I’d actually done this a few times before with mixed results. Sometimes you didn’t always have the luxury of meeting a woman of great substance just by talking to them face to face.
I drove home and changed for practice. The day was productive. The coach was actually somewhat in a friendly mood. He didn’t even glare at me too much. On top of that the team was working like a well-oiled machine and we were on our way to being well-prepared for the game on Saturday. We were going to kick some major league butt. I could feel it.
I showered up and headed home. I thought I might order a pizza for dinner. I was too lazy to fix something healthier.
I was just about to call it in when the knock at the door came. I wondered who it could be. I was actually hoping to just chill out and not deal with anyone for the rest of the evening. I’d had enough people around me for one day. A quiet evening with a pizza, a good movie, and a six pack sounded like the perfect way to cap off this day.
I sighed and got up to check the door. When I opened it up, I was surprised to see the woman from the car in traffic standing there. Damn. She was even more beautiful in person.
“Well, hello there,” I said.
“Hi, I’m Donna,” she replied.
“Well, Donna, it is wonderful to meet you. Please come in.”
Donna followed me inside and I closed the door behind her. My evening had just become much more exciting.
Chapter Six
Alexa
“Honey, will you grab those two bags of ice from the freezer in the garage? And can you pour the ice into the coolers?”
I glanced up from the book I was reading and smiled. “Sure mom.”
It looked like I was going to have to get my butt into work mode to start helping everyone get set up for this Labor Day barbecue we were going to have. My parents threw a big party every single year around this time. It was a nice way to say goodbye to the summer and welcome the arrival of the cold weather to come on in, even though it felt about eight-five degrees outside. I was wearinga tank top and a pair of cut off denim shorts that my parents most definitely did not approve of. I didn’t care. I was comfortable and besides they were all friends and family coming there anyway. I didn’t see why it was such a big deal.
I walked into the garage and grabbed the two large bags of ice and emptied one into each of the large coolers we kept stored in there. Then I muscled the two coolers out to the spot close to the grill where my father was starting to grill up some chicken. It already smelled amazing. My father was the king guru of barbecue food. There was something about the way he did it that just blew me away with flavor. Everyone came to these get togethers for that same very reason.
“Thanks dear,” Mom said to me.
I started to sit back down when I heard a voice behind me mocking my mother’s “Thanks dear”.
I turned to see Kiley and Lilly standing there. “Yes! I’m glad you guys made it. I was sure you were going to blow me off.”
“Blow you off? I have a job,” Kiley said. “I had to beg to get the time off.”
“And I put my own work on hold. I wouldn’t miss this for the world,” Lilly added.
I hugged them both quickly. They were truly the best friends anyone could ask for. I knew pretty much all of the friends and family that my parents invited to these gatherings, but I really would have felt open and naked without my best friends there. Sometimes my parents inadvertently took this time to explain to everyone all the things about me they didn’t like or hoped I would improve upon. They didn’t even consciously do this—at least they didn’t seem to be aware of it—but it did happen and it always left me feeling very vulnerable and exposed.
But now I had my girls with me, so I felt I had some backup.
We finished helping my family set up things as more and more guests started to arrive. The food was almost ready and there were now about twenty people gathered around the long table that my parents always brought out into the front yard for this celebration. As the food was served I was sitting towards the end talking with Kiley who was at the very end of the table, and Lilly who was across from me. That was when I noticed Kiley’s eyes going wide and looking at something behind me.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“Wow, look at that.”
Lilly and I turned our heads to see what can only be described as the most incredible looking man I’d ever seen or knew could even exist walking towards the table with my brother. The guy was tall, broad shouldered, wavy hair, and the most ridiculously charming smile I’d ever laid eyes on. I felt my whole body go numb for a second before I realized I was probably staring.
“Wow, where has he been hiding? And how does he know your brother? You ever see him before Alexa?” Lilly asked.
Her words went in my ears but I could not respond right then. No. I could not respond… I was feeling too numb, too confused, and just overwhelmed by the insane attraction I was feeling. I was vaguely aware that I hadn’t breathed in a long time.
“Alexa Rae?” Lilly asked again.
I snapped back to her. “What?”
“Have you ever seen that guy before?”
“Oh, um… no…”
“Well, he is fine as hell. Wow, I think I need to get me a bit of that.”
I smiled as I took a sip of my iced tea.
“Hey, girls,” Billy said behind me. “I’d like you all to meet my good friend Kip Raynes.”
“Hey,” Lilly and Kiley said almost in unison. They immediately acted self-conscious about it. I tried not to laugh. I turned my head slowly up to look at Kip. Wow, he was even more gorgeous up close. Then he smiled at me. It was perfect. I’d never seen such a pristine example of hotness right in front of me before. I felt a bit confused, almost as if I didn’t know what I was supposed to be doing with my hands and I suddenly became overly aware of my body. Was I sitting right? Did I look stupid? Did I have anything in my hair?
“Have a seat, man,” Billy said to Kip.
Kip quickly sat down next to me. I wasn’t sure, but I thought I saw a look of concern on Billy’s face as he watched Kip take the seat he was going to take. But then he sat down on the other side. I was now very aware of my body and how I was being portrayed. I was sitting right beside this beautiful man. Wow, what a lucky girl I was.
I had to keep reminding myself that I was not looking to get involved with anyone. Besides this guy probably had a girlfriend or something. Hell, I knew nothing about him except his name, which sounded somewhat familiar. Why…?
“So, you are Billy’s sister?” Kip asked me.
“Yeah,” I replied. “I’m Alexa. This is Lilly, and Kiley.”
My friends smiled and blushed at Kip. He smiled back quickly but then turned his attention back on me. “Are you a student at Indiana? I haven’t seen you around campus.”
I shook my head. “No, I’m taking some time to just reevaluate what I want to do.”
“I hear that. I wished I’d been smart enough to do that. I could have used the break.”
“Wouldn’t that have messed up the football transition? Isn’t there an age limit for college ball?”
“Right,” Kip smiled. “That is the unfortunate part of doing that. How did you know I played?”
“You’re friends with my brother. He doesn’t hang with anyone outside of the team. He somehow thinks they will distract him.”
Billy piped up. “I heard that, sis. Not cool.”
Just then our father asked Billy to come help him wheel the other grill out of the garage. The current one was full.
“Ok,” Billy said. “I’ll be back, man.”
Then he was off.
“So, you and your brother are pretty tight, huh?” Kip asked.
“Not really. We used to be, but now he thinks he can tell me how to live. It’s very annoying.”
“Really? He is that overprotective?”
I laughed. “Oh, you have no idea. The man is insane.”
“I guess he wouldn’t want
us to get too close, now would he?”
I looked over at Lilly and Kiley. They were both trying to hold it together. That was a very flirty question he’d just asked me. Wow… it was getting even hotter outside.
“I guess not, but such a thing wouldn’t be his call, now would it?”
He ran a hand through his hair and grinned. “No, I guess it wouldn’t.”
“So, where is your boyfriend?” Kip asked.
I looked at him with my eyebrows rising. I wasn’t sure why, but I was feeling very comfortable just relaxing and flirting with Kip. It was fun. I wasn’t sure I wanted to go out with him, but he was so damn fine. I was having second thoughts about my new mantra in life. For a man this hot, I might make an exception to giving up men.
“Oh, that was so smooth,” I said.
“Right?”
“You practice that line a lot?” I asked.
“Not really.”
“Just some? Well, at least you care if I’m taken or not. That has to count for something.”
“Right, it does. But if you are taken it just means that I have to work that much harder.”
I took a deep breath. Wow, this guy was good. I loved his confidence. It bordered on arrogance, but it was really sweet the way he did it. He had some great skills. He was smooth as could be. I found myself being very attracted to him. I couldn’t help it. There was just a way about him that made me feel comfortable. This should have been a warning sign. It was exactly the way I’d felt about Jeremy at first, but I decided not to let that experience make me cynical and paranoid after all.
I was ready for it. This might have been fun.
“Is this your thing? You come on all strong and sweet? Are you going to sweep me off my feet?”
“No, but I have a feeling you might sweep me off mine,” he replied.
We continued chatting for a bit. When Billy came back and the first round of food started to go around, we interacted with others a bit more. I could tell that my friends were more than thrilled that Kip seemed like he was into me. I could see that they were happy for me and in their minds I should definitely go for it. I could see their logic, but was I ready to jump back into dating someone after the time I’d just had with Jeremy and that horrible breakup? I wasn’t sure, but Kip was so damn charming.
Suddenly, Kiley pointed towards something down below the table. I looked around to see that no one was watching us and then I looked beneath the table above her lap where she held her phone. On the screen was information about Kip Raynes. After a moment of reading I realized now who his father was and why his name sounded so familiar. Wow, the man was basically a rich celebrity.
That was interesting. But did it change how I felt towards him? Not really? It was just something else he brought to the table that labeled him as more unique.
After dinner, it was Billy’s idea that we would all get together and play a game of football. We usually did this sort of thing after we stuffed our bellies and let our food settle down for a little bit. I didn’t want to play really, but Kip asked me to and I relented. We were on opposite teams of course. I decided that I would take him down hard.
We were about halfway through the game with a tie score when Brandon, my first cousin dropped back to throw a pass. I hurried down the field, and turned just in time to see him throw a rocket to me. Somehow I caught it tightly and I began to run. That was when the arms wrapped around me. They were tight, but not too tight despite their massive girth and strength. I was being brought slowly to the ground where I landed on top of Kip.
He had a big grin on his face. We locked eyes and for a moment I thought he was going to kiss me. There? In front of everyone? No way…
But he had that look in his gaze.
“Nice catch,” he said before letting me go.
I stood to my feet and smiled at him with a wink. “Nice tackle.”
Then I sat the ball on the ground and got ready to go back into the huddle. Damn, that felt good being wrapped in his arms. I tried to clear my mind and get it back in the game. It had been a long time since I’d played some sort of sports and I found that I missed it. I missed the competition of it.
But I’d never had something like that before, where one of my opponents held me gingerly in his arms and I felt so safe and secure. I never knew I needed to feel that way. It felt warm and almost…loving. That was something I could easily get addicted to if I wasn’t careful. I wasn’t supposed to have feelings like this for some guy I just met, especially one with the reputation that this man had. I’d heard of him before and the more I thought about what I already knew about Kip Raynes, the more of what I’d heard, seen, and read over the years here and there (just bits and pieces really) started to add up and paint a rather unflattering picture. He was known as being cocky and arrogant. He might have been a typical, spoiled Hollywood brat who felt the world owed him something but could not find fulfillment because of this same very flaw.
Was that why he was going to school at Indiana? Instead of UCLA, maybe? Or some Ivy League school in California? I didn’t know and I hated to assume anything about someone I didn’t know really. I was not blinded by tabloid gossip and silly news stories who were always out to show celebrities in a bad light simply because people loved to gobble up those stupid stories and it made money for the media.
But I was still keeping my guard up around Kip, especially since he seemed to have such a big effect on me. I glanced over at Kiley and Lilly. They were both smiling and giggling amongst themselves, quietly gossiping without saying anything in their own little made up eye rolling language. Those two were inseparable and could be too dangerous for their own good sometimes. I loved them to death. Sisters from other Misters all the way.
We finished the game when it started to get a bit dark. After that everyone sat around chatting and winding down the evening with my parents telling old stories about how things used to be so different and how they didn’t know what would become of young people today. Our younger crowd kind of veered off amongst ourselves and just mostly sat around goofing off and having some drinks. I was even able to sneak a few beers without my parents giving me any grief about it while my cousin Todd pulled out his acoustic guitar and played and sang old nineties alternative rock songs. It was sad that we all knew the words and sang along even though most of us weren’t born yet when these songs came out.
Eventually, as the hours dwindled on we began to leave one by one until it was just Kiley, Lilly, and I there talking. When Kip left he made it a point to say goodbye to me. It was almost an intimate moment.
“Well, I guess this is the end of the road,” Kip said. “It was wonderful meeting you. I had a great time today.”
“Yeah, me too. Thanks for not tackling me too hard out there.”
Kip smiled. “Please, I was afraid you might beat me up. Billy told me you are a martial arts master.”
I rolled my eyes. “I’m hardly a master.”
“Well, I hope I get to see you again soon,” Kip said.
I thought he was going to ask me for my number and I wasn’t sure I would have given it to him. I didn’t really know him enough to make plans, did I? But what could it hurt to chat on the phone and get to know someone? Maybe meet up at a movie or something? I didn’t want to lock myself away from life, did I? That would allow that scumbag Jeremy to win in more ways than one. I wondered who he was off banging this evening. Ugh, I had to get my mind out of that way of thinking. It wasn’t healthy. Jeremy was gone. I had to let him go and move on with my own life.
“I’d like that,” I said. I watched Kip leave in his car and as I headed back to where my friends were sitting, I saw Billy watching me cautiously out of the corner of his eye.
I ignored him and sauntered on.
“So, what did he say?” Kiley asked excitedly.
I laughed. “Nothing, really. He just said he would like to see me again, that was all.”
“Sweet. When?”
“I don’t know. We didn’t set
anything up. If he wants to see me again, he can get my number or something.”
“Do people even do the phone number thing anymore?” Lilly asked. “Why not just exchange social media or something?”
“I don’t know the guy that well.”
“He’s a friend of your brother’s. And he is super fine. And we now know he is super rich.”
I rolled my eyes and gave her a stern look. “I’ve never cared about a guy’s money or status. That superficial stuff means nothing to me. I care about whether he is a good guy or not.”
Kiley smiled. “Yeah, good guy…but not too good, right.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“I know you sis,” Kiley said. “You have always been a sucker for a bad boy. You can’t deny that.”
I laughed. “I have not.”
“Please, name one guy you’ve dated who has not been a complete asshole?”
I was shocked. Did she really think that about everyone I’d dated? “That’s totally wrong. I’ve dated some good guys.”
“Well, let’s take the inventory,” Kiley said. “Jeremy was a slimeball who cheated on you. Before that was Tony. He ended up having a rap sheet longer than my arm. And Barry treated you like dirt and would just disappear for days on end with no explanation. And for some reason you kept taking him back.”
I sighed. She did have a point. I’d had my fair share of bad boyfriends. Maybe I did have a type, and it was a toxic one.
“She’s right,” Lilly said. “You need to expand your scope so that you won’t keep getting burned by these guys.”
“Thanks for you input,” I said. “I guess, I’ve dated some jerks. But I’ve learned a lot from my experiences and I promise going forward I will be able to see the signs.”
“Yeah, but the problem is that all of the signs seem to be all of the things that you are actually attracted to…” Lilly said. She and Kiley high fived and laughed at me for a minute.
“That isn’t right,” I said giggling. These two were a riot. “I can’t help it if I like a strong guy who happens to have a bit of mystery about him. Nice guys always seem so boring and predictable. I almost feel like I’m stronger than they are. It just so happens that genuinely strong guys tend to be a bit rough around the edges. They are never in nice cookie cutter packages. That’s boring for me.”
My Friend’s Sister Page 5