Chapter 10

Jess schooled herself to just relax as Jay brought his mouth to hers again, giving her another kiss that was longer and more intense than the first, but it was still closed-mouth. They broke apart for a moment and he gave her a slinky, sidewise smile as he caressed her hair with one hand. "See, I'm not such a bad guy am I?" he quipped cheekily. Jess had to smile back because he seemed to be right and this gentler dimension of his personality was intriguing. The next time Jay leaned forward to kiss her Jess met him halfway and slipped her arms around his narrow waist to get a little closer. Over the next few minutes their kisses intensified gradually until the tip of Jay's tongue was just touching Jess's lower lip, persuading for entry. She hestitated just a bit – what if he's a really sloppy french kisser? she wondered. Well, guess this how I find out – then opened her mouth slightly and allowed him access. To her relief he didn't jam his tongue down her throat or – even worse – slobber all over the place, but just continued a slow, gentle exploration that made her heartrate accelerate faster than the Concorde. As they kissed, Jay's hands roamed down from her hair to her shoulders and back, then around to cup her ribcage just below her braline, causing her to tense a little bit. He seemed content to keep his hands there though, so she relaxed again and leaned a bit closer into him, liking the feel of his wiry body against her side. He didn't seem to have an ounce of fat on him, just taut muscle beneath smooth skin. Feeling a bit emboldened she let her own hands slide around his back to caress his shoulderblades where they jutted beneath his dark blue Zephyr team shirt. Mischievously she let her nails gently dig into the fabric to lightly dent his flesh, earning a low-pitched growl and a quick admonition from Jay. "Hey, I'm tryin' to be good here so don't tempt me, girl!"

Jess giggled. "Sorry, just wanted to see what you'd do," she confessed.

Jay pulled away from her a bit and gave her a wicked raised-eyebrow look. "Well, if there's more where that came from then I think you can guess what I'd do!"

"Hey, you never know…" Jess came back with a wink, but Jay just gave a little snort of laughter. "C'mon baby, too much talking and not enough makin' out." He pulled her back to him and took up where they left off, making each kiss a little deeper and more intense. Jess let him, since he was still being relatively well behaved and his skills were quite decent. She wondered how often he'd done this and suddenly another question popped into her head that she had to know the answer to. Before she could stop herself she tore her lips from his and blurted out, "Hey, how old are you anyway?"

Jay flicked back his blonde locks with one hand and shot her a brief look of barely suppressed annoyance at being interrupted again. "Almost sixteen, does it matter?" he shot.

For a moment Jess was floored. 15! Holy moly, she had no idea he was that age! In her mind he was practically still a boy, technically. She was thinking he was 17 going on 18 like she was. She looked down for a moment at Jay's large, tanned hands, which were still placed just above her waist. Admittedly they didn't really look like they belonged to a boy. He didn't exactly kiss like a boy either. And Jess would know the difference, having tested the making out skills of several guys back home.

When she didn't reply Jay exhaled noisily and reached out to bury his fingers in the back of Jess's hair, intent on pulling her back in, murmuring "C'mon, let's not worry about stupid shit like ages…gimme some more of what you got…" Jess closed her eyes, returned his kiss and resolved on the spot not to worry about the age difference. After all, they weren't in a hurry. Or at least she wasn't but maybe Jay was, she thought with a bit of alarm as her makeout partner's right hand stole upward and began fumbling with her bra strap. As she was about to warn him off, they were interrupted by the strident sound of the beige phone attached to the wall a couple of feet from the table where they were sitting. They just stared at it in irritation as it rang two…three…four times. "Someone gonna get that?" Jess mumbled.

Jay turned an impish grin on Jess. "Check this out-" He picked up the phone and in a close approximation of a radio DJ's voice sang out, "Jay's 24-hour surf shop and marijuana emporium, Jay speaking, how can I not help you today?" as Jess giggled helplessly at his ready wit. But a second later his face fell as an annoyed male voice came booming out of the reciever loud enough for Jess to hear: "Jayboy! Get your ass home on the double, I need you to help me with your mom. She's out of control and about to wreck this place and we need to get her calmed down asap!" Behind the speaker's voice Jess could hear a woman's voice alternatively yelling incomprehensible words and shrieking. It sounded to her a bit like wolves fighting and she could only wonder at the scene that was going down at the other end of the phone.

Chastened, Jay could only mutter, "Yeah okay, Kent. All I got's my skateboard, so it might take me a few minutes to get there."

"I'll get Evan to come pick you up, he's right outside. We don't need another visit from the cops, man. Just get over here and let's get her mellowed out." And with that the caller hung up.

Jay sat looking at the phone reciever as it hummed its dial tone, then slammed it back down on its hook and shoved himself off the tabletop, shooting Jess an apologetic glance as his feet hit the floor. "That was my stepdad. Uhh…sometimes my mom goes off on rages and I'm the only one who can get her cooled out again." Jess nodded as understandingly as possible. What kind of home life does this guy have, she wondered privately.

Jay continued his explanation as he helped her off the table and urged her toward the door. "Anyway, she's in one of her moods and our neighbor's coming to pick me up 'cuz it's faster than me skating home and…yeah, well…" his voice trailed off awkwardly as he looked down at the floor and thrust his hands into his front pockets, all his brashness dispelled for the moment.

Jess reached up and gently clasped his shoulder, trying to dispel his discomfort. "It's cool, Jay. I probably need to get home myself."

They left the workroom and walked back out into the shop, where the party was in full swing. Bachman Turner Overdrive had replaced Foghat on the stereo, now cranked to near-painful volume. Jay got his skateboard out from under a couch currently being occupied by Nathan, PC and one of the girls who had arrived with Tony and Bunker. Nearby, Kathy was deep in conversation with the clean-cut surfer who had asked her to dance earlier and from the flirtatious glances she was giving him, it looked as though they might be hitting it off. Angel and Karen broke off pumping out refills at the beer keg and flashed Jess knowing smiles. She pretended not to notice them as she followed Jay out of the shop to the sidewalk where several other partygoers were standing around swigging beer from bottles in blatant defiance of the open container laws.

Jay turned to face Jess. "I guess Evan will be here in a minute. We only live a few blocks away. Hell, I coulda skated there quick enough. She must really be flipping out…" his voice died away again as he stared at the cracked sidewalk, clearly contemplating the situation that awaited him back at home.

"Well, I'm sure everything will be ok," Jess ventured, trying to sound upbeat but falling just short of the mark. After all, what could one really say in a moment like this – gee, sorry your mom's nuts, hope it's not hereditary?

Jay shrugged despondently. "Ahh, who fuckin' knows? Shit, man! I dunno," Jay growled as he viciously kicked an empty beer can into the gutter. Jess decided that silence was the best option at that point.

30 seconds later a dark green Chevy Nova whipped around the corner and roared to a stop in front of the shop. "Jayboy! Let's go," the driver yelled through the open passenger side window over the noise of the 396 V-8 engine.

Jay turned to Jess and gave her a genuinely apologetic look. "So uhh…see ya back here again soon maybe?" he asked hopefully.

"Sure, as long as the others don't mind me hanging out."

Jay rolled his eyes a bit as he pulled her into one more tight embrace against his hard chest. "Ahh, don't be stupid. If you're cool with me then you're cool with everyone, got it?" He gave her a final kiss then gently pushed her away and turned her away from him by the shoulders as though he was slightly embarrassed by his display of warmth. "Someone in there should be sober enough to give you a ride home. See ya later, gator!" And with that deftly slid through the passenger window into the Nova as it pulled off from the curb and roared off. "After a while, crocodile," Jess murmured over her shoulder after the car's taillights as they faded into the chilly night.

She went straight back into the shop, aware of many sets of eyes on her and trying not to feel self-conscious. She scouted around for Deb or Kathy but neither were in sight. But Angel certainly was, and she pounced with a vengeance, ready for the whole scoop: "So you guys were in the back alone for a little while, huh? How did it go? C'mon, you can tell me," the Dogtown girl slurred with a laviscious wink. Jess understood her nosiness but was a bit taken aback at her sudden change in attitude. It was only a few hours before that Angel had been ready to fight, and now she was trying to be all buddy-buddy. How quickly we forget, Jess thought, trying not to roll her eyes.

"I'd say it went pretty well," she replied with a quick smile.

"And how well is 'pretty well'?" Angel smirked as she dug a pointy elbow into Jess's side.

"Just…well enough, I guess," Jess quipped evasively, but it wasn't enough to satisfy Angel.

"So you gonna see him again? And how come he left here so fast anyway?"

"Yeah, does he turn into a pumpkin at midnight or something?" This came from Karen, who had apparently been listening in from behind Jess. She seemed to be even drunker than Angel and kept casting derogatory glances toward the other room where Tony and Bunker were still holed up, clearly miffed at not being invited to sit with them.

Jess wanted to tell them to piss off and mind their own business, but knew she was still on thin ice with them and probably always would be. Time to dissemble: "I think he said his mom wasn't feeling well or something."

Angel and Karen exchanged a meaningful raised-eyebrows look and Jess realized she'd still given too much away. Oops.

"Yeah, his mom gets 'sick' a lot," Karen muttered with a slight smirk.

Angel nodded in agreement. "Philaine is cool and we all love her but she just has little…episodes, I guess," she explained.

"Oh, she's a true homegirl," Karen quickly chimed in. "She's taught a lot of us local girls how to surf and she'd give you the shirt off her back. She's just a little…moody sometimes, that's all."

Jess, lost in thought about what Jay must be going through, just nodded in response.

"But hey, don't worry about Jay," Karen advised as though she could read Jess's mind. "He looks out for Philaine and she looks out for him. They do fine."

"I'm sure they do," Jess replied tactfully, then thought of an excuse to get away. "Hey, where's the bathroom?" The girls pointed the way and Jess quickly walked away in that direction. To her relief neither girl tried to follow her. As she made her way into the next room she she had to pass close to the couch where Tony and Bunker were holding court. Tony was so stoned he was wearing sunglasses despite the fact that he was indoors and it was going on 11pm. This of course gave him cause to tip them down the bridge of his nose and peer over the rims at Jess as she tried to casually saunter by. He raised his eyebrows suggestively at her but she only smiled briefly and kept on going. Tony's cute, but he intimidates the crap out of me for some reason, she thought as she got in the bathroom line behind two other girls doing the "gotta-pee-right-now" shuffle. And anyway, I've got enough to handle with Jay. I really have no idea where things might go with him, she continued musing as she waited.

Five minutes later she got her turn then quickly went back out into the main store room in search of some familiar and friendly faces. She saw Deb standing by the counter with Kathy, the clean-cut guy, and some of the Cove surfers and beelined over.

Deb promptly swept Jess up in a big drunken bear hug. "Heyyyy girl! I wondered where you got to! Me and Bummit were gonna form up a searching party for ya," Deb teased.

Jess grinned. "Oh, I was just talking to Jay in the back, but he left. Hey, do you know anyone who can give me a ride home? I live in South Venice, it's not that far."

The clean cut guy with Kathy spoke up. "I can take you. I live in Marina and I'm about ready to go anyway."

"Aww, that's so sweet of you, Andy!" Kathy cooed.

"Yeah, I live in that direction too. I'll come with you guys. Gotta work tomorrow," Deb groaned. Andy got Kathy's number and gave her a chaste parting kiss on the cheek, then he, Jess and Deb headed to the front exit, making their goodbyes as they went. Outside, Skip was standing on the sidewalk with Red Dog and a few other surfer-type guys Jess didn't recognize. "I'm gonna go pull my car around, be right back," Andy informed them, then jogged off around the corner.

"You guys bookin' huh?" Skip asked laconically.

"Yep, early night for us," Deb quipped.

"Buncha pantywaists," Skip joked as he hugged Deb goodbye. Jess stuck out her hand for him to shake but he barked with laughter and hugged her instead. "You're cool, girl. Come hang out here again sometime ok?"

"Thanks, I will," Jess replied as casually as possible. "Nice to meet you, Skip." She and Deb walked to the curb to wait for their ride home. Out of the blue Deb gave a little snort of laughter, causing Jess to throw her a quizzical look.

"Oh, I was just thinking about how Kathy rags on Angel for liking a nice guy like Stacy Peralta, when this guy Andy is really mild-mannered and harmless," Deb chuckled.

"Yeah, Stacy doesn't really seem like the kind of guy that Angel would be into," Jess mused aloud. "You'd think she'd be after someone like Jay."

Deb grinned wryly. "Just between you and me and anyone else who might be listening, she get up with Jay for a little while, but it didn't exactly go like she wanted it to."

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah. She wanted to tame Jay, make him into a nice guy…someone she could handle…no way in hell. So now she's got her sights on a guy she feels she can push around from the start, ya know?"

"Well…good luck to her," was all Jess could diplomatically say.

"She'd need it. I think if she ever got a hold of him, she'd find that Stacy isn't quite the little mama's boy she thinks he is," Deb murmured cryptically. Just then, a '67 powder-blue Ford Mustang came into view around the corner. "And speaking of real mama's boys, here's Andy."

-----End of Chapter 10-----