Bryan asks, "You mean if you were the good girl?"

Karen rested her head on the little pillow, black braids splayed out on either side of her head. Her unbuttoned jeans revealed a small glimpse of the bright white panties beneath. They matched the thin white straps of her barely-there bra, running alongside the narrow straps of her gauzy green top.

Karen's dark eyes watched Bryan, taking in his reaction.

Bryan's breath came fast and deep. Though he'd watched her hands as she opened the top button of her jeans, his attention was now all on her eyes. What did she feel? What did she want?

Karen's words spilled out all in a rush. "So you know what we should be doing if this was a slasher film and the house really was haunted?" she said. She brushed her fingertips over her navel.

Bryan took a deep breath. "You mean if you were the good girl?" he teased.

Karen blushed.

Bryan sat down beside her, looking down into Karen's eyes. He took her hand in his.

"Well, you'd be really into me," Bryan said. "Really excited. The new guy in town. But you'd be worried about your girlfriend too. What was she doing? Was she okay? And you'd just jump at the slightest little thing."

There was a scrabbling in the branches of the oak above them. An acorn plummeted down and landed next to Karen's head.

She flinched and squeaked. "Eee! How did you do that?"

Bryan looked up. A red squirrel was chittering at them. He picked up the acorn and sent it flying back where it came from. "Thump!" the throw connected.

The squirrel lost its footing and scrabbled to avoid falling. It raced to a higher branch and scolded loudly before scurrying off to another tree.

"Guess I better get a few acorns handy in case I have to defend your honor again," Bryan said, looking back down to Karen lying on the red blanket.

Karen looked up at him, her liquid dark eyes searching his face. Her lips pressed together like she was building up pressure for another burst of words.

"Bryan I mean what should we be doing if this were a slasher film and I were the bad girl?"

Bryan squeezed her hand. "Maybe we should play it smart," he said. "Whisper to each other. Both sit up while we're making out so we can look over each other's shoulder. We won't miss a thing." He scanned the area, then looked down into Karen's eyes. "Maybe take off our pants all the way but put our shoes back on in case we have to make a run for it."

Karen's nostrils twitched. Her cheeks were pink. She watched his eyes.

Bryan watched her closely, ready to cool it if she looked unhappy with anything.

He asked, "How far are we going today, bad girl?"