Wilson Mooney, Almost Eighteen (31 page)

My face burst red as the
heat flushed to my cheeks.
Why does she do
that to me?
I followed her and shut my
door. I didn’t wait to prop the chair under my door handle
again.

“
You can come out. She’s
gone.” I whispered, before I pulled the door open. His hair was
tussled and messy with random pieces across his face. His smile, so
wicked, it rose to his eyes as they convinced me to join him in the
huge walk-in, livable, closet.

“
She left, but I have a
feeling not for long,” I told him as he wrapped his hands around me
and spun me to the bench in the center of the closet.

“
If I had known this room
existed, Mmmm, what fun we could have had.” He sat me down on the
bench and crouched down between my legs.

“
Max? What are you doing?”
I asked before he kissed me.

“
Close your eyes,” he told
me kissing my eyelids.

He left me sitting, cool air wrapped
around me as he passed behind. Weight pressed against the crown of
my head; a rush of air swooshed around my face as something tickled
my neck.

“
Open your eyes.” I looked
at him. He had taken off his shirt and wore a huge black cowboy
hat.

“
Mmm, you make one hot
cowboy.” I grabbed at the waist of his jeans, pulling him closer to
me. “It’s
this
I
worry about.” I looked at the full length mirror at the other end
of the closet. I had on a pink cowboy hat with maroon dyed feathers
across the front. Tiny clear and pink beads created a pattern of
zigzags covering the lower part of the feathers. Around my neck,
was wrapped a deep blue feather boa. I raked my hands up and down
across the space in front of my head and shoulders.

“
Really; a pink cowboy
hat—really?”

“
It’s that or the bright
orange Caltrans beanie I found.” He reached across me and snatched
it up. The fact that he had it next to me, means he actually
considered putting that thing on my head.

“
You made the right
choice.” I wrapped my arms over the hat and held it to my
head.

He backed away and swung the beanie in
circles above his head. The muscles in his stomach flexed and
relaxed under his perfect skin. I didn’t notice he tossed the
beanie across the closet. All I saw was his body move and I was
hooked. I’d be his cowgirl, Caltrans worker, or whatever else he
wanted me to be, if he would just keep moving for me.

He tilted his hat and held his hand
out to me. “Ma’am, would you honor me with a dance.” He caught my
hand and pulled me up from the bench.

“
Why, I don’t dance with
cowboys.” I told him in my best southern accent as I fluffed the
end of the boa at him.

“
Well, it’s a good thing
I’m not a cowboy.” He pulled me against his bare chest, my hand
pressed firm before I slipped it up behind his neck tangling my
fingers in the back of his hair. His hand around my waist, his
other covered mine against his chest. I felt his body sway and push
against me. I swear I could hear music in my head.

Chapter
Twenty-four:

We danced to a whole song in my head.
Our bodies sexy and smooth fit as one. His rhythm tamed me, his
smell intoxicated my senses. The deep rumbling breaths he took as
we moved vibrated through my body, awakening a desire so profound
if he asked me to make love to him, I would, without hesitation,
take a chance and live with the consequences. Bring. It.
On.

I felt his phone chime with a
text.

“
It’s Cal. He’s at the
gate.” He held me tight against his body. My arms tightened around
him. I wasn’t ready to let go.

“
How are you going to
escape?” The words hurt as their edges scraped at my
throat.

“
Nick gave Cal the code. I
need you to keep Cindy busy while I leave.” His breath chilled my
ear. Why couldn’t his words get tangled in my hair for awhile? Just
long enough so I could feel his kiss once more before he
left.

“
I’m not ready for this.
Don’t leave,” I whispered. His hands navigated up to my head as he
pulled away, waiting for me to open my eyes. He stared at me,
studying every bump and curve of my face.

“
Wilson, trust me, I will
not let
this
go.”
His eyes shifted back and forth watching me as he drew close for
our last kiss.

I don’t know if it was because of the
anticipation of the weekend coming to an end or pure want that
fluxed through my body, but his touch was extra sweet with just
enough sour to make me ache.

I knew I would see him
every day and those
every days
would be different. It wasn’t that. I didn’t want
us to change. I didn’t want to watch all the Bonnies and Jackies
gush over him. I wanted them to know he was with me.

“
Max, I want to trust you.
I really do, but how can one weekend convince you to wait for me?
What happens when you decide— I’m not worth it?” Insecurities
tumbled from my mouth. His face drained white, his eyes narrowed
and the muscles in his neck flexed rough as he swallowed what I
said. I ran him over with a cement truck filled with every rock
hard moment of my life when I’ve felt like I wasn’t worth
it.

“
It hasn’t been just a
weekend for me, Wilson. I’ve wanted you for so long. I fought off
the thoughts every day, exhausting every option to keep you off my
mind; I can’t do it anymore. I want you right here.” He pressed his
fingers to his chest, “All the time.”

His energy was genuine and intense. If
he was lying, I would have known it.

“
This has been the most
amazing weekend of my entire life and I am right there with you.” I
pushed my hand against his heart. “I’ve been there all along.” I
kissed him, tasting the sincerity of our words.

Our hands explored each other’s body.
I reached down to unsnap his jeans. I wanted to feel him one last
time before he left. He caught my wrists.

“
Wilson, I want to, so bad.
But if we don’t stop, you’ll miss your flight.” He pulled my hands
up to his chest. Tears welled in my eyes; I wasn’t supposed to cry.
I thought I was over that; I was wrong. The salt-drenched tears
trickled down my cheeks.

“
I’m sorry,” I told him.
His eyes filled with disappointment as our weekend came to an end.
His fingers wiped away my tears.

“
I’ll see you later.” He
kissed me. I closed my eyes, my lips grew cold.

He was gone.

I was alone in Aspen,
standing in a huge walk-in closet. His words flooded my
mind.
I need you to keep Cindy busy while
I leave.
I hurried to the door and peeked
into my room. The door was shut and the window was closed. I went
searching for Cindy. It was my job to keep her from seeing Max, and
I’ll be damned if I was going to fail.

“
There you are Wilson. Are
you packed?” Cindy grabbed my arm; I shuffled and tripped as she
pulled me back into my room.

“
Whoa, I just have a little
more to go.” I told her. She went to close my door peering around.
Come to think of it, she was acting super weird. “What’s up with
you?” I didn’t complain because she was being
preoccupied.

“
I don’t want someone to
find me.” She stared into my eyes before she turned to the pile of
wrinkled clothes on my bed. “He was a lot better looking last
night,” she whispered under her breath but loud enough to
hear.

“
Who is this
someone
and how much did
you drink last night?” I followed her.

“
The
someone
is Alec, his last name is
not important and to answer your second question, way too much.”
She grabbed my duffel bag and started stuffing my clothes inside.
“Why do I end up with the strays?” She focused on my bag. “It’s not
like I plan it; most of the time it just happens. We start dancing,
I get excited and boom, I end up sleeping with the guy.” She looked
at me, I just shrugged my shoulders.

“
I need to be more
selective like you.” She balled up my favorite green shirt and
shoved it into my bag. “I bet you can count on one hand, how many
guys you’ve been with.” She looked up at me waiting for me to
answer.

I’ve never been one to kiss and tell.
The only person who knew anything about my whole world was Joanie.
Now suddenly, Cindy wanted me to talk? The only problem—I couldn’t
even count on one hand because, technically, I was still a
virgin.

“
Yeah, one hand.” I grabbed
a pair of my jeans and rolled them up. Something, anything to keep
my hands busy and my mind clear to handle the next bullet she was
going to fire at me.

“
So do
I
know him?” She stopped twisting my
clothes.

“
Who?” I snatched another
pair of pants, shaking them up in front of me before rolling them
up.

“
Wilson, come on. We’re
bonding here.” She tossed my shirt down. “OK, fine, my first was
this guy, Robert. We met at summer camp my ninth grade year. He was
a camp counselor for the younger boy’s group. He and I flirted all
week, talked about stupid things. The last night, there was a
dance. We snuck out to his car. Did you know Mini Coopers had back
seats?”

Too much
information!
I didn’t really want to know
about Cindy’s first time in the back of a Mini. As a matter of fact
I wish she would leave so I could pack myself and wallow in the
self pity of my major loss. No luck.

“
No, never really paid much
attention to whether a Mini had a backseat,” I mumbled.

“
Well, it wasn’t the most
comfortable way to—you know. Anyway, after that, I vowed to never
date a guy with a Mini
anything
again.” She laughed and held up her index finger
and thumb apart about two inches. “So how bout’ you?” she
pushed.

What was I going to say? I
don’t have a ‘Mini’ story or a one night stand I regret. I’m a
virgin who’s come so close that I feel like I should be an honorary
member of the ‘de-flowered’ club. It wasn’t like I didn’t want to
join. I just didn’t have a valid membership for another
twenty-eight days. Don’t even think about driving until you’re
sixteen, can’t vote until you’re eighteen, and no drinking until
twenty-one. Oh, and by the way, no sex with Max for another six
hundred seventy-two hours. Problem was other girls around me were
joining that club long before I even considered it.

I cleared my throat to come up with
some random excuse to change the subject when Nick pounded on my
door.

“
Wilson, we need to get a
move on. It’s after nine. Cindy in there with you?” His fingers
tapped on the door so fast it was completely frickin annoying. But
I was grateful he distracted us from
that
conversation. Cindy pulled the
door open a crack to see him.

“
Is he gone?” she asked
low.

“
Who?” Nick’s voice broke
with a high pitch.

“
He was here last night.”
She pulled the door open wide. Nick looked back at me. His eyes
bounced between Cindy and me. He swallowed hard. His eyebrows
curved down, his jaw tightened with worry lines faint on his
forehead. I couldn’t take the chance he would say the wrong
thing.

“
Alec. Right?” I said,
looking at Cindy shaking my head yes before I looked back at Nick
hoping he wouldn’t say anything about Max being here. “The guy that
came home with her last night,” I continued to coach
him.

“
That guy? Yeah he left
awhile ago. Where did you find him?” His eyes grew wide and he gave
Cindy a cocky smile. He must have been used to her repeating the
same pattern in Aspen. “Let me guess, the Polaris? The club where
if you are a
somebody
you’d be there.” He laughed.

“
Very funny Nick; keep
laughing—jerk. At least I can bring someone home, unlike you.” She
wrenched her nose at him. “Wilson, you need to hurry up. We’re
going to be late. Nick, make yourself useful, grab my bags for me.”
She pushed past him.

“
That’s why I can’t stand
her. She is such a bitch.” He sat on my bed, next to my duffel
bag.

“
Well, she’s leaving so
you’ll get a little break from her.” I shoved the rest of my
clothes into my bag and grabbed the miscellaneous things I had
lying around. I really didn’t feel like entertaining him while I
finished packing. I just wanted to move on.

“
I wanted to catch up with
you before we get stuck in the car with Cindy for four plus hours.
Even though we just met, I feel a connection with you.”

Oh great here we go. I like
Nick as a friend, that’s it. Why now. My whole life—nothing. Now
that I really like a guy suddenly all these others start to come
out of nowhere. I have to break this to him easy
.

“
I feel like I need to look
after you. I know, a little strange, but I was thinking this
morning I should have found out if you were okay last night. And
well, I didn’t, so I’m sorry.” He looked down at the floor. I was
totally confused.