Fallen Desire by N. L. Echeverria Page B

his hand to my cheek and gently pulls my face to his.  His sweet lips press gently against mine.  It begins slowly and innocently but just like last time we kissed it gradually becomes more intense, not in a bad way and this time he isn’t hurting me.  His left hand moves to my bare leg and he gently caresses my upper thigh but is careful not to get too inappropriate out here in the parking lot.  We steam up the windows even with the heater on low and I’m certainly not cold anymore.  My whole body feels like it’s on fire and I can feel every beat of my heart.  Then it’s over, and his lips move slowly away from mine and his hands are back in mine.  Oh, why did he stop?  I want to give all of myself to him, if only he would let me.  But I knew he wouldn’t let it happen, not here. 
    “I love you, Lindsay.” 
    The words sound so good and vibrate through my body.  I shiver in reaction to his sensual confession of love.  “I love you too, Ethan.”  Then as soon as the good feeling is there it is gone with banging on my window.  I jump; releasing my hands from Ethan’s and I turn to find Kim with a frown on her face glaring at me. 
    “What are you doing, Lindsay?  This is supposed to be a girl’s night out!” she’s almost shouting through the window in her anger.  I close my eyes taking a deep breath trying to hide my embarrassment.  She isn’t happy but that’s no reason to yell at me.  She’s glaring at Ethan, as if he forced me into his vehicle.  I put up my finger to ask her for one more minute. 
    She turns her back and walks away a couple of feet then stops to wait for me.  I look back to Ethan.  “Thank you, Ethan.  Thank you for coming by tonight, but I really should get back to Kim.  She did plan this whole night and I don’t want to be rude.  She brought me out here to forget about boys and here I am.”  Still breathing heavy from our kiss I don’t want to leave him but know I should.  “You have really made me feel a lot better.  I was worried when you hadn’t called me or anything.”
    “I apologize for that.  I never wanted to hurt you.  I should never have left you.  When you say to forget about boys what do you mean?  Is there another guy in your life?” he says with this tone that makes it sound like he already knows about Derrick, and it makes me think of yesterday and when I thought I saw him in the woods. 
    At this moment Derrick doesn’t even matter.  Ethan is all that matters.  “Well, it’s just Derrick.  He’s just a good friend, though, that’s all.”  If I keep it simple then I won’t hurt him in anyway, and I’m not lying because Derrick really is just a friend.  At least that is how we left it last. 
    “Look, Lindsay, I care about you, and you can make decisions for yourself, but I just want to tell you that you should be careful around Derrick.  At least until you know what his true intensions are. There are too many guys who try to take advantage of girls and they go around acting like they care but they really don’t.  Just be careful.” 
    It is true that many guys do take advantage of girls, but Derrick isn’t like that.  When I’m with him, it is too pure and real, not something phony, and he doesn’t come across as pushy or wanting anything more from me then what I’m willing to give.  His intentions actually seem a lot like Ethan’s:  to just care for me in the way that I need to be cared for. 
    “Well, I will try and take your advice, but like I said we’re just friends.  I better get back to Kim, though, before she comes back over to bang on the window.”
    “Okay.  Hold on and let me get your door for you.”  He jumps out of the car and strolls around the front to my side and opens the door to let me out.  I don’t really want to get out or go with Kim.  I want nothing more than to be with him; now that I know I didn’t do anything and that he loves me, I want to be with him every chance there