Read Random (Going the Distance) for Free Online Page A

and he settles behind me and starts to brush my hair. He’s gentle but firm, the bristles scratching just right against my scalp, then sailing down my hair. I close my eyes and imagine my mom is the one wielding the brush and a lot of the craziness of the day starts to drain right out of me. 
    “Never cut your hair, babe,” Rick says, his fingers combing through behind the brush.
    “Not planning on it.”
    He gathers it in his hands and twists it, then drops it and scoots closer behind me, and kisses my shoulder by the strap of my dress. It’s a gentle kiss, and he trails upward, pushing my hair aside as he kisses his way to my ear. A little shiver runs along my spine, and he feels it and murmurs against my ear, bringing his hands up to the straps and sliding them down my arms, his mouth making hot stops along my skin. Easy, easy, he slides the dress down until my breasts are bare, and he brings his hands around to cup them, brushing his thumbs over the tips. It makes me squirm a little and he pulls me closer, pressing himself against me.
    “Okay?” he asks. 
    “Yeah.” I lean back into him, putting my hands in his thick, cool hair. He slides me sideways and sucks lightly on my nipples, which sends electric sensations all through me. I could lie there and have him do that for seven years. I don’t know that it’s his favorite thing, but he knows I love it, and he stays there a while, making me hot and wet, and then he takes my dress all the way off of me and leaps up to shed his clothes. He lies down on top of me, skin to skin, and we kiss, and then he’s between my legs and inside of me and I make a noise. I love this part, too, the filling up, that hard first thrust, and the way it feels when he moves inside me.
    Then he’s coming, and I have to hurry. I clench all my muscles and get a tiny orgasm in before he’s done, and he falls on me, groaning in happiness. I feel a little better, too, and think I can probably have a good time tonight. For once I don’t have to get up in the morning.
    * * *
    It’s not so bad at the club at first. My friend Lucy, the lead singer’s girlfriend, is there, wearing a gauzy blouse that shows off her tan. She’s the kind of beautiful that you can’t stop looking at, with tilted eyes and full lips. I think movie stars must look like this in person. I seriously don’t know how Jake got her. He’s surly and headed toward being an alcoholic and not even that good-looking.
    He is the lead singer, and I guess that’s it. Girls always want to give him blow jobs, which has gone to his…uh…head.
    She hugs me hard. “I heard all about it! Were you totally freaked?” Taking me by the hands, she leads me to a table where a drink is waiting, a rum and Coke. “I already got you a drink.”
    “It was crazy,” I say, taking a big gulp. The liquor hits my neck muscles, loosening them up. Rick and I stopped on the way and had some hamburgers and fries, so I should be okay if I go slow. “I can’t stop thinking about it. Like the sound of the glass breaking is still in my ears.”
    Her big violet eyes never leave my face. She’s a little older, maybe twenty-two, and always seems much wiser. We’ve been friends for two years, since Rick and I got together at a party where the band was playing. It was the most exciting thing that had ever happened to me, that this older guy, who was so gorgeous every girl in the place wanted to talk to him, came up to me. Lucy was there, too, home from college for the summer and just starting to date Jake. He’s the brains and the voice behind the band. Rick is the beauty. He says this with a grin, but it’s true.
    I tell Lucy about the job and Virginia, feeling again the squeeze in my belly. I should have gone to see her in the hospital already. Why haven’t I?
    “Sweetie, stop.” Lucy squeezes my hand. “Virginia’s going to be fine. You’ve had a rough day. Now just let go and forget about it for tonight.”
    I nod. It’s good