Free Desperate Choices by Kathy Ivan

she rested it against Max’s shoulder, savoring the feel of his hands against her stomach. Even through her clothes, she felt the heat of his touch.
    “Do you remember how good we were together?” Max nuzzled her neck, his whispered words causing an ache deep inside her chest. His lips caressed her skin. She felt the rasp of his tongue as he licked a slow path along her jaw. Instinctively she turned her face toward him and his lips captured hers in a searing kiss. Spinning in his embrace, Theresa wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him in closer as she opened her lips to his. A battle of tongues and teeth and lips. Rising on her toes, Theresa strained to get closer. God, how I’ve missed this, missed him.
    Breaking the kiss, Theresa inhaled deeply, hands trembling. She took a step back, cupping the side of Max’s face before dropping her hands to her sides, balling them into fists. She ached to go on, pull him back in and continue kissing him forever. That was part of the problem. Kisses led to caresses. While she loved the feel of his hands on her bare skin, remembering it in vivid detail nearly every night, that was as far as it had ever gone. As far as it can ever go.
    “Damn. Not again.” The confusion in Max’s voice brought her gaze up to meet his.
    “What?”
    “Do I repel you in some way?” His question startled Theresa.
    “It’s not you. It’s never been you, Max. It’s…me.”
    “Then why? Every time I touch you, kiss you, you pull back.” Frustration etched Max’s countenance but not anger. Theresa was surprised there wasn’t anger.
    “Max, has Remy ever told you how he and I met?” With a wave of her hand she indicated he sit before taking the chair across from him.
    Max’s brow wrinkled then he shook his head. “Now that you ask, no, I don’t think he ever told me. I guess I just assumed it was at school.”
    “Funny, Remy and I did go to the same school. I was a year behind him. We never met. Not until I was fifteen, almost sixteen. I was really shy in high school. Somebody like Remy, so outgoing, the life of the party, he wouldn’t have looked twice at a wallflower like me.”
    She looked at the wine glass in front of her, not wanting to meet Max’s intent stare. “Aren’t you curious about what Remy and I were ‘celebrating’ tonight? We were celebrating the tenth anniversary of our first meeting. After all, it was a momentous occasion. It’s the day he saved my life. And my sanity.”
    Max’s head jerked up. “What the hell’s that supposed to mean? While this psychic BS may make you certifiable, as far as I’m concerned you’re one of the sanest people I know.”
    Theresa laughed mockingly at that. “You wouldn’t have thought so if you’d seen me then.”
    She picked up her wine and took another sip. “Ten years ago tonight, Remy saved my life. Literally. He found me out by Marshall Road, lying in the bushes.”
    Max tensed as if anticipating what she was going to say.
    “I was walking home from school because my dad had to work late, a double-shift, and he couldn’t pick me up like he usually did. I heard a vehicle coming so I moved over to give it room to pass. A pickup truck slowed down and stopped. I recognized the two boys inside—they both went to my school but were several grades ahead, seniors. They were laughing and joking, the way jocks did. They asked if I’d like a ride. To be honest, I felt a little flattered they would stop for me. I wasn’t stupid, just incredibly naïve. I didn’t know either one of them except by sight, so I said no. Unfortunately, they weren’t taking no for an answer.”
    “Oh, God. Theresa.” The expression on Max’s handsome face was one she had hoped never to see directed at her. The pity, the shock at what had happened, became a ruthless reality.
    “Please, don’t interrupt or I’ll never be able to tell it all.” She looked down at her hands and realized she was fidgeting with the rings she wore, a habit