Nash The kiss was different. I didn’t know how exactly. It had shaken me, made me question every kiss before and then regret them. I wished this had been my first. The others hadn’t meant something. This had. It was Tallulah’s first. Her trembling hands as they rested on my arms and the way she inhaled sharply when my lips had first touched hers. The gentle way she tested it. Was unsure yet curious. All that should have made the kiss awkward. Instead it had made it the best I’d ever had. I didn’t want to leave this water tower. Stay up here with her in my arms. Being alone and forgetting what waited for me below was tempting. Up here she was mine. She made me laugh. Made me want other things. She made me want to find a new dream. Losing the field wasn’t as important to me as it had been. Tallulah’s tender, inexperienced kiss held more power than she would ever realize. After I had pulled back from the kiss and looked into her eyes so honest and sincere, she’d laid her head on my chest and sighed. A content sound. My arms were still wrapped around her, and my gaze wasn’t on that field down there. It was on Tallulah. The way she fit against me. It was as if she was what I had been waiting for. And she’d been right there all along.
“It’s time for you to get down there,” she said softly as she lifted her head to gaze up at me. “Probably,” I agreed, not loosening my grip. “I’d rather we stay right here.” She smiled then. A shy smile that made my heart squeeze. “I’d like that too. But they’re expecting you. I think you’ll regret it if you don’t do this.” She was right. They all wanted me there like I always had been. Especially Ryker. I could be selfish and say they didn’t get it. How hard it was going to be and what they expected of me. But I knew that reaction would let Tallulah down. I would eventually let her down. I just didn’t want it to be tonight. This soon. “I guess I better do this, then,” I said, wishing I could kiss her again and we could forget it all. Her hand rested on my heart. “You’ll be glad you did.” I wish I had her optimism in life. To see everything in the light she did. Unfortunately, I didn’t. Not anymore. I’d been handed heartbreak. I knew what it felt like. I hoped she never would. The climb back down the tower wasn’t nearly as exciting. The darkness was now thick enough that if I had glanced up, I wouldn’t have seen up her short skirt. Not really. Maybe some shadows. I k ept my focus on getting us down safely. At the bottom she slipped her boots back on and then gave me a bright hopeful grin. “I’ll never forget this first date.” Me either.
“That was the plan. I needed to blow Asa’s measly field party date out of the water. Thought long and hard on how to do that.” Only part of that was an exaggeration. I didn’t actually think his date would be hard to top. That night had sucked for everyone. I slipped my hand over hers, and she threaded her fingers through mine. Our walk to the Escalade was quiet. My head was still up on the water tower with her in my arms. If I was lucky, so was hers. Words didn’t seem needed at the moment. We were good like this. Comfortable in each other’s presence. I opened the passenger-side door and helped her as she climbed inside. I wanted to lean in and kiss her again, but that first kiss... it seemed too special to mess with just yet. Ke eping it singular and on a pedestal for a little longer felt right. Instead I squeezed her hand and held her gaze longer than necessary before closing the door and going to get in the driver’s seat. “Who will you sit with at the game?” I asked her, not having thought about that before. “You could sit with my folks. I could introduce you to my mother.” “That’s okay. I didn’t plan on sitting with anyone. I was just going to find an empty seat. Tonight will be hard on your parents, too, I imagine. They don’t need a stranger there beside them whom they feel they have to talk to.” My mother would be more than happy to meet Tallulah. She’d talk her damn head off. Possibly pull up my baby pictures on her Facebook and start showing her. Might not be the best idea after all. Tallulah was sweet, but my mother could scare her off. “If you’re sure. My mom won’t mind, though. She’s nosy as fuck. Chatty too.”
Her soft giggle felt good. Made it easier to deal with driving into the parking lot of a football game with the fans. I’d never done this before. I was always on that field before the fans arrived. Even as a kid, I was the water boy and the ball boy. The sidelines were all I knew. “It’s packed,” she said, looking around. She was also changing the subject. I wouldn’t push her to sit with my parents. I didn’t like the idea of her sitting alone, but it was clear she was used to it. Seemed to prefer it. “Yeah. First game is always a big one. If we win, it’ll get bigger next week.” The word we stuck in my throat. It wasn’t a we. It was a they. She didn’t say anything more while I found a parking spot and turned off the engine. Staring straight ahead, I saw people walking with their stadium cushions, shakers, and even some cowbells. Football was life here in Alabama. Always had been. “I’ll sit to the far left toward the top. If you need to... look away. Or just take a moment. Find me. I’ll be there.” I hadn’t ever looked up into the crowd while on that field. My head had been on the game only. Nothing else. But tonight, knowing I had her to look back at —it helped. “Thanks. I’ll find you before it starts. So I know where I’m looking.” She reached for her door, and I opened mine quickly. “No, wait,” I told her, climbing down and jogging around the front of my SUV to get her door for her. “My momma would beat my ass if I let a woman open a door.”
“And my momma would say, ‘Tallulah, don’t ever d epend on a man for anything. You can do it all. If you want one, fine. But don’t ever need one.’ ” My chest rumbled with laughter. I liked that. If I had a daughter, I would tell her the same thing. “My momma needs to get to know yours. They’d like each other.” Tallulah st epped out and looked at the field. “Time to stop procrastinating. Go on. They’re expecting you at the field house.” “I was going to walk you to the gate first,” I told her. She shook her head. “You see that line up there? It will take too long. I’m a big girl. I got this. Now go be part of your team.” I started to say something but decided that we’d had enough time to soak in that first kiss. Because right now I needed the second one. Closing the distance between us, I slid a hand around her waist and tugged her close before placing my mouth firmly on hers. Just enough pressure to taste her. When she opened to me, my knees felt weak, and I let my enjoyment go on a little longer. This could get me through anything. It was her that pulled back this time. Then, with a gentle shove, she whispered, “Go on.” I did. Glancing back just once before I headed to join the others. I was late. They’d complain, but what could they really do? It wasn’t like I was playing. I was just there for support. As if they needed more. Just before I got down the hill that led to the field house, I smelled the distinct scent of weed. Pausing, I surveyed the
area, and the tiny orange burn on the paper caught my attention. St epping out of the darkness was a guy who looked somewhat familiar. But I couldn’t place him. He didn’t live around here. That much was obvious. His pale blond hair brushed his shoulders, and the tight jeans he was wearing, along with the shirt that had holes in it but you could tell it was purchased like that, screamed out-of-towner. He smirked at me. Took one last drag, then dropped it to the gravel before st epping on it and walking off. The dude was going to just leave pot right there. Was he serious? “What the fuck?” I said, and he paused. Gave me one more look. “Problem?” he asked with amusement in his tone. “This is Alabama, man. Pot’s not fucking legal.” Not that I wasn’t guilty of smoking some a time or two. The guy nodded. “Don’t have to remind me where I am. This is my hell now,” he said, holding out both his arms and backing away. I was late. I had no time to argue with him about tossing weed down on the ground. “Whatever,” I muttered, and left him there.