“I don’t know about that, but my grandma ‘bout beat the idea of manners in myhead.”
The wind kicked up, blowing her hair across her face. I took the opportunity to brush it away simply because I wanted to touch her. Our eyes locked and there was this tension churning between us, some pull I’d never experienced. With every girl I’d been with, there was no waiting, no guessing. I knew they wanted me. I knewexactlywhat they wanted. I could kiss them, fuck them… but Hannah, I was nervous to even hold her damn hand. I’d never cared if a girl wanted to see me a second time. I’d never wanted a girl to miss me, until her. I wanted Hannah Blake to miss me. Damn, I wanted to kiss her that night. Just as I trailed my thumb over her jaw and wet my lips with my tongue, she coyly glanced down at the ground. Innocent.Scared.
“Well,” she said, swinging her arm at her side as she slowly backed away from me. “I guess I’ll see youlater.”
“Hey, I punched a guy and stole a boat for you tonight, the least you could do is give me yournumber.”
“My number?” Shelaughed.
“Yeah, you know… in case I find a good song I need to share with someone orsomething.”
“For some reason, I doubt you have a short supply ofnumbers.”
Damn.I smiled even though the thought that she thought of me that way made me cringe. “I don’t haveyours.”
She turned around and walked up the first few porch steps. “Nine six six three zero twoone.”
“Well, shit, hang on…” I clumsily fished my phone out of my pocket and started to type.Nine six six thre…. Shit.“Zero two…what?”
She glanced over her shoulder, giving this timid little flash of a wave before slipping inside her house. I laughed under my breath, shaking my head as I typed in a one and prayed that was right before I dropped the phone in mypocket.
With a smile on my face, I climbed into my truck, taking note when the window in front of the tree lit up. That girl drove me crazy in every way I liked. So much so, she was still on my mind when I passed Grandma’s house. I drove to the end of the road and took a right, then an immediate left, parking beside the tiny rental house I calledhome.
“Hey, shithead!” I heard as soon as I opened my door. My ninety-year-old landlord was hanging over the chain-link fence with a crumpled beer can in hishand.
“Hey, Old Man.” That’s what everyone in town called him. Come to think of it, to this day I have no idea what his namewas.
“It’s late, what’cha doin’ with yo’ ass out thislate?”
“Justworking.”
“Aw, shit.” His face contorted, and he belched. “You ain’t been out there after none that poontangpie?”
I scrunched my brow and slammed my car door. “What?”
He shook his empty beer can at me. “Them ladies. You’re too young’n be comin’ back here and spend’n the night with yo’ hand and someVaseline.”
I waved a dismissive hand at him. “Go on to bed, OldMan.”
“Aw, alright then. Wastin’ yo’ damn youth.” And with that, he stumbled back to a cooler, grabbed a beer, and fell into the beat-up lawn chair by the back door. Crazy old man, I thought as I unlocked mydoor.
I flipped the light switch before I tossed my keys on the one end table in the room. Most days, I didn’t mind this shithole, but for some reason that day it made me feel like a failure. One bedroom. One bath. A kitchen with three cabinets and uneven flooring. Don’t get me wrong, I was grateful. Hell, I only paid three hundred a month for rent, but… I glanced at the “Golden Girls” replica couch I’d gotten from the Salvation Army, then at the bare walls with peeling wallpaper… Girls like Hannah—you didn’t bring them someplace likethis.
I scrubbed a hand over my face.What the hell was I thinking?It was easy to pretend none of that mattered, especially with a girl as sweet as she was, but really… I could have taken her all the way out to Birmingham to have a nice steak dinner at J. Alexander’s, but eventually, I would have had no choice but to bring her back to my shitty house and then what? Then she’d have seen how much of a mismatch we were. Sure, a poor girl can get a rich guy, but the rich girl never goes for the poor guy. Hannah wasn’t exactly rich, but she sure as shit wasn’tpoor.
Exhaling, I pulled my shirt off on the way to bed, and when I flopped down on the mattress to go to sleep, I could still smell her on my skin. I smiled at that and I pretended it all could workout.
I pretended I could be the guy she’d love. I pretended I could be the guy that would loveher.
After all, dreaming was what life was about,right?
______
The Weeknd blared over the radio, and I sang along as I threw a sandwich together. Mayonnaise dribbled down my chin when I took a bite. When I turned around to grab a paper towel, Trevor had unexpectedly appeared in the middle of the kitchen and I nearly shit myself. “What the hell, man?” A piece of tomato fell from my mouth, splattering on the floor. “You can’t just walk into someone’shouse.”
“Well, you didn’t answer thedoor.”
“What if I’d been beatin’ off or some shit?” I shook my head and took anotherbite.
