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It’s never been serious enough to. Just casual flings that burn for a couple months before the fire goes out altogether.
But Janessa… it’s been longer than usual. Though we’ve got little in common and our chemistry starts and ends in bed, I don’t mind her so much.
An afternoon lay will give me something to do. That photo did what it was supposed to—it turned me on enough to make me want to see Janessa at a moment’s notice.
I mount my bike parked outside the saloon and take off.
November in Pulsboro means frosty air and muted skies. Today’s no different. I speed through the small-town streets causing looks everywhere I go with the rumble of my Street Bob.
Janessa lives one town over in Jefferson. Another twenty minutes, and I’ll be there.
I turn down the last street that’ll lead to the highway. The late autumn wind blows my hair back and feels icy-cool on the skin. I’ve got my shades on or else I’d be squinting against the force of it.
I grip my buckhorn handlebars and turn to merge onto the highway. The road leading out of town looks crowded, even for a Friday. I’m easing up on my speed, gradually braking, when I spot the car on the shoulder of the road.
A beat-up Geo Metro that looks like it belongs at a junkyard rather than on the highway.
The female driver stands in front of the popped hood with the kind of glower that tells me she’s having a bad day.
None of my business… ’til I realize I recognize her.
I glance and then glance again.
I’m staring and braking. I’m pulling off to the side of the road to let the impatient cars behind me pass.
My eyes have got to be playing tricks on me. It can’t be… there’s no way it’s…
As I’ve slowed up and pulled over, the woman’s noticed me too. Surprise freezes onto her face, her eyes going wide.
It’s when our gazes meet that I know with certainty. That a wave of familiarity strikes me down.
Korine McKibbens.
TheKorine McKibbens.
The girl I haven’t seen in a decade yet have never stopped thinking about.
Distantly. Deep, deep in the recesses of my mind.
The only girl I’ve ever been nervous around. The only girl I’ve ever called my best friend. The only girl who…got away.
It’s like becoming a time traveler seeing her again. An onslaught of memories rush me. They’ve got me locking up and speechless as I suddenly feel seventeen again.
Our history runs that far back. Even further than that.
We werefive-years-oldthe first time we met.
The McKibbens moved in next-door and my world changed forever. I still thought girls were gross and had cooties, yet here was this cute little rowdy thing making me all sorts of confused—she climbed trees and played with her brother’s action figures. She raced all the boys—and even beat some of us—and she wasn’t afraid of a damn thing.
I hated her… ’til I realized I liked her. Then I realized I wanted her to like me.
We settled for friends. Good friends. Friends so close at times Mason was jealous. Friends so close eventually, as we grew older and hormones ran rampant, things got too complicated too fast.
I’m so lost in memories, I have to force myself out of the past. I jerk and take a stilted step forward, then I stop again.
Korine’s staring back at me, eyes wide and questioning. She hasn’t budged an inch.
She hasn’t changed a bit—that’s almost more startling than even seeing her again.
