Page 16 of Mending Me
“Just shut up and be quiet. I won’t hurt you if you don’t make a sound.” I was crying and laying on the cold, wet concrete. It reeked of rotting food and booze. My head moved to one side as I tried to get out from under him. The black hoodie covered his face as he overpowered me. Somewhere in the distance, people laughed as they walked home from the bars and nightclubs.
“Bailey?” Ophelia’s voice pulled me back to the present. “You okay?”
She was standing in the living room just outside my bedroom and was studying me with a concerned expression. I blinked a few times and shook the memory from my head.
“Yeah…I’m okay. What do you think of my dress?” Doing a twirl for her, I painted a smile on my face. The flashback lingered in my brain and I did my best to try and push it away.
“You look stunning, as always. He isn’t going to be able to keep his hands off of you.” She wiggled her eyebrows at me and gave me a smirk.
“Oh, stop it.” I waved my hand at her and checked my phone. He should be here any minute.
“Seriously, B, if he doesn’t try and get in your pants tonight, there’s seriously something wrong with him.”
I laughed her off and grabbed my heels from the closet. Sure, wearing heels was probably a little much, but I wanted to make a good first impression. As I sat on the couch and put them on, there was a knock at the door. Our heads shot towards it before we looked at one another with surprise.
“He’s picking you up at the door? Wow, he is a good one.” She smiled.
My shoes finally on, I walked towards the door and grabbed my purse off the kitchen counter as I passed it. When I swung open the door, my breath caught in my throat.
Hank was standing in my doorway wearing loose fitting dark jeans, a collared shirt, and a deep navy suit jacket. Casual, but still dressed up for our date. In his hands was the most beautiful bouquet of flowers I’d ever seen. He reached out his arm and handed them to me as soon as I opened the door.
“These are for you, blondie. I grabbed them from the shop across the street.”
“Thank you. And hello to you too.” I gave him a smirk and took the flowers from his hand, smelling them once they were in my arms.
“Oh, right, hi,” he said in one breath. I watched as his eyes traced my body from head to toe, and didn’t miss when they lingered just a few seconds longer on my semi-exposed chest.
“Hi. Let me just set these down and we can go.”
I turned around quickly and handed the flowers to Ophelia who had her arms extending towards me to take them, and waved goodbye to her. We walked down the hallway in silence and when we reached the elevator, we both went to push the down button at the same time. Our fingers hit the button andwhen I felt his fingers brush mine, a shiver ran down my spine. He pulled his hand away quickly as if he had just touched an open flame.
“Sorry,” he said shortly, shoving his hands into his jacket pockets and looking towards the ground.
So shy, I thought to myself with a smile.
“Thanks for picking me up at my door.” I bumped his shoulder playfully as we stepped inside the elevator. He let me go ahead of him so I pushed the button that would take us to the lobby before he had a chance. No need to repeat the awkward button interaction. He took a step closer to me so our arms were touching.
“Of course. What kind of Southern gentleman would I be if I didn’t?” The grin he gave me made my insides warm.
When the elevator doors opened, he reached behind me and placed his hand on the small of my back, leading me out. We walked through the lobby of my building and he opened the front door for me. I smiled at him as I passed through it.
“A gentleman, indeed. Very smooth.”
He chuckled softly behind me.
Outside, the warm buzz of the summer evening hit my ears. It was the thick of summer and the heat was unreal. Not just the heat, but the humidity. I loved living in Charleston something fierce, but the summer months were what I’d imagined living in Hell to be like. Hot. Sticky. And constantly uncomfortable. I was grateful that I had gone with a dress instead of jeans because it helped keep me cool.
We walked together down the sidewalk, his hand on the small of my back, leading me forward. When we neared the street, he sidestepped behind me so that he was closer to the road and I was on the inside. I smirked at the move and felt my cheeks flush. After walking down the sidewalk for a few beats, he finally stopped next to a motorcycle parked on the street.
“Is this your bike?” I asked, my mouth gaping open as I took it in. It was all black and looked expensive. More than that, it was sexy as hell. I looked back at him as he started to pull the helmet off the back and unlatch its strap.
“Yeah, I have a second helmet for you to wear if you’re okay riding behind me.”Boy, I would be okay riding behind you, on top of you, or in front of you.
“Uhh…” I waved my arm in front of myself to show him my outfit. My dress would not do well on the back of a bike speeding through the city streets. It wasn’t long enough to tuck under anything and I would 100 percent be giving the fine people of Charleston a free show if I wore it while riding on a motorcycle.
“Oh shit, I didn’t even think about that. That’s my bad. We can just take an Uber, on me. I don’t even know what I was thinking.”
“No, it’s okay, just give me ten minutes, I have an idea!” Before he could respond, I hurried back inside my building and rushed back up the elevator.
