Asa was still smiling. “Yes, ma’am. Absolutely. I will take very good care of Ezmita. I promise.”
Momma nodded. “You do that. But no touching.”
I could crawl in a hole now and die. A deep hole. The kind animals hibernated in. I could possibly get swallowed up by a hole. “Momma, please,” I begged.
She finally inhaled and stepped back. “Go. Be good. Don’t have fun.” And she meant it.
“Yes, ma’am,” he replied. What else could he say to that? “Don’t have fun”? Seriously? God, I wanted to die.
Once we were outside and the door was closed behind us, I looked over at him. He appeared to be holding back laughter. “She’s watching from the window,” I told him without looking back to see if that was the case. I knew it was the case. I didn’t need to check. “Don’t laugh until we are safely down the road where her supersonic ears can’t hear you,” I warned softly.
Asa opened the passenger-side door for me, but he didn’t touch me. Not even to help me up inside. He was doing good. Better than good. He might never ask me out again, but he was giving her no reason to run out here and pull me back inside. He didn’t say a word as he walked around the truck and climbed inside.
Once he pulled away and turned right at the traffic light, he glanced over at me. “You think it’s safe to talk now?” he asked, grinning.
I let out a laugh and nodded. “Yes. We should be in the clear. I’m really sorry about that. About her.”
“Are you kidding me? Other than being terrified of a tiny lady, that was the most entertaining thing I’ve seen in a while. I don’t think I’ve ever had a mom tell me not to have sex with her daughter before. I knew they didn’t want us to, but they weren’t about to vocalize it.”
I groaned and covered my face with my hands. “She makes sure there is no guessing on our part, that’s for sure.”
He chuckled. “No shit.”
“Momma thinks all teens want to do is drink, do drugs, and have sex,” I told him in way of explanation, if that was even possible.
He shrugged. “She’s not completely off track.” Then he looked at me with a teasing smile. “I promise we won’t be doing any of that tonight.”
“She asked Brett if he was Catholic. At least she left religion out of it with you,” I told him.
He laughed. “Brett’s momma isn’t Hispanic.”
I nodded. Very true. Momma just assumed Asa was Catholic because his mother was Hispanic. I wasn’t going to ask since it wasn’t my business. His family might not be any faith at all. Wouldn’t he be lucky.
That You Under All That Lovin’? CHAPTER 19
ASA
Tonight was going too good. I was enjoying myself too damn much. I should’ve focused on the lecture from her mother and tried to find fault in dating Ezmita, but damn, that had been more entertaining than anything. I hadn’t planned on doing any of the things she’d told me not to. Well… maybe not any. I had planned on touching. Some at least. I wanted to kiss her. That was in the touching category.
After I backed into the parking spot at the drive-in, I glanced over at Ezmita. She was taking it all in like she’d never seen this before. “Have you ever been here?” I asked.
She looked back at me and shook her head no. “Never. It’s just like the movies,” she said, then beamed at me. Shit, I was screwed. I was going to ask her out again. Everything about her made me smile. I didn’t feel the ache that my mother’s turning on me caused when I was around Ezmita. She made me hopeful, thankful for little things, and fucking happy. This was what I had been afraid of with her. Deep down I had known I’d feel this way. I had known she was different. The kind of different that changes you. Makes you willing to sacrifice anything just to be with her.
I reached over into the backseat and got the blankets and pillows to make the truck bed comfortable to sit in. We weren’t going to be cold in July, but the blankets made the back a nice place to watch a movie. Some folks brought camp chairs to put up in their truck beds, but that was no fun. There was no cuddling then and no privacy.
“Let’s do this, then,” I said, and opened the truck door.
I let the tailgate down and tossed the pillows and blankets inside.
“You left one,” Ezmita said, handing me another pillow.
I took it and tossed it up, then grinned down at her. “I’m gonna have to touch you now. Reckon we are far enough away?” I was teasing her.
She nodded and pressed her lips together to hide her smile. I stepped behind her and placed my hands on her waist. Inhaling deeply, I took in her scent and she smelled as good as I remembered. Damn, tonight was going to be enjoyable.