Playing With Hellfire

The Broken Hearts Club

With the heat of the moment subsiding, you notice how cold the air is. Even with Eddie draped over, the male warmth radiating off him like a space heater, the October chill sends goose pimples creeping across your body. You shiver, and Eddie immediately jumps into action. 

"Here," he says, and gestures you off the van's bench seat. You crouch behind the passenger's seat awkwardly in your birthday suit, arms wrapped around yourself. Eddie pulls on a strap under the seat and the whole bench folds down into the floor. Eddie gets down on all fours to reach a heap of woolen blankets he's stashed in the trunk. He grabs one, then holds his other hand out to you. 

You join him on the floor of his van, which is surprisingly clean given what you've seen of some other metal-heads: empty beer bottles and cigarette butts everywhere, clothes reeking of smoke. Eddie's different, and you like that about him. It's why you fell for him in the first place, all the way back during the first week of school. He's never what everyone else expects him to be--which always ends up being a good thing. 

Eddie drapes a blanket around your shoulders with careful, guiding hands, then does the same for himself. You lie back and stare up at the ceiling. The van rocks gently as Eddie shifts into a comfortable position beside you, and you hear him take a deep breath.

"So, when I said I don't do this often?" he says and chews on his thumb nail. "There's been two others. The first time, I had this stupid idea in my head when I was a freshman that losing my V-card was like a rite of passage or something."

He shakes his head to himself. 

"The second girl was just a summer thing, she was staying with her grandparents in the trailer park. She left at the end of the summer, and I never heard from her again."

"Did you want to?" you ask. 

"Nah," Eddie says. "Some things just run their course, ya know?"

He's not being honest. There's hurt hidden behind those brown eyes. They tell tales of a broken heart.

"I..." Your words catch in your throat and you have to cough to clear it. "I had a boyfriend when I was a junior."

Eddie props himself up on his elbow and looks down at you through thick, curled lashes. Two small lines appear between his brows as he registers your hesitance. 

"I don't like that tone," he says. You bite your lip, unsure how to respond. 

Instead of saying anything, you curl yourself in closer to him and burrow your face in the crook of his neck. He's taken aback for a moment. Then his free arm wraps itself around you and holds you close. Eyes closed, you press the tip of your nose and lips against the warm, smooth skin of his neck. He smells of soap and an underlying muskiness after your earlier...activities. 

"This boyfriend--was he nice to you?" Eddie asks. His voice rumbles through his chest. You chuckle into his neck before leaning away to look into his eyes. 

"Eddie, I moved away. He was the one left behind." You lie back and stretch an arm up over your head. Eddie's eyes graze over you seductively as a flush creeps up his neck. 

"We did a lot of moving, before," you say and shrug a shoulder. 

He puts his hand over the blanket on your hip and pulls you in closer. 

"But you're here to stay this time. Right?"

You smile sleepily. 

"Right."