Not Another Bad Date

Adele looked up into his face, at his parted lips and brown eyes drugged with desire. Somehow she’d lost control of him and her and the situation. She’d waited for the curse to kick in. It hadn’t, and she’d lost the will and good sense to stop. She tore at the sweater and the straps of her bra, holding her wrists at her side, until they fell to the tiled floor. Then she slid her palms over his hard chest and shoulder and leaned forward to kiss him. He tasted good in her mouth, like hot, turned-on man. It had been three years since she’d felt anything so wonderful as Zach’s hands, his hot mouth, and his hard penis shoved against her.

Like the flash point of an escalating fire, the kiss ignited and turned all carnal and feeding, with hungry mouths and tongues. He rocked against her, rubbing the wet, aching places and stroking the fire. Her skin tingled, her breasts felt heavy, and her nipples painfully tight. It had been so long since she’d felt such delicious pleasure.

“Stop,” he groaned, as his hands moved to her behind and he shoved into her, pinning her hips to the wall. The wall felt cool against her back, and beneath her hands, his muscles turned hard as stone, and he froze. His lungs expanded as he inhaled a deep breath, and he whispered into her hair, “Tell me no.”

“No?”

“Sound more convincing.” His warm palm slid up from her waist, and left a hot trail up her bare stomach. “Slap my face.” His thumb brushed the underside of her breast. “Tell me we can’t do this here.”

She might have laughed or cried or kissed his neck if the sound of voices hadn’t penetrated her sexual haze and instantly doused the hot lust burning deep in her stomach. She reached for her sweater and purse, and Zach pulled her into a stall as the door to the bathroom swung open.

“He’s in my math class,” a teenage voice spoke. “He’s kind of cute.”

“He’s hot.”

“He asked me out. Do you think I should go?”

Zach held her purse as she shoved her arms inside her sweater.

“I don’t know. His girlfriend’s Sara Lynn Miller.”

“She’s ugly.”

“Yeah, you’re cuter.”

The sound of running water drowned out the girl’s voices as Adele put the ends of her sweater together and zipped it up.

“Someone left their hat in here,” one of the girls said as the water turned off.

Adele glanced up into Zach’s face. He stared straight ahead as if could see through the door. His expression stony.

“It’s a Cougars football hat. Only the players wear these.” There was a pause and then, “Who’s number twelve?”

Zach handed her her purse and closed his eyes as if someone should just go ahead and shoot him.

“I don’t know.”

“How did it get in here?”

Good question. Adele opened the stall door and closed it behind her. Out of the corner of her eye, she spied her white bra where it had fallen on the white tile floor. She hung the purse on her shoulder and moved to the sink toward two girls dressed in cheerleader outfits. She hoped they didn’t have to use the bathroom and notice her bra.

“Thanks,” she said, and plucked the black-and-green hat from one of the girl’s hands.

“That’s yours?” the girl asked.

“Yep.” Adele shoved it on her head and turned on the water. As she washed her hands, she looked through the mirror at one of the girls, who wore way too much eyeliner.

“Only the football players have those hats.”

And the coaches. “This isn’t one of the player’s hats.” She turned off the water and tore off a paper towel.

“It sure looks like it.”

“It’s similar.”

The girl with the eyeliner chewed her gum thoughtfully. “Where’d you get it?”

From the guy hiding in the last stall. She shrugged. “Internet.”

“Oh.”

They stared like they wanted to argue more, but in the end they gave her Kendra’s favorite “you’re so gay” look and walked out of the bathroom.

“Coast is clear,” she said as she tossed the paper towel into the garbage. The soles of her sneakers squeaked on the tiles.

“Zach?”

He didn’t answer, and she pushed the stall door. He sat on the back of the tank with his booted feet on the seat. His forearms rested on his thighs, and his hands dangled in front of his knees. “That was fucking close.” He looked up at her through his turbulent brown eyes. “You still think nothing is going to happen between us? Ever?”

No, she wasn’t sure. Not at all. “We stopped.” Which she could admit to herself was a pathetic answer.

He pointed to his right. “I was seconds away from getting you out of your pants and nailing you against that wall.”

She shook her head. “I doubt things would have gone that far.”

“Who was gonna stop me?” He dropped his hand. “You?”

She liked to think so, but she wouldn’t swear on it. “Clearly there are unresolved issues between us,” she said, striving to sound rational and make sense out of something that made absolutely no sense at all.

He raised one brow. “Unresolved issues?” He stood, and she took a step backward. “I’d call what’s between us good old-fashioned lust.” He hung a wrist over the top of the stall. “’Course, I’m just a dumb jock.”

“Zach, I didn’t mean that. I’m sorry I called you a dumb jock.”

“I’m sorry I called you a cock tease.”

A frown wrinkled her brow. “You didn’t call me a cock tease.”

He smiled. “No?”

“I’m not a tease!”

He leveled his brown gaze on her. “Then run along out of here before I make you prove it.”

She didn’t have to be told twice. She moved toward the door and walked out into the empty hall without looking back.

Adele opened the door to the condo, then stuck her key back in her purse. She couldn’t believe she’d left her bra in the girls’ bathroom. She’d forgotten all about it until she’d been halfway home and glanced down at herself in the thin white sweater. For about half a second she’d thought about returning for it, but the idea of running into anyone with her nipples clearly visible had made her reconsider. She figured the bra would be discovered by the janitor and thrown away. Which was a shame since she’d liked that bra.

She smiled at the thought of the janitor finding it and trying to figure out how it got there.

She tossed her purse on the table in the small entry and moved to the kitchen. She’d lost her bra while kissing Zach in the girls’ bathroom. How had it even happened? One second she’d been in control, and in the next she’d lost it. One second she’d told him that she didn’t want to be with him, and in the next she’d told him her bra hooked in the front.

She opened the refrigerator and pulled out a Diet Pepsi. She’d waited for the curse to kick in and turn him into a freak who repulsed her. But for the first time in three years, the curse hadn’t zapped anyone.

The one time she’d actually counted on the curse, it had let her down. With Zach. The last guy on the planet she should be kissing and touching. Especially in the girls’ bathroom at Cedar Creek High. She should feel appalled and embarrassed, and she did feel those things. But probably not nearly as much as she should.

Not nearly as much as she felt the urge to smile.

For three long years, she’d believed she lived under a curse. Tonight, the curse hadn’t shown up and turned Zach into a jerk. Maybe that meant it was broken. Perhaps there was a finite number of bad dates, and the curse