by M. Mabie
The issue was, I’d planned that for the next night. I understood that things change, but I’d at least wanted to take her out first. Give her the attention she deserved. Talk a little more—knowledge is power and all that.
I wasn’t too naïve to think I knew everything I should. When it came to that girl, I hoped I never learned all there was to know. Every new fact, every sliver of information I was gaining about her, the better my chances were of keeping her.
It was crucial to know everything there was about her because the feelings I had, when her body was against mine, even fully clothed, made them some of the highest minutes of my life. Better than running highs. Better than wins.
Much more than that, I didn’t want her on a temporary basis. There was no question about that. Pending some unexpected issue, she was my choice. The only choice. The benchmark.
I couldn’t do better than Sunny Wilbanks. There was no better. She was it.
Hearing her tell me she wasn’t there to cancel eased my mind.
I slid my hands into my pockets, mostly to keep my filthy paws off her until I was showered. At that moment, she was like clean linen, and I was just a greasy shop rag.
“Mind if I wash up really quick? I smell like shit.” I stepped closer to her, fighting the urge to get her as dirty as me.
“No, sure. I mean, you don’t…” she rambled, then stopped herself. After taking a breath, she continued, slower. “You don’t smell like shit, and you don’t have to clean up just because I’m here. You’re fine dirty. I mean. Not that you look dirty, but you just said you thought you were.”
Her words rushed out of her. She was nervous about seeing me.
Fuck that was hot, too. She was a pretty picture tripping over her tongue. I couldn’t hide my grin.
“Sunny,” I said before she started up again, despite how fun it was watching. I didn’t want her to be too nervous. “I’m covered in shit, sweat, dirt, grease, and God knows what else, really. I need a shower.” But no amount of scrubbing with soap would clean up the thoughts I had of her in my dirty mind.
“Well, okay then,” she said.
“I’ll be a few minutes, you can do whatever you want.”
If that included her joining me, I was fine with that, but thought it should go unmentioned this time.
Dear God, the thought of her naked in my shower propelled my feet toward the house before I said or did something impulsive. Something stupid. Something childish.
A cold shower might help. I took the front stairs two at a time, hands finally pulling free from my pockets. My jeans were so much tighter than before.
“There’s beer in the cooler in my truck and sweet tea in the fridge.”
By the time I blazed through the door I’d already torn my shirt off. In my bedroom, I tossed it into the hamper, and kicked off my boots and jeans.
She walked into the house and passed the hall just as I was walking into the only bathroom I had in only my briefs. There was nowhere to hide the effect she had on me. Her eyes caught mine and a life-changing smile crossed her face, but she didn’t stop. Then just as fast as she appeared, she was out of sight again.
It doesn’t take men long to shower. Me? I could be in and out in about three minutes. I was torn between taking a little extra time to allow for a shave—which I’d neglected all week—and getting back to her sooner.
I chose speed.
I’d shave the next night, and compromised with myself to just trim a few scraggily areas while I brushed my teeth. In ten minutes or so, I was finished.
When I opened the steamy bathroom’s door to the cooler air in the hall, I held a towel around my waist and walked back into my room.
No Sunny.
I grabbed a pair of cargo shorts and a t-shirt, and skipped underwear altogether. Around her, briefs were too constricting. I didn’t bother with socks or shoes either. I ran the towel once over my head and face, then fixed my hair in the mirror on the wall.
Through the windows in the kitchen I saw her drinking a beer on the swing, looking out over my field. The radio was on and her shoulders swayed to a song.
It was something I could easily get used to seeing.
Her, just being her.
I could watch Sunny all night, but I decided sitting with her would be better and slipped on a pair of boat shoes then ran out to grab my cooler. It wasn’t there.
When I walked through the back porch door I saw it next to the wall where I’d placed it the night we came here after the bar.
She’d brought it in. What a woman.
I opened it and pulled a cold one from the icy water, then sat beside her and stretched out my legs. Just a normal afternoon after work, having a beer with Sunny on my porch. It was pretty damn good—not perfect, but my corn didn’t look as bad as it should.
“Did you get a lot done this week?” she asked and sat back, letting her feet dangle as I moved the swing for us.
I popped the top on the can and answered honestly. “We did. Thank God. The river crested last night, and hopefully it will go down now.” There was a chance for showers over the weekend. They weren’t calling for any hefty amounts, but the river reports didn’t interest me at the moment.
I asked, “What did you do all week?”
She took a drink and held her beer on top of her tan knee. Her fingernail was a slightly different shade of pink than it was the other day.
“I saw Hannah, worked, mowed the grass, that’s about it. It’s been the longest week of my life.” She laughed.
“It did seem long,” I agreed and took a drink.
“What are we doing tomorrow?” she asked. I warred with myself about telling her. There was no reason to hide anything, except I liked the hint of excitement in her voice.
I stopped swinging as I thought. She could dangle. It made it fun.
“You’ll find out tomorrow.”
“Well, what do I wear?” she countered, trying to get a clue.
“Whatever you want.” Nothing.
“Are you cooking or are we going somewhere?” she asked. “I can make something, if that’ll help.”
Nice try, Sunshine. “You don’t have to make anything. How’s Andy?” I liked that dog and it was a good time to change topics. I hoped it drove her nuts.
“He’s fine,” she answered and tipped her head toward the ceiling as I started to move us back and forth again. I could have sworn I heard her growl under her breath, and it sparked a smile that I felt deep within in my chest.
The little hairs that had fallen out of her bun thing wisped past her cheeks as a gentle breeze filtered through the screened porch. The air smelled sweeter.
Before it registered, my hand was sliding down her leg and when it stopped above her knee, I said, “Tomorrow isn’t that long to wait. You’ll make it.” I squeezed her skin and caught my breath when I processed the way her slender leg felt under my hand. As I studied that simple thing, my thumb moved side to side.
It could have been a dream.
I wasn’t sure if what I was doing was appropriate. I was, however, sure my thoughts weren’t.
How did she do that to me? Normally, I was a pretty composed dude. Not around her.
I caught her looking at my face and our eyes found each other. She swallowed and her lips puckered around a stream of air she released.
I loved that look.
She blinked away and stood, taking the few steps to get another beer, but before she bent over to get into the Coleman by my side, she paused.
“Are you going to kiss me?” The lilt in her voice was innocent, but laced with the perfect amount of need.
“Why?” I asked, wanting to hear the words from her lips. No room for confusion on my part. It’d been there before.
“Because I want you to.”
Son of a bitch if those weren’t the ones. And, oh my God, she was going to kill me.
It was fast, clumsier than I would have liked, but the result was the same.
I lifted her in my
arms and found the closest surface. The washing machine. She bounced in my arms a little when the coolness of it touched the back of her legs. Her arms around my neck, fingers in my hair.
My mouth was on her, the thing I’d wanted most since the last time they paired. My lips with hers, she kissed me back just as hard. Our breaths heavy. Her legs wrapped around my waist.
I wanted to explore her, but I also wanted to try my best to wait until at least after our date. My best was failing, though. I didn’t see this as some fling, and I didn’t want her to think I was treating it that way, but I should have thought about that before I hoisted her up on the washer and put my hands up her shirt. Because the way she leaned into my touch only encouraged me. Cheered me on. Begged for me to keep going.
It was almost like two against one. The two of us against my better judgment.
But, oh hell, she bit my bottom lip, and I lost my mind. My fantasies didn’t hold a candle to the real thing. The real her.
As my hands worked her shirt up, she lifted her arms when I broke the kiss long enough to look over her shoulder.
I didn’t have to let it get that far. I could hold back for one more day, but I honestly hadn’t planned to stop yet. That was, until I saw my sister pulling in my drive through the front room window.
Working in reverse, I pulled her shirt back down and she fought not to end the kiss in protest, noticing the way I was backtracking.
“Please, don’t stop,” she said against my mouth. What I wouldn’t have given…
I pressed my forehead against hers and said, “I’m sorry. My sister is here.”
She looked behind us then jumped off the washing machine like it was on fire. Before she was out of reach and we had an audience, I kissed her one more time.
Sunny’s hand pressed, then pulled, then pressed my chest by the shirt away from her. She wanted more, and fuck, if I didn’t I love it.
I turned and opened the cooler just as she sat on the swing, like nothing had been going on, and I passed her one as a consolation for what was about to happen. She offered me a smile and I offered her my can to make a toast.
“To sisters who get to the point and get the fuck out,” I said.
She giggled and replied, “I’ll drink to that.”
“Rhett, you better have beer!” Haley called from the front porch as she made her way to us. “Your parents are driving me up the fucking wall. I swear if I hear Mom ask me one more time what I’m looking at on my phone—one more time—my head’s going to explode.”
The closer she got, the louder she was. When she got to the back porch screen door, she stopped and said, “Oh, shit. That’s your car?”
My family was easily becoming a collective bunch of cock-blockers. My dad, acting like he did the day with Sunny’s tree, and then while we were sandbagging and all of his goofy smiles and nudges. My mom at the farm. Now, my younger sister and her perfect timing. I wanted to strangle them.
“Oh, uh,” Sunny said, likely not expecting Haley to react the way she was.
“What’s up, Haley?” I asked to save my girl.
“Sorry,” she apologized and gave me the equivalent of don’t kill me with her smile. I waved my hand and kicked out the cooler for her to get a beer and take a seat.
The moment was ruined, but everything happens for a reason and I supposed there might be a damn good reason the moment had decided Sunny needed her shirt on.
“How many days until you get to go back to school?” I asked.
“Forty-eight. So what are you guys doing?” she said, overlooking that it wasn’t any of her business.
“Having a beer. Shooting the shit,” I said. That didn’t satisfy her and she looked to Sunny.
Sunny lifted her beer to her mouth and before she drank confirmed, “Having a beer. Shooting the shit.” Then she chugged like she hadn’t had a drink all summer.
Haley’s eyes went wide and she grinned back at me. “Am I interrupting?”
“No,” Sunny said with a congenial laugh.
I adamantly replied, “Yes.”
They chuckled. I didn’t, even though it was probably all for the best—it had most likely saved me from wrecking my original plan to wait until after I’d taken her out. The blond to my left deserved a good first date. I was only too happy to deliver one.
“You better have that house up by next summer so I can live here, or I’m not coming back. I swear, Rhett. She’s nuts,” Haley rattled off. “And Dad said you got the loan. Any chance you’ll be done in less than forty-eight days?”
There was no way I’d be even close to pouring the foundation in forty-eight days, but I was just about as eager as she was.
“No,” I answered.
“Well, shit.”
Sunny sat forward and crooked one leg under the other on the bench of the swing and asked, “What year are you, Haley?”
“I’ll be a sophomore, but I’m going back early because I’m an RA this year,” she answered. Then mouthed, “Thank God,” before she took her first drink.
“It’s not that bad,” I said.
She finished swallowing and pointed a finger at me. “Oh, you have no idea. I’m not going back until she’s asleep tonight. So, if you two want me to move along, I can probably find something else to do. I just didn’t even stick around to put on makeup so I didn’t want to go to town.” I remembered what it was like to be in her place, but before I could say anything, Sunny beat me to it.
“You can hang out with us. We’re just killing time until Friday.” I knew what she meant, but it seemed more general, therefore Haley agreed.
“I hear that,” my sister said, whipping her head back and forth, sassy as always.
So, we drank beer and shot the shit—with my sister. In the end, I benefited. Haley asked her all kinds of things I wanted to know.
“Do you think you’ll ever try to get a job at a bigger station? You’re really funny on the radio,” Haley asked a few hours and some beers later.
I found that I was just an accessory to their conversation. The two went back and forth like old friends.
“I don’t know,” Sunny almost sang like the tune was familiar, one she’d rehearsed and recited often. “I really like the freedom working here gives me. I mean, I’m pretty much my own boss. Then again, it might be nice to work with other people—well, besides Andy. Oh, Andy,” she startled.
“What?” Haley asked. “Who’s Andy?”
“My dog,” Sunny answered. “I need to go. He probably wants let out. Shit.” She stood, seeming pretty solid on her feet after having four or five beers, but they’d been spaced out and I wasn’t too worried.
I stood then and so did Haley.
“Sorry to rush out,” Sunny said and turned to me. “I have to go.”
“I’m going to use your bathroom, Rhett,” my sister said and left us alone. Maybe I wouldn’t strangle her after all. She was quick.
“Five o’clock tomorrow?” Sunny asked.
“Four,” I said, knowing it had originally been six, but not really caring.
She started to walk, but I grabbed her hand and went with her. We wandered through the house, and my first thought was to kiss her by the door, so I did.
But, that one didn’t make me feel any better, so I followed her outside to her car.
She opened her door and stood with it between us. “I’m really looking forward to tomorrow, Rhett.” Her lips looked pinker and maybe the most kissable I’d ever seen.
She leaned over and pressed them to mine and I let her kiss me. Let her lips move over mine and wet them. Let her tongue sweep across my skin. Let them close tightly before they left mine.
Four o’clock better fucking come quick.
I was a dirty panther who wanted to climb him like a tree and swing from his big, thick branches. Sick with want, and I’m sure back in the day I could have been committed to a state hospital for having The Vapors.
Sweet Mother of God, I was in trouble.
He’d caugh
t me on his road, which I was kind of hoping for. But then, he kissed the hell out of me on that washing machine, and I’m not sure I really ever came back down from it the rest of the night.
I tossed and turned, uncomfortable and restless all night long. Desperately, I needed to sleep so I didn’t look even older. Soon he’d realize he was having beers and shooting the shit with someone who was ancient.
His little sister, Haley, who I could remember being small enough to push in a stroller, was a college sophomore and drinking beer.
Maybe his vision was bad, and he didn’t notice. Then again, it didn’t really seem like he cared. What if he just had an older woman fetish? His younger behavior backed up that theory.
He was actually going to build the house he’d talked about. I was happy for him—it was one of his goals for after he graduated.
I lay thinking in my bed, which was too hot, but I was too lazy to turn the fan on. So, instead, I just kicked the hell out of the covers so that my legs were bare. I tapped the pillow under my head to make it fluffy the way I liked.
Yep, I was wide awake.
It was two in the morning, and I wasn’t any closer to falling asleep than I had been four hours before, when I went to bed.
There was one thing working in my favor. It was Friday.
I just had to make it a few more hours, and then I’d get to see him again.
Normally, I wasn’t the jump into bed with a guy kind of girl—I mean, everyone has their moments—but usually I waited until I’d been out with a man a few times before I decided if I wanted to get really physical.
Then again, in college, I had sex in a stranger’s bedroom with a different stranger at a party. Like I said, everyone has their moments.
What if I was his weak moment? Taking out the town’s old maid.
No. I had to quit thinking like that. He didn’t seem to think like that. I knew for a fact he was as turned on as I was. I’d felt it on more than one occasion and some I hadn’t really expected it, which made me smile. Oh, and I saw it in the hall before his shower that night. He’d been wearing boxer briefs, but they didn’t hide a damn thing.
It didn’t matter, though. He was under my skin, and I didn’t think there was anything I could do about it.
