Underage

[13] Back to the Beginning

Underage

[13] Back to the Beginning

I'd held out for an entire year. Since the kiss, it seemed as if Ethan was everywhere. When I turned the corner, he was there. When I shut my locker door, he was there. When I went anywhere, he was there. His lips would always be dangerously close to my neck. His touch sent my skin on fire, and my cheeks spent most of their time with an everlasting blush. His mouth spoke words of lust, of promises. They were tempting and I lasted longer than anyone had thought I would. But, when he told me that he was taking me out on a date, I didn't have much choice any longer. With demands and more promises, I was a sucker to his pretty words.

After our first kiss, Ethan started wearing Evan's leather jacket. It was a tough few months for him. Our game seemed to take his mind off it for a while. It was good to see him smiling again, and laughing and joking around. He had been upset for too long. If kisses could keep him from following in the same path, then it was the least I could do.

"Now, don't think that because I'm taking you out it means I'm going to ask you to be my girlfriend." He says while pulling out of my driveway in his mother's minivan. It was weeks after he got his driver's license and he liked driving me everywhere. He said I had a lead foot and a habit of driving by braille.

"Like I would say yes, anyway. I never even said yes to this," I said.

"And yet you're still here with me."

"Against my will."

"If you really didn't want to be here, you wouldn't be," He said. "But you won't regret it."

"You promised me the best first date. I'm a tough critic."

Ethan smirked. "Trust me, baby, you'll love this."

I remember how my heart had fluttered with the pet name, like it did every time. Having male attention was still new to me, and every lingering look, every touch of skin on skin, and every time he planted his lips against my mouth had my heart racing. His favorite thing was tugging my earlobe between his teeth. He loved to hear my breath hitch and feel my heart quicken. He would laugh and kiss my lips, and then ten minutes later he'd do it again.

We were in the minivan. The music was the only noise in the car. I was humming along, the thought of actually singing in front of him terrifying. My gaze stuck to the scenery outside the window instead of on the boy who kept glancing at me. His eyes would linger on my legs and I would tug at the edge of my shorts.

"Stop fidgeting," Ethan said. He picked up my hand and threaded our fingers together. He lay them on top of my leg, his hand on the bottom and mine on top. Then, he sent me a smile. The butterflies exploded from their cage of ribs and spilled into my stomach, multiplying by the second.

He took me to the lake, where we sat on the grassy hill and ate two large pizzas. We talked for hours and watched the sun set beneath the water. When the sun was gone, and the stars came out, he helped me into a paddle boat. We paddled ourselves to the middle of the lake, where he kissed me beneath the stars and spoke against my lips, "You're a bad kisser."

"I have a bad teacher," I said against his.

Ethan had pulled back far enough so that his eyes stared into mine. They were clouded with lust and his lips curled up just slightly. "Then I guess we're going to have to practice some more."

Date after date, we unknowingly solidified the thought in our parent's heads that we were perfect for each other. He was never late picking me up, even going as far as knocking on the door ten minutes early. He was always driving us in his mother's minivan, the only car he was allowed to drive until he could pay for at least half the amount of a new one.