Forever and Almost Always

by Bennett, Amanda

  Ernie had been with his girlfriend for almost ten years now, and I had to admit, I was a bit envious of what he had. He had someone to go home to every night. Someone who was always there for him and loved him unconditionally.

  “Sounds fun. You ever gonna marry that poor girl?” I teased.

  “What do you mean?” He replied with his thick Spanish accent.

  “Nothing, man. I was just messing with you.”

  “Oh.”

  The rest of the drive to work was quiet and uneventful. Once we got to the yard to start work, I couldn’t concentrate worth a damn. All my welds weren’t holding, and they looked like shit. I couldn’t help it though; my mind was being overran with thoughts of Charlee. Charlee and her amazingly perfect body. The way she would lick her lips when she was trying to think of something to say. Charlee and her perfectly tanned, freckled skin that I longed to touch. I was lost in my thoughts when I heard a loud banging on the piece of metal I was working on.

  I ripped my helmet off of my head and glanced in the direction of where the banging was coming from. “What the fuck?” When I turned, Ernie stood there, taken aback by how I was talking to him. “Sorry, man. What’s up?”

  “I’m leaving early today. You want a ride home?”

  “No that’s okay. I’ll call my buddy and have him come pick me up. I’ll see ya Monday morning.”

  “See ya.”

  I waved Ernie off and reached into my pocket to pull out my cell phone. Trevor picked up after only two rings.

  “What’s goin’ on, man?”

  “Nothin’ much. Hey Ernie cut out early from work, you wanna come grab me and we can go hang out at the house or something?”

  “Sure, I’m on my way.”

  I hung up with Trevor and made my way inside to grab the rest of my stuff. It was only noon, but this day had turned into one of the longest days of my life. And honestly, a big part of me was ecstatic to be getting off early and possibly being able to hang out with Charlee.

  Chapter Eight

  Charlee

  My days were slowly consisting of laying out by the pool and watching lame TV. I had literally gotten the worst night sleep I had ever had last night, and I couldn’t help but wonder if it was because I couldn’t stop thinking about Dax. God, he was good looking. I could vividly remember the muscular shape of his back and arms. His slightly bronzed skin pulled taught over his muscles, as he stretched to reach for the furniture that was left in the back of the truck he was using. I licked my lips as I pulled the top strings to my bikini tight around my neck.

  I made my way out back to go swimming for a bit, when my cell phone started ringing from the other room. I quickly made my way out to the kitchen to answer it, when I caught sight of Dax and his friend walking up his driveway. I hadn’t realized that I even answered the call, until Taylor was screaming my name from the other end.

  “Sorry, hello?”

  “What the hell? I’ve been screaming your name for forever. What the fuck are you doing?”

  “Girl, you have to get over here and quick.” My breathing had become ragged and I couldn’t stop imagining what Dax and his friend were doing next door.

  “I can’t. I have my daughter right now. My mom will be home later though and she said I could borrow the van so we can go out tonight. Sound good?”

  I could sense the irritation in Taylor’s voice. “Yeah, that sounds good. Call me when you are on your way.”

  “Will do. Talk to you soon.”

  I hung up the phone and suddenly had an amazingly good plan to get the attention of my hot-as-sin neighbor. Fortunately, our mailboxes were a little ways past Dax’s house. I glanced back at the clock to make sure it had already shown up. I slipped on a pair of my tiniest shorts; a pair of flip flops, and grabbed my sunglasses and keys as I headed out the front door. I stopped right outside of my front door, listening for any voices coming from their backyard. When I didn’t hear any, I started making my way through the rocks and across his driveway.

  I knew his bedroom window faced the front yard, but their front door was tucked back just like ours was, so I needed a way to have him hear me without being too obvious. I noticed a side window was open as I walked across the yard, so coughed a little loudly and then made my way up the street. When I got to the mailboxes, I glanced around the corner to see if anyone had come outside by chance.

  Just as I grabbed the mail and locked up the mailbox, I noticed his friend leaving. I didn’t see Dax anywhere, but I could hear someone talking to his friend that was leaving. I quickly made my way across the street and down towards our houses, when I noticed his friend motion in my direction. Seconds later, Dax appeared from behind a tree, shirtless and gorgeous.

  My breath hitched in my throat and I was forced to cough this time. As I got closer, I waved at both of them and made my way back up my front walkway.

  “You’re not even gonna stop and say hi?”

  His smooth sultry voice caught my attention rather quickly and I turned so I was now facing him. “Hi.” I teased. I turned, hoping this would catch his attention.

  “That’s it?” He laughed.

  I turned back around with a hand on my hip. “No work today?”

  “I got out early.” He answered, shielding his beautiful blue eyes from the midday sun.

  “I see. Well I’m headed out back to take a swim. I’ll see you later though?”

  “Maybe.” He teased.

  “Ah, I see how this is gonna go?”

  “Oh you do now?”

  “I’ll see you later, Dax.” I waved and made my way inside. Once the door closed behind me, I practically ran out the back door to jump in the pool. I could still hear his voice floating through the air, and I decided to make a big splash wanting to grab his attention away from his buddy. When I came up for air, I was shocked to see him sitting on the brick wall that separated our houses. I almost swallowed a gallon of water when his lips pulled back in a panty-dropping smile, exposing his amazingly perfectly straight white teeth. He was going to be the death of me. I just knew it.

  “So is this what you do all day?” He laughed.

  I swam over to the edge of the pool closest to him and laid my arms across the warm cool deck. “Most days.” I smiled.

  “Must be nice.” I could see the sweat forming on his brow, and almost invited him to swim with me, but quickly changed my mind when he jumped down off of the wall. “You and your friend going to stop by tonight?” I could hear his voice, but could no longer see him.

  “I doubt it. We’re actually going to take a drive up to the lake.” I responded as I started swimming backwards towards the opposite end of the pool. When I looked back up briefly, his head was popping up over the fence.

  “You guys want some company?”

  I quickly made my way back over to the shallow end of the pool closest to him, and stood. “You sure you want to miss your party?” I tried to hold back the excitement that was running through me at the thought of him coming with.

  “It’s just another party. I think they’ll manage without me.”

  And then he smiled. That perfect, heart melting smile spread quickly across his face and that was the minute I fell. I knew from that moment on that, that smile would always be my undoing as long as I knew him.

  “Well that’s up to you. I’m not sure what time we’re going to be leaving, but I would assume around eight. We like to go up to the lake later at night, when no one is around.” I smiled in return.

  “I’ll see if Aaron wants to go. He’s not much into partying, so he’ll probably be thankful to have something else to do. Just come over and get us when you guys are ready to go.”

  Before I could respond, he was gone. I stared at the wall for a good five minutes before I went back to my laps. Every time I closed my eyes, I couldn’t get his gorgeous face out of my head. Those piercing blue eyes that could practically burn a hole straight to my core. Every time I heard his voice, I nearly lost it. I tried to shake the
thought of him from my head, so I wouldn’t drown, but nothing seemed to be working.

  I hopped out of the pool and decided to try and lay out. Maybe the sun could burn the images from my mind. Slowly but surely, the boy next door was starting to get to parts of me that I knew didn’t need the drama of a relationship at the moment, but unfortunately I had absolutely no control.

  I heard the phone ringing a little while later, but I was practically asleep so I didn’t move a muscle. I turned up the radio a little bit louder, and continued to let the midday sun tan my skin.

  “Hey whore, you ever gonna answer your phone?”

  Taylor’s voice was like cold water, splashing right on my face. I sat up and turned in the direction of her voice. “What the hell?” I shouted before I turned down the radio.

  “Come unlock your front door, it’s fucking hot as shit out here.”

  I started laughing uncontrollably as I popped up from my chair and made my way inside. When I got to the front door, I opened it, but left the screen door locked. “How bad do you want to come inside?” I laughed.

  “Open the door, asshole.”

  I turned the lock on the screen door and then made my way back outside. Instead of going back out to my lounge chair in the sun, I opted for the chairs under the shade of the porch. Taylor met me outside about ten minutes later and she looked as though she had seen a ghost.

  “What’s your deal?” I asked as I threw her a can of soda from our cooler.

  “Who is the hottie that was walking up to your neighbor’s house just now?”

  “I have no idea. See, I’ve been outside laying out and I didn’t see.” I smiled as I took a long drink from my soda.

  “Holy hell, he is hot as shit. He has tattoos all down his arms and neck. I’m not sure what color hair he has because he had a hat on, but oh my god.”

  I started chuckling, “So how many of my neighbor’s friends are you going to try and get with?” I continued to laugh. “I’m just kidding. That’s Trevor. He dropped him off from work today.”

  Taylor leaned forward as though her eyes were going to bug out of her head, “You got to meet him?”

  “Yeah, earlier when I went to get the mail.”

  “So does his voice match his looks?”

  “You’re hopeless.” I set my soda down and dove into the pool. When I came back up, Taylor was now over at the wall looking over into Dax’s yard. “What the hell are you doing?” I whisper-shouted just in case someone could hear me.

  Taylor turned with a shit eatin’ grin on her face, “I was just talking to-“ and just like that Dax’s head appeared over the wall again.

  I smiled at him and went back under the water, until I thought the coast was clear. Something about that guy made me lose all rational thought and at the moment I would like to keep all rational thoughts and logic.

  I came back up when I saw Taylor’s shadowy figure standing above me. “What was that all about? You’re a weirdo.”

  “I know, but every time I talk to him, I can’t even think straight. It gets rather annoying when I can barely put together a coherent sentence around him. Trust me, it’s better this way.”

  “Whatever! All I can say is, he is so into you.”

  “Shut up.” I threw my towel at her face as I proceeded to head back inside. If we were going out tonight, then I needed to shower. “I’m going to jump in the shower real quick. You wanna run up to Jack In the Box and grab us some food? I’m buying.”

  “Yeah, I’ll be back shortly.”

  As soon as the door clicked into place and she was gone, I stood back and let out an exasperated sigh. If she was right about my neighbor, then tonight was bound to be something else entirely, and I for one, couldn’t wait.

  Chapter Nine

  Dax

  I had spent the better portion of my afternoon, practically stalking Charlee. From the moment I saw her in her bikini top and her tiny shorts, there wasn’t much else I could do. After our little banter out front, I was left wanting more from her. I needed to hear her voice, see her face, and just talk to her. Trevor had asked me about her when she walked away, but I was literally at a loss for words, and told him I would talk to him later.

  When Trevor came back by to drop off my welding helmet, I knew something was off with him. He had literally just left my house and he knew I would probably see him later, so there was no reason for him to have to drop it off to me. Little did I know that he happened to see Charlee’s best friend pull up right as he was leaving. Unfortunately for him, I knew that Taylor was more interested in Aaron at the moment. I guess he’d just have to wait his turn. We went out back to smoke, when I heard Charlee and her friend talking just over the wall. I finished my smoke, and all but pushed Trevor out the door.

  “You guys still having a party tonight?”

  I was standing with the door open as he was leaving, “I don’t think so. I’ll give you a call tomorrow though.”

  “Talk to ya later.”

  “See ya.” As soon as I closed the door, I almost ran out back. I tried to be sneaky as I approached the wall, but her friend just so happened to be standing there. When she glanced over and caught me, I quickly put my finger up to my lips to tell her to be quiet, and surprisingly enough, she listened.

  “What are you doing, stalker?” She asked.

  “Ha ha, you’re funny aren’t ya?”

  “I like to think so. Really though, what are you doing?”

  “I saw you standing there and thought I would ask you a question.”

  “And does this question have to do with a certain blonde girl that we both know?” She crossed her arms over her chest and stared me down.

  “You’re gonna be a tough one to win over, huh?”

  “A little bit.” She giggled.

  “I’m just curious, ya know you’re friend over there is a hard one to read? I guess I’m just wondering if I have a chance with her?”

  “That depends, if you just want to sleep with her, then the answer is no. But, if you actually want to get to know her, then I would say yes. Just a little heads up though, she doesn’t trust very easily and after her last relationship, well let’s just say, you have your work cut out for you.”

  “Great.” I muttered.

  “What was that?”

  Before I could answer, I heard Charlee’s voice echoing through the vast open space. She was wondering what her friend was doing, so I decided to mess with her a bit. I stuck my head up over the wall and smiled. Charlee instantly went quiet, and I knew that I would have to save that trick for later.

  Now I was standing in front of my closet, like a girl trying to decide what to wear tonight. I knew it wasn’t a date by any means, but it was still a night that I was going to get to spend with her, oh and her best friend. Lucky me. I let out an audible sigh and ripped one of my shirts from the hanger. I pulled it over my head and then pulled on a pair of jeans. It wasn’t quite time for us to leave yet, or at least from what Charlee had told me it wasn’t, but I for some reason couldn’t wait to see her beautiful face. I glanced at the clock in the kitchen and was suddenly thankful it was seven thirty. Only thirty minutes until I got to hang out with her.

  I was starting to get a bit nervous, so I grabbed a beer out of the fridge and downed it before I could think twice about it. Just as I was finishing off the small swig that was left, Wilton came strutting into the kitchen behind me.

  “Hey, so apparently everybody is going out to a club tonight. What are you up to?”

  I pulled myself up onto the counter and ran my hands back through my short hair. “I’m supposed to be going out to the lake with Charlee and her friend. What are you gonna do now?”

  “Well that sounds like fun. Do you think they’ll care if I tag along?”

  I wasn’t sure what tonight was supposed to be, but it definitely calmed my nerves thinking about Wilton coming with us. “I’m sure they won’t care. Aaron was supposed to come along, but he has to go to his sister’s for somethi
ng or another. Charlee should be coming by to get me in about twenty minutes. Can you be ready to go?”

  “Yep. I’ll go change.”

  I jumped down from the counter and began pacing back and forth across the tile floor. I had never found myself being so nervous before, especially about a girl. This was ridiculous. I silently gave myself a small pep talk about how she was just a girl, and that it was just like hanging out with any other girl. I didn’t hear Wilton come back into the kitchen and practically jumped out of my skin, when his hand came down on my shoulder.

  “Bro, you should calm down.” He laughed out loud. “She’s just a girl.”

  “I know. Trust me, I know.” I muttered as I walked back to the bathroom to check my hair one last time. A few minutes later, the doorbell rang.

  “I’ll grab it.” I yelled as I made my way to the door that Wilton had already answered.

  “Hey pretty lady, how are ya?” Wilton oozed the confidence I usually did, and it drove me insane.

  “Hi hun. Is Dax here?”

  I turned the corner just as she walked inside. Her waist length blonde hair swung to the side as she turned to look at me. When her piercing blue eyes caught mine, the breath was pushed from my lungs. She looked absolutely amazing. She was wearing a tight white tank top that showed off her chest perfectly. As my eyes roamed farther south, I noticed the tight, short pair of jean shorts that covered a tiny bit of her tan toned legs. To top it all off, she was wearing a pair of black and white Chuck Taylors, and I swear I fell for her in that very instance.

  My eyes made their way back up her tight body and eventually back to her face. She barely wore any makeup and she was more beautiful than any other girl I had ever seen. She had a huge smile splayed across her face, and my heart literally felt as though it would burst right out of my chest.

  “Hey you. You ready to go?” Her voice was so soft and angelic, and almost like music to my ears.

  “Yeah. Hey do you mind if Wilton comes along? Aaron was busy tonight.”

  “Yeah that’s fine.” She smiled at Wilton and gave him a quick hug as she answered. As much as I didn’t want to be, I was extremely jealous.