The Cowboy

Chapter Sixteen: I Kissed a Toad and I Liked It

"No. Definitely not!" I protested.

"Come on, Jess. It's not that big of a deal."

"I don't care. I am NOT kissing a freaking toad! If you want to, go right ahead." 

Preston shrugged before picking it up and pecking its back quickly with his lips. I shuddered.

"And you have to kiss him now, doncha?" Bailey taunted.

 I stuck my tongue at him childishly. He only grinned in response.

"Yeah, I think you do gotta kiss me," Preston's pearly white teeth shown as his smile stretched to his ears. He dropped the lumpy toad and made his way towards me with open arms. 

"No. Noo," I protested, pushing against his chest with both hands. "I'm not kissing you. You have toad saliva."

But, he still managed to peck my cheek as I attempted to push him away even more. One more hard shove against his chest sent him back a foot. I rubbed my cheek until it flared with color. 

"I hate you," I pouted as I backed up and sat down on the picnic table.

My puppy Gus then came running at me and jumped into my arms, slobbering all over my face with his rough, pink tongue. 

"At least YOU haven't kissed a toad, Gus," I laughed. 

I dug my fingers through Gus's liver spots. He barked four times before he jumped off my lap, barking madly. 

"Mrs. Henderson must be here," Bailey said, looking up to Preston. Preston's large silver truck pulled up to the house, his mother stepping out of it.

"Ugh. She drives me mad sometimes," said Preston.

"I know exactly how you feel. My mother got herself knocked up without even saying by who..." I replied.

"And you got yourself knocked up by your boyfriend," Bailey shot back.

Preston and I looked at him in surprise and I felt a jolt of resentment towards him. 

"Yeah, well at least Jason was my boyfriend. At least I KNOW who got me pregnant. Mom won't even spill the beans."

I thought that would be enough to get him to stop. But, he obviously didn't hear the anger in my voice, as he still went on.

"It's not even your business. She didn't ask you questions about you and Jason. You shouldn't question her. She's your mother, for f*cks sake." 

"Let it go, Bailey," Preston answered. 

Bailey's jaw became clenched and he jumped off the bench. His steps took him to the house, but I didn't bother paying any more attention to him after that. 

"He's such a dick," I said.

 Preston only nodded.

"Ugh," I groaned. "If your mom's here, we better go back up to the house too."

He nodded again and we both got to our feet. We held each other's hands as we walked up to the house. Gus circled around our legs too, of course. 

"If one thing is REALLY annoying, I'd say it would be your dog," Preston said after nearly tripping over him twice. 

"Gus is smart. You're just jealous."

"Gus? You named him Gus? What, is he an old man? Old men are supposed  to die, right?" Preston gave me an odd smile that gave me an uneasy feeling in my gut.

"What are you-" 

But then Preston let go of my hand and held his up in the shape of a gun, pointing it at Gus. "Bang."