Bump and Run (Wide Open #6)

Chapter One

Jones

I stared up at the stars in the dark sky, wondering what I was doing out here tonight. No, that wasn’t the truth. Mama had sprung this on me last minute. Told me that she had met someone, and that they were going to get married. I was happy for her. If anyone deserved a happily ever after, it was my mama, but I almost felt blindsided. I had never met the man, and now I was expected to what? Start calling him Dad? Yeah, no, that wasn’t going to happen.

Remington. His name was Remington Callahan, and he had asked Mama to marry him. Even his name sounded like it was made of money. I bet he smelled rich, too. Stinky cologne mixed with old newspapers. I wasn’t sure what rich people smelled like, but it had to be something like that.

Everything would change now. We were going to move out of the trailer park. Away from my friends, everything I had known, and in with Remington. I mean, Mama had said he had a pool and lived on the beach. That I could still ride my dirt bike. She also said that my two best friends, Ollie and Travis Haley, could still come over like they did now. I just didn’t want things to change. I liked it being just Mama and me. I didn’t mind the trailer park or our rowdy neighbors. It was just what I was used to. Oh, and the biggest surprise ?

Remington Callahan was some sort of politician. He was running for governor of North Carolina.

I listened to the sound of the ocean as it rolled against the sand. Felt the way the water licked at my bare feet. I sat up to take a picture because I was a big photo guy. I wanted to capture everything. Just as I took the photo, I caught movement to my right. It looked like a man, setting up a fire, and when he saw me, he waved. I waved back before I went back to my phone.

I had texted Ollie and Travis the moment I left the trailer park. Told them about Mama getting married. They had so many questions. Would I be rich, too, or just my new step-daddy? What would the new house look like? When could they come to visit? They were on vacation, visiting their grandparents like they always did around this time of year. I was afraid that we’d be gone from the trailer park by the time they came home, and I wouldn’t see them again. I was a bit dramatic, but things were moving so fast. I didn’t like change.

I sent them pictures of the ocean and the beach. Told them I wished they were here. Everything I could think of. I added a few pics to my IG. Some to my Facebook. My friends were used to that. When my phone dinged, I smiled to see a response from my best friends.

Ollie: Are you on the beach right now? Watch out for sharks, Jones.

Travis: He’s not in the water, dummy.

Ollie: You’re not, are you, Jones?

Jones: No, silly, I’m not.

I missed my friends. We had known one another since we were practically babies. They were practically twins, and even though I lived in a trailer park, they didn’t care. They lived in a nice house with their parents, had two younger siblings, and never treated me differently, like some of the other kids we knew. Ollie and Travis also knew I was gay. They didn’t care about that either. They were the best, best friends I could ever ask for.

“Hi.”

I nearly jumped out of my skin. “My gosh, you gave me a fright.”

I climbed to my feet only to find myself staring up at the man who had waved to me a few moments ago. He was taller than my five foot seven inches. In the light of the bright moon, I could see his hair was overdue for a cut, but it appeared to be brown, just like his eyes. The way he smiled at me with straight, white teeth made my stomach clench. He was possibly the most handsome man I had ever seen, with a perfect jawline and alluring plump lips. My eyes zeroed in on the mole on the left-hand side, and I wondered what it would be like to touch it. With my tongue.

“Sorry.” He chuckled softly. “I saw you sitting—well, lying—over here and thought maybe you’d want to join me.” He hooked a thumb over at the fire he had stared. “Have a beer?” His accent told me right away he wasn’t from around here.

I shook my head. “I’m not nearly old enough to drink.”

“I won’t tell if you don’t.” He flashed that smile at me again, and my penis jerked in my shorts. Oh, dear. That couldn’t be good. “Or you don’t have to drink. I’m Charlie.” He stuck out his hand.

I stared at it like I had never seen one before. Like I didn’t know how to shake a man’s hand. Which I did because Mama taught me early how to be polite. How to say please and thank you. Ma’am and sir. All those things you were supposed to do.

I finally realized I was just staring at him. “Jones Matthews.”

I shook his hand harder than I probably should have, but Charlie just laughed. He had a nice laugh to go along with those nice teeth. I think I was obsessed with his teeth, but it didn’t take much since I hated mine. How crooked the front two were. Kids used to make fun of me when I was younger. But, you know, kids do that.

“Jones, that’s different,” he commented when I let go of his hand.

Trust me, I didn’t want to. His palm was warm against mine. Strong and firm.

I shrugged. “Mama named me.”

“You’re out here all by yourself?” Charlie asked as he motioned for me to follow him over to where he had set up his fire.

I trailed behind him like a puppy. Eager for companionship. Desperate for someone else to talk to. “Not much else to do around here.” There were a couple of chairs along with a cooler around the fire, and when he sat down, I joined him.

Charlie smiled at me, the firelight dancing in his eyes. Now that I could see them better, I noticed they were a chestnut brown, framed with long lashes. Gosh, he was pretty. They didn’t have boys like him here in North Carolina, because if they did? I would have noticed. I wanted to run my fingers through his long dark tresses, kiss those plump lips and that mole.

“No girlfriend?”

“Uh, no.” I felt my face heat in the dark. I knew what I was and straight wasn’t it.

Charlie chuckled softly. It made my stomach feel funny. Like there were a million bees inside of it trying to get out. “Or maybe a boyfriend then?” He leaned closer. He smelled like a warm summer day. Suntan lotion and the beach. Like salty waves mixed with coconuts.

“I don’t... no.” I ducked my head so he couldn’t see the way I blushed under his gaze.

Charlie wasn’t a boy. Charlie was a man, and I was the eighteen-year-old kid from North Carolina who had no clue what he was doing. A hick from the sticks. That’s what I always called myself because I thought it was funny. Now I felt stupid and childish. I had been the only boy in my class who lived in a trailer park. The only one without a dad, although it looked like that would be changing, and even though I was good at racing cars around a track, I wasn’t good enough to go pro. I wasn’t going to be a Rand Shepard or a Mason Pelletier.

Charlie nudged my shoulder with his. “Dating is overrated. Play the field. That’s what I always say.”

I let my eyes move to where he had placed his bottle of beer and watched as he lifted it from the sand. He had long fingers. Was it weird that I noticed that, or was it just something else to latch onto? Something else to find fascinating about Charlie. I did that a lot. Latched on to men I had no business latching on to. He was probably straight and had a girlfriend and a job. Wasn’t interested in this hick from North Carolina.

“I’ve never dated anyone before.” My face burned under the glow of the fire.

Charlie dropped another log into the fire before he looked at me. “Nothing wrong with that either, Jones.”

“There isn’t?”

“When you meet the right person, you’ll know.”

I liked how Charlie said person . I was pretty boring, though. Never kissed anyone, smoked a cigarette, or tasted liquor. “Maybe.”

“We could go have some fun tomorrow. If you’re not busy. You could show me around,” he suggested.

I tried not to shout with joy. “I could?” I nearly swallowed my own tongue at the thought of what he meant. Did he mean sex or just normal fun? Because my penis was all in.

Charlie smiled. With sharp cheekbones and a jawline to cut glass with, he could be a model with those good looks. “Sure, I mean, what do you do for fun? Go boating or spend your day here at the beach? Go fishing? Oh, we could get tattoos. That sounds like a good time.” He winked at me when I gasped.

“Mama would be so horrified if I came home with a tattoo, Charlie.”

“You’re close with your mom.”

I nodded. “Sure am. She’s one of my best friends. ”

Was it wrong that she was? She had raised me herself. Worked two jobs, bought a doublewide, and sure, the neighbors had helped watch me, too, but Mama had done good with what she was given. Now she was going to get married and forget all about me.

“That’s sweet.” Charlie took a sip of his beer. “You sure you don’t want one?”

I chewed on my bottom lip. “I’ve never had alcohol before.” I sounded like a parrot, repeating myself over and over.

“Let me pop your cherry then, Jones.”

I flushed at his choice of words. He basically knew I was a virgin. My friends knew I had never had sex or kissed anyone. I wondered what Charlie would think if I told him I was gay. He had asked if I had a boyfriend. Charlie grinned at me, then dug around in the cooler to produce a bottle.

It wasn’t like his, though. “Hard cider?”

“It won’t be as bitter as a beer. You’ll like it, trust me.” Charlie gave me a lopsided grin that caused my stomach to clench and my penis to plump to nearly full mast. Down, boy. “Here.” He reached over to twist off the cap.

I gave him a shy smile before I took a small sip. Apples and cinnamon burst against my tongue. It tasted like fall. “It’s really good.”

“I told you.” Charlie tapped his bottle against mine. “Now, don’t get drunk on me, Jones. I would hate to explain that to your mama.”

It was the wink that sent my heart into my throat. The wink that caused goosebumps to break out over my skin and the hairs on the back of my neck to stand up. That couldn’t be good.

Fudge. Fudge. Fudge.

I took another sip. This one larger and longer to try to gather my wits. Straight. He had to be super-duper straight. No man who looked the way he did was going to be into me. Not Jones Matthews, the backwoods hick from the sticks. Hell, I had told my mama I would sell merchandise that said that if I ever made it into NASCAR. Not super classy, but catchy.

“Not me,” I promised, but when I drained the bottle and let out a loud burp that caused me to blush under the moon, I realized I might already be a little tipsy. It didn’t stop me from taking the second bottle Charlie handed me.

“This is the first summer I’ve been here, Jones. Makes me wish that I had come down earlier so we could have met sooner.” Charlie said it so casually, but it took all I had not to spit my cider out into the fire.

Was he flirting? That sounded like flirting. I wouldn’t know. I had never tried it before. I watched as he stretched out his long legs. They were nice, too. Toned, muscular, and tanned. Covered in a dusting of dark hair.

I felt like my tongue was stuck to the roof of my mouth. “We could go to the track,” I managed to say. “If you wanted.”

“Track?” Charlie twisted his body to face mine, his face shaded by the dark, but the fire still danced in his brown eyes.

I nodded as I dragged my toe through the sand. “Yeah, I race late-model cars. ”

“Like racecars?” He sounded interested, and when I nodded, Charlie clapped his hands. “That’s so bad ass, Jones. Hell yeah! I’m in.”

My face burned with happiness. “Cool.”

“Just tell me where and when. I’ll be there.” Charlie hummed.

When the silence settled between us, it wasn’t awkward or strange. Kind of nice. Like when I hung out with Travis and Ollie. Boys I had known my entire life.

I took my phone from my pocket so I could take some photos of the fire. I skipped the bottles of cider. I’d text my friends about that later.

“Mind if I take your picture?” I asked.

“My picture?” Charlie blinked his eyes and titled his head.

“It’s just this thing I do. I like to take pictures of everything, so I don’t forget. You know, when I’m older.”

“Sure, I mean, if you want.” He dragged his fingers through his dark hair, before he turned to face me.

I waved a hand at him. “No, go back to the way you were. Looking at the fire.”

Charlie did as I asked. I took a couple of shots, and my heart thumped in my chest as my heartrate shot up. At least I would have these memories if I never saw him again after tonight. “Thanks.”

“What about you?” He turned to look at me.

I was staring at the pictures of him. “Me?” I dragged my gaze away from his striking profile .

“You have any of yourself? Here.” Charlie held out his hand. “Give me your phone so I can take a couple of you, Jones.”

I felt myself grow warm. “I don’t... Oh, no... I’m fine.”

“Camera shy?” he teased. “I can use mine and text them to you.” He was already yanking his cell from his pocket before I could object. “You have a nice smile.”

My lips twitched. “I don’t.”

“You do, it’s great,” Charlie assured me as he held his phone up and I dropped my chin. “You’re kind of shy but a little outgoing at the same time. It’s adorable.”

Now I was really confused. “I should probably get going. It’s late.” I stood up just as Charlie did the same.

“Did I offend you? I didn’t mean to.” He placed his hand on my shoulder. “Put your number in my phone, and I’ll send you the pictures I took.”

I stared up at him. He was so handsome. Out of my league. Dressed in a white t-shirt that was bursting around the biceps and a pair of tan shorts that did nothing to hide his thick thighs. I shouldn’t be checking him out like this.

“Yeah, okay.” I quickly added my number for him. “I really should go before my mama gets worried. I told her I would only be out for a short while.”

“It was nice to meet you, Jones. Let me know about the race tomorrow. If that’s something you still want to do.” Charlie smiled at me in the flicker of the firelight.

I nodded. “The pleasure was all mine,” I assured him, then walked back to the trailer park. It wasn’t until I had undressed and climbed into bed that I checked my phone again. Charlie had sent me the pictures he took of me. They weren’t horrible. Not like the usual ones I had to suffer through, where I looked a little nervous, a little unsure of myself.

Charlie: I had fun tonight.

Jones: I did, too.

Charlie: Text me tomorrow and let me know if you still want to meet up for the race.

Jones: Okay, sure.

I was in so much trouble.