The Space Between Us Read online

  But Vic was ignoring me, saying he had to go, and a tidal wave of embarrassment engulfed me. “Where are you going?”

  His sigh was so loud I heard it clearly, even though he still had his head buried under the hood. Metal clanged. He pulled back and tugged a dirty hanky from the back pocket of his jeans to wipe his hands. He leaned against the car and looked at me, finally.

  “It’s time for me to leave, that’s all.”

  “But the summer’s not over. We have two weeks left!”

  He shook his head and tucked the rag back in his pocket. “Sorry, kid.”

  My chin went up. “Don’t call me that.”

  “Tesla,” he said with a sigh. He pressed the heel of his hand against one eye, then passed his hand over his hair. “Look. I’m sorry.”

  “For what?” I was bold enough to push him. I wanted to hear him say it, even though I knew it would hurt.

  Vic’s low laugh surprised me. “You’re something else, you know that?”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” I put a hand on my cocked hip.

  “You’re great,” he said.

  Another wave of emotion swirled through me, this time not embarrassment but satisfaction. I moved closer. When I tried to kiss his mouth, Vic turned his head. Our bodies were touching, but he didn’t let me touch his lips with mine. We stayed that way, unmoving, for a second or two—so long I thought the universe had time to grow another planet.

  Then he turned his face to mine.

  His hands settled on my hips. His mouth took mine, and the kiss I thought I’d give him became something else. Something stronger, harder. Something I wasn’t really prepared for.

  I wanted it, though. I wanted his tongue in my mouth, his cock against my belly, his hands on my ass. I wanted Vic so much it made me shameless, and I rubbed myself against him until he stopped, breathing hard, and gripped my upper arms to keep me still.

  “You’re young,” he said.

  “You’re only five years older than me. My dad’s eight years older than my mom. Five years is nothing.” I licked my lips, but didn’t try to kiss him again.

  “I still have to go.” Vic pushed me gently to one side and stalked to his office.

  I followed. If he didn’t want me, he’d have told me to go away, right? I closed the door behind me and studied the way his shoulders slumped. All my big plans vanished with that one small gesture; Vic didn’t want to fuck me. I could throw myself at him all I wanted, but I’d only look stupid.

  The metal doorknob was cool under my palm, and I was already halfway through the door when he moved behind me. Pushed the door shut. Vic murmured my name, and I turned to face him. He was so close I could feel his breath on my face.

  “You’re beautiful. You know that?”

  I shook my head. Nobody had ever told me I was beautiful. I was too short, tits too small, ass too big. Too smart for boys who didn’t know how to talk to girls. Too much of a lot of things, not enough of others.

  “Well,” Vic said, “you are. And never let anyone make you feel like you’re not.”

  I made some sound of disbelief, wordless because I didn’t trust myself to speak.

  His kiss was soft and tender. Romantic. It was very sweet and slightly unsatisfactory, all things considered.

  “Promise me,” Vic said.

  “What?” I pushed up on my toes to get closer to his mouth, so my lips moved against his.

  “Promise me you’ll never let anyone make you feel you’re not beautiful. Or not worth something.”

  I put my arms around his neck. The door was hard against my back, the knob threatening to knuckle into my kidney if I wasn’t careful. But I looked into Vic’s eyes and saw a lot of truth there. He meant what he said. I nodded.

  “Okay. I promise.”

  He smiled and kissed my forehead. That was not what I wanted. I frowned.

  “Vic.”

  “Yeah?”

  “You’re making me feel not beautiful.”

  He laughed and pulled away from me. Took a step back, then another. He held out his hands. “You want me to get into trouble?”

  “What trouble?” I demanded. “I’m seventeen, and look around you. Who’s going to say anything? They’re all too busy fucking with each other to pay any attention to what we’re doing.”

  I sounded bitter, and maybe I was. This had been, aside from that one time last week on that very couch, the worst summer of my life. I had two weeks left to endure before my parents took us home to face a different sort of torture.

  I was seventeen and horny, and I already knew how good Vic could make me feel. I was greedy for it, and I didn’t really care what anyone else thought. I’d always been good at getting what I wanted. When I saw a flash of desire in Vic’s eyes, I moved a little closer. I didn’t have much in the way of seductive wiles, but I aimed to use whatever I had.

  “Bobby Turner,” I said.

  Vic’s brows lifted. “What about him?”

  Bobby Turner was twenty-one, not quite six feet tall, with the wiry body of a terrier and the tenacity of one, too. He’d been coming to The Compound since he was a kid, but his parents had both died in a car accident a few years back. Since then he lived there full-time. He was supposed to be part of the maintenance crew, but he spent most of his time in the greenhouse and in the gardens.

  “Bobby Turner,” I said, “is trying to get into my pants. Has been since last year.”

  “You don’t let him.” Vic didn’t sound jealous, just certain.

  “He’s been fucking Karen Hoffer.”

  She was a psychologist married to a pharmacist. They had no kids, but they brought their two little yappy dogs with them every year. They didn’t stay in the cabins; they had an RV. She was at least fifteen years older than Bobby Turner and also twice his size.

  “Mrs. Hoffer?” Vic laughed.

  “I saw them together. I saw Bobby Turner on his knees between her legs, eating her pussy.” I’d never said that word aloud, and I stuttered a little, but was proud of how it sounded coming out. Strong. Confident. Also a bit sexy. “She was moaning and writhing around, and he was facefirst in it. She was fucking his face so hard I thought she might break his nose. She probably came at least three times.”

  Vic swallowed, looking awkward. “Wow. Well, good for them, I guess.”

  “He says he’ll eat my pussy until I scream.” Actually, Bobby Turner had offered to tongue my clit and finger-fuck me until I turned inside out. But I had a hard enough time saying “pussy.”

  Vic’s laugh sounded uncertain this time. “Does he?”

  “I’d rather have you do it.” There, I’d said it. It was out there between us, I couldn’t take it back, and the worst he could do was say no. Or laugh. That would’ve been worse.

  Vic didn’t laugh. He didn’t say no. He sighed again and rubbed at his eyes. “Tesla, what we did last week…”

  “Was amazing.” I moved closer.

  He looked at the couch almost as if he couldn’t help it, then at the floor. The door. Anyplace but at me.

  “You know what my mother told me about sex?” I said.

  Vic appeared resigned again. “I can only imagine.”

  “She said that when the time was right, I’d know it. And that I should make sure to be careful—I’m on the pill, by the way. And that I should pick someone who won’t make a mess of it, because there’s only one first time.”

  “Christ. My dad told me to keep it in my pants until I was sure I could do the right thing in case I knocked someone up, and my mother told me she found me under a cabbage leaf.” Vic backed up to sit on the desk.

  I moved to stand in front of him, though I didn’t touch him. “You’re the only person who’s ever told me I was beautiful.”

  “That’s a damned shame.”

  “It’s true.” I shrugged. “I want you, Vic.”

  Some low, gravelly noise slipped out of him. I put my hands on his knees, then a little higher on his thighs. I didn’t push b