Being in a car with Hannah was a mistake. Being surrounded by her smell caused too many urges that Curtis had to fight to keep to himself. His control usually topped a monk’s, but all he could think about was reaching over and snatching her right hand from the steering wheel she held with a death grip.

She may have allowed that, but he knew just holding her hand would push him to try more daring touches. The fact that he could see her black bra through her shirt made his thoughts cloud with having her pull over and fucking her until she understood where he saw their relationship going. The whole idea of a relationship hadn’t been brought up, but there’d be no doubt what he was thinking when they were done touching each other everywhere they could.

He hated thinking of it in terms of just fucking, but damn it, she wore a see-through top. She had to know the message from her side of the car included sex. He believed that was part of the reason her knuckles were white as she squeezed the steering wheel.

He didn’t like to think he made her uncomfortable, the other reason she could be squeezing that tightly. Curtis hoped that her mind was racing with all the ways he could possibly take her if she gave him the chance. All it took was a simple yes, and he would take her to the moon and back.

That wasn’t what their talk was supposed to be about, though. He shook his head as he tried to clear the images of her naked body writhing underneath him. He had no basis to know how she’d respond to him, but by god his imagination had her singing like an angel with every touch.

“I think I need to make it clear now that you should probably find a spot where plenty of people can see us when we get there. I’m not sure how busy it will be, but be on the lookout for a bunch of cars.”

Curtis really didn’t care about a crowd watching what he wanted to do to Hannah, but he knew she would. He was pretty sure that would be enough to keep him from following through on any urges. They needed to find a place next to a playground packed full of kids so his thoughts of sex would dissipate, even if it was only a fraction of a bit.

It was a clear sign of how messed up he was in the head that he let his mind think about one of the kids playing being theirs. A little red-haired girl with freckles swinging on the swing set. He obviously had an overactive imagination and should probably seek out some professional help to cure the wild fantasies it came up with.

They were still about five minutes to the lake. One of the nice things about being hired by the team in Curtis’ hometown was that he knew the area like the back of his hand. There were some guys on the team who’d been around for at least a few years and they probably didn’t even know there was a giant lake nearby.

“You don’t have to worry about me saying anything to hurt your reputation. It’s not like anyone would believe me if I said you tried to rape me.”

The car went quiet after the words. Curtis had rolled his window down to try to clear his head, so the sound of the road going by filled the quiet. He didn’t know exactly how to respond to the comment, since he was in fact thinking about sex. He couldn’t imagine trying to force himself on Hannah. Anyone who thought to prey on someone like her, so vulnerable and innocent, deserved to be shot.

“I didn’t mean it that way. It’s stupid. I don’t think you’d rape me. I mean, if you wanted to have sex there’d be consent on my part, so it couldn’t be rape anyway. And I’m not the kind of person who talks about that stuff with other people, so it’d just be between us. Not that you’d want to. I’m just not sure how to get around what I said.”

She rambled on, trying to fill the car with some kind of conversation. Curtis didn’t know that for sure, but that was the kind of person she was. It surprised him that she was even able to get all those words out. For as shy as she was, there had to be a part of her that was mortified putting herself out there like that.

“What about Nina? Would you be able to keep it from her?”

Curtis could care less if word spread to other people. Nina was the issue. She’d always been the issue. He wasn’t sure the idea of them having sex was something legitimately playing out in Hannah’s head, but he did want to know where she stood on the issue of her friend. He thought they needed to talk before things got physical, even though that was all he could think about.

The question took some thought, based on the time that went by without a response. By the time that Hannah thought it over, she’d pulled into the entrance of the lake. Curtis concluded the conversation would die there, but once they got a little deeper into the park surrounding the lake, Hannah spoke up.

“If it’s important to you, yes, I’d keep it from her.”

The response was so soft that Curtis had to strain to hear it. The tone much more in tune with Hannah’s personality.

Curtis groaned. Hannah was supposed to be the one who made sure they didn’t do anything stupid. Not that sex between them would be stupid. It just wasn’t smart.

“When I said I wanted to talk, I hadn’t planned on that leading to sex. I eventually hoped you’d be willing to have some fun, but I don’t want you to think that’s all I want in a relationship.”

It was a situation that Curtis regretted having to be the grown up. He still didn’t know how to bring up the blackmail issue and whether she’d believe him. For that matter, he didn’t know if she’d care. If she wasn’t the woman he thought she was, it could be about nothing more than having a quick fling and moving on.

“But if I requested, you’d actually be on board with sleeping with me? Is it some kind of nostalgia thing you’ve got going on? I don’t understand why out of everyone who was at the reunion, you singled me out.”

Hannah hadn’t stopped the car, even though they’d passed a parking lot. The lake was huge, with multiple playgrounds, boat launches and places to park for hiking. They could spend a half an hour driving around, but Curtis wanted to stop and at least start explaining himself.

“Drive down to the marina. I’ve got a boat docked there that will give us some privacy.”

During the summer months, Curtis took the boat out for fishing trips with some of his friends. Since the season had started, he’d basically put it up for the year, but it was closer than any other home field advantage he had.

“I thought you said we should stay where people can see us.”

Curtis reached over and wrapped his hand around her thigh. His hand was so big that even at mid-thigh his fingers curled under her leg.

“I said that because I’m having trouble keeping my mind on anything other than your naked body.”

Spreading his hand out, he turned it lengthwise on her leg, then ran it down to her knee. He imagined it touching her bare skin instead of the rough fabric of her jeans. All of the blood in his body seemed to rush between his legs, making things a bit uncomfortable. To relieve a little of the pain, Curtis scooted forward in his seat so he could lean back. Thankfully, he wasn’t wearing jeans anywhere near as tight as the ones Hannah had painted on herself.

“Are we really going to do this?”

Hannah kept the car rolling and took the road to the marina, even as she asked the question. Rather than answer, Curtis reached up and undid the button of her jeans. In a quick motion, he pulled the zipper down and reached his hand in to see how far it could get. Hannah whimpered and pushed herself up into his cupped hand. Her pants were tight on her legs, but there was just enough room that his fingers could dip inside the top.

He hadn’t dared to dive in on the skin side of her panties. The silky touch of her black underwear was enough to tell him he was in trouble. He pulled his hand out and righted her pants.

Not bothering to care how weird it looked, he took his left hand and covered the lower portion of his face so he could get a good whiff of Hannah’s scent. He wanted to lick the soft skin coated in the sweet scent until his nose and tongue were forever embedded with it.

“The wet spot in your underwear tells me yes.”

Curtis was happy to have an indication she was already wet. With her on the tiny side, he’d been worried about how much of him she’d be able to take. It wasn’t something he boasted about, but he was in the top three in the locker room for size, in general length and girth.

The idea of puzzle pieces fitting together always concerned him when he thought about a physical relationship with Hannah. He'd been with skinny women before, but he didn’t feel even a fraction of what he felt towards Hannah about them. Whether they really fit together hadn’t been a major concern.

“At least I can hide my lust. You aren’t fooling anyone with your pants about to rip open. I thought for a while it was just my imagination, but you are most definitely straining.”

“You said yes, right? So there’s no reason to hide it. Go ahead and pull in anywhere around here.”

Hannah immediately turned the wheel to the left and parked. Thankfully, no one was on either side of them, because the yellow lines for parking seemed to be mere suggestions. She was pretty much right on top of one of the lines.

She went through the motions of turning the car off and sat in her robotic stance, waiting for something. Or maybe she was running through all the reasons she should or shouldn’t go out on the boat with him. Curtis was fine letting her run the show. If she backed out, it’d be a little painful, but he wasn’t going to push.

“I don’t understand how a boat would be more private than sneaking off in the woods. Anyone can walk up on us here.”

Her words made it clear she was still game, so Curtis reached over to push her chin up and rotate her head to face his direction. Her green eyes were bright, hopefully thinking about things to come. If she wasn’t careful, they weren’t going to make it out to the boat.

Leaning in, Curtis flicked his tongue out to get a taste of her lips. He’d noticed they were a little shinier than usual, thanks to some cherry lip gloss was his guess based on the flavor that hit his taste buds. Her mouth opened and he slid his tongue inside as their lips mashed together.

The kiss had to be brief or they were going to have an audience for their first time together. Curtis didn’t want to back away, but he did. In doing so, he saw the dazed, stuck in the moment expression clinging to Hannah’s face. Her eyes remained closed and her mouth hung open a little. It was hard not to lean back in and kiss her slightly swollen lips again.

“I should’ve been a little clearer about my boat. That’s it over there.”

Hannah’s eyes sprung open and followed his finger. It was hard to miss the cabin cruiser in the marina. It was the biggest boat in sight.

“That’s your boat?”

The mesmerized sound to her voice made Curtis a little proud. Whether it was because of the size of his boat or the kiss, he didn’t care. He’d put it there.

“Yup. I can promise you that we’ll have all the privacy we need in the bedroom under the deck. You still want to check it out? I’m telling you right now that as much as I want to be sweet and tender, I’m afraid this is going to be a straight up fuckfest. If you walk off that boat under your own power, I’m going to consider myself a failure.”

Hannah’s head was still turned towards the boat, so Curtis saw and heard the hard swallow she took while he spoke. She slowly turned to look at him and nodded her head without meeting his eyes.

“I’d really like to see your boat.”

Curtis had done what he could to scare her away. They weren’t going to get to any of the things that needed to be said, but he hoped he could relay some of it physically. He told himself that certain things were easier to show than tell, and they were just going to cross those things off the list first.

“Thank god. I was going to have to dive into the lake fully clothed to try to cool off if you said no.”

After a swift kiss to her forehead, Curtis opened his door and jumped out of the car. He ran around to her side and pulled her out as soon as he got the door open, throwing her over his shoulder in the process. Manhandling wasn’t generally his thing, but he knew his strides would get them closer to the clothes flying off stage of the day.

“Put me down.”

They were already twenty feet from the car when Hannah found her words. The delayed reaction made Curtis laugh.

“Not happening. Once we get to the boat, you can have your way, but right now, I’m working to get us there as quickly as possible.”

The request only made his legs move faster. They were the only people on the docks, but if anyone was there, there would be no question what was going on. A guy with a beautiful woman over his shoulder, running towards a home on the water. Yup, there was no question what was going to happen when they made it to their destination.

Hannah had brought up the plans he could have for the day, but he hadn’t asked if she had anywhere she needed to be. He wasn’t about to. He just hoped she understood he wasn’t kidding about the condition he expected her to leave the boat.