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“Goodbye.” We part ways, and I make my way across the car park to my vehicle. I call for fries from the twenty-four-hour drive-thru on my way home. The streetlights illuminate the dark road as I approach my house. There’s a figure standing next to one of the cars as I pull into my usual spot.
I switch off the engine, taking my time to assess who the person might be. In my gut, I already know. It’s a man in his twenties with a lean body. Pretending not to see him, I climb out of the car and make my way to the house.
“Nellie,” he says.
“Oh, hey,” I say, keeping my back to him while turning the key in the front door.
His hand touches the small of my back, sending a shiver through me. His manly smell engulfs me, and already I feel myself wavering. This man does something to me that I can’t explain. That should be enough reason for me to shut this down. The problem is, I’m a sucker for a bad idea.
“Do you want some company tonight?”
“You can’t just pick me up whenever you’re horny. You should have called or text first.”
“I don’t have your number.” He nuzzles into my neck.
“Private message, then.” He licks up my neck, making me melt to the core.
“I’ll get your number before I leave in the morning.”
“Fine.” I open the door and pull him inside.
CHAPTER Fourteen
Christopher
“What’s this woman got that has you hooked?” my grandpa asks when he catches me looking at her picture on social media.
I lock my phone, then throw it down on the desk in frustration. I’ve been meaning to message her, but I’m spending more time looking at her picture than communicating with her. “It’s not like that. We’re friends.” He gives me a pointed look. “Friends that get naked with each other,” I add with a cheeky grin.
“For years, I’ve watched you serial date, but this one has you pining.”
He sees through my charade. “We’re not even that close, that’s the crazy thing. We talked a few times when I was in the bar, but I hardly know her.”
“Why not?”
“She’s from a different world. I work hard to make you and my dad proud. She has the same work ethic as me, but she does it to survive.”
“And what about that don’t you like?”
I laugh, thinking about the conversation Nellie and I had one night. “She’s a vanilla martini. She’s a simple and good girl. She needs people in her life who don’t need anything from her. I’m more of a neat whiskey. I like the idea of new adventures, but my roots are old. I’m a farmer. I don’t want anything refreshing like Sweet Cocktails, even if I liked the idea of it for ten minutes. I need a wife from an agriculture background, not that I’m ready to find her.”
“Do you know what I just heard? You’re scared of commitment. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to invest your money in something else, but when it comes to the crunch, you can’t sign the contract.”
“What are you saying?” I may have started it, but we’re talking in riddles I don’t fully understand.
“Message the girl and ask her out on a proper date. Not one of the fancy places you took hundreds of women. Take her on a real date.”
He picks my phone up and passes it back to me. I push it through my fingers a few times. Am I a commitment-phobic? I think back to the last girlfriend I had. It was in high school, and she ran off with my best friend at the time. The truth was, even back then, I wasn’t good at looking after someone else.
Yes, I’m scared of commitment.
Instead of messaging Nellie, I jump into my car and go for a drive. The destination is predictable, though. By midnight, I’m waiting outside Nellie’s house for her to come home. Just like last time, I follow her inside without saying much. It’s like she gets me, even if she doesn’t want to. Yes, I should’ve texted, but she’s not going to turn me down.
***
I watch Nellie from her bedroom window as she leaves with Ainsley to take her to a gymnastics competition. Once in the car, nothing happens for a few moments. I can’t see much, but I would have expected them to have set off by now. My phone starts to ring, and I grab it from the nightstand.
“Hello?” I say, wondering why Nellie’s calling.
