by Mack Black
I yanked her inside, straight to my room and handed her a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt with Rock Paper Scissors Lizard Spock on it. It was my favorite shirt, and I bet she would look better in it. She laughed, muttering something about The Big Bang Theory and my obsession with it. I couldn't help it though; it was probably one of the best shows on the air.
She slipped into my bathroom while I tore off my own wet clothes in my bedroom. I tugged on a pair of shorts, electing to take a shower later. Gathering up the wet clothes, I took them straight to the washer and loaded them in. Then I returned to my room to really look at the damage done to everything that was in my pockets.
My phone was done for, so I tossed it on the desk in the corner. I unloaded everything from my wallet, laying each card and bill out to dry. My keys would be fine, they had already pretty much dried. Luckily the bag that was in the back of the boat didn't get wet, because I had borrowed that projection equipment from work.
I clicked on the mouse, bringing the computer screen to life and typed in my phone carrier, printing out the documents to replace my phone. I could fax the documents tomorrow and have a new phone the following day.
Bella came back into my room then, a sharp gasp escaping her lips as I turned in my chair to look at her. I hadn’t put a shirt on, mainly because I loved her reaction when I didn't wear one.
"Put your clothes in the washer and turn it on. It's ready to go," I said, turning back to the computer. "I'm just going to finish this up really quick."
She disappeared from my room, coming back moments later and standing over me. "Phone replacement? Oh God, did I break your phone?"
"Nah. The lake broke it." I laughed. "I shouldn't have had it in my pocket on the boat."
She frowned at me, spinning my chair so I’d look at her. "Can I replace it?"
"Bella, I have insurance. It's cheap to replace it. Besides, kissing you like that was worth losing my phone for a few days." I smiled then, replaying the kiss over in my head.
It had been incredible.
"Really?" She looked as if she didn't believe me.
"Completely worth it."
She sat down in my lap and grasped my face, pressing her lips against mine. My body responded, throwing my mind for a loop. I couldn’t think, but a certain part of me did plenty of thinking, growing harder by the second. My cheeks heated.
After a quick look down, she jerked away. "You know, I expected you to take me to some fancy restaurant and try to woo me, but this was..." She paused, searching for the right words.
"Are you disappointed?" I shot out. I didn’t think she’d been, and honestly, I thought I’d nailed it.
"No." She bit her bottom lip. "What we did was incredible. I never expected you to stay true to yourself, especially after your big change last month."
"Does that mean I get a second date?" I asked, hopeful.
"I'd love to go on a second date," she said, her fingers tangling in my hair.
"You know it took me a whole month to plan that?" I said. "Because I did want to stay true to myself and I wanted to do it the right way."
"I'm glad you did. You put a lot of thought into it. If you’d taken me to a fancy restaurant, you wouldn't have gotten a second date," she admitted. "When I chose to date you, I chose to date the real you. The guy I've always known. Not this new guy you seem to think you need to be. Truthfully, this entire month, I wondered why you weren't jumping on the chance. I didn't realize you were putting so much thought into it."
My eyebrows drew together, confusion setting in. "Do you not feel like you're worth the effort?"
"No, it just surprised me is all. You were so gung-ho on dating me, so when I agreed I figured at the very least we would go out the next day. After a week, I wondered if you’d changed your mind."
"Bella, I've liked you for six years. It would be highly idiotic if I suddenly changed my mind when I finally got a chance. I just wanted everything to be perfect because you deserve nothing less than perfect."
"How did I not see how romantic you were all this time?" she asked. "I was really missing out."
I laughed at that. I’d never been very romantic, but I wouldn’t argue with her if she thought I was. "It was pretty perfect, until we fell in the lake."
"Even falling in the lake was perfect," she said, leaning down to touch her forehead with mine.
We sat silently for a few moments, just staring into each other's eyes. My eyes were itching from the contacts and the lake water. I didn't want to change them out though, because that would mean moving out of this position.
"I should go," she whispered. "If I don't go now, I'll stay."
"You could definitely stay," I offered.
"If we're going to do this right, I need to go."
She was right. It was too soon for anything more to happen, and even though I hated the thought, she had to go.
"Walk you to your car?" I asked.
"Sure."
I slipped the apartment key into my pocket, still not bothering to put a shirt on, and walked her down. When we got to her car, she turned back to me, resting her hands on my waist.
I leaned down to kiss her once more, and her hands slid up my sides and over my chest before locking around my neck. I pulled her closer and deepened the kiss.
"I'm glad you said yes," I said as I drew away.
"Me too."
Then she got in her car and drove away.
The washer buzzed the minute I walked in my apartment, so I switched the clothes to the dryer and headed for the bathroom.
After I rinsed my contacts, I popped them back in before hopping in the shower. Then, I stepped out with a towel wrapped around me, heading towards the dryer. The pair of shorts I got out were warm when I pulled them on. I carefully folded her dress and her panties and laid them on the couch.
I’d wanted to be a perv and keep her panties, but I decided against it and returned to my room. There would be plenty of time to steal her panties later.
I settled into my bed, leaning back on the pillows with a sigh. I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep, dreaming about Bella.
As promised, I got up and got ready to go to Nessa's house for brunch. Just as I was about to walk out the door, Bella showed up. I wanted to cancel my other plans right there and spend the day with her, but I knew I couldn’t. I’d bailed too many times already.
"I'm sorry Bella, but I've got this family thing to go to," I said, stepping out of my door and hugging her.
"I could go with you," she said.
"I don't think we're there yet." I thought taking her with me would jinx whatever we’d started. She had to like me before I brought her around my whole family. It would only make me hopeful, and I didn’t want that since I didn’t know exactly where we stood yet.
"What do you mean?" she asked.
"Look. We shared some intimate moments, and I loved every one of them, but the only girl I’ve ever brought home was Elise. That didn’t go so well, so now my sister is defensive. I’m just not ready to do it again.” The words tumbled out of me even though I knew she would probably be offended.
"Not this again, James. How many times do I have to tell you I'm not those other girls? I thought after six years of having your back you would believe me."
"I'm not saying you are Bella. I'm just saying we aren't even in a relationship. You coming with me would send the wrong signals to everyone. To me," I whispered the last part, scared to admit it out loud.
"Then what do you call what we’re doing?" she asked, hands planted on her hips.
"Casual dating?" I offered, even though I didn’t know what to call what we were doing. It wasn’t a relationship, but not a friendship, either.
"Wow. You're a real prick." She spun, storming off. I didn’t have time to follow after her, so I groaned and grasped my bag tighter in my hands as I made my way down to my truck. The whole way I cursed my stupid mouth. It always got me in trouble…
I couldn’t wait to get this family lunc
h over with and it hadn’t even started.
The entire drive to Nessa’s, my mind searched for ways to make things with Bella better, how to get her to talk to me again. When I pulled into my sister’s driveway, I still hadn’t come up with a single thing.
My eyes landed on Dad’s car in the driveway, and I let out another groan. I just couldn’t deal with his abnormally chipper attitude today. He’d been married to a crazy bitch, and the divorce had finally went through—even though I had no idea why there’d been such a hold up.
Before I walked in, I steeled myself, preparing for my dad’s happiness, my sisters million questions, and Jace's general irritability. I raised my hand to knock, but the door swung open before I could, and my sister’s arms wrapped around me.
"James! You came!" she screamed in my ear.
"I said I would come, so chill." I pushed her off me, shoving by her into the house.
"What crawled up your ass?" Jace said.
I turned towards his voice. How had I not noticed him standing in the doorway?
"My umm"—I paused, not sure how to word what I wanted to say—“Female friend and I are fighting."
His eyebrows raised, and Nessa snickered behind me.
"Female friend huh? So not a girlfriend, but there seems to be a little more there from the look on your face," Jace said, smirking at me.
"Shut up." Embarrassment burned at my cheeks.
"Oh, is it that hot Italian girl? What's her name Less? Starts with a B. Hmm. Beyoncé? Wait no that's a singer." His eyebrows drew together in thought.
"Bella." Nessa said, drawing out the l’s. "And did you seriously call her hot while your wife is standing right here?"
"Oh babe, you're way hotter than her," he corrected.
"Whose hot?" Dad said, coming out from the kitchen.
"Oh God! Please make this end." I groaned.
"It's all in good fun, James. Lighten up a little," Dad said, smiling at my sister.
Of course she gets the smile. She’s always been the favorite.
My dad wrapped an arm around my shoulder, pushing me into the kitchen where my nieces were already sat at the table waiting to eat. The table was spread with eggs, bacon, pancakes, sautéed onions and peppers, ham, and homemade biscuits. From the looks of it, Nessa was trying to feed an army.
There was no way we were going to finish all this food, but I still picked a spot at the table—right between the girls. I had to admit, I might be pouting a little, but in my defense, everyone had ganged up on me…
"What's the matter Uncle James?" Skylar said, pinching my cheeks.
"Your mommy and daddy are picking on me," I replied, pulling her wet fingers off my face and wiping it. Sometimes kids could be so gross. What had been on her fingers?
After she plopped them into her mouth, I realized the wetness was just spit.
Great. Now I'm spit face.
"I will beat them up for you Uncy James," Raine said in her little voice, making me smile.
"How about we beat them up together." I laughed.
"Daddy says that's not nice," Skylar said. Typical five-year-old. Always had to be right—just like her mother.
God help the kid if she turned out anything like Nessa as a teen. I shuddered just thinking about it.
"Daddy isn't being very nice right now, either," I said, fighting the urge to roll my eyes. "Besides, Uncle James does what he wants."
They both laughed at that, covering their little mouths to stifle the sounds.
Everyone walked into the kitchen then, taking a seat around the table. It was a good thing Nessa upgraded, because the old table would never have fit us all.
Two extra rooms had been built onto the back side of the house. The old pool was gone and a bigger was built in its place. There was even a hot tub to the side of it now. Must be nice having all that money—not that I would know.
I wasn't poor, but I wasn't well enough off to make random purchases whenever I wanted. It seemed like every time I came here they’d bought something new.
The girls even had iPads. I couldn't afford an iPad even if I wanted one…which I didn’t. I was more of a laptop kind of guy. Bella liked the tablets. In fact, we’d gotten into an argument about that once.
I've really got it bad. Everything always ends up about Bella.
"So, James how was your date the other night?" Nessa asked.
"It went well."
"Are you ever going to introduce us to her?" She grinned.
My drink lodged in my throat when she asked her question, and I almost choked. "It's way too soon for that, sis." Except, Bella hadn’t thought it was too soon.
"Tell us about her, then. I think I speak for us all when I say we don't want this to end up like the last one," my dad said, eyeing me.
"Believe me, neither do I," I replied.
"Well?" Nessa said.
"Okay. She’s beautiful. In fact, she’s the most beautiful girl I've ever seen," I said, hoping that would be enough to stop this conversation.
"More beautiful than Bella?" My sister jumped in.
"Yes." I grinned. If only she knew.
"And?" Jace said.
"And she is a photographer. She does a lot of freelance work." Please let that be enough.
"Where did you take her on your date?" Jace asked as he shoved a whole pancake into his mouth.
"We went paddle boating and had dinner on an island," I said, satisfied I’d done something cool for a first date.
"I once took Lessa skiing. Man, you should’ve seen her. It was the funniest thing ever." Jace laughed.
My dad bumped fists with him over the table and I wondered what the hell that was about. Did my dad go on that date with them?
"Hey!" Nessa cried. "This is about James, not me."
I groaned again, shoving my mouth full so I wouldn't have to talk anymore.
"Well actually," my dad started, "didn't you call us all here for this little lunch to talk about you?"
I'm so happy to have my dad here to take the attention off me.
"Yeah, yeah. We'll get to that. James's girlfriend is much more interesting."
I spit my food out all over my plate, my face reddening. "She isn't my girlfriend...yet."
"Hot dog! He said yet. My son might get married after all," Dad said.
"Slow down, Dad. I'm nowhere near that." I put another handful of food in my mouth, grateful for the chance to shut up for a minute.
"Well your father," he said pointing to himself, "needs some more grandkids to spoil before he gets old and dies."
I spit my food out all over again.
I should really stop stuffing my mouth.
Kids? Me? No. No, no, no.
"Pawpaw, you are old," Skylar chimed in.
I burst out laughing.
"Out of the mouths of babes," I said, still snickering.
"Well thanks Skylar," my dad said, a wide grin on his face.
"Ask Nessa if you want more grandkids. I'm never having kids," I finally said.
"Never say never," Jace said.
Bella and I would make beautiful babies.
No James don't even go there.
"I'm sorry Dad, but no more kids for me. Two is enough," Nessa cut in. Her eyes cast down, and I wondered why the sudden gloom and doom vibe came over her.
"I need a little boy to spoil though," my dad said.
"Not happening," Jace spoke up.
"I guess it falls to you then, James." My dad looked at me and I shook my head no.
"Enough about me, what's the news Ness? Spit it out already," I said, praying for a topic change already.
I waited as Nessa shifted, beyond ready to hear this news so I could come up with an excuse to split. The only thing on my mind was fixing things with Bella.
"Remember how you said I should make a business out of decorating?" she said, a hint of a smile on her face.
"Yeah?"
"I've opened my own business. I already have six high-end clients who’ve hire
d me to redo their office buildings." Her words came out rushed from the excitement coating her tone.
"That's great Ness," I offered.
Happiness spread through my chest. Finally, she could do something she’d always wanted to do, and because of it, a permanent smile was glued to her face. It had been so long since she’d seemed like her old self. Until now.
"I'm so proud of you Vanessa," my dad said.
The happiness drifted from me in a cloud of smoke, and anger replaced it. How I would love to hear those words directed at me…but I never did. "Of course you are Dad. You're always proud of her." I couldn't help the edge of bitterness in my tone.
"I'm proud of you too, son," he said, turning to look at me. "You don't have to be hostile."
“What exactly are you proud of Dad?”
"Well for starters, despite everything thrown your way, you always seem to pick yourself back up and try again. That's something to be proud of. I expected you to give up after a while and you surprised me."
It felt good to hear those words. I was proud of myself for that. I hadn't given up and despite the fact I couldn't trust women, I’d never stop trying to learn how. I’d wanted to give up so many times but being happy with someone had always been something I’d looked forward to, something I’d envied of other couples. I was determined to find my own happy ending, no matter the cost to my sanity.
"You have an amazing job," Dad continued. "You work for Mr. Freedmon. That is a big accomplishment son. I’m sorry if I haven’t told you enough just how proud of you I am. I'll try to do better."
Dad always had a way of making me feel bad for being jealous.
"Okay this is getting a little too sappy for my liking," Jace cut in.
Cue the eye roll from Ness.
"Well it's been great and all, but I have to get going. I need to finish up some housework and get everything ready for my presentation tomorrow," I said, standing and grabbing my plate, which I dropped off at the sink before heading to the table to say my goodbyes. After hugs and high-fives from my nieces—part of our routine—I hugged my dad and stuck my tongue out at my sister before grabbing my bag and heading for the door.