A Wild Wonderland

by Weston Parker

  I gave up on my work and stared at the monitor of my workstation. I was still in disbelief that she didn’t hate me. I had been so sure that she had loathed every fiber of my existence, yet she had wanted me. Very desperately, it seemed.

  I couldn’t help but smile as I thought about when I had returned home. I had thought that maybe I had imagined the whole tryst, but the very large wet spot in the middle of my comforter proved otherwise. Clearly, we both had a great time.

  However, as much as I would like to sit and remember how her breasts bounced each time our hips connected with force, I supposed I should actually get to work. Especially since I had so effectively distracted her from her task the night before.

  Nodding to myself, I got dressed to go outside and grab some boxes from that bar we had escaped.

  I got there when they were closed, of course, but a few workers still seemed to be setting up inside. I knocked and introduced myself as one of the volunteers from the toy drive, and the next thing I knew, the two of them were loading up my truck with all sorts of empty boxes.

  “You got a tarp for this?” one of them asked.

  “Yeah,” I answered, pulling the tightly-wrapped square out from behind my passenger seat. The two actually helped me tie the thing down, too, and I was more than grateful considering how much the temperature was dropping off. Even with gloves, I could hardly feel my fingers.

  When I returned to the frat, I was grateful for the warmth. I realized I should message Hailey that I had her boxes, but I didn’t even have her number. How weird. Normally I wasn’t exactly the call-the-next-day kind of guy, but I liked having the option if I wanted to.

  I headed up to my office and wrote up an email asking what she needed for the next part of the drive. I felt awkward as I typed, wondering what kind of tone I could use. Her exit from my room hadn’t exactly been the warmest, but it wasn’t frigid either. If I had to guess anything, I would say that she was as unsure of how she felt as I was, and I didn’t want to press her.

  I didn’t even make it up the stairs when I heard a clatter in the kitchen. I was tempted to ignore it, but in the end, my presidential self wouldn’t let me. I strode back down and headed toward the sound only to find Jake and Noah in the kitchen.

  “Dude,” Jake exclaimed. “Are you really tracking that nasty ass snow over the floor we just mopped?”

  I looked down, just then noticing I was creating a slushy puddle on the tile. “Oh, sorry.” I crossed to the welcome mat at the back door and wiped my boots.

  “It’s whatever man. We’ll clean it when we’re done with the dishes.” The lanky man turned back to the sink and picked up the conversation I had apparently interrupted with my presence. “But anyway, you’re totally insane, Noah.”

  “I’m just saying, have you seen her ass? It’s stacked beautifully.”

  I paused in my wiping, wondering if they were talking about who I thought they were talking about.

  “I can’t believe you’re so hung up on this girl.”

  “Well, I am.” Noah shrugged. “Leave it be.”

  It felt strangely voyeuristic to listen to them discuss Hailey in such a predictable way. Like she was any another girl. But then again, hadn’t I thought the same thing yesterday?

  “What’s fucked up is you even having a crush on her when she would never give any of us frat boys the time of day.”

  “Well yeah, but can you blame her?”

  I had been about to walk out, tired of eavesdropping and hearing two of my friends dissect her when I was still trying to figure her out myself, but I paused at that. It sounded like Noah knew something.

  Something I didn’t.

  “What do you mean?” Jake asked, obviously as in the dark as I was.

  “It’s her dad, man. He was in a Greek house like us, got her mom pregnant in her senior year and then left her.”

  “Oh geeze, yeah I get it.”

  “Also, I heard from one of her friends she’s not sure if her mom was sober or smashed out of her mind after some finals.”

  “Shit. That’s a pretty big thing to be uncertain of. Does her mom not remember, or doesn’t want to tell her daughter?”

  Noah shrugged his massive shoulders. “Times were different back then. Scumbags got away with a lot. I hope the bastard, wherever he is, gets his karma.”

  “Geeze, you’re really hung up on her.”

  Noah snorted. “I just like justice, even when I’m not crushing. Criminal justice, remember?”

  “Right, right. You’re a real Batman.”

  “You mean Harvey Dent.”

  “Yeah, whatever.”

  They continued their conversation, but I needed space to think. It felt like I had taken a solid punch to the gut, and I felt like I might wheeze whenever I breathed.

  I rushed up the stairs and back to my room, instead of my office. No wonder Hailey was so anti-frat. And Noah was right, I couldn’t blame her one bit.

  I paced my room, trying to think. Obviously, she had some deep-seated resentment, maybe even fear of men like me, reinforced by every day she grew up knowing she had been abandoned by a deadbeat. But on the other hand, she was clearly attracted to me. Maybe it was borne out of the intense dislike we had for each other, or maybe we were drawn together, but either way, I couldn’t get her out of my head.

  I couldn’t be certain why, but all I knew was I needed to make sure she was okay. And if she never wanted to talk to me again, I would certainly be upset, but I would understand. However, this was a matter that required far more than an email.

  Chapter 10

  Hailey

  I sat at my computer, staring above my monitor to the wall behind it as if the blank space would have the answers my mind was looking for. I was still in shock, I guessed, and it felt like the world was moving in slow motion behind me.

  Why had I slept with Brayden? My whole life, I had hated exactly his type, but at the first instance, I had hopped into his bed. And there was no denying I had absolutely been a willing participant. Willing, eager and even desperate.

  My face flushed as I thought of it, and I groaned. I couldn’t get our time together out of my head. The way his muscles had rippled as he moved against me. The smell of him as we combined in one of the most intimate ways possible. I could feel myself grow wet in proportion to my frustration. What was I going to do with myself?

  Was I turning into the women I had always judged for being too shallow, too trusting, and too ready to hop into a stranger’s arms? Was this my comeuppance for feeling superior to them? Probably. But it was hard to feel ashamed when I recalled how damned good he had made me feel.

  I thought back to my most recent ex, Derrek, the small-towner with a small-timer. Sweet, but he had been unable to rock my boat. And before that was my high school sweetheart, Jared. We were both young and relatively dumb, and not to mention underage for a good chunk of our relationship, so that went about how one would expect it.

  No, Brayden was in a category all to himself. I wondered if I would ever find anyone like him again, or if one drunken night, I would throw myself at his door like so many of the aforementioned women I had judged so harshly.

  A knock on the door interrupted my thoughts. I jolted before realizing Melina must have forgotten her keys yet again. She was a sweet girl, but goodness, she had a terrible time waking up in the morning and often left something behind. So far, she had abandoned her purse twice, her phone three times, and her keys a grand total of seven times. Some people would be annoyed by it, but I found the habit endearing.

  But when I opened the door, it was none other than Brayden.

  “Wha-why-what’r—”

  The man slid past me before I could get my mind in order long enough to tell him to go away. He strode past me and through the open door of my bedroom to sit on my bed. I wanted to ask him what the hell he was doing, but his expression halted me.

  “We need to talk,” he said flatly.

  I huffed and closed the door behind
me. I must have been insane, but I wanted to know why he was here.

  “What could we possibly have to talk about?”

  I had expected more argument or maybe an assurance that we shouldn’t let what happened between us reoccur. But instead, he held up two fingers.

  “Well, first of all, you hate me.” He put a finger down. “But then you slept with me. Enthusiastically.” The second finger went down. “What we have here, if my freshman vocabulary holds up, is a conundrum.”

  I sighed, rubbing my temples. As if my life wasn’t complicated enough, I had to go and muddle it all up.

  “I don’t hate you,” I murmured, leaning against the wall. “Believe me that I definitely want to and that the logical part of my mind is screaming at me to, but I just don’t.” Another deep breath. “Every time I think I’m close, I remember that you’re polite and helpful, and I appreciate how hard you and your house have been working.”

  He was quiet a moment, digesting each of her words. “Why do you try to hate me?”

  I looked around the room, at the ceiling, at the walls, anywhere but the man sitting on my bed. I didn’t want to tell him, but what choice did I have? I had put myself in this situation.

  The next thing, my mouth was opening, and I was telling him about my biological father. How he was a prolific frat boy at his college and how he had gotten my mom pregnant. She had given him so many chances to be a dad, but he had told her to get rid of it. Get rid of me.

  I sat down on Melina’s bed as I spoke, the weight of my words too much to bear on my own two feet. I didn’t like talking about my dad. It was like even speaking about him would give him power over me.

  Brayden must have heard my distress because he crossed over from my bed to sit beside me.

  “I’m aware that you don’t know me, and you have no reason to believe me, but I could never do that.” The words were nice, but he was right. I had no way of knowing that he was telling the truth. “Not only because I firmly believe in birth control, but because I’m not a dick.”

  “Really?” she accused. “We didn’t use protection last night.”

  He pointed to the crook of my arm. “I can see you use the implant,” he said simply. “And I have my test results from a couple weeks back. Forgive me for assuming you were clean but, uh, you kinda fit the goody-goody type.”

  “Well, you are right this time, but I wouldn’t recommend making that gamble often.”

  “I wouldn’t. I never do, actually. You’re the exception.”

  “Lucky me,” I murmured, leaning against his shoulder and surprising even myself. “You know, when I first saw you in the library, I wanted to climb you right then and there.”

  He laughed, voice filling up our shared room. The mirth warmed me and made me feel a little less like my life was spinning out of control.

  “I, uh, I still don’t really know how to handle you. I mean this. I mean … us.”

  He squeezed my shoulder, pressing me to his side. “Don’t worry. We can figure it out together.”

  “Is that a promise?” she teased.

  “Absolutely.” He answered with a soft smile.

  Chapter 11

  Brayden

  I looked over to my passenger seat for about the millionth time in a half hour, still getting used to the sight of Hailey curled up there, reading a book. It was only the second time she was in my truck, and this time, she wasn’t sitting in my lap, trying to take my clothes off—not that I would object to that at all.

  Instead, she had a planner open in her lap and her cell phone in another, texting relevant people while simultaneously writing down notes and whatever other information she deemed useful. It was a little intimidating to watch her multitask like the most advanced robot I’d ever seen, but I supposed she had developed the skill to fit the demand.

  Especially when the demand today was none other than running a drive-blitz at the science museum. Definitely not an easy task but one I was almost excited for. The rest of my boys were already there, setting up and doing more of the grunt work. I had very much planned to do much of the same, but since Hailey didn’t have a car, I had agreed to become her de facto driver for the rest of the drive.

  It helped that we were kind of dating. Maybe. Sorta. It was complicated.

  I smiled as I thought back to the previous night when I had burst into Hailey’s dorm like some sort of scorned ex and insisted we talk. I normally was not that kind of guy. Not that I didn’t value emotions and healthy communication, but those were things for people who were serious about their love life, and I was all about having fun.

  But not with Hailey.

  Sure, she made me laugh now that I knew some of her tics, and I was inspired by her, so it wasn’t like fun wasn’t part of the deal, but it was more than that. I was feeling things for the small woman that I had never felt for anyone else. It was strange and worrying, and I wanted to understand it more. I figured the best way to do that would be not to deny my feelings and, instead, to jump in feet first.

  And what a leap it had been. We had talked and talked, and I was sure I would have stayed rooted right to that spot if Hailey’s roommate, Melina hadn’t come in. I had been more than content to stay and lower our voices to whispers, but then I noticed my butt was planted firmly on the girl’s bed. That made me think better of it, and I started to make my exit.

  Little did I know, I was about to face the great roommate inquisition. Nobody ever expected the great roommate inquisition.

  Melina had taken me out to their small but comfy living room, sat me down on the couch, and started rapid-fire asking me about my intentions. She hardly seemed to take a breath in between, and I would have been impressed if not for the worry in my middle that I would somehow fuck everything up.

  The whole situation lasted about twenty minutes and was awkward as hell. But apparently, I’d answered in a way that pleased Melina because she had stepped to the side and let me go.

  Of course, I had stopped to wish good night to Hailey, almost worried I had imagined everything that had gone on between us, but she’d stood on her tiptoes for a chaste kiss that I was more than happy to deliver.

  The moment our lips touched, I felt that … that feeling again, and I left feeling a whole lot less confused by the entire situation. Granted, I knew I was going to have another long, awkward discussion soon. Eventually, Noah would need to be informed, and I was sure he wouldn’t be happy, but I would figure that out when I had to. Lord knew I had enough on my mind anyway.

  Thankfully, our trip to the science museum was fairly uneventful, and we arrived fifteen minutes earlier than our schedule dictated, like Hailey liked it. I was quickly learning she was incredibly detail-oriented and put together. She didn’t abide ever being late or forgetting a commitment. I thought I was organized, running the frat and all, but she put me to shame.

  The guys, to their credit, seemed to have anticipated our early arrival and were nearly done with setup. The kicker, though, was that all of them were already dressed, some of them as snowmen and some of them as elves. And not the high fantasy, model elves that seemed to be shoved into every magic movie ever but rather Santa’s little helpers.

  “You look hilarious,” I said, offering my hand in a high five to Jake as he walked up to greet us.

  The lanky boy stuck out a long, long leg that was clad in green and red striped stockings. “Don’t hate just ‘cause I make this look good.”

  I snorted. “Yeah, whatever. Any trouble this morning?”

  He shook his head. “Nah, everything’s been going smoothly, knock on wood. The workers here are almost, like, eerily polite.”

  “Good,” I shot back. “Maybe you can learn something.”

  “Maybe, but then I’d have to pay them a forty-thousand-dollar tuition.”

  “Touché.”

  Hailey laughed gently beside us, and I loved hearing the sound. It was silly, but it kind of felt like a gold star being slapped on my efforts.

  We threw ourse
lves into the work, and I felt something strange start to happen. I was nervous. I found myself looking at the clock repeatedly, counting down until we were supposed to get going. What if nobody showed up the entire day? All of Hailey’s hard work would have gone to waste, and I had no doubt she would blame herself.

  Thankfully, it didn’t turn out like that at all. In fact, it was fun.

  There was that word again. I had been so sure I had known what it meant just days ago, and yet, I was finding it had quite a few different iterations as I stood in the midst of several winter wondermen and too-tall workshop elves.

  When the day finally ended, we had assembled two large boxes full of donations. I couldn’t believe it. Hailey had only estimated a single box, but we managed to double that. And on top of that success, she had spent much of the day laughing. In fact, every time the elf-boys did a jig to thank a donator, she would just about break down into a fit of giggles.

  It made me swell with pride every single time. Even after such a short time together, I got the feeling Hailey was an easy person to earn the ire of, but that much harder to draw a smile from. The fact that I’d gotten so much more of a reaction than that was enough to make my entire week.

  And I was pretty damn proud of that.

  Chapter 12

  Hailey

  I sat quietly in Brayden’s car, reliving some of the highlights of the day over and over. I couldn’t believe it, but the guys had completely blown my expectations out of the water. Talk about hitting the ground feet first. It was their first public drive-blitz, and they couldn’t have been more well-behaved.

  And all the things they thought of! They challenged visiting children to games like candy-cane toss and a memory game made out of cut-out snowflakes, which they always lost, of course. For adults, they often sang funny songs or did completely ridiculous dances if someone donated. No doubt, it was what some insecure men would call humiliating, but I was so thoroughly impressed.