Chapter Eleven

Noah

“Let me handle this,” I say to the guys as the police officer gets out of his car and walks over to my side of the car. I press the button to roll the window down.

“License and registration papers, please,” he barks, his eyes hidden by his glasses that have a mirror lens.

I see myself in the glass and notice the black polish is smearing down to my cheeks. I have twigs stuck in my hat.

“What seems to be the problem?” I turn to get my wallet out of the middle console.

“We’ve had a couple of calls about some disturbances in the neighborhood,” he says as he reads my name. Leaning in, he takes in Austin and John. “What is that smell?”

“Our dignity, along with some dog poop and I think urine, but I don’t know if it’s human or animal,” John says from the backseat.

“Officer,” I say, trying to cut in, “we might have been going undercover.”

His eyebrows squeeze together, so I continue. “I was spying on a girl.” I smile at him.

“Does she have a restraining order against you?” he asks, and Austin says from his side, “Not yet, but I’m sure it’s coming.”

I turn to glare at him, then turn back and smile at the officer. “I was just making sure she got my flowers.”

“So you decided it was a good idea to hide in the bushes and scare innocent women and children.” He leans in, looking from one to the other till his eyes finally come to me. “I’ll be right back.”

He goes back to his car while my phone beeps. A text from Kaleigh. My eyes open up.

So change of plans, are you still free tonight?

“Yes,” I cheer out, “she has a change of plans and wants to meet tonight.”

“If I get arrested, Dani is going to cut your balls off and then finish you off, so I don’t think you should be celebrating,” John says from the back.

“And whatever she doesn’t finish I will,” Austin says from his side. “You’ve done some crazy stuff over the years, but this one is right on top of everything. I want to scratch my face, but I’m afraid that the shit I rolled in will be all over my face. And I’m really hoping that the wetness on my knees is because the grass was wet.”

“Nothing is going to happen. He is just checking to see if we have any priors and if there are any warrants out for my arrest.”

“Are there?” John asks.

I turn in my seat. “I take offense to that. I’m a law abiding citizen.”

“Who has a go-to bag to go and stalk a woman, in broad daylight. We all should be taken to Bellevue,” Austin says.

“Hey, we were all there when your balls almost exploded. This is what friendship is,” I state to them.

John shakes his head in the back, looking out of the window. We sit in silence for about ten minutes till the officer’s car door stops me. I watch him come back in the mirror.

“Here are your papers.” He shakes his head. “I’m letting you go with a warning. That warning is let this be the last time I meet you. The next time I’m hauling you guys down. Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes,” we all say together. I watch him walk back and take off.

I answer Kaleigh as soon as he drives off.

I’m all free. How about you swing by in about thirty?

I smile when she says she is going to serve dinner. I don’t bother going into it since I have thirty minutes to get cleaned up.

“She is going to be over in thirty minutes,” I tell the guys, all excited.

“Oh, good,” Austin says sarcastically. “I’m so happy this all worked out for you. Do me a favor and don’t call me till next week,” he tells me, his nose moving up and down. “My nose is so itchy.”

“Just scratch it. What’s the worst that can happen?” John says from the back. “What’s a little more germs on your face?”

I laugh at them as thoughts of Kaleigh cooking for me run through my mind. Her naked with a tiny apron, her ass open for the taking. I might be smiling too big because Austin smacks my arm, bringing me out of my daze.

“I hate you right now,” he says as soon as I turn into my driveway.

I scramble out of the car, running into the house.

“Jackass, you forgot your go-to bag,” John says, walking in the house after me. “I’m grabbing my clothes and leaving. In case you’re wondering, I’m throwing all these clothes out.” He runs upstairs to my bedroom, coming down with his clothes in a ball.

Austin follows him. “I’m burning these,” he says to me, walking out of the house.

“I don’t give a shit. Thanks for today, boys,” I say. “Fuck, it felt good, right? The whole hanging together and stuff.” I shrug.

“Nothing about today felt good,” Austin says, slamming the door closed.

I run upstairs, peeling the shirt from my body, the smell of urine hitting me right in the nose. I stop myself right before I throw it in the garbage along with the jeans and boxers.

I step under the shower, washing away the stench. I rinse the shampoo from my hair, grabbing some soap and scrubbing my face, washing away the black shoe shine. Finishing the shower in record time, I wrap the towel around my waist, walking to the sink to brush my teeth, but I stop in my tracks. The shoe shine is still on my face. Not dark black but a faded gray. What. The. Fuck. I open the water, grabbing some soap and rubbing at the dark gray lines. Nothing happens. I open Google right away to ask how to get rid of shoe shine stains.

Turpentine. What the actual fuck? I call Austin right away, but he sends me to voice mail. So I text him instead.

I have an urgent situation.

I don’t care if you’re in the middle of the street with a severed foot. Call 9-1-1

I need turpentine. Do you have any?

Why the fuck would I have turpentine on hand?

The shoe shine stained my face and now I have two gray lines under my eyes.

Good. It’s karma.

Fuck you.

You wish.

I put my phone down. I don’t have time to think about anything because the doorbell rings.

Fuck. I slip on a pair of basketball shorts and run downstairs to the door. I open the door and my breath actually stops. She isn’t looking at the door, but instead I have her back and she turns around to look at me. It’s almost like it’s in slow motion. Her hair whips around, her smiling face coming into view.

“Hey.” Her voice comes out while she looks at me from head to toe. “What happened to your face?” she asks, leaning in, rubbing her thumb over one of the stained parts.

“Um.” I try thinking fast, nothing coming to mind. “We were playing football and I put on the black paint to hide the glare from the sun. Come in.” I try changing the subject as I move away from the door to allow her to come in.

“Oh, fun, I love football,” she says, coming in and kissing my cheek. “You must be the quarterback.” She goes straight to the kitchen.

“Yeah, we don’t really have positions.” I shrug. “So what do you have in the bag?” I notice the big canvas bag she has on her shoulder.

“I brought stuff to make Philly cheesesteak. I hope you’re hungry.”

“That’s my favorite sandwich ever.” I smile at her. “How did you know?”

“Is it, really?” she asks and the happiness from her voice lights up the room.

“Yup.” It really isn’t. I tolerate it, but I’m not going to tell her. “What can I do to help?” I ask her.

“Nothing.” She puts down her bag and starts taking the stuff out of her bag. “I’m just going to slice the veggies and stuff.” She looks around. “I need a pan, I think,” she says quietly. “You know what? I want to surprise you, so how about you go get some wine and stay in the living room till it’s done?”

“Really?” I say to her. “You sure?”

“Yup, perfectly.” She shoos me away. “Go relax on the couch.”

I walk around the island to kiss her on the lips. “I’m glad you could make it.” I wrap my arms around her waist, and she wraps her arms around my shoulders. I kiss her again. This time she molds herself to my body. “Really, really glad.”

“I can feel that.” She laughs, her lips still pressed to mine. “Now go relax,” she tells me, opening cabinets to collect stuff she will need.

“Just let me know if you need anything,” I tell her, making my way to the wine fridge. I notice that I have none. “I’m out of wine.”

She looks up from drawers that she is opening and closing. “Why don’t you go get some while I cook?”

“That sounds good. Is there anything else you need me to get?”

She shakes her head.

I run upstairs to grab a shirt and some shoes. When I get back into the kitchen, she has some jazz music flowing from her phone while she is cutting a red pepper. I walk to her, wrapping my arms around her waist from behind, kissing her neck. She leans her head away to give me access.

“Okay, call me if you need anything.”

“I will,” she sings out.

I walk to my car, getting in and opening the windows. Fuck, it stinks. “I need to get this shit washed,” I tell myself. I make the first stop at the Home Depot store, buying some turpentine. Then hit up the wine store, walking out with a case of white and a case of red. Making my way home, I see that I’ve been out for about forty minutes. Grabbing the cases of wine one on top of the other, I carry them inside and I’m hit with the smell of char or burn.

When I make it into the kitchen, I see Kaleigh with her hair tied up, her sleeves pulled up, and the look of defeat on her face. “Honey, I’m home.”