HIM

by J. M. Elliott

  I ask Ris if she wants to get some breakfast and see what Luke wants to do since we are no longer in a hurry to get back to my dad's place. Ris puts on a pair of my comfy shorts and sets her hair up on top of her head.

  When we enter the kitchen, everyone is up and crowding around the island. Gladys, Ernie, and Luke must be outside.

  "Holy shit, what happened to your face?" Austin asks, looking at Ris.

  "Well, you see, Jason and I were working on our Las Vegas show act in the bedroom last night; I'll let you ponder on the details," she replies without skipping a beat, dishing up a plate for herself.

  Ris always has the best comebacks to everything, and her reply to Austin was fucking classic. Jason's face is in pure shock, and I can see him turning red from the words that just spewed out of Ris's month. Everyone starts laughing and making fun of Jason. He looks so embarrassed, and it's priceless.

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  I leave everyone to their chewing and go outside to find Luke. Ernie and Gladys are down in her flower garden, but Luke is nowhere around the yard. I proceed down to the lake to see if he is down there. He isn't on the dock or over by the beach; I decide to check the boathouse and see if he may have taken one of the boats out. I open the door and walk inside; Jason's boat and the pontoon are still here. Where the hell could he be? Maybe, he went for a walk. I turn to leave the boathouse when Luke comes around the corner of the changing area. I gasp.

  He is naked and looks drop-dead sexy without his clothes on. His body is so hard not to sit and stare at. Every part of his body seems finely sculpted. His muscular physique, a little tanner than when we arrived on Friday, is cascading with beads of water. His abs perfectly display his six-pack plus another six-pack, the Ken Doll lines lay to perfection, and his limp baby arm looks so thick and tough dangling there.

  I'm speechless as I stand and gawk at the sight before me. Luke bends down and grabs a towel from the bench, wrapping it around his hips, then walks toward me. He grabs me around the waist, pulling me towards him, and kisses my forehead.

  "You just missed the shower," Luke says with a raised brow.

  Still picturing his impeccable body and that ginormous penis of his, even when it's not erect, I stay silent but give a ridiculously big smile.

  "When do you and Ris want to get going?" he asks.

  Thank God he changed the subject to something else before I was about to explode and either attack him or faint. I need to let him know there is a change in plans.

  "She is staying until tomorrow due to being hungover and her face," I reply.

  Finally, able to open my mouth and remove my mind from the gutter.

  I notice the mannerisms change in Luke's face as he ponders over what happened last night to Ris. He's so hot when he's deep in thought. I must admit he looks hot whatever he's doing. He starts laughing.

  "Oh man, I forgot about what happened to her face," he chuckles.

  He puts on his clothes for the day, solid red boxer briefs and blue shorts.

  "Jason gets a little too carried away in the bedroom!" I cachinnate.

  "How does her face look today?" he inquires.

  "Well, she looks like she got beat up, to be honest," I giggle. "She has a black eye, a fat lip, and a swollen nose."

  Laughing and shaking his head, Luke counters, " Ouch, that's rough!"

  He hangs his towel, walks back over to me and gives me a peck on the lips, then grabs my hand, and leads me back up to the cabin. Before we reach the hill, he stops and turns to me.

  "Are you upset with me about last night? Luke asks.

  "No, I understand where you are coming from. You were being respectful, even though I was not as drunk as you thought I was. It will happen when it's supposed to happen, right." I reply.

  I wrap my arms around his waist, burying my face into his shirtless chest and embracing him with a firm yet gentle hug. Of course, I'm shook over the events from last night and that we've come so close to having sex a few times without any luck. However, I thought for sure we would have accomplished it at the stage we were at this last time. He has way more patience then I do and a lot more self-control. If it were me, I would have never been able to stop myself last night or any of the times we've been together, even though I am the culprit to one of the stoppings.

  IN THE CABIN, EVERYONE IS lying around the living room. Mindy, Nikki, and the guy who came up with them whose name I can never remember are getting ready to leave. Mindy and Nikki look like hell, and so does Ris, but she has an excuse at least. Did we party that hard, last night? Maybe they did, but I tried to take it easy since Luke wasn't drinking much.

  It's nice to see Jason is finally over his embarrassment and is cuddled up to Ris on the couch. They truly make a cute couple, but I know Ris, and she won't settle down with anyone. In her words, she likes to play the field and keep her options open. She may bang Jason a few more times after this or never speak to him again. It depends on how she feels. She is a bit unpredictable that way. I don't know how she can just shut off an attraction to someone.

  I do not have anywhere near the experience or numbers that she has, but I cannot shut it off after being intimate with someone. I always end up feeling something for that person. I've only been with one guy that turned me off so bad after we had sex that I could not bring myself to do it again. However, I still spoke to him, and we've become quite good friends. Ris can brush it off as if it never happened. She may call Jason just another one of her weekend flings. He does the same shit.

  "Hey Jay, I think I'm gonna catch a ride with them unless you need some help down here," Austin says.

  "You're good, man, see ya at home," Jason replies.

  Austin puts his arm around Mindy right before heading out the door with the others. Mindy and Austin? I do remember them being quite this cozy last night. Good for them, hopefully, she was too preoccupied with him then to report Luke's every move yesterday to Bridget.

  "Bye, Ali!" Nikki says before leaving.

  "Bye, Nikki. Bye Mindy, Austin, and the other guy!" I yell as they walk out the door.

  "His name is Chris," Luke whispers.

  I snap my finger.

  "That's right! I can never remember his name," I giggle.

  I notice that Jason and Ris suddenly get up from the couch and head to his room. Other than maybe helping him make the bed and pack, I can only assume they will try and finish what they started last night minus all the face bashing and blood. Luke and I head up to the loft to make the beds and pick up any garbage left from last night. I am quite impressed to see the beds made, and only a single condom wrapper is littering the floor.

  Luke and I make our way into my dad's room, and he makes the bed while I pack mine and Ris's stuff up. I stand up, and Luke wraps his arms around me from behind. I put my hands on his arms and smile back at him in the mirror. He rests his chin on top of my head and grins back.

  "I had a fun weekend with you, and you look beautiful right now," Luke says as he continues to look at me in the mirror and smile.

  "Thank you, and I did too," I reply, smiling.

  I turn around in his arms and lift myself on my tiptoes to plant my lips firmly against his. We go past a simple peck into a sensual kiss, with a little tongue action but not quite enough to cause erotic electricity like last night. Luke grabs my bag and a few of Ris's and strolls out to the living room. I grab Ris's last bag and look around my dad's room to ensure that nothing is left behind before catching up with Luke.

  You can easily hear Ris and Jason going at it from the living room, so Luke and I decide to give them some privacy by taking our stuff up to his truck.

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  On our way back to Baronette, Ris is passed out cold in the back seat while Luke and I quietly jam out to some tunes on the radio. His hand is resting on my thigh, and I catch him glancing over at me here and there. I drift off in thought, thinking about the weekend and how much fun I had with everyone, especially Luke. I replay everything that
had happened between us last night in my head.

  I can still picture every detail, how he made me feel, as well as everything about his huge penis. He made me feel comfortable and beautiful, despite all my insecurities. I am sure the alcohol had a hand in that since I am not too keen on giving a guy head unless I've been dating him for a while. His penis is like, holy shit, it's enormous. I could barely touch my fingertips when I had my hands around it, and I struggled to fit it in my mouth.

  I want to know what it feels like and if it will hurt when I have it inside me. Will I enjoy it, or will it be too much to handle? Everything about his dick is big, the length is long, and the girth is thick. Everything about this man is turning out to be questionably perfect. He's too good to be true. They do not make a lot of guys like him.

  WE FINALLY ARRIVE BACK AT my dad’s; Luke helps us haul our bags inside. Ris heads into the house while Luke and I say our goodbyes and have another sensual kissing moment but nothing too hardcore. I can tell he is hesitant to leave, and I do not want him to, but I need some alone time with Ris.

  Once Luke leaves, Ris and I veg out on the couch watching movies for the rest of the afternoon as she works through her hangover.

  I must have nodded off when the smell of something burning wakes me. I sit up and notice that Ris is no longer next to me on the couch. I can hear her trying to be quiet in the kitchen as she fumbles with things. I get up from the couch to see what it is she is up to.

  "Are you trying to burn down the house?" I ask, sarcastically.

  "Bitch, I'm cooking us some Alfredo, but I dropped some sauce on the burner thing. I've never cooked without the glass top before," she snarls.

  I giggle and thank her for her kind gesture. I'm surprised that she even attempted to cook at all. I usually do all the cooking back home, or she orders out for us. It looks quite tasty.

  "You and Luke seem like you are becoming pretty serious. Are you going to start dating him now?" Ris asks, seeming quite concerned.

  "I don't know what is going on between us or what's going to happen. I still have to talk to Troy about everything as have not completely ended shit with him yet. There are loose ends to tie up and kinks to iron out," I reply.

  “What? You're still with Troy? Ooo, scandalous,” she boasts.

  She loves any opportunity to pick on me and poke fun at my relationship choices or lack thereof.

  “No, there's no scandal. Troy and I are not together technically, but I don’t think telling him over a text is the right thing to do. I haven't had the time to call and talk to him about it yet.”

  “Yeah, 'cause you’ve been preoccupied with Mandingo!” Ris bursts out in laughter while poking her tongue out the side of her cheek repeatedly and humping the air.

  She is so obnoxious. I roll my eyes in disgust at her use of gross bodily actions and laugh.

  "Shut up!" I shout.

  I do need to talk to Troy. He's messaged me numerous times this weekend, and I have not replied to one of them. Maybe Ris can help me talk to him while she is here, so I won't feel so inapt to weaken and retract what I want to say to him. She can be my moral support. There must be a reason why it took me so long to consider seeing Tory when I am here for merely a week and can't keep my legs closed around Luke.

  Troy is very handsome and has a nice body, one I've never seen, not fully clothed. So, who's better looking doesn't have any play here. There is just something about Luke that makes me want to be with him every second of every day. He's simply enthralling. On the other hand, I could go days, even weeks without seeing Troy.

  I believe in the month since we started seeing one another, we've only seen each other twice. I've seen Luke every day since we met, granted he works at my dad's shop. That does help a lot, but that's also how we became close. We both were close to my dad in our own ways. Something, I would like to find out more about.

  Ris talks me into calling Troy while we sit down to eat the dinner. He answers after the first ring. I start the conversation out very nonchalantly and ease my way into letting him know that I am not in the right state of mind to be seeing anyone right now. It is partially true, but I want to be with Luke at the same time. I'm not even making any sense to myself. I need help.

  Troy assures me he understands and that he will wait until I am ready because he likes me a lot and thinks we are great for each other. He makes me feel awful and want to spill the beans about Luke to him, but Ris helps me fight the urge to do so before ending the call. Feeling like an absolute asshole, I sit on the couch, ignoring Ris's philosophical speech and flip through the channels on the TV.

  My phone buzzes, assuming it's Troy having more to say about our conversation, but it's Luke.

  I can't stop thinking about you. I miss you right next to me. Goodnight Turtle!

  I'm over the moon. Luke has never texted me, and his first text is so cute. Who knew the rugged bad boy would fall for the little semi goody two shoes? Who knew I would fall for the bad boy? Well, he's not a bad boy; he just looks that way. I never thought when I first met him that I would fall for him. It was quick and quite scary. I've never had this much natural chemistry with any guy before.

  One thing is for certain; he is still a mystery to me. I want to know everything I can about him. I want to uncover who or what made him the man he is today. I want to build trust and grow with him.

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  I open my eyes, feeling refreshed and rested, but also a tad warm. The sun is shining in my room, making it warmer than it usually is in the morning. Ris is next to me, still sleeping hard on her stomach with the bed covers pulled over her head. I grab my phone to check the time, but it's dead. I must have forgotten to charge it last night. I plug my phone in to charge.

  The sun is shining through the window in the hallway, which seems a bit odd for the morning. I make my way downstairs and into the kitchen. It's already after noon. Shit, I slept in. I should've been to the shop at quarter to eight this morning. I rush back upstairs to see what percent my phone is. Three percent is good enough to turn it back on and see if I received any calls or texts. I turn my phone on and hear a knock at the door.

  I run to the window in the hallway and see Luke's truck parked outside. He must have been trying to reach me all morning. I bet that's why he came here or maybe he came for lunch. Either way, I am excited to see him. I wake up Ris and head down to answer the door. I try to make myself look halfway presentable before opening the front door. I open it to see Luke standing there in his work uniform.

  He has on black slacks, a black t-shirt underneath a Rob's Restoration button up with his name on a patch on the side, and his hat is on forward-facing. I haven't seen him wear one of my dad's shop shirts yet. It looks good on him and hugs his muscular arms very nicely. I notice that he has some grease on his arms and face; he must have been working hard this morning.

  "Hi, your phone is off, and you weren't at the shop this morning. I couldn't remember if you said you were planning to come in or not today. So, I thought I would come to check on you," he stammers.

  I try to pull myself together in the best way I can after just waking up. I can only imagine how disheveled I look right now. My shadow on the ground proves my thought. I look like Beetlejuice!

  Slightly embarrassed by my appearance, I reply, "I just woke up, I forgot to charge my phone last night, and it died."

  Luke steps into the house and wrangles me by my waist.

  "Is Ris still here?" he asks while looking around the house.

  "Yea, she's upstairs either sleeping or packing up her stuff," I reply while looking into his gorgeous bluish-green eyes.

  Luke kicks his boots off and walks us back to the couch; he smells of Aqua Di Gio, old spice swagger, and a dap of grease. He presses his lips against mine. I don't want to make out with him since I have just woken up and haven't brushed my teeth, but I don't want to deny his affection right now either.

  "Ali, Ali, it's Barrett!" Ris yells as she comes barreling into the l
iving room with my phone in her hand.

  Luke looks at me, confused, then over at Ris. She is slightly clothed but wearing more than what she had on at the cabin when she barged into our room.

  "My boss, Barrett Azguard," I whisper to Luke.

  I grab my phone from Ris and go into the kitchen to talk to my boss.

  "Good Morning, Barrett," I say.

  "Good Morning, Allison! How are you doing?" he replies.

  We engage in conversation about how everything is going with me here since I left for my father's celebration of life over a week ago. I receive ten working days of paid leave for such an occasion. I am technically supposed to return to work this Thursday. I tell him about what is going on at my father's business and how it has now been handed down to me. He asks what I plan to do now, and I told him that I honestly did not know because everything is still so fresh. He says that I will always have a job at Facade since I am one of the best new designers there, and a lot of clients specifically ask for me. Barrett mentions that I should take a short leave of absence until I can get everything figured out with my dad's shop. He tells me to come back to the city on Thursday, and we will get the paperwork started with HR for my leave, and he will have IT work on getting something set up so I can work from home. What a great idea! I won't be out of the loop, and it will be like I am still at work, only remotely. I agree with Barrett's proposal and tell him I will see him sometime Thursday afternoon.

  I head back into the living room where Ris is laying on the couch watching TV, and Luke is sitting on the bay window, staring outside.

  "So, what did the boss man want?" Ris asks as she sits up on the couch.

  Luke turns to me, just as interested in what I am about to say.

  "I am going back to work Thursday," I reply.

  Luke's face saddens, and he looks toward the floor then back out the window. I expected Luke to react this way but was not sure he would be affected at all.