UnPlanned

by M. Piper

  I smile and nod and make a noise that resembles a dying bird. Again, not helping myself here. I watch him walk down the steps, still wearing that damn smirk, and when he hits the sidewalk he takes off in a jog again, only looking back once to flash that grin at me one more time.

  “Who the hell was that man and why didn’t you tell me about him?” Lucy whispers, leaning against the doorway and watching him go.

  “I… I don’t know. I don’t even know his name.” I whisper, watching his beautiful body gleaming with sweat. “Did he tell you?” I whisper, still watching him yet failing completely in being discreet about it. He makes it to the end of the street and turns, jogging past us and grinning when he realizes we're still here watching him.

  "Lincoln," Lucy sighs.

  "Whatever," I laugh, walking inside and slamming the door. I need to stop watching him.

  "I'm serious! He told me his name's Lincoln."

  "Funny man." I roll my eyes and walk into my room. I met him at West House. He's probably just pulling our chain. No one in their right mind would have the name of Lincoln and work where he does. That's just crazy people level.

  I spend the next hour unpacking boxes and starting to make my portion of this house feel like a home. I’m a trinket collector. My most prized possession, a Feng Shui elephant my grandma got me right before she passed, sits at the top of my bookshelf, keeping me safe. She told me all about the helpful properties of having an elephant in my room. From positive energy, to a wealthy house, all the way to keeping our partners happy and loyal. Makes little sense to me really since this house isn’t mine and I don’t have a partner, but it’s still cute and means the world to me.

  “Knock, knock," Lucy says, leaning on my doorframe. I glance up from my filing cabinet that I'm supposed to be organizing but instead reminiscing with all the old artwork from years past and smile. "What about I take you out to dinner? As a housewarming thing.”

  “I'm starving," I moan. "I'm a mess, though."

  “It's ok, I know just the place.” She grins and skips off, yelling behind her, “We're leaving in fifteen! Toss on some shoes!”

  I chuckle to myself and dig out my sandals from the herd of shoes I still have to organize in my closet.

  “Where are we going?”

  “Only the best barbecue joint this side of town.” She says and stops at a red light. “I'm telling you, Wren. This place is addicting.” She smiles and kicks up the radio before fixing her messy bun.

  The drive takes all of ten minutes and when we park I'm sure she's pulling my leg.

  “Lucy this place looks like it's closed down,” I mutter, eyeing the dilapidated building.

  “Oh no. It looks like it makes the best BBQ ever. Trust me on this, Wren.” She nudges me and hops out of the car.

  I better not die from this.

  “So we go inside and order then we have to eat out here.” She nods towards some picnic tables and I cringe.

  “Can't we take it home to eat?”

  “Nope. I'm giving you the full experience today. No regrets. I’ll order for you. I know what you'll like. You have a seat.” She points to a table and I roll my eyes.

  “I’m trusting you, Lucy. Don't let me down.”

  I'm not a snob, but this place looks abandoned. How can decent food that isn't going to kill me come out of a place like this? And how did I live here almost my entire life and never hear of this place if it’s so good? I care about my wellbeing. That's how. Also, I was pretty sheltered growing up here thanks to my parents.

  “Here we go!” Lucy sings and walks over to the table with two massive trays. “One for you,” she says, sliding a tray at me. “and one for me,” she chirps, smiling wide.

  The food on my tray makes my stomach grumble in the best of ways. The smells coming from this tray…oh God. The sweet of the sauce making my mouth water, mixing with the spicy tinge to it smells so fucking delicious. I dive in, not realizing how hungry I am until she sets the food in front of me, and don't stop until I have to come up for air. I’m like a kid at Christmas!

  “Lucy this is the best shit I’ve ever eaten.”

  She smiles and nods at the sign behind her. 'The best shit you'll ever eat' and I laugh.

  “That's the best fucking slogan, too!” I laugh, taking a bite of my beans.

  We spend the rest of the time there eating and getting to know each other. I kind of moved in with a stranger, but she's nice and trustworthy. And she's clean. That's big.

  I hear the commotion before I see it.

  “Fuck you, too!” A man yells, popping out the door of the shack we got our food from. He's laughing when the man inside yells profanities back at him. He spins to see who his audience is and freezes.

  “I know you,” he says, a sly grin spreading on his lips as his eyes land on me.

  “You know all the hot ones,” Lucy whispers, nudging me.

  “I think you have me confused for someone else,” I say. I’ve never seen this man in my life. I'd remember someone like him. Built, cocky, strong jaw; oh yea, I'd remember him.

  “No, I know you. Were you at the West House last week?” He shifts the food bag in his hands and cocks his head at me.

  “I was,” I say slowly, trying to figure out how I wouldn't remember a face like his. It's probably because the only thing I truly remember from that day is meeting the man that likes to call himself Lincoln and how strangely he looked at me. Also, how delicious he sounded. God, that voice.

  “Yea, the girl out back. With my brother.” He nods. “What's your name anyway?”

  “Wren,” I whisper. His brother… It all makes sense now. God, good genes must run in the family.

  “I'm Lucy,” she blurts, interrupting whatever was going on between this man and me.

  “Ford,” he says, winking at her and I think I can actually hear her swoon.

  “Ford… Lincoln…” I say, laughing at him. “Do you guys all go by stage names?"

  “Nah. Our parents are just big history geeks.” He shrugs and taps the food. “Gotta get this home. I don't wanna be the reason those assholes starve tonight. You two take it easy. I'll see ya around.”

  He walks off, his tight jeans hugging all the right places and the sway in his step a little too cocky for my liking. Lucy on the other hand…

  “He's dreamy,” she sighs. “And he's Lincoln's brother!” She claps her hands. “Oh my God wouldn't it be so cool if we double dated?”

  “You're in a food coma and obviously not thinking straight. Come on, let's get a move on.” I throw our trash away and attempt to not think about Lincoln and Ford. God, though. I mean, I’ve never seen such strikingly beautiful men.

  We head home, all the while she won't stop talking about how cute both the boys were today and how they must have really super attractive parents to come out looking like that. I have to block her out after she makes it a point to hang out in my room and continue the conversation.

  I'll admit, I like me a good looking boy. I'm not ready for one right now, though. And those boys…oh man those boys.

  “Dinner bell, ding, ding!” Ford walks in and slams the bag on the table and heads straight for Carter. He's probably the best uncle there is for a kid because he's still so young at heart. “You owe me a meal,” he says, smirking back at me

  “Thank you, and I don’t owe you anything. I’m pretty certain I bought the last three times and you've eaten enough of my food to count as a few meals.”

  He laughs and throws one of Carter's balls at me. I don’t give him a hard time about living here recently. His girlfriend threw him out last week and from the looks of it he’s not getting back in any time soon. I told him he can just move in but for now he’s holding onto hope. He did, however, move in his chocolate Lab, Yellow, and Carter’s taken so much of a liking to him that I’m sure there will be problems if and when Ford ever moves him back out.

  I toss Yellow a treat while Ford’s not looking and walk over and grab the bags, finding my takeout box a
nd grabbing a fork. I love this barbecue place but taking Carter out to eat anymore has proven to be difficult. I can't keep him in a high chair long enough to actually sit down and eat a meal! Yellow’s staring at me with old, pitiful eyes but Ford’s in the room with me and if I toss him any table scraps he’ll have my ass for it. He’s trained this dog too well. I hate to tell him that moving him into a house with a baby will kill that training the minute Carter realizes how fun it is to toss the dog food.

  “Hey I saw that girl at The Shack,” Ford says, groaning in defeat when Carter knocks down a building he was building for him.

  “What girl?” I ask, shoving a bite of pulled pork sandwich into my mouth. God this stuff is delicious.

  “The one from work the other day.” He nods at Carter who's trying to build his own tower but fails after block four.

  “You're gonna have to be more specific than that, Ford. We see a lot of girls go through that place.”

  “You know exactly which one I'm talking about.” He pins me in place with the look on his face.

  I do. I know, because I can't stop thinking about her. Like who is she, where'd she come from, how do we keep running into her?

  “Yea? There with her boyfriend?” I take another bite and think back to seeing her in that alley. Legs for days, she’s a natural beauty and her eyes hid way more than she was putting off on the outside. Running into her today solidified my need to get to know what makes this girl’s eyes sparkle. She was a beautiful hot mess today and annoyed as hell that I showed up. It was absolutely random, but hell I loved seeing her again. She’ll fight it, but I think I need a date with this girl. A few good ones. At least to scratch the itch she’s caused me. It’s been a long time since a girl’s stayed on my mind like she has. Wren. Hell, even her name is cute.

  “No man friend, bro. Some girl named Lucy was with her. Hot enough,” he shrugs, standing and putting Carter in his high chair and grabbing some puffs for him to eat.

  “Did you talk to her?” I ask with a mouth full of food, trying not to laugh when Carter immediately tosses Yellow a puff and Yellow’s attention is taken from my sandwich to the toddler throwing him food. Ford rolls his eyes but he can’t tell the kid no so he’s letting it happen.

  “Yea. And by the way, you’ll never get a girlfriend, let alone a date, if you keep eating like that.” He shoves a napkin in my shirt and I make a scene, devouring my sandwich as messy as I can. I should probably stop, but it’s making Carter laugh and that’s the best damn sound in the world.

  “My son’s first priority, man. You know this.” I walk over to him and pull apart some bread and meat from my sandwich, tossing it on his tray. He devours it faster than I can pull it off for him and I can’t help but laugh. “Slow down, dude. You can’t even taste it when you eat it that fast!” I laugh and he smiles at me, barbeque sauce all over his pudgy face.

  “Mo,” he asks, reaching for my sandwich. I sigh and give in, grabbing a fork to shred the rest of the sandwich into pieces he can eat. He doesn’t toss any of this to the dog. The kid knows good food when he gets it.

  “I paid good money for your dinner, too.” Ford says from the table as he watches us.

  “Yea, next time we’ll need to get this little chunk a meal too,” I say, laughing. “Thanks for grabbing dinner tonight,” I say, then toss a beer from the fridge at him.

  It’s been a while since I’ve had a roommate. Carter and I have gotten used to being the only two dudes around, but this house is big enough for more people and Ford’s my brother. It’s the best type of live-in roommate.

  By the end of the next week I’ve thought about Wren every single day. It’s pathetic, really. I barely know this girl but I can’t stop thinking about her. I make it a point on my jog Saturday morning to run down her street again, hoping that maybe she’s outside. When I pass it the first time the house looks locked up tight. Granted, it’s only eight am, but shouldn’t someone be awake right now?

  My mom has Carter this morning and isn’t planning on giving him back until tonight so I’m in no hurry to get home. I have all day free and for once in a long time I have nothing planned. So, instead of turning at the end of her street and looping the distance back to my place, I turn around and head back the way I came one more time. This isn’t creepy at all.

  “You’re making a habit of running by here on the weekends, now?” I hear her friend’s voice before I see her. Grinning, I slow my pace and glance over to the house. Lucy, her roommate, is curled up on the front steps with a cup of coffee in her hands. “I’m ok with the new scenery.” She says, taking a gulp. I smile and slow to a walk, coming up on her house.

  “How ya doing, Miss Lucy?”

  “Oh don’t Miss me. That makes me feel old. And proper…both of which I am definitely not.”

  “Oh,” I laugh. “Okay then. How’s life.”

  “You mean how’s Wren?” She grins. “I saw those eyes you had for her last week. She told me about meeting you at the West House too. Didn’t find it too funny when you gave me a fake name.” She shrugs and stands up.

  “Lincoln is my name,” I say and start to laugh. “Is she home? I can show her my ID.”

  Lucy bites her lip deep in thought. “Hang on.” She disappears inside, leaving the front door wide open.

  “FIRE DRILL! FIRE DRILL! GET OUT, GET OUT, GET OUT!” I hear her screaming and my eyes go wide.

  “Shit,” I say, shaking my head and thinking maybe asking about her was a bad idea. I take a few steps away and try to decide what to do when I hear them moving again. There’s commotion inside and soon I see Lucy shuffling a very confused, angry, sleepy Wren out to the front porch, all the while Wren’s bitching at her.

  “This wasn’t in the contract!” Wren whines, rubbing her eyes. “I’m not ok with this, Lucy.” She says, yawning.

  “You will be,” Lucy says winking at me and shoving Wren outside before slamming and locking the door.

  “Hey!” Wren says, still not noticing that I’m standing here. “Lucy!” she slams on the door and I laugh. God she’s so cute in those shorts and white tank top that’s way more revealing than she knows.

  She must hear me and spins, eyes wide. “You,” she whispers, immediately crossing her arms over her chest. “What are you doing? Wha—”

  “Your friend’s kind of crazy,” I say, stepping towards her.

  “Why are you here. Again?” She narrows her eyes at me and I shrug.

  “A man’s allowed to jog in his own neighborhood, isn’t he?”

  “This is your neighborhood?”

  “Sure,” I say, grinning. “I’m about a half mile west of here, right off Monument Drive.”

  She nods and sighs.

  “So, how’s your Saturday going?” I ask, smiling. I can’t help but smile at her. She’s fucking radiant right now. The sun’s shining just right, making her skin glow and her messy hair, untouched from what looks like a restless night’s sleep, look more like the perfected messy bun my sister’s always trying to achieve than anything else.

  “Well, I just got out of bed in the most rude of ways.” She nods. “I’m definitely still in my pajamas standing on my front porch with mega hottie staring at me like I’m insane. And I’m locked out of my house.” She rolls her eyes and I grin even wider.

  “Mega hottie, huh?”

  “Oh come on, you know what you look like. And it’s way too good.” She laughs. “I just look homeless right now.”

  “You look perfect to me.” I step closer and her doe eyes lock on mine. Beautiful blue doe eyes, lined with a hint of yesterday’s makeup, all for me right now.

  She clears her throat and looks down to the ground. “Listen,” I say. “Your friend stopped me. It was her idea to wake you up, I’m really sorry about that…but I’m not sorry that I got to see you again.”

  She lets out this airy laugh and groans, looking up at the sky. “You can’t say things like that. You barely know me.”

  “I know I want to get to know yo
u more.” I shrug.

  “You don’t. I’m not that interesting.”

  “I’d rather you didn’t tell me what to do, Wren.” Her eyes flick back to mine and there’s a hint of pink on her cheeks. “I want a date. One date to show you I’m serious about wanting to get to know you better.”

  She laughs and shakes her head. “That’s the weirdest way to ask someone out that I’ve ever heard.”

  “I’m not your typical guy.” I say, grinning.

  “I don’t even know your real name!” she laughs. “I can’t go on a date with a guy I don’t even know his real name!”

  I laugh and pull out my wallet, gripping my license and yanking it out, then shove it over to her. “Lincoln West. Twenty three years old. Works at the family business with his brother Ford and little sister Reagan.”

  She barks out a laugh and hands me back my ID, nodding. “Okay wait. Ford, Lincoln, and Reagan? Seriously?”

  “We’re a pretty big history nerd family.” I start to tell her about Carter and his name but I don’t. No need to tell her that I’m a father. Not yet. Maybe later…after I’ve found out who she really is.

  She stands on her porch, her arms dropped and the sun hitting her just right that I can see her nipples through the white cotton tank and it’s taking all I have not to stand here and stare at her tits. I want to. I really want to. But I’m bound to be a gentleman.

  “Are you staring at my boobs?” She asks and my eyes fly up from her chest.

  “Was I?” I grin. Apparently I was failing and didn’t even know it. She laughs again and groans.

  “Fine,” she blurts. “One date.” She holds her finger up when I start talking. “But I pick where we go.”

  “Nope,” I say, shaking my head. “I asked you. I get one shot. I pick.” I cross my arms in front of me and stand my ground. She huffs and narrows her eyes at me.

  “This isn’t a ploy just to drug and rape me and never let me see the light of day again, is it?”

  I bark out a laugh and shake my head, taking the few steps it takes to be eye to eye with her. If I came all the way up to the porch she’d be shoulder height with me. Being down a couple steps gives me the perfect advantage to stare straight into those blue beauties.