Making a beeline for Cole’s apartment, I pound on his door. After waiting a solid sixty seconds and not getting an answer, I pound again. Old Ms. Brewster peeks her head out of her apartment door and frowns at me when she sees me standing there. I give her a bright smile and an exuberant, “Good morning!” She slams the door shut with a huff.
Cole’s door finally opens and he’s standing there in his boxers, his hair sticking out every which way, rubbing his eyes. “Dude, is there a fire?” he asks.
“What the hell man? I told you I’d be at your place bright and early so we can get going. Go get dressed!”
“You were serious?” he asks me while scratching at the stubble on his chin.
“What the hell does it look like?” I gesture to the fact that I’m very clearly standing in front of him.
“Have you been up this early on a Saturday – ever?”
“Shut up and go get ready,” I tell him again. “I’m in a hurry.”
With a sigh he disappears and I wait impatiently as he gets ready. For good measure I text the other guys to remind them I’ll be swinging by the gym to meet them so we can all drive over to our destination together.
Cole’s back and out the door in record time, grumbling and complaining the whole way to my car. I ignore him. I’m good at that.
We hop into my car and head over to the gym. I manage to cover up a snicker as we pull up outside and the guys are standing there all looking put out. Jax and Tyson even have their girls with them. I should feel bad, I mean, it’s all to impress a girl, but whatever.
“You are so going to owe us after this,” Dylan tiredly tells me.
“He’s not wrong,” Zane adds.
“Whatever. Just chalk it up to fighting team bonding shit or something.”
They all have choice words about that suggestion, but I just demonstrate my specialty again. I ignore them.
As many that can fit, get into my car and the rest climb into Tyson’s truck. When we pull up outside of the house we’ll all be working on today, there are already a few people attending the lawn, painting the outside and others walking in and out of the house. Ladders lean against the house, flowers are spread out waiting to be planted, I can hear hammering coming from the inside and spy some people on the roof. Many things are going on at once.
We all pile out of the vehicles and it takes me seconds to spot Tessa. She’s standing with her back to me, her arms flying around in the air as she clearly talks about something exciting with another woman. Her friend is hot as hell too, but she’s not Tessa. The guys hold back while I approach her. Her friend sees me approaching first and her eyes enlarge. She says something to Tessa that I’m too far away to hear. I see Tessa’s back stiffen with awareness when I stop a foot from her. When she turns to face me, her eyes show surprise and then I’m entertained as I watch them do a slow perusal of my body. My brows raise and when her eyes meet mine again I smirk.
“See something you like?”
“What are you doing here?” She asks ignoring my question.
“What do you think I’m doing here?” I hold my arms out, gesturing to the yard around us. “Clearly, I’m here to help.”
“Holy hell,” the woman behind Tessa says, “it’s like a sexy man parade.”
“How did you know about this?” Tessa asks, her gaze having left the new arrivals and meeting mine again. She’s beautiful. The sunlight is hitting at her back in a way that makes her hair look like it’s on fire. Her eyes are shining bright and I think it’s the most beautiful sight I’ve seen in a long time.
“I heard you talking about it at the hospital, and you mentioned needing help. I asked a couple people on my way out, found out the name of the company, looked at their website, saw they needed help here today and so… here I am. In fact, here we are. I brought friends. Because I’m awesome.”
“I’m not sure if I should think it’s nice that you came, or if I should be creeped out by the fact you pretty much stalked me.”
Rolling my eyes, I cross my arms over my chest, “Stalking my ass. Besides, you can’t be mad at me.”
“Why not?”
“Because…like I said, I brought help,” I gesture to everyone behind me, “and more is on the way.” No sooner do the words come out of my mouth then another truck pulls up and a few of my firefighter buddies arrive. I turn back to her with a large smile. “And here they are now.”
“I don’t know what to say,” she frowns and I can almost see the wheels turning in her head.
Touching her softly on the arm, I smile. “I’ll let you know how you can thank me later. Until then, how about you let me know how we can help?”
She nods her head and finally I’m blessed with a smile, although it doesn’t quite meet her eyes and I can’t help but frown. “Follow me.”
She quickly puts us to work and I introduce her to everyone as we go. “Tessa, this is Dylan. Dylan, this is Tessa.”
Dylan kindly shakes her hand and grins at her. “Nice to meet you, Tessa. I’ve been dying to meet you ever since I heard about the trick you played on Ryder with Hector.”
Tessa laughs, “It’s nice to meet you, Dylan.” Cole says hello to her too, then she instructs the two of them to go into the house and offer help to the carpenters.
“Tessa, I’d like for you to meet Jax and his girl, Rowan. Jax is my trainer and owner of the gym where all of us train for our fights.” Jax has his hand on the small of Rowan’s back, the two are always touching each other some how.
“It’s nice to meet you, Tessa,” Rowan says first. “We’re happy to help out today.”
Jax nods, “Yes, it’s nice to meet you. You’ll have to stop by the gym some time to see this guy fight,” he invites, making Tessa smile.
“Maybe I’ll do that some time. Thanks for coming.” She points out the mountain of paintbrushes and cans of paint on the lawn and off they go to get some supplies. Some stay outside; others head inside as well.
Levi stands next to me with a huge grin on his face as he stares at Tessa, “Hi again, gorgeous. I’m sure you want me to help wherever you’ll be working, right?” Tessa giggles and Zane pushes him out of the way. “Hi, Tessa. I’m Zane. I’m sure you’re pleased to meet me,” he teases. “How can we help you and your beautiful friend today,” he asks while totally checking out Tessa’s friend that’s standing just behind her taking all of this in.
Before Tessa can answer, her friend steps forward. “Hi, I’m Gina. How about the two of you follow me? I would love to watch you lift and unload furniture off the truck,” she points to a large furniture truck pulling up alongside the curb, “that would be a huge turn on.” She clears her throat and Zane laughs, “I mean help.”
“You got it,” Levi says with a laugh. Tessa rolls her eyes at her friend and Zane looks like he will be taking Gina home tonight. They all walk toward the truck, greeting people along the way.
Tyson and Sydney approach Tessa without my prompting, “So this is the girl you keep trying to purposefully hurt yourself for, huh?” Sydney smacks Tyson in the stomach and I look away willing myself to not punch him in the nose right in front of her. “Thank you for taking such good care of Ryder and Levi when they needed stitches,” Sydney says kindly.
“Oh, it’s no problem,” Tessa says somewhat shyly after Tyson’s words. “It’s nice to meet you both. If you wouldn’t mind helping the landscaping company, I know they could use help planting flowers today.”
Tyson rolls his eyes, “Flowers? Do you have anything more…I don’t know…manly?”
Sydney laughs, “Come on tough guy. Let’s go get in touch with your feminine side today.”
With a laugh they head off, Tyson following Sydney like a lost puppy. Tessa then gives a few guys from the fire station instructions as well until it’s just her and I again. Looking at me, she instructs, “Umm, they could probably use some help on the roof. They’re just making sure there aren’t any loose shingles.”
“What are you helping with?�
� I ask, plucking the paintbrush she stuck in the back pocket of her jeans, completely uncaring about the paint that has brushed her t-shirt.
“I’m painting the outside.”
“Then I will too.”
She hesitates for a moment and then nods. “Okay, follow me.” She leads me to the other rollers and brushes and the numerous cans of paint. I take what I need and then follow her to the house. Standing a few feet down from her position, I open the can, dip my brush in and get started painting the stucco. Before I can say anything to her though, her friend Gina appears next to me with a smile on her face.
“So, you must be Ryder?”
Looking from Gina, to Tessa, and back again, I hold out my hand, “Yes, I am. It’s nice to meet you.”
“Yes it is,” she states making me laugh. She makes no secret of the fact she’s checking me out. “I’ve gotta say, smart move showing up here today. Get to the girl through the charity she loves. Clearly, you gave this some thought.”
Shrugging, I confess, “Guilty.”
“I like it,” she says. “I like him,” she states looking at Tessa. “You have the best friend stamp of approval. Tell you what… I’ll help you out with Tessa. Lord knows the girl could use a nice steady lay-”
“Gina!” Tessa yells, “What the hell? I’m standing right here and can hear you.”
Gina rolls her eyes and gestures for Tessa to be quiet and I’m more than a little amused. “As I was saying, I’ll help you out with Tessa. I know she can be a hard egg to crack, but there’s something I want in return.”
My eyes move over the top of Gina’s head and land on Tessa. Her face is red and she looks like she wants to commit murder. She’s magnificent in her anger. “Deal,” I say and hold my hand out.
“You don’t even know what I want.”
“Don’t care.”
Gina laughs and looks at Tessa, “Yeah, I definitely like this one,” she jerks a thumb to me. Tessa sighs loudly and whips out her paintbrush and starts slapping it against the side of the house like it’s a hammer and not a paintbrush. She’s pissed and hell, it’s amusing. Gina turns back to me, “I just want you to return the favor and put in a good word for me with one of your hot friends.”
“Zane, I presume?” She nods, “You got it,” I promise.
“Alrighty then,” she says, “Carry on!” Before she walks away, she gives my ass a smack making me jump in surprise. She looks over her shoulder and winks. Tessa sighs and shakes her head. “I like her,” I say. She grunts in response and I laugh softly at her irritation. “She’s always like that?”
“Worse,” she grumbles.
We work in silence for a bit. “So, how did you get involved with Helping Homes?”
She glances at me before returning to her task. “Through a patient.”
“A patient?”
“Yes. Right now, I work in the emergency room, but I haven’t always. I was recently promoted to an assistant head nurse position and I’m responsible for a group of employees and medical residents in the emergency department.” I nod as she confirms what I’ve already learned about her. “Before that, I worked wherever I was needed, wherever I was scheduled. That week, I happened to be assigned to a specific floor where patients recovering from various procedures were roomed. There was one elderly woman on my floor that I took care of during my rounds. She was recovering from an open-heart procedure. She had clogged arteries and they had to do bypass surgery. It can be a tough recovery for some.”
She looks at me during a break in her story, we make eye contact, before we return to our task of painting. I like the sound of her voice. That, combined with my even strokes up and down with my paintbrush is soothing in its own way.
“Her name was Helen. We hit it off and I found myself always checking on her a little more than I needed to, or staying a little longer each visit as time allowed.” She dips her brush back into her can before continuing. “During my many visits she told me about her rough start with life. She was married to an abusive man that beat her – sometimes daily – and so bad she couldn’t move. It took her a long time to gather the courage to leave. She found it in wanting a better life for her daughter. One night, her husband went over to the neighbor’s house late at night to drink beer and watch a ball game. Helen woke her daughter up, told her to grab what she could, and they stole the car keys, snuck out and drove away.”
During her story, Cole and Levi found their way outside and have since stopped to listen too. “They snuck off in the only car they had, with little more than the clothes on their back and a few dollars she’d been saving under her mattress here and there. They just took what they could in a hurry. Helen had nowhere to go, her parents were no longer living and her husband had long since made her ostracized by any friends she had. She was afraid to go to a shelter because she was convinced he would find them there. They roamed from town to town, always trying to stay close to parks that had facilities. Their life wasn’t an easy one. Helen only took jobs where she could bring her daughter with her. She was afraid to leave her with anyone she didn’t know, or in a place where her husband could maybe find her.”
“For a long time the only home and safe place she knew, was their little car.” She sets her brush down and uses her forearm to wipe off some sweat from her brow. It’s getting warmer outside. “She told me she went into an agency that helped people find and apply for work every single day. She was told over and over and over again that they didn’t have anything available. She said she refused to give up, never lost hope, and never had a negative outlook on life.”
“How?” I can’t help but ask.
Tessa blesses us with a wistful smile, “Helen told me that life is about having faith. It’s about being sure of what you hope for and certain of what you don’t see. So even though she didn’t see a job right then, that just meant she had to have faith and hope that it would happen for them when it was supposed to.”
“She sounds amazing,” Levi, somber for once, says.
“Yes,” she looks at Levi and nods. “One day going back into the agency for god knows how many times now, the woman told her they had just gotten an opening for a position as a waitress in a diner. The diner used the agency to find good reliable people, and they were looking for someone they could rely on to show up every day, on time. Helen was worried about her daughter, but they even offered to get her into a day care facility run by the state. She was nervous about that, but she said a voice told her to have faith. To do it. So, she said yes.” We all smile happy for a woman you can’t help but root for.
“She started working at the restaurant and became very good friends with the owner, Gerald. When Gerald found out, quite by accident, that Helen and her daughter Alexis were living in their car, he was horrified. He just happened to see them in the restaurant parking lot one night when he went back for something he’d left behind after they closed. He berated her gently for not telling him, yet understood her need for privacy and respect and didn’t want to strip her off her pride. When he offered them an apartment to rent for free, Helen told me she cried happy tears and put her pride aside to say yes. You see, Gerald, was also an investor in apartment buildings and owned and operated them as well as the diner! It was a wonderful new start for them. But then,” she pauses and I swear all three of us lean forward anxious to hear the rest of the story. “Then, she and Gerald fell in love. He helped her get back on her feet, and they fell in love in the process. Helen’s husband had died in some bar fight, I guess, and so she didn’t have to worry about filing for divorce. Helen told me their wedding was glorious and they lived a very happy life.”
“This is an amazing story, but what does it have to do with Helping Homes and your involvement?”
Tessa smiles, “Helen and Gerald are the founders of Helping Homes. When Gerald heard Helen’s story, he started plotting and eventually surprised her with an idea for a non-profit organization that would help provide homes initially to women and children in need. Eventua
lly, they started offering support to men too. Not only does the company help get families into homes, but they help them find jobs as well. They provide for families however they can until they’re able to get back on their feet. That’s what these homes are all about.”
“Wow,” I say.
“She sounds like a really cool chick,” Levi comments.
“Right?” Tessa asks in excitement. “The best part is that once the families are back on their feet, if they choose to move forward and buy the house from Helping Homes, they can. Or they can move on and another family can move in. It’s really great and Helen convinced me to be a part of the organization. Not that she needed to try very hard after that story.”
“And how is Helen now? Did she recover from heart surgery okay?” Cole asks.
“She did. Sadly, Gerald passed away from cancer a couple of years ago and Helen misses him terribly. She still helps out with Helping Homes as she can, but Alexis her daughter,” she says with a smile, “runs the company now along with the two children she and Gerald had together.”
“I can see why being involved is important to you,” I reply.
“Yeah, she’s a great lady and I like feeling like I’m helping too in a small way. Helping children in need is important to me.”
Her eyes become serious and she has a far off look on her face. The curve of her lips makes me think whatever she’s thinking about isn’t all that pleasant. I enjoy this unguarded side of her. All I know is that the more I talk to her, the more I want to hear about her life. Every time I see her, I look forward to seeing her again. Since I hooked up with her, I haven’t been with anyone since. I don’t know what she’s done to me, I certainly can’t explain it, but I feel a connection to her.
Before Cole and Levi walk away to get back to their tasks, they look at me in a way that displays clear understanding of what it is I see in her. Levi nods his head and Cole smiles. It’s as if they are giving me their approval. That’s all and great, but it’s clear that penetrating whatever wall she has up most of the time isn’t going to be easy, but I’m willing to give it a try.
Fighting Lust: A Deadly Sins Novel Page 8
