Free It Started With A Kiss by Lindy Dale

car looks like a giant
marshmallow,” Nate said. “My new CD player’s gonna be
ruined.”
    Standing under the tree, which she’d now
discovered was actually part of a very nice front garden; Georgie
watched as her hopes of having sex for the first time washed down
the gutter on a sea of white. “There’s no way we can get back in
the car now.”
    “ Not unless we want a
bubble bath. We’ll have to ring Dad.”
    “ Do we have to? Maybe it’ll
be okay when it’s dry?”
    The look Nate gave her told her it was time
to stop talking.
    This was really bad.
    Suddenly, sex was as far
from Georgie’s mind as the possibility that one day she’d turn
thirty. The reaction her parents were going to have, however, when
they found out that instead of sitting in the line to
acquire Big Day Out tickets, she’d been on her way to a love tryst with Nate, was
quite worrying. She was never going to be able to explain her way
out of this one. They’d never allow her out of the house again, let
alone in a car. She was going to be a virgin till forever. Her life
would be over.
     
     
     
     

Chapter 9
     
    “ Here we are,” Nate said,
pulling the car into Georgie’s parents’ driveway. “Safe and
sound.”
    Georgie unclipped her seatbelt and sat
forward. A feeling of déjà vu swept over her, only this time she
wasn’t necking in the front seat or getting in trouble for breaking
her curfew. She was a grown up. And the house was empty. “Thanks so
much for the lift. I hope I didn’t get your seats too wet.”
    “ They should be fine. I was
only joking about the leather.”
    Georgie opened the door and slipped a
bootless foot onto the concrete of the drive. She paused, weighing
up the options. Nate had driven all the way to Fremantle to see
her. They’d chatted in the car on the drive home like they had when
they were seventeen. Nothing had changed, the years apart hadn’t
existed, they truly did belong together. If Georgie got out of the
car now, the evening would be over and she had a feeling that, like
her, Nate didn’t want it to be over. Now that they’d found each
other again, they didn’t want to let go. They had to finish what
they’d begun. She knew Nate wanted to. He had that look.
    “ Um. I’m going to have a
shower and get changed. It’s only early do you want to come in for
a coffee? Or a drink?”
    Unmoving, Nate stared up at the porch light
on the verandah.
    Georgie sensed his apprehension. The last
time he’d been here hadn’t exactly been filled with fond memories.
She remembered the hurt and angry look on her mother’s face when
she’d called him selfish and immature. She could see Nate now,
standing under that light, the beam shining down on his mussed up
hair and the tears streaming down both their faces, as they’d
called quits on everything they’d ever had. It had been such a long
time ago.
    “ My parents aren’t home, if
that’s what you’re worried about. They went to a wedding in the
Swan Valley. They’re staying overnight.”
    Nate flicked the ignition off and pulled the
keys out. “Let’s go.”
    As they reached the top of the stairs and
Georgie stopped to locate her keys, Nate stepped up behind her,
putting a hand to her arm. His voice was low against her neck and
Georgie quivered, a kaleidoscope of butterflies taking up residence
in her stomach. It was just like the last time. Only this time she
was older.
    “ Sure?” he
asked.
    Georgie turned. It may have been twelve years
and a lifetime of events in the interim, but from the moment she’d
seen him on the path, she’d known that one way or another, she
would be with Nate again. If it was only for tonight, she’d be
satisfied that a chapter of her life could finally close but if, by
some crazy twist of fate, they ended up together, that would be
awesome too. Either way, she was prepared.
    “ I’m sure,” she replied and
led him into the house.
    He closed the door behind them and they stood
for a second, facing each