chapter THREE
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 21, 1962
Curtis Walker is the best kisser in the world. Not that I have much to compare it to since he’s the only boy I have ever kissed. He’s also the only boy I ever want to kiss.
For his birthday, he said the only thing he wanted was to kiss me. I was hesitant at first, but then I let him. And as soon as he did, I didn’t want him to stop. I can still feel how smooth his lips were against mine. I can still hear the rumble of his chest as he kissed me. That soft growling sound was so sexy. It was like I’ve seen in movies, only better. A lot better.
Oh, I almost forgot! After he kissed me, the best thing happened. Curtis asked me to go steady!! I still can’t believe it, but I’m Curtis’s girlfriend now. My tummy feels all fluttery just thinking about it. I don’t know if I should tell anyone, though. I’m not sure what Momma and Daddy will say. I don’t want them to tell me I can’t see him, so for now, I think I’ll keep the news to myself.
I can’t wait to see him tomorrow.
“How does it feel to be seventeen?”
Lorrie’s sweet tone had Curtis casting a sidelong glance her way. She was perched less than a foot away from him on the old fallen tree that had been stripped of its bark from weather and time. She looked so damn pretty, her golden hair falling down to her shoulders, that frilly white dress that she’d worn to church that morning hugging her curves.
He couldn’t even understand how he’d ever thought Helen Jenkins was prettier than her. Lorrie was the prettiest girl he’d ever set eyes on.
“Not much different than sixteen, I don’t guess.” He found his voice was slightly rougher than usual. He attributed that to his hormones, which seemed to be out of whack when she was around.
For two solid weeks, he’d been going about his business as he always had, only now he felt as though he had purpose. This girl had waltzed into his life and sidetracked him to the point he hadn’t spent any time with his friends or his family since that day she’d come to his door. And he didn’t even care. The only person he wanted to spend time with was her.
Granted, Lorrie hadn’t been quite as receptive to him as he was to her, but it did seem as though they’d established somewhat of a friendship during that time. Ever since he had laid it all on the line, letting her know he fully intended to win her over, she hadn’t been quite so … combative. Granted, she still liked to argue with almost everything he said, but he found it cute.
“I can’t imagine it does,” she said. “Fourteen doesn’t feel any different than thirteen, either, except…”
“Except what?”
Lorrie shook her head.
“Talk to me, girl.”
Her cheeks turned pink. “Except, you know, I … like you.”
“Like me, huh?” He couldn’t stop the grin from splitting his face.
Curtis continued to stare at her, trying to memorize everything. She wasn’t wearing the little button-up sweater she’d had on earlier, and the dress she had on gave him an unobstructed view of the golden skin of her arms and a peek at her toned legs, something he found himself drawn to. He wanted to know if she was as soft as she looked, but he didn’t dare touch her for fear of scaring her off. Which wasn’t an easy feat. For the past couple of weeks, it was all he could think about. Not only did he want to touch her skin, he wanted to know how her lips would feel on his, her tongue moving against his.
His hormones were completely off-kilter. Sometimes he worried about how much he wanted her, all the things that he wanted to do to her. Truth be told, he’d never felt this way about a girl. Sure, he’d had plenty of fantasies about the girls at school—a few of them, anyway—but not the kind of fantasies he was having about Lorrie. He was sporting an erection damn near all day, every day.
If she knew what he was thinking when he looked at her, she would probably smack him right upside the head. He certainly wasn’t a saint, nor did he pretend to be.
“If you could have anything in the world for your birthday,” Lorrie asked, her blue eyes sparkling as she looked over at him, “what would it be?”
Her smile was so sweet, so shy.
Curtis considered that for a moment. Then he grinned. “A kiss,” he said boldly.
“From who?” Lorrie looked confused, but he saw the way her cheeks turned pink again. She knew what he meant, but he liked her innocence.
“From you, of course.”
“Me? Why me?” She sounded as though that were the most preposterous thing she’d ever heard.
One thing he’d learned about Lorrie was that she was incredibly sweet, probably a little too naïve. She was smart and pretty, but she didn’t seem to realize that. He wasn’t sure if that was her parents’ doing or what. Whatever the reason, she was extremely reserved and equally innocent. Not as much as a couple of girls he knew, the kind who would slap a boy for looking at her too long. No, Lorrie wasn’t quite that virtuous, but she definitely wasn’t as forward as a lot of the girls. And maybe that was what he liked most about her.
“Have you ever kissed a boy, Lorrie?”
Her golden eyebrows darted downward. “No.”
“Never?”
“Never,” she confirmed.
“How come?”
More color highlighted her cheeks as she shrugged. “Never met a boy I wanted to kiss.”
“What about me?”
Her glittering eyes darkened slightly as they slid down to his mouth, and Curtis instantly knew that she wanted to kiss him.
Just as he’d expected, she didn’t answer him; instead, she turned the question back on him. “Have you ever kissed a girl?”
“Yep,” he admitted truthfully, trying to keep the pride out of his tone.
“A lot of girls?”
“No.” Curtis knew he couldn’t say yes. That wouldn’t get him anywhere. And the truth was he hadn’t kissed but three or four. He’d kissed them, even had a few heated necking sessions in the backseat of his old man’s car down by the lake, but again, he wasn’t going to tell her that. Despite the rumors, he’d never gone all the way with a girl, either, though not for lack of trying.
“How many?”
Figuring Lorrie was not going to give up, Curtis knew he needed a distraction. Shifting, he turned so that he was facing her, straddling the tree trunk as he eased closer. The muscles in his stomach tightened as he closed the distance between them, the ache between his legs growing more insistent. He’d been ignoring his body’s reaction to this girl as much as possible, but here, alone, so close … it was too much to bear.
“What’re you doin’?” she asked breathlessly, lips pursed when he bumped her thigh with his knee.
“Will you let me kiss you, Lorrie?” He kept his eyes locked with hers, heard the slight hitch in her breath, saw the way her eyes widened. But she didn’t say no.
Still, he needed her to say yes.
“Will you?” he repeated.
“You want to kiss me?”
“So badly,” he admitted. He’d actually dreamed about kissing her, pulling her into his arms, feeling her slight body against his.
They remained like that for several painfully long seconds, neither of them looking away. His patience was running thin, his blood rushing violently through his veins, the urge to kiss her so great he could hardly contain himself.
But somehow he managed.
And when Lorrie didn’t answer him, Curtis started to turn away, needing a minute to catch his breath and calm himself down. The last thing he wanted to do was rush Lorrie, but he needed some form of release, something to quench the undeniable thirst that consumed him when he was around her. He wasn’t quite sure what it was about her, but he’d never felt this way around a girl before.
“Wait,” she said quickly.
He turned back to face her, his hands fisted at his sides, fighting the urge to reach for her.
“You can kiss me, Curtis Walker.”
Those were the sweetest words he’d ever heard.
Her eyes dropped to her lap. “But I don’t know what to do.”
Christ. This girl… She was so damned perfect for him. Sweet. So incredibly sweet. And innocent. Unlike the other girls, who followed him around and told him how much they liked him. She was the chase, and he found he craved that.
“I’ll show you,” he said simply.
With his patience at an all-time low, Curtis moved closer, wiping his sweaty hands on his jeans before he reached out and touched her arms, sliding his palms from her elbows up to her shoulders, his fingertips fluttering lightly over her smooth skin.
“So soft,” he whispered. She was definitely as soft as she looked.
There was another hitch in her breath, but she didn’t move away. She shivered, and he felt the goose bumps break out under his hands.
Leaning forward, Curtis pressed his lips to hers, applying the slightest amount of pressure, giving her a second to get used to him being so close. He would’ve pulled back, content with a chaste first kiss, but then Lorrie’s hands came up to cup his face, and Curtis nearly lost every ounce of his self-control. He groaned low in his throat, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her to him almost roughly, their lips still touching as he settled her between his thighs. He wanted to slip his tongue into her mouth and feel hers, but he didn’t dare.
Something told him that he had to go slow with Lorrie, even if it killed him.
And he had no doubt that it just might.
Sitting with Curtis, down by the water… It was the most relaxing thing in the world. Initially, when they’d first started coming down to the creek, Lorrie had been apprehensive. But that had been two weeks ago, and since that very first day, each day had gotten easier to be in his presence. In fact, she’d spent every waking moment that she was away from him wishing that she could see him, talk to him, listen to the deep rumble of his voice.
And now…
Curtis Walker was kissing her.
Her heart tumbled a couple of times in her chest as his lips pressed to hers. She couldn’t stop herself from reaching for him, trying to rein in the crazy feelings now consuming her insides. She loved the way his lips felt, the way he tugged her closer, her legs hanging over his thigh, his arms banded around her body, holding her to him.
It was the closest they’d ever been, and still she wanted to be closer. Mostly, she wanted to keep on kissing him forever. More than she wanted her next breath. Since she’d never kissed a boy before, she’d known she had to tell him. Would he think she was a bad kisser? Would he make fun of her? Would he tell anyone else?
Her nerves were rioting as she sat there, her lips pressed gently to his, her hands cupping his face, waiting for him to pull back. But he didn’t, and the sensations that assaulted her were far greater than anything she’d ever expected. There was a nervous flutter that had consumed her. It made her belly churn, her hands shake, her heart race. And there was an ever-present urge to climb his body simply to get closer.
His lips were warm and firm, not as soft as she’d thought they would be. When he cupped the back of her head and hugged her tighter, the breath whooshed out of her lungs, but that was the least of her worries, because she was so caught up in him, her body igniting in ways she’d only heard about, she couldn’t think about anything but getting closer.
Of their own free will, her fingers slid into his silky hair, her palms moving against the slightly rough surface of his jaw. He was warm and he smelled so good. Like … Curtis.
Just when she thought he would pull back, Curtis’s head shifted slightly, and his tongue caressed the seam of her lips. The action caught her by surprise, and she gasped, only to find his tongue sliding into her mouth, moving against hers. It was a strange sensation, but it was nice. Nicer than she’d imagined.
She could taste the sweetness of the gum he’d been chewing, which helped to mask the taste of cigarettes that was also there. She didn’t mind it, actually. It was sexy.
Rather than pull away, Lorrie leaned into him, allowing Curtis to deepen the kiss. Their tongues mingled, sliding together effortlessly. The way he groaned, the rumble of his chest against her arms… It caused the butterflies in her belly to take flight.
Before she wanted it to end, Curtis pulled back, and he was staring down at her. He looked as dazed as she felt, but neither of them said anything, and her fear that she’d done something wrong began to take over. Right up until he smiled.
“That was the best birthday gift I’ve ever gotten,” he whispered, his hands falling down to his sides as she leaned back.
Lorrie had no idea what to say to that, but she secretly hoped that he would kiss her again. His eyes raked over her face, briefly meeting hers before falling back to her lips.
“You wanna go steady?” Curtis blurted.
Lorrie couldn’t hide her surprise, nor could she stop the face-splitting smile that took over. Without hesitation, she said, “Yes.”
“Really?” It was Curtis’s turn to be surprised, apparently.
“Did you think I’d say no?”
“I didn’t know what you’d say.”
Lorrie grinned to herself, her heart filled to overflowing as she looked at this boy who was now … well, technically, if they were going steady, that made Curtis Walker her boyfriend. She wasn’t sure she’d ever been this happy in her entire life.