Double Threat My Bleep (10 page)

“Oh…I’m sorry,” I tell him. “But you’re Josh. You’re the badass baseball player who pitched a no-hitter. Once word gets out you’re single, all the girls at school are gonna go nuts. You’ll have another girlfriend by the time break is over.” And I’m not just trying to make him feel better either. Girls are going to freak. They’ll be all over him.

“But I don’t want another girlfriend,” he says. I think he’s getting a little choked up. He’s eyes are definitely glassy. I can’t tell if it’s from the tequila, or if he has tears. Poor guy.

I put my arm around his shoulder and squeeze him. “You say that now. But once you see all the hot pieces of ass throwing themselves at you…I think you’ll be okay. Erica may be older, but she’s stupid. She doesn’t know what she’s missing out on. She’ll regret it. You’ll be okay.”

“Thanks, Meg.” He lifts the bottle to take another drink, but I stop him.

“This is only going to make it worse. Do you really wanna get all shitfaced and cry ‘I love ya man’ for the rest of the night?”

We both chuckle because we know that’s exactly what’ll happen if he keeps drinking. He’ll get all weepy and act stupid with the guys. It’d probably make for a great story tomorrow, but I doubt it will make him feel any better.

Josh pours what’s left of the bottle in the grass. He takes the cup from my hand, stands up, and tosses the evidence in the trash. “C’mon Meggie, let’s do the monkey bars.”

Chapter Thirteen

My
eyes fill with tears when I open my front door to see Alex. His hair is getting longer. No more buzz cut for him. He’s gelling it into a messy faux hawk. It looks good. I want to run my fingers through it. He must have just put some Chapstick on too—his lips look moist and kissable. I just stare at him in awe. He’s here. He’s real. And I get to touch him. I get to see him, instead of just hearing his voice through my cell.

“Well, are you gonna let me in?” Alex says, his big eyes smiling down on me.

Seeing Alex makes my heart happy. “Yeah…yes,” is all I can manage to say before I leap up and throw my arms around his neck. He leans down and envelops my body in a giant embrace.

“It’s so good to be home,” he says softly into my ear, not breaking our tight squeeze. I don’t want to let go. I want to stay here in his arms on my porch, forever.

“It seems like it’s been forever,” I tell him. “I missed you so much.” I gently kiss his neck, and then rest my head on his shoulder. I feel like I’ve been waiting for this moment for so long—like it’s going to be over before I can even let it sink in that Alex is really standing here in my arms.

He begins to loosen his hold on me and I sink back down to earth. We separate and I can’t take my eyes off him. “I feel like if I blink, you’re gonna be gone.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” he reassures me. “Close your eyes.” I don’t. “No, seriously. Close your eyes.” Okay, as much as I don’t want to—I give in and close them. He leans in. I can feel him getting closer until I can feel his breath on my face. He rests his lips on mine for a soft kiss, then backs away. “Now open them.” I cautiously open my eyes, thinking this could definitely be a dream, and he’s going to be gone. But he’s still here. Alex is home.

Thanksgiving dinner is scrumptious. And it is even better because Alex joins us. He has lunch with his family, and then comes over to my house. He loves my mashed potato sandwiches—my favorite holiday food. Sure, turkey is great, but nothing beats a warm dinner roll filled with buttery mashed potatoes. Delicious.

The rest of the night is cozy. We watch movies with my parents. I snuggle up to Alex on the loveseat, while my parents are on the sofa. It is a little weird at first, but Mom and Dad don’t seem to be fazed by it so neither are we.

Mom and I wake up at the crack of dawn for Black Friday. Starbucks is packed with tons of early risers trying to get their caffeine fix. We are no exception. By the time Mom gets my Dad the new Blu-Ray player he wants, it is already mid morning. Long lines are worse than usual. You’d think after years and years of shopping madness, someone would perfect the check out process to cut down on hour-long waits, but that hasn’t happened.

We are beat after our double-feature last night. And I think Mom can tell I’m anxious to get back to Alex, so we cut our shopping trip really short. We stop for brunch and then head home. To my surprise, Alex is already at my house chatting with my dad. They’re in the kitchen talking, Dad with a beer in his hand, and Alex with a Dr. Pepper.

What the heck is this all about? I can’t wait to get Alex alone so we can discuss it.

Finally, my parents leave for a night out with some friends. I don’t think my mom really wants to go, but she’s feeling guilty after taking off for the weekend to see New Kids. My dad wasn’t too happy about the road trip. I don’t see why he got upset. It was just a concert. But oh well. Nothing they do will ever make sense to me.

“So what were you doing here so early?” I ask, as soon as my parents are out the door.

Alex leans against the counter and grins. Spit it out. He looks as if he wants to avoid the question.

“Well?” I ask him again.

“I called here by accident instead of your cell…you know just to say…whatever. But your dad answered and then he invited my over,” Alex explains, although it doesn’t make sense. Why in the world would my dad want to hang out with my boyfriend?

“And?” There has to be more to this than he’s telling me. The chat they were having when we came in didn’t look very casual. Now that I think about it, I think Alex was biting his lower lip—which he only does when he’s nervous.

“He just wanted to have a guy talk.”

“About what?” I continue my interrogation.

“You…what else?”

“Why? What did he say? What did you say?”

“He’s worried about you…and me…and the fact that I’m older than you. He’s cool with us going out and everything. I just think he’d rather we not do anything…but go out,” he says, emphasizing
go out
.

“What do you mean by that? Nothing but
go out
?” And then it hits me like a slap in the face. “Did my dad talk to you about sex?” Alex shrugs. “He did, didn’t he? Are you kidding me? How gross? How could he do that? That is so wrong on so many levels.” I turn my back to him—not wanting him to see my face, which I’m sure is cherry red. I whip open the fridge and take out a Diet Coke. I still don’t look at him. Seriously. My dad just had a sex talk with my boyfriend. Alex remains silent, and he doesn’t move an inch. The chill of the carbonation stings my throat as my first gulp goes down. Finally, when I can’t stand the silence anymore, I ask, “What exactly did he say?”

“Uh…before or after he cleaned his gun?” His gun? My dad doesn’t have a gun. Alex lets out a giggle, lowering his shoulders and relaxing. “Seriously, babe, I’ve never seen your dad so intense before. It was kinda scary.”

“Hold up…you said he had a gun? What the hell was he doing with a gun?”

“Yup, he’s got a Glock.” A Glock
. What the heck is a glock?
I wonder. Alex continues, “I sat down at the table, he offered me a drink and then took it out of a box. He’s got it locked up you know. Then he started taking it apart and putting it back together. He said he’s been looking for time to clean it. But I didn’t see him clean anything. He was just trying to scare the shit outta me.”

Omigod…I can’t freakin’ believe this. Wait. Let me rephrase that—I can’t
fucking
believe this. “So my dad went psycho on us. He has a gun. Jeezus. Then, what the hell did he say?”

Alex sits down at the table. “Sit down babe. Don’t freak out. I understand where he’s coming from. You’re his little girl and I’m a grown man to him. I know he likes me but he just wanted to remind me that I’m an adult and you’re a minor.” He pauses and smiles at me.

“And, like we don’t know that. Who cares? What else did he say?”

“He basically told me to keep it in my pants or he’ll have me arrested.” My jaw drops and Alex takes my hand. “Hey, it’s okay. I’m sure all dads do this. I’m okay. We had a good talk.”

“How can things be okay? C’mon Alex, my dad just threatened you. He just
threatened
right? He didn’t hurt you or anything did he?”

“No, he didn’t hurt me. I told you. Everything is fine. We’re good. I was freaked a little at first. But I’m good. Don’t trip.” He leans over and kisses me on the head. I love it when he does that. It’s like a wave of calm passes through me from my head to my toes. Amazing.

I look up at him and I kiss him on the lips. Just a peck at first, but then our mouths open and our kiss becomes more. Without even thinking, I stand between Alex’s legs, with my hands running through his thick hair, and I continue kissing him. He holds onto the back of my thighs and slowly works his way up to my ass and pulls me in closer, tighter. His lips leave mine and travel down my neck and linger on the bare part of my chest exposed from my v-neck. Omigod…this feels so good. I’d do anything for him so long as he keeps kissing me right now. The heat of his breath and the warmth of his tongue are driving me mad.

And just like that…he jumps up and moves a few feet away from me. I’m still out of breath. I can’t figure out why he’d stop. I’m kind of angry that he does. If guys get blue balls, what do girls get? Because my boyfriend is giving them to me right now.

His face is red and sweaty—and I still want to keep smooching him. The look in his eyes is desire. I can tell. He wants me. He wants me just as much as I want him. But there’s just one slight problem, or two—my dad and his gun.

“This sucks,” I tell him.

“Yeah, it does.”

“We can’t take a cold shower. Should we go outside and run in the sprinklers or something?” I smile at him and shrug. What more can I do? He smiles back, shaking his head with a chuckle.

“C’mere,” he says. I go to him and he hugs me. But this hug is not hot like before. It’s playful and chill. Friendly, so he doesn’t run the risk of getting arrested.

“I love you, you know,” I tell him.

“I know. I love you too.”

Chapter Fourteen

After
last night, it’s a good thing we’re going out to a party. As much as I want to be alone with my man, it’s probably not the best idea. Now, I can’t stop thinking about us using my lunch, that’s been tucked away in my closet since Amy and I ditched school to get it last year.

Whoa. What a buzz kill. It just dawned on me that Amy got condoms just in case she needed them when she was dating Alex, and now I’m going to use those same condoms for having sex with him too. Well, I’m not going to really use them. I mean, I want to but we can’t. And now, I seriously need to dump my bag of goodies and start all over again. I don’t want anything having to do with Amy involved with my hot love-making sessions with my boyfriend.

I’m just putting the finishing touches on my makeup before the party bus is here to pick me up. What the heck am I doing? I feel like I’m getting ready for prom or something. Usually, I just smear on some mascara and dab some lip gloss on, but tonight I decide to do it all—eye shadow, foundation, heck, I even curl my eyelashes. Whatever. Alex is only home for one more day. I may as well look semi-worthy of him in public.

“Okay Mom, Dad, I’m leaving. They should be pulling up in a sec,” I say to my parents, who have their feet kicked up on the coffee table, watching some documentary on the tube.

“What? Alex isn’t going to come in?” Dad asks.

“Well, you don’t have your stash of guns out today, so I told him to just stay in the car.” I can’t help the sarcasm.

“Megan, don’t start with the attitude unless you wanna stay home.” Dad isn’t too happy with me right now. I totally freaked on him and Mom last night when they got home. But he didn’t care. He pretty much told me to get over it or he wouldn’t have to worry about me dating an older guy because I’d never see Alex again. My poor dad doesn’t know any better. The old guy doesn’t watch the Lifetime or Halmark channels to know that if you forbid your daughter to see a guy, it almost guarantees she’s going to see him behind your back, runaway, get married, and have a kid. Okay, so I wouldn’t runaway but I’m not above telling lies in order to see Alex. A girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do.

“No, I’m good. But I’m last on Dom’s pickup list, so I told them all just to stay put.” I hear a lot of voices outside. “Okay, I think that’s them. I’ll be back. Love you.” I head to the front door as my parents say goodbye. To tell you the truth, I want to keep Alex as far away from my dad as possible. I’m not about to risk my relationship with him because my dad has a big mouth and wants to be all fatherly. Forget it. I know what’s going to happen if Alex and I never progress past this kissing stage. He’s not going to stick around for long when he has plenty of girls—at school, at his dorm, on his floor, right next door, who don’t have dads threatening him with guns and jail time—who he can take care of his needs.

The ride over is comfortable for once. The party’s at Josh’s house so he’s already there, and Jon’s there too. So we don’t have to squish in the back like usual. I can’t believe Josh is having a party. He’s only a sophomore, but when it comes to tenth graders, I guess he’s it. Based on the profile updates on MySpace, and all the texts I’ve been getting, this is going to be a good one. There is no way my parents would let me have a party this big. Bonfires with a few friends is one thing, but parties with beer and a DJ is another.

For the first time this year, I don’t feel like such a peon. Tenth grade has really sucked. When you’re a freshman, it’s great, you’re at a new school, everything is exciting and brand new. But then, sophomore year comes, and it’s like you’re the middle child. You’re not fresh meat anymore, and you’re not cool like the juniors and seniors who are old and about to graduate. Tenth graders are just blah.

But tonight, we’re part of the cool crowd. Josh is one of our best friends so we find the best place to hang before anyone else gets here—a round plastic table with enough chairs for all of us. Josh doesn’t have a lot of outdoor furniture so a lot of people will be standing the whole night. Keesh runs inside and comes back with a big piece of paper which says “Reserved”. Omigod. We’re VIP baby. LOL.