How It Rolls

by Lila Felix

  I put my fingers to my cheeks to see why they were hot. Then it hit me. It had been ages since anyone had made me blush, like sixth grade. All he said was that he wanted to get to know me and my cheeks were wigging out. What would happen when he kissed me? Wait, was I already planning on kissing him? Put out the wanted posters, I’d lost it.

  “Ok. But you first—I’m not so good at talking about me.”

  He smiled and I swore I saw the beginnings of the same blush that took over my face earlier as he bowed his head. There’s no way this guy didn’t want to talk about himself. Any guy I’d ever met could go on and on about themselves until the people around them had fallen into an ego coma.

  “What do you want to know?” As he asked, the waitress came and took our orders. I tried to order blueberry pancakes and he had the waitress add sausage, eggs and hash-browns to it. I rolled my eyes at him.

  “What’s your favorite kind of music?”

  “That’s an easy one. I thought you were going to ask me some kind of soul churning question. Anything from the 80’s, anything.”

  “Ok, that leads me to my next question, how old are you?”

  “How old do you think I am?” I hated when people asked each other that. You were bound to wreck somebody’s day.

  “By physical appearance or behavior?” Please say looks, please say looks.

  “Both,” He said.

  “Well, appearance, maybe 23 or 24.” I stopped there hoping to satisfy his question and get an answer from him on his real age.

  The waitress appeared with our food, he took a quick bite and swallowed. “20, Go on.”

  “From what I’ve seen of your personality, I don’t want to say.”

  “Come on Reed, it’s nothing I haven’t heard. Let me guess, 40?”

  “Nah, I was gonna say 35. Not even close. But if you’re 20 you were born in the nineties, which makes your love for 80’s music a little weird.” He huffed out a laugh.

  “Ok, my turn. What’s your favorite color?” He added more syrup to his pancakes.

  “Orange, of course.” I giggled it out and then internally scolded myself for sounding like such a girl.

  “But you’re allergic to citrus. Nice.” He got it. My orange hair was my homage to how pissed off I was about being allergic to citrus. I wasn’t too proud to admit that I’d sniffed orange juice and lemon bars on more than one occasion.

  “Yeah, so now you. Why do you work so much? Nellie told me the other day that you are always working. What are you hiding from?” Someone must’ve shot a gun because apparently my mouth took the cue and just ran and ran, like it was in a damned zombie marathon. I hoped I didn’t hurt his feelings.

  He shook his head and smiled down at his plate.

  “You pegged me. Honestly, I work because—because I don’t know what else to do. I’m not good at dating. I don’t like clubs or partying. So, I work. I work for my family and go to school. That’s it. I’m a simple guy.”

  I had a feeling that Falcon was anything but simple, in the best way. And God help me, I wanted to know every single intricate detail in the depths of his complications.

  “What do you like to do other than shelving books and kicking other girls’ butts?” He pushed his plate away, now finished.

  “My friend Farrah and I used to go to the movies, and her boyfriend is or was a skater—skateboards not roller skates, so we used to go to watch him and his friends all the time. I haven’t talked to her in months.”

  “Why,” He asked. It took me off guard how sincere he always sounded contrary to the fact that Nellie swore he was a royal smart ass.

  “I don’t have a phone and she lives in Hammond. That’s where I used to live. “

  “Reed, you have a phone.” His eyes rolled at me.

  “That’s the phone Nellie gave me. It’s not for calling your friends.”

  “Trust me, you have unlimited minutes and she won’t care. And what are you doing after this?” He motioned for the waitress to bring the check. She came almost immediately and he put two twenties on the little rectangle tray.

  “Nothing. Why?”

  He stood up and got his keys out of his pocket. He put his hand out to help me up from the bench seat and for the second time I felt how incredibly warm his hands were.

  “I’m taking you to see your friend.” He started walking, never letting go of my hand. I was too much in shock at his proposal to let go of his hand, yeah, that was it.

  He’s just tugging you along because you’re so damn slow, don’t have an aneurism.

  “What if she’s not home? What if we can’t find her?”

  “Come on Reed, that’s why God made phones. Call her and quick before I drive all the way to Hammond and then we have to chase her down.”

  He opened the passenger side of his truck to let me in and I dialed her number. Farrah squealed so loudly that I had to move the phone from my ear. She asked me thirty thousand questions and I tried to answer most of them but she was talking to damned fast. I finally got her to pin down where she would be for the next hour or so, enough time for us to get there.

  “She’s at school. As soon as you get to the Hammond exit I’ll direct you there.”

  I looked out the window. I was so happy to get to see Farrah. It had been entirely too long. Once upon a time she kept me sane. If I needed a break from whatever drama was happening at my house at that time, she would come get me and let me spend the night. She attended Southeastern University now, I knew that much.

  “What’s that smile about?” Falcon woke me out of my daydreams.

  “You,” I shrugged. It was the truth.

  “Oh yeah?” He said.

  “Yeah, you. I thought I was going to have to find a way to survive today and here I am having the best day ever.”

  “Well, if a meal and a ride is all it takes to make you smile then this is going to be a lot easier than I thought.”

  “What’s going to be easier?” I started fiddling with his radio, a little uneasy with where this conversation was headed. My neck’s surface, all the way up to my ears, burned alive again. He hadn’t even said it yet and just the thought had made me blush.

  “Getting you to fall for me.” He stared straight ahead, never flinching.

  Chapter 10

  Falcon

  I would drive her to Argentina and back, every single day, if that’s what she wanted me to do.

  I couldn’t believe that just came out of my mouth. I wondered if it was too late to claim mental instability. Owen’s right, the metal in my mouth is making me loco. Even so, it didn’t make it any less true. I wanted her to like me. I wanted her to smile at me. And her tiny, soft hands? I wanted them super glued to mine.

  As soon as she mentioned not seeing her friend in months, I knew what she needed and what I needed to do. I couldn’t go a few days without seeing or talking to Nellie. She just got me. She didn’t judge or ridicule. And I’ve told her the humiliating details about Kate and never once did she treat me differently. Everyone needed to see their friends. It was all worth it to see that smile on her face.

  We got off the interstate at the Hammond exit and she pointed the way to Southeastern University. She got out of the truck and started walking and then looked back.

  She put her hands, palms up, in the air, wordlessly asking me what I was doing. I rolled down the window, to ask her what was wrong.

  “What?” She came to the window before answering.

  “Aren’t you coming,” She asked.

  “Nah, go visit with her. We need to leave about two o’clock though, ok? That gives you about two hours. Go.”

  She stepped towards me, stopped and then started again. If I had known what was going to happen, I would have better prepared myself, and probably reacted a little less shocked. She ducked her head into the truck window and laid one soft, too quick kiss on my cheek before turning around and running to her destination. And even though it was on my cheek, it was more exhilarating than any other k
iss I’d ever gotten in my life. And I wanted more. To have my lips on hers, feel what she tasted like, know exactly where she liked to be kissed—I could think of no heaven that could compare.

  And now I had to find something to do for two hours while I waited for her.

  I called Mom first and gave her a head’s up about us coming in this afternoon and then I called Nellie. I knew Owen was forcing her to rest that day. She answered and then, after listening to her go ape shit about the baby and being a mother, she asked what I was up to today. I could never lie to her and she would find out anyway, so I told her the whole thing. She gushed about all the gooey parts even though I tried to downplay them. She asked what we were going to do for the rest of the day. I told her I planned to take her to the restaurant since she needed extra money and didn’t want any handouts. Somehow we got to talking about roller derby, of course. You couldn’t have a freakin’ normal conversation with Nellie without talking about jammers or blockers or some new play she made up. But did she ever want to talk about her accounts or profitability? Noooooo.

  She mentioned that Reed’s skates were really falling apart. So that became my next conquest—new skates for my girl—yeah, in my head I was free to call her my girl all I wanted.

  “Nellie, wait, you won’t be able to skate this season.” I said it gently because I knew she would be sensitive about it.

  “I know,” she whispered.

  “You’re gonna be the most kick-ass Mom ever.”

  “You bet your ass I am.” I could hear the smile in her voice, mission accomplished.

  “Tell me when you’re going to go buy Reed new skates so you don’t get some stupid looking ones.”

  “What makes you think I’m going to buy her skates?

  “Because I know you and you’re good like that.” I laughed at her assessment and when I glanced up Reed was perched on the edge of my hood on her elbows staring at me.

  “I gotta go.” I said, staring right back at her.

  “Yeah, come see me tomorrow.”

  “Yeah, bye Nellie.”

  “Falcon,” she stopped me.

  “What?”

  “Thanks for bringing me to the hospital last night. You’re a good brother and you deserve to get the girl this time.”

  “Bye.” I hung up on her before she could get even mushier.

  Reed came around her side of the truck and got in; all the while her gaze never left mine.

  “Well, what happened?” The girl had a fantastic poker face.

  She jumped across the cab of the truck, locked her arms around my neck and squeezed like there was no tomorrow. How could I not reciprocate? My arms wrapped around her waist, and my palms rested against her spine. What I wanted to do was drag her the rest of the way onto my lap and hold her for as long as she would let me—for as long as she would do me the honor.

  Her hair against my nose smelled like apples and vanilla, a different scent than the last time but no less seductive. She pulled back a little, too soon, and too much for me and her voice was in my ear.

  “Thank you so much. I don’t know how to thank you enough. I’ve missed her tons.”

  “You’re happy. That’s enough for me.” And it was the God’s honest truth.

  She pulled away enough to face me and I knew in my gut that she was going to be skiddish about me, this, us, whatever. So I as much as I craved her, I didn’t kiss her. My hand moved of its own accord, my appendages needing to know what her lips felt like since I had chosen to deprive my lips of the pleasure. The pad of my thumb slow-traced a path around the outline of her full lips. And when I reached the center of her bottom lip she kissed my thumb. I had the happiest thumb ever.

  She bit her bottom lip and went back to her side of the truck and fastened her seatbelt. I started the truck back up and after a ways got back on the interstate. I rolled my window down, even though it was January, we were having a heat wave. That was the thing about living in Louisiana. One Christmas you could be bundled up in sweaters and scarves and the next day turn on the air conditioner. Reed did the same and I could barely drive, so caught up in the sight of her, in my truck with her hair blowing in her face. It took everything in me not to reach over and put my hand on her thigh, to link my fingers between hers, at this point I would settle with hearing her laugh again—I was desperate for some kind of link to her.

  Chapter 11

  Falcon

  “I’m good enough, I’m smart enough, and doggone it, people like me.” -Stuart Smalley. I repeat this mantra to myself in the mirror every morning. Because if you’re not in love with yourself, then you can’t fall in love with anyone else. And seriously? How could you not be in love with Falcon Black? Easy, just talk to him and you’ll see what a moron he is.

  I was ten thousand kinds of wrong for what I was about to do to Reed. Yes, she already met my mom, but alone time with Sylvia Black? By the time my mom was done, she will have spilled everything down to what kind of underwear she preferred. It couldn’t be helped. Something about Sylvia Black made you just spill your guts, all of them.

  We walked in through the kitchen entrance, the garlic, onions and basil wafted through the air, even outside. I was hungry again, so I knew Reed was too. Andre wasn’t in yet. He usually came in for the lunch service, left and then came back for the dinner service. Mom did the cooking for the customers who came in between. I pulled out a stool for Reed to sit on while I cooked us both a simple pasta primavera, minus the lemon. I washed up and grabbed an apron. I knew she watched me, I could feel it. I’m sure she thought all I was good for was crunching numbers and paperwork. But you weren’t a true member of the Black family unless you could cook your way into someone’s heart. And that’s exactly what I meant to do.

  Mom came in a few minutes later and hugged Reed like she was an old friend and then slid a stool up next to her and talked to her quietly like I was a golfer and they didn’t want to disturb my swing.

  Maddox busted through the kitchen doors, from the dining room, and went to the wall to grab the fire extinguisher and proceeded to keep both ladies in stitches about putting out fires while I cooked and calling the fire station. I saw Reed move to wipe a tear from her eye. That’s how Maddox kept everyone’s attention, he was funny as hell. The pasta was finished, but my brother’s antics weren’t, so I plated it up and placed it next to her without a word.

  “Joke all you want to Mad,” Mom said. “But next to your father, Falcon is the best chef in the family.”

  “Yeah, I guess so. That’s because he doesn’t have anything else to do. Lord knows he hasn’t had a date in years.” I didn’t have to look up to know that he had gotten Reed’s attention with his admission.

  Mom intervened, “Maddox, there’s plenty to do in the dining room.”

  He left, reluctantly, and Mom followed behind him. Reed picked up her plate and came to sit across from me at the stainless steel counter, pulling her seat with her.

  She took her first bite and her eyes closed. Nailed it.

  “Falcon, this is so good.” I nodded, still pretty humiliated by my brother’s big mouth. We ate and I showed her where the dishwasher was. It was an enormous contraption and if you didn’t load the dishes in the right order, they didn’t get clean. And then you had to face Sylvia’s wrath.

  We finished the few dishes that were there and I brought her back into the main part of the kitchen. I led her through the swinging door and showed her where we rolled the silverware into the napkins. I left her rolling silverware with my mom and went into the back office to finalize payroll and settle up any bills. A few hours later, she came into my office and sat down in the chair in front of my desk. She stared at me and I couldn’t take it anymore.

  “What?” I put down what I was doing and looked at her.

  “Are you pissed off at Maddox for telling me that?” She played with some of my pencils on the desk. Note to self: Never ever sharpen those pencils now that she’s touched them.

  “It’s the truth. J
ust not something I wanted dropped at your doorstep before I’ve even gotten to take you out on a real date.”

  She laughed. “Wait, today wasn’t a real date?” She stuck out her bottom lip. She really shouldn’t do that.

  “No. It’s not a real date unless you are in a dress.” She blushed but this time it was a red that carried its hue all the way to her neck and I’m sure beyond that. Damned shirt.

  “Oh, I didn’t realize those were the parameters. Good, because you didn’t meet my dress requirements for a first date either.” She stuck her nose in the air in false bravado.

  “And what would they be, pray tell?” I’d play if she wanted me to play.

  “Not a t shirt and jeans. The outfits you wear to work will suffice.” She giggled. I loved bantering with her.

  “So you’ve been checking me out at work?” She hid her face in her hands and got up to leave. I jumped out of my chair and got to her before she could leave. I reached out to her, fully intending to grab onto her by the waist but instead got her hips, and I wasn’t complaining. She stiffened underneath my hands. I removed my hand from her hip, swept her hair away from her neck and whispered into her ear over her shoulder. “Come on Reed, answer the question.”

  She shook her head ‘no’, so the torture continued, for her and for me. “Reed, you gotta give me something. You know I’m pining for you over here. At least give me the satisfaction of knowing you were checking me out. The fate of my ego depends on it.”

  She turned around and my first thought was ‘shit, now I’ve gone and pissed her off—back to square one.’ She looked off to the side like she couldn’t stand to look me in the eye and it killed me. Finally, she looked up and her moss green eyes bore into mine.

  “Look at you Falcon. You’re smart, you’re loyal to a fault, your family talks about you in reverence and worship and that’s just what I know of you. You think you’re the only one who’s pining? If you do, you’re wrong.” That shocked the hell out of me. I thought I was walking uphill here. Maybe I was wrong.