This Town -- 5
Ashes on the Asphalt
She was eighteen. I was forty.
She said the town didn't show up on maps.
Said it was a place people found when they weren't looking--when they were too drunk, too horny, too broken to steer clear.
Guess I qualified.
The rain started just as we rolled past the rusted sign. Said Welcome, but the letters peeled off like old skin. Lena had her bare feet up on the dash, toenails black, eyes half-lidded like sin was her natural state of being. I was trying not to look. Trying real hard.
"I used to live here," she said.
"You're too young to have lived anywhere," I muttered.
She smiled and unwrapped a lollipop. Her tongue swirled slow over the candy, like it had secrets it wasn't ready to share.
***
The motel was called The Drift. One bulb flickering. One bed. One key that felt warm in my palm, like someone had just used it to fuck a ghost.
The key twisted, but the door didn't budge--just rattled like something was on the other side, holding it shut. I gritted my teeth, gave it another turn. Nothing. Rain slid down the back of my neck, soaking my collar and pissing me off more than I already was. Lena stood close, quiet now, eyes on me like she wasn't sure what I'd do next.
I didn't say a word. Just stepped back and drove my boot into the frame. The door burst open with a cracked splinter and a groan that sounded almost human.
I stepped inside like I owned the place--and maybe, for tonight, I did.
"Welcome home," I muttered, an unlit cigarette clenched between my teeth, water dripping from my brow. "Fucking cozy."
Inside, it smelled like smoke, sweat, and wet velvet. Lena threw her hoodie on the floor, stretched like a cat across the sheets, and I lit the cigarette just to buy myself a minute.
"You gonna tell me what this place really is?" I asked.
She turned her head toward me, tank top riding up to show that soft curve of her hip.
"You'll know," she said, "once you can't stop..." Her voice trailed off.
***
I slept with the gun under the pillow.
Didn't sleep much.
Not with the sound of her moaning in her dreams.
Not with the walls breathing.
Not with the mirror whispering my name like a lover who'd already seen me naked.
The rain hadn't stopped. It just softened, steady like breath, tapping the window in time with the ceiling fan's slow churn. I was awake before I knew it--habit, or instinct, or maybe the feeling that something beautiful was inches away and I'd regret not looking.
Lena lay facedown on the bed, blanket kicked off sometime in the night, wearing nothing but a pair of black panties that clung to her like they were painted on. Her ass--plump, perfect, the kind you could rest a drink on if you weren't busy squeezing it--rose and fell with each slow breath.
The curve of her side caught what little light there was, a faint glow on her ribs, her waist... and just under her arm, the swell of one perfect breast, half-crushed against the mattress. Side-boob, subtle and sinful. Enough to make me stare like a goddamn animal.
I should've looked away.
I didn't.
She shifted in her sleep, hair spilling over her shoulders, one leg bent just enough to make my pulse throb.
I felt compelled to touch her. Like if I didn't, I'd lose something important. Opportunity, I guess.
And maybe, just maybe--I wanted to. Needed to.
I lit a cigarette just to have something to do with my hands--then gave up and reached for her instead. Ran my fingers slow down the ridge of her spine, from her shoulders to the small of her back. Her skin was warm, soft, marked by the faintest goosebumps as I traced her like a map only I knew how to read. She didn't stir. Just breathed slow and steady while I memorized her--inch by inch.
She looked peaceful. Breakable.
Like if I touched her too hard, she'd vanish--like smoke from a match blown out too fast, or a dream you wake from and scramble to hold on to. There was something fragile about her in that moment, all curves and heat and sleep-heavy breath, but underneath it was this flicker of something not quite real. Like the town had conjured her just for me, and one wrong move would break the spell. So I touched her soft. Worshipful. Like maybe I could keep her in this world if I was careful enough.
My fingers found the waistband, and I slipped them down just enough to bare the curve of her ass. I told myself it was just a touch. That if she stirred, I'd stop. That I wasn't the monster this moment might make me.
I told myself it wasn't what it looked like. That I was just tracing the shape of something I already wanted too much. But my body didn't care about excuses. My fingers itched. And in that still motel room--soft with rain and sin and the heat of her so close--I couldn't lie to myself anymore. I didn't want permission. I wanted her. And I wanted to see if her body wanted me back.
I dipped into them from the rear, slow and deliberate. My knuckles brushed warm skin, then slick heat--she was already wet, even in her sleep. Or maybe because of it. My touch made her shift, just a little. A soft sound escaped her throat--half sigh, half whimper--but she didn't wake. I kept going. Fingers sliding between her folds, teasing, exploring, pushing deeper like I had all the time in the world to learn her body by feel. The motel was silent except for the rain and her breath, rising with each stroke like her body knew me even when her mind was dreaming. I leaned in, kissed the base of her spine, and kept my hand exactly where it was--buried in her heat, owning her even in sleep.
She moaned softly when my fingers slid deeper, her hips giving the slightest roll--like her body was chasing it. And for a second, I let myself get lost in it. The feel of her. The heat. The way she opened up for me without even waking. Like she trusted me. Or maybe didn't know better.
That's when it hit me.
The guilt. The shame. The sick twist in my gut that said stop.
What the fuck was I doing?
I pulled my hand from her panties like it burned, fingers slick with proof of everything I wasn't supposed to want. I lay back on my pillow, then pulled myself out of bed.
The storm outside picked up--thunder cracked hard enough to rattle the window, rain hammering the glass like it wanted in. Like it was daring me to keep going.
I didn't.
I stood, wiped my hand on my jeans, and puffed the cigarette with shaking fingers.
She shifted in her sleep again, unaware of the war I'd just fought and barely won.
I stared out into the storm.
And as always, it felt like it was staring back.
***
The storm came fast--like the town had been waiting for us to stop moving.
Thunder cracked and the neon outside flickered. The Drift shivered on its foundation like it knew it was about to be fucked six ways to Sunday. Rain pelted the roof so hard it sounded like bones rattling in a bag.
I stood at the window, cigarette barely lit, watching the parking lot vanish in sheets of water. Somewhere, a power line sparked blue and went dark.
Behind me, she was quiet. Too quiet.
I turned.
Lena sat cross-legged on the bed, hoodie off, hair damp from the mist that'd followed us inside. One of her boots dangled from her foot. She looked at me like she had a secret, and like she was one.