It doesn't get easier.

Scott paused at the intersection. Going straight took him back to Doug’s house. Turning left took him past Martha’s trailer, and eventually to his aunt Angel’s house. Turning right took him to the highway, and open road.

The highway was tempting, but he didn’t really want to be alone with his thoughts. He decided to head to the Carter house. He had wound up Doug’s mom, and he was interested to see how everyone was handling Doug having a girlfriend.

His thoughts went back to the garage, kissing Jenn. . .

She had played it well, and Scott had to admit there was a whole lot of attraction there. Jenn was sexy as hell, and she was a really good kisser. It didn’t hurt that she was the girl he had spent most of his young life dreaming about.

He pulled into the driveway, parked his bike in the garage and went inside.

“Scott! There you are.” Mrs. Carter came over, hugged Scott and kissed him on the cheek.

“Well hello Mrs. Carter. How are you?”

She held Scott at arm’s length and smiled at him, she looked like she was going to kiss him again, but instead she sighed a little.

“I’m so glad you came back Scott.”

Scott couldn’t help but smile. “I’m glad too.”

“Scott tells me you are responsible for him meeting Marissa.”

“Oh, so that’s what this is all about.”

“Anne, leave the poor man alone, he doesn’t know any more than Doug.” Mr. Carter called from the other room.

“Don’t listen to him Scott, come talk to me in the kitchen.”

Scott looked over at Mr. Carter, who shrugged. “I tried.” He mouthed.

Mrs. Carter started interrogating Scott about Doug’s new girl. What did Mary say about her? Did Marissa seem like an honest person? Did he know if she wanted kids? It was awful.

“Mom, leave Scott alone, he promised to take me for a ride on his motorcycle today.” Suzie yelled, coming into the kitchen.

He had not promised Suzie anything of the sort, but he wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth. So he let Suzie grab his hand and lead him out of the room.

“Well, alright then," Mrs. Carter said with a frown, "you kids have fun.”

“See you later Mrs. Carter.”

They entered the garage and Suzie glared daggers at him. “Do you see what you’ve done? It’s been all day, I haven’t even met the girl and she’s asking me about her, had me look her up online Scott, With Just Her First Name. Do you understand?”

“I’m sorry, but Suzie, you are the one that told me to get him laid while I was here.”

She glared. “Yeah, but you still owe me.” Even glaring at him she looked great. Her jeans were doing a fantastic job of showing off her curves, as was her tight-fitting pink sweater, she looked really good.

“Come on, let’s get out of here, she might come looking for us.”

Suzie laughed. “Night of the annoying mother!” she said in her deepest voice, walking toward him like a zombie.

Scott handed her a helmet. “Come on.” He said, smiling as he rolled the bike out of the garage and started it up.

Suzie smiled back at him, her eyes wide, almost sparking. Scott winced inside, he knew how much she was into him, and he needed to deal with that carefully. He liked Suzie, intended to be friends with her family for a long time, but he wasn’t going to be in a serious relationship with her.

She climbed on behind him. “I like your jacket Scott.”

“Yeah? If you learn to ride I’ll get you one.”

She wrapped her arms around him, and rested her head on his back, when Audrey warmed up they pulled out and headed out of town, Scott knew exactly where he wanted to go, the drive there was great too, well maintained county roads and farmland.

On the trip he thought about Suzie, she was cute, sexy, and fun. Just like the others he complained about her tagging along when they were younger, but she had always been fun, and she kept Jenn from getting them into too much trouble. Jenn was mature and responsible now, but at 16, having been raised at a bike shop and by a motorcycle club her idea of fun wasn’t always legal or safe.

Scott wanted to be able to call Suzie a friend, wanted to go riding with her, hang out. But he also wanted to throw her on a bed, tear those jeans off of her, and make her scream his name before he covered those adorable fucking freckles with . . .

“Shit.” He muttered to himself, he was horny as fuck and frustrated from both Jenn and Lydia. Now he was riding with Suzie and trying to avoid an erection that would cause more trouble. He was going to talk to Suzie, shut this down and de-complicate his life by at least one woman.

Suzie was young, and as much as she considered herself grown, she was still naïve in too many ways. Scott wasn’t going to set her up to get hurt, he was going to talk to her, make her see what was going on, he was going to get this right.

You better get this one right, Scott. He thought to himself.

He pulled into the state park, drove down and parked by the creek. He turned and helped Suzie off the bike.

“Come on, I want to show you a place.”

He led her along the bank, about a 5-minute walk to a point where the creek turned and there was a big rock resting beside it.

Scott climbed up on the rock and patted the spot next to him. Suzie climbed up and sat next to him. He laid back and stared at the sky. The light filtering through the trees made them a soft yellow-green, the sounds of birds and the creek washing over him. He had always loved this spot. He could come here, get away from people, buildings, everything. He closed his eyes and relaxed. He wanted to talk to Suzie and he needed a moment to calm down and get his head straight.

“This is surprisingly comfortable.” Suzie said, her voice soft. “It’s really beautiful here.”

He opened his eyes and turned toward her. She was laying on her side, her face right next to his. Suzie kissed him, tenderly, but with a feeling of longing behind it.

Scott pulled back from the kiss. Suzie misinterpreted his action and pushed into him, practically climbing on top of him to kiss him again. This time a bit more forceful, as her hands slipped inside his jacket and ran over his chest.

It took Scott a moment to get his mind back and push her off of him.

“Suzie, no.”

“What?”

“We can’t do this.”

She sat up, crossed her arms and glared at him. “Then why did you bring me out here?”

“You orchestrated this ride, not me."

Suzie glared at him.

"I just thought we could come here and talk.”

“You drive me out here, getting me all wound up, take me to a secluded spot to TALK?”

He could see her frustration, but also the subtle flush of arousal. He just wanted to go somewhere private and relaxing so he could talk to her, but yeah, it was easy to see how Suzie took it very differently.

“Look Suz, I’m sorry.”

“Don’t ‘Suz’ me Scott, I’m not 12 anymore.”