We Were One

The Biggest Hurdle

The guy pulled his ball cap off and banged his own car's roof with it. “Bunch of . . ." He stopped when he turned to see me eyeing him in anticipation of what else might come out of his mouth. “You know them?"

“Yeah, I do," I said, silently daring him to say more, but he didn't.

Wisely, he shrugged, muttering something about it being a better drive alone anyway as he got in his car and slammed his own door shut. After all was said and done, I was left standing there wondering what the hell that was about.

Trying to get her off my mind before was hard enough. Now I had so much more to obsess about. First, the realization that this girl had been putting a lot more thought into me than I ever imagined. But up until then I'd seen nothing but her sweet bubbly side. Now I'd seen what a spitfire she could be. More than anything, I knew I'd now obsess about that change in demeanor just seeing me did to her because it was exactly what she did to me each time I laid eyes on her. This was only the beginning of my obsession.

Any hope that this little infatuation of mine would soon wear off, was a joke. Each run-in I had with her from then on only sucked me in deeper. It took my dense ass awhile to pick up on the game, but Madeline did things so subtly I was still not sure I was a hundred percent about it. Maybe she'd always been at those lake and river parties, and I just hadn't cared enough to pay that close attention. But after that one conversation with her at the lake, it seemed she was there every time I was. I didn't even have to see her to know she was there. Where there was laughter or loud animated conversation, I knew she wasn't far.

I knew Loretta would be my biggest hurdle when it came to anything happening between her precious baby girl and me. Even when Madeline was finally of age, I was certain Loretta would be opposed. I was the oldest of the big bad Cortez brothers. I'd overheard the comments about us being the town's terrors. Mostly because we rode around on our bikes probably too fast and revving them too loudly. But we'd also been in quite a few fights and brawls over the years, and I was sure it had gotten back to her.

While all my brothers were well on their way, I was inked up more than any of them. We were all foul-mouthed and known to not take s**t from anyone. None of us were scholars or headed out of town to college any time soon. And I hadn't helped my case much by driving around town with a different girl on my bike every weekend. Sometimes during the week as well.

I'd seen the disapproval on her mama's face too many times already. I knew what she thought of us. So between that and this unspoken agreement Madeline and I now had, I'd started doing things like driving out of town for over an hour to meet chicks.

I met America online. She worked at the only fancy restaurant bar in King's Falls. I purposely set up the day I just so happened to drive out there to be during her shift but knew she'd still be up to meeting. I planned it this way so I could assure myself I wouldn't get stuck with her, if hanging out in person was different from chatting online—which it usually was.

Turned out America was as hot and easy enough to flirt with in person as she was in pictures and videos. As soon as she got the chance, we snuck out into the back alley on her break. The moon was just as bright here as it was in Huntsville on any given autumn night.

“My God," she whispered as she flung her arms around my neck. “Your eyes are even more amazing in person than they are online."

Her blue eyes were pretty—couldn't touch what Madeline's baby blues did to me even from afar—but still I figured I could return a somewhat disingenuous compliment. Only before I could, her lips were on mine. Ironically, because of Madeline, it'd been at least a month since I'd messed around with anyone else much less bagged a chick.

The girl's hands were already traveling, and we'd only just begun to make out. Like the rest of the town seemed to be at this hour, the alley was deserted. America had already mentioned the restaurant being short-staffed for the weekend, so only one staff member was allowed on break at a time. I was fairly certain, especially given how her hand was already rubbing my c**k over my pants, that she was thinking the same thing I was. The odds of another employee walking out here while she was on break were slim to none. She had twenty minutes, and I knew I had more than enough time for a quickie if she was up to it.

The harder she sucked my tongue, the more certain it became that she was up to it. Her undoing my jeans while I sucked her neck only confirmed it. We both moaned as things escalated quickly, and her blouse was now unbuttoned all the way down.

When a car turned into the alleyway, bright lights immediately on us, I covered her body with mine. The car didn't even slow. We zipped and covered up anything that had begun to come off.

Bracing myself when the car slowed, I wasn't sure what to expect. The i***t driving rolled his window down. I was instantly assaulted with the overpowering stench of cologne.

“Evening." The goofy older driver in a tie smiled.

But that seemed to wane the moment being this close made it clear what he'd just interrupted. He cleared his throat and glanced away from America, who was still working on tucking in her blouse. It was an obvious attempt to pretend he hadn't noticed.

“I think I made a wrong turn back there. I'm looking for Barberella Romantica, and according to my navigation thing, I'm here." He looked around with another goofy smile. “That's gotta be some glitch."

Motioning with my thumb to the back door America and I had walked out of, I smirked. The guy was out on a romantic date and this was how it started. “Yeah, this is the backdoor to the place."

“If you keep going . . ." America finally spoke up.

She explained what the fastest way was to get back to the front entrance. Someone in the passenger seat leaned over to get a better look at us through the driver's window. I was just beginning to see the humor in the awkward situation when I saw who it was.

Loretta.

It wiped the smirk right off my face. A brick settled in my stomach as she eyed me then America, lifting a brow, and sat back in her seat without saying a word.

“Thank you," the driver said with a nod and drove off.

America giggled, wrapping her arms around my neck. I had no idea how close Loretta and her daughters were, but from what I'd seen so far, they talked and laughed a lot. I had to wonder now if this would be something she'd get home and gossip about with her daughters first thing.

Technically, I'd done nothing wrong. I was free to be with whoever and however many women I chose to be with. Madeline shouldn't even have been on my radar, much less someone I had to worry might hear about my escapades.

“So, are you sticking around until I'm off?" America asked once they were gone as she kissed my neck.

“I can't," I said, staring straight ahead.

I was having visuals of Madeline and her family discussing and giggling about the awkwardness of what her mom just witnessed. Though something told me Madeline might not be doing a whole lot of giggling. I knew if someone unwittingly told me the story of nearly catching Madeline doing the dirty in a dark alley somewhere, I sure as f**k wouldn't have been smiling. My only hope was that this was obviously the beginning of Loretta's evening. No telling how late she'd be out. Then she'd still have a whole hour drive home, if she was even going home tonight. Maybe by the time she got to talk to them, which likely wouldn't be until tomorrow, she'd forget all about it.

I could only hope.