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Unfortunately, she looked anything but grateful as I walked up to meet her, under the canopy sheltering volunteers from the sun.
“I should send you home,” she muttered, tugging at the hem of my shorts. Her long hair was teased up into a big pile of wavy blonde locks, perfect as always despite the humidity. But she used enough hairspray to withstand a tornado. “And you’re late. I told you to be here at ten.”
“I was working, Mom.” I sighed, taking a water bottle out of the cooler and running it over my neck. She waved her hand dismissively.
“That little internship is taking up so much of your time,” she said. “And they’re hardly paying you. You’re getting so pale being inside all day.”
I resisted the urge to cover my face with my hands and scream. My “little internship” was with the Smith-Davies Architectural Design Firm, one of the best on the east coast. I spent mymornings in the gym before I came home and got to work, filling out spreadsheets and answering my boss’s emails. It was all remote work and it didn’t pay much, but at least it was getting my foot in the door. If I could nail my six-month review, there was a good chance I could turn this part-time internship into a full-time career.
I had to dosomethingto get myself back out of Wickeston. Smith-Davies’ main office was in New York City, and if I was brought on full time, I’d move there in a heartbeat.
Trying to tell Mom this went in one ear and out the other. She spotted someone across the parking lot and waved, leaning close to me to say far too loudly, “Oh, look! That’s Julie’s oldest son. You remember him, don’t you? Robert?”
“I literally haven’t seen him since first grade,” I said, staring at the tall, vaguely familiar guy helping direct the younger kids working the car wash line. “He threw up at my birthday party because he ate his cake too fast.”
Mom made a disgusted face. “Mm, that’s right. I forgot about that. Well, he has a younger brother. Joshua, I think. Oh, there’s Julie. She and her husband are talking about getting a divorce again, bless her heart. Hi, Julie! Honey, so good to see you! How’s the family?” And just like that, Mom was away, off to play matchmaker while I very alluringly washed cars.
I couldn’t explain to her the real reason I was so disinterested in dating. But the bar had been set for me in the worst way possible, and now I didn’t feel satisfied with anything less.
If a guy couldn’t play with my masochism as enthusiastically as he played with my pleasure, then I didn’t want it. There simply wasn’t a nice way to tell your mother that you wanted a guy who could spank you as well as he could fuck. A man who was as comfortable with whips and chains as he was at candlelit dinners. Someone who wasn’t afraid to take control but wasn’t going to make the relationship feel like a cage.
Was I asking for too much? Probably. But I’d been demanding too much for my whole life and I wasn’t going to stop now.
Problematically, I’d already found people who met those qualifications. Four of them, actually, and they were all still here in Wickeston.
If explaining my kinky desires to my mom was bad, then broaching the subject of these four men would probably get me disowned. Tattooed guys with bad reputations and someslightcriminal history would not be good enough for her little girl.
It didn’t matter anyway. I hadn’t spoken to any of them since the day after that Halloween party.
I glanced back under the canopy where Mom was talking loudly on her cell phone, a list in one hand and her iced latte in the other, her phone tucked between her ear and shoulder.
“I already told Annamae that Red, White, and Blueberries was the theme year before last,” she said. “Bless her unimaginative little heart, but we’re not repeating a theme.”
I’d had enough of roasting in the sun. I stripped off my t-shirt and tossed it over one of the plastic folding chairs nearby. All these nice church ladies were going to have to live with some titties if they wanted me to keep scrubbing. I paused for a water break, guzzling down half a cold bottle and pouring the rest over my arms and shoulders.
Another car pulled up, a blue Subaru WRX with a large wing on the back. The engine purred, and the windows were tinted so dark I could barely see inside.
It was a familiar vehicle, but I couldn’t place my finger on why until I rapped my knuckles on the driver’s window to collect their money.
The window rolled down, and I froze. My breath stilled and my heart hammered, a tight feeling swelling in my chest until it stoppered my throat.
Vincent sat in the driver’s seat, holding a ten-dollar bill foldedbetween his fingers. He looked as surprised as I was, his dark green eyes wide as he looked up at me.
“Jessica?” Jason stared at me from the passenger seat, his shaggy blue hair curling around his face in soft waves. His eyes were the same color, preternaturally bright.
My mouth gaped open and closed before I managed to choke out, “Hi.”
Hi. That was it; that was all I was capable of. Damn, real smooth there, Jessica.
But my greeting got a smile out of Vincent. His long brown hair was tied back into a messy bun, his bare arms covered in tattoos. He smelled like summer; like citrus, weed, and very bad decisions.
I was instantly aware of every inch of my flesh they could see, my skin heating even more.
The last time I’d seen them, I’d been on my knees giving the most terrifyingly erotic blow jobs of my life.Awkwarddidn’t even begin to describe this roiling feeling inside me that was half panic and half excitement. Excitement for what, exactly, I didn’t know.
“Back in town for a visit?” Vincent said. He was still holding out the money, but I hadn’t taken it.
“Yeah. I mean, no, not exactly. I’m here temporarily.” The two of them exchanged a look as I stammered. Good God, girl, get it together. “I’m not visiting. I moved back home. Temporarily.”
