Follow You Down (9 page)

“Nice to meet you, Mrs. Hartley. I apologize. I’m not properly dressed for such a meeting.” He shoots me a death stare when he finishes his statement.

“No need to apologize, son. And please, call me Gail. Mrs. Hartley was my mother-in-law and she was a crazy bitch. God rest her soul.”

“Momma!” Lucas is going to think we’re crazy before he even gets a chance to fully know me.

“I’m sorry, Dani, but you know I’m right! Moving on. So, Lucas, what are your intentions with my daughter?”

Lucas chokes on the sip of coffee he was taking and I bury my head in my hands. Thanks, Mom. Thanks a lot.

“Well, um, we’re, I mean, ugh.” Lucas has no clue what to say and I can’t even begin to try to help him because I am totally mortified.

My head is still buried in my hands and Lucas is looking anywhere but at the screen when we hear her laugh. We both look up to find her sipping from her wine glass, blotting away tears of laughter from her eyes.

“Y’all should have seen the look on Lucas’ face. Oh, it was priceless!” I start laughing once I realize this is her version of a cruel joke, and after a few beats, Lucas begins to chuckle, too. He looks relieved, but also still slightly mortified.

“Lucas honey, Dani is a grown woman. Your intentions with her are y’all’s business, not mine. But I will tell you this, you hurt my baby girl and I will hunt you down. Got it?”

His laughter instantly stops. “Yes, ma’am.”

“Okay, Mom, if you’re done with embarrassing the shit out of me, then I’m gonna let you go. I’ll call you later.”

“Chill out, Dani Gail. If I really wanted to embarrass you, I would have called your father into the room.”

“You wouldn’t dare.” I narrow my eyes at her. While my mom is a laid back type of parent, my father is not, at all. He would flip shit if he found out there was a guy I had known less than a week shirtless in my bed. He would likely drive straight here just to give me a father daughter sit down and kick Lucas’ ass.

“Of course I wouldn’t! He would flip shit and drive there to kick poor Lucas’ ass!” I laugh because she just said exactly what I was thinking. Lucas doesn’t laugh. He looks between the two of us, trying to gauge by our reactions if we’re joking. By the look on his face, I can tell he knows we aren’t kidding at all.

I tell my mom I love her and that I will call her later on that day. She tells Lucas it was nice to meet him and that he should always be shirtless when he talks to her, which is funny yet awkward at the same time.

After we’re done talking to my mom, I close the laptop and place in on the floor, and then roll over to face Lucas.

“I am so sorry! I didn’t even think about her being able to see you in the reflection. I feel like total shit for that.”

He laughs and pulls me close to him. “Red, don’t feel bad. It could have gone a hell of a lot worse than it did. I’m just glad she didn’t tell your dad. I saw his picture in your living room; he’s a big dude.”

We’re both laying on our sides, facing each other, his arms over my waist and mine around his neck, my fingers threading through his hair.

“This sure feels a lot like cuddling,” I say nervously. Truth be told, it’s nice. I like feeling close to him like this, but this was one of the rules. No cuddling. But, not meeting each other’s families is also one of the rules, and that one was obviously just broken. There is a reason for the rules though; it’s how we will keep this strictly physical between us.

“Oh, this isn’t cuddling, Red.”

“It isn’t? Then what is it?”

He smirks and flips me on my back. “The beginning of round two.”

Hours later, after Lucas has thoroughly fucked me, not once, but twice, I’m headed back into my building from a run when I crash straight into a very sexy stranger.

I’m knocked on my ass hard and glance up at the man whose chest I just face planted into. He’s tall and broad shouldered. His skin his caramel colored and his hair is dark brown and combed back with some kind of product in it. He has on a three-piece suit, which fits him like a second skin.

“Gotta watch where you’re going, sweetheart. Wouldn’t want to bruise that fine ass of yours.” The way he says it doesn’t make it sound like a come on, just a compliment. I’m not put off by this guy at all, which I normally would be if someone used a line like that on me. I find it kind of sweet, and when he extends his hand to help me up, I gladly take it.

“I’m sorry about that. My mind must have been elsewhere. Do you live here?” I wouldn’t have missed seeing a guy like this in the hallway; he’s just too memorable.

“No, no I don’t. My sister just moved in. I’m Jason Slade.” His name is strong and fits with his demeanor.

“How the hell did you beat me here?” A gorgeous looking girl walks in eyeing Jason.

“I drive faster than you do.” He places his hands in his front pockets and shrugs. He looks back at me. “I’m sorry; I didn’t catch your name.”

“It’s Dani Hartley.”

“Well, Dani Hartley, I’m sure I’ll be seeing more of you.” He makes eye contact with the woman who just walked in. “Jazzy, Todd is already upstairs measuring your apartment for furniture. You may want to hurry.” He nods at both of us and heads toward the elevator.

“Sorry if my brother was a prick to you. He doesn’t mean to be. He’s just naturally prickish.” The gorgeous girl steps around me so we are facing each other. “I’m Jasmine. I just moved in here. You said your name was Dani, right?”

Jasmine seems like a genuinely nice girl. Her smile is welcoming and her teeth are all perfectly straight. She’s tall at least 5’9 and is wearing bright blue shorts with a stark white t-shirt. The colors show off the darkness of her skin even more. Her hair is black and done up in a high ponytail sitting on top of her head that hangs down between her shoulder blades. She looks like Princess Jasmine from
Aladdin
, so her name is definitely fitting.

“Yeah, I’m Dani. I moved in here a few weeks ago. Nice to meet you.” I shake her hand feeling a little insecure since I am covered in sweat at the moment.

“So Jason is your brother?”

“Umm, please don’t tell me you want me to try to set you up with him.”

Do I want her to? Yes, he is gorgeous, and he wears a suit well, but the image of Lucas sitting in my bed, shirtless, drinking coffee passes through my mind. I would rather stare at that than a pretty guy in a suit.

“No, not at all. I was just wondering. He told me his sister had just moved in.”

She exhales a deep sigh of relief and drops her shoulders. “Good, because he is very much gay.” I laugh, “Is he really?”

She nods. “I am! He flirts with straight girls unintentionally all the time. Todd, the guy in my apartment probably picking out terrible furniture without my approval, is his boyfriend. They have been together for years. Most girls don’t believe me when I tell them. I guess they assume that since I’m his sister, and we’re very close, that I find all other woman as competitors for his affection, which couldn’t be further from the truth. He’s just not interested in girls. Hell, he’s not interested in anyone who isn’t Todd.”

I instantly like Jasmine. She seems honest and sweet and maybe even a little naïve in a very adorable way.

“Well, I better get up there before I end up with a floral couch. I’ll see you around, Dani.” She waves at me and heads toward the elevator.

I check my mail, and then run up the stairs to my third floor apartment.

As I get ready for work, I think about how the last few months have played out.

After everything came crashing down with Reggie, I really didn’t think I would ever recover. I loved him. Fuck did I love him, and he ripped me in two, and didn’t care. Did I get the karma I deserved for fucking someone else’s husband? Yes, I did. But knowing that doesn’t make it hurt any less.

Moving to Monroe was supposed to be my new start in basic oblivion. Take a few college classes, work some, but never really make friends, and especially never get into any kind of relationship, physical or otherwise with some hot country boy. But fate had different plans. I feel like fate is placing good people in my path that I’m not supposed to pass up, so I won’t.

Wynee and Molly would really be great friends, if I will just let them. And even after only talking to her for a few moments, I can tell Jasmine could be also. I am being given the chance to have real female friends for the first time in my life, and I plan on taking it. I don’t really know how it will work out, but you better believe I am going to find out.

I feel the same way about whatever is between Lucas and me. We both know we can’t have a real relationship, but the physical attraction and chemistry between us is something neither of us is willing to deny. We both want to give this a try, but both know that we need to abide by a certain set of rules to make sure no one gets hurt. It is just safer that way.

I might fuck up whatever this is with Lucas. He may get bored and find a new girl to fuck around with. Hell, he may only keep me as an occasional side piece so he can devote most of his time to his current fuck buddy. Who really knows? No matter what the outcome though, for once in my life I am going to concentrate on being young and having fun without getting attached. I just hope my heart can stick with that game plan.

It has been a few weeks since Dani and I came to an agreement, an understanding that involves hot sex at every chance possible.

I spend every night at Dani’s house. We don’t just have sex; we actually spend quality time together and enjoy it.

I’ve never really been the kind of guy to open up to people. I keep shit to myself. Sometimes I share things with my mom, but for the majority of my life, I’m what Dani calls an emotional loner. Over the past weeks she has been slowly getting me to open up about things. Mainly focusing on Nikki and all the drama that transpired between her and me. I had said once in passing that my dad had been a violent prick, and she kept trying to get me to talk about him, but I quickly shut that shit down. I could talk to her about Nikki, about Lisa even, but never about Jack Wade. I don’t want Dani’s beautiful mind to be tainted by the ugly memories I have of him.

I can tell that Dani and I are beginning to cross the lines that we put in place to make sure things didn’t get complicated. Things are getting complicated. But I kind of like it. There are no expectations with Dani. She doesn’t call or text me constantly wondering where I am. When I tell her that I don’t want to come out to Ricky’s, she never gets upset. She just tells me to come by her apartment when she gets off, which I do.

I decide to swing by Ricky’s tonight though. I haven’t been by for a few days, and seeing Dani bartend always turns me on. It may be her ass in those shorts or maybe it’s the way her tits are barely contained by her shirt. Or maybe it’s the fact that every guy in that bar flirts with her and I have never seen her flirt back. She may bat her eyes for a second, but she never shows those guys a tenth of the attention she shows me on a daily basis. I may shoot a death glare or two, but I never really get jealous seeing her parade around those guys, because she fucks me every night. It’s my name she screams when she cums at night, so there is nothing to be jealous of.

I slip on my boots, find my favorite hat, grab my wallet and keys, and follow Logan out the front door since he’s riding with me tonight. I’m surprised to see Candice’s car parked behind my truck and her standing next to it.

“Ugh, Lucas, you got company.” What the hell is she even doing here? Logan takes a step back inside. “I’ll wait in here till you’re ready to leave.”

I can tell she is caught off guard a little when she hears the door slam and sees me standing outside of it.

“Hey, Lucas. I was about to come knock on your door. Are you going somewhere?”

“Yeah, I’m headed out right now. Why are you here, Candice?”

She stares down at her shoes nervously, pushing up on the balls of her feet and wringing her hands. “You haven’t returned any of my calls or texts in weeks. Why?”

She’s right. Since the first night Dani and I got together I haven’t called her at all, and I haven’t answered any of her texts or calls. I was hoping she would back off, take the hint, but I was obviously wrong. Now, I’m being confronted head on with the situation and I have no clue what I should do about it. Do I tell her the truth or feed her bullshit to spare her feelings. I have never intentionally hurt Candice. I told her what I wanted and needed from her from the moment we started hooking up in high school, but I would be lying if I said I didn’t know she feels more for me. She always has. I decide honesty is the best policy, but I also will keep a few things to myself so there is no added pain in what I’m about to say.