Sweetest Kill

by S. B. Alexander

  “I heard you screaming, I wanted to make sure everything was okay?”

  I look up at him feeling dazed when suddenly realization hits me. He heard me after realizing my mistake with Joss’s bed.

  I’m such a loud mouth!

  “Oh, I’m okay it’s just this annoying furniture building is proving to be a bigger hassle than I first anticipated. I’m strongly debating throwing it all away and making everyone sit on the floor.” I’m rambling.

  Dean, who is nearly an entire foot taller than I am, looks over my shoulder at the stacks of wood for the entertainment center and the tiny bed that lays beside it.

  “I can help you, if you want?” He offers

  “Oh, you don’t have to do that. Really I can figure it out it’s just my first time this living on my own thing, it is a bit overwhelming.” I giggle

  He’s making me feel strange. Just standing in my doorway five inches from me is causing peculiar emotions.

  “Trust me, it’s no big deal and I’m really good with my hands.”

  I look up at him and he winks

  Winks!

  He goes on: “And building with two is better than one. What do you say?”

  I look up at him, his grin still glued to his face

  I shuffle in my spot, feeling uncomfortable with the idea of letting him into my house.

  I bite my lower lip lightly before replying “I don’t normally make a habit of letting strangers into my house, you could be a serial killer for all I know.”

  This remark makes him laugh hard, “You’re right, I could be but if I were a serial killer, I could have killed you 9 different ways by now. You’re going to have to have a bit more faith.”

  Faith. That makes me think of my parents. God what would they say if they saw this sexy man standing on my door right now? If they knew that I was seriously considering letting him into my apartment… Alone with me?

  They would freak.

  Dad would tell me I was a whore or something along those lines.

  Mom would just nod her head in agreement with his opinion.

  “Okay.” Is all I say, standing to the side to allow him to pass me.

  “Thanks.” He says brushing past and walking towards the living room “let’s see what you have going on in here.”

  He stands with his hands on his hips, causing the muscles in his arm to bulge more, which didn’t really seem possible. “This is quite the set of projects you have going on.” He laughs “which one are you currently working on, or are you doing them all at once?”

  I smirk

  “I know.” I say “but the furniture company double booked, so they were unable to put everything together like they were supposed to. I thought that I could handle it all, but as you can see.” I motion around the room “I kind of suck at this.”

  He laughs, then he looks at the toddler bed near the edge of the room. I knew he didn’t see it from the doorway. The smile that had been nearly constant on his face since I first opened my door slightly fades

  “Well, we better start with your child’s bed first, get it through the doorway,” he starts to walk towards the bed, grabbing the Allen wrench from the coffee table on his way

  I pause, wondering why his mood seems to have changed

  “Why couldn’t your boyfriend help you do all of this?”

  I walk into the kitchen and grab two cans of Pepsi and the bowl of chips I had set out for myself before Dean knocked on the door. I walk back in and hand Dean a soda which he takes with a quick nod of thanks

  “I don’t have a boyfriend to do all of this, and this isn’t my child’s bed it’s my niece Josslyn’s, she’s my older brother Jaxon’s two year old and her and I are really close. I plan on taking her as much as possible so my brother can have somewhat of a social life. So, she gets her own room, which means she gets her own bed.”

  I pop the top of my soda and take a sip making sure to slurp the bubbles left on the rim. Jaxon use to make fun of me for that, but it was a quirk I have. I don’t like leaving liquid there. When Jaxon and I would share a drink I was always telling him to ‘take his friends’ before I would take a sip. People don’t realize you are leaving spit behind. Who wants to swap carbonated spit?

  Dean is watching me when I look back at him “why did you just slurp that?” he’s not smiling again.

  “It’s a pet peeve. I don’t like to leave soda on the rim. I know, stupid” I laugh putting the can on the counter behind me

  “It’s not stupid, I do it too.” He says quietly looking back at the bed

  He takes off the head board and then looks at me “I think it’s sweet you are close to your niece. What is she like?”

  I go on for about 20 minutes about Joss. It’s not hard to do, the kid is freaking amazing and I love her. I tell him a bit about my parents and Jaxon.

  When I’m done I apologize for rambling.

  He laughs “seriously, it’s kind of nice to listen to a girl ramble about her brother and niece and not the shit I normally listen to girls blab about.”

  I smile “and what do the girls you are used to always blabbing about?”

  He frowns again “let’s not talk about them.”

  Okay I guess

  “What do you do for work?” he asks

  “I’m a photographer.” I know I’m beaming, I love talking about my job “I have my own business, Jaxon helped me set it up, it’s pretty small clientele wise, but it helps me to pay the bills and I can work when I feel like it which is pretty amazing. I like being on my own time, after living with my parents for years and doing everything on schedule.”

  His smile returns “what do you photograph?”

  “Everything, well nearly everything. I like landscapes a lot, but most people want pictures of their family, kids and dogs. I take what comes my way. I am freelance so people find out about my work and call with what they are willing to pay and I take the pictures. I don’t really care what the subject is.”

  He nods

  “What do you do?” I ask

  He shakes his head “nothing nearly as interesting as what you do. Hey, I think we can move this into the room now, want to help?”

  I find it odd he doesn’t want to tell me what he does for a living, but I brush it off and help him move Joss’s bed into her room.

  When we are done setting it up, I add her Doc McStuffins bed set and stand back admiring how awesome it looks. She’s going to love it

  I look up to where Dean is standing. He’s watching me with an expression that’s new to me. He looks happy, but he also looks a little… scared, or annoyed or both?

  Before I can ask him anything he says “let’s get to work on the rest out there.”

  Dean is funny. He likes to laugh which I really appreciate because I have had years of zero jokes and laughter. He’s really strong too, which isn’t a shock just by looking at him. He nearly does everything alone. He asks me to hand him pieces but doesn’t actually let me lift anything

  We put together my bedside table a few hours later. When we bring it into my room I take a seat on the bed, while opening the light bulb package for my bedside lamp.

  Suddenly Dean is standing in front of me. I look up at him and notice his face is serious again.

  He reaches forward and tucks the strands of hair that have come loose from pony tail behind my ear “you are the most beautiful girl I think I have ever seen Olivia.”

  His voice is quiet, like he’s afraid someone is going to catch him and I having this moment

  He bends his knees and leans forward placing a soft barely touching kiss on my lips, still holding the sides of my face.

  He doesn’t say anything he stands, backs away and heads to the door of my room “I’m going to head down and see what else needs to be done.”

  I nod, turning back to my package. My hands are shaking. Too many new feelings. I just met him. Clearly whatever is happening between us is too much for him too.

  Chapter Five

 
Dean stays for a while longer. We just talk. Not about anything in particular, just random thing we like and dislike. He tells me he is an only child, that his mother was a single mother.

  He thinks very highly of her, which I find really sweet.

  He’s 28. Never went to college, he has had the same job (that he still does not give me details on) for 10 years, he only works a few days a month. Oh and he loves to work out. Shocker.

  He asks me about college, I tell him I have no plans to go. He was one of the few people outside of Jaxon to tell me that it really was my choice and tells me not to let anyone make me feel bad about that.

  When everything is put together I kind of feel a pang of sadness. I really like having Dean here, and I knew that now he would probably go.

  Sure enough

  He stands up and heads towards the front door. “Well, I think you are all set now. I am sure I will see you around.”

  “Thank you so much for your help, seriously Dean you are a lifesaver.” I smile opening the door to show him out.

  “Anytime, if you need anything” he points to his door across the hall “you know where I am.” He leans in and places a kiss on my cheek, lingering for just a moment

  He straightens up and walks through the door “bye” I say

  “See ya” he smiles

  I close the door and just stand there for several moments. When I hear his front door click shut a few moments later I feel two emotions.

  Excitement and Fear.

  This is new. I resent my parents for not letting me date growing up. I could sure use some boy knowledge at this very moment.

  Not boy. No, everything about Dean was very grown up. Which scared the hell out of me.

  Chapter Six

  I didn’t see Dean for the rest of the week. I had a lot of photography jobs, each time I opened my door I looked towards his.

  Part of me wished I was brave, that I could just go over to his door and knock. Ask him how he was doing. Ask to borrow a screw driver. I didn’t know what I wanted, I just wanted to see him again.

  But I was cursed with being the shyest person ever apparently. I have never had an issue with talking to people. Dean changed that. The butterflies that I had while he was in my apartment last week were ridiculous. I felt like at any moment I was going to explode.

  He just made me feel so many things and I liked it. But I didn’t know how to go further, I didn’t know how to do any of this.

  I was getting ready to head out my front door to on my way to Jaxon’s. He and Joss came back the night before and he called to tell me that Joss needed “Auntie Liv” time, apparently she had asked for me every day they were gone.

  As soon as I grab my keys and open the front door and step through, Dean’s door opens.

  Walking out, giggling was a tall brunette “stop baby, you’re going to make me late.” She purrs

  Baby?

  I turn to lock my front door quickly. My stomach is starting to hurt. I don’t know why. It’s not like Dean and I are dating or anything. I was dumb to think that a guy like him would look at a girl like me for real. I mean he was 28. 20 year old girls didn’t catch the eye of guys like him.

  He was hot, he could have anyone he wanted.

  But I thought that I felt something between us when he was in my house.

  He seemed interested. He seemed to be fighting it, but he seemed interested.

  He told me I was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. .

  He kissed me

  This is one of those times where I really I again resented my parents, if they had allowed me to date boys growing up I wouldn’t have been dumb enough to start crushing on the first man who paid attention to me. If they had let me be normal I wouldn’t feel like I was going to throw up and cry at the very same time.

  I’m just an idiot.

  The brunette walks by me out the front door, smiling at me as she passes by, I watch her walk out.

  She’s perfect. She’s tall, she has really big boobs and she doesn’t have an ounce of fat on her. Of course he would be with someone like her.

  I look back at Dean’s door quickly, noticing that he still standing there.

  He hadn’t realized I was standing there just yet. When the girl had walked by, he had still been on the other side of the door.

  He wasn’t wearing a shirt, he looked like he had just been in the shower, his hair was wet and droplets of water were running town his torso.

  He had tattoos all over, more than what I had seen the first day we met, when his sleeveless top had covered all but his arms.

  When he finally notices me standing there staring at him outside of my door, he stiffens, a look of shock and a brief moment of disappointment crossed his features.

  “Hey Olivia.” He says in a tight voice

  I wave “Hey Dean.”

  I look down, reaching into my purse for my keys to my car. Or a distraction from standing there and feeling his gaze.

  “How have you been?” He asks

  I look up “great, everything is finally unpacked, huge relief” I laugh

  He smiles, but it seems off. Not the same as it was the day we were together last.

  I stand for another moment, shifting from one leg to another. Nerves are starting to scream ‘move’

  He clears his throat “I was um, wondering…” he drifted off

  He looks down at his feet and then back to me “if you wanted to hang out sometime this week. We could order a movie and some pizza or something?”

  He was asking me to hang out?

  I look back up to him his expression seems hopeful

  I suddenly look back towards the front door where his date just left. He just had another girl with him, I didn’t like the feeling I had when I realized that he was seeing someone else. I didn’t have expectations, but I did feel a little sad that the hope I had felt all week was dashed just moments before at the site of them together.

  Dean picks up on my issue “I didn’t realize you saw her.” His voice low

  I cut him off before he could say anything else “I don’t know what I am doing this week Dean, I will probably be really busy but I’ll let you know or something.”

  I open the front door and walk out. I hear him call my name, asking me to wait but there really was no point was there? I mean Dean wasn’t a single guy and clearly I had way too many emotions to be spending time with a guy like him.

  The only person who was having issues here was me. I had to get over those.

  Chapter Seven

  When I get to Jaxon’s I am so excited to see Joss. I haven’t even turned off the engine, before she comes barreling out the front door wearing a princess dress, with a wand in hand waving around

  “Auntie Joss, Auntie Joss I missed you so much.”

  I reach down and pick her up “I missed you too baby, how Florida was?”

  “It was fun, Grammy bought me a new princess dwess.” She beams

  “Well it’s the most beautiful dress yet J, your other dresses are going to get jealous.” I laugh, carrying her into the house to see my brother

  Jaxon is on the phone when I walked through the door. I grab my mail that is sitting on the counter like always. I had filled out a mail change form with the post office, but some things clearly didn’t transfer over.

  Josslyn runs into her room to find another new toy to show me. When Jaxon gets off the phone he throws a grape at me to get my attention

  “What’s up with you Liv?” he asks

  I bite the bullet and tell my brother about Dean. Jaxon and I don’t really keep much from one another.

  When I finish he is laughing

  “I never thought I would see the day when little Livvie would be coming to me with boy problems” he laughs

  I throw an apple from the fruit bowl at him as Joss came running in

  “Daddy” she says, raising her little voice “leave my auntie alone.” Then she ran back towards her room

  “Yeah daddy.” I
mock

  “Seriously, though this Dean guy seems like a bit of a player, you should probably stay away from him Liv. I mean you can be friends with him, but it doesn’t sound like he is a one woman kind of guy.”

  I agree with him. Of course I do. He would never steer me wrong, especially when it comes to a man.

  I get up and walk into Josslyn’s room. She’s playing with her Lalaloopsy dolls. I play with her for a few hours, we have lunch and then I help her pack her bags so that she can have her very first sleep over at my house.

  I buckle Josslyn’s car seat in, and before we pulled out of the driveway I glance in my rearview mirror and watch her for a minute.

  She isn’t paying attention to me, she’s playing with her new Elsa doll “hey puppy” I ask she looks up and smiles at the nick name alone. When she started to walk when she was about a year old, she would walk and then get down on her hands and knees and bark like a puppy. Jaxon started calling her ‘puppy’ and it’s pretty much stuck ever since.

  “Do you think we should call Alexis and invite her to our little party?”

  Instant squealing from my niece “yeah and we can paint our toes.”

  I smile

  Alexis has been my very best friend since I met her when I was in the 5th grade. She went to the same school as Jaxon I. Her family was loaded. I mean one of the riches families in our town, which says a whole lot.

  That being said, Alexis was a stripper. Don’t get any bad ideas about her, she makes really good money not that she needs it and she works in a really high end club where only the wealthiest of men can enter. Her parents fought her on it for months, but it made her happy so they eventually backed off.

  She was an amazing girl, but she likes the boys. She always has. In high school she slept around a lot. Not because she couldn’t find a boy she liked to stick with. No. That wasn’t her reason for it at all, her issue was she was in love with a particular boy who was very unavailable

  My brother.

  Jaxon knew she had a crush but Alexis who was forward with every guy she met, never wanted Jaxon to know how she felt about him.

  When he dropped out she didn’t really see him anymore. She only came around when Joss and I were alone together at Jaxon’s or when she was only going to need to see Jaxon for small moments.