Bump and Run (Wide Open #6)

Chapter Five

Jones

A soft cough had my eyes popping open, and I found Mama standing with her hands on her hips, watching me. She raised her brows, tilted her head, and a smile slowly began to spread over her face. Then she moved to wrap her arms around me in a big hug. She giggled softly before she pulled back to cup my head in her hands.

“My sweet little boy is in love,” Mama murmured. “What’s his name, Jones? He must be something special to have you looking the way you do right now.”

I shook my head as my cheeks burned. “Mama.”

“Don’t Mama me, Jones.” She reached for my hand. “Tell me everything about this boy who has stolen your heart.”

Sweat broke out over my skin. I wanted to tell Mama everything about Charlie, but at the same time I was afraid that once I did, the bubble would burst. “Mama, I have to wash up. I’m going out soon.”

“Do you have a date?” she teased, then her face grew serious. “Practice safe sex, honey.”

“Mama!” Heat flamed my cheeks as I pulled my hand away from hers. “You’re going to embarrass me. I don’t feel that’s an appropriate conversation to be having with your son. I know all about the birds and the bees. ”

Also, the internet had already shown me everything I needed to know about sex with a man. Lubricant, condoms, that sort of thing. Shoot, should I bring that, or would Charlie have it? Did Charlie even want to have sex with me?

Mama smiled at me. “It is perfectly normal to talk about these things with your mother. Jones, I want you to be safe, that’s all. I can take you to the store if you need something.”

I ducked my head, and my hair fell over my eyes. “We’re close, but not that close. I really don’t want to discuss this with you.”

“Sweetheart, there’s no need to be so embarrassed. Everyone has sex. I have a very active—”

“Mama!”

She threw her head back laughing. “Fine, fine, we won’t talk about it. But if you need anything, please don’t feel you can’t come to me. You know I’ve never kept anything from you.”

Other than Remington. “Thank you.” I moved in to hug her again. “Charlie. His name is Charlie,” I whispered. “He has the prettiest brown eyes I’ve ever seen.”

“You’re already smitten with this Charlie.” She brushed the hair off my forehead as I looked up at her.

“Mama, he’s a good man.” I hated how my voice shook when I spoke. I wanted to tell her that Charlie was sweet to me, told me I was pretty, and suddenly a thought occurred to me. “What does love feel like?”

Mama’s breath caught in her throat, and for a moment, I thought she might not answer. “Well, honey, it feels like you’re going a hundred miles an hour on an old dirt road without a seatbelt on. It feels like you’re free falling from the sky without a parachute. It’s like a hot summer day with a big glass of iced tea.” She pulled back to look at me. “It’s like winning the Daytona 500. Capturing that checkered flag and burning donuts into the asphalt while millions of adoring fans scream your name.” She tilted my head up. “Jones, you must promise me you’ll be careful. All joking aside; I’m your mother, and I worry about you. You’ve always been such a good boy.”

“I promise you, Mama. I just...” I worried my lip between my teeth. “What if he doesn’t love me back?”

Mama’s eyes glistened with tears. “Jones, you’re the most precious boy in the world. Charlie would be a fool not to love you back. I can see it written all over you face that you have already fallen ass over tea kettle for that boy, and if he feels even half of what you do right now, you two are going to burn up the night sky together.”

“I’m scared. I’ve never ever felt anything like this before. I look at him, and I just, everything explodes inside of me. My heart hurts, and my stomach feels funny. My brain gets all fuzzy. My toes curl while my teeth clatter. I clench my fingers together because I just want to touch him, Mama. Is that what love is?”

She nodded. “Yes, baby, that’s love.”

“I don’t think I like it very much,” I whispered.

Mama giggled softly and smoothed the hair against my head. “Love is special when it’s returned. It’s tough when it’s not.”

“There’s this pull here,” I confessed and placed a hand over my heart .

She nodded. “I’ve been there. I know all about what it feels like to fall for someone as fast as you have.”

“Is that what happened with Remington?” I hadn’t asked much about my soon-to-be stepfather because I had been a bit jealous when she’d told me. Maybe now that I had met someone, it wouldn’t bother me so much.

Mama pressed a kiss into my hair. “I told him to buzz off the first time he asked me out. I wasn’t interested in Mister Businessman in his fancy suit and expensive car. But he came back numerous times to the diner. Asked me out again and again until I finally said yes. And you know what, Jones?” She giggled softly. “Mister Businessman wasn’t that. He was a normal person, just like you and me. He likes cheeseburgers and fries dipped in mayonnaise. I just know you’re going to like him as much as I do. In fact,”—she pressed a kiss to my forehead— “I think you should bring your boyfriend to dinner on Saturday night.”

“Really?”

She nodded.

“Okay, I’ll ask Charlie if he can come with us. But I should go get ready because I’m meeting him at the beach.” I smiled shyly. “We have a spot.” I left out the part about going to his house. That could wait until later.

“You tell that Charlie of yours I will come for him if he breaks your heart. I mean it,” she warned. “You’re too good for him.”

I wish I believed that was true.

** *

Charlie was waiting for me when I walked to our spot on the beach. He looked a little nervous until our eyes met, and then his face lit up with a smile. He met me halfway, grabbed me, and pulled me into a hug that caught me completely off guard.

“I thought you might not show up,” he told me. “Earlier, before, you seemed... I don’t know, different. Like you might have changed your mind about everything.”

I inhaled his scent of suntan lotion. “Charlie.” I pulled back to look at him, chewing on my bottom lip with worry. “You won’t hurt me, will you?”

“What... Jonesy... Why... How could you think that?”

“I’m scared, that’s all.”

He reached for my hand. “Come with me.”

I followed him along the beach, the sun beginning to set into the ocean. It was pretty. Like a postcard. I thought about tomorrow, what it might bring, and when Charlie might be going home. What then? Would this, whatever it was between us, survive long-distance, and would he want that? Charlie told me I was pretty, but had he taken the time to look at himself? He had to have hundreds of men and women lined up wanting to date him.

I was more than smitten with him already.

“We’re here.” Charlie stopped in front of a home that could only be described as a mansion. “My father is out tonight, so we have the entire place to ourselves.”

I stared in wonder. The two-bedroom trailer I had lived in my entire life would fit inside Charlie’s home. Heck, you could fit in a dozen of them.

“This is your house? ”

It was sprawling across the land. I bet he had a pool. I bet he had a butler, a cook, and someone to wash his clothes. Multiple bathrooms. Forget a two-car garage; he probably had six.

“Well, not my house, my father’s. I’m just visiting. It’s a bit much. Back home where I live is much smaller than this.” He tugged me up the steps. “Really, Jonesy, it’s not a big deal.”

“What’s going to happen when you go home?” I blurted.

His eyes grew wide. Whoops.

Charlie tilted his head. “I’m sorry, what?”

“Uh, I mean, when you leave here. Will we still continue to talk, or is this like a summer fling for you?” I reached up to grip the back of my neck as my stomach clenched.

His brows dipped. “Do you want to still date me when I go home?”

Wait a second. “We’re dating?”

“Are we not? I mean, I don’t make a habit of kissing just anyone.” Charlie moved and wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me flush against his chest. “Or give them hand jobs on the beach. Take them out for the day. Buy them things. I usually only do that when I’m dating someone.”

I could see the moon shining in his eyes. “Do you do that often? Date people, I mean?”

“No, Jonesy, I don’t,” he whispered.

Fudge, fudge, fudge. I wanted him to love me, too. I wanted to give this man all my firsts. He already had taken my first kiss. Being touched over my boxers by someone else. I might as well give him everything else, too .

“Charlie,” I murmured his name just as he dipped his head and sealed his mouth to mine.

He always tasted like every single one of my fantasies. Warm, soft lips mixed with something sweet. Did he wear ChapStick or something? Was he just really prepared for kissing? His hard chest pressed against mine as I clung to him for support. Charlie’s tongue probed the seam of my lips before I opened them, giving him access to everything and anything he wanted.

He pulled back to smile at me, his brown eyes glittering with something I couldn’t read.

“Let’s go, Jonesy.”

He started back up the steps with me right behind him. He led me onto a deck, right by the pool, by the ocean, and into the kitchen, where he pushed me against the counter to kiss me again.

“You’re so fucking gorgeous.”

“I—”

“Tell me that you know you’re gorgeous.” Charlie growled as his hands tugged at my hair, his hard dick pressed against me. “You’re so damn perfect.”

It was hard to hear those words after being teased my entire life growing up. Kids said I was too pretty for a boy. That my hair was too curly or that my lips were too big, or my teeth were too crooked. Mama barely scraped by to get me braces when I was fourteen, and even then, I think she borrowed it from someone. I never believed I was anything anyone wanted, and now this man was telling me I was the exact opposite.

“I can’t. ”

“What? Why the fuck not?” Charlie cupped my head. “Hey, what’s this?” He caught a tear that had fallen on his thumb. “Jonesy, if this is too much, we can just chill. Watch a movie or whatever you want.”

I buried my face in his neck. “I’ve never had anyone tell me I’m beautiful or gorgeous before.” His arms wrapped around me. “It’s a lot.”

“Kids teased you.” His fingers traced letters and designs onto my back as he held me. “Kids can be mean.”

I sniffed. “Kids can be really terrible.” Didn’t I know it.

“Yeah, they can.” Charlie laughed softly. “Not me, Jonesy, I promise. I mean it, though. When I say you’re pretty. But if you don’t want me to say those things to you or if it bothers you, just tell me. I’ll stop.”

I hummed softly. “Don’t stop. I like it.”

“Do you want to go upstairs to my room? We can watch a movie. Nothing else has to happen. I promise.” He leaned back. “Yes?”

“Yes.” I squealed with surprise when Charlie picked me up and started to carry me. “I can walk.” I wasn’t exactly small, but he was carrying me like I weighed next to nothing.

He laughed loudly. “Where’s the fun in that, Jonesy?”