Page 42 of Last First Love
I cannot possibly add in the additional stress of dating someone so damn far out of my league that it's ridiculous. Ken Daniels is a freaking panty-ruining hot firefighter from a calendar. I shouldn't even be talking to a man like that, let alone getting naked with him.
And if I know the rules, then everybody else does too. And now that I've told him, even Daniels himself sees the truth. He's already up and pulling on his clothes because there isn't much to say after all that. But at least I've been honest with him.
We can't do this. For sure not in public, and I deserve better than to be his dirty little secret.
Ken
I'm pissed.
No, something worse than pissed. Outraged? Completely incoherent with something between surprise and anger and general horror that somehow this is what Lily's everyday life is like and she thinks it's okay? Hell no.
There is no way on earth I'm going to walk away and let her go. Not when I've finally found this amazing, sexy and intelligent woman who sees the underneath real me. The part beneath all the joking and flash, someone I can be myself with and know that she's going to listen to me, accept me exactly as I am, and continually push me to become better.
The entire way home, I keep stewing over the advice that my friends have given me. If she's hurt about something, then I need to show her that the thing that's hurting her isn't an issue. Probably by some sort of Grand Gesture again. Okay, I can do this.
Now more than ever, I'd like to phone a friend and have him help me plan out the way to soothe and fix all the injuries the world has inflicted on Lily. And I know that violence isn't the answer, but God help me. Whenever I think too hard about somebody being unkind to her, about her doubting her own beauty and amazingness because of the throwaway words of some stranger, it makes me see red.
More specifically, it makes me want to make someone else see red because I'm beating that person’s entire freaking face into a wall.
Who does that? Who could possibly think it's okay to be an asshole to a complete stranger solely because of her weight?
I scrub my hands through my hair roughly. I know I can figure out a way to fix this if I think about it a little bit harder. I'm going to take a shower and think about it some more. I do most of my best thinking naked. Wait, no. Wet. No, that's not it either.
Mostly I need to clear my head, and for me, that's got to start with cleaning up my person. It might sound a little weird or whatever, but I am definitely a better version of me when I know I'm presenting my best self to the world, appearance-wise. Just putting in a little extra effort always gives me a direct boost of confidence, and I know I can totally come out the winner in whatever I put my mind to when I try hard enough.
When I'm finally examining Daniels Junior and the package after the shower, the best possible solution hits me. I’ve always suspected that my dick has some sort of superpowers, and here he is, coming in at the clinch for me again.
Because now I know exactly what I'm going to do to fix this with Lily. If she's worried about people talking about us, our relationship, then I'm going to make sure everybody in Valentine knows that she's all mine.
Starting with her brother Elliott.
"I'm coming over." I announce when he answers the phone.
"Don't do that. I already heard about you making Abernathy bandage up your dick and while I admit that was an epic king level prank, I'm not going to fall for the same trick."
I sigh. That's the thing about living in a town this size. If Elliott has already heard about it, it's safe to say that literally everyone in town knows about me having Abernathy over for a little TLC to my PYT. Great.
Plus, I'm pretty sure if he's heard about my genital-related misadventures, Elliott's going to have some follow up questions.
"What exactly were you doing that led to your injury anyway?"
I pause. "PT exam at work. I'm pretty sure I pulled a muscle because of all the weight I've got to carry around in the front, if you know what I mean."
But even as Elliott's laughing, I know this isn't the right way to go if I'm really wanting to mend things with Lily. I owe it to her to sit down with her brother and tell him what's been going on. Except maybe the nakey-nakey parts.
"Anyway, I'm coming over asshole."
He snorts. "I'm not wearing any pants."
"I'm not scared of your little teeny peenie. It's not like micropenis is actually contagious."
He snorts. "Fine. You've obviously got something to talk about, so I guess I'll put on some pants."
I tuck the phone against my shoulder and give him a round of applause. "Now that's the best friend I know and love. I'll be there in ten, so please don't waste any time before you get dressed. I'm not ready for our relationship to go there quite yet."
"You're an idiot."
"But you love me." At least he does right now, before I tell him all about the way I feel about his little sister and he maybe murders me a little bit. Or a lot. Whichever.
