by Cindy Pike
“No, for one you don’t have red hair.” My smile won’t leave my face as I continue, “Second, you’d surpass them in magnetic intensity so immensely, and they can’t hold a candle to you.” I think we both know I’m inferring to more than just his physical looks. “Of course, I’m biased, I kinda like you, you know.” Owen chucks me on the chin and gives a shake of his head.
“Okay, Mr. Baker you may go and change back into your regular clothes, I’m done with you for today.” The woman I noted earlier announces from nearby the table. Owen steps down from the raised platform.
“Wanna come help me take these clothes off?” He whispers in my ear. It’s so out of character for him to blatantly flirt with me like this that before I can stop myself, I yell my response.
“Would I ever!” I slap my hand over my mouth and take a giant step back as my face heats up in embarrassment. Owen roars with laughter and Loki picks up on the mood in the room jumping up from his perch on one of the sofas placed around the room, frolicking around Owen, letting out little yips of excitement. Heath suddenly emerges from one of the previously closed doors dressed in only a kilt and some really kick ass boots with a shit ton of silver buckles all over them!
Sweet baby Jesus and holy hotness! I know my jaw drops, that doesn’t mean I can do anything to close it. He walks toward me and the platform and steps up onto it. The black and dark green plaid kilt sways with his movement. The look he’s got happening is a cross between Celtic and rocker, which suits him perfectly. The woman that was taking Owen’s measurements earlier, I notice her name tag says Mildred, comes up and puts leather bands on each of his upper arms and wrists, then steps back over to the table and picks up several other items I can’t identify.
“You can take a picture, Sweetheart. You know you want to.” He gives me a wink and lifts his arms out to his sides making his muscles ripple and stretch. Of course I want to, but I must save some of my dignity, don’t I? I wonder if I can somehow get his hair down from the bun on the back of the crown of his head.
“I’m okay with just looking.” Lie. I’m totally going to try and sneak a photo when he’s not paying me any attention. Mildred attaches an odd-looking fanny pack around Heath’s waist (I think it’s called a sporran) that’s all black with silver accents.
“Sure, you are, Sweetheart.” Heath’s smirk says he doesn’t believe me for a second, more than his words. Mildred keeps adjusting as Kyle exits from a third door into the main part of the room. What in the actual hell?! He’s dressed as a cowboy in black chaps with silver studs running along the sides from the top of his hips to bottom of the pant legs. A black cowboy hat, silver spurs, and dark gray boots round out his dark cowboy look! The whole nine! My mouth starts to water and the sight of him in tight black jeans and a dark soft dove gray button-down long sleeve flannel with silver snaps. His sharp brown eyes burrow holes into mine as he comes to stand next me and I get a whiff of his burnt metal and eucalyptus smell that’s uniquely him. They’re all going to kill me, how did I end up with so much hotness surrounding me daily? Kyle and I still haven’t discussed our relationship and how things are going to go between us. He’s been his sweet caring self, if a bit distant since our last conversation a while ago. We talk but it’s all surface stuff nothing that has any depth to it.
“Hey, Honey.” He gives me a kiss on the side of my face and wraps his arm around my shoulder, giving me a small squeeze. “Know what you’re gonna be for Halloween?” Oh shit, it didn’t click that I’d have to pick a costume too! What the hell am I gonna be?
“Not a clue. I have to say I’m a bit surprised that you guys dress up for Halloween… I mean aren’t you a bit old for this sort of thing?” It’s awesome but I’m having a hard time picturing Silas dressed up in anything but all black. Kyle chuckles and leans into me so his mouth brushes the shell ridge of my ear.
“Don’t let Flynn hear that, this is his favorite time of year. He has a huge party at his and Owen’s every year. We’re all required to suffer since Owen has to.” Good goodness, his deep voice flows over me like silk. I close my eyes and just enjoy this increasingly rare moment with Kyle. It’s not surprising that Flynn is the instigator of all this. Silas opens a fourth door and comes out dressed in his usual clothes.
I cock my head and voice my confusion, “That can’t be your costume, its cheating to go as yourself!” He levels his cold stare at me, but it doesn’t make me feel empty or chilled, it gives me strength that I didn’t know I needed right now. My spine straightens and I stand slightly taller than I was a few seconds ago.
“It’s not. I’m done with my fitting, I gotta get back to the garage. I’ve got a deadline coming up on a build, I’m cutting things too close for my comfort.” Kyle moves away as Heath steps down once Mildred is done with her adjustments and he goes to his designated room to change, while Kyle steps on the platform. Mildred goes in and instantly starts adjusting even though I can’t find a flaw in the outfit on him. Owen comes back out in his regular clothes and lounges on one of the couches and Loki jumps up with him, laying on his lap as he gets pets from the good doctor. Silas stands in front of me, his hands on his hips and gives me a once over. “Did you have anything to eat?” I just roll my eyes at his over-protectiveness.
“Yes, Si. I had something to eat this morning. Ask Flynn, he made sure I did.” Geeze, these guys are serious about me gaining back the weight I lost. Satisfied, he gives me a quick kiss on my lips and a two fingered flick to the others as he heads out toward the front exit. “See you later, Doll. Later, guys.” I look quickly to Kyle after they all say their byes and see his mouth is in a tight line, his eyes are hard. Damn it, I guess that means he’s not any closer to being okay with me dating the others along with him. Looking to Owen for help, he just gives me an almost imperceptible shake of his head and continues to pet Loki, being no help whatsoever. Ugh…
Flynn’s door opens and his costume is perfect for him! I’ve never been someone who thought I’d be into role playing, but with Flynn’s get up I’d be more than willing. He’s got on a nerd outfit with a risqué twist, because of course it does. It’s so not Flynn (besides the risqué part), but still him all quirky and slightly sexy, in a nerdly wonderful way, for crying out loud I can’t stand it! He’s got the black and white oxford shoes, with tight blue jeans with the leg cuffs rolled up so they are high waters and tall white socks showing. He’s got a tight, white short sleeve button down on showing off his full sleeves of tattoo’s, with bright red suspenders and fake black rimmed nerd glasses with white tape on the nose bridge. Without even knowing what Silas is going as, I have to say Flynn’s costume is my favorite!
“I love it Flynn!” I clap my hands and bounce on my toes. “This is the best!” I can’t stop gushing how much I love his costume! He just gives me a knowing smirk as he steps up after Kyle disappears to his dressing room, the door only slightly slamming. I wince at the noise and Owen and Flynn exchange secret looks.
“Nora, head to the table and go over possible designs with Fran.” Owen beckons me over to the table with the woman seated behind it. The command in his voice doesn’t leave me any room to disobey him, as I go over on autopilot, pulling out my seat and planting my ass on the lush cushion.
“Hello, I’m Francis, you may call me Fran.” She holds her hand out and I shake it with a firm grip.
“Nora, pleased to meet you.” I give a genuine smile and settle more into my seat.
“Do you have any ideas for your costume?” Fran doesn’t waste any time and just jumps right into it.
“Honestly, no. I wasn’t even aware of what I was walking into until I saw Owen on that platform out there.” I feel kind of like a letdown, without being able to give her more to go on.
“That’s fine, what sort of things do you wish you could be, if you could be anything? What interests you?” She gives me a kind smile as she tries to get some ideas from me. Heath and Kyle exit their changing rooms and Loki jumps up from his spot next to Owen on the couch, b
ounding over to Heath jumping up on him in his excitement. Surprisingly Heath allows it and scratches his neck then gives a gentle push so Loki gets off him. Heath heads toward Owen with Loki hot on his heels and Kyle comes toward me.
“I’m heading out, Nora.” Kyle crouches down next to me so his eyes are level with mine. I search his face for a hint of any emotion, but it’s no use, he’s got them locked tightly away from me.
“Okay, Ironman.” My voice comes out flat, but there’s nothing I can do to stop the sadness that’s wrapped up in my situation with Kyle until he’s willing to talk to me. He stands, gives my shoulder a squeeze and leaves. That’s it, nothing else, the feeling that I’m losing him wells up and almost drowns me where I sit. I can’t let it though, not here in the middle of the shop. I push my sorrows back to deal with later.
Owen and Heath approach me carefully and also give me their goodbyes with the addition of hugs and a kiss on the cheek from Owen, with another on the top of my head from Heath. Loki lets out a playful yip as they exit, that’s when inspiration hits and I start planning with Fran. Before Flynn comes back out from his dressing room Fran and I have worked out the basic details and she’s sketching out our ideas.
“I’d like to keep the details from the guys, if you could send anything regarding my costume directly to me, I’d appreciate it.” I hope she understands I want to have this be a secret and surprise the guys with a big reveal.
“Of course, Nora, it’ll be my pleasure.” She gives me a wicked smile, which I return. I give her my email address.
“What are you two up to?” Flynn hones in on our twin smiles and questions them. He should, when women have smiles like ours, nothing good usually comes from them. In this case it’s just a bit of fun. Fran quickly flips her sketch book closed and leans her forearms on it. Flynn squints his eyes in suspicion at her then turns the look toward me.
“Nothing for you to be concerned with, Mr. Walker.” Fran firmly shuts him down, but I know I’ll get badgered relentlessly after we leave. For someone who likes to keep secrets from others, he doesn’t do so well when the shoes on the other foot.
“Alright, come on Nora, if we leave now, we’ll just make our nail appointments.” See he just can’t wait to get me away from Fran so he can pester me. Little does he know that when I make my mind up about keeping a secret, I’m like Fort Knox.
“I’ll do some more detailed sketches and list the fabric’s I think will work and send them to your email. Pleasure meeting you, Nora.” Fran waves me off, making more notes in short hand in her notebook.
Flynn collects Loki and holds his elbow out for me, like gentlemen did back in the older days. I tuck my arm through his and we exit to his Jeep.
I’m not used to being pampered, but I could get used to having a mani/pedi every two weeks or so. Flynn got both done, just like me, but he got clear polish for his hands and hot pink on his toes (I bet him he wouldn’t, and lost, obviously. My payment is going to be interesting…). I’m partial to purple so I got a deep royal purple on both my feet and hands. I’m looking forward to doing this with Flynn again.
7 Pushy Groceries
Bad Luck by Adam Jensen
A week after my first costume fitting Flynn pulls into a spot in the grocery store parking lot and kills the engine. We both open our doors to his Jeep and head inside to get the stuff we need for dinner tonight. We’re both in jeans, with Flynn in a neon purple t-shirt and white converse shoes. I’ve got a graphic t-shirt on that is from one of my favorite books, advertising a book store on the front, and getting my coffee from a certain crazy haired vet on the back. A pair of regular white tennis shoes on my feet. My hair is loose for once, I’ve been having one of the guys help me with it while my arm was healing. Now since it’s grown so much since meeting them, I’m lazy about doing it myself. Secretly I love when the guys do it, it makes me feel lo... Oh shit, no, nope. I’m not going down that road right now, nope. Back to thoughts of my hair, I should probably get it cut and donate to a wigs for cancer program.
Owen called a meeting and wants all of us there tonight; he said something about wanting to get somethings out in the open with all of us on the same page. Looks like we’re all going to finally have the conversation him and I talked about having with everyone on our ride. I wait for Flynn to come around to my side taking his hand before we head into the store. Physical touch is still something that I’m getting used to (Silas is quickly breaking me of my aversion) but Flynn seems to like it when we hold hands, so I’ve gotten used to it with him.
“What’s on the list Owen gave you?” I’m excited to have all the guys together tonight, even if Owen’s reason seems ominous. Flynn gets a buggy and I slip in front of him as he grabs the handle on each side of me, surrounding me from behind. This is just another way the guys are helping me to get over the traumas of my past. Having anyone so close to me like this sets my heart racing and I have a hard time being in the present. Jason’s favorite way to rape me was from behind so it’s tough to be back in a similar position. Doing it like this with us standing and in a crowded place helps to keep my mind distracted from it. Not having it as my sole focus makes things easier and I can deal with it much easier. I inhale Flynn’s peppermint and lemon scent and it helps ground me more.
“Oh, you know, not much. Just enough for your basic home cooked meal.” I roll my eyes because I know better. Anytime Owen cooks it is never basic, he may have basic items on the menu but he always puts his own little touches on them. Making them outstanding. “Ready, my Spitfire?” Flynn checks with me, I nod and we make our way down the first aisle for the items on Owen’s list.
“Okay, that’s all the fresh veggies we need, now onto the ice cream!” I chuckle as Flynn gets too excited, in my opinion, over ice cream. We’ve gotten all the items from the list and I’m not surprised he wants ice cream.
“How you eat ice cream the way you do and still have the body of an Olympic swimmer baffles me.” His physique really is beautiful.
“I’ve got good genes.” Flynn is looking at his phone in his hand and stops short, “Shit, we need flour for Owen’s biscuits. It’s on the other side of the store, let’s go, Spitfire.” Flynn starts to turn the cart but I stop him.
“You go get it and meet me in the ice cream aisle. Those are the last two things then we can go home.” I turn and look at Flynn’s captivating mismatched eyes as I say it.
“Nora,” I know what he’s going to say but I need to see if I can do this.
“Flynn, go. I need to be okay on my own at some point. This way is good for both of us. You won’t be gone more than five minutes and I’m in a busy store, so all I have to do is yell if I need help.” I can see he doesn’t like the idea of leaving me without having one of the dogs with us, just in case someone unintentionally gets too close and triggers me, so I push it, “I can’t depend on you and the dogs forever, Picasso. I need to be able to trust my new skills, and myself. Go.” I say the last word firmly and gently give him a push in the right direction. He leans in and kisses the back of my head then quickly moves down the aisle, headed in the fastest direction for the flour we need. I make my way to the frozen foods section and stop in front of the ice cream. All the guys like different kinds, Flynn’s favorite is surprisingly vanilla. Owen’s is mint chocolate chip, with Heath’s being plain chocolate. Silas loves strawberry and Kyle has a taste for rocky road. Much like my interest in each of the guys I like all the flavors, each one bringing me something different that I like.
A woman and her little boy, sitting in the seat that all buggies have, pass by me and round the corner to the next aisle. I return my attention to which brand I should get for Kyle, wanting to be sure I get the one he favors. I catch a man coming down the aisle toward me as I open the door, ready to grab the brand I think Kyle likes. The man stops a bit back from me and I put the carton in the basket of the buggy and move to the next freezer door to get Silas’ strawberry. Thinking the man just needed in the door I was just in I don’t p
ay much attention to him as I open the next door and get closer to reach the carton pushed all the way to the back.
That turns out to be a mistake, not paying attention to the man. I get the carton and go to step back, bumping into a hard body. Thinking that Flynn is back with the flour already I turn and catch the eyes of a stranger.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t see you there.” The hairs on my entire body are standing on end and alarms bells are starting to go off in my head. There is no reason he should be this close to me. I place my hand on his chest and apply pressure trying to give him a nonverbal queue that he needs to step back. He presses back against my hand moving himself closer to me. I start to panic, but a conversation with my therapist jumps to the forefront of my mind and helps ease my rising panic.
“I need you to step back, I get claustrophobic easily.” I don’t owe this man anything.
“You’re very beautiful, I’d like to take you out sometime. What’s your name?” The guys voice comes out and it’s whiny, grating on my ears. Is this guy for real? I just told him to step back, that I’m claustrophobic and he’s asking me out?!
“If you don’t back away right now, I’ll make you.” I say firmly, applying more pressure to his chest with my hand.
“Come on, don’t be like that. Just give me your number and I’ll move.” Nope, that’s fucking it. He doesn’t get that this isn’t a negotiation. He doesn’t get to use his body to try and intimidate a date from me or to get my fucking phone number. Taking a deep breath, I look him directly in his beady little eyes and try one last time.
“Sir, if you don’t move away right now, I’ll use force to make you.” My voice comes out calm and firm, but on the inside, I’m shaking like a leaf ready to fall from the slightest breeze. My vision is starting to dim around the edges and a cold sweat is breaking out down my spine. Please, just move back, so I can breathe. I can’t seem to get a decent breath as I try to remember one of the moves Heath and I have been going over.