by Cary Hart
“Maybe you are, but I need you to have one.” She lets out a big huff. “I freaked, okay?” She sets the phone down as I move closer. “When I saw my car in the garage and you were nowhere to be found. I freaked.” She lowers her head, shaking it back and forth.
“Niki…”
Holding up her hand, she interrupts. “I was moments from calling 9-1-1 until Gavin noticed the bike was gone and called Java Talk. Luckily, Jen filled us in.”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t think.”
I honestly didn’t. I was so used to someone making the decisions for me, I got wrapped up in myself and, well, the rest is history.
“Just…” She scans the room before her eyes settle on mine. “Take the phone. If you are going to ride the bike, let me know so I don’t worry. If…if anything happened to you, I would never be able to forgive myself.”
A moment passes as we just stare at each other. I don’t want to take it, but I don’t want her to worry either.
“Give it here.” I reach out, palm up, and she hands it over.
“It’s a pay-as-you-go phone, but we bought you a ninety-day plan.” She shows me some of the features. “I took it upon myself to program some numbers in there for you. Me being number one, for obvious reasons.”
“Good to know.”
“I also activated the location services and downloaded the app so I’ll always know where you are,” she throws in as she gathers up the bag and rest of the papers.
“Overkill, don’t you think?” I try to make a joke, but the look in Niki’s eyes is a cross between guilt and I’ll cut a bitch, maybe both.
“How can you say that? When you showed up at my door…” She takes a deep breath and looks toward the ceiling, before she finishes. “I refuse to let that happen again.”
“Niki, there was no way for you to know…”
“The hell if there wasn’t. You asked me for money. You had a broken ankle and you begged me to keep a secret about your school and savings.” She holds out her hands, wide apart. “Big fucking clue.”
“I convinced you everything was okay. I never gave you any reason to believe otherwise.” I stretch my hand out to grab hers. “I love you for loving me, but I’m going to be okay and that is because of you.” I pull her in for a hug over the counter and whisper, “Thank you for the phone. I’ll always have it on.”
She gives me a tight squeeze before she lets go. “Good. I made sure it was charged and here is an extra cord. Although I doubt your ride has a plug.” She makes sure to get in the last word as she spins around and runs right into a brick wall of firm, rippled muscles — Mr. Tall Guy.
“Kyle, you shouldn’t sneak up on people like that. What if I would have felt threatened and used some of my ninja moves on you?”
“I didn’t sneak up. I opened the door and walked up to the counter. You ran into me.” His dimpled smile is looking down on us both.
“You could have lost a ball.” Niki looks down. “Or two.” She steps around him and calls back over her shoulder, “Consider yourself warned, Lewis.”
“If you’re not afraid, you probably should be.” I smile, letting him know I’m joking.
“Looks like you are in a good mood today.”
Crap.
Last night I was so carried away working on sketches and then excited about today, I totally forgot about our run-in the day before.
“Oh-um-I…well…” I stutter.
The old me would back away, run and hide, waiting for the bad to come, but today is a new day and I’m moving on.
“It’s been a good day.” I return his smile, which has never left his face.
“First day?” He says as his hands go back into his pockets, something I noticed he did a lot yesterday.
“Yeah. That noticeable?” I cringe.
“Nah, I was just trying to make conversation.”
“Conversation is good.”
“Indeed.” He rocks back and forth. His head turns, noticing someone coming through the door. “I’ll be right back.”
He heads for the door, stopping another guy, who is just a tad shorter than Kyle, from coming in.
That’s weird.
“Who are we staring at?” Jen comes to stand by me, following my eyes. “Ohhhh…Kyle Lewis.”
“You know him?” I twist to face her.
“Everyone knows Kyle Lewis, the nice guy no one wants.”
“That’s a joke, right? Just look at him.” We both turn to see him standing at the counter, the other guy gone.
“Are we talking about me again?” His smile is a little more wicked than it was before. “Jen.” He nods.
“Kyle…what can we get you today?”
Looking between the two, I begin to wonder if something has happened there. Did they used to date? Was it just a one-night stand gone wrong? Whatever it was, I couldn’t help but feel a pang of jealousy in the pit of my stomach.
I know I shouldn’t, given my history with Brandon. But I’m still a woman after all, and everything in me notices Mr. Tall Guy.
“Give me the same order as yesterday.” A smile is still plastered on his face.
Does this guy ever not smile?
“Here, let’s split the order, so you can go on break.” Jen, writes down what he had yesterday and tears it in half.
“Deal.” I nod and look back at Kyle, who is standing against the wall, legs crossed at the ankle, hands in pockets. Smiling at me.
Heat stirs within me, causing a blush to creep up.
Filling two of the orders, I place the cups in a carrier. “Jen, did these have whipped cream?”
“Yep, the mocha had extra.” She nods over to a new case of whipped cream I didn’t notice before. “I brought up a new case. We were out of the heavy whip.”
“I have a little more in this one.” I shake it a couple times before I aim the nozzle at the intended target.
“Dang it!” Air shoots out, spraying the coffee and whatever whipped cream was left into my face.
Hands still in his pockets, Kyle walks over as I stand staring at the cup, can in hand and cream on face.
“New can, Sanders, right over there.” Jen snorts as she looks around the espresso machine, pointing to the box of new cans.
“Maybe I should have listened,” I huff out as I look up. Kyle is now in front of me, eyes zoned in on my face.
“You have a little something right there.” He takes his hand out of his pocket and points to my nose.
Grabbing a napkin, I clean off my face the best I can and return to topping off his drinks.
“You still have some, on your lip.” He points to the spot on his face, but when I reach for my own, I dab all the wrong places. “No, right here.” His hand is out now. “You mind?”
I shake my head. His thumb grazes my top lip, and he brings his thumb to his mouth, but instead of licking it off, he wipes it on his jeans. His hands go back into his pockets.
“Thanks.” I stand in disbelief, curious as to why he stopped himself.
“Here you go.” Jen walks up, saving us from another awkward moment. She stuffs the other two cups in the tray, then puts lids on mine. “That will be twenty-five, Lewis.”
He hands Jen thirty and tells her to keep the change. “You going on break now?”
“Yeah.”
“Can I buy you a drink?” He nods over to the booth as he picks up his order.
I’m not sure how to handle this. Maybe in a different time, I would have said yes, but now I have to focus on me, and having a drink with him will only make things more complicated.
Pulling out the phone that Niki got me, I hold it up. “I have to try and figure this thing out before Niki goes ‘American Ninja Warrior’ on my ass.”
“Ahh. Okay, well maybe another time.”
“Maybe.” I begin to play with the phone. Just something, anything, to take my mind off him. “Dang it.”
“What’s wrong?” I look up and he’s still here, staring at me.
If he was
n’t so cute, I would consider him borderline stalkerish, but… “Stupid thing won’t power up.” I hit the button repeatedly. This is nothing like my other phone.
“Here let me.” He takes the phone from me. “See.” He turns it to show me. “You just have to hold it down and to make a call you dial a number and hit the green button.”
My hands fly to my hips. “Kyle.”
“And to save that number as a contact, you just hit this button here and click add.” He doesn’t look up, but I can hear the smile in his voice. “Kyle ‘look at him’ Lewis, is that what you would program?”
Realizing he is doing this, I figure I might as well play along. “Actually, I would have put ‘Mr. Tall Guy.’”
He gives me a side glance. “Mr. Tall Guy, huh?” He goes to work on the phone. “Alright, done.” He hands the phone back. “Can you do that break now?”
“I don’t have much of a choice, do I?” I retort.
“You always have a choice.” His reply catches me off guard, making me consider his offer.
Finding the clock, I see I only have a few more minutes. “Ten minutes.”
“Good. Do you want me to show you the timer features on your phone?” He points over to the booth he wants and lets me lead the way.
“Hardy-har, Lewis.” Kyle stands waiting for me to slide in before he takes his seat across from me. The move reminds me of Gavin, always respectful.
“So, whatcha wanna talk about?” I wait for him to start us off. I’m fidgeting, so I fold up my hands and place them in my lap.
“Whatever you want to talk about.” He fiddles with the tray, reminding me about his to-go order.
“Those coffees are getting cold.”
“You want to talk about cold coffee?”
I shake my head no.
“They can heat it up.” He doesn’t seem concerned.
“Okay.”
“So, tell me about you? How old, are you out of school for the summer or do you plan on staying?” He pumps out the questions, one right after the other.
“Twenty-three and I don’t know,” I admit.
“You don’t know if you are in school or you don’t know if you are staying?”
“School.” I scan the room and notice Jen’s eyes are locked on us. “Did you used to date Jen?” The words are out before I bring my attention back to him.
“No.” He doesn’t seem shocked or even upset that I asked. So, I press on.
“Then why is she keeping an eye on you?” I jab my thumb in her direction, and Kyle bursts out laughing, slapping the table, causing the coffee to shake.
“What?” I turn to see Jen shrugging her shoulders.
“She mimed that she was going to cut my throat.” He mocks her threat. “But no, we never dated.”
“You didn’t?” I’m suddenly relieved.
“Nope.” He shakes his head, slowly, back and forth. “I was going through something and leaned on her sister, Cindy. Things happened and…” I can tell the words are on the tip of his tongue. “It didn’t end well.”
“She hates you for screwing over her sister.” I purse my lips. “I get that.”
“No, it’s actually the opposite. Jen and I get along fine, but I’m guessing she likes you and is afraid the same thing will happen to you.”
“Will it?” I ask, daring him for an answer that I shouldn’t desperately want.
The look on his face says I’m confusing him. I’m hot and cold. I’m drawn to him, but I know I’m no good right now. I have to deal with my hang ups before I even attempt a relationship, not that he is even asking for one.
Leaning forward, hands in his lap, he lowers his voice for only me to hear, “Nina, there is something about you. When you are near, I feel this pull toward you that I can’t control.”
“Kyle…” I beg him to stop, or am I pleading for him to go on?
“I can see you’re not ready and honestly, I’m not sure if I have anything left to give.”
“Oh.”
“Nina, I’m not saying this the right way.” He clears his throat, starting over. “I want to get to know you and I’m hoping you feel the same.”
“So, you want to be friends?” I’m still not sure if this is what he is asking.
“Yeah! I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I do.”
“Okay then, friends.”
Kyle
Back on site, I don’t even have to wait for Lee and the rest of the crew to come fetch their coffee. As soon as my truck hit the gravel they were lined up, hardhats on and hands out. “Greedy bastards,” I mumble.
“What took you so long?” Lee walks around to the passenger side, opening the door and passing out the coffees one by one. He takes a pull of his, spitting it out immediately. “What the hell, boss? If I wanted cold coffee, I would have ordered an iced one.”
“What part of free gives you the right to complain about your order?” Sliding my tool belt into place, I reach in the back and grab my hardhat. “Nothing?” I nod, ignoring their looks as I head to find Drew.
“Part of having a lead foreman is having the luxury to come in later because you know your shit will be taken care of.” He stands at the white boards, examining, not even turning to acknowledge me.
“Sorry man, I ran into the coffee shop—”
“Lewis, what the hell? Do you have a death wish?” he interrupts, swinging around.
Of course, this would get his attention. “It’s not like I want to lose my balls, I want kids someday, if it’s ever in the cards for me, but there is something about her.” I pause, trying to find the words to express why my head is all over the place. “The pull is strong, man.”
Putting the lid on the marker, he tucks it behind his ear and walks over to me, clasping a hand on my shoulder. “I get it,” he reassures me with a little squeeze. “Trust me, I felt the exact same way about Aubrey, but if I can give you one piece of advice.” He raises his hand between us, finger poking my chest. “Close the door on your past or it will haunt the fuck out of your future.”
Drew and I have always been tight, but last summer he had no one to confide in when shit started going down during his divorce. We are talking about Pandora’s box being ripped open.
His wife, Sarah, had cheated on him with her boss, which Drew walked in on, causing the divorce. And, as it turned out, her boss was Aubrey’s ex. Their worlds were beyond connected, more than they could have ever expected. It affected their whole lives, bonding them all in a way they wished would disappear, but it was the hands they were dealt and each day is a learning experience.
I wish I could say the same for me. I was going through my own stuff during his shit storm. I was on a downward spiral and Drew was the only one I could turn to. Well, besides a few unexpected women sliding in and out of my bed.
At the time, I felt like I was the good guy no one wanted and being bad, it helped me forget, but that’s the problem, right? Just because you forget, doesn’t mean it’s forgiven and I’m not sure I can forgive.
“Man, I’m working on it,” I admit, thinking about Jimmy’s sixtieth birthday party this weekend.
“Good,” he gives me one last poke in the chest, “cause your head needs to be in the game or you’re going to get hurt. Not only on the job, but in here.” He slaps me on the chest and walks off.
I know.
“Don’t forget about that lunch today,” he tells me.
“Lunch?”
“Remember?” He’s back at the white board, changing up today’s game plan. “That couple I was telling you about, who hired that overpriced architect and designer from that TV show…well, we have a meeting with all of them. Today.”
“Oh Lord.” I roll my eyes. This should be interesting. These are the kind of clients who know little about what we do, but want to tell us exactly how to do it.
“Yep, and they asked that you take the lead on the project. So, I need you to be there and here.” He points to his head. “Get in the game, man.”
&n
bsp; “I won’t let you down.”
Heading to Spotlight to meet with Drew and the potential clients, I crank the radio and try to get my mind off every distraction. It’s working, until my phone begins to ring. Since I’m almost there, I contemplate declining the call but I see it’s my mom.
I turn down the music and press the speaker button on the phone. “Hey mom!”
“Hey honey.” She pauses for a split second, which usually is her tell that something is wrong. “How’s work?”
“It’s fine.” I drag out the words, curious as to what the small talk is about.
“That’s good. That’s real good.”
“Mom, is something wrong? You seem…distracted.”
“You know me so well.” I can hear the worry in her voice. “I don’t know how to say this, but Trinity is sick again, so your brother won’t be able to make it to the party.”
“Mom,” I whisper. “Is she going to be okay?”
“Oh yeah, nothing like before. She just has an ear infection, but since she’s miserable, they want to keep her home, in her own environment.”
“Well, good. Not that she’s sick, but that it’s nothing major.” I remember the party. “What about Jimmy’s birthday? How about I take you both out to dinner or maybe you can come to the cabin and I can cook you both up a meal.” The thought makes me excited. I was going to wait to show my mom the kitchen, but this is perfect. Just us in the cabin my dad designed before his death. “The kitchen is done and I can’t wait to show you what I did with Dad’s design. It looks—”
“Jack and Tristan invited us over to their house,” she blurts out.
And just like that, my mood is ruined. “Well, maybe another time then.”
“You were invited.”
“Mom…”
“I know, honey. I just thought since things have been going better that maybe this could work out. I know Jimmy would love to have everyone together.” She seems positive, hopeful.
“We made peace, but it’s still hard.” I’m referring to my relationship with Jack, my stepbrother. Our falling out was anything but graceful and our reunion was strained, but we do it, for our parents.
“I know…” she trails off.
“Mom, I have a business meeting in about,” I glance at the dash, “five minutes. I’m going to have to let you go.
