See Her (Turn it Up Book 1)

by Natalie Parker

  “Ohh, good man,” I say, eyeing the beer.

  “Yeah, it sounds good right about now, and you seemed like you could use one too,” he says, setting everything down on the counter. He’s in his grey cargos and a black Henley. Dear lord.

  “Yes, definitely. I am done with today.”

  “Well, good news is you don’t have to cook, your dinner is here, and you can kick back with a beer and movie,” he says, sounding like he’s coming home to me like he does it every day, before reaching down to pet Penny, who has parked her butt down next to the counter, directly below the pizza box.

  “I don’t really cook anyway, but still, this all sounds fantastic.” I pull out two of the beers and grab my bottle opener to pop the tops off. I hand him one, and put the rest in the fridge before grabbing two plates and some paper towels.

  “Do you not like cooking?” he asks, following me over to the couch and coffee table with the pizza.

  “It’s just me here, so there’s not much point in shopping, prepping and slaving over a meal is all. Just doesn’t seem worth it when it will be devoured in ten minutes anyway,” I reply, setting the plates down on the coffee table with my beer. Penny is rapidly sniffing around the box, so I reach inside to pull off a piece of pepperoni. I lead her to the back door and put her on her tether outside before feeding it to her. When I come back, I say, “If I do cook, it’s usually some kind of pasta or a salad or something.”

  “Well, next time we’ll do this at my house and I’ll grill,” he says. Next time?! My heart gives another flutter at that idea. I swear I’m going to need an EKG if this keeps up.

  “Sounds awesome,” I say, and then sit down and reach for the remote. I put on Netflix and we scan through, looking for something we both might like before settling on the latest action movie with Statham and The Rock.

  “Thank you for not getting olives on this,” I say, setting my plate down after my second slice.

  “Doesn’t like olives,” he says between bites. “Noted.” We’re about a half hour into the movie when he says “So be honest, are you drooling over The Rock right now?”

  “Nah.”

  “No?”

  “No, I don’t go for big and massive. He’d probably break me in half.”

  He almost chokes laughing. "What do you go for then?"

  I try to keep my facial expression in check as I keep my eyes on the screen, but I get a small thrill at the idea of him wanting to know this. "Oh, I don't know, I like some muscle, tall...,” I say trailing off, trying not to be obvious that I might be describing him. Call me crazy, but going on to say, bad boy look with wild hair that plays music would maybe give me away. I switch it over to him before I embarrass myself.

  "Why, what type do you go for?" I adopt a casual pose, tucking my leg under me and leaning my head on my hand. He sets his plate down, and opens his mouth to answer, when there's an obnoxious knock at the door. One guess who that could possibly be. Uggggggghhhhhh...

  "Maze, you home?" Ian's voice comes from the other side of the door.

  "Go away!" My idiot brother takes that as an invitation to waltz in, as Jack looks between the two of us in confusion. Ian takes a good look at Jack and then resumes the look of having no clue that he's intruding. I roll my eyes and introduce them.

  "Ian, this is Jack. Jack, this uninvited guest is my brother Ian,” Jack immediately stands and they shake hands. "Good to meet you,” he says before gesturing towards the fridge and saying "There's beer in there, help yourself." I kind of like that he's comfortable enough in my house to extend that courtesy to my brother. Too bad he missed me shaking my head and mouthing "NO, NO!"

  "Thanks, man," Ian says, making a beeline for the fridge, grabbing a beer and popping it open. He then makes his ass at home in the chair kitty-corner to the couch we're on. I turn to him and mouth "Do you mind?!" He shrugs and shakes his head like he can't fathom why I wouldn't want him here. Instead, he pulls Jack into some small talk of the guy variety. I decide to pause the movie, hoping Ian will take the hint that a four-year-old would pick up on. "Why'd you pause it, this is a good movie!"

  "You have a girlfriend to get home to,” I say, waving at him, dropping more hints for him to beat it. Naturally, he shrugs me off and goes back to talking to Jack. I zone out, trying to come up with a way to make him leave.

  A plan is just formulating when I hear him say, "So, what are your intentions with my sister?" While my first inclination is to smack him, I want to hear this too. I act casual, and pick up my beer.

  "I assure you, they're nothing but pure,” Jack answers, and I try not to let my shoulders slump. Well that sucks.

  "Good answer," Ian says, taking a slug of his beer. Then Jack throws me a quick wink. Hope is restored! The butterflies are back and dancing on the back of my neck. Now Ian needs to leave so we can make out.

  "You know, I should call Tina and let her know you're here,” I say, turning to Ian, trying to communicate a completely different message with my eyes. He looks at me confused for a second. I reach for my phone, not taking my eyes away, hoping he will bend to my will under my death stare. It works. A look of realization comes over him as his eyes bug out.

  "Oh, no need to do that,” he says, getting up. "I'm headed home anyway. Be a good girl and finish that for me,” he says, placing his half-drunk beer in front of me. Gladly. "I'll catch you guys later, have fun. Nice meeting you, Jack." And he's out the door. Wow. I've never seen him exit that quickly. I'll have to remember that little trick. I hit 'play' on the movie again.

  "That was kind of fun, seeing you with him,” Jack says.

  I scoff. "Why?"

  "I don't know, the way you guys pick at each other, it was like getting a glimpse of what you may have been like as a kid."

  "Yeah, not much has changed, unfortunately." We resume watching the movie in comfortable silence. But on the inside, I can't stop sighing to myself.

  Jack

  I wake up to a tingling sensation in my arm. I slowly open my eyes, and am greeted by the Netflix menu frozen on the TV screen. As I blink a few more times, I realize I hear a faint sound, like a car motor in the distance, or maybe it’s a cat purring. I didn’t think Mayzie had a cat. It’s then that I realize Mayzie’s head is on my shoulder. She’s asleep, and the noise is coming from her. She is snoring so gently that I couldn’t figure out what it was. I smile, liking the idea that we fell asleep together and in doing so, drifted towards each other. My arm is around her, hence the pins and needles, and her hand is resting on my chest, the warmth from it seeping right through my shirt, and I can practically see my insides glowing from the touch.

  And I had no fucking idea that snoring could be so damn cute.

  I gently take my arm out from behind her to work it around until I get the feeling back. Mayzie doesn’t stir, she’s out cold. Shouldn’t surprise me, she was exhausted. I take a moment to decide what the right thing to do would be. I don’t know if I should wake her to let her know I’m leaving and say goodbye, or let her sleep. In the end, I decide I want to let her sleep, but not on her small couch. I pull her into my arms and stand up to carry her to her room. I feel a rush at having her body against mine, snuggled close. Fuck, she smells like vanilla mixed with some kind of flower, sending sensations through both my chest and my dick. I walk down the hallway and find her bedroom at the end. It’s too dark for me to really see what it looks like but I can see she’s the type that makes her bed after she gets up. Penny is already stretched out at the end of the bed snoring in a much less attractive way.

  I lay Mayzie down with her head on one of the pillows. She turns on her side and tucks her hand under her chin, making my knees want to give out. I find a blanket folded up at the end of the bed and drape it over her. I take one last look at her. She’s so beautiful, and I just want to hold her body against mine again and stay here all night with her. Unfortunately, that would make me cross the line over into creep territory, so I settle for taking a few more seconds to look at her before
turning to go. As I’m walking back through the house, I notice a notepad on the table in her breakfast nook, scribble out a note for her and go back in her room to leave it next to her. I lock her door from the inside as I leave to head home.

  Mayzie

  I wake up gently and roll onto my back, stretching my stiff muscles. Ugghh, I’m in my clothes and I’m… on top of my covers. I sit up, finding my throw blanket is over me, and it takes a groggy minute or two to figure out what led to me falling asleep like this. My brain jumps to last night and the last thing I remember, which is sitting on my couch watching a movie with Jack. I was tired and felt a little sleepy from the beer, and sure enough, I don’t remember anything after that; not the movie finishing or him leaving. And I sure as hell don’t remember coming to bed on my own. Warmth floods through me when I realize he must have brought me in here. I go back and forth from feeling bummed that we still didn’t kiss to giddy at the thought that his arms were around me for a minute. Too bad I slept through that part. My eyes fall to my nightstand where there’s a piece of paper that wasn’t there yesterday. I pick it up to see that it is a note from Jack.

  Thanks for having me over, I had a nice time with you as always. I hope it’s ok that I put you on your bed, I just wanted you to be comfortable.

  Call me later,

  Jack

  P.S. You have the sexiest snore ever

  What?! Oh, no. Why did he have to hear me snore? And the thing is, I only do that very occasionally when I’m seriously exhausted. Of course he would be around to witness one of those few occasions. Now I’m vacillating between feeling deeply touched and deeply mortified. I look at the clock and see it’s around eight in the morning. I wonder if it’s too early to send him a text. I decide to just go for it and get up to find my phone. I pick it up and tap out a quick message.

  Me: Thanks for putting my sorry ass to bed. Sorry for passing out on you. And I don’t snore, you were imagining things.

  I start a pot of coffee and let my mind wander. Jack carried me to bed. I was in his arms. He saw my room and my bed, he laid me down. We may not have kissed, but there is something romantic about what he did. I hang on to that thought as I pour myself some coffee and smile as I add a ton of sugar to it. I try so hard to search my memory for any kind of sensation that might have come from Jack wrapping his strong, protective arms around me. I want to remember it, feel it, and relive it so bad. I try to at least imagine it, and I’m blissed out just by the thought.

  A while later, after I’ve showered and done some yoga, I commence my morning ritual, looking at the calendar on my computer and checking my email. I have a dance class that Annie and I are teaching today and then she wants to go shopping, but other than that, my day is open. I turned in my final yesterday, so I get a break from papers for a while. I log on to my job site to see if there are any projects I can snag. After yesterday I could use a break, so I sign up for a small one that should be done in a few hours. I’m just getting started when my phone pings with a text from Jack. I wonder when he woke up.

  Jack: Don’t be sorry, we both crashed out. And you most certainly do snore. Don’t worry, I love it.

  A smile spreads across my face.

  “Awwwww…” Annie says, mocking me as we walk down the street. We’ve just spent an afternoon shopping. Well, she shopped. I just tagged along as I have to watch how much money I spend. In the profession of copywriting, regular work is not guaranteed. We’re on our way back to her car when I finish telling her about the silver lining to ‘Operation Make-out’s’ failure.

  “I just don’t get what the hell is going on,” I say, frustrated. “I mean, are we friends? Dating? Why won’t he give it up?”

  “Wow, it’s like you guys have swapped gender roles in this story!” She laughs. “Seriously, you sound like a sexually frustrated frat boy right now.”

  “You think I’m being ridiculous?”

  “Just a little. Remember to take it for what it is, even though you’re not quite sure what it is. Simplify it. You’re friends who haven’t figured out your trajectory yet. There. And now you keep living your life, and be careful not to make any of it dependent upon him. It’s possible this is just a fleeting thing, or maybe he’s one of those unicorns that wants to take things slow,” she says with a shrug.

  I nod, considering this. “I know…I just… I really like him. I seriously have feelings for him,” I say, very reluctantly admitting it. I know how I feel about falling for someone, and while I should probably hear what she has to say about it, I really don’t want to.

  “I say we get a drink,” she says, mercifully letting it go, at least for now.

  I lift my eyebrows at the idea and shrug. “Sounds good. Where?” Before she can answer, my phone rings and I grab it out of my back pocket to see who’s calling. I see Jack’s name on the screen and grin, holding it up for her to see while we keep walking.

  “Oooh, take it,” she says.

  “Hey,” I answer, without breaking stride.

  “Hey Sleeping Beauty,” his voice croons through the phone.

  “I’m sorry about that, ok? I was more tired than I thought.”

  “No complaints here.”

  “What are you up to?”

  “Just on break at the bar, thought I’d say ‘hi’. What have you got going on?”

  “I’m with Annie, we’re thinking of grabbing a beer somewhere.”

  “Come on over here, then.”

  “I guess we could. You sure? I mean you’re working, I don’t want to be hanging around in the way or anything.”

  “Oh please. Just head on over.”

  “Do you wanna go to The Cedar?” I ask Annie, tilting my mouth away from the phone. She points at the phone, raising her eyebrows. I nod, knowing what she’s asking.

  “Yeah!” she says nodding.

  “Ok, see you soon,” I say back to Jack.

  “Alright, great,” he says, hanging up.

  “Yay,” Annie teases me, bumping shoulders with me. “Speak of the devil and thy best friend shall finally meet him!”

  We hop in her car and drive over to The Cedar, which takes around fifteen minutes. When we walk through the big wooden door, I look around taking it in for a second. I’ve only been here a couple of times and it’s been a while. Its format is like an ale house with exposed pipes and beams and high ceilings. The bar lines the right side of the big open room, with a large space full of tables on the other side of it. Straight back, against the farthest wall is a stage for when bands play, and I’m imagining what it’s like when Turn it Up is up there, playing for a packed house on a Friday night.

  I look over in the direction of the bar and see Jack, placing a beer in front of someone. He looks up, giving me a smile and a wave. There’s another guy tending bar with him that is just as tall, but seems to prefer to keep his body in John Cena form with short cropped hair. They’re both in black slacks and grey short sleeved button-down shirts, so I take it that’s their uniform. No complaints from me.

  “Oh, he is seriously cute Mayzie,” Annie says beside me. “No wonder your thong’s in a twist over him.”

  I sigh and look at her with hopeless eyes, once again using our nonverbal form of communication that only she and I can understand. “I know babe, but seriously, don’t sweat it. Just go say ‘hi…’ I’ll meet you over there. I gotta go to the ladies.” She walks off to the back-left corner of the room to the hallway that leads to the restrooms as I make my way over to the bar.

  Jack

  I see Mayzie walk in immediately. Probably because I was watching the door like a hopeless idiot for the last ten minutes. It’s amazing how the background noise seems to fade in my own head when I see her. She’s with a blonde, who I’m guessing is her friend Annie, who seems to excuse herself and heads in the direction of the restrooms. I try to keep my excitement in check as she makes her way through the tables and over to the bar. I come over to stand in front of her as she takes a seat on a stool. “Hey, you. How wa
s your day?”

  “It was good,” she says cheerfully. “Got some work done, Annie and I taught a dance class, and then just kind of meandered around town for a while. How was yours?”

  “Eh, boring. Slept late, then I only had a few hours before I had to be here so I just messed around with my guitar a bit and picked up the house.” And thought about you.

  “Boring days happen,” she says shrugging. “It’s what makes the fun days fun.”

  “Right you are. Want something to drink?”

  “Yeah, if you’ve got a lager or an amber, I’ll take that.”

  “You got it,” I say, turning around to grab a glass and draw her a beer. I’m a few feet away, getting her drink as well as one for another customer when I see Tyler approach her. Oh hell no. I’m not too far away that I can’t hear what he’s saying, and sure enough, he goes with his classic opener.

  “About time a pretty customer came in.” Damnit! I’m trying to get another guy’s beer in front of him and take his payment as fast as I can. “Can I get you a drink?” Tyler continues.

  “Oh, no thanks, I’ve got one coming,” Mayzie answers, being polite. I hand the guy his change and grab her beer.

  “Good, glad to hear it,” Tyler says, leaning one arm on the bar as I come up behind and around him. “I’m Tyler.” He holds out his other hand. “And you are?”

  “Off limits,” I say firmly, as I place Mayzie’s beer in front of her and lay my hand on her wrist, all while giving Tyler the look from hell. He has the good sense to show a hint of embarrassment.

  “Oops,” he says, rolling his eyes.

  Mayzie smiles coyly and looks from me to him, giving him a wave. “I’m Mayzie. Hi.”

  “Nice to meet you. I’ll be over there,” he points to the other end of the bar. “Let me know if this guy gives you a hard time,” he says, walking away.