Free Kissed by Ms. Carla Krae

thing.   He dampened a cloth and walked into the
bathroom.   “Here.”   He pulled her hair back and placed the cool
cloth on her neck.
    “Thank
you.”   She had her head over the basin.
    “Empty?”
    “Maybe.”   She
straightened and flushed the toilet, then plopped down with her back against
the tub.   “Ugh.”
    He
smiled.   “Been there.”
    She
frowned.   “You’re under twenty-one.”
    “ Drinkin ’ age here is less, love.”
    “Oh.
All I ordered was a soda…”   She leaned
over the bowl and wretched again.  
    He
held her hair back again.   “I know. You
can’t trust the bartender there.”
    Once
she stopped, he got up for a bottle of water.   He brought it back with aspirin, set the pills on the sink and handed
her the water.
    “Here.
Rinse your mouth.”
    She
did so, spat, and flushed the toilet again.   “Yeah, that was sexy.”
    “Done?”
    “Think
so.”   She dropped her head back on the
rim of the tub and closed her eyes.   He
touched the cloth to her flushed cheeks.   She sighed.   “Don’t have to take
care of me.”
    “Rubbish.”
    She
opened one eye.   “Mean it. Not a kid
anymore.”
    “Got the message on that, yeah.”   He still felt her kiss.
    “You
can go away now.”
    “It’s
my bathroom, love.”
    She
groaned.   “Don’t call me that. Please.”
    He
tilted her chin up.   “What?”
    “Don’t.”   She jerked her head away.
    “What
do you mean by that?”
    “By what?”
    “Not
calling you ‘love’. Never seemed to mind before. I
don’t understand.”
    “You
wouldn’t.”
    “Bethie…”
    “You
don’t mean it.”   She dropped her face on
her folded knees.   “Forget it.”
    “Can’t. It’s going to bug me now.”
    She
lifted her head.   “Life is full of
disappointments. Deal.”
    “Hey,
don’t take your hangover out on me.”
    “ Forget it .”   She wobbled to her feet.   “I just wanna lie down.”   She started for the futon.
    “Take
my bed. It’s more comfortable.”
    She
shook her head, one hand on the wall.   “Not throwing you out of your bed.”
    He
walked around her to face her.   “I’m
offering. You only have to take it.”
    “Jacob…”
    Tired
of bickering, he picked her up and carried her to his room.   She didn’t protest when he set her on the
mattress and started removing her shoes.   He pulled the covers over her, turned off the light, and began to leave.
    “Don’t
go,” she whispered.   “I just…I feel like
crap and I don’t sleep well in strange places.”
    He
sighed.   “Yeah,
alright. Let me shut off the lights.”   Once done, he grabbed the water and aspirin and set them on the bedside
table.
    She’d
already rolled to her side, facing the wall.   He took off his boots and belt and lay down next to her on his back.
    What a night …
    Her
breathing slowed.   He rolled over to
check she was asleep and gently removed her glasses, setting them on the table
next to her.  
    You don’t mean it echoed through his
mind.   Don’t mean what?  
    He
couldn’t sleep in his clothes and quietly rolled off the bed.   The post-gig shower and pig-out awaited .   An
exceptional set always amped him up.   Normally, he’d party with the boys, but with Beth along, he’d
declined.  
    And
why was that?   He said no before he found her sipping on a
doctored drink.   His mates had no problem
meeting a new friend, so that couldn’t have been it.   His mother already knew he’d bring her back
tomorrow, so that wasn’t it, either.
    Because she’s Bethie, his mind
whispered, and you didn’t want any of
them to hit on her.
    Well, yeah…but I wouldn’t recommend them to
any female friend.
    Tell us another one.
    Hey, brain.   You’re s’posed to be on my side.
    I am, idiot, if you’d open your eyes.
    He
turned the faucet knob and cut off the shower, toweled dry, then slipped into a
pair of sweats and padded to the kitchen for munchies.   Carrying a piled-high sandwich and a beer