Without You: A Friends-to-Lovers Small Town Romance

by Jennifer Van Wyk

  Now he just looks nervous because he has no answer for me. “Your mama and I need this.”

  “I’m not denying that but…” I take a deep breath and will the tears to stay away.

  “We want what’s best for you, darling, you know we do. But you’re relying on this. On us.”

  “Of course I am!” I cry.

  “And that’s why it’s time. You know we love you but we’re,” he pauses and lowers his voice as if he’s about to say something scandalous, “concerned.”

  My heart beats a little faster at the word concerned and I bite my lower lip to stop it from trembling. Growing up, concern over me was a thing, kind of like being disappointed in me. Concern meant worried and worried made me feel guilty and nervous.

  “Concerned?” I whisper.

  “Yes,” he says quietly. He repeats what he was saying earlier, “You’re relying on us and not trying.”

  “Not trying? I’m going to school and working for you at the same time, how is that not trying?”

  “Are you going to just keep repeating everything I say or are we going to have a conversation?”

  I release my lip and blow out a breath. “Have a conversation,” I murmur.

  “What’s going on, Katie?”

  I shrug, my face downturned so I’m looking at the desk rather than his face. He knocks once on the desk to get my attention and he offers me his “dad look” that says he already knows but he wants me to admit it to him. “Talk to me.”

  “It all got so screwed up.”

  “What did?”

  “My life,” I answer miserably. “Everything about it. I used to have it all planned so well. I had goals and I knew what I wanted to accomplish. It felt like my life was all over the place and I couldn’t catch up. And it feels so weird to be in school again. Like, I was a failure earlier in life.”

  “Maybe it’s time to stop looking at this left turn like it’s a bad thing and take it for the second chance that it is. You have a clean slate, kiddo. Take advantage of that. Do what you want to do rather than what you think you have to do. Like learning how to be a massage therapist. Who cares that you realized it later? It’s not like you’re seventy and just starting a new job. You’re still young.”

  “Well, what I have to do now is have a job that pays me enough money so I can move out of your house.”

  “Don’t be a smart ass, Katelyn Marie. I’m trying to help you. You should know that by now.”

  Nodding, I say, “I understand and I’m sorry. I’m frustrated.”

  “Yeah. I get that. You had four months to pull your head out of your ass and get over it, too.”

  My jaw drops because Daddy never cusses. “Dad!”

  “I’m old and I’m allowed to lose my filter. Don’t judge me.”

  I giggle and lean back in my chair, letting my head fall back, too. “So y’all are kicking me out of my home, huh?”

  “Mama and I need our privacy. You realize we haven’t had naked Thursdays since you got here? You’ve been living with us for over two months, sweetheart. Two. Months. That’s a long time. When you came home for Hannah’s wedding we thought it was just temporary, but it’s been forever since I’ve been able to come home from work and walk around the house naked. I miss it.”

  I sputter and almost fall out of my chair. “Dad!”

  He grins and shrugs a shoulder. “I am who I am.”

  Scrunching up my nose, I shudder and tell him, “Nasty is what you are.”

  That only makes him grin broader.

  “Your mama never seemed bothered by my nakedness. In fact, she started to join me. That is, until you came along and ruined it.”

  “I think it’s time to stop discussing this.”

  “Of course, at first she always wanted to wear her underwear and would just go topless.”

  “Did you not hear me say it’s time to stop discussing you and Mama being naked?”

  “Oh, I heard you. Just wanted you to know what you’re preventing. You’re blocking our private time.”

  I gag. “You’re making it worse. I’ll find a new place to live,” I relent, though it’s not so much relenting at this point as wanting to get the heck out of my mama and daddy’s house. How can I think of sitting on the couch anymore?

  He swipes his hands against each other. “Then my plan worked out perfectly.”

  “Oh my gosh, you’re such a jerk!” I laugh.

  “Hey, desperate times call for desperate measures.”

  I roll my eyes. “I’ve lived with you for a few months, Daddy. It’s not like it’s been a year or anything.”

  “I had gotten used to a certain way of life and you know how I am about change.”

  “Clearly, I don’t know much about you.”

  He stands from behind his desk and I have to admit, I’m glad to see he’s wearing pants. And obviously, I can’t let it go so, “Good to see that you didn’t take on the no pants policy here at the office as well.”

  He laughs loudly and leans against the desk. “You’re such a smart ass.” My grin fades quickly when I see the look on his face. “Real talk, darling. You don’t need to leave right now, obviously. But we want you thinking ahead. I know that you don’t like living with us anymore than we like having you there.” He lifts a hand to stop me when he sees I’m about to say something because… ouch! “Don’t go there with me, you know what I mean. Of course we like having you there, but we also see that you’re sad and unhappy. We’re afraid you’re gonna settle in and not leave,” he teases. “Just kidding. Actually, we just want you on your feet and moving forward, not...” He trails off.

  “Settling in,” I answer for him, using his words.

  “Right.” He grimaces slightly. “I’m not doing a very good job of explaining this, am I?”

  “No. You are. It’s just not exactly what I expected. I hoped to have a little more time,” I admit.

  “We’re not kicking you out in the streets tonight. We understand it takes time to find a place to live.”

  “It’s not as if I haven’t been trying.” That’s actually a lie. I had planned to stay with them rent free until I finished with massage therapy school mainly. Not because I enjoy living with my parents again, but it was helping me to save money.

  “We know that, too. We’ll help and I’ll put some feelers out to see what’s out there for rentals in town. That is, if you want to stay in town,” he adds on hopefully.

  “Oh, so you want me in Benton but just not in your house.”

  Daddy points at me and clicks his tongue. “Bingo.”

  I roll my eyes. “Fine, fine. I’ll start looking.”

  “Naked Thursdays are on the horizon!” he cheers.

  “Y’all are so gross. Why did you feel the need to tell me about your nakedness?”

  “To help you understand the gravity of the situation here,” he jokes.

  “You’re just full of jokes today, aren’t you?”

  “When aren’t I?” he asks. There’s a lot of truth to that. He’s always been a jokester and he’s never been shy about showing affection to my mother, so the fact that he instigated naked Thursdays isn’t a surprise in the least.

  “Any ideas on what you want to do with the rest of your life now that you’re released from the confines of living at home? Aside from massaging people, that is?” he asks, settling once again behind his desk.

  “Not a single one.”

  He winces. “Really? No idea where you want to work or who you want to work with?”

  “Well, I had planned on playing in the WNBA but, you know, I’m 5’1”,” I say with a shrug.

  “And you’re a terrible basketball player,” he adds.

  “There’s that.”

  “Anything else? Since being a pro basketball player is off the table?”

  “I had high hopes of being a drug dealer.”

  “But you’re a wuss and would crack at the first sign of pressure.”

  “There’s also that.”


  “Okay, so no selling of illegal drugs.”

  I take in a deep breath and wonder if I’m ready to say out loud what I really want to do with my life. My parents, nudists that they apparently are, have always been incredibly supportive of me. Well, that is, until I interrupted their extra-curricular activities.

  “What is it? Tell me.”

  “You promise not to laugh?”

  “Why would I laugh? I just told you I like to walk around the house naked. Not sure there’s any secrets between us now.”

  “Let’s change that, shall we? Going forward, feel free to keep your naked stories to yourself.”

  “No guarantees.”

  I sigh, feeling defeated and very grossed out by my parents. “That’s probably the best I can hope for. Okay, massage therapy. I’m really happy I decided to go back to school for it, you know? But there are a lot of options.”

  “Exactly what I was asking about,” he reminds me.

  “I know. I know. So that’s what I want to do but yeah, I need to figure out who with and that’s what I don’t want you laughing about because I have so many options and I’m confused. Like just anyone? Or athletes? Maybe start there and go on to something like physical therapy? That would be more school, again, which I wouldn’t be thrilled about but it’s something I think about down the line. There are so many options.”

  “Well, you may be small but you’re mighty and I have no doubt that you can work with anyone you want. Hell, maybe you could get onto a professional sports team or something? I don’t know if that’s even a thing, but I could see you doing that.”

  “Really?”

  “Really. Maybe start with finishing school, working in the field for a bit and then deciding?”

  “That’s what I’m thinking, too. But can I tell you what I really, really want to do?”

  “Of course.”

  “Build some sort of wellness center here in Benton. It’s something our little town doesn’t have.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “A one stop shop, kind of. Like I could do massages and maybe there’s a therapist there for people who need to talk through life. But more than that. Kind of like a day spa but deeper.”

  As I’m talking, his smile continues to grow. “I love the idea.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Absolutely. You’re right, Benton doesn’t have anything like that and we need it. I have no doubt that it will happen for you.”

  “Thanks, Daddy. I’m only concerned about the cost now. I would prefer to work for myself. A lot of people rent a room from a salon or chiropractor and set up their own business that way.”

  “And now we just made that concern a little worse.” He winces and I try not to laugh, maintaining a straight face isn’t easy.

  “It’s not your fault, Daddy. Promise.”

  “It is. I’m the one kicking you out of my house. A father should support his child, not throw her out onto the streets.”

  Unlike my daddy who can tease and joke all day long, I instantly feel guilty for making him feel bad. “Stop, Daddy. You’re right. It was a temporary thing, me living with y’all, and I was prepared for that. I’ll use some of my savings and then build it back up once I get a good client base and have some extra money to set aside.”

  “So you really want to open your own place, huh?”

  I shrug. “Part of the dream.”

  “It’s a good one.”

  “Yeah,” I reply.

  “When can you start looking for a place to set up? Will people consider it before you have your degree?”

  “Well, that’s the good part. I just happened to call a place yesterday because I wanted to figure out my options.” I pause and he raises his eyebrows, his eyes twinkling and a smile forming. He likes that I was taking charge before he mentioned something to me. Either it makes him feel less guilty or he just simply likes knowing that I was making some plans on my own.

  “And?”

  “The salon I called has a massage room already but the person who works for them just let them know she’s moving out of town and won’t be working for them anymore. It isn’t exactly what I was hoping for, because it would be working for them rather than renting a space, but I can’t expect everything at once, right? I’ll build up my clientele and go from there.”

  “That’s great, Katie.”

  “It’s meant to be, right?”

  “Seems like it.”

  He steeples his fingers together and stares at me, thinking. I can practically see the numbers and ideas flying through his brain like in a cartoon.

  “What?” I ask.

  “Just thinking.”

  Shaking my head, I stand up. I know he’ll tell me what he’s thinking about when he’s ready. My guess is he’s going to tell Mama that they should pay for my schooling to become a massage therapist but what he doesn’t know yet is that I won’t allow it. This was my decision and I’m an adult. I was okay with moving in with them until I got back on my feet but I won’t accept anything more.

  “You think you can hold off on naked Thursdays until I move out?”

  “Depends.”

  “On?”

  “How long it takes you to find a place.”

  “I’ll start looking now,” I promise with a grin and turn to walk out of his office. At least he didn’t fire me as well. It’s not the job I want forever, but at least I’m earning money.

  “Katie,” Daddy calls out and I stop and turn to look at him.

  “Yeah?”

  “You know you can stay with us for as long as you need, right?”

  “You’re giving me whiplash, Daddy.”

  The look on his face is sad. “I know, I know. Dad guilt is a real thing, darling.”

  “No need to feel guilty, Daddy. I don’t want to live with you and Mom, either, remember?”

  “I suppose.”

  His abrupt change gives me pause. “Daddy?”

  He waves me off. “I think your mom’s menopause is catching.”

  “I don’t think it works that way but I’ll give you a pass this one time.”

  “Thanks. Want to order pizza tonight? We can discuss everything with your mother about the salon thing and maybe help you get started looking for a place?”

  “Do I ever say no to pizza?”

  “No, you do not. I raised you right.”

  I wink at him then make my way back to the files to keep working away. Ten minutes later as I’m scanning files, my phone pings and I look at it, seeing a number I don’t recognize.

  Unknown: I can’t stop thinking about…

  Unknown: That scone.

  A laugh bubbles out of me and I feel my cheeks flame with heat. Brody. I have no idea how he got my number but I’m not even mad that he did. On the contrary, I’m damn near giddy that he went to any sort of effort to be able to reach out to me.

  Me: For a second there, I thought you were going to say…

  Me: That coffee.

  I bite my lip while I wait for his reply, seeing those three bubbles pop up. I quickly add Brody’s name to my contacts. My stomach flutters when those bubbles disappear and a new text comes in.

  Brody: That, too, but the company was better.

  Oh my gosh, the smile I’m sporting is so big that my cheeks hurt. I don’t even know how to respond to him. I go for deflection.

  Me: The baristas there are quite nice.

  Brody: That’s exactly who I was talking about. How’d you know?

  Me: Lucky guess.

  Brody: How about seeing if it was a fluke and going again tomorrow? It’s been a few weeks so it will be a good test.

  Me: Which leads me to ask why it’s been weeks since I’ve seen you.

  Brody: Please hold. I’ve gotta go tell Johnny that you missed me. BRB

  Brody: Okay, I’m back. He seemed to think that I was making it up so I might need you to verify that information for me.

  I smile at my phone, giggling like a teenager.

  Me: Oh
my gosh, you two are ridiculous.

  Brody: It’s kind of awesome, though, isn’t it? Anyway, the day I had such great company at the coffee shop, I got a call from the producer of the music videos and work has gotten a little busy.

  Me: In a good way, I hope?

  Brody: Definitely. We need to catch up. I would like to see you.

  I do a little shimmy in front of the giant multi-purpose printer that I’m using to scan all the documents.

  “What’s got you so happy?” I hear Daddy ask, his voice filled with humor.

  I scream, throw the phone in the air, and it lands on the (thankfully) carpeted floor.

  “Dad!”

  “What’s wrong? So jumpy. Do you need to be drug tested?” he jokes.

  “Dad,” I admonish, rolling my eyes. “You’re ridiculous.”

  “If it isn’t drugs, it’s a boy.”

  “I’m thirty-two years old, Daddy. If I’m jumpy over a boy, then I’ve got problems.”

  “Pardon me. Man, then.”

  “Whatever,” I mutter, making him laugh and, thankfully, walking away.

  Me: Hmm. I suppose that can be arranged.

  Brody: Took you long enough to reply. **smirk emoji** Had me worried there for a second.

  Me: What kind of lady would I be if I didn’t make you sweat a little?

  Brody: Oh, I see how it is. Playing games, huh?

  Me: **girl shrugging emoji**

  He follows up with a laughing emoji and a looking forward to breakfast.

  Maybe Hannah was partially right. There was a silver lining to my life falling apart. And that silver lining might just be in the form of an extremely sexy, funny, and kind Brody Redding. Looks like my luck might be turning around.

  Chapter Six

  Brody

  “I’m already predictable, huh?” Katie asks as she takes a seat across from me, wrapping her hands around the cup of coffee I have waiting for her.

  “Already?” I counter.

  “I had hoped to keep the mystery alive for a little bit longer anyway,” she explains with a little laugh.

  I smile back and look into her gorgeous bright blue eyes. She holds my stare even as I feel my eyes drop to her deep red lips. Those lips will invade my dreams tonight. I already know it. Plump and the color of rubies, so inviting I want to reach over and rub my thumb over her lower lip and pray to God that she bites the pad. I can picture it all going down so perfectly, my heart begins to beat a little faster. My pulse is racing and the crotch of my jeans grows a little tighter.