanting to please him and do it right.

  He grabs my hand and wraps it around him, sliding it up and down his silky shaft. “Move your hand up and down like this,” he commands.

  I do as he says and I hear his breath quicken. He looks into my eyes as he trails his fingers up my thigh and under my dress.

  Jake's fingertips trace the outline of my white cotton panties. I want this. I want his fingers touching me. He pushes aside the soft cotton and slides one finger in between my folds dragging my wetness to the top and circling it with his finger tip. It feels good and a moan slips past my lips.

  “Faster, June.”

  I do as he says and move my hand faster up and down his length. Jake’s finger drags back down my slit and pushes in my small tight hole. I gasp. Even when I’ve done this, my small finger felt nothing like this. His palm presses against the top of my privates while his finger pumps in and out of me. “Oh, God,” I moan.

  “Yes, June. Keep it up just like that,” he says his eyes fixed on mine. “My God, you’re so pretty. I’d do anything to keep you with me.”

  “Shh…,” I tell him. Any talk of us not being together will dampen what we have going on here. “It feels so good,” I gasp as he somehow adds another finger.

  “One day, I’m going to be inside of you so deep you’ll never get me out,” he tells me as his body begins to shudder.

  “You’re already that deep, Jake. There’s no getting you out,” I tell him not talking about his finger inside of me.

  Warm liquid spurts onto my hand and Jake pulls my forehead to his pressing them together while he catches his breath. He’s pulled his finger from me and in a faint whisper he says, “God, I hope so.”

  Lucas is staring at the picture Jake took of me, I’m laughing hysterically in it. The camera is angled over me and my long auburn hair is fanned out around my head. I don’t want that picture in his hands. That’s my moment with Jake and although the two men share the same eyes, they are not the same; and that smile belongs to Jake.

  Chapter Four

  I stride over to the dresser and grab the photo from Lucas’ hands, quickly open a drawer and set it inside.

  He looks t
aken aback for a moment. “The photo?”

  “Is private,” I say curtly feeling like he had no right to look at that even though it was only a picture that I left out in the open.

  He raises a brow at me, then backs down and changes the subject by flopping down on my bed. “You weren’t joking when you said not to mind the mess.”

  “I warned you,” I wink flinging a hot pink bra at him that is hanging on one of the knobs of my dresser.

  “Don’t mind if I do,” he laughs and slips his arms through the bra.

  I laugh at his playfulness. “You’re silly, Lucas. I’m going to take a shower.” I start to walk out of the room when Lucas all but growls, “Lips.”

  I walk back to him lying on my bed, thinking how fantastic he looks sprawled out over my things. I lean down and press my lips against his meaning for it to be a quick, I’ll be right back kiss. Lucas doesn’t do the sweet, I’ll be right back kiss, because as soon as his lips touch mine, it's no longer me kissing him gently before I get in the shower. No, this is me giving him my lips. He takes them, sucking and pulling, his tongue sliding in and moving against my own. My body is pulled down on top of his firm chest. This kiss, oh this kiss. How it’s making my nipples react instantly. My laugh and my heart might be Jake’s, but at this moment, Lucas owns my body.

  Lucas’ hand pulls at my short hair, and I do the same to him. My legs move to each side of him and my skirt hitches up and over my hips. I moan as I rock with him, feeling his cock press against me.

  “You’re so fucking beautiful. I want you,” he says pulling my shirt and bra down and sucking in my nipple, twirling his tongue over the hard bud and pulling it taut with his teeth.

  I moan again, “Yes, that.”

  Bang, bang, bang. Three loud wraps hit my door. “I’m home remember,” Liz shouts from the other side of the door. I pull back from Lucas and he groans in protest.

  “Can’t we ignore her?” he asks hopefully.

  I pull my shirt up and over my breast and begin to get off of Lucas, he stills my hips and looks at me with a pout. “No, we can’t. Liz and I have an agreement that we don’t do that while the other person is home. These walls are paper thin.” I slide off of his lap and pull down my skirt.

  “Well, hurry up so we can get back to my place,” he throws his head back in frustration. I notice his cock is still straining against his jeans.

  “Sorry,” I mouth as I grab my robe and leave him alone.

  I return to my room in a robe feeling surprisingly amazing given the amount of alcohol, sex, and sleeplessness that I endured last night. Lucas has his palms over his eyes. I conclude that he’s either sleeping or in deep thought, so I do my best to be quiet. I rifle through my laundry basket that I’ve yet to put away and pick out a pair of black lace booty shorts and slide them up my legs. I look back to Lucas and it seems that he is still asleep or whatever so I take off my robe and put my bra on. I’m petite in stature so my full B cup is very proportionate. I’m bending over looking for my favorite jeans, the ones with the tiny black gemstones in the shape of a skull over the left back pocket when I hear, “You’re killing me, Sprite.”

  For a moment, I freeze. That was something I’ve heard Jake call me too, but I quickly shake it off. With my pixie cut and tiny frame, it’s not the first time I’ve been referred to as some type of faerie.

  “Relax, Lucas. I’m almost done,” I wink finding my jeans and pulling them up my hips. He groans in response, I laugh at him.

  I grab a soft pink blouse with small cap sleeves. It’s the polar opposite of my punk rock vibe I had going on last night, but I don’t care. It’s pretty and it makes me feel pretty. I begin buttoning the shirt, starting from the bottom and working my way up. I’m on the third small button when Lucas commands, “Come here.”

  I do as he asks and stand in front of him as he begins pushing each tiny button through the hole. He is slow and deliberate. His fingertips brush over my skin as he moves upwards from button to button. When he is between my breasts, he gently outlines the edge of my bra. I can't help the heated look my eyes give him. These are very calculated touches. He is at the top button when he leans into me and whispers into my ear, “There. All done.”

  My breath hitches again and I move away before I say to hell with Liz. I grab a light gray sweater that has tiny skulls on each arm by the wrist and slide my feet into my Chuck Taylors that are very similar to the ones on Lucas’ feet.

  “I’m just going to grab Liz’s laptop and we can get out of here,” I say applying a tiny amount of blush to the apple of my cheek. Besides a small amount of mascara and the little bit of blush I just applied, I barely have any makeup on.

  Lucas follows me out of my room and into the living room where Liz has cotton balls wrapped between her toes and she is brushing on a dark red polish.

  I grab the laptop and slip it into a bag. “Sorry about before,” I giggle and kiss Liz on the top of her head.

  Lucas and I get into his car and I remind him that I need a drugstore. His phone rings as we are pulling into a spot in front of the store.

  “Yeah,” he answers, then says, “It’s Dietz.”

  I get the hint and start to get out of the car, “Hang on,” he says to Dietz and then gives me a look that says you better not get out of the car without kissing me. I lean in and give him a light kiss that is returned with a smile. Lucas returns to the phone call and I hear him say before exiting the car, “What did you tell them?”

  I brush it off as I walk into the store, thinking that Lucas sounded frantic, but maybe it’s nothing?

  I search the aisle for the Plan B and it’s not there. I check with the pharmacist and she tells me that they are out, so I quickly grab a box of condoms and decide that we’ll just have to stop at the next pharmacy we see.

  I get into the car, and immediately notice that the atmosphere has changed. Lucas seems to be anxious.

  “Is everything okay?”

  “Yeah, yeah. Just some band stuff. Did you get what you needed?” He seems distracted as he nervously runs a hand through his dark hair.

  “They didn’t have what I need. Maybe we can stop at another store?”

  “Can it wait? I really want to take you somewhere,”

  I mentally go over what Liz told me about Plan B. She said she had seventy-two hours after unprotected sex to take it so that she didn't get knocked up. Not the best birth control, but it’s there in case of any accidents.

  “Yeah, um, I guess we can wait. Are you sure everything is okay?” I eye him, getting a feeling that the call he took from Dietz was anything but good.

  “Relax,” he smiles at me trying to reassure me.

  We drive north for twenty-minutes until we pull into a practically empty state park on Lake Erie. “Come with me. I want to show you something.”

  I follow him out of the car and he takes my hand guiding me when I’m in reach. The park looks like it's used as a Marina in warmer months. There are two large piers that lead out onto the choppy waters of Lake Erie. The water splashes ferociously. There is a man sitting on an upside down white bucket with his fishing poles all in a row, just waiting to catch a bite. Woods line the large parking lot with over-sized spaces meant for boats.

  Lucas leads me to a bridge that crosses over the mouth of the river. We stop in the middle of the bridge. Lucas stands behind me, wrapping his arms around me. To my left is a raging river. To my right, an even angrier lake. The moist air covers my face with a light sheen of water giving me a chill. A single seagull squawks then lands several feet away from us. The lake is vast and never ending as it bleeds into the horizon, while the river is backed up with fallen trees and branches tangled on top of one another, not sure if they are headed in or out, but fighting for a place to settle.

  “I love it here,” Lucas says close to my ear. “When it’s warm, it’s filled with fishermen, but right now is when I like it the most. See how the water rushes together? The current from the river is so strong wanting to ge
t out and be free from the narrow banks, but the lake fights back. It’s bigger than the river, stronger. When the water is turbulent like this, it’s as if the two sides go to war, but you know what I love the most?”

  I shake my head, loving the sound of his voice and how he can make this sound almost poetic.

  “I love that the current is strong enough to let the river break free even though it’s up against something so vast.”

  We stand for a while silently watching the turmoil. I only just met Lucas last night, but I feel like he has an uncanny ability to make me feel at ease.

  After some time, we walk over the bridge to the sandy beach area. Besides, the fisherman on the pier, we are completely alone.

  “What are your dreams, June?” Lucas asks me as we sit close together with only a hint of sand separating us.

  I could tell him about my journalism dream, but I feel like I need to be completely honest.

  “I lost someone once and my biggest dream would be that I’d find them again, and that maybe I’d live happily ever after. I guess that sounds more like a fairy tale, though.”

  He gulps. If I wasn't staring so hard at his beautiful features while he stared out at the water, I would’ve missed it. “It’s okay to believe in fairy tales. Maybe you’ll find them. Besides Juniper, I think you deserve a happy ever after.”

  My heart is beating wildly. Juniper. He said it again. I wasn't imagining it before. I stare at him. His eyes are so much like Jake's, it hurts. This hurts. How can there be so many similarities? Have I somehow tainted my image of Jake?

  “That’s the second time you’ve said that,” I accuse.

  “Said what?”

  “Juniper. Why did you call me that?” My hand is shaking and I feel like I’m betraying Jake somehow by letting Lucas call me his names.

  “Sorry, I just figured June was short for Juniper,” he looks at me and moves his fingers through my hair trying to calm me.