But I just smiled back instead. We were silent for a moment.
“I guess I should clean this up.” I jump down and grab a towel to pick up the broken pieces.
But he grabbed me by the waist and turned me around to him.
“Do you have a dustpan?” he asked as he took the towel from my hands.
“Yes, I’ll get it for you,” I offered as I pulled away from his hold. “Where did Mariella put the pan? She always moves it around everywhere.” I thought for a moment then opened the cabinet under the sink and bent down to look for it. Was it strange that I wanted to do a sexy shimmy for him as I felt his eyes on me? I’m such a dork, but I figured I would soak in the attention he was giving me. Wiggling a bit more than I should, I bent down a little bit more than necessary to look toward the back of the cabinet.
“Where is that pan?” Moving stuff around, I pretend to look hard for it even though it was hanging on the hook where we left it last. Thankful for the height that my heels gave me tonight, I gave him a good look at my ass for a bit longer.
“Here it is.”
I stood up straight, and his eyes jumped from my ass to my face. He licked his lips and rubbed his jawline. He looked flustered.
“Thanks for getting most of it with the towel.” I reached down and pushed all the smaller pieces into the pan and dumped it in the trash can.
When I turned back around, he was right behind me, causing me to bump into his chest. My neck started to burn so I grabbed for my necklace. I couldn’t look him in the eyes, but I needed to say what was lingering in my mind.
“I want to thank you for everything today, not just with Mariella, but with my family at the hearing earlier,” I whispered.
He rubbed my arms softly as I closed my eyes. I felt the tears coming on.
“What you did for us, I...” I didn’t get the words out before he wrapped his arms around me and just held me tight against him.
Pulling back slightly, I reminded myself that he was just a stranger, but I couldn’t feel any safer in his arms. He pulled away and kissed my forehead.
“I have to go.” His head fell.
My heart was pounding, and the thought of him leaving right now was tearing me apart. I wanted more time with him, but I couldn’t tell him that, so I just nodded. He walked away from me without another word. My door closed shut, and he was gone. He didn’t even look back. My eyes started to swell, and tears fell down my cheeks, my emotions all over the damn place. He didn’t even give me his phone number. I guess I just wasn’t worth it to him to stay.
“What the fuck just happened?” I asked myself.
Climbing into bed, I searched Facebook for a few minutes to see if I could find anything on Ryder. I didn’t know his last name, so my search ended pretty quickly. Today has been a roller coaster of emotions. My fingers played with my necklace until I drifted off to sleep.
CHAPTER FOUR
“No! Get her out. Please, someone help her!” I sat up in bed panting. Clutching my chest, I held onto my necklace. Another nightmare woke me in a cold sweat. My heart was pounding out of my chest from this one. Flashes of lights and the sound of screeching metal rang in my ears. This was the third nightmare in two weeks. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. Adi, you can get through this, I said to myself but I wasn’t sure if I believed it.
Luckily, it was a Saturday, so I didn’t need to be anywhere. Stretching, I rolled over to my nightstand to check my phone. It was pitiful. Nine o’clock in the morning, and no new messages on my phone since yesterday morning. Sitting up, I played with my iTunes playlist for some new music for my shower. My reflection in the mirror didn’t look as bad as I felt. Run down. I rubbed my eyes and pulled at the skin on my face. The nightmare made me feel like I didn’t sleep a wink. My thoughts were robbed by Ryder. He confused the hell out of me.
Starting the water to the shower, I waited a few seconds for it to warm. I cracked open the door to Mariella’s room to check in on her. I was still pissed off at her. She was snoring and had one foot hanging off her bed. Bitch. I jumped in the shower and let the water hit my chest and face first. It felt too good. My nipples were hard, and I started thinking about Ryder and the way his tongue felt against mine when he kissed me. I imagined the way it would have felt on other parts of my body that were aching. A loud knock came from Mariella’s door. I slid the shower door open just as she came bursting in.
“Adi, are you in here?” I jumped and put the washcloth in front of my chest.
“Yes, unless you’re letting strangers use our bathroom to take showers now. Then, of course, it’s me in the shower!” She peeked in and frowned at me.
I rolled my eyes at the sight of her. Her hair was a knotted mess, and her makeup was smudged across her face. She could sense my annoyance with her.
“I’m so sorry, Adi. I let you down.” Her eyes were starting to gloss over as she spoke.
I ignored her and started washing my hair. She slammed the toilet seat down. Great, she was staying. Continuing to shower in silence, I wasn’t giving her the pleasure of accepting her apology right away. She fucked up.
“I don’t know what I was thinking by drinking that much, and Adi, I know there’s no excuse.” Her voice was shaky.
I just listened to her.
“I got too carried away, and I just...I just miss her too, Adi.”
I stopped scrubbing my head to listen. She let out a quick breath.
“Sometimes, my mom is so lonely without Aunt Leann that I think she’ll die of a broken heart.” Her voice sounded desperate, and I heard her sniffle.
Shit, she was crying now. I quickly rinsed the rest of the shampoo from my hair. Mariella was always happy, so she hid any sadness she had from dealing with all this. But honestly, she probably did that to help me.
“Please forgive me, Adi. I acted stupid, and I should have been more responsible. I love you,” she begged.
I felt guilty for judging her as just another sloppy drunk. She was right—she was in pain too, and seeing her mother so down had to get to her. She has a relationship with her mother just like I had. The pain her mother feels, she feels too. Hell, I was too hard on her. I poked my head out of the shower door.
“I know. Ella, you know I don’t mind taking care of you...you’ve done the same for me.” I threw water at her from the excess on my hands. “Even though I’m not a little hoe when I’m drunk like you are.” I smirked.
She laughed and wiped her face with my towel.
“Ugh...don’t remind me.” She rolled her eyes, and her cheeks went red.
I could tell she was embarrassed.
“So what happened with that guy in the taxi, what was his name, Ryder?” She wiggled her eyebrows. “Adi, he was so fine.” I turned the water off and grabbed my towel from her.
“Well, that fine man had to carry your big ass up here last night,” I snapped.
“No, no, he didn’t!” Her eyes went huge.
“Yes...yes, he did, and we put you to bed.” I laughed.
She sprung up from the toilet so fast I thought she would fall over.
“Wait, what? So that means he was up here alone with you for a period of time. What did I miss?” She bit down on her thumbnail.
Wrapping my towel tighter around me, I walked into my room, and of course, she followed. I had no privacy living with her. She watched me with curiosity as I grabbed my bra and underwear out of the dresser. I ignored her and began getting dressed. She huffed and lay back on my bed.
“You’re killing me. Did he stay long?”
This was payback for pulling her shit last night. I turned around and patted my hair dry with a towel, letting her squirm for a bit longer.
“Yes, I was alone with him, here in our apartment.” I shrugged.
“I knew you were a little hoe. Spill it all!” She grabbed her chest in surprise.
“I learn from the best.” I threw the wet towel in her face.
Walking over to my closet, I began organizing my hang
ers. I fought the laughter as I saw her glaring at me from the corner of my eye. She wasn’t going to let up. Her face twisted in misery. She was getting impatient, so I took a deep breath and sat down next to her.
“He came up here to help with you, and I gave him a drink, then we started kissing...I dropped a glass, and then we cleaned it up, and he left.”
“Boring. Tell me the good stuff.” She threw herself down on my pillows.
“Well, he is amazing with his mouth.” My cheeks blushed.
“You let him go down on you?” Her mouth was hanging open in shock.
“No, you idiot. Just my mouth, maybe chest... and neck.” I blushed.
“Damn, Adi. I’m surprised he’s not still here.” She giggled.
“Well, I thanked him for helping my family at the parole hearing, then he walked out.” I frowned.
“Wait, the parole hearing?” Her smile faded as it all caught up to her. She was faster than I thought.
“Yes, the irony of sharing a taxi with a man I found attractive at the parole hearing earlier that day—who would have thought?” I put my hands up.
“Who is he?” she asked.
“He was at the board table, and he sat right in front of me the entire time.” Honestly, I didn’t really know the answer.
“Adi, that’s so weird.” She bit her lip.
“I know.” I nodded.
We both jumped when we heard our doorbell.
“Are you expecting anyone?” She looked at me with wide eyes.
I shook my head as she ran out of my room to answer the door.
“Maybe it’s my mom,” she yelled from the hallway.
I put on a soft pair of black yoga pants and one of my soft v-neck t-shirts and met her out in the living room. As soon as I got to the kitchen, I could see a large bouquet of flowers overflowing in her tiny hand. She thanked the deliveryman and shut the door. I sat down on the couch and turned on the T.V.
“Who’s the lucky guy?” I asked.
“I don’t know. They’re for you.” She sat the purple flowers down in front of me.
I looked down at the flowers and fingered through the top to search for the card. Mariella was giggling with annoying sounds of cooing and awes because she already had the card in her hand.
“Seriously?” I snatched it from her.
“I hope to steal you away again sometime soon. I can’t forget your kiss.”
My neck felt hot as I read the card. It was signed Ryder with his phone number at the bottom. My heart raced. He wanted to see me again, but I was confused because he acted so cold when he left. Mariella jumped up to find a vase and filled it with water, and I handed her the flowers. They were beautiful, and they were the same color purple I wore to the hearing. Was it a coincidence or did he remember? Mariella took the card from me and read the back. But I didn’t think to look at the back.
“What is it now?” I asked as she held the card to her chest.
“The purple flower symbolizes charm, grace, elegance, and most importantly, transition and success.” She closed her eyes. “Adi, that is so romantic and sweet,” she said in a squeaky voice.
“Well, he got all distant last night after we kissed. I thought he wasn’t interested.” I rolled my eyes and snatched the card from her chest.
I poured myself a coffee with extra cream and sugar in my favorite big red mug. Before I retreated to my room, I grabbed a yogurt with granola. This guy had me going from hot to cold to hot again. I needed to think, and Mariella was distracting me with googly love eyes.
Hours passed quickly as I graded papers from this week’s spelling test. I promised my kids a pizza party if they got perfect spelling for this month. So far, it looked like I’d be paying up. Mariella must have left at some point because the apartment was quiet. She had a wedding job today, so she’d be gone for at least four hours. The card from the flowers was sitting next to my laptop, and his phone number was tempting me. My finger ran over the numbers. Should I text or call? I decided I should just send him a quick thank you text because I wasn’t in the mood to continue the conversation he left on last night. My phone felt heavy as I typed in his number. It took me a while, but I managed to type out a nice ‘thank you for the flowers’ and ‘you shouldn’t have’ message. I hit send and looked at it for a few moments. Okay, it was delivered. My stomach flipped as he’s reading it. Thanks to the lovely advancement of the iPhone, my anxiety was overwhelming me as I watch him read it then proceed to type. Oh, my God, I’m sweating. I walked to the bathroom to get space from my phone. This is ridiculous. Why do I feel like a high school girl crushing over a dumb boy while I wait around for his reply? Minutes passed and nothing. I start cleaning the bathroom sink to distract myself. A chime echoed to the bathroom. Tripping over a shirt that was left on the floor, I almost fell to my face. Calm down, Adi. I balanced at the door to steady myself. My feet were moving faster than my upper body, but I finally reached my phone. His number flashed across my screen. My fingers were hesitant, but I opened the message.
“I’m glad you liked them. They reminded me of you.”
He remembered what I was wearing? I started typing out a reply, but I wasn’t sure what to say. Crap, he was typing again, so I waited.
“Can I see you tonight?”
I felt heat pulsing between my legs with that simple question, and I responded immediately.
“Yes. Where?”
I didn’t want to complicate things by asking what his deal was last night and truth be told, I just wanted to see him again. He read it, and he was typing again. Shit, my nerves won’t be able to handle a date tonight.
“I can pick you up at seven for dinner.”
My fingers hovered over several responses that I wanted to send. But I settled on a simple one.
“Okay. See you then.”
I was so damn nervous. This man had my insides going crazy so I couldn’t imagine how they would be later. Time needed to slow down. I needed to get a grip. I had a few hours to get ready, but I decided I should use that time to pick out something sexy to wear. My brain was clouded, and my closet began to look bare. I had no clue what I should wear. I began pulling several shirts off the hangers in confusion.
“No, nope, too baggy, too plain, too boring. What the fuck? Why did my entire closet have to scream I’m a responsible teacher right now?” I huffed.
I tried on three different dresses until I decided on a black dress. It was one of the first items I had bought after moving to the city. I knew Mariella would be dragging me out every chance she got, and I needed that sexy black dress. It covered my chest and shoulders, but the back was mostly open and closed just high enough above my ass not to look too smutty. It hugged my body, and I felt sexy. Turning in front of the mirror, I thought about shoes. I needed some height for this short dress. My new blue pumps would be perfect. They reminded me of his sexy tie he wore when I first saw him. Everything looked perfect together. I sat down at my vanity and did my makeup. After wiping away each eye twice, I decided to do a small winged eyeliner and a nude blush lipstick. My hair was wavy from letting it towel dry so I just touched it up with the curling iron. The waves were tighter than I wanted so I ran my fingers through them, which relaxed it a lot. My hair had grown out so much this year, and I was beginning never to want to part with the long locks. They hugged me. I looked in my mirror one last time and turned once to check the back.
“You’re killing it.” I smirked at my reflection.
I’m such a dork, but my nerves were killing me. Grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge, I checked the time. Wow, ten minutes to spare so I took a deep breath. My hands were shaky as I held onto the water bottle. I must have swallowed too hard because water shot from my nose so fast I began to choke. Violently coughing, I threw the bottle down in the sink and grabbed a napkin to wipe my face. Shit, I had water droplets down the front of my dress. I’m a mess. I tried to wipe it dry just as I heard a knock at my door. “No!” I ran for the bathroom, cleaning my face
the best I could, and then ran back to the living room.
“Just a moment,” I said as I opened the door.
Ryder was holding flowers. This time, gorgeous blue tulips. He stepped in and handed me the new bouquet.
“Thank you. They’re beautiful, and you shouldn’t have... again.” My voice sounded unfamiliar.
I felt him watching me as I quickly placed them in a vase with water. He stood at the door with his hands in his pockets.
“You look amazing,” he said as his eyes never left mine.
I felt my cheeks flush red with heat.
“Thank you. You look fine yourself… Well, more than fine,” I mumbled. I was getting carried away from my nerves, so I just stopped and giggled.
“Okay, are you ready?” I asked.
“Of course.” He nodded.
It was so awkwardly quiet in the elevator that I could hear the pattern of our breathing as it began to sync. We were standing so close that his arm was touching mine. I could feel the heat radiating from his body. It was driving me crazy. I swallowed and looked down at my feet.
“I couldn’t wait to see you again,” he said as he grabbed my hand in his.
“Well, here we are.” I smiled.
He played with my fingers that were tangled up with his the entire trip down to the garage. I couldn’t think of anything else to say, and I knew I probably seemed nervous. This night wasn’t going as smooth as I had hoped. As if on cue to relieve my stomach from the anxious back flips, the elevator doors chimed open. I stepped forward to exit, but my body was pulled back, hitting against Ryder’s chest.
“Just relax. I’ll take care of you tonight...I promise.” His lips softly closed.
There was something in his eyes that I didn’t see before. I felt confident as I looked into them.
“Promise?” I whispered as I bit my bottom lip.
I knew he would. I felt safe with him, and I had a good sense of the person he was. One of the many gifts my mother gave me was reading people. His thumb rubbed my bottom lip where my teeth had just bit down.
Distract Me Page 4