Eliza Jane - Tempted

“Why didn’t you introduce me?” she asks.

Oh. That’s what she’s mad about? That I didn’t introduce her as my girlfriend? “I, um, don’t remember her name.”

She spins around to face me. “You’re a real asshole, you know that?” She pokes a finger into my chest.

I nod, coyly. “I know. I was lost before you and trying to fill the void, but you’re the one I want now. You’re everything to me and I hate disappointing you. Forgive me, please?” I drop to my knees in front of her right in the parking lot. I probably look like a complete douche bag, but I don’t care I’ll do whatever it takes to make her smile again.

One corner of her mouth lifts up, but her eyes are still guarded. Her ice cream cone is melting and the chocolate is beginning to run down her hand. I lift her hand to my mouth and lick the steam of chocolate from her fingers, watching her expression. I just want to get her to laugh, to forget about all this shit and enjoy herself.

She smashes the ice cream cone in my face, leaving my mouth and chin wet with sticky sweet chocolate. I lick my lips, but the effort is futile. “Feel better?”

She giggles. “Yes, I do actually.”

“Good.” I stand up and fish the napkins from my pocket, cleaning up.

She happily licks at the ice cream cone that’s now flattened from my face.

When we pull up to the movie theatre, I’m almost afraid to go inside, unsure of who else I might know in there. I never realized what a small town this was. Maybe the next time I take Taylor out, we’ll venture a few towns over just to be safe.

I breathe a sigh of relief when I spot a pimply-faced kid at the box office. I sure as shit don’t know him. After buying our tickets, Taylor goes to the concession stand and looks longingly at the popcorn. I slid up behind her. “Can I get you some popcorn?” I whisper.

“It’s okay, I don’t need it.”

I drop my voice an octave lower. “I want to feed it to you. Plus you’ll need your energy for later.”

“Later?” she squeaks.

I nod.

“Large popcorn with butter,” I say to the kid behind the counter.

We make it through the movie without any more unwelcome incidents. Taylor’s braver than I am when it comes to scary movies. I’d hoped she’d be balled up on my lap, burying her head in my chest at the gory parts, but she’d just laugh and throw a handful of popcorn into her mouth. It was adorable. But it left me craving some closeness between us.

The credits begin to roll and I stretch, leaning over to her. “Did you like it?”

She nods, smiling. “Yeah. Thanks for the movie date.” She kisses me once quickly. Her lips are salty and buttery from the popcorn. Yum.

I escort her to the lobby, my arm slung over her shoulders. She makes a stop at the restroom and I stand outside, waiting for her.

“Colt Palmer?” a female voice behind me asks.

Oh not again. I need to get rid of whoever this is before Taylor comes back.

I spin around to a leggy red head in a denim skirt so short it barely covers the important parts. Recognition strikes. This is the red head from earlier this summer, right before I met Taylor. I struggle to remember her name. Anna? Abby?

She grins at me. “Amber. Remember?”

Oh I remember. I remember her screaming out my name and her red hair a wild mess. I shake the thought away.

“Yeah. Hi.” I glance to the bathroom door. Still no sign of Taylor.

“Why didn’t you call me?”

Had she given me her number? I don’t remember. I thought it was just a one-time thing.

She leans in closer, her voice a soft purr near my ear. “You were so fucking good. I wouldn’t mind a repeat of that night.”

Taylor clears her throat next to us.

Holy shit. Taylor! Her face is beat red, her hands balled into fists at her side.

I take a step back from Amber, pulling Taylor closer in to my side. She quickly shrugs out of my grasp. “Amber, this is Taylor.” Would I get points for introducing them?

Amber sticks out her hand toward Taylor. I have no idea what Taylor is going to do next, but she looks like she wants to punch someone, preferably me.

Taylor returns the handshake. “I’m the girlfriend.”

Amber snickers. “I’m the girl he slept with this summer.”

“This summer?” Taylor goes pale.

“Oh, sorry,” Amber says with mock innocence. “How long have you two been dating?”

Taylor turns and rushes for the doors.

“Thanks a lot,” I say to Amber.

She shrugs, looking pleased with herself. Her revenge for me not calling her, I guess.

I rush out after Taylor. She stands against my car, tears freely streaming down her cheeks. “Don’t.” She holds up a hand, preventing me from coming any closer. I unlock her door and open it for her without a word. She slips inside and leans her head back against the seat.

I climb in next to her and pull away. The silence in the car is deafening. “You just need to know I was with her before I even met you – I know she made it sound different, but I promise you, Taylor.”

“Oh you promise me,” she says, sarcasm dripping from her voice. “Just like you promised them that’d you call? Your promises mean nothing. How can I trust you, Colt?”

I stay quiet. She has a point.

“Maybe I want a boyfriend that hasn’t already slept with half the town. Is this going to be what it’s like when we go out? Because I can’t handle this.”

Taylor

This has officially been the worst date ever. Three of Colt’s past conquests have confronted us tonight, each more beautiful than the last. We ride in silence back to the school. I just want to be alone. I never knew I could have such a jealous streak, but apparently when confronted with a parade of girls who’d all slept with my boyfriend – something I hadn’t even done – it brings out the worst in me.

Colt grips the steering wheel and guns it, eager to be done with this date, just like I am. When he stops the car in the gravel drive, I get out without a word.

He hops out of the car and jogs to catch up with me. “Can we talk, please? I don’t want tonight to end like this.”

I swallow and slowly meet his eyes. He’s pleading with me. And I can’t refuse him. I nod, almost imperceptibly. “Fine.”

He takes my hand and leads me inside.

Once we’re inside Colt’s room, that is normally so familiar and comfortable to me, I just stand there with my arms folded across my chest, not wanting to go any further.

“Come sit.” He guides me by my shoulders over to his bed.

We both sit, but I make sure there’s plenty of space separating us.

I knew this conversation was inevitable, and as curious as I was, part of me wanted to avoid it for as long as possible. But we’d been slowly building to this point the whole summer. We started dating officially a couple months ago, but after Colt’s dad fled, he’d had to take up the slack, so our relationship had progressed slowly, which was just fine with me. Colt’s been busy running the company, recruiting a new class of first years, traveling for field assignments and I’ve stayed busy with school and my friends. It had been pretty close to perfect, but now I’m starting to see things are not going to be so easy for us.

“There are a few things I need to know,” I start.

He nods, solemnly.

“How many girls?”

His eyes widen. He’d been hoping I’d start with an easier question. He looks down. “I’m really not sure.”

“Well, ballpark then. Just give me an estimate.”

His head stays down, and he fiddles with the blanket on his bed. I’m not sure he’s going to answer me.

“Okay, so usually it was what, a few girls a week?”

He looks up suddenly, his face in agony. “No, a few a month. At most.”

“Okay, a few a month, so three times twelve months a year, that’s thirty-six girls a year, and how long have you been this way?”

“Um, I lost my virginity when I was fifteen.”

I calculate and recalculate in my head. Four years times thirty six girls a year on average is almost one hundred and fifty, give or take. Holy shit!

Colt realizes the number the same time I do. “That can’t be right.” He shakes his head.

“One hundred and forty four! Colt.” I smack his shoulder. “You’re a manwhore.”

“Taylor, I’m sorry.” He grabs my hand, but I pull it away. “It’s not that many. I swear.”

My number is one and I regretted even that. Something told me though, Colt didn’t have that same self-awareness. “Did you use protection?”

“Always. Every time, I promise. And I’ve been tested too.”

“Why Colt? How did you get like this?”

MJ and I had a theory, that he’d been looking for love and closeness in all the wrong places. His mother died when he was young and his father turned into a callous workaholic. Colt needed that connection, that closeness to another person. And he found it, if only for a short time, with girl after girl. The feeling never lasted long though, and so he sought the next girl. He hadn’t even known he was stuck in this pattern until I came along last spring. I challenged him in a way that no one had. I didn’t put up with his antics and I think he also liked that I wasn’t falling all over him, like most girls usually did.

But I need to hear Colt say it and realize all this.

“After my mom died, I didn’t have much love in my life. Something was missing. It just left this giant hole in me. I threw myself into martial arts, I enjoyed taking out my aggression and beating the shit out of people just to feel something. But after a while, that wasn’t enough anymore. And then I started high school, and girls started noticing me. I got tall practically overnight and was in good shape from all the training. It was easy. Too easy. I could be with them and forget about my crappy life. I know it’s not right the way I used them, but I figure they were using me for something too, so it didn’t really bother me.”