Road To Me

by Erica Andrews

  Turning up the music on my Bluetooth, I started listening to Feed the Wolf and admitted that the song fit the situation. What I wouldn’t admit was that as I picked up speed, I might have been be running away from a tiny green-eyed, caramel haired girl, who could make me admit a lot of things.

  Just none out loud.

  Seven

  Kelly

  1. Blow up mattresses were not comfortable.

  2. Sitting with three grown ass men could be slightly awkward.

  3. Apparently I could convince myself that my house was haunted.

  Groaning and putting the pillow over my head, I tried to block out the dreaded sunlight that made me hate mornings. If only coffee made itself, and doughnuts delivered themselves to my door. I meant, they had that preset thing on the coffee pot, but how many people actually did that?

  Burrowing deeper inside my covers with every intent of going back to sleep, because the thought of a certain someone, who had the moves like Magic Mike, kept me up. That and every creak and groan of the house had my imagination running rampant. It wasn’t my fault, my dreams had a mind of their own. If I could have controlled them, then I didn’t know why Jason Momoa hadn’t made an appearance yet.

  I also figured out last night that dreams could only carry you so far, and then left you even more frustrated than when you had went to sleep in the first place. Trying to take matters into my own hands didn’t work so well either, when I kept thinking of how much better it would have been with said dream person. A very dangerous road to go down. I was supposed to be a “no man” zone right now. Maybe I hadn’t thought this through. A woman had needs after all. Many needs.

  Hearing the chorus of So Happy for the second time, I tunneled out of my cave of blankets. Which didn’t make me happy. Mumbling about how life was unfair, and everybody hated me, I finally found my phone hidden in the covers. Not really paying attention to see who had called, I answer the phone.

  “Mellow?” I mumbled while trying to stifle the yawn, which ultimately didn’t work.

  “Yes, is this Kelly Green, who lives on Washington Street?” Dude didn’t even wait for confirmation before plowing onward. “This is Adam with B&D movers we’re on our way now but we’re running a few minutes late, so we’ll be there in like twenty minutes. Is that okay? Sorry, but we got a little lost. The GPS was a little off.”

  Sitting up straighter in bed, I cleared the sleep from my voice. What time was it? These guys must have liked arriving early.

  I hated that they were coming so early, but they had my stuff so better to be polite. “No, that’s fine, I’ll be here up and ready”

  “Okay, thank you for understanding, see you in twenty minutes.”

  As soon as I hung up I scrambled to get out of the miles of comforter that I had burrowed deep into for my adult fort. Finally freeing myself from the mass, I located my phone again and checked the time. In bright colors the time stamped across my phone read 8:50. God, they weren’t early, I was late, very late.

  “Holy shit on a shit stick!

  Dropping my phone on the bed, I attempted to find my hairbrush, toothbrush and clothes to get ready before the guys got here. Of course, my luck was nonexistent, and the knocking on the door commenced as soon as I had the toothbrush in my mouth. Of course toothpaste dropped on my shirt.

  My favorite shirt that had my favorite football team on it. It was so comfortable. I had stolen it from a one-night stand in college years before, and never tried to return it. Running to the door with said toothbrush still in my mouth I opened the door mumble-yelling a come in and then ran to my room where I could grab a pair of black leggings.

  I’d love to say that I shimmied and looked all cute as I hopscotched my way into a pair of leggings, while the toothpaste stayed all in my mouth and my hair was the perfect messy bun. Yeah, no. Reality was nothing like that. I probably looked more like I was dry humping air, as I wiggled my ass into my leggings. I smeared toothpaste onto my cheek, shirt, and hair. What parts of my hair that hadn’t already fallen down, now jutted out like some kind of crown. But, I managed to do it all in just under 3 minutes.

  Personal best for the win. Yay.

  Well maybe not for the three extremely hot men now staring at me with three different looks ranging from astonishment to weariness then back to laughter. Hey, they didn’t have to witness what just went down. If they’d waited politely in the living room—like normal human beings—they could have saved us all from a little embarrassment. Subtle. Ignoring them, I wiped the toothpaste off my cheek. Edging by them, I jogged to the bathroom where I could spit and get rid of my toothbrush. The guys hadn’t moved… not a single muscle for the thirty seconds the last part took. They acted like they had never seen this before.

  Huh. Maybe they hadn’t.

  Welcome to womanhood, boys. It ain’t pretty.

  To put an end to this awkward shit show, I dove in. “So, the movers are a little late cause they got lost, so do y’all want to wait? I’ll get the coffee started and, uh, change my shirt and everything.”

  I started to turn toward the kitchen when someone from behind me cleared their throat. Wary, I paused and raised my eyebrows. Dean came forward with his hand behind his back, which pulled his cute shirt that said fcking magical with a unicorn in the middle tight against his chest. I loved unicorns. What girl didn’t? Dean caught me staring, and his grin widened. He was like the happiest ball of energy ever. Hard not to like him—even on no coffee.

  Totally not a good thing.

  “What do you have there, Mr. Dean?”

  With a bit of a ta-da moment, he pulled a yellow bag out to show me. I didn’t need to see what was inside it to smell the sweetness. He presented it with a flourish. “Don’t make any coffee, we stopped by the diner and picked you up some coffee.”

  “I don’t see any coffee.” No, I didn’t grab the bag away from him. But I did fist the top of it in case someone tried to take it back.

  “I left the coffee on the counter.” Dean pointed toward the kitchen. “We picked up some of those pastries you got yesterday because you seemed to enjoy those so much.”

  “Well, Jesus on a firecracker, thank you, guys, you shouldn’t have!” Heat flooded my cheeks, but I didn’t try to hide my smile. Coffee? Check. Hot guys? Check. Pastries? Win! “If you can’t tell, pastries are kinda my favorite.”

  “Yeah, we could tell,” Damon threw out while leaning against the kitchen wall. Seeing Damon in the house, reminded me of yesterday and his Magic Mike audition. Moving my gaze along his body, I took in his clothes. His Deadpool t-shirt was almost too small for the muscles on his arms. And the tight black jeans surrounding certain anatomy. Hmmmm, maybe Damon could be funny and sexy after all. I turned away and caught Kasper, giving Dean a not so subtle warning look.

  Opening the bag, I took out one of the many doughnuts and took a bite. So good. “It’s fine, I’m short and very curvy, I like my sweets and hate the gym. It is what it is.” Not stopping I walked into the kitchen in search of the coffee he promised. There near the sink I found the deliciousness that was coffee.

  “I wasn’t going to get mad at the truth. Just remember boys, it was the lying I had trouble with and we’ll be fine.”

  Turning back to Dean, I give him a small wink. “Thanks for thinking of me.”

  Coming around the kitchen counter Dean wrapped his arm quickly around my waist. Leaning down where I could feel his breath on my ear he whispered, “Always beautiful.” Then he kissed me lightly on the head. Before I could say anything, he let go and proceeded to follow Damon in to the living room. Stunned, I stood there for a second thinking I might have imagined the kiss, but judging by the smug smile he just threw toward Kasper as he left I didn’t think I did.

  Before I could put too much thought on that kiss the doorbell rang. I had just literally been saved by the bell. Setting the bag of pastries down, I shoved the one I was eating the rest of the way into my mouth. Running past the guys in the living room, I waved them on
to sit—well on the one chair that was in there as I made my way to the door. “Uh, that must be the movers, let me just get the door.” God, that sounded stupid. I needed coffee and time to drink it.

  “Hey, doll!”

  Sliding to a stop, I glanced at Damon. Before I could ask what, he tossed something at me. Acting on instinct alone, I opened my hand and caught my car keys. He threw me my car keys. Somehow I figured Kasper would be the one giving me my keys back. Maybe even Dean, but not Damon. “Thought you might want your keys. Tank’s full and nothing’s wrong with your car.”

  The doorbell rang again. Definitely needed more coffee. “Thanks Damon.”

  At the door, I found who I assumed was Adam with his finger poised to ring the doorbell again. With a hat and traditional jeans and t-shirt on, he might have been in his mid-twenties with a wholesome boy next door thing going on. If I was still into the All-American boy I might have found him attractive. Dropping his hand awkwardly he stepped back a bit. Pulling the papers out of the folder from under his arm, he offered them to me for signing.

  “So, I guess you got some help with your stuff?”

  Not bothering to turn around because I had a pretty good guess at what I’d see, I just nodded. “Yeah, they offered to help unload the truck so y’all don’t have to do it all yourself.”

  Tipping his head in acknowledgement, he replied, “Thanks fellas, though I can understand wanting to help this little lady out. I’d help too, if I wasn’t already being paid.”

  Looking back at me he smiled. “So, you just moved here, uh? I can tell you’re from out of state am I right?” Tilting his head and appraising me from head to toe, he said, “You know I bet I can place your accent. I was good at this kinda thing. Lemme guess… Mississippi?”

  Crossing my arms, I shook my head.

  “No, uh, Arkansas?” Squinting real hard he studied me.

  Deciding to put him out of his misery, and mine, because I always hated this game of guess the accent, I went ahead and told him.

  “It’s Alabama” I said with a tight smile.

  Snapping his fingers, he went to take his hat off to rub his head.

  “Really, that was my next guess. Well, either way it sounds beautiful.” When I handed him back his pen and papers, his fingers lingered on mine.

  Wiping my hand on the side of my leggings I backed up a bit, so the boys could come closer to the door.

  “Well, I’ll have to take your word for it, because it’s all I’ve ever heard.”

  Before the mover, could say another word, Kasper stuck his hand out.

  Smile dimming, the mover shook the offered hand.

  “Hi, I’m Kasper, just show us to the truck. We’re ready to get you guys out of here. I’m sure you’re ready to finish early too, am I right?”

  Dropping his hand, Adam, the mover, seemed to take catalog of the men around me. “Yeah, we’d love to finish early, go get something to eat.”

  I somehow felt like I was in the middle of a pissing contest. Both Adam and Kasper staring each other in the eye for so long it started to become awkward. I pushed pass the men and headed toward the moving truck where the other movers waited.

  “Princess, what are you doing?” Dean called.

  Turning I continued but walked backward. Shrugging my shoulders, I said, “Well I figured you all were doing some male ritual. And since I’m not male, why do I have to wait?” Turning back around, I finished my jog to the truck. Reaching the other movers, I smiled. “All right boys, let’s get this stuff off the truck.” Cursing and whispers drifted from my porch. I smiled more. It seemed the male ritual had come to a close.

  As soon as Kasper got up close I grabbed his sleeve to get his attention.

  “What was all that about?”

  “What was all what about?”

  Shaking my head and still holding his shirt, I scoffed, “I saw you, posturing and doing a He-Man thing.”

  Finally making eye contact with me he grinned. “He-Man. you think I was He-Man?”

  That’s what he got from what I said? “Oh, you know what I mean.”

  Watching the other men start to unload the truck, he looked back at me.

  “I was just establishing boundaries.”

  Boundaries? “All from staring at each other?”

  Crossing his arms he nodded like I finally got it. “Yep.”

  Matching his stance, I countered, “Did it work?”

  Dropping his arms, he moved so close I could smell the coffee on his breath. He replied, “It did.”

  Eight

  Kelly

  It took hours, but we finally got done. Who knew deep inside all those grown men were little boys waiting to play? After the pissing contest between Kasper and Adam, everything seemed to go fine. That was until they found the last box in the back of the truck labeled Trevor’s. Not caring if they were nosy—specifically Damon—they opened it and found gold.

  The guys discovered some of Trevor’s antique lightsabers I had borrowed. Hey, he kept the intern, I kept his Star Wars and Marvel collection. It seemed fair at the time. Now watching Kasper and Dean battle the other two movers, who I learned later were Chris and Mark, and making the legendary buzzing sound, I was beginning to wish I’d left them with Trevor.

  Bringing bottles of water out to everyone, I called for the boys, “Guys, tell Chris, Mark, and Adam, that you had fun today, but it’s time to go home.”

  Dean didn’t miss a beat, joining me and slinging an arm over my shoulder. “Aww, Mom do we have to?”

  Pushing his arm off of me, I turned to look at him. “Okay, first, eww, and second, I need y’all to help move stuff around inside.”

  Laughing he nudged me with his hips. “Okay, but for the record you’d be such a hot mom, and second, we are at your service.” Bowing, he then turned around and jogged back to the other guys.

  Once the movers had left, the real fun began. After the divorce, my ex got the house, and I got the furniture and everything else in the house. Which sounded great, but I now had a lot of furniture, and I was stuck trying to figure out where to put it. The house I was staying in was a decent colonial. Older, but with character, which was what drew me to it when I hunted for a place online. It had four bedrooms, and two bathrooms.

  Inside, the guys moved my solid oak bookshelves down the hallway. Running over, or semi-running, okay fast walking, I wanted to make sure they put it in the right place.

  “Wait! I know exactly, where I want that!”

  Dean and Damon stopped while holding the bookshelf up off the floor, Damon gave me an eye roll, he might need to have trademarked. Dean, however, said, “Princess, maybe you can point in the direction you want the bookshelf soon?”

  The shelves were heavy, but they could have waited. “Yeah, sure. I want it in here, in my room.” Leading the way down to my bedroom, I let the guys into my room which I thanked God I’d only been in for one night or this would have been slightly awkward. I wasn’t saying I was a messy person. Only there were about a hundred million other things that I enjoyed doing besides cleaning. Once the guys got the bookshelves in, I asked Kasper if he could bring me my books. While I was waiting on Kasper to return with the other books Dean trotted out and then returned holding a head board with Damon coming right behind carrying the rails and footboard.

  “Princess, where do you want these?”

  “Umm, in the room across from mine, I should actually have a set for each room.”

  Damon, who couldn’t seem to control his eyes, did that signature eye roll again. “Why the hell do you have so many beds? There is only one of you isn’t there? Or do you have a twin stashed somewhere?”

  Turning to face Damon, I calmly put the books that I had in my hands down. Keeping eye contact, I slowly walked up to him. Standing as close to his chest as possible. With my head tilted as far as it would go. I traced a finger down his chest, where I could feel the slight shiver that ran through his body.

  “My husband fucked an intern,
so I got the furniture, his car, and half his money.” Splaying both hands on his chest, I pushed slightly to get him against the wall. Getting up on my tip toes, I put my mouth closer to his. “Him wanting a younger piece of ass on the side, pretty much got me what I wanted. So, I took all the furniture, his favorite car, and half his money. That’s why I have so many beds, Damon.” Dropping my hands, I slowly backed up keeping eye contact with him the whole time.

  Abandoning the books for now, I went in search of my coffee that may or may not have needed to be laced with some Bailey’s.

  Behind me, Dean whispered, “Maybe I should be a dick more, if that’s what it gets me.” Damon mumbled something I couldn’t hear, and I didn’t stop to ask.

  Inhaling my Baileys infused coffee, I went over the last few days in my head. The guys were in the back putting together the many beds. It was funny to hear Damon gripe and grumbling like a big bear, though he never seemed to stop helping or getting things finished. Then there was Dean, who made the day way less boring than it could have been. Either by dancing goofy around the house or telling the corniest jokes I’d ever heard in my life. And lastly, Kasper the Alpha of this ragged brigade, who paid attention and made sure everyone stayed on task, and that everyone was good and content with everything going on.

  Just in the last three days my life had changed, I went from moving somewhere where I would know no one. To meeting some of the nicest (albeit sexiest) guys I’d ever known. They weren’t perfect by any means, Damon was gruff, Dean always hyper, and Kasper was sometimes way too serious for his own good. But together they balanced each other it seemed. The only problem was where did that leave me in this circle of men?