Prairie pushes herself up and looks down at me. She’s so fucking gorgeous; I almost can’t take it. Even right now, her hair a nest of tangled locks, her dress crooked and half unbuttoned, her mascara smeared under her eyes; she’s breathtaking.
I love the way her cheeks are tinted pink. I love the way her skin glistens in our sex sweat. I love the way her eyes are hovering half open, and she looks drunk on me, on us, on what we just did.
“I’m going to be honest. I didn’t think you had this side to you.”
She smirks and picks at my t-shirt, pulling on the hem. “I might not get in trouble, Max, but I’m not an angel. We all have a bad side.” Winking, she grins wide.
“Ain’t that the truth,” I say, rubbing small circles with the pads of my thumbs over her hip bones. Giving her a smile back, I slap her ass lightly. “Come on, we should get out of here, before someone catches us.”
Prairie nods and climbs off my lap. Peeling the condom off my dick, I drop it into the trash bin. Our eyes connect, and all either of us do is smile. The silence between us isn’t awkward or uncomfortable, and that’s actually a nice feeling.
Adjusting her dress, she starts to button it back up, when a bright light flashes in the backyard. It swings across the yard, reflecting off the surface of the pool.
People are yelling, the voices mumbled at first, coming out as white noise. The lights sweep side to side, disappearing and reappearing.
What the hell is going on? What is that?
“Run! Cops!” That time the voices are loud and clear as kids scream, dispersing in different directions like bugs under a rock.
Prairie’s eyes grow wide, freezing on me in the dark. “What did they just say?” she asks quietly, her voice telling me she already knows the answer but still needs to hear it.
“Cops,” I chirp, my voice low. “Come on.” Holding out my hand, she takes it without question.
I pull her to the door and watch as two officers move around the property, nabbing kids from bushes and behind furniture.
Fuck! I can’t get caught here like this!
The judge was clear in his ruling. I need to stay far away from trouble. Yet, here I am, a sitting fucking duck.
Prairie is hiding behind me, her hands softly sitting on my lower back. I find myself focusing on her touch, the way it feels, how much I like it there, and not on the risk outside the door.
Focus, Max! You can’t afford to get caught!
The cops move inside the house, giving us an opportunity to get away. “Here we go, stay close.” Taking her hand, I open the door quietly, and shut it without a sound.
Guiding her toward the bushes behind the pool house, I keep looking back over my shoulder. “Through there. Go, go, go.” Giving her a little push, I move her along quickly.
Prairie follows my directions easily. She doesn’t question me or try to argue about our options. She just trusts me to make the right choice for both of us.
Lifting her arms in front of her face, she forces herself through the tall bushes, and I’m right behind her. The branches open up to the road behind Chad’s house, spitting us out onto a dimly lit, quiet street.
The blue and red lights flicker in the sky over our heads, but they’re nowhere near us, they’re concentrated on the front of the house.
“That was close.” Glancing at Prairie, I flash a grin. “Almost got caught with my pants down. . . literally.”
Giggling, her laugh stabs me in the chest and makes my body warm. “Almost,” she says, picking debris from her hair.
We stand still for a second, that uncomfortable silence back, and in full bloom. She glances at me, I look away. I look at her, she turns her head to the sky.
“You drive tonight?” I finally ask.
“No, I came with Amy.”
“You live far from here?”
“Actually, no, I’m only about two miles away. I can walk home from here. It’ll be fine.”
“You want some company?”
Prairie is quiet as she looks at me, her eyes forcing me to take a breath and hold it in. “All right, yeah, that would be good.”
We start to walk in the direction of her house. There’s about three feet between us, so I bridge the gap and take her hand.
Braiding out fingers together, I walk her home, making sure she gets inside safely before heading home myself.
And for the first time ever in my life, I realize how good it feels to be connected to someone else. She makes me smile. She makes me laugh. She makes me want more than what I have.
Prairie might have stormed into my life like a wildfire, destroying it with one touch.