"So, baby, where do you wanna go?" he asked.
"I don't know, maybe we should call Jared to let him know we left," I answered.
"Is that really what you wanna do?" he asked, turning towards me quickly without his hand leaving my thigh. I didn't want Jared to worry, which I knew he would. But I also wanted to get to know Morgan better, whatever that meant, and I knew Jared would not want me to be alone with him.
"Scratch that, let's go have a drink," I said. He smiled without taking his eyes off the road.
"Alright then girl," he said. "So, where to?"
"I know just the place. Make a left at the light."
He pulled into the dusty drive-way of this little barn a couple minutes off the main road. The place was poorly lit by a couple of outdated Christmas lights and a flickering neon sign. I opened the door and jumped out of the lifted truck.
"Where did you get this truck anyway?"
"It's mine."
"You drove here? From Tennessee?!"
"Yeah, better than a crowded plane. It gave me time to think."
"Yeah, I bet a 17 hour drive gave you plenty of time to think," I chuckled.
"Maybe I'll have a reason to do the drive more often now," he said, looking into my eyes. My heart skipped a beat. I broke eye contact, looking down at my feet and smiling timidly.
"Yeah, maybe so," I answered, still avoiding his gaze.
"So, where the hell did you bring me," he asked, scratching the back of his neck while he looked at the old neon sign.
"Somewhere no one will know who you are." I winked at him.
"Okay," he chuckled. "I trust that you won't get me killed," he added, grabbing my hand and intertwining our fingers nonchalantly as we walked through the door. The place hadn't changed at all. The same old steel bar stools were still standing around the wooden bar. A couple of black tables and rusty chairs were available around the two occupied pool tables. The place was big, but had lost its notoriety. A total of ten people, mostly older men, were gathered around the two pool tables, smoking and drinking beer.
"Well ain't that a nice surprise," I heard the lady behind the bar say. I couldn't believe Mama Jo was still standing behind that bar.
"Mama Jo!"
"Please tell me you got rid of that piece of dirt, what was his name?"
"Josh, and yeah, he's long gone," I chuckled and caught Morgan smiling from the corner of my eye.
"Good. Now who's the gentleman?" she asked, pointing to Morgan with her chin.
"Oh that's Morgan," I answered.
"Nice to meet you ma'am."
"Oh please, everybody calls me Mama Jo," she said. "Have you been taking good care of my little Aubrey here?"
"Oh, we're not dating," I said. "We kinda just met actually."
"Well, I know that look when I see it in a man's eye, honey, and that guy is not trying to be 'just a friend'," she said, covering the side of her mouth as though that would make him unable to hear what she was saying. I could feel the temperature rising in my cheeks.
"Can we get two whiskeys?" Morgan asked, saving me from the awkward conversation.
"A man that knows what he wants, I like that. Why don't you two lovebirds go sit down and I'll bring it to you," she said, winking at me. We thanked her and I followed Morgan to the hickory booth in the back corner of the room. I sat across from him.
"She's a lot, I'm sorry," I apologized.
"Hey, anything for a night of privacy," he grinned shyly. "So, where did you find this place?"
"My dad used to take me here when I was little. My mom and I lived in Maine, but every summer she'd ship me off to my dad in Vermont so she could spend the summer on tour with her band."
"She was in a band?" he asked.
"It was more an excuse to get hammered on the road with her friends than it was a band if you ask me, but yeah."
"Oh," he said quietly.
"It's fine. I loved spending my summers with my dad. He'd bring me here and I'd get to play pool with his buddies and sing on the karaoke machine, and Mama Jo would always bring me the crispiest soda," I said, smiling to myself, thinking back upon those memories.
"Two whiskeys for you my darlings," said Mama Jo, pulling me out of my thoughts. "Anything else?" she asked, putting the drinks down on the coasters.
"No, we're good. Thanks Mama Jo," I said. She smiled and walked back to the bar. I felt my phone buzzing against the table. I looked at the screen. Shit.
"It's Jared," I said. Morgan grinned.
"So what are you gonna do?" he laughed, mocking me.
"I don't know? Do I pick up?"
"Girl, you look like a teenager about to get grounded," he chuckled. I didn't even have time to respond before he picked up my phone and put it on speaker.
"Hey Jared," he said. I took a sip of my whiskey. This couldn't be good.
"Morgan? Where are you guys? Is Aubrey okay?"
"I'm fine Jared, we're just... at the park," I said, panicking. Morgan tilted his head, quietly laughing at me. 'The park?' he mouthed silently, confused. I shook my head.
"The park? Which park? I hear music," Jared said.
"Yeah, there's a, um, fiesta at the park. A Mexican fiesta, with tacos and everything," I said, shrugging at Morgan who looked at me even more confused than before.
"Really? Where? We are kind of starving, we'll swing by for some tacos, right guys?" he asked. I heard Ernest and Jesse agreeing in the background. Fuck!!
"They're fully booked now actually, they won't let anyone else in," I said.
"They're fully booked... at the park?" Jared asked, confused.
"Yeah.. Um, the reception is actually quite bad, Jared, I can't hear you well, but thank you for the amazing night and I will text you in the morning! Bye!" I said, grabbing my phone out of Morgan's hands and hanging up. He looked at me and bursted out laughing.
"Girl, you are a terrible liar," he laughed.
"Shut up," I said, flipping him off. "Why did you pick up?"
"Why not? You ain't gotta be scared of fucking Jared," he giggled.
"I'm not scared of him," I said. "You're the one who's scared of him. You said earlier that you would've kissed me if it wasn't for him," I shrugged defensively. He bit his bottom lip slightly and narrowed his eyes.
"Careful, you're on dangerous grounds," he warned.
"Oh yeah? Am I lying though?" I dared. He got up from his side of the booth and came to join me on my side. I slid down the seat and he sat down next to me, trapping me between him and the wall.
"Wanna say that again?" he dared me.
"I think you won't make a move on me 'cause you're scared of Jared," I said without breaking eye contact. He got closer to me, so close I could feel the warmth of his breath tickling my lips. He put a strand of hair behind my left ear softly.
"Definitely not scared," he whispered, locking his lips with mine. He tasted like whiskey and tobacco. His lips were soft and his mustache tickled my nose slightly. He opened his mouth and let his tongue flirt with mine, putting his left hand on the back of my head to deepen the kiss. I could feel his right hand moving slowly from the small of my back to my butt. My heart was racing. Finally. I wrapped my left arm around the back of his neck and moved closer to him. Both of his hands grabbed my hips roughly and he sat me down on top of him. My knees were on the booth and I could feel his jeans rubbing against mine between my legs. Things were getting hot. Too hot. Too fast. I could feel the table digging in my back. I slowly pulled away from the kiss. He looked at me and bit his bottom lip, his hands still on my hips. I put my hands on his shoulders, ensuring a safe distance between our lips. I could feel him getting hard through the fabric of his jeans. Oh my god.
"Are you okay..?" he asked softly. "We don't have to-"
"Do you wanna get out of here?" I asked. He smiled at me. The most handsome, devilish smile I had ever seen.
"Let's go."
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