Falling in Love by Dusty Miller

edges of her vision.
Austin’s lungs were at lot bigger than hers.
    He broke off and topped up with fresh,
cool air, not letting her get away just yet.
    Austin had some aggression in
him.
    Her body was warm and heavy in his
arms. Her hair smelled fresh and clean.
    She’d seen that aggression when he was
driving. He was very fast and very good in that little yellow car.
Austin tried to control it, but when someone pushed too hard, oh,
well…too bad for them.
    Austin brought his mouth up to
hers.
    She sucked in as much air and smoke as
she could and then they both gasped and fell back at the same time,
eyes locked in discovery. She licked her lips and he swallowed,
fearful of his own strength sometimes. She was warm and cuddly
again, half in his lap after that little episode.
    “ Hey.”
    “ Hey.”
    With a long look into Austin’s eyes,
Bethany casually reached for a glass.
    “ Care for a drink?’ She
took in a good mouthful and sat up straight, daring him.
    He came right in for it, clasping on
to her mouth with care.
    She shared the wine with him, the look
on his face intent and serious.
    Finally they broke off and swallowed,
Austin struggling for air. She smiled and nodded.
    They reached for each other as of one
mind.
    They cuddled face to face, inches
apart. Her mouth was set in a quirky little grin and Austin had a
look that smacked of disbelief. He was licking his lips and
breathing heavily, still finding it hard to accept that she really
liked him. She wanted Austin. She watched the thought go through
his head. His eyes clouded and then refocused. She nodded, a look
of serious intent on her brow.
    His left hand was on her outer thigh.
Bringing it up behind her head, as their right hands clasped back
and forth in unspoken communication, Austin kissed her again. Just
to let him know, Bethany squeezed his hand, parted her lips and
darted her tongue into his mouth.
    Staring, Austin rose up and around
her, enveloping her and totally immobilizing her. All she could do
was to grab on tight with her free hand and squeeze him.
    Austin pushed his tongue into her
mouth and she just let everything go, writhing and pushing back,
closing her eyes and breathing through her nose. He broke off, not
knowing how far to push it and not wanting to lose Bethany just
when things seemed to be going well. He was holding on to her boob.
His jaw dropped. He clasped at her hands, suddenly afraid to look
at her. She decided to let him think on it for a while. Repressing
a smirk, she sat up a little straighter.
     
     
    Scene Two
     
     
    They were very close, watching and
listening to the set in a distracted manner, drinking wine in
between bouts of heavy petting. Some other show was on TV now, but
that was the farthest thing from their minds.
    “ How about some
cards?”
    “ Huh?” His eyes searched
hers.
    There was a suspicious bulge in his
pants.
    She gave him a pat on the
shoulder.
    “ Uh, yeah.” Austin got up,
sort of carefully turning the groin area away from her, and still
in a slightly hunched-over posture turned the TV down.
    His back to her, he went over to the
stereo and put on some music, some long jazzy thing that wouldn’t
require constantly changing recordings. Half blinded by brain fog,
his hands trembling, he got lucky and it was just the thing. Austin
was a man of action. The strong, silent type. She smiled again, not
looking up. He had pretty good taste in music, too. Austin came
back and sat down.
    She was already riffling the deck,
always laying there on the side table beside a cribbage board that
had once belonged to Austin’s grandfather. His mother’s side of the
family was all hot for cards.
    It wasn’t exactly cribbage she had in
mind.
    “ So, ah. What do you want
to play?” Austin had played cribbage, and crazy-eights, Kings in
the Corner, a few simple games.
    “ Do you know euchre?
Cut-throat euchre?”
    “ No, sorry.” His aunts and
uncles were just nuts for euchre, but wouldn’t let him play