“Jesus, girl!” he exclaimed, ducking away from her.
She snorted. “Yeah, I kind of figured as much. I’ll see you around,” she said, turning to leave.
He grabbed her wrist. “Slow down, Quill,” he softly spoke. He wasn’t sure why he did it. It wasn’t what was on his mind at all, but he bent and kissed her lips, softly at first and then more forcefully. She parted her lips and brushed his lip with her tongue. He moaned and devoured her mouth with his tongue.
She didn’t feel the fireworks or get that jittery feeling in her stomach like she did when Julius kissed her. She wondered if she would ever have that feeling again.
Patchette pulled away, and stared into her blue eyes. “I’m not going to fuck you,” he assured her in a low tone.
“Okay,” she said nonchalantly, shrugging her shoulders. She didn’t care. He wasn’t the only guy around there.
“Let me take you out to eat or something,” he offered. He couldn’t help it. He wasn’t raised that way. He wasn’t about to bend her over the hood of his car and fuck her. Plus, he had questions. Was she this promiscuous because of something that happened to her while she was with her captor?
Fuck. She didn’t want to go eat with him. She just wanted the sex. That’s what Seri did. She wanted to do that too. “It’s okay, Patch. You don’t have to wine and dine me. I get it. Don’t worry about it. I should go.”
“Will you come back tomorrow?” he asked.
“Don’t you work?” she asked, wondering why he spent all of his time at the track.
He laughed. “Yeah, I work. I keep the grounds mowed, the track up, the restrooms clean and working, pay the bills, order all the food for the concession stand, and whatever else needs done around here.”
“Where’s your uncle?” she wondered.
“He lives in Michigan; he doesn’t really come around here much anymore.”
“Oh,” she wasn’t sure what to say. She was, however, sure that she had just insulted him.
“Come on. I’ll give you a lift,” he said, gesturing toward his big truck. He must make money. He had a nice truck.
Aquilla hopped in, having to climb up into the thing. It was huge.
He drove her to her door. She was glad that the lights were still off. She didn’t want to have to explain him to her mother. It would have been bad. She was sure she wouldn’t have been able to keep from telling her to mind her own business.
“You coming around tomorrow?” he asked before she hopped down.
“Maybe,” she replied. She wasn’t working on his or anyone else’s clock, although she knew she would go.
He smirked. “I’ll see ya later.”
“See ya.”
Aquilla did see him the next day, and the next and the next. She didn’t go for the gold again, and decided to back off a little. She’d win. She wasn’t expecting to like him as much as she did. He was funny, cute, and raced cars, which she found extremely sexy.
“Go out with me tomorrow night,” he coaxed before letting her out of the truck on Thursday night.
“Go out with you where?” she asked, seeing the porch light and then her mother’s nosey eyes through a crack in the curtain.
“I don’t know. We’ll go eat a steak or something.”
“Um, I don’t really eat meat,” she explained.
“Fine, we’ll go eat rabbit food. Go out with me,” he begged.
“Where do you live?”
“Over on Whirl. I’m not taking you there,” he assured her.
“Why, you live with your mommy or something?” she teased.
“No. I live in a house. I’m afraid of you. I can’t be alone with you.”
Aquilla laughed. She moved over and kissed his neck. “You should be afraid of me,” she whispered hot words to his neck, hoping like hell her mother couldn’t see in the dark truck. “Pick me up at seven,” she ordered, and slid out of his truck.
“Who was that, Quill?” Liz asked still standing at the door waiting for her to come in.
“Just a guy from the track, he’s taking me out to eat tomorrow evening.”
“Don’t you think we should discuss this? Who is he?”
Oh boy. Here it comes. “No. I don’t think we need to discuss anything. I assure you, I can take care of myself.”
“Quill, I’m not going to let you just go off in some truck with a guy that I don’t know.”
“It’s Eugene Patchette,” Reese offered. “He runs the track. Blain says he’s a pothead.”
Really? Fucker wasn’t sharing with her.
“I know who he is, and he probably is a pothead. His uncle Mack was always a pothead. I went to school with him. No. Quill, you’re not going out with him.”
Aquilla snorted and walked up the steps. “Try to stop me,” she said with a vengeance and continued on her way.
She showered and then saw the four missed calls from Seri. She was going to dress and call her back. Seri didn’t give her time.
“What the hell, Quill? I thought things were going good there,” Seri started as soon as Quill answered.
“Let me guess. Liz called you?”
“Yes, she did. You’re not going out with that guy. Your mother says he’s a druggy.”
“My mother doesn’t even know him. And furthermore, he’s never done anything in front of me, so how does she know anything? She knew his uncle.”
“Who is this guy, Quill? I thought you told me everything.”
“He’s just a guy that I have been hanging out with at the track. He’s nice.”
“Do you like him? It didn’t take you long to get over Julius. What the hell?”
“Fuck you, Seri. Julius doesn’t want me. I like him just fine. Is he my can’t live without guy? Fuck no. I’m going to use him, just like you do. He’s going to fuck me tomorrow night whether he wants to or not.”
“Shit, Quill. Don’t do that,” Seri begged. She knew she shouldn’t have disclosed that information. Monica was going to kill her.
“Why? You do.”
“And I’m not normal. Give the Blain guy a try. Your mom said he was hot on your tail, and he was cute. Go out with him. His dad is a dentist.”
“Fuck that. That boy wouldn’t know what to do with me.”
“How old is this guy, Quill?”
“23, what does that have to do with anything?”
“Let me come and get you tomorrow and you can hang out with me for a week.”
“Okay, and I will just wait a week before I fuck Patch. Stop it, Seri. I’m a big girl; I can take care of myself.”
“You’re going to go let some grown man use you for a piece of ass, Quill?” Seri yelled, trying to talk some since into her thick skull.
“No. That’s not what I’m doing. I’m going to use him, just like you do, Seri. What? Now you’re a hypocrite?”
“Oh my God, Quill. Will you stop with that? You’re better than that. Don’t degrade yourself like that.”
“I’ll call you tomorrow. I want to get dressed.”
“Quill, please don’t do this.”
“Goodbye Seri.”
Really??? Seri was going to jump on the bandwagon now too. Grrrr.
Quill wanted to stay in her room and not go back downstairs, but she was starving and the shared bag of Frito’s with Patch had worn off a long time ago.
She went to the refrigerator and took out a yogurt and peeled a banana, of course Liz had to follow.
“Can we talk about this, Quill?”
“Talk about what? It’s dinner for God’s sake. What do you think I am going to do? I grew up with drugs, I know what drugs are. I probably know more about them than you do, and if its sex you’re worried about, you really shouldn’t be. That too, I am sure I know more about than you do.”
“Quill, you don’t have to be disrespectful to me. I didn’t come in here to tell you that you couldn’t go. I came in to tell you I’d like to meet him first.”