Crazy Beautiful Love (14 page)

“What?” She looked
at me angrily. “That is not what I was saying.”

“Do you think I
want to hear about how many guys were delighted that you were willing to have
sex with them?”

“I didn’t say
that.” She rolled away from me.

I pulled her
towards me again. “I can’t believe we’re arguing about this.”

“Well, believe it,
ass.”

“Fine.” I jumped
up and pulled her up with me. “Let’s go.”

“What, where are
we going?” She stood up reluctantly, and stared at me with a dazed expression.

“Do you want to
know something about me?” I leaned towards her and whispered in her ear. She
nodded slightly, and I continued. “I like having sex in public.”

“Okay, and …” She
reached over to me and reached down my pants again. I shook my head and gave
her a smirk.

“I like to have
sex in public, where people are around.”

“You like them to
watch you?” She looked at me with wide eyes and I laughed.

“No, I don’t go to
sex clubs or anything. But I do like the thrill of knowing I’m having sex and
that anyone could find out at any moment.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know why,
maybe it’s the fear of getting caught. It gets my blood pumping.” I shrugged,
worried I had scared Maddie off. It wasn’t every day that people shared the
intimate details of their life, and I didn’t want her to think I was a freak.
Not with everything else she knew about me.

“I suppose that
makes sense.” She looked at me, considering. “I’ve never really had sex in
public before; I mean aside from in the field with you, but no one was there.”

“We could change
that …” I let my words trail off as I tried to hide my excitement.

“We could.” She
turned away from me, and I saw a glimpse of a smile on her face.

“What are you
thinking?”

“Let’s go shop.”

“Shop?” I tried to
hide my disappointment. “You want to go shop?”

“Yeah. I’m in the
mood for some new things.”

“You want to go
now?”

“Don’t couples
normally go shopping together?”

“Yes, I’m sure
normal couples go shopping together.”

“We’re not
normal?”

“Well, we’re not
from Mars or anything, but I don’t think I’m the sort of person who can be in a
normal anything.” I laughed. “Ask any of my exes.”

“I’d rather not
ask them.” She frowned. “What did you do with your exes for fun?”

“For fun? Do you
really want to know?”

“I guess not.” She
started walking away from me and I hurried to keep up with her fast pace.

“You’re mad at me
again.”

“I’m not mad.”

“You’ll have to be
patient with me, Maddie. This isn’t something I do every day.”

“What’s not
something you do every day? Have a conversation or try to not talk about your
exes?”

I smiled to myself
at her surly tone. Maddie was well and truly jealous. I knew it wasn’t funny,
but her jealousy just didn’t seem to fit in with her confident attitude. It
made me feel like I meant something to her.

“Let’s both of us
not talk about our exes anymore.”

“Sounds like a
plan to me.” She turned to me again with a small smile. “Now, can we go
shopping?”

“I guess if you
make me.”

“Make you?”

“Well, I’m not the
biggest fan of shopping.”

“I think you’ll
like this trip.”

“I doubt it.”

“We’ll see.” She
grinned at me as we made our way to the car. “I mean we don’t have to go if you
think they’ll be tracking the car.”

“We’ll park the
car at the mall. I assume we’re going to the mall, right?”

“Am I that
predictable?”

“You and all
girls. Oops.” I laughed. “I forgot I’m not supposed to be talking about other
women right now, am I?”

“No.” She rolled
her eyes. “Though, I suppose as a guy, you can’t help it.”

“You know us
guys.”

“All you think
about it getting some.”

“Yup, you got it.”
We got into the car and I saw Maddie grinning at me teasingly. “Sex, sex, and
more sex.”

“Sex in the
bedroom, sex in the bathroom, sex in the kitchen, sex in the field.” She
counted off on her fingers. “That’s all that’s on your mind.”

“You know me so
well.” I checked to see if there were any cop cars coming before I pulled back
out onto the highway.

“I know men.” She
winked at me and shimmied in the seat, and I put on a fake Spanish accent.

“Maddie, I think
you are trying to turn me on with your sexy talk.”

“Are you trying to
pretend you’re Italian?” She giggled.

“How dare you, I’m
from Puerto Rico.” I rolled my R and tried to keep a straight face.

“Puerto Rico by
way of Rome?”

“I’m from San
Juan.” I winked at her. “And I’m going to show you how to salsa.”

“Ooh, really? I’d
like you to show me how to salsa. Maybe I’ll get a dress at the mall.”

“Oh, God. Me and
my big mouth. I’m going to become one of those men who stands there looking
tortured while he waits for his woman to try on clothes.”

“I don’t know that
you ever don’t look tortured.”

“Are you calling
me dour?”

“Dour?” She made a
face at me. “I’m not sure you can call a handsome young man dour. I’ve only
ever thought of sour old women as dour.”

“Yay. I’m not a
sour old woman.”

“Thank God.” She
leaned over and whispered in my ear. “I wouldn’t want to have sex with a dour
or sour old woman in a changing room.”

“What?” My eyes
nearly popped out of my sockets at her words. “You what?”

“I figured that
would get your heart racing.”

“You figured
right! Why didn’t you tell me earlier? I would have taken you to any mall you
wanted.”

“You’re such a
guy.”

“I think we
established that already.” I laughed and pressed the gas pedal excitedly. I
turned on the radio and stopped at a song that Maddie seemed to know. She was
singing along and bobbing her head and I laughed as she danced around in the
seat. As I drove, I realized that I was happy. It was a weird feeling. A unique
feeling for me, and I wasn’t used to how good it felt. The worries and the
stress were gone, albeit briefly, and at the back of my mind. But in this
instant, I felt like I was in Utopia. I’d never realized just how wonderful it
could feel to be with someone I liked who liked me. It was a different but
entirely pleasant feeling. Right now, I was just Logan, a regular boy, and I
was amazed at how good that felt.

***

“Let’s go into
Macy’s.” Maddie pulled my arm. “They have lots of changing rooms and they
hardly ever have salesgirls around.”

“Macy’s?” I made a
face. “That’s not exciting.”

“It’s in a store,
it’s fine.”

“No, no. If we’re
going to do this, it has to be somewhere exhilarating.”

“This is the mall,
Logan. Not Hedonism Island in Jamaica.”

“Now, I wouldn’t
mind going there.”

“Hell, no.” Maddie
shook her head.

“I’m joking. I
don’t have the money to take us there, even if I wanted to.” I made a face and
turned away from her, angry at myself for bringing up money. For a moment, I
had forgotten the dire straits I was currently in. I followed Maddie
distractedly, as I started thinking about what I was going to do. Five hundred dollars
wasn’t going to help the family much, and now that Marty was onto me not
selling him the cars any longer, I knew I had to think of something else to do.

“Logan, earth to
Logan.” Maddie looked at me in concern, and I could see her violet eyes
searching my face. It was funny how she always seemed to know when my mood has
changed. I knew that people said women were in tune with emotions and stuff,
but I’d never had anyone close enough to pay attention to mine, not since my
mom had died.

“Sorry, was just
thinking.”

“Nope, I forbid
it.” She grabbed her hands. “No worrying and no thinking right now.”

“You’re a bossy
boots.”

“It comes from
being an only child.”

“Must be nice.” I
laughed, only half-joking. If I didn’t have Vincent and Jared to worry about, I
could have left River Valley and started a new life for myself. I could have
reinvented myself and perhaps made something of my life.
But then you wouldn’t have met Maddie
, a little voice whispered in
my head.
And you wouldn’t have your two
best friends in your life
, another voice whispered. And it was true; I’d
take whatever adversity came my way to ensure that I had Vincent and Jared in
my life. They were my life; they were everything to me. They were my blood and
my sweat. They were the only people I knew I could trust my life with. Until I
met Maddie.

“What are your
brothers like?” Maddie interrupted my thoughts, and I smiled at her, wondering
if she had ESP or something.

“Vincent’s the
second oldest, he’s a fighter, and one of the best men I know. He is also
pretty reserved, but he would do anything for the ones he loves. Jared, well,
you know Jared a bit, he’s the baby of the family. Handsome, lovable, charming,
quick-witted, and a big troublemaker.” I tried to laugh as I talked about
Jared. Between Vincent and Jared, Jared was the one I was most worried about.
He was smart and rebellious, more so than me and Vincent. And he had a
propensity to act first and think later. I was worried he was going to get
himself into trouble so deep that there would be no saving him. That was why I
was pushing so hard for him to start college. I felt if he had some real goals
and a real routine, he wouldn’t have time for Joey and the other troublemakers
he hung around with.

“Yeah, Jared seems
really cool.” Maddie smiled. “He’s very handsome and friendly.”

“Do you have a
crush on him as well?” I played with the money in my pocket, waiting for her
answer. All I could think about is how badly I would want to beat Jared if she
said yes.

“Oh, no.” She
laughed. “Not at all. You’ve always been the
Martelli
boy for me, though I’ve never met Vincent. And anyway, Lucy loves Jared.”

“Lucy?” I grinned
up at her in relief. I hadn’t been looking forward to socking my own brother.

“Joey’s sister. My
best friend.” She smiled. “Did you forget already?”

“Oh, no,” I lied.
“Sure, Lucy.”

“You totally didn’t
remember her.” She giggled and then ran her finger down my chest. “I’d like to
meet him, too.”

“Meet who?” My
brain was distracted as she ran her fingers to the top of my jeans and then
paused.

“Your brother
Vincent.” She leaned closer and looked up at me, batting her lashes cutely.

“What about your
brother? I mean my brother. I mean Vincent.” I gazed down at her juicy pink
lower lip and licked my lips. All I wanted to do was lean down and tug on it
with my teeth.

“I’d like to meet
him.” She moved even closer to me and I felt her breath against my mouth. “Can
I?”

“Uh, sure,” I said
without thinking and she rewarded me with a slow, sensual kiss. I pulled her
towards me and put my hands in the back pockets of her jeans as we kissed. I
pushed my tongue into her mouth and she ran her hands through my hair. It was
only as I heard a couple of kids giggling beside us that I remembered where we
were, and I pulled away from her regretfully.

“Oh, Logan.” She
smiled up at me through eyes of lust and my stomach flipped as I thought about
making love to her again. I grabbed her hand and we walked quickly through the
mall, looking for a store that would fit the bill. “What about JC Penney?” She
pointed to the store in the far corner, and I shook my head. “The Gap?”

“No, no.” I
laughed and then I saw the pink stripes of Victoria’s Secret and my heart
started racing. “Let’s go there.”

“Where?” Maddie
followed my gaze and stopped still. “There’s no way we can go in Victoria’s
Secret.” She shook her head. “They have girls by the changing rooms all the
time and there is no way they will let you in with me.”

“Then we’ll have
to sneak me in.”

“How can we sneak
you in?” Her voice lowered as we entered the store and I was surrounded by
panties and bras. I glanced around and grinned. Now this was a store to have
sex in. I glanced at Maddie and pictured her modeling underwear for me:
something lacy and see-through would be nice.

“Logan,” Maddie
hissed at me. “Pay attention.”

“Sorry, what?” I
grinned at her, trying not to look too excited.

“You’re like a boy
in a candy store.”

“I do have to
admit, this day has gotten a lot better.” I walked over to the side of the
store and looked at some teddies. “What about one of these?”

“Huh?” She looked
at me, confused.

“Well, you have to
go in and try something on, right?” I raised an eyebrow. “That’s the point of a
changing room. So what about one of these?”

“Are you joking?”
She rolled her eyes. “No way.”

“
Aww
, come on.” I grabbed a black number that looked
particularly sexy.

“No way.” She shook
her head. “Or should I say, keep on wishing?”

“
Awww
, I thought you liked me?” I laughed and put the number
back down. “So what then?”

“I was thinking
about these.” She picked up a pair of shorts and a tank top, and I frowned. “What?”

I tried not to express
my dismay, but I must not have been able to hide it well because she burst out
laughing.

“You should see
your face right now.”

“I’m guessing it
looks like
what the fuck is she thinking
?”

“No, more like
I can’t believe I have to eat broccoli for
dinner
.” She laughed and put the shorts down.

“Let’s be real,
Maddie, we need something with easy access.” I laughed and watched as she
blushed.

“
Shhh
, Logan.” She pressed her finger against my lips and I
tried to nip it. I laughed as she pulled away quickly and walked away from me.
I watched her going through the different bras and smiled to myself.