Turn Back Time

Garrett dropped John and me off at home before heading off to hang out with Jared, Kennedy, Alex, and Elise. Pat and Jaycie were still doing god-knows-what in God-Knows-Where. We had the house to ourselves, and as lucky as that was, I was still panicking on the inside. Not knowing what could happen was always the one thing that scared me most. I knew the difference between a summer fling and a relationship. During the summer, you feel this rush. You don’t have enough time and suddenly you’re caught up in a current.

“Hey,” John said, kissing my neck, and then looking to my eyes. “Smile, kid.” His fingers intertwined with mine. “We don’t have to do anything you don’t want to.”

I draped one arm around his neck, “That’s the problem.” My fingers traced a line down his chest. “I want to.”

“That doesn’t seem like too much of a problem, then.” He smiled. His lips trailed kissed on my jaw bone and down to my neck again.

Another thoughtless moment later, my mind flicked back from the screen saver. I cleared my throat. “John.” I shuddered as his lips kept going further down, “Please?”

He pulled away, and smiled apologetically. “I’m sorry.” He said, pressing his forehead to mine. “Getting carried away by you.”

I slowly kissed his lips, and felt him smiling. “Do you have something I could change into?” I asked before kissing him a second time.

He nodded towards the dresser, leaning in, but I slinked away. My hands slid out of his, and found the drawers. I pulled open the top one, and pulled out the smallest t-shirt I could find which would still be too big on me. I worked on unbuttoning my shirt before draping it over the back of his desk chair.

“You know you’ve still got the tags on this, right?” I laughed. John pulled his shirt over his head, and glanced over to me. He tried not to smile too much when he noticed he wasn’t the only shirtless one in the room.

“Do I?” was all he said before laying down on his back.

I stepped out of my jean shorts, and into a pair of his basketball shorts. They hung so low on my hips that I had to roll them at the waistband to keep them from falling off.

“You really don’t have to put that on, you know…” John teased, watching as I slid his t-shirt over my head. I eyed his bare skin, and wondered if he noticed the involuntary smile that eased its way across my lips. “You don’t mind, do you?”

I stepped over to the side of the bed, and leaned onto my hands. “Not one bit.” I said quietly. He sat up as I slid into the space beside him, and turned to look at me. He had a puzzled smile on his face. “What?” I laughed.

“Nothing...” He said, looking down at our hands, intertwined.

I curled up into his chest. “Tell me.” I said, letting my fingers glide over the skin of his neck.

He fingered the ring on my finger, “There are a lot of people in Arizona. And a million times this many in the world.” He said, “I’ve known you for three days, and I already know that you’re the one I want, out of six billion other people.”

I wanted to attack him, make him mine. I could feel my eyes flashing with a mischievous glint as I straddled him, kneeling on the mattress, and started nibbling on his neck.

He smirked, “I thought you didn’t want to.”

“Well, now that I know we feel the same…” I said.

John’s fingers pulled at the bottom of my t-shirt, urging me to take it off. “Maddie?” He asked, undoing the clasps to my bra. I pushed my bangs out of my eyes. “Am I the first?”

“No.” I whispered, looking back up to his eyes. They faltered, and his smirk was gone. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” He said, dropping his hands.

I went in to kiss him but he turned his head, “John?” I slumped down, and pulled my shirt back on. “You’re pissed at me because I’m not a virgin?”

“Don’t worry about it.” He sighed, staring out the window in front of us. It was pouring rain, and suddenly, my mind wandered to Pat and Jaycie. They’d be out at mini-golf, having fun, and running from the rain. They’d probably kissed in it, too.

“I don’t exactly believe that I would’ve been your first.” I said, stepping onto the carpet, and into my shoes. He didn’t say anything. He didn’t turn to me, or apologize, or explain. Not a word. I grabbed my phone off of the dresser, and made my way down the stairs at the same time Pat came in the front door, soaked to the bone with rain.

“Maddie?” He asked, his smile fading immediately into a worried grimace. “What happened?”

I looked at him, blinking away tears. I didn’t know why I was crying. I didn’t know why I’d come here in the first place. I’d known John for two days, and I was already completely willing to sleep with him. But he turned me down, and I was upset?

“Could you take me home?” I asked, as Pat’s arms enveloped me into a hug.

He smiled sadly and kissed the top of my head. “I’m sorry I smell like wet dog.”

I laughed, and wiped my eyes, “Do us both a favor and go change into something dry.” He squeezed my hand, and jogged up the stairs. He tripped on the top one, and after sliding down three of the steps, he kept trucking forward until I heard his bedroom door shut.