Page 20 of Sunday Morning

He nodded, and I tightened my grip around his neck. I couldn’t believe I was hours from doing it for the first time. My pubes were trimmed (shaved on the sides, short on top), lotion, perfume, and sexy underwear that Heather bought for me because the preacher’s daughter couldn’t be seen buying lace and satin.

Of course, I couldn’t tell Heather the truth since Matt didn’t want us to tell anyone. So I told her I wanted to feel sexy even if I wasn’t having it.

“Come on,” Heather said, tugging my arm at the end of the song.

I released Matt. “Where are we going?”

“To change our clothes for post-prom. Do you want to come to my house?”

“I figured we were going to my house,” Matt said. “I don’t have clothes inthe car.”

“We’ll meet you at the school,” I told Heather while Matt took my hand and led me toward the exit.

“We have an hour,” Matt said as we wormed our way through the parking lot. “Since your mom will be at post-prom, we won’t be allowed to leave early. And you have a curfew, so this is our only chance.”

“Where are we going?” I asked.

We had talked aboutit,but we didn’t make plans beyond getting a condom.

“Doesn’t matter.” He opened my door. “The west side of Johnson’s place?”

I nodded. There was a farm lane that no one used since Oren Johnson passed the previous year. His wife hadn’t hired anyone to take care of the ranch, so everything was a neglected mess. My dad said it was only a matter of time before his dad bought the fifty acres from Mrs. Johnson.

Matt and I had parked there a handful of times to make out.

No heavy petting.

No removing clothes.

Not even a hickey.

We didn’t speak a word on the ten-minute drive. I was nervous, but excited. I just wanted to get it over with. Honestly, I was looking forward to my second, third, or tenth time more than the first. Nerves sucked because we both had them. There was no one to soothe the tension—to be the teacher. We were two hormonally jacked-up teenagers eager to take the ultimate rite of passage into adulthood.

And we were clueless.

Matt parked and killed the engine. “I don’t have a back seat.”

I grinned with a nervous laugh. “Uh, yeah, I know.”

“So,” he scraped his teeth across his lower lip, “I’ll sit in that seat and …” He eyed me.

I nodded a half dozen times. “And I’ll …” I couldn’t even say it.

I’ll straddle your lap and ride you.

We used nods more than words to communicate. Matt stepped out of the car and walked around the front, nervously pumping his fists. He opened my door and helped me out before taking my place. Then he retrieved the condom from his wallet and set it on the dash while I reached for the zipper of my dress and scanned and listened for cars in the distance.

“Your dad’s going to kill me,” he mumbled when I kicked off my shoes and unzipped my dress.

“My dad is a strict Ten Commandment follower. He won’t kill you. And why do you think he’s going to find out?” I stepped out of my dress and draped it over the open door.

“Sarah,” he whispered, his eyes the size of saucers as he wet his lips.

Matthew Cory was the coolest kid in school.

Smart.

Talented.