Erin Leaf: The First Time is the Sweetest

Sabrina glared at Darrin, angry that he was ruining her morning. She wasn’t afraid. She had a tendency to throw punches first and think of the consequences later. She may not have had a lot of friends, but most people knew to leave her alone. This felt like the same kind of crap she’d had to deal with in school. “This is ridiculous,” she muttered, looking around for something to throw at the group of boys.

“I agree,” Jimmy said, moving to the side as Darrin lunged. Sabrina moved with Jimmy, trying to stay out of the way. Darrin tripped over his own feet and landed on one of the tables. He looked dazed, so he must have hit his head. She almost laughed aloud before thinking better of it, as Darrin’s three friends seemed to be getting angrier. They were no longer jeering. One of them moved in to grab her while another tried to hit Jimmy. The third crouched near Darrin, who lay on the ground, clutching his head.

Jimmy ducked and backed up, avoiding another punch as Sabrina dumped her tea on the guy who was threatening her. By the time the guy stopped sputtering, she had her hands on a glass sugar dispenser. He regarded her warily, wet hair plastered to his face. She could tell he wanted to smack her. She breathed deep, trying to calm down when she noticed they’d attracted quite a bit of attention. She figured the cops would come soon since they weren’t that far from the station. They just needed to wait and keep from getting into a brawl. A worse brawl, she thought.

Unfortunately, Darrin’s buddies weren’t too smart. They kept trying to hit Jimmy, who ducked faster than they could move. After a few more missed punches, Sabrina saw Jimmy sneaking a laugh at the ridiculousness of it. She felt herself smile, reluctantly starting to believe they’d get out of this intact when a gunshot rang out. Everyone flinched as the large bay window of the bistro’s front facade shattered.

Jimmy lunged for Sabrina and hauled her beneath the iron table on their right. Another shot hit the table surface and ricocheted, hitting a large vase of flowers and sending the shards and dirt crashing around them. One more shot glanced off the ground near where Darrin still lay dazed. She could see the fear on his face when the rest of the patrons panicked, overturning chairs and running away. Darrin’s friends abandoned him and dashed off just as the police arrived with flashing lights. She was squashed under Jimmy, his hands on her head keeping her face near the hot pavement. Adrenaline raced through her as Jimmy cursed, but there were no more shots. Two officers jumped out of their car, crouching next to the tires behind the open doors.

“Everybody okay?” one of the officers shouted, looking around wildly.

“Yeah, we’re good,” Jimmy yelled back, still not letting her up.

“Just stay down until we secure the area,” the cop responded, motioning to the other officer. “It looks like the shots were fired from across the street, possibly from that building.” His partner nodded and spoke into his radio.

A few minutes later, another police car pulled up across the street, and the cops jumped out, crouching and looking around before dashing into the building across from the bistro. It wasn’t a very tall building, but it was at least three floors higher than the one-story restaurant. Jimmy and Sabrina waited on the pavement. She closed her eyes so she wouldn’t have to look at Darrin. She could feel every inch of Jimmy on her back as she began to shake from the adrenaline letdown.

“Shh,” Jimmy soothed into her ear. He eased up on her head and stroked her hair. Sabrina relaxed into his caress, enjoying the way he felt above her. Then, shockingly, he grew hard as she shifted slightly beneath him, pressing her ass into his groin as she tried to get more comfortable.

“Oh God,” he whispered, his voice low. Sabrina gasped, then arched her back slightly. She loved that she could arouse him, even in the middle of the most violent situation she’d ever been in.

“Evil woman,” he groaned, shoving his erection against her. She wiggled some more, feeling herself flush from both the adrenaline rush and the weight of Jimmy on top of her in such a public place. She opened her eyes to find Darrin staring at them in shock. She smirked and rubbed her face against Jimmy’s hand, holding Darrin’s eyes as she did. Yeah, maybe she was a bit vindictive.

“If you don’t hold still, I’m going to come in my pants like a teenager,” Jimmy said in her ear. Sabrina gasped, then wiggled some more, and he groaned under his breath. She tried to stop moving, knowing that this wasn’t the right time or place for teasing. Darrin glared at them, not looking at all dazed anymore. Sabrina stared right back, daring him to say a word.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered to Jimmy. “I can’t help it.” She felt him groan again, quietly, then heard footsteps and turned her head to see who it was. One of the policemen had walked over. Jimmy was already shifting off and up.

“You can get up now.” One of the cops reached down to give Sabrina a hand up. Another officer hauled Darrin to his feet, holding him firmly while a few more patrons who hadn’t run away struggled off the ground. “We searched the building and the surrounding area, and it looks like another gang-related shooting,” the officer said as he steadied her. She swayed, lightheaded from getting up so fast.

“There have been gang shootings in this area?” Jimmy asked as he brushed the gravel from his shorts. She dared a glance. He’d untucked his T-shirt. It hung below the waistband, and she smirked, knowing he’d rearranged his clothing on purpose.

“Yes. From what we can tell so far, one of the gangs moved into this area from the city about a year ago; then two months ago, another new one moved in and started fighting for territory.” The cop shook his head. “We’re not equipped to deal with this. The sheriff said if it happens one more time, we gotta call in the Feds. I guess this is the ‘one more time.’” He blew a hard breath out, then waved to his partner to bring Darrin closer.

“I had no idea that gangs were a problem here,” Jimmy said to Sabrina, shaking his head.

“I know,” she replied, looking around at all the trees and the pretty downtown landscaping. “This is a small town, and we’ve all been shocked this past year at how easily they came in. That’s probably why Dad asked you to come and keep me company this summer.”

Jimmy nodded in agreement. “I’m just glad I have the kind of job that lets me move around so that I could be here,” he said, then stopped as the cop holding Darrin moved closer.

“We received a call that this kid was harassing you and your girlfriend, is that right?” the second cop asked. “A bystander called us and said you were eating when he and his friends came over to your table.”

“Yeah,” Jimmy answered, sighing. “It was nothing, really, just the usual adolescent idiocy.”

“He tried to hit you, Jimmy!” Sabrina exclaimed, shaking her head.

“Yeah, but he missed every time, didn’t he?” Jimmy replied. By now the cop was grinning, and Darrin looked like he wanted to crawl into a hole.

“Are you going to press charges?” the first officer asked. Jimmy cocked his head at Sabrina, smiling.

She sighed and shook her head. “No, as long as they leave me alone from now on. They didn’t really do anything except try to intimidate us.” And they failed , she thought, smirking. She glanced at Jimmy, and from the way his eyes twinkled she could tell he was thinking the same thing.

“All right,” the cop said, shaking Darrin a little bit. “I’m letting you off with a warning. Tell your friends that we’ll be watching you. It was a stupid thing to do, you know? Especially with Jimmy here. He could’ve snapped your neck without you even noticing he’d moved.”