Road To Me

by Erica Andrews

  Dean

  I agree, Kelly should decide

  Damon

  ……… Fine

  Now might be a good time to help this conversation move along.

  I’m fine with whatever, y’all want. Action is fine with me. I’m a Marvel girl myself, but Aquaman recently snagged my attention.

  Nobody texted after that for at least ten minutes, which made me wonder if all the guys were together. As I poured me some more coffee in my Deadpool mug, the phone buzzed with a new text coming in. Reading the text, while drinking said coffee was a not a good combination. Unless, having coffee coming out of your nose from laughing was what you had intended. Then by all means drink coffee and text. Once I was done snorting coffee, I cleaned up the mess my nose had made and read the text again. To make sure I had read it correctly. They’re at the end of the conversation Damon had texted back.

  Chick flick is fine.

  Not wanting to make a big fuss for movie night, I decided to wear what I had put on this morning but add a little more make up. I twisted my hair down, since it had been in the bun all day. Which made my neck and head say thank so much. The guys had said they’d pick me up at seven for the movies. I didn’t know whose vehicle we’d be taking, but I kinda hoped it wasn’t Kasper’s. Not that I didn’t like it, but it was a bitch to get out of.

  Putting the finishing touches on my outfit, I added my silver earrings and steampunk heart pendant necklace. The roar of an engine drew my attention to the car or truck in my yard. They were here. I made my way throughout the house, turning off the lights as I went. A figure stood at the door. Jetting across the living room I opened the door wide, hoping to beat the doorbell.

  There before me, more different than I’d ever seen him, was Damon flippin’ Timbers. Dressed in green, a kelly green, polo shirt, that was so tight against his arms, I feared it would rip. Followed by Khaki slacks and brown—loafers? Tonight I got a small sampling of what he would do when he really wanted a woman. And I’d admit I was slightly jealous. I made my way back up to his face, noting his hair was still one hundred percent Damon. Loose, wild, and carefree. Which for some reason made me happy. He shifted from one foot to the other like he was getting antsy of my perusal of him. I smiled and put him out of his misery. “Very nice, Mr. Timbers.”

  Instead of reciprocating said feelings he responded, “We’re taking my Jeep,” and with that he turned to head back to said Jeep. Well, that ended quickly.

  Running to catch up, I decided to take the higher ground. “Wow, Kelly, you look nice tonight.” He stumbled slightly. I smirked. On a roll, I kept going. “Why Thank you, Damon. That’s so sweet you noticed the time and effort I put in for tonight.” Adapting my voice to go lower like his, which I thought I did pretty well, I said back, “Well of course I noticed, because I’d be a giant douche if I didn’t.” Okay, maybe I didn’t take the high road, but the look on his face was worth it. I stepped in front of him to block his way to the Jeep. “Now I’m ready.” Not waiting for a reply by him I turned, ready to greet the other men.

  Damon surprised me with a light touch on my arm. “You do look nice.” Dropping his hand, he left me once again to follow.

  Kasper and Dean sat in the back, which left me in the front with Mr. Damon flippin Timbers. I didn’t know if this car ride would be fun or dangerous for him.

  At the Jeep I opened my door, by myself. Damon had already settled in the driver’s seat. Jackass. The other two men with us tonight were staring daggers at him. I decided to cut the tension.

  “Well, y’all are very handsome tonight.” And they were. Dean had on the same kind of shirt as Damon, but where his was kelly green, Dean’s was baby blue. Also, where Damon had pleated khaki, Dean had cargo khakis on. I swept my gaze over to Kasper. He had his hair pulled back into a ponytail. Which instantly made me want to pull it down. Hair like that should be loose and free for me to touch. The shirt he wore was dark brown that set nicely against his dark hair and caramel complexion. Yep, they both looked real nice.

  Damon drove us toward the theater which I found out this week was only about ten minutes from the house. The little boutique nearby offered some great selections which were even now hanging in my closet. On the way, we made small talk about the garage, the school where Kasper and I worked, and what we’d all been doing this week. Or Kasper, Dean and I talked while Damon mainly made grunts and snorts while driving.

  The parking lot wasn’t as jam packed as I thought it would be on a Friday night.

  Kasper leaned forward and said, “Daily has a bigger and newer theater that most of the people go to now. We’ve always gone here since we were kids, so we prefer this one.”

  I could understand that. Gently I climbed out of the jeep and took in my surroundings better. The theater was a small quaint building that seemed to house only two rooms to show movies. Which let me know my choices were limited on what to pick that night. Dean came around and took my hand to guide me inside, with the rest of the boys following behind. Inside, I tried to keep my face neutral instead of what I was sure was astonishment. The place had to have been built in the nineteen seventies. At least it felt like it was, because I seemed to have stepped in a time warp, or Marty McFly had abducted me. With the swirly psychedelic carpet and the red carpeted walls, it was going back in time for sure. To be honest, that was probably part of its charm. I loved it. Seeming to be waiting for my verdict, the guys stood to my side. “Well, what are we waiting for? I want some popcorn and Red Vines.”

  While Kasper and Dean smiled at my reaction, Damon, the ever pessimist, raised one eyebrow. “You’re good with going here?”

  Two could play that game. Hand on my hip, I faced him. “I love it, don’t you?”

  “Well yeah, but I didn’t think…”

  Letting go of Dean’s hand, I grabbed Damon’s, tugging him toward the concession stand. “You mean you didn’t think I was totally awesome and all girls paled in comparison? That’s the problem Damon you think too much. Now buy me some Red Vines.” Standing in line at the concession stand with Damon, I asked over my shoulder, “What do you guys want?”

  Kasper answered quickly, “Reese’s Pieces”

  Dean playfully knocked Kasper in the gut and then took his spot by my side. “I prefer sour straws, but I’d be willing to share the Red Vines.”

  I rolled my eyes at Dean’s sad attempt at flirting. “Oh, I’m sure you’d be willing to share.”

  Setting his head on my shoulder, he whispered in my ear. “Oh I’m a good sharer. I was taught at a very young age that it’s nice to share.” I moved my gaze over to Damon to see if he’d heard his brother. But Damon was still taking in the snacks at the candy counter.

  Best to act normal so he didn’t see how much his words affected me. I whacked him on the shoulder. See, normal. Kasper smiled at my antics. Coming up he swiftly elbowed Dean in the side to get him back for earlier. Poor Dean.

  “Why is everybody hitting me?”

  Kasper answered before I could, “I think it’s just your shining personality.”

  Smiling at them, I turned to look at the board with the two movie choices. One was a new release and the other an older film. I had seen the older one, but I really wanted to watch the newer one. Damon still ignored me, but amazingly still held my hand. I knew which movie I was going to pick. Pulling Kasper down to whisper in his ear. I told him what I wanted. Kasper winked at me then proceeded to grab Dean by the collar, to take him with him to get the tickets.

  I watched the guys walk off to the ticket counter, failing to hear someone talking to Damon. What I did notice was Damon’s hand tightening on mine, which drew me out of my tunnel vision and what was happening around me. Focusing on the nasally voice talking to Damon, I peeked over his shoulder to see what person could have Damon’s fingers tightening on mine. Entirely too close to Damon for my comfort was the stunningly tall woman in front of him. With hair as dark as Kasper’s, she oozed confidence out of her beautiful nonexistent pores. Per
fectly groomed eyebrows and lips painted with blood red lipstick, she was Snow freakin’ White come to life. Was I going start hearing birds singing any second? Because that would of mess with my movie plans. Dressed inappropriately in a red halter dress, she seemed ready for a night of clubbing more than a night at the local movies. And she most certainly did not make me feel like a short flabby Minecraft reject. I called it denial, and I wore it well.

  Taking in her closeness to Damon and what she wore, I almost missed the man slightly behind her. He had blond hair and slightly over large muscles. Except instead of looking attractive like he probably thought it did. He looked like a gym rat who had taken one too many steroids. If I didn’t know better, I’d swear she was trying to substitute a certain someone. I kind of felt sorry for him, if that was the truth. Because standing near Damon now he paled in comparison to the original.

  “Camille.”

  Camille? Who the hell was Camille to him? Whoever she was, which I had a pretty good idea, he didn’t look happy to see her. A quick search for Dean and Kasper showed they were still waiting in line, but they’d also noticed Camille. Based on the frowns they wore, they didn’t like her either. Who was this chick?

  “Been a long time, Damon.” Camille breathed through her nose. Gag. It might be shallow, but all I could think was at least with all the beauty, she had one major flaw. That one flaw alone seemed to soothe my soul. Which I didn’t know if that made me a bad person or not. Little red devil on my shoulder said it was completely normal. So I took it.

  Damon didn’t answer, which I wasn’t surprised. If she knew Damon like she thought she did, then she should know asshole was kind of his middle name. I could tell she was disappointed by his reaction to her. Covering my laugh with a cough, her attention shifted to me. Crap. Looking down at me, like literally down, though she was also doing the other easily. Snow White was like six-foot in her shiny red stilettos. A quick peruse down my body she focused on our joined hands. “Are you on a date?”

  “No.”

  “Yes.”

  Hearing him say no, did something to my insides that I didn’t like to admit. Ignoring the hurt that one word caused I smiled at Camille. There would be time later to dissect why that hurt so bad.

  Squeezing Damon’s hand as hard as I could, I didn’t take my eyes off Camille, “Yes, we are. We’re here as well as with Kasper and Dean.” Behind me she must have seen Kasper and Dean returning with our tickets. She flashed them what I assumed was her biggest smile. Somehow that smile reminded me of a she-devil smiling, and not the little red devil on my shoulder. No, what she was, was closer to a big bitch devil, and I didn’t like her.

  “Well hello, boys, long time no see. How is everybody?”

  Putting his hand on my shoulder, I could tell it was Dean just from a touch. For once he was not his happy joking self, and I didn’t like that either. “Oh, we’re great. In fact, we just have a little smudge in our way. Now if that smudge went away. Everything would be perfect.”

  She pointed her perfect manicured finger at Dean, “Are you calling me a smudge?”

  With a slight squeeze of my shoulders, Dean twisted his head back and forth so that it would pop. “Well now, that would be rude, but if you wanna call yourself that—and maybe get out of our way—then I can’t stop you.”

  Loving the feel of his hands on my shoulders, I jumped slightly when I felt another hand grab my remaining hand. Kasper. I squeezed his hand to let him know I enjoyed his touch.

  Starring daggers at me, I watched as she took in our hands and body language with each other. She winked and came closer to Damon. Yep, didn’t like her. Getting as close to Damon as possible, she leaned in. What I didn’t understand was why he didn’t move.

  Breathing in Damon’s ear she laid her hands on his chest. “I bet you miss me don’t you, Damon?

  Even though I didn’t know the whole story—and to be honest I didn’t know if I wanted to know the whole story—she meant something to him, at one time at least. And for that alone I hated her. What I did what to know was not the story right now, but the answer to her question. The question that Damon had yet to answer. That could make or break the future of whatever was happening between us. Even if I didn’t know what exactly this was between us, it was at the very least special whether Damon wanted to admit it or not.

  Suddenly, I was caught off guard when Damon pulled my hand to his face. What was he doing? Not letting his gaze leave Camille, he brought my hand to his lips and kissed it. The breath from his mouth touched my skin, causing goosebumps to break out on my arm. Keeping my hand at his mouth he finally answered Camille’s question. “Yeah, I’m certain I’m better off.”

  Swoon.

  Not waiting to hear what she had to say, Damon kept his hold of my hand and pulled me to the front of the concession stand.

  “Nachos.”

  Befuddled and still reeling from his kiss, I watched Bitchy Snow-White storm off, pulling her date behind her. Which I wasn’t sad to say, I was glad that princess didn’t get her happy ending. Wait, Nachos? Finally, realizing he said something I asked, “What about them?”

  Shrugging his shoulders and looking slightly exasperated he explained, “It’s what I like during the movies. I like nachos.” Slightly shocked that he had remembered what I’d asked before all the drama with Bitchy Snow White made his earlier no hurt less.

  Kasper and Dean laughed, which helped with the mixed feelings I had over Damon. I swore being around him long enough made me feel like I was on a roller coaster, that was for sure. Dean slapped Damon hard on the back and winked at me. “I don’t think nachos is all he likes now. Right, Damon?”

  Kasper shook his head, ever the logical one he pulled Dean away before Damon could grab him. “Leave him alone Dean, let’s just go watch the movie.”

  Damon looked between us, just seeming to remember that because of Camille we didn’t get to help pick out the movie. Or he didn’t get to help that was. “So, what’s the movie you guys picked?”

  Trying not to laugh and failing, Dean slung his arm over Damon’s shoulder, and pulled him down the hallway. “Well you did say a chick flick, but there was only one chick flick available.”

  Kasper and I followed slightly behind them. With my hand in Kasper’s, we both waited for Damon’s reaction.

  Being quiet we heard Damon grumble, “Just tell me.”

  Kasper, who couldn’t wait, decided to cut in before Dean could say. Pulling me along, he put his head between theirs, saying brightly, “Pride and Prejudice.”

  Damon’s reaction was worth it.

  Pride and Prejudice was everything I remembered and more. I wasn’t usually a chick flick kind of girl, but with Damon being an uber ass earlier at the house, it made me feel better making him watch it. Though after his kissing my hand, I kind of felt bad with him having to watch the perfection that was Mr. Darcy.

  I really didn’t think they minded the movie as much as they said, though I doubt they’d ever admit it. Something about testosterone, egos, and wanting to be Tarzan. During the movie we all shared our movie snacks, Damon even allowed me to take some of his nachos. Surprised? Me too. Which might not seem like a big deal, but it was. I thought at this point I might be starting to grow on him, you know, like a fungus.

  Thankfully, we didn’t see or hear from Camille the rest of the night. Though I wouldn’t complain if I happened to find out we’d ruined her night. We didn’t mention what happened before the movie, and her name didn’t come up the rest of the night. Though I did wonder what her and Damon’s story was, and I could admit to maybe being a little jealous of her. Him being open with her and them having such a close relationship. I meant, I got excited if I got more than grunts or snorts from him. I’d like to think we’d made headway at becoming friends since our first meeting.

  Back to the car, Kasper and Dean got in the back, letting me have the front once again. As I went to grasp the handle, a giant hand came out to grab it before me. “I got it.” Surpris
ed, I didn’t say anything as I slid in, allowing Damon to close the door behind me. Damon ran to the other side and hopped in. Cranking the car, he pulled out of the parking lot. I turned to Kasper and Dean wearing matching smirks on their faces. Well I’m glad someone found Damon’s emotional rollercoaster funny, all I found on it was more confusion.

  Fourteen

  Dean

  “Ahhhh, stupid, mother fuckin car!”

  Eyebrow raised with one side of his lip turned up, Damon watched me dance around the garage in a haze of pain. God, that mother fucking hurt.

  Swinging my hand in the air, like that would help the pain go away sooner, I glared at him. “Don’t worry, I was fine.”

  “Yeah, I figured you were.”

  “Your confidence in a pain threshold is astounding.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  I needed to take my mind off the pain in my hand, so I brought up the one thing I knew would piss Damon off. And in return make me happy. “So, Camille, Friday. That was… entertaining.”

  His reaction was instantantaneous. “Why the fuck, would you bring that up? You know how I feel about her.”

  Could he really be that dumb and not realize why we needed to talk about it. I meant, granted, I could have picked a better time, but he pissed me off. So I might have come out earlier than I wanted. “I brought it, because I wanted to know if you talked to Kelly about Camille.”

  Grabbing the bar stool to the left, he sat down. “Why, would I do that?”

  Oh my God, he was that stupid. “Because, dickweed, she met your ex for the first time, and no one told her who she was or how you felt about said ex.”

  Damon pulled his hair back from his face. I used to be jealous of his long hair, but finally realized a lot of chicks dug short hair as well. And Kelly seemed to like both.