Worth the Fall (12 page)

But it felt very different.

In fact, the whole truck felt different. Smaller somehow, when it should have felt bigger with just the two of them instead of their entire posse. He got in and started the truck then looked over at her. “Are you cold?”

She shivered as she shook her head. He chuckled and turned on the heater. It was early June, but summer was slow to come to the Copper Country this year. She
’d worn jeans and a tee-shirt but had brought a fleece pullover with her, which she’d put on a while ago. He wore jeans and a long-sleeve gray tee with some hockey equipment company’s logo across the front. “I’m sorry I don’t have a jacket to offer you. Wait,” he said and turned to rummage in the space behind the seat, allowing her a look at his long back and tight butt. Levi’s were made for a body like his.

He turned back around and handed her a plaid flannel blanket.
“Here you go,” he said turning the heat up even more.

“
Really, I’m not that cold,” she said but took the blanket and placed it on her lap. It had been a cool evening, but that wasn’t why she’d shivered.

They pulled out of the circular area and drove down the quarter-mile dirt road back to the main road, which would lead them back to Hancock.

When they got to the road, Petey stopped, looked both ways, then put both hands on the steering wheel and looked over at her. “Right or left?”

What was he talking about? He had to know this road as well as she did. Right was the direction back to Hancock. Left took them further out on the canal road, eventually to Lake Superior and then Calumet.

“Right or left?” he asked again. “You decide.”

Decide. Choose. So he wasn
’t asking her for directions, but rather asking her where she wanted to go. With him. Alone.

“
Left,” she said firmly, and he quickly pulled the truck out onto the road and away from their hometowns.

They rode in silence for a few miles, past the entrance to the state park. About a half-mile farther, he pulled the truck to a stop. Which was fine to do on this low-traffic road, in the wee hours of the evening.
“Left or straight,” he asked.

Straight would take them in a more direct route to Calumet. Left would take them eventually to Calumet, but via a road where at points you could pull over and view Lake Superior. Not that there
’d be any viewing this late at night.

“
Left.”

He turned.

They both stayed silent, which was unusual. She usually always had something to say about everything, and Petey was typically the life of the party. But on he drove, not saying a word.

She still didn
’t have a good bead on what was going on. Was he just bored and not ready to go home, looking to extend the evening with a game of “you decide where we’ll end up”? Or was it something more?

And was he leaving that up to her to decide? That thought scared the bejeezus out of her. When they got to the Calumet Water Works public area, she was about ready to jump out of her skin wondering if he
’d…yep. He stopped the truck, again in the middle of the road, and said, “Left or straight.”

“
Left,” she barely whispered. He pulled the truck into the deserted area, coming to park facing the lake. He put the truck in park, then placed his hand on the key.

He looked over at her, made sure she was watching him, watching his hand, and softly said,
“On or off.”

She swallowed. Crap, why was he making her make all the choices? What if she was building something up in her mind that wasn
’t going to happen? What exactly would happen? And why now? Why after a whole year of hanging around together?

Damn him, she didn
’t want to have put herself out there like this.

“
Alison?” Her name had never sounded so soft and tempting as when he said it. “On or off?”

“
Off.” He turned the ignition off and the truck went silent. Except she was sure he’d be able to hear her heartbeat, crazy fast as it was. He turned, leaning his back against the driver’s door, his arms open wide, one along the door, resting on the dash, the other along the top of bench seat.

He took a deep breath and his exhale sounded a little shaky, which made her feel both better and worse.
“Here,” he said, tucking his chin down to where he sat. “Or there?” He bobbed his chin in her direction.

Holy crap, this was going to happen. Whatever
“this” was. She quickly thought out all the ramifications, did some calculations and realized she just needed to turn her mind off for the duration. Yeah, it wasn’t a smart move. She’d just been named the class valedictorian earlier in the day, in theory proving her smarts, but…she wanted this.

“
Here,” she said with more confidence than she felt. She moved back on the seat to give him room.

The truck cab was huge—which had been so convenient when he
’d played taxi to the whole group—with a bench seat that now seemed very small when his large body moved across it.

He shifted his legs so that they were splayed into her side of the foot area. He slid a foot under hers and lifted so that she moved her legs, one sliding up on the bench, one dangling below. He wedged in, allowing her leg to move behind him, along the back of the seat.

He was so close now she could smell his scent. A little bit of smoke from the bonfire, the outdoors, even the detergent his mother used on his clothes. A heady combination that had her breathing even more heavily.

He reached out slowly, tentatively and put his hands on her waist, catching fleece and denim. The blanket slid from her lap to the seat beside her. As he lifted her slowly, she realized where he wanted her, and put her knee down to leverage herself up enough to straddle him, which she did while he slid under her, essentially taking her spot in the passenger seat.

His right hand left her waist and dropped down, fumbling for…oh, the seat went back. She’d never known that. But why would she.

It didn
’t lie down flat, but it did give his long legs more room and tilted her into him in the most delicious way.

She
’d had a few boyfriends through high school, and many make-out sessions, but was still a virgin. Somehow she sensed with Petey that this was going to go beyond a make-out session.

It wasn
’t like she had a master plan of when she was going to “lose it” like Lizzie did. She probably would have by now, but she hadn’t felt any particular drive to go further when making out with her boyfriends at the time.

Now, she
definitely
felt the drive to go further. And they’d barely touched. She couldn’t imagine even being coherent enough to say stop when Petey put his hands on her body.

If he ever did.

His head came up from the back of the seat. Even straddling him and sitting up a bit on her knees, she only came up to eye level with him. But it was enough, because it was lip level, too. And oh, what soft lips he had, she realized as he brushed them against hers. It was quick and tentative. And then again, with just a bit more pressure. And then a third time that had her wishing he’d just do it, already.

But no, he pulled back, took her face in his hands and held her until she looked at him.

“Yes or no?” he asked. It would seem to be his final question of the night. And the most important.

She licked her lips, happy to be in this position—literally—but not thrilled about having to call all the shots. She guessed it was kind of chivalrous of him, but really, couldn
’t he just start ripping her clothes off?

“
Yes,” she said and leaned forward. His hands slid from her face to the back of her neck as they kissed. One hand squeezed, surprising her…in a good way. She squirmed a little and his touch eased.

“
Sorry,” he whispered, but before she could tell him it was okay—preferred, in fact—he was kissing her again. Their mouths fit perfectly. And she loved that his body was so big and strong. Very Darwinian, she thought randomly, but she wanted this big, strong boy to cover her up physically. To be on top of her. But she just didn’t know how to convey that message.

So she kept kissing him, which he seemed to like just fine, if his growing erection underneath her was any indication. Which of course it was.

She settled down onto him, and rubbed her jeans on his, trying find that…yes, there it was. Good lord, he was large. She’d given Roger Camden a handjob on New Year’s Eve when they’d been dating and there was no way that he’d ever been as big as Petey was even at half-staff.

“
Al…yeah…God, that feels good,” he groaned as she shifted again, aligning the seams in the most delightful spot. His hands pulled her tee-shirt from her jeans and then skimmed against her bare waist. Up over her ribcage to her boobs, which he massaged and kneaded all while tangling his tongue with hers.

She let out a soft sigh and played with his hair. So soft, with a nice bit of wave. Moving her hand underneath to his nape, she pulled on him, wanting him to take the lead and lay her down on the bench seat. What would it feel like to have all that male hovering over her?

Or deep inside her?

But he didn
’t take the hint, and she wasn’t experienced—or assertive—enough to tell him what she wanted. She wasn’t even sure herself what that was. Instead he lifted her pullover off of her, taking her tee halfway up with it. It felt automatic to try to pull it down, but his hands were already there and stilled hers.

He broke away from the kiss.
“Okay?” he asked as they both held her shirt. She nodded and held her arms over her head, like a child. But she was no child and neither was he. And God, how could they have been going at it and she not have her hands on that amazing chest?

It was too early in the year for beach weather, but she remembered that physique from last summer. Almost down to each hard plane and contour of his young body. She grabbed at the cotton of his long-sleeve tee, pulling it hard from his waistband, which caused him to hiss.

“Let me,” he said, and eased the shirt out of his jeans and over his head, throwing it somewhere in the truck. She barely had her hands on his chest before he was crushing her to him and reaching behind her for her bra clasp, which he had undone in a flash. Then his mouth was on her breast and she arched back, the sensation was so intense.

He followed her with his mouth and she rewarded him by grinding down on him.
“Fuck, yeah,” he moaned, then sucked hard on her nipple.

She tried pulling him again and this time he followed, holding on to her back as he eased her down across the bench seat, scooting her up so that her head was even with the steering wheel. His mouth was back on her breast, one hand holding it, the other finding its way down her stomach to the opening of her jeans. She heard the snap and felt the zipper open and knew that if she was going to stop him, it should be now.

Instead, she lifted her hips as he reached with both hands to shimmy the denim off of her, pushing the pants to the floor of the truck cab. He moved up her body and she wrapped her arms around his neck, reveling in the sheer volume of him hulking over her. His hands took her face again and he whispered, “Okay?”

“
Yeah,” she whispered back. “Good.”

He nodded his agreement and kissed her again, deeply and yet softly, as his hands roamed all over her body then slid into her panties. He fumbled a bit, but then, oh then, he found a spot…the spot…and she moaned her approval. He continued to rub, but then moved from the magical spot to one that still felt good, but wasn
’t quite as…magical. She twitched her hips, wanting his hand to return, but instead he pulled his hand completely away and started unbuttoning his own fly.

She did want to feel him, take him in her hand, but she
’d been so close.

“
God, I can’t believe this is happening,” he said as he rose up and yanked his jeans and boxers down. “I’ve…it’s like…you’re….”

What? She wanted to scream, desperate to know what was going through his mind. She always wanted to know what he was thinking and feeling. And never as much as now—to know if this meant anything more to him than a little extended celebration on their big day.

Or if
she
meant more to him.

***

Petey couldn’t believe Alison Jukuri’s naked body was laid out beneath him. As he fumbled in his wallet for a condom, he tried to think about anything else other than how badly he’d wanted her for the past year.

Hockey. Think about hockey or you
’ll come before you can even get the condom on.

So he thought about hockey…and ice…and how hot she
’d look lying naked like this on the ice.

His fingers shook as her rolled the condom on while looking down at her. Jesus, she was a cute little thing. He hadn
’t thought so at first. In the beginning, she was just his girlfriend Lizzie’s smart-ass, short-stuff best friend. But she’d grown on him in the past year. And in the past few months, he’d been dying to get her alone, separate from the pack of friends that he and Lizzie had somehow formed after their break-up.