by Paige Steele
They both rave about the food and how good it is. Gramma lets me know that the cheese sauce is perfect, and Grandpa says he’s in a food coma after eating all he did. They stay for another hour or so on the back patio, near the pool, when a couple of my roommates come home.
After they leave, I decide I need to reach out to the real estate broker that Cooper and Ryan both used to move forward with their lives and buy a house. I’m looking at something not quite as big as they both chose, but something that is mine. I shoot Cooper a quick text.
Me: Hey, Coop, just wondering who your broker was when you bought your house?
Cooper: You thinking about buying one, bud?
Me: Maybe or a townhouse or condo?
Cooper: Cool, man, yeah let me get her card and I’ll text you her info. She’s awesome.
Me: Thanks.
About ten minutes later, I was calling Sandra while sitting poolside. Am I really ready to give all this up, I think as I look around the backyard. It’s pretty nice and I don’t have to pay a thing right now, but honestly, there is no privacy at all. It’s tough calling it home when it’s just a place I sleep because I don’t own it. I set up a meeting with her tomorrow afternoon at one, to go look at some places. After explaining to her what I’m looking for, she says she has a few in mind that are vacant right now, and they are turnkey ready, which is right up my alley. If I’m going to do this, then I need that. I don’t have time for renovations.
I immediately text Maddie, I want to know if she’s interested in helping me decide on what I might buy.
Me: Yo, Cupcake, you around?
Maddie: I’m here, what’s up, Jesse?
Me: Just wondering, if you have plans tomorrow afternoon?
Maddie: Nope, just getting things together for my shoots this weekend.
Me: What shoots?
Maddie: For Hyped. Ansley set them up.
Me: With who?
Maddie: Not sure, I’ll have to look at the email.
Me: Where at?
Maddie: Not sure, dad…geezzzzzzzz.
Me: Lol, just wondering.
I won’t tell her that it’s because I’m hoping to see her this weekend, plus I don’t like the fact that she might be out of town with other dudes.
Maddie: Ok, lol. Can you get back to why you asked what I was doing tomorrow?
Me: Oh, I was hoping you’d go with me and a realtor to look at a couple places.
Maddie: Yep, I’m in. What time shall I arrive?
Me: Good, I was hoping you’d say that. She’s meeting me here at one.
Maddie: I’ll see ya then.
Me: Sweet. Thanks!
Then I get a kissy face emoji back from her. If she only knew the thoughts I’ve had of her and how that stupid emoji takes on a whole new meaning to me. I’d love to have my lips on hers, to taste the sweet cupcake-flavored gloss she puts on. One day maybe…
MADDIE
I’m headed to Jesse’s now; he wants my opinion on a buying a place of his own. After the night I had, tossing and turning, and waking up with thoughts of him is driving me crazy. I always knew I was attracted to him. Clearly, those feelings were kept at bay due to my relationship with Justin, but now that I’m a free woman, they are pushing to the front of my mind. It doesn’t help that I’ve seen him walk around in nothing but low sitting board shorts on, to the sight of his chiseled chest, tight abs, and the V cut at his waist. It’s like a picture is embedded in my brain.
As I pull up to his house, it’s ten to one and I notice there is no other vehicle here but his truck, which means we’re alone. Before it wouldn’t have been a thought, but today, it takes on a whole new meaning. I reach up to knock when it opens.
“Hey, Cupcake, you’re right on time.”
“It seems I’m actually early as the realtor isn’t here yet,” I say, as I take in what he has on.
“She sent me a message a little bit ago that she’s running late and asked if we could meet her at the first place. So, come in for a sec, I just have to throw a shirt on and I’ll be ready.”
Yes, you heard that right…he has no shirt on as he answered the door. Did I also mention he’s barefoot and his jeans are setting just right on his body? Lord, give me the strength to keep my hands to myself. Wait…on second thought give me the courage to make a move.
“Shirts are so overrated.”
“Haha, is that so?” Staring at his grin is making my panties melt away, and that’s about the same time I realize I actually just said that out loud.
“Umm, yeah.” Feeling my face turning a lovely shade of pink, I look away.
“You want a bottle of water before we head out?” Geez, does he see that I’m a bit overheated right now?
“Sure.” I thought about playing it cool and saying, ‘Nah, I’m fine,’ but in all reality…I need something to bring my body temperature down, so it’s either the bottle water, or I go drown myself in his pool out back.
“You look beautiful today, Mads. I love that color on you,” he says, as he we walk out and he opens the door to his truck for me.
Glancing over my shoulder at him, I climb up in, responding to his comment, “Thanks, Jes, you’re such a charmer.” I wink at him as I reach for the seat belt and he shuts the door.
As he settles in, buckles, and turns the key, he responds, “Charm has nothing to do with it when I’m stating the truth.” He winks yet again at me. Okay, now my mind starts up again…has he always winked at me or is it more now…hmmmmmmmm.
I look down at the outfit I wore, which is just a pair of white capris, a tangerine-colored, off the shoulder, loose-fitting blouse, and my tan Sperry boat shoes. Nothing special but he clearly likes it. Note to self…buy more orange, tangerine, or coral-colored tops. I don’t want to make it obvious with this exact color, so I’ll go with an arrangement of colors in the orange family.
We arrive at the first location and it’s a townhouse. She walks us around the back first, and there sits a manmade beach in the center of a circle of buildings. Well, it’s more of a pool but has sand at one end and zero entry into it, to give it that beachy feel. There is a bunch of lounge chairs, tables, and palm trees, making you feel like you are sitting or lying somewhere tropical.
The buildings are split in two, giving the townhouses an upstairs and a downstairs at each place. There are a total of sixteen different living locations here, and each one has their own back patio, with walls on both sides, giving some privacy to the owners.
We enter into a small mudroom, and when I say small, there is a tiny bench, four hooks above it, and a black rug under it. As we continue on, the kitchen is small but perfect if you ask me. The appliances are all black with stainless steel trim and the wrap-around counter separates one room from another. As we enter into the living room, the two couches are set in just the right spots to give the room a bigger feel. We pass a small bathroom before we take the stairs up to the master bedroom and incredible adjoining bath.
“Okay, I don’t know about you but I could live here.” I flop on the bed backwards.
“Could you now?” His eyebrows raise slightly as I glance over at him.
I lean up on my elbows. “There’s only one question for ya?”
“What’s that?”
“Where are you going to put your bike?”
“Oh, I thought maybe it was going to be, does the bed come with the place?”
“Haha, that too. This sucker is comfortable.”
“I bet it is, but to answer your question…that has been a thought that keeps popping up in my mind, too. I think I need to actually look at houses.”
“I think you’re right.”
We head back down to see the realtor sitting at the table in the dining area. Jesse explains what he’s looking for, and then glee spreads across her face as she explains she has just the place for him then. Following close behind her, we make our way to a beautiful house, just on the out skirts of town.
Standing outside, next to the garage, I ca
n already see that Jesse likes this one. The white front porch gives it a country feel. As we climb the steps toward the door, she begins telling him that the house has four bedrooms, three full baths, and one powder room. She thinks that the backyard will be just what he’s looking for and insists the rest of the house is stunning.
Well, she didn’t lie. The pool and Jacuzzi combo in the backyard is surrounded with large rocks, tropical plants, and palm trees. It’s set off to one side at an angle that allows the beautiful green grass to be seen. The whole scene looks so inviting that it makes you want to kick off your shoes and jump in.
After checking out the state-of-the-art kitchen, living room, and the rest of the downstairs, which has the fourth bedroom along with an attached bath, we head upstairs to check out the other three ourselves. Bedroom one and two are the same, very spacious and bright with an entire wall of windows that faces the front of the house. There is a Jack and Jill bathroom in between them with pocket doors. The beautiful walk-in shower is wrapped with different shades of brown tile, showerheads at each end, as well as a raindrop one above, with a thick bamboo seat against the back wall. It looks amazing.
Walking across the hall, we see a master suite and a bath like no other. The bedroom itself is the size of both of the guest bedrooms across the hall combined together, and one step in the bathroom makes me want to stay here forever.
“Lord, if this is heaven…take me now.”
“It is pretty nice, huh?”
“I could sleep in that tub, you do realize that, right? I mean look how big that is,” I say, taking one step in and then another, until I’m standing inside it. I sit down then slide further into a lying position, until my head is resting on the pillow that is attached to one side.
“You look pretty cozy there.” Jesse chuckles at the sight of me.
“Well, look at this, I don’t even touch the other side.” I wiggle my feet back and forth to make my point.
“I see that. You look even tinier in there than you normally do, Cupcake.”
I laugh at him as I stand. He turns and picks me up by my waist and swings me out of the tub. He doesn’t let go right away, and I can almost see the sparks flying between our two bodies. Looking up at him, I smile, yet he doesn’t smile back. I notice a sense of hunger in his eyes that I haven’t seen before, and then I feel the tips of his fingers dig just a little deeper into my skin.
Leaning down, he whispers in my ear, “You look good in my new tub.”
Before any words can come out of my mouth, his lips connect with my jawline ever so lightly that I might have missed it, but my body lights up instantly.
Then he speaks low next to my ear again, “We need to check out the shower next.”
Again, Lord if this is heaven, take me now…is all that came to my mind. The goosebumps that cover my skin don’t go unnoticed by me, and I’m sure he can see just what he is doing to me as well. It is the first real contact we’ve had and the first advance that I’ve seen him make toward me at all. I’m thinking I like this side of Jesse, a bit of an edge, slightly bolder, and much more confidence than I’ve ever seen.
“Yes…I gu...guess we sh…should,” I stutter the words out as he pulls away.
He walks around a free-standing wall in the middle of the room, on the other side stands a shower that can hold ten people. Well, maybe not ten, but you get the picture. It is huge. Then I make the comment that has me blushing. Wait for it…here it comes…
“Wow, check out this tile,” I walk right in and sweep my hand across the wall, “it’s like fifty shades of grey.” Yep, my face immediately flushes to a beautiful shade of pink, and I can’t even turn around to face him.
“Is it now?”
Trying to act all cool about it, I giggle and say, “Oh, you know what I mean, look at all these colors, it’s really like fifty shades of grey.” And I say it again…really, Maddie, get your act together. It’s like the words coming out of my mouth are not making any sense, it seems my mind is scrambled when he’s this close. This hasn’t happened before.
He takes a step closer to me, so our bodies are touching, his front to my back, but no hands, just our bodies. Then all I hear is the low whispering voice again, “You just said that, Cupcake. Does that mean you like what you see?”
Okay, what the hell is going on? I feel like I could turn around and rip his clothes off; then hopefully, he’d attack me just as fast. Holy cow, when the hell did this happen? I mean his face is easy on the eyes, and his body is amazingly fit to perfection, so I’m pretty sure you have to be dead not to notice Jesse when he walks in a room. Though we’ve never crossed the line, clearly this line is being erased inch by inch.
“Breathe in, breathe out,” I hear myself say…out loud, I might add. I swear I want to hit myself in the forehead.
“Yes, breathing is good,” Jesse chuckles.
“I really need to shut my mouth,” I giggle back.
That’s when we hear the realtor yell up to us, asking how things are going. Perfect timing. Jesse locks his first fingers around two of mine and leads me out of the shower and room. We see her climbing the stairs as we hit the first step down.
JESSE
I’m not really sure what has gotten into me, maybe it was seeing her flop on the bed at the condo, and the thoughts that streamed through my mind immediately after. Clearly, the heat between the two of us rose up a degree or two…or ten.
Maybe it was the fact that she looked so damn cute lying in that tub, then I pictured her naked with bubbles covering her body. They stopped right above her breasts, allowing them to peek through if she moved just right, with her hot pink, painted toes poking through at the opposite end of the tub.
Or could it be the fact that she, without even realizing what she said at first, referenced Fifty Shades of Grey, causing her flawless skin to turn a stunning shade of pink from embarrassment, which caused my jeans to get extremely tight in the front.
I just knew both times that I couldn’t let the moment pass by without saying something. She is causing my body to stir in a way no one else has ever done. I can tell she feels it too; by the way she reacts every time I’m close to her. Whether or not she’s ready to take a turn toward something deeper than we’ve ever shared before, is a question only she can answer.
Before we say goodbye to the realtor, I put in an offer on the house. It is small enough but big enough at the same time. I didn’t need something over the top, just a place I can call home. Driving back to the team house, she’s quiet and so am I. I’m not sure what she’s thinking, but I’m about to find out as we pull into the driveway. I put my truck in park and before she can grab for the handle, I reach for her hand.
“Mads, I…” Knowing I need to pick just the right words, so I don’t scare her off, but ones that will give me and us a chance. “Did I overstep back there?”
She’s still looking down at our hands, which are connected together as they lay on the armrest between our seats. Finally, she glances up with that same pink color spread across her cheeks that she had at the house.
“No, it’s just different. You’ve always just been a great friend to me.” There’s so much hesitation in her voice, it’s not the Maddie that I’ve come to…love as a friend and as a person.
“I don’t know if I’ve ever heard you this quiet before,” I chuckle at her, and she giggles as well. I need to break up the tension that seems to be lingering in the air.
“Well, I’m trying to figure out what to say, and how to say it, believe it or not.” She giggles again before she turns and says, “Okay, here I go…I know that when you touched me back there, and then talked to me the way you did, my body lit up, not sure what it means. Then when your lips landed on the side of my jaw, another spark I hadn’t felt before came to the surface of my skin. So I want to see where this goes, but I want to take things slow so we don’t ruin our friendship, either. Does that make any sense or am I just rambling on?” She takes a deep breath and sits there now, looki
ng down, waiting for my answer.
I take her hand, still linked with mine, up to my mouth and kiss the back of it before I speak. “I agree completely. We will figure it out together and see if we should or shouldn’t take the next step in whatever is going on between us. Deal?”
“Yes.”
“But I will now tell you this, Cupcake. I also felt all those things you just said, the zap and zing throughout my body took me by surprise, too. I can also say it’s not something I’ve felt before, but it only makes me want to see what else I can make come to life between us, so I won’t back away when it comes to flirting with you.”
“You naughty flirt with me though and that’s not fair.” She smiles over at me.
“I do no such thing.” I smirk back at her.
“You do and you know it. Which causes my mind to scramble, and then I can’t think straight, but I think you like that fact. Don’t you?”
“I’ll never tell.” I wink over at her before I open my door and make my way around the truck to her.
I open the door and wait for her to exit. She stares down at me and I can see the look in her eyes, wondering what is going to happen now.
“Hop down, Cupcake, I’m not going to attack you.”
“I know that.” She rolls her eyes at me as she grabs her purse and makes her way out of my truck.
As she stands in front of me, I take a step forward, causing her to step back as I shut the door. With her back pressed up against the red paint, I can’t help myself; I push her a bit more. Never crossing the line, but I love to see her eyes light up when I’m this close to her body.
“I should have said I’m not going to attack you right here, right now.” I press my hand against the door of my truck as I take my other one and tuck her hair behind her ear. I look directly in her eyes as the words come out of my mouth.
“You, my friend, won’t be attacking anything, anytime soon, remember?” She pushes me away from her as she laughs, which in turn causes me to do the same.