Southern Seduction (132 page)

Taking the ring from her fingers, I hold it up and can see that there’s a new inscription.
Yours forever, Birdie.

My heart swells, and I don’t waste a single second putting the ring on my finger. I lean in and press my lips to hers. “Yes, pretty girl, I’ll marry you. This is forever, Cheyenne. I’m yours for the rest of our lives.”

In between kisses, she pulls back from me. “I want a small wedding.”

“Okay.”

“I mean it, Sawyer. Low key.”

“Okay.”

“Are you even listening to me?” she asks.

“Do I get brownie points if I say no and tell you how I’m too distracted by your tits?”

“It’s not my fault it’s cold!” she protests.

“And it’s not my fault I’m drawn to your hard nipples,” I tell her, my thumb rubbing over her breasts. “Okay, maybe I was also thinking ahead and imagining you on our wedding night. Naked,” I tease, winking at her suggestively.

She laughs as she slaps my hand away and then saunters off, walking towards the boathouse. Turning back, she gives me a seductive grin. “Why wait?”

Running after her, I pick her up and throw her over my shoulder, not stopping until I’ve carried her over the threshold.

“Umm, you’re getting a little ahead of yourself,” she says, giggling at the gesture.

Throwing her down on the bed, I hover over her. Grabbing her hands, I intertwine our fingers and the sight of her dad’s ring on my finger makes my heart full.

“No way, pretty girl. The way I see it, we still have plenty of time to make up for. And I’m going to start right now.”

The End

“Bobby!” she screeched, running from me. The poor girl was terrified of bugs, which only made me want to terrorize her more. Her blond pigtails bounced as she tore off down the dirt road, kicking up a cloud of dust behind her. I would catch her because I always did. Being two years older and a boy, I could always beat her at everything. She hated every second of it.

“I told ya not to run, June Bug! You know you ain’t faster than me,” I hollered as I got closer. When she took a sharp turn off the dirt road and pumped her way into the field, I momentarily lost the gain I had on her.

“Leave me alone, ya big meanie!” She was slowing, spent from the chase, so I picked up my speed.

Now, I knew it ain’t right to hurt a girl, but June wasn’t a regular girl. June was my best friend. We’d been close ever since she and her momma had moved into the trailer on the edge of our land when she was just six and I was eight. My momma and daddy had rented it out to make extra money. Four years later and she still hadn’t learned that she couldn’t outrun me. I was Bobby Acer, fastest boy in school.

“I’m gonna catch you, June, and when I do, I’m gonna shove this bug in your pants and watch ya scream!” I taunted as I closed in on her.

She was within my reach and I tackled her hard to the ground. Fighting me off wildly, she scratched and screamed to no avail while I pushed the beetle down into the waistband of her shorts.

“I hate you, Bobby! Don’t you ever talk to me again!” She was crying now, which had me feeling a little guilty. Not guilty enough though.

I held her hands down and straddled her so the bug could crawl around and she would be helpless. Once her tears died down, I realized the fun was over. Looking down at her, I noticed for the first time that her eyes were as green as the grass underneath her. Her lips were still quivering and I suddenly had an urge to plant a kiss on them. The thought of kissing her gave me a boner.
What the heck?

Jumping up from her as fast as I could to hide my erection, I turned and walked back toward the road, leaving her in the grass behind me.

The entire way back to our houses, she deliberately walked several feet behind me and refused to say a word to me. June was strange these days. God, she’d better not get her period. Gross.

When we made it up to my driveway, we heard shouting come from my house. I could see Daddy up on the porch, and he was screaming at Momma.

“You ain’t nothing but a whore, Mona. They all call ya Moan-a behind yer back! Get the fuck out of my life. I’m divorcing your ass!”

Momma was crying and calling him a slew of names. When she shoved him, he slapped her across her face hard enough to knock her on the floor. I was tearing up the driveway, June calling after me, before I even knew what I was doing. Pounding up the steps, I reached Daddy as Momma started to stand back up. I tackled him with as much strength as a twelve-year-old could boy possess.

“Don’t ya touch my momma!” I screamed and attempted to punch him with my small fists. Daddy just grunted and swatted me off him. I was no match for his nearly six-foot frame.

“Boy, ya better not do that again or I’m taking my belt to yer bare ass!” he growled and started unbuckling his belt.

Momma stormed into the house, letting the old screen door slam behind her. I glanced over to June, who was standing in the yard, tiny hands covering her mouth. She looked horrified. Daddy and I had a silent standoff for what seemed like several minutes before he stomped back into the house.

Defeated, I slammed myself down on the porch swing and gritted my teeth. June slowly approached me, sitting beside me. Her petite hand reached over and covered my clenched fist, immediately causing some of the tension to fade. My heart was still racing from the altercation moments before.

“I’m sorry yer momma and daddy were fightin’,” June said sadly.

I looked over at her and studied her soft features. She was beginning to look pretty to me. Meeting my eyes, she smiled. For some reason, I had an overwhelming urge to kiss her pouty lips.
What is wrong with me these days?
I could feel another boner start and I adjusted my jeans, hoping she wouldn’t notice. All attempts of subduing my hard-on were thrown out the window when she leaned over and pecked my lips. Before we could even assess what happened, Momma burst back out of the house.

“Come on, Bobby. We’re leaving,” she ordered as she stomped to her truck. My heart sank when I realized she had two suitcases in tow.

“Where are we goin’, Momma?” I shouted after her.

She tossed them into the bed of the truck and turned to me. “Me and yer daddy are gettin’ a divorce. We’re goin’ to stay with your Aunt Martha. Now get in the truck.”

I turned to look over at June and her eyes were filled with tears. My stomach felt uneasy, like I could be sick at any moment. Latching on to her hand with mine, I stood up from the swing and she followed suit. Ducking my head, I pecked her on the lips once more before backing away from her and releasing her hand. The last image I had of her was one that haunted me for years to come.

I love you, June Bug.

Bobby

“Dude, that chick from last night was fucking hot. She looks like she takes it in the ass. Tell me, did you put it in her ass?” Chaz questioned, wagging his eyes at me.

Ignoring my best friend, I picked up my Gibson acoustic and strummed a few chords. We had the last show of our tour tonight at The Joint in The Hard Rock Hotel, and I was trying to flesh out a new song I wanted to play. Chaz’s stupid ass was distracting as hell.

“Come on, Bobby. You know I live vicariously through you, and I’m sorry but Neve won’t let me get near that hole. The only reason I’m marrying that girl is because she gives good head. So give a brother something to dream about,” he pleaded.

I looked up at him to tell him to fuck off but started chuckling when I realized that he looked like a fucking chick perched on the arm of the sofa. Neve wore the pants in their relationship, and I felt bad for my best friend.

“Fine, Chaz. I fucked her in every hole she begged me to put it in. This man
aims
to please,” I bragged, pointing at my chest.

He grinned and slapped me on the shoulder. “Now I’m going to go fuck my fiancée and imagine that chick from last night taking it from behind,” he joked and sauntered off to find Neve.

I continued strumming my guitar as I thought about exactly how I wanted the solo to go. Tonight was a big fucking show and I wanted to wow the crowd with a new piece. The chicks usually went wild when we took it down from the hard rock to an acoustic set. That’s when the panties would start flying across the stage.

Donnie, our drummer, always made it a part of the show to run across the stage scooping up as many as he could and stuffing them down the front of his low-slung jeans. The women would go insane during that part. He was a typical badass drummer with his tattoos, lean body, and outrageous behavior. Our bass player, Manny, was the quiet one of the group. And even though he tried to ignore the attention, his Puerto Rican good looks prohibited that from happening. Chaz was the only one of us officially off the market, but that didn’t stop the outpouring of love toward him from our fans. Part of the rise of our success had been that we were comprised of four good-looking bad boys, but we could back it up with our badass music.

My phone chimed, so I set down my guitar to see who’d texted me. Mom was begging me to come visit this weekend. Since the tour had begun in January, I hadn’t seen her once. I knew she was pissed, but this was my career. Typing out a promise to visit, I glanced down at my bare chest. I wanted another tattoo but was beginning to run out of places to put them. Thinking about my favorite one, I looked down at my thumb on my right hand.

The tiny, simple black beetle was situated between my two joints there. It was my first tattoo and a daily reminder of her. When Mom took us away from there a little over fifteen years ago, I’d thought about her every day. Hell, half my songs were in some way about her. I hated my dad for ruining our family, so I’d never desired to go back to that shitty-ass town. Hopping up, I headed for the shower to get ready for our last show.

June

“Dammit, woman! I told ya to have dinner on the fuckin’ table when I got home,” Markwayne spat when he walked into our kitchen after work.

I flinched at his tone, which indicated that he’d been drinking with the boys after work. Most days, he was such an asshole and I hated him. I should have left his ass long ago. Every day, I found more reason to leave him.

“Babe, I just got home from work. We had a late rush at the diner and one of the other servers quit. I couldn’t leave Larry shorthanded. Let me change out of my uniform and I’ll make you some supper.”