Day After, PT. 4

She flicked water droplets from her sweating can of iced tea. “It must hurt.”

“It was worth it.”

Her heart lurched into her throat. She looked away.

“Vi.”

Reluctantly, she looked back at him.

“Have you heard from Tucker?”

She shook her head.

He nodded, apparently satisfied.

“I was thinking of texting him we’re over, but I’d rather talk to him in person.”

“He knows.”

“Still.”

Jesse opened his mouth to argue, but the cashier called his name. Violet shook her head as the girl fussed over him before handing over a bag with their food. As Jesse turned, he headed toward the door. Surprised, Violet got up and followed him.

“I thought we were going to eat here.”

“I know a place,” he said.

She thought he was going to stay in the vicinity of the school. To her surprise, he drove out a way and pulled into a deserted park.

“Where are we?”

“I come here to run on the trail.”

She frowned. “When do you come here?”

“During lunch or after school if you catch a ride home with someone. It’s out of the way, so it’s rarely crowded.”

“It’s nice,” she said as she handed over his massive burrito.

They ate in companionable silence, taking in the squirrels, birds, and a lone jogger that passed. When she finished her food, she tossed her trash in the plastic bag, sat back, and closed her eyes. She raised her face to the cool breeze that came through both of their open windows and let out a long sigh.

She thought her life had turned upside down, but what had really changed? She and Jesse were okay. She assessed the vibes in the car and detected none. There had been tension between them since she started dating, but now it was gone.

She had enjoyed hanging out with Tucker, but wasn’t upset about breaking up with him, which reaffirmed that she had been scratching an itch that no longer existed. The only thing she’d lost was her innocence, and girls lost that every day. Not to their stepbrother, but there was no erasing that fact. It would never happen again, so there was no sense in bemoaning the series of unfortunate events that resulted in her and Jesse having sex. Whatever caused Jesse to seek Tucker out and provoked his temper even before he found them in a compromising situation was to blame. In retrospect, insisting that she knew what she wanted and that she was old enough to experiment had contributed to Jesse losing control. He hadn’t meant to go that far. Maybe he meant to teach her a lesson that had spiraled out of control?

“Vi.”

She hummed in the back of her throat as she turned toward his voice with her eyes still closed. The last thing she expected was to feel his lips on hers. Her eyes flew open and she jerked back. He clasped her nape and drew her over the console, ignoring the hand she placed on his chest to keep him at bay.

“Jesse, what…?”

He brushed his mouth against hers lightly, teasingly. She blinked, befuddled and alarmed by the spurt of heat that shot through her body.

“Don’t think,” he said against her lips. “Just feel.”

“But…”

He cut her off as he covered her mouth with his. Her mind wiped clean. She didn’t have a choice to think. His lips on hers short-circuited her brain. The tingling numbness that came upon her during his midnight visits engulfed her. Jesse’s response to her paralysis was to deepen the kiss and replace the chill with scorching heat. She wanted to mentally retreat, but the feelings he evoked wouldn’t let her. When she whimpered, he broke the kiss to nuzzle her affectionately.

“It’s okay, baby,” he cooed. “I’m not going to hurt you.”

She gripped his wrist as she tried to catch her breath. “I know that, but we can’t—”

He brushed his thumb along the apple of her cheek. “There’s a time for denial and a time for acceptance.”

His spin on the scripture Dad had shared this morning made her heart skip.

“A time for restraint and a time to indulge.” Jesse kissed the corner of her mouth. “It’s our time, Violet. Stop thinking and feel.”

He brushed his lips against hers.

“Open your mouth.”

She parted her lips before she thought better of it, but she didn’t have time to change her mind. Jesse took advantage of her obedience and sank his tongue into her mouth. When she tried to draw back, he clasped her face and tugged her closer.

He kissed her with an absorption that made everything else cease to exist. She was lost in a maelstrom of feeling. He explored her with a thoroughness that made her shudder. She had never experienced anything like it. There was tenderness, need, and a desperate urgency that seeped from him to her so she squirmed in her seat.

There was no thought of consequences or right and wrong. There was only mounting desire and the overwhelming need to do something about it.

When Jesse finally drew away, she clutched at him because she felt like she was teetering on the edge of a precipice. It took her a second to remember where they were, since she’d completely lost touch with their surroundings.

Jesse searched her eyes and cupped her flushed cheek. “You feel it, don’t you?”

She swallowed hard, nodded. She thought she saw a flash of relief before he bent and rested his forehead against hers.

“After school, I’ll take care of us, okay?”

When she didn’t respond, he tensed. He cupped her chin and searched her glazed eyes.

“After school,” he repeated, voice dropping as his temper ignited. “You with me?”

“Yes.”

He gave her a hard kiss before he pulled back. “Don’t think.”

As he turned the key in the ignition, she faced forward and dazedly fastened her seat belt. Her body was a boiling mass of unfulfilled desire. Thinking was beyond her at the moment.

Neither of them said a word as Jesse raced back to campus. They pulled into the parking lot as the second bell that signaled they should already be in class rang. As she bailed out and prepared to jog to her class, Jesse called, “Vi!”

She pivoted to face him.

“You with me?”

He had an odd look on his face she couldn’t interpret and didn’t have time to figure out since she was late.

“Yes,” she shouted, exasperated, before she took off.

**This is a raw draft of the prequel for Corrupt Idol. Please do not share or distribute.

Copyright © 2024 Mia Knight. All Rights Reserved.