Page 23 of Small Town Beast 2: Saverin's Duet

Mike had a small gap between his front teeth. Lorrie had never noticed that before.

“I just want to be by myself right now,” she said. “It’s nothing personal.”

“That white boy got you upset, huh?”

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

Accepting that, he started telling her about getting recruited and going to the NFL. She scarcely paid attention, distracted by her own sorrows. The Cowboy had made her flushed and warm, the betrayal of Absalom turning her towards rebellious fantasies. How dare he. After all those years of promises— lies. Call a spade a spade, they werelies.And he’d been ducking her calls not because he was busy, but because he was fucking someone else. Now she had proof. He’d married that person without telling her. The image seared into her brain: Abi, rocking a fresh haircut, country-boy formal in a white button-down tucked and belted into brand-new jeans,cowboy boots, staring furiously into a camera. Hisbridegrinning like the Cheshire Cat. Forgiveness could take a long jump off a short rope. Lorraine Denver wasthrough.

“Miss Lorraine?”

“You can call me Lorrie,” she told Mike, taking another deep drink of the Cowboy, which finished the drink right off.

“What’s in that?” he asked, watching her daintily wipe her lips.

“Tequila. Vodka. Peach juice. Do you want one?” She caught herself. “Hold up. Are you even twenty-one?”

“Yeah,” said Mike, which was a lie, she would discover later.

But she went inside, and Mike followed. Ordinarily Lorrie would have never allowed another man but Abi into her home. Oh, well. Abi was probably screwing that pug-faced white girl at this very moment. Ha ha! She didn’t give a fuck, actually. In a reckless mood Lorrie poured two new drinks.Fuck him, I can do what I want if he does what he wants.

Mike watched her closely the entire time, in silent contemplation.

“Cheers,” said Lorrie, passing him his drink. She guzzled hers immediately.

“You are something else, Miss Lorrie,” Mike said, leaning over her counter. His dark eyes burned. “My daddy told me to stay away from your fine ass.”

And something possessed Lorrie to reply, “Do you always listen to your daddy?”

All of a sudden Mike was right in front of her taking the glass from her and setting it down on the countertop.Clack.Mike plucked a long black curl from her shoulder and stretched it out until it bounced back.

“Wow,” he said quietly. Then he combed his whole hand through her hair and tipped her face up to meet his.

I’m drunk, she thought.This is how it feels to be drunk.

Mike’s face was right there. His breath smelled of mint gum. He was handsome.

A giant thumb brushed across her lips. “Are you mixed?” he asked her.

“Yeah. So what?”

“I was just wondering.”

She could feel something long and hard jutting against her stomach. It was just as big as Abi’s. His smell grew stronger. Not cologne, but a hot, natural smell. Her heart kicked into a new tempo. She knew what he wanted. It was the same thingAbi wanted, but this time Mike wouldn’t pull away. He wouldn’t stop.

And Lorraine the Good Girl, Lorraine the Virgin, had a sudden crazy thought about what would happen if she reached down and felt the thing he was pressing against her. If she just…let it happen.

Mike broke the hug, backed her up against the counter, and kissed her.

Mmmmm,thought Lorrie. Somewhere below her waist something warmed up like candle wax. Mike’s lips were big and soft. His tongue slid into her mouth and enticed hers out to play. That’s all it was: play. Fooling around. She wasn’t actually gonna lead him into her room, down to the bed Absalom had built with his own bare hands on a free weekend, and get dicked down by her neighbor’s son.

Right?

Big hands shimmied down her waist and cupped her ass, then squeezed it appreciatively, grinding her up against his hard length. “Let me take you out somewhere,” he murmured. “Like on a date.”

Wild thoughts swirled. She must have heard him wrong. “A…date?”

“I want to take it slow. I’ve been watching you for a minute… I can’t waste this moment.”

---