Fifteen
Meet the Michaels
“Are you gonna be like this all week or are you gonna snap out of it soon?” Shannon asked with a smile.
I continued to stare out of the store window and daydream of Devin. It had been two weeks since my birthday party and things couldn’t be more perfect. We spent hours on the phone every day and when we weren’t on the phone or at work, we were together.
Some nights he would come to my apartment and we’d watch movies all cuddled up on the couch. Sometimes we’d go to dinner, some nights we’d stay in and make a mess in my kitchen cooking things we had no clue how to cook. I’d never smiled so much in my life. I’d never laughed so much in my life. I’ve never been this happy… ever.
On game night I included him and he fit right in. My friends adored him. Randy drooled over him and later told me that he thought Devin was a hot piece of ass.
After everyone left and Shannon suspiciously got too tired to stay awake another minute, Devin and I cleaned the messy apartment. He looked so cute loading the dishwasher with a little dish cloth slung over his shoulder.
“What a good little maid you are,” I joked.
He smirked at me with his all-too sexy self. All the crazy “I want to jump his bones” feelings came crashing over me. Over the last couple of weeks there were lots of smiles and jokes. There was tons of tickling and cuddling and even though we both pretended it wasn’t there, there was so much tension. No matter what, I didn’t want to seem like I was throwing myself at him in any way and even though he never said it, I could tell that he was trying especially hard to keep his distance.
It didn’t make any sense to me. We were both adults and I can look at him and tell he was experienced. I never asked how many women he’d been with, but it was obvious from his mannerisms that the man knew his way around a woman’s body, no map needed. He had his own inner sense of direction and I’d love nothing more than to let him find his way through my valley.
When all was cleaned I walked him to the front door.
“Text me when you get home and let me know you made it safely,” I said.
“OK,” he yawned.
“If you’re too tired, you can crash here. I can get you a blanket and you can sleep on the couch if you want.”
“Nah, I need to get home. I’ve got a busy day tomorrow at the shop and I wanna get an early start. Goodnight. Sweet dreams, baby,” he whispered as he gave me the traditional kiss on the cheek.
His lips warmed the side of my face and I felt his breath against my ear. The man was making me crazy. Without thinking, I reached up and rested my hand against his cheek. I ran my thumb across his lips—his light mustache tickled the tip of my thumb. His eyes connected with mine and all time stopped.
All too soon I snatched my hand away.
“Goodnight,” I said.
When he left I closed my door, made sure everything was off, and then got ready for bed. Thirty minutes later, I was snuggled up in my bed when I got a text. I picked up the phone and read it.
I’m home, but I wish I was with you.
I did indeed have sweet dreams that night.
It was exactly a week later that Devin took me to his house for the first time. We were out and about when he realized that he’d forgotten his wallet. He didn’t seem too happy about having to go all the way back to his house, but we made the thirty minute trip from Charleston to Walterboro anyway.
It was a cute little country house. The huge, screened-in front porch took over much of the front yard. There was a short driveway that met what looked to be a converted garage and overgrown gardens with broken garden statues. Sure it could use some maintenance, but it felt comfy. It felt like a home should feel. It was everything I imagined it would be.
Behind the house, led by a long gravel road that ran beside the house, was a massive garage. There were a few broken down cars waiting to go in and old tires lying around. I could smell the motor oil and rubber from the front yard and it instantly reminded me of Devin. It was weird to see where he worked and lived, but it somehow made me feel closer to him. I liked it.
There wasn’t anyone home, so I didn’t feel so nervous when he asked me if I wanted to come in for a minute. His house was welcoming and warm. I followed him to his bedroom and stood in the doorway while he searched his room for his wallet.
I couldn’t help but smile. The room was so…Devin. There was a big bed in the middle of the room with green bedding. There were car pictures on the wall and a pin up calendar that I couldn’t help but notice. I wanted to hate the skinny sex kitten that stared back at me from the calendar, but she was just too damn pretty to hate.
Devin noticed what I was staring at and for a second I thought I saw him blush.
“Ah, here it is!” he said as he held up his wallet.
He spun around to face me and no matter how hard I tried I couldn’t wipe the goofy smile off my face.
“What’s so funny?” he asked.
“Nothing, it’s just this room is so…you. It’s exactly how I pictured it in my mind.”
“You’ve pictured my bedroom in your mind?” he asked with a smirk.
He tilted his brow, questioning me in his all-too sexy way that drives me crazy.
I felt my face heat up. Devin walked closer and stood in front of me.
“Have you?” he asked again and his voice was lower, darker.
He reached up and tucked my hair behind my ear and then let his fingertip run down the side of my neck.
“I—I—don’t,” I stuttered.
I could think of nothing else to say. Once again I was knocked speechless. Real nice! I might as well tell him that I’ve imagined him naked in his bed at night.
He cupped the back of my neck and moved a little closer.
You have, haven’t you?” He moved closer like a predator on the prowl. I had never felt so small, as his large frame overwhelmed me.
“Tell me,” he whispered against the side of my mouth. His lips tickled before I felt his hot tongue run along the seam of my lips.
“Yes,” I blurted out.
My eyes fluttered shut and I knew I was a goner. Man he was good at this stuff. I was way out of my league with this sex crap.
“When you imagine my bedroom, am I in my bed?” I felt his other hand work its way up my side.
“Sometimes,” I squeaked.
“Well, sometimes, when you picture me in my bed, am I alone or are you with me?”
“I’m with you.” My voice sounded foreign.
I softly nibbled my bottom lip.
“Am I naked?”
Again he teased my mouth with his tongue and I released my bottom lip from my teeth. Softly, he sucked the spot on my bottom lip where my teeth had been digging in seconds before.
I never gave my answer. Instead, I gave in and pulled him closer to me. I pressed my lips against his and kissed him. He responded immediately. He pulled me farther into his room and shut the bedroom door behind us. I felt my back against the door when he slowly walked me backward.
His tongue slipped into my mouth, causing me to purr out loud. I met his tongue with mine and he shocked me as he sucked the tip of my tongue and pressed his body harder against mine.
I was coming undone. Every part of my body was tingling and I needed something, anything, to happen at that point.
Out of nowhere, there was a loud rumbling noise coming from outside that scared me. I pulled away.
“What’s that?” I asked.
He inhaled then exhaled deeply while leaning his forehead against mine.
“That would be my dad out in the garage. The loud rumbling noise would be an old truck that we’ve been working on for the last week. My guess is… it’s fixed.”
I didn’t meet his dad that night. Instead, we left quickly and spent the rest of the night out.
After that night, I was taken to his house more often. Every time we went there no one was ever home. He gave me a tour of the garage out back and showed me a few of the cars he was working on.
Through all it, I could never figure out what it was that we were doing. Were we friends that dated or were we a couple that acted like friends? Needless to say, I was completely confused. There were moments when Devin acted like he could barely keep his hands off of me and then there were moments when he treated me like one of his buddies.
It wasn’t long until I was wondering exactly what he would label us as and no matter how many times I’d heard from friends that it was a bad idea to ask him, I couldn’t help myself. I wanted to be involved with Devin… I wanted it more than anything. The walled-in parts of me wanted to peek around the corner and pull him into my world completely, but I couldn’t do it, not until I was sure that he was in the same place emotionally as me.
I decided to leave work early. I thought it would be a good idea to stop by Devin’s house and have a talk with him. It needed to be done. I was rapidly falling hard for him and I really needed to know if I should allow these feelings to blossom, or nip them in the bud.
I turned my radio up and kept psyching myself up. This was it, I had to do this. I had to talk to Devin. I needed to know exactly what we were doing. I know all girls want things clearly defined for them and that scares guys to death, but now, for the first time in my life, I understood exactly how much that definition meant. Were we just friends or were we more?
I mean seriously, we are adults. I should be able to just ask Devin where he sees this whole thing going, right? Whatever he said wouldn’t matter. I just needed to know how much of to invest into this whole thing, and if by some chance he just wanted to be friends, then I’d be the best damn friend he ever had.
I pulled up to the garage instead of his house since I knew he’d be working. He must have heard my car because he walked outside looking all sweaty, greasy, and just plain sexy. Dear Lord, please have mercy on me. I silently prayed for the strength to keep my hands to myself.
I didn’t turn my car off. Instead, I stepped out and closed the door behind me. I didn’t want to get all comfortable just in case he was too busy to sit and chat for a few.
“Hey, baby. I didn’t know you were coming over. I would’ve cleaned up a bit.” He attempted to clean some of the dirt and grease from his clothes.
If only he knew how hot he looked all covered in grease.
“Do you have a minute to talk? If you’re busy, it can wait. I know I should’ve called but I really need to talk to you about something kind of import….”
“Ssshhh,” he cut me off.
He had a confused, questioning look on his face as he stared off into to space.
“Is something wrong? Devin?” He cut me off again when he held up his finger, telling me to be quiet.
He walked around to the hood of my car.
“Pop your hood, sweetie.”
“What? Are you listening to me?”
“Yes—well, not really, but I will. First, pop your hood.”
I walked back to the driver’s side door of my car, opened the door, then reached down and popped the hood of my car.
“Happy?” I asked sarcastically with a smile.
He lifted my hood and then started digging around.
“What are you doing?” I leaned down over the open hood where he was digging.
“You need a tune-up and an oil change. Don’t you hear that?” He turned his head to smile at me and a lone streak of grease on his cheek caught my attention. I almost reached out and wiped it away. “Pull your car into the garage and I’ll take care of it.”
“What? No. Devin, I came here to talk not to get my car fixed. It’s fine, I’ll take it and have it fixed somewhere later.”
“Like hell you will! First of all, I can talk and change the plugs and oil at the same time. Second of all, what kind of man would I be if I didn’t take care of my girl’s car? I am a mechanic, you know.” He smiled sweetly at me.
His girl.
He jumped into my car and shut the door. I watched as he pulled it into the garage and started jacking it up. I couldn’t say or do anything. I was his girl. What the hell does that mean anyway? Shannon’s my girl, but that doesn’t mean I want have sex with her. Don’t get me wrong, she’s pretty and all, but she’s not really my type.
His comment left me even more confused than I was before. Damn him and his confusing everything! That and his sexy everything and damn his seductive everything. Just damn him!
I followed him into the garage. I couldn’t very well bring up the whole “what the hell are we?” subject now that he called me his girl. That could mean anything. I could be his female friend that he’d hook up with his fat buddy named, Bubba, or I could be his girlfriend that he’d do naughty things with at night and daydream about all day.
I’d prefer the latter.
I watched as he worked on my car. He had on greasy jeans with an even greasier red rag hanging out of his back pocket. The black tank top shirt he was wearing was so wet with sweat that it was sticking to every cut and corner of his body. I couldn’t help but stare. His tanned arms were flexing and stretching and the shiny oil on his skin made his tattoos look extra sharp. One day I’d get a better look at those tattoos. One day I’ll outline those babies with my tongue.
He was so fine and I was getting so very hot and bothered.
He climbed under the car and grabbed at different tools. It was like watching an artist at work and I could tell that he truly loved what he was doing.
“So, what did you wanna talk about?” he asked from under the car.
“Huh? Oh, um—I don’t remember. I’m sure it was nothing important.”
He pulled himself from under the car, the little rolling bed thingy made a creaking noise. I watched him stretch his perfectly shaped body as he got comfortable.
“You OK, Lil? You look funny. Are you feeling OK?”
It took me a minute to peel my eyes of off his chest and dirty jeans to look at his face.
“Huh? Oh, I think I’m coming down with something. I feel like I might have a fever.”
My face had to be bright red. I couldn’t think about anything but him and those thoughts weren’t very pure. At night I had dreams of him doing and saying things to me. During the day I had daydreams about him touching me certain ways and making me feel things I’ve never felt before. I couldn’t focus on anything at work. Even Shannon commented on how out of whack I was lately.
He jumped up from the rolling bed thingy and walked over to me. He pulled the red rag from his back pocket and wiped the grease from his hands before softly laying the back of his right hand to my forehead. Chills went through my entire body, yet I felt hot all over.
“You don’t feel warm, but you do look a little flushed. Stay here, I’m gonna run in the house and get you a soda, OK?”
“OK.”
I watched him run across the yard and into the back door, the screened door slamming loudly. I sat down onto a fold out chair next to my car and waited for him to come back. I heard a car pull up and then watched as a young boy in a baseball hat jumped out and headed toward the garage. He was half way to me before he noticed I was sitting here.
“Hey, is anyone here to help you?” he asked as he pulled off his hat and a mess of a brown ponytail was revealed.
I suddenly realized that it was a young girl, not a young boy, and I knew right away that it was Jenny, Devin’s little sister.
“Yeah, I’m actually waiting on Devin to come back. He went to get me a soda.”
Her eyes lit up.
“Are you Devin’s new friend? The one he’s always on the phone with?”
“Um—I think so? My name’s Lilly. You must be Jenny?”
First of all, Jenny was the cutest little thing I’d seen in forever. Yeah, she was dressed like a boy and yeah, her hair was a hot mess all pulled up in a low ponytail, but other than that, she was gorgeous. She had Devin’s pretty green eyes and a tan that girls pay good money for.
Her smile was wide and white and her face was unblemished. She had the flawless skin of a girl who didn’t contaminate her face with makeup every day. She was short with a small frame, so absolutely adorable.
I had to smile at the torn up jeans and big black ACDC t-shirt, but I could tell that beneath it all there was a beautiful young girl.
“That’s me! It’s so nice to meet you. You’re so much prettier than Renee!” She blurted out.
“Renee?”
“Yeah, she was a major bitch. He didn’t tell you about Renee? Oh well, I don’t blame him.” She waved it off. “No one likes her. I don’t even think he liked her very much. She was just a piece of ass. You know how those things go. ”
I didn’t, not really, but apparently this teenage girl did. Not to mention the awful sinking feeling that attacked my stomach at just the mention of Devin with this girl Renee. Was Renee his girl, too?
I was about to ask more about this Renee person when I heard the screened door slam again and I knew he was coming back.
He walked up to me with a huge smile on his face and a coke in his hand. Looking at them, I could say that if there weren’t an age gap between the two, they could pass as twins, other than the fact that he’s tall, dark and handsome and she’s petite, tan, and gorgeous.
I watched his smile disappear when he saw his little sister was standing next to me.
“Jenny. You’re home early,” he suddenly looked nervous as he handed me my coke.
“Yeah, today was an early out day. Remember? I told you that last night. I told you that I’d help you out at the shop today. What’s up with this Honda? Is this your car, Lilly?” She turned her attention back to me before walking over to the car and looking under the hood.
“Yep, that’s my baby. I haven’t named her like your brother named his, but I will at some point. I was thinking something along the lines of Barbara or Bertha.”
Jenny laughed with me. Devin still didn’t say anything; he just kind of walked back over to the car and started working on it again.
The next thirty minutes were awkward. Jenny and I sat and talked the whole time. We laughed and giggled about school and a few girlie things. For someone who was such a tomboy, she still had a hint of teenage girl in there somewhere. Throughout all the talking and car work, I couldn’t help but notice how quiet Devin was being.
After my oil was changed and the tune up was complete, Jenny invited me to dinner the following Saturday at their house with her, Devin, and their dad. I looked to Devin for a response, but when he didn’t look my way I decided to make the decision for myself.
“Sure that sounds fun. Should I bring something?”
“Just yourself,” she smiled.
Not long after that Jenny went inside and left me and Devin all alone.
“Is everything OK?” I asked.
“Everything’s cool. Well, your car’s all better now. You’ll need another oil change in about three thousand miles. I’m going to go inside and get a shower, I’m covered in grease. I’ll see you at dinner this weekend?”
He wasn’t looking me in my face at all. Something was wrong.
“If you don’t want me to come, I won’t. I wasn’t, like, plotting and planning to meet your family or anything. I should’ve called before I came. I’m sorry for intruding, and I understand if you don’t want to do the whole meet the family thing. Call me later.”
I tried to sound as if the fact that he may not want me to be around his family didn’t bother me. Plus, there was all this stupid Renee talk. How would she feel knowing that there was another chick coming to dinner at his house?
There was no way he knew how heartbroken I felt by the tone of my voice or the expression on my face. I turned and started to get into my car when he grabbed me by my wrist and pulled me to him. The next thing I knew his warm mouth was moving against mine.
I responded immediately and threw my arms around his neck. He began backing me up until I felt my back against my car. He pulled away a bit and nipped at my bottom lip before moving to my neck.
“You always smell so good,” he whispered against my neck.
A deep moan was my answer. Words were beyond me at this point. I pulled him closer to me and tilted my head to the side to give him more space to work. His mouth felt so amazing. He felt so amazing. The car was pretty much holding me up. My legs sure as Hell weren’t holding me up anymore.
The sound of someone clearing their throat made us jump apart from each other. My legs still felt like rubber, yet somehow I managed to stand.
“Dad, this is Lilly. Lilly, this is my dad,” Devin sounded out of breath.
The older man standing across from us smiled back at me like we shared some great secret. He was just as greasy as Devin, except he wore an old, light blue workman’s shirt with a name patch sewed on and dirty, old, navy blue pants.
He was an older Devin with a scraggly beard and a twinkle in his eye. He radiated calm and warmth and I instantly felt comfortable around him.
“Nice to meet ya, little lady. So, you’re the one taking up all my boy’s time.”
He pointed to Devin using the fishing pole in his hand. The other hand carried a case of beer. I could feel the burn in my face and all I really wanted to do was jump in my car and haul ass.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered.
“Ah, hell honey, don’t be sorry. It ain’t a bad thing. I’m glad he finally got him a real woman. That one gal, what was her name again? Oh yeah, Renee. She was a snooty little thing. She wasn’t nothin’ but a little rack of bones. Good to see ya got yourself a lady with some meat on her,” he said to Devin. Devin’s face turned seven shades of red. “Don’t you be a stranger, ya hear? And don’t you be calling me Mr. Michaels, either. Around here, it’s either Harold the Handsome or Dad.” He winked at me as he walked by.
I stood there a minute trying to figure out if that had really just happened or if I was having a horrible nightmare. There is no way that I just met my Devin’s dad for the first time, after he busted us making out up against my car.
Well, that was a just a great first impression. I’m sure he thinks I’m just another one of Devin’s little sluts. Hell, I guess technically I am just another one of Devin’s little sluts. I’m surely acting like one.
“Oh. My. God. That was so embarrassing,” I said.
My voice was shaking.
“Lilly, about Renee—I’m sorry I didn’t…” I cut him off.
“Don’t worry about it; you don’t have to tell me everything about your life, Devin. It’s not like we’re getting married or anything like that. You’re free to do whatever you want. I’m not your warden.” I tried to act like the mystery of Renee wasn’t bothering me.
“We’re not together anymore…I mean, we kind of never were. It doesn’t matter… we don’t anymore. We don’t do anything anymore.”
I knew what he was trying to tell me and I’m glad he did. Nothing else was said about it even though I wanted to ask a million questions. I kept my mouth shut. I didn’t want to seem like a psycho girl, but I suppose now I know who got the really great necklace I picked out at Franklin’s Jewelry store the first day I met him.
When I got back to my apartment, Shannon was lounging on the couch. The moment I walked by her she began laughing hysterically.
“What’s so funny?” I asked.
“Somebody had a good day.” She continued to laugh.
I stared back at her, confused.
“As a matter of fact I did, but how do you know?”
She busted out laughing one more time before pointing at my pants.
“There are big black greasy handprints all over your butt, Lil.” She laughed harder.
“OK, so I had a great day.” I stuck my tongue out at her as I made my way to bedroom.
That Saturday was the day of the dinner with Devin’s family. I got to Devin’s house early and we hung out in his room while his dad put the finishing touches on dinner. I picked up a box of pictures that he had sitting on his dresser and started picking through them.
There were pictures of Devin and Jenny when they were just kids that we laughed at. He was such a cute kid. There were family pictures of cousins, aunts, and uncles. There were pictures of Devin at his high school prom and pictures of him and his friends. Suddenly, I came across a picture that made me gasp.
Staring back at me was a picture of Renee Roberts, the ring leader of the twelve girls who had kicked and beat me. She was a viscous girl who cared for nothing or no one but herself. She had ruined my life and laughed about it.
I silently prayed that this wasn’t Devin’s Renee. I begged God to make it not so. Could he have been sleeping with the girl who single-handedly plotted the high school attack on me? Was it the same bitch who left me in the woods bleeding internally?
I could still hear their laughter. Years of therapy got me through it, but there were still occasional nights when I’d wake up with the sheets stuck to me and a scream for help on my lips. I never wanted to feel that helpless again. Seeing her face brought back those terrible feelings.
I dropped the picture quickly and went to put the lid on the box, but Devin must have seen my response to her picture. He picked it up and looked at me kind of strange.
“Do you know her?” he asked as he held up the photo.
“No, who is it?” I pretended to not know who she was.
“No one,” he said as he balled up the photo of Renee and threw it into the trash can next to his dresser.
I instantly felt relief in knowing he no longer had a connection to such a cruel girl and I prayed that I’d never have to see her face again.