Everybody Falls

by J. A. Hornbuckle

  "The truck will do fine," he said after letting the choices roll through his mind.

  "Good," she said and began to lever herself out of the couch.

  "Uhm, Grams?" He needed more info, yet was hesitant to ask for it. "I haven't ever…ah, I mean, this is kind of new…"

  "Yeah, Hot Stuff. I know," she said tenderly and placed one of her warm hands over the one he had on his knee. "Here's all you need to know, Jax, okay?"

  He nodded and waited for the wisdom he knew his grandma, his only living relative, could give.

  "Be yourself, don't use too much spit when you stick your tongue in her mouth and always use a condom," she said sweetly, patting his hand.

  What. The. Fuck.

  What kind of advice was that?

  Aw, shit.

  He watched her go down the hall before she called back, "Since you're a big fella, be sure to balance your weight on your forearms. You wouldn't want to squish her!"

  Jax hung his head in defeat.

  Goddamn.

  His new life, this new way of living, was a fucking joke on every level.

  It was three-thirty and he was still standing in front of his closet trying to decide what to wear. He needed something that said 'Lacey worthy' without trying too hard. Something, too, that didn't scream 'I used to rock and rock hard' plus would hide him from the general public.

  No small feat any way you looked at it.

  He grabbed the light blue button down and a pair of black jeans.

  Boots or no?

  It was either boots or his new running kicks. So, boots it was.

  Leather jacket?

  Nope. A hoodie would be better.

  He'd take a hat, just in case.

  God, he was nervous.

  He'd never asked a girl out. Never taken a girl, one-on-one, anywhere.

  Fuck.

  Seriously?

  He felt like he was going to puke, his stomach was so jacked.

  "Jax?" he heard Gram call from downstairs.

  "Yeah?" he yelled back.

  "Don't over-think this, Hot Stuff," she said. "If you're picking her up at four, you need to get a move on."

  He smiled. How did she know?

  "Thanks, Grams," he called back and threw on his clothes. He moved carefully down the stairs and took the truck keys from the hook.

  "You look perfect, Jax," Grams said, eying him carefully. "Have fun."

  Jax didn't say anything, just leaned down and kissed the top of her fluffy head, getting a soft sigh, with a back rub, in reply.

  Time to go pick up his girl.

  Chapter 8

  He's here!

  Oh, my sweet chocolate. He's here and driving a very clean, very shiny old-fashioned, white pickup truck.

  I ripped the holder from my high pony-tail and grabbed my black leather jacket from the chair as I ran down the stairs. I looped my large leather tote from the dining room chair over my shoulder as I made my way across the retail space to the front door.

  "Hey," I said, trying really hard not to sound breathy as I greeted him.

  "Hey, Lace," he replied, standing on the top step.

  Goodness but he looked delish. All tall, broad and just so damn yummy.

  I was telling myself that the booming in my chest was from running down the stairs yet you and I both know it really wasn't.

  "Ready to go?" he asked. I got caught up in his smile before I realized I needed to answer.

  "Uh, yeah, just give me a sec to lock up," I said, turning back to the door and using the key; a key I very rarely, if ever, used. "Next time, you can come around to the back. That's what everyone else does when the shop is closed. You know, they, like, go around the back and ring the bell."

  I was babbling. Geez, twenty-four and I was babbling like a some kind of teenybopper or something.

  "Good to know," I heard him murmur from over my shoulder.

  I turned back to him and smiled, trying to get on with the program.

  I was nervous.

  It'd been quite a while for me, this one-on-one stuff with a guy. To tell the truth, never with a guy like Jack.

  He opened the passenger door and offered me his hand to step inside.

  Nice.

  After he settled himself and turned the engine over, I saw his eyes slide to mine.

  "Where to?" he asked.

  Oh, sweet chocolate.

  I forgot I was supposed to be the guide on this tour.

  "Uhm," I said as he pulled away from the curb. "Do you want scenic or to hit the hot spots?"

  "Hot spots?" he asked.

  "Yeah, you know. Places to see and be seen," I replied.

  "Scenic," he said firmly.

  "North, then," I said. "Take the 80 north."

  "How do I get to the 80?" he asked and, I have to tell you, that was a really strange question. Everyone knew the freeway to get either back down the hill to Sac or up the hill to the roads that led to Truckee, Tahoe or Reno.

  "Take a left here and just follow the signs," I replied trying not to make a big deal out of his lack of knowledge. After all, he did say he wasn't familiar with the area.

  There was quiet in the big truck for a while as he found his way to the freeway however, before long, we were talking together, doing the whole 'getting to know you' kind of conversation.

  "Did you go to school around here?" he asked at one point.

  "Erm…sometimes," I answered.

  "Sometimes?"

  "My home life was, ah, dicey," I replied. I wanted to be truthful yet not expose the crap of my early life too soon. "I graduated in Auburn. What school did you go to?"

  "I, uhm, got my GED instead of graduating," he said finally. I could hear a whole lot of story from just the words and his tone in that reply.

  So, the topic of school was out for both of us.

  Quiet settled in the cab as the truck wove around the different bends in the road, before I saw the sign for Highway 49.

  "You'll want to take the next exit," I said. While I hadn't actually planned our route, I knew the upcoming highway and thought he'd enjoy it.

  "Damn," he breathed after a few minutes. "This is beautiful."

  "I know, right?" I asked gently. "This road, this part of the foothills kind of makes everything going on just seem so…"

  "Small," we said together and, with that one word said at the same time, our connection was back.

  "Do you mind if we stop at one of the turnoffs?" Jack asked, pointing to one of the 'Scenic View' signs.

  "Not at all," I answered.

  He turned in and moved the truck so the back was facing what was soon to be the sunset. I watched as Jack grabbed a blanket from behind the seat before he closed his door and saw him let down the gate of the truck bed before he came to my door.

  "I thought it might be better to sit outside, if you don't mind," he explained with a soft grin, handing me out of the door. He spread out the blanket on the metal and raised an eyebrow before I felt his hands on my waist, lifting me up to sit.

  Nice.

  The truck dipped when he sat himself beside me, not too close, but close enough that our arms could touch if we moved just so.

  "Beautiful," he breathed.

  It was. The air was so clean, so clear it felt like we could see almost to San Francisco. The trees, the greenery went down and down the foothills only showing an occasional roof that peeked up here and there.

  It wasn't long and we were back to talking, which he started with a question.

  "Okay, Lace. I gotta know. How old are you?"

  "Twenty-four. How about you?" I shot back.

  "Twenty-six. What's your favorite food?"

  "Seriously? Hands down, chocolate chip pancakes with strawberry syrup," I said firmly. Didn't even have to think twice with that one. "Your turn."

  "Steak, mashed potatoes with that brown gravy and corn," he said finally. "The chocolate cake from the other night is a close second. What was your favorite cartoon when you were littl
e?"

  "Uhm…" I didn't know how to answer. My mom's house didn't have a TV. When I was with Grandma Lilly, we hung out in the bakery.

  "Okay, then. If you only had a hundred dollars, how would you spend it?" he asked with a grin.

  "A hundred won't get you much these days. So, let's see. Is it an extra hundred or a regular hundred?" I asked.

  "Huh? It's just a hundred-hundred, Lace. A plain ol' hundred dollar bill," he replied, smiling into the sun.

  I thought for a minute. I could think of a thousand different 'cute' things to say, the girlie, flirty kind of things to say. However, I wanted to give Jack the truth, a little bit of truth about me.

  "It'd go in the bank," I finally admitted.

  "The bank?"

  "Yeah," I said slowly, maybe even a little softly. "I'm kind of…uhm, a savings kind of gal."

  I watched as Jack turned and looked at me, his eyes almost searching.

  Then he nodded as if reaching a conclusion, but a conclusion of what I had no idea.

  We were quiet again as we watched the sun slowly begin to set.

  "Ah, Lace?" he said, breaking the silence.

  "Yeah, Jack."

  "Can I kiss you?" he asked after a couple of beats.

  I shot my eyes to his to check for seriousness.

  Who asks to kiss you now days?

  "Sure," I replied and found myself gripping the edge of the truck's gate as I answered.

  Jack turned his upper body just a bit and leaned towards me as I lifted my chin.

  His eyes never left mine as he got closer, then closer still.

  I watched his eyes dip to my mouth before moving back up to mine.

  He paused and I wondered if he'd had second thoughts, before his lips hit.

  Oh, crikey.

  It felt good, just having his warm mouth on mine with the right amount of pressure, the right amount of pucker. A definite ten thousand on the scale of first kisses. That was if you used a scale of one to ten.

  He pulled back a bit and asked, "Was that okay?"

  Uhm…what?

  "Yeah, Jack," I assured him, my heart doing it's whole rabbit kind of beat. "That was really good."

  "Can we do it again?" he asked quietly.

  "Yes, please," I breathed before leaning back into his mouth.

  It didn't take long and we were half reclining, clutching at each other. My hand was gripping his hair and he had one hand on my back and another on my ass.

  There were moans. I definitely remember one or both of us moaning. Like, a lot.

  Holy crap, he was hot.

  Kissing him was like heaven.

  Feeling his tongue in my mouth, tangling with mine was freaking amazing and my body was practically screaming for more. I think I was grinding my heat, my swollen wet crotch, against the leg he'd moved between mine.

  I wanted him. Badly.

  And, if what was being ground against my hip was any indication, Jack was of the same mind.

  *.*.*.*.*

  Christ! She was hot.

  She felt so goddamn good. That mouth, her tongue, her breasts boring into him, the way she was moving was driving him fucking nuts.

  She wanted him.

  Wanted him as badly as he wanted to be inside her, on top of her without all the fucking clothes between them.

  Jax felt the pressure in his lower back and knew he was going to come soon.

  Fuck, was gonna shoot in his pants if he didn't step back.

  How junior high was that?

  He slowly raised his head and pressed a soft kiss to her forehead before ordering his arms to move, to disengage from the hold he had on her. The hand on her luscious, round ass though didn't want to release.

  "Lace? Baby?" he said tenderly into her hair.

  Christ, she smelled so good.

  He pulled back further, putting weight on his knees, which groaned at the hard contact with the truck bed.

  "We gotta stop," he instructed softly, looking down into her hooded eyes. Eyes that had the whole oh-god-please-fuck-me light in them. His cock, his steel-like, throbbing cock, flexed in response, waiting for the go ahead to fulfill that light.

  "We do?" she asked finally, reaching a hand up to wipe her mouth.

  He'd never seen anyone look so sexy in his life.

  Her hair was tousled from either his hands or their movements, her delightful, pink mouth was swollen from his kisses and her pretty, purplish top had ridden up, exposing a small little belly ring with a dangling bit.

  Lacey had a piercing.

  Hot.

  Again, his cock flexed as his mind saw her naked in bed wearing nothing but that small, navel jewel, with her looking at him all sexy-sweet.

  Just like she was looking at him now.

  "Yeah, baby. We do," he affirmed, moving off her and turning over onto his back.

  He saw her glance at his crotch, at his unmistakable hard-on, before her eyes skittered away.

  "Uhm, okay," he heard her say before she began to straighten her clothes. As she moved, sitting up and fluffing her hair, he caught a whiff of her arousal.

  One whiff and his cock was ready to explode again. All it would take would be one long, hard stroke down the front of his jeans and he'd embarrass himself.

  Big time.

  "How about we go get something to eat?" he offered, hearing the strain in his voice. He needed to calm his goddamn ass down, get a grip on the monster in his pants or all bets would be the hell off.

  She was quiet for a bit and he tilted his head to look up at her. There was still just enough light left in the sky to see her expression.

  She looked confused.

  Without thinking, Jax reached for her hand.

  "Not this way, baby, okay?" he murmured. "I want you. But, not in the back of a truck by the side of the road."

  She looked down at him and finally offered him a smile. It was small. It was tight, yet it was still a smile, nonetheless.

  He brought her hand to his mouth and kissed it.

  "You know of a good place to eat around here?" he asked.

  "Yeah, Jack. I do," she replied, her eyes clearing.

  God, she had beautiful eyes.

  "Let's hit it, then," he said, doing an ab-curl up and standing back on solid ground before reaching for her.

  Things got a little strange when they got to the diner Lacey suggested. Jax did a quick scan of the parking lot, seeing nothing except wall-to-wall tractor trailers as far as the eye could see.

  This could be a problem, he thought to himself.

  The band had released a song, 'Trucker's Paradise' about midway through their career that had reported to become a long-distance truck driver's ballad. It was about the loneliness of the road and the joys of the girls that worked the truck stops in relieving some of it.

  Jax grabbed the baseball cap and placed it firmly on his head, pulling the brim down low, tucking his hair behind his ears.

  "Are you sure this is where you want to eat?" he asked her carefully.

  "Is there a problem, Jack?" she asked back, her eyes settling on his.

  "Uhm, no. I guess not. No," he said each word taking an eternity to say, yet his tone sounded unsure, even to himself. He grabbed the hoodie and shrugged it on before making his way to her door.

  "We can eat someplace else if you want," she said slowly. He knew she was probably confused again by his behavior, but he didn't know what to do. Any place they went, any public place, would still have him reacting the same.

  He opened the door for her, keeping his head down before shoving his hands in his pockets.

  "Go on and seat yourselves," one of the waitresses called out. Jax used a hand on Lacey's back to go to the set of tables furthest back, away from everyone else. He, of course, took the seat so his back was to the rest of the room.

  "Oh, I didn't realize I was so hungry," Lacey said peering, reading each selection on the menu. "It all looks so good."

  Jax smiled behind the fists he had in front of
his mouth, his elbows on the table.

  "Can I get you something to drink?" the waitress said sliding to the side and placing straws by the cutlery already there.

  "Water for me," Jax growled, keeping his head down, the brim of the hat low on his head.

  "Diet brown," Lacey said.

  "You folks know what you want?" the waitress asked.

  "I'm ready if you are, Jack," Lacey said and Jax cringed at the use of his name in a public place.

  He lifted the fingers on one hand, silently instructing her to go ahead.

  "Chocolate chip pancakes with strawberry syrup," Lacey said, sharing a smile with both the waitress and Jax.

  "And for you?" the waitress asked angling her body towards Jax, if what he could see of her legs was any indication.

  "Two cheeseburgers with everything, fries and a small salad," he said, trying to disguise his voice.

  "Sorry, sugar. We don't have a meal with two cheeseburgers," the waitress explained as she wrote.

  Jax did it without thinking, without even a flicker of how it might go down, when he glanced up at the waitress.

  He heard the swift gasp and saw the recognition flare in the older woman's eyes as they roamed his face. He glanced at Lacey and saw she was staring at the waitress as well.

  Jax cut his eyes back to the server and lifted one finger from one fist and held it against his lips. It was a signal to the waitress for silence except he hoped Lacey saw it differently. "Then just the one meal, thanks," he murmured.

  As she began to walk away, Jax angled his body towards her, and called, "Miss?"

  "Yes sir, Mr.…"

  He cut her off before she could say anything else. "There's a fifty in it for you if you could keep this under your hat until we leave, okay?" he said quietly from behind his hands.

  The waitress shot her eyes to Lacey then back to him.

  "Ah, sure thing, Mr.…er, sir. That's not a problem," she said almost whispering.

  "Thanks," Jax said and gave the old gal a wink. Back in the day, a wink used to be almost as good as a promise and he hoped it still proved to be true.

  "What was that about?" Lacey said when he turned back towards her.

  "I just nixed the onions," he said, realizing he was lying to his girl and recognized if they were going to go forward, and he sincerely hoped they did, he was going to have to tell her.