“Have you paid much thought to returning to school and finishing your degree?” I ask once we’ve both finished our meals.
“Not really. I’d have to take out more loans to pay for it, and trying to juggle classes and work full-time doesn’t sound appealing to me right now. I’m already a mess, I can’t imagine how bigger of a mess I’d be if I added that into the mix. Plus, I didn’t have the best experience when I was in college before,” she says, and I notice right away her demeanor change as she mentions it.
“What happened to make it a bad experience?” I ask.
She looks around and bites her lip, stalling answering my question.
“You don’t have to answer that if you don’t want to,” I say quickly, wishing I could take the words back. I push my chair back before I stand and then offer her my hand. “How about we get out of here instead?”
“Do you work tonight?” she asks as we make it out to my truck.
“Nope, it’s my night off.”
“Oh, nice. Do you get every Sunday off?”
“Not always. We rotate who works. It’s not as busy as Thursday, Friday, or Saturday nights, but when the Predators or the Titans are playing, we tend to be packed.”
“That’s awesome that you guys stay so busy.”
“It definitely helps keep the doors open.” I chuckle. When we’re both situated, I ask, “Where to now?”
“I’m not picky. If you’ve got things you need to do, you can take me back home.”
“I do have things to do today, but I’m not ready to be away from you just yet,” I tell her honestly. “You’re easy to be around and talk to. I’ve enjoyed our time together.”
“Same,” she says, a smile on her face.
“I’ve got a few things to get done at my place, do you want to come over?”
“Sure.”
I pull out of the parking lot and head for my house, the drive quiet, but comfortable.
“Wow!” Ashley says as we pull into the driveway about ten minutes later. “This place is all yours?”
She looks at my house and I glance out the windshield, taking in my place through her eyes. All I’ve seen for the last couple of years is the work this place has needed. The blood, sweat, and hundreds of hours I’ve poured into it to make it what it is today. I’m still not done, but I’ve made a lot of improvements since I purchased it.
“Yeah, I’ve put a lot of work into it over the years.”
“It’s incredible,” she says before opening her door and jumping out of the truck.
I follow her lead, then head up the porch steps and unlock the front door. “Come on in, I’ll give you a tour,” I tell her as she slips by me. I get a waft of her perfume as she walks by me, and it has instantly become my favorite smell. “Living room is to the right, kitchen straight ahead. Both are already done, as they were two of my first projects I tackled.”
“Wow! You did all of this?” she asks, turning in a circle as she takes in the space.
“Most of it. I had some help from my dad and brother, and both my granddads helped a time or two, as well.”
“This is amazing! You’ve got a great eye for the aesthetic of the place. A little more decorating and this place would be picture perfect.”
“Yeah, I’m not much for decorating. Figured I’d leave that for whenever I settle down, let my wife do the decorating,” I tell her, as the thought strikes me. I keep from telling her she could be the one to decorate it for me. I’m jumping ahead of myself just a bit. Hell, we just met a few days ago.
“Down the hall are three bedrooms, a full bathroom off the hall that I still need to renovate, and the master has an attached bath, as well. I’m in the process of remodeling that now,” I tell her as I show her down the hall and each room.
“What are your plans for in here?” she asks as we enter the master bathroom that is currently gutted.
“A large tiled shower will go here,” I say, motioning to the wall where I’ve started to prep for tile to go in. I point to another section of wall. “A double vanity on this wall, with two mirrors, and a linen closet here.”
“That’s going to look so good,” she says, looking around the empty room. “I can almost picture it all now. Have you picked your tile out yet?”
“Yep, it’s all out in the garage. I’ll show it to you next. I also have the vanities and flooring in the garage, as well. Just need the time to start putting everything back together. Once we hire another bartender, I should have some extra time on my hands to work on things here.”
“How long have you had it torn out for?” she asks as we turn to leave the bathroom.
I rub the back of my neck, trying to think back. “Probably six months.”
“Wow, I’m sure you’ll love it once it’s done then.”
“It will be nice, that’s for sure. It sucks having to walk down the hall just to go to the bathroom when I first wake up,” I say on a laugh.
“I’m sure it is,” she replies, rolling her eyes at me.
We head toward the garage, where she takes in all the building supplies, tools, and all the other crap I’ve got stored out here.
“You weren’t kidding when you said you were doing everything yourself. It looks like a home improvement store out here.”
“Yeah, I’ve got pretty much everything I might need, yet I still make a thousand trips to the store each time I tackle finishing a project because I’ve inadvertently forgotten something important.”
“I’ve never tried to renovate or build anything,” she says absentmindedly.
“It can be a lot of fun. The next time I’m going to work on something, I’ll let you know, and you can come help me. I’ve already demoed everything that needs demoed for now, but taking a sledgehammer to things can be quite the fun project and a bit therapeutic.”
“Really! You’d let me help?”
“Sure, why not?” I say, shrugging my shoulders. “As long as you don’t burn my house down in the process, I don’t think you can do much damage.”
“No fires, got it,” she says, saluting me.
“Here’s the main tile for the shower,” I tell her, handing her a piece. “And this is the accent piece,” I add, handing her that one, as well. “I’m also going to do a backsplash above the vanity with the tile so that it all matches.”
“This is beautiful tile. Did you pick this out?”
“I’ll admit I had help from my mom and Katie.” I put the tile pieces back in their appropriate boxes. “Here’s one of the vanities,” I say, pointing to the box.
“Oh, wow! I love that. It is going to look so good with the tile!”
“Credit goes, once again, to my mom and Katie,” I tell her. “I basically told them to pick things out and to tell me the total.”
She bumps my arm with her shoulder. “That’s a lot of trust you have.”
“I’d trust those two women with my life,” I tell her honestly and turn so we’re facing each other, standing toe to toe, with only a few inches between our upper bodies.
Standing this close, I get another whiff of her perfume and it goes straight to my head. I’ve wanted to kiss her since the first night we met, but it’s never been the right time. I start to move closer, our bodies being pulled to each other as if we’re magnets. “I’m going to kiss you now, unless you tell me to stop,” I say, my voice coming out raspy.
I hesitate just a second longer, giving Ashley the chance to stop this. Instead, her fingers curl into my t-shirt and pull me that last little bit to her. Our lips collide and the world stops. The background of my garage and all the building supplies disappear. In this moment, it’s just her and I.
I slide my hands around her sides, one landing on her lower back and the other up and into her hair, stopping at the base of her head. I angle her head, allowing me better access to her mouth as I deepen the kiss. Her lips part at the first swipe of my tongue as I seek access to her mouth. I pull her flush against my chest with the hand against her lower back and
can feel my dick harden against her stomach.
The kiss goes on as we both explore each other. Ashley’s hands are still buried in my t-shirt, holding on like her life depends on it. I finally break the connection, bringing our foreheads to rest against each other as we both suck in air. “Damn,” I say. “Now that was one hell of a first kiss.”
“I’d have to agree. I don’t think I’ve ever been kissed like that,” she says, bringing her fingers up to feel her well-kissed lips.
“Gives me a bar to meet and try and exceed then, I guess,” I tell her, dropping a quick peck to her lips before I step back slightly, allowing a little bit of space between the two of us.
“I guess so,” she says, a small smile filling her swollen lips. I snag one of her hands in mine, linking our fingers.
“Come on.” I tug on her hand. “I’ve got a few other things to show you before the tour is finished.”
We head back inside and then out the sliding glass door off the kitchen and dining room. “This was my second project,” I tell her, motioning to the deck. “I love sitting outside after a long day at work, drinking a beer or grilling, and having friends or family over for a summer barbecue. Growing up, my parents were always entertaining friends and family, and it’s something I always loved, so I made sure I had the ability to do so when I bought my own place.”
“Sounds like some fun times,” she says, looking around like she’s picturing what it would be like for this space to be filled with people. “I didn’t go to my first barbecue until Tiffany met her fiancé and he had one. Now they have them all summer long.”
“You’ve been friends with her for a long time?” I ask, pulling her back into my side.
“Longest friend I’ve had. We met in elementary school and have been connected at the hip ever since. She’s been by my side through everything. The good and the bad. Especially the bad,” she says, reaching up and quickly wiping a tear from her cheek.
“You want to talk about it?” I ask, not wanting to push her.
“Not really,” she says. I’ve noticed she tenses up or freezes whenever the possibility of what she considers the bad comes up.
“Okay. I’m here if you ever need someone else to talk to,” I tell her honestly. I’ve never been one to discuss feelings, but something has me wanting to know everything about Ashley. I feel an incredible pull to her, one that has me wanting to protect her and ravish her, all at the same time.
“Thanks for the tour,” she says a few moments later. “What did you need to get done today? I don’t want to keep you from whatever it was.”
“Just some things around the house. Laundry, dishes, groceries. It’s my day to be an adult,” I say, laughing.
“Well, don’t let me keep you,” she says, stepping out of my hold. I follow her back inside the house.
“Feel free to turn on the TV. I’ll go get my laundry started and then we can figure out what to do next.”
“We could work on your bathroom,” she suggests, the excitement in her expression fucking adorable.
“We could,” I agree. “You might get dirty. Are you sure you want to work in what you’re wearing?”
She looks down at what she’s got on, then back up at me. “Do you have some shorts and a t-shirt I could change into?”
“I’m sure I could find something,” I tell her, ignoring the dirty thoughts running through my head about her wearing my clothes.
I head down the hall and into my bedroom. I grab my hamper of dirty clothes and toss them all into the washer after I toss in a couple soap pods, then return to my room and rummage in my closet. Just then, I remember Katie left some clothes here that she wears when helping out.
I cross over to one of the other bedrooms and rummage around in the dresser drawers until I find a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. They aren’t mine, but better than Ashley ruining the clothes she’s got on.
“Here ya go. I remembered Katie had left some things here from when she’s helped out in the past. These will probably fit you better than anything of mine,” I tell her, handing over the clothes.
“You sure she won’t care?”
“Nope, she’s pretty laid-back. She’ll be happier that she isn’t the one having to help,” I say on a laugh.
“Okay,” she says, accepting the clothes and flashing me a huge smile. “I’ll go change, then be ready to work.”
“I’ll go gather some tools and supplies,” I tell her as she walks down the hall and disappears into the bathroom. I force myself to head into the garage and start gathering things we’re going to need. Laying tile is easiest with two people, so I figure we can start with that. I’ve already got the wall all prepped, so we just need to measure everything out, apply the thin set, and then start attaching the tile to the walls.
“Can I help carry anything in?” Ashley asks, when I bring in an armload of supplies.
“Sure. We’re going to tile the shower, so can you pick up a few stacks?”
“Absolutely.” She follows me back out into the garage. It takes us about ten minutes to get everything inside, between the dozen or so trips back and forth. We stacked the tile where the vanities are going to go, separating the main tile from the accent pieces.
“Okay, so we have to measure everything out first.” I grab the tape measure and long level. “Since I’m adding in the accent pieces, it’s important we keep everything level and aligned,” I instruct as I start making marks on the wall.
“That makes sense,” she says, watching me carefully as I finish up the marks I need.
“Now we can apply the thin set, and then comes the tiles,” I tell her as I open the bucket of thin set. “You can use this to apply it to the walls, we just want a thin layer of it like this.” I demonstrate how to apply it, and how much to apply.
“Looks easy enough,” she says as she gets to work on one of the smaller walls while I tackle the larger wall. It doesn’t take us long to have the thin set done and ready for tiles to start being placed. We laid them out on the floor to make sure I liked the pattern and to make sure it was correct. It’s a pain in the ass to remove the tile to replace pieces if I fuck it up and put it up wrong.
“Okay. If you want to hand me the pieces one at a time, I’ll get them attached.”
We fall into an easy rhythm, Ashley handing me tiles and my attaching them to the wall. It only took five or so before she started adding the thin layer of thin set to the backs of the tiles for me before she handed them over.
“Are you sure you’ve never tiled a shower before?” I ask about halfway through the project. “You’re a natural at this.”
“Nope, never. Must be beginner’s luck or something,” she says, a huge smile on her face. I take in her appearance. She’s got thin set smeared on her cheek, and dust from helping carry in the materials and from just being in the bathroom and around the unfinished walls, yet she looks beautiful.
“What?” she asks, looking down at herself. “Something wrong?”
“No, nothing.” I shake my head at the thoughts running through my mind. “Just wanted to say thanks for helping me,” I say, as I lean forward and bring my lips to hers. The tile that had been in her hand hits the floor, breaking as it does so.
“Shit!” she says against my lips.
“Don’t worry about it, I’ve got plenty extra,” I say before I forget about the tiles and recapture her lips. She’s sitting on a stool and I’m on my knees on the floor, so our positioning isn’t the greatest for kissing, but I make do until she pulls back a minute or so later.
“We should probably finish,” she says, motioning to the wall.
“Yeah.” I sit back on my haunches and blow out a big breath. “You’re a little distracting,” I say before I grab a new tile from the box to replace the broken one.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” she says, a shit-eating grin on her lips.
“Sure, you don’t.” I lean down to kiss her once more before I get back to work on the wall.
/> An hour later, I stand and stretch my tired back as I look at all we’ve accomplished today. The shower is completely tiled and will be ready for grout in the next day or so. “Thank you for all your help,” I tell Ashley as we look over our accomplishment together.
“It was my pleasure. I had a lot of fun,” she says, leaning into my side. I wrap my arm around her shoulder and pull her closer. “When will you grout it?”
“Maybe tomorrow or the next day. Just depends on how much time I’ve got and how much I can be away from the bar. Mondays and Tuesdays are usually pretty slow, so it shouldn’t be a big deal if I’m not around as much, as long as Kaiden or Katie are.”
“Can I come help again?” she asks tentatively.
“Sure, if you’re not busy.”
“I don’t have any plans. Unless I get called back for an interview by some miracle.”
“I’m sure you’ll get a call back. Anyone would be lucky to have you work for them.”
“Charmer,” she says, nudging my ribs with her elbow.
“Not trying to charm you. If you had even a tenth of the focus on your job as you had helping me, any employer would be a fool not to hire you. Like I said, if you have any interest in being a bartender, you could come work at the bar.”
“Wouldn’t that be kinda weird to work together?” she asks, scrunching up her nose as she looks up at me.
“Why’s that?”
“Never mind,” she says, as her cheeks flush pink.
I tighten my arm around her. “Tell me.”
“It’s nothing,” she insists.
“It’s something, or else you wouldn’t have asked.”
“Fine,” she says, blowing out a breath. “Wouldn’t it be kinda weird for us to work together if we’re doing this?” She motions between the two of us and it dawns on me what she’s getting at.
“Dating?” I question, knowing that’s exactly what I’d like to happen between the two of us.
Drunk Girl Page 5
