The Outskirts (The Outskirts Duet #1)

“So I hear.”

“Have you gotten a chance to meet anyone else in town?” Maya asked, spraying the front window with glass cleaner and wiping it down with a big coffee filter. “Less streaks than paper towels,” she explained when she saw me staring.

“I met Josh,” I started.

They all nodded. No further description needed. “Critter, of course.”

An image of Caribbean blue eyes and an angry scowl came to mine. “And…Finn?” His name came out like a question.

All three girls stopped what they were doing. Kayla dropped her broom. Maya set her spray bottle down on the floor. Missy looked up from filing her nails.

“Finn Hollis?” Maya asked.

“Unless there is another Finn?” I tightened the lid on a ketchup bottle.

“Are you sure it was Finn? Blonde hair. Tall. Rugged. Come-hither eyes attached to a come-hither body?” Kayla asked.

“That’s him.” I nodded.

“And he TALKED to you?” Maya leaned her chin on her hand. “He doesn’t talk to anyone. Not anymore.”

“Uh, yes. He talked to me.” If you considered threats to be talking. “But only briefly.” I wasn’t about to tell them about what had happened earlier.

Before I knew it, they were all standing around the table I was wiping down. “What? What is it you aren’t telling me?” I asked.

Kayla rested her elbows on the table. She folded her hands together, creating a steeple. She lowered her voice so the three of us had to lean in to hear what she had to say. “Let me tell you a story. A fairytale, if you will.”

“All right.” I set down my rag and took a seat across from her. The twins followed.

Kayla dramatically looked between the three of us like what she was about to tell us was classified information.

“Once upon a time,” Kayla started. “Finn Hollis was known as the lord of the swamp. He was a do-er. Someone who could get anything done in a moment’s notice. Some of the things he did were on the up-and-up. Others were only mentioned in the softest of hushed whispers after Sunday church. You either loved him. Hated him. Feared him,” she bit her lower lip, “or lusted after him.”

The twins giggled.

“Regardless, Finn WAS Outskirts. Our golden boy. More popular than our own mayor. Then one day, a terrible tragedy drove him deep into the swamp to wallow in his grief. He still comes around from time to time, but sightings of him are almost as rare as the Swamp Ape, although told between residents of Outskirts with even more surprise and awe.”

“Swamp ape?” I questioned.

“Think of it like a redneck Yeti,” Maya chimed in.

“Okaaaay.” I slid my chair back and stepped away from the table. Suddenly feeling the need to put some distance between myself and the legend of Finn Hollis. Although one more question lingered in my mind.

“What happened?” I asked. “What was the great tragedy that made him run off?”

Maya emptied a dustpan into the trash and glanced back over her shoulder. Her smile was a sad one. “The lord lost his lady.”





Chapter Fourteen





Finn





Sixteen Years Old…


It was Jackie’s sixteenth birthday and the two of us had snuck away from the bonfire where most of the kids from school were keeping the party going.

John Anderson sang “Straight Tequila Night” through the speakers of Miller’s Honda over the less pleasant sound of Josh and Miller mouthing off to one another.

Miller, in his drunken state, had scared off Josh’s date, Scott, by telling him that Josh was pregnant with his baby.

When he followed Josh into the trees my money was on that Miller wouldn’t be making it back out alive. That was on him though. I had other more important things on my mind.

Jackie and I slipped into the tent I’d assembled before the party got started. We were kissing and touching. Making out without coming up for air like we always did.

After only a few minutes, I was already in some serious pain. I knew that the night was going to end with a non-stop ticket to blue balls express land. But it was always worth it. Jackie was always worth it.

Even when things weren’t great and she was going through one of her phases where she was either mad at me all the time, or she’d skip class and stay home to sleep all day, things were still great.

There were more good times than bad, and that night wasn’t just a good night.

It was a great night.

“What do you want for your birthday?” I asked, needing to stop what we were doing before I embarrassed myself in my pants.

Jackie bit her lip and looked away shyly. Her blonde hair was splayed out all around her. I picked up a lock and rubbed the softness between my fingers.

“Come on,” I tickled her ribs. “Tell me.”

Jackie giggled and the sound shot straight to my aching dick. “I…I want you,” she whispered.

And just like that, whoosh, the air was ripped from my lungs.

Jackie blushed and her green eyes glimmered.

I swallowed hard. “You…you do? When?” I asked, trying not to sound too eager. Meanwhile, my dick was doing cartwheels against my zipper.

Jackie reached under the sleeping bag. I shifted off of her and onto my side to give her room. “Is now okay?” she asked, handing me a condom.

With no thought of a word in the English language that could convey my excitement, I simply nodded and waited for my heart to calm down so I wouldn’t die from a heart attack before I had the chance to lose my virginity.

We undressed and I climbed over her between her spread legs, lifting up to give myself just enough space to attempt to tear open the condom wrapper.

“I don’t really know what to do,” Jackie admitted, giggling nervously.

“We’ll figure it out,” I reassured her, sliding on the condom, wishing that porn videos didn’t skip that part so I’d be better prepared. When it was finally on, I lowered myself onto her.

We were both shaking.

When we finally came together it was a lot of forehead bumping, teeth clanking, and accidental hair pulling. Awkward at best.

It was by far the greatest night of my entire life.

Or so I thought.





Nineteen Years Old


Jackie and I were sitting around with a group of friends on my parents’ back deck while they were out of town.

It had been a bad few weeks. I had to practically pry Jackie out of her house to get her to come hang out with me. And for a while, I was glad I had.

We’d both had a few drinks and Jackie was snuggled on my lap as we listened to our friends tell their small town crazy stories.

When Miller brought up the subject of losing our virginities I couldn’t help but smile at the memory. I squeezed Jackie’s hip.

Her shoulders shook against me when she laughed. Her voice when she spoke came out high-pitched. Shrill. I’d never heard her sound that way before.

“Oh please, everybody lies about losing their virginity. Am I right?” she asked, clinking her beer bottle to Josh’s which remained still in her hand. “I mean, I told Finn he was my first and he actually bought it. Remember that, baby?”

I froze.

Jackie looked up at me, but I wasn’t smiling like she was.