Free Lane (Made From Stone Book 1) by T Saint John

to be having a good time dancing with Chad. Even with all these people around, I can only feel Mallory’s presence and no matter how wrong it may be, I selfishly want this private little moment to last forever. I risk looking at her again. As I do, she clears her throat nervously. I can see she’s trying to work up the nerve to say something.
    “Mr. Stone?” she asks quizzically.
    “Yeah?” I reply, afraid of what she’s about to ask me. She moves herself closer and this driving force that seems to pull us closer to one another once again holds our bodies together.  
    “Do you think I’m pretty?” she asks quietly as she looks away from me, red faced. Fuck me! 'Of course!' I want to scream, knowing I have to end this moment before I end up saying what I really mean for a change.
    “I think you’re a student, Mallory.” I chastise her, quickly pulling away. I can't afford to take any more chances.
    “I’m sorry,” she says, shifting her gaze away from me. She clears her throat and walks off quickly, I have to let her go. I have to stay where I am, no matter how much my heart and my dick are screaming for me to follow her.
    I start to make rounds through the crowd of students dancing, although I can’t bring myself to pay them any attention. My mind is still lingering on what it felt like to have her body pressed against mine. After about 10 minutes have passed with nothing noteworthy in the gym, I decide to head back into the bathroom to make sure no one else has decided to start smoking.
    I walk in quietly and I hear Chad talking to his buddies, “Tonight's the night. T- Minus two hours and Mallory is finally riding me.” They all laugh and I rush out of the bathroom, slamming the door behind me. I go out to my car. I’m seeing red as I sit down in the driver's seat of the Jeep and slam its door hard enough that the thing lurches a little from side to side. Chad shouldn’t get to feel her, she's MINE! Then one sickening little thought enters my mind, a thought that manages to quiet all of my irate reasoning: He’s her age.

Mallory
    After prom, I went straight home and cried. I’ve never been brave in the guy department and the one time I take a chance, I completely humiliate myself. I know it's wrong to want Mr. Stone, but I can't help myself. When my head was on his chest, I feel safer than I have in years, I feel as if we belong together. I thought maybe there was some undeniable chemistry between him and I, but apparently I'm very wrong. He shut me down.
    Deciding I need to get out of this motel and clear my head, I change into sweats and get ready to go to Olivia's. I grab my bag on my way out the door and the moment I step outside I get the uneasy feeling that I'm not alone out here. I look around the parking lot as someone steps from around the side of the dingy motel building. I lock eyes with one of the homeless men who have taken up residence in this dump recently. He gives me the creeps every time I see him. He stares in a way that makes me feel like going back inside and taking another shower. He has to know I'm alone; my car is the only one in this section of the parking lot. The moment I get close to my car he steps in front of me.
    "Where are you going?" he asks, and it makes me cringe. I can see his yellow, rotten teeth when he smiles at me. He runs his tongue over his cracked lips as he eyes me up and down with a wicked grin, making my stomach turn.
    "To a friend’s house," I reply quickly, not making eye contact, hoping he’ll move out of my way. He doesn't, he actually steps a little bit closer.
    "I could be your friend." The putrid scent of stale cigarette smoke, body odor, and cheap liquor rolls off of his malnourished, pallid frame in waves and crashes unwelcomingly into my nose, making me queasy.
    I don't answer; instead, I rush to squeeze past him, trying to hold my breath for fear of catching another whiff of his unmistakable stench. I get into my car, start it quickly and