One Percent of You

by Michelle Gross

  “Just go inside, and I’ll come get you when the cops arrive.” He turned and gently shoved me toward the stairs.

  “Why? This has nothing to do with you.”

  “Fuck if it doesn’t.” His harsh words were oddly soothing. “Go on.”

  I stopped protesting after that. I really didn’t want to keep Eli out there when he seemed scared, and Lucy was inside alone.

  Forty-five minutes later, Elijah and a cop came up to the apartment. The officer took my information and said the report would be ready in a few days. I felt slightly embarrassed that Elijah asked the cop to come to me, but I was nervous having someone handle something for me. For a second, I wondered if that was how it felt to be in a relationship where someone took care of you. Someone you could rely on without even asking. I never had this feeling with Scott. And Elijah’s not even my boyfriend.

  Eli fell back to sleep seconds after Elijah and the cop left. I was about to call Mom and Dad to let them know what happened. One of them would need to come get us in a few hours and take me to work. It amazed me that I hadn’t already. Normally, I’d call Dad. Even though I could fix my own tire or handle a lot of situations, I always called him, if only to complain. But Elijah’s sturdy presence had strangely been enough.

  There was a knock on the door before I could. Frowning, I looked through the peephole and found Elijah on the other side. “Elijah? Is there something else?”

  “I think you’ll need new car seats.” He stepped inside. Still confused, I shut the door behind him. “The vehicle’s totaled, Had. I don’t need someone to come out and give an estimate to know.”

  He gave me a nickname. It was oddly endearing. But hearing about my car and the seats sucked.

  I sighed. “Yeah. I already knew I’d have to get new ones. Any time a vehicle’s been in an accident, you have to get rid of them. My parents have some in theirs”

  He glanced down at his watch. “What time do you have to be at work?”

  “I normally leave a little after six.”

  “I’ll take you.”

  “No, my dad will,” I blurted out, not wanting to burden Elijah anymore that morning. “Besides, you don’t have seats for Eli and Lucy.”

  He nodded, a slight frown on his face. Why did he seem disappointed? “Then, I’ll pick you up after work and take you to get some new ones.”

  “There’s no point in getting any right now, especially since I’m without a vehicle.”

  “It’s needed,” he said plainly, heading toward the door. “So, I can take you guys where you have to go.”

  My eyes became as huge as saucers. My crazy, stupid heart fluttered. I didn’t ask it to. I definitely didn’t want it throbbing for Elijah—who was too good to be true. Friend Elijah was perfect enough. I needed no more reasons to feel warm toward him.

  “Fudge, no, Elijah. I can’t ask you to do that.” I smiled, leaned forward, and placed my hand on his chest. I couldn’t help myself. “You’re a lot nicer than you let on.” When Elijah gave me a dark stare, I pulled my hand away. “Thanks. You’re a butthole, but a very nice one.”

  His upper lip twitched. “Even with them asleep, you still won’t say ass?”

  “Don’t make fun of me.”

  “I’m not. Just interesting.” There was a hmm in his tone. “Makes one curious as to how exactly does one make you slip and say something bad.”

  My face was on fire. I was firetruck red. My eyes sought the floor instantly.

  “What time do I pick you up?”

  I groaned. “Once you get something in your head, there’s no stopping you is there?”

  “Glad you know.”

  “Seven.” I threw my hand up. “Your shop doesn’t close until eight.”

  “I can work around that. I won’t schedule any appointments too late from now on.” From now on?

  “Wait, what do you mean?”

  “It means I’m taking you to get some car seats tomorrow, and we’ll pick up Lucy and Eli from your parents afterward. Problem solved.”

  “Not that part,” I grumbled. “The from now on part.”

  “What’s not to get? I’ll be chauffeuring your ass around until you get a new ride.”

  “They won’t fit in your truck,” I argued.

  That only made him laugh. “Baby, have you seen the back seat of my truck?

  Baby? Baby?

  No, I hadn’t but I was suddenly very curious.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Hadley

  Elijah: Out back?

  Hadley: Yes. Out back.

  Elijah: Wtf woman? This is a hospital. there are like 100 back parking areas.

  I laughed as I slid my ID card through the machine, clocking out. As Elijah promised, he was there somewhere. I just didn’t know where.

  Hadley: If you’re getting mad, go home. I didn’t ask you to pick me up. I’ll get my dad to come.

  Elijah: get the fuck out here already or else.

  hadley: Or else…?

  Elijah… I’ll still be waiting : (

  Did Elijah Parker, giant-tattooed-next-door neighbor just send a sad-faced emoji to me? And why was it so adorable?

  hadley: Just drive to the front entrance.

  He was outside waiting, ball cap on, and tattooed arm hanging out the window as I approached. I couldn’t help but stare as he glanced at me.

  Friend… Friend… Friend… We were only friends. But that didn’t mean I couldn’t appreciate how handsome Elijah was. He should wear a ball cap more often. It suited him, hiding his usual glower, and made him appear friendlier from a distance. If you could look past his bulging biceps, massive chest, tattoos, and towering height.

  “There you are,” he called out.

  I had to practically jump into his truck. It was a good two feet off the ground. Once I was buckled up, I looked over and saw Elijah grinning. “What?”

  “You look good sitting there, pink scrubs and all.”

  I tilted my head, observed him a moment, then looked ahead. Glad someone was happy about my car being gone. “I’ll let that slide since I could use the compliment. I’ve had a crappy morning.”

  “You got a problem with me smiling?”

  “Why are you so chipper about this? I lost my car and now I’m stuck having my parents drive me—”

  “I already said I would do it.”

  “You can’t do it all the time. Besides, why would someone unrelated trouble themselves?” Everyone knew family had to help.

  “Watch me.” His dark eyes gleamed with a promise that he planned to prove me wrong.

  I gave up, letting him drive us to Walmart where I had to practically beat him with a broom because he tried to pay for the seats. I didn’t actually hit him or anything, but I might have if a broom had been close by. He relented after he saw how upset I got about it. He’d done enough already, especially if he was offering to help me with transportation.

  Was befriending people that easy? Did it always make you feel good? In a matter of months, a rude jerk became a part of our lives. It kind of amazed me, in a good way, how different our lives shifted. I liked our friendship.

  I was nervous by the time we arrived at my parents’ house. I told Elijah to stay inside the truck while I got Eli and Lucy, but he didn’t. Shutting the driver’s door, he grabbed the car seats from the back and started opening the boxes. I kept glancing over toward the house, worried Dad would come to the porch. He’d take one look at Elijah and that would be the end. I feared he’d say something about his tattoos. He was a good-hearted person, but Dad was old and set in his ways.

  “Are these already set up?” Forgetting my dad for a second, I watched Elijah with a bewildered expression as he tried to master the seats.

  I smiled. “Don’t worry, I’ll put them in the truck in a second.”

  “No, I want to figure this shit out,” he grumbled.

  “Elijah!” Too late. My nerves prickled as Lucy came barreling from the house and of course, it was Dad that came with
her, holding Eli in his arms.

  Dad’s eyes did that squinty thing when he took in Elijah. Elijah stood when he saw Lucy and Dad coming. “Lucy.” Elijah smiled and scooped her up the moment she jumped into his arms.

  Dad said, “I think Eli’s cutting some teeth already. Been a bit grumpy today. See Mommy? Is that who you want?” he cooed at Eli who was fussing worse since he saw me. He immediately calmed when Dad placed him in my arms. He was looking for his milk supply.

  “Did you miss me?” I asked him, tapping his nose. I remembered Elijah and Dad and turned my attention to them. “Dad, this is my neighbor Elijah.”

  Elijah extended his hand, and Dad took it, studying his arm but otherwise saying nothing. Thank fudge! “Nice to meet you.”

  “That was kind of you to pick up Hadley,” Dad told him. I could tell he was fishing for information.

  I made a noise in my throat. “It was.”

  “What time do I need to pick you guys up in the morning?” Dad asked.

  “There’s no need. I told Hadley I’d take them wherever they needed to go.”

  Dad’s eyes widened as he watched Elijah bend down and study the car seat again, with a determined grimace on his face. “Now how does this thing go…”

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Elijah

  “Lance, quick, come look!” Waldo yelled the moment he stepped through the doors of the parlor. I didn’t bother to glance up from the sketch I was drawing for a customer.

  A second later, they barreled through the door laughing. “Dude, there are car seats in your truck.”

  I had to lift my head. “Don’t start. You already know.” I resumed drawing again.

  “Yeah, but why are they still in your truck?” Lance sounded dubious, but I didn’t stop drawing.

  “What’s the point of getting them out when she has no car to put them in?” Everyone was so damn nosy around here. “Besides, it’s just easier for us in the morning when she works. There’s no loading and unloading them every time.”

  Hadley had tried to take them the first day I drove her and the kids to the apartment, but I told her it was pointless until she got a new car. Hers couldn’t be repaired, I could tell just by looking at it. The other day she had her dad take her to get the police report for the insurance company, and it bummed me out. I wanted to take her, but this wasn’t so bad. I’d taken her to work three times this week and picked her up. Sadly, she was off the next few days. Despite telling her I didn’t care, I knew she wouldn’t ask me to take her anywhere when she wasn’t working. She’d likely ask her parents.

  A stool scraped the floor as it was scooted across the linoleum. It rolled to a stop on the other side of the counter where I was drawing. From the corner of my eye, I saw Wendy plop down and cross her arms. “We hardly recognize you around here, anymore.”

  Humming in my throat, I asked, “What do you mean?”

  “You’re not known to be sweet, Elijah. It’s a good look on you.”

  Glancing up, I saw her smirking. “Don’t you have a tattoo to do or something?”

  “Not for another thirty minutes,” she told me, leaning forward. “Hadley is sweet, lovable, and beautiful. The complete opposite of you.”

  I dropped my pencil. “And?”

  “We just want to know if you like her. You’re going out of your way to help her, and you’ve left work early three nights this week. You never leave early!”

  “Of course, I like her. What’s not to like?” When her eyes sparkled mischievously, I groaned and wiped my hand over my face. “Not like that.”

  That was a lie. I really, really liked Hadley more than our friendship deemed appropriate, no matter how much I pretended otherwise. I agreed with Wendy—I barely recognized myself. It wasn’t a bad or even a strange feeling. It was welcoming, so I didn’t question it. Almost. My getting a boner every time I thought of Hadley was a bit much, but I’d ignore it since I liked my friendship with her. There was nothing physical about us. I’d never felt as content with someone as I did with Hadley by just being around her.

  It was natural.

  Fucking perfect if I were honest about it.

  Hadley’s features gave away how much younger she was to me, but she was far more mature than most women her age. It was why I didn’t mind her and her little family.

  I never questioned what I wanted to do. I just did it and being around them was just gravitational. I was drawn there.

  It got me thinking lately that maybe I had it wrong about a life with kids and a family being mundane. Maybe the hardships were worth it, then I’d see a screaming toddler in the store and the discourage to never procreate came back. Then I remembered Lucy’s little tantrum with her mom last evening. I had driven them home. Lucy wanted something, and Hadley wouldn’t let her have it. Her outburst wasn’t annoying because the kid was normally loud, but she could be worse when trying to get her way. Strangely, it slightly amused me how the four-year-old terror tried to bend Hadley to her will. I was ashamed to admit that for some unknown reason Lucy had bent mine in half. If she yelled for something, I got it. That was why there was a bag of Funyuns sitting in my truck. Hadley wouldn’t let me get them because Lucy acted out.

  My ex would have loved to ask Lucy how she bossed me around. God knew I’d never do for anyone else what I did for Lucy and Hadley.

  Discovering how I felt about Hadley and her family didn’t scare me. In fact, it put a smile on face. Despite how I misjudged her on that first day, it had always been easy to be around them. It worried me, though, that I wanted to protect the mom and her kids, especially since I didn’t know them well enough. I thought maybe it was because Ma was a single mother before Hank. Honestly, that wasn’t it either.

  No matter how I tried, I couldn’t control my feelings.

  “Are you sure? Or are you lying?” Wendy’s voice grabbed my attention.

  I blinked. “We’re friends… If given the chance, I’d take them into my home and keep them there.” I murmured, hunched over the counter, and picked back up the pencil.

  Wendy gasped. “You really like them, don’t you? Even her kids?”

  Drawing in a deep breath, I glanced up and said, “I do.”

  “I never thought I’d live to see the day that you cared more about someone else than yourself. You’re so sincere when you speak about them that it’s frightening. Look! I’ve got goose bumps. I can’t wait to tell Cheryl about this.”

  “Don’t,” I uttered and pinched the bridge of my nose before sighing. “I told her I was her friend. A while back she asked me if I was being nice just to get into her pants. I told her no, but every time I saw her in the parking lot, I grew a little more attracted to her. So when she asked that, I was afraid to admit the truth—that I was really fucking into her. Hadley was finally letting me talk to them without running away. I didn’t want to screw it up. Don’t get me wrong, being her friend is really fucking easy, but I am into the mom.” I paused and took another deep breath. “Fuck. That makes me an asshole, doesn’t it? I don’t act on my emotions, but I like the way she makes me feel without having to touch her at all…” But to touch her… My body shuddered from the thought alone.

  Wendy gawked at me with her wide eyes and mouth agape. “Wow… How long have you been holding that in? I swear you’re fighting it. One second you’re denying you like her and in the next you do a one-eighty. It sounds like you’re still coming to grips with your feelings.”

  “Dude, we heard all that,” Waldo stared over at me.

  Rubbing my forehead, I ignored everything that just happened. “That was a lapse in my sanity.”

  “No point in denying it now,” Jim hollered across the room.

  “Agreed,” Lance murmured.

  “You know what? I’m going back to ignoring the fact that I have the hots for the mom. Did you hear me say anything, Waldo?”

  He turned away. “Nope. Notta thing.”

  “Wendy?” I asked.

  “Don’t be an idiot. L
et her know.” Instead of responding, I glared at her. Wendy held up her hands and stood. “I didn’t hear a thing.”

  _______

  It had been three long, torturous days since I’d last seen Hadley and the kids. That was how many days Hadley had been off, with no reason to aggravate me when I wished she would. I didn’t even hear from Lucy, who I thought for sure would have asked me to come and watch a movie. To do something. Anything. But nothing. Not even a text. I sent Hadley one asking if she needed anything, and the answer was always no, but thanks. Slowly, I realized that Hadley didn’t like to ask for help. When she did, she preferred sticking with those closest to her.

  Problem was, I wanted to be closer to them. They could use me as much as they wanted. I didn’t care to be the chauffeur or anything as long as I got to be around them. It was after work Friday evening when I finally saw them.

  I nearly exited my truck without shutting off the motor. The three of them were in the small, apartment playground. I was glad to see the young boys that normally hovered were gone, but I was even happier with the chance to see Hadley and the kids.

  I strode over toward them slowly, reeling myself in. Didn’t want to give away how thrilled I was to see them. “Elijah!” Lucy screamed, and I smiled. That’s right, Lucy. I’m your Elijah. Even the way she said my name was adorable. “I missed you!”

  She ran, so I held my arms out for her as she jumped. I was a tall person yet she almost reached my hips with that leap. She was a great jumper. “If you missed me, then why haven’t you called me over?” I asked as she wrapped her arms around my neck and giggled.

  She shrugged, peeking back at Hadley who watched us. “I wanted to, but Mommy said we shouldn’t aggravate you so much.”

  I knew it. I pinned Hadley with a scowl and spoke loud enough for her to hear me. “You’re never a bother to me, Lucy. You or your mom. Call me whenever you want. If you need me, I’ll be there. No matter what.” I knew words like this could potentially be very important to a four-year-old, but I wouldn’t have said them if they weren’t true.