Page 7 of Fear the Reapers
“Sorry, I wanted to make sure you got to your car okay. It isn’t safe in this part of town, and I couldn’t leave you by yourself in good conscience. Since you closed at 9,” he said, flashing me a knowing grin, “I figured I wouldn’t have to wait long.”
Had he heard me? I wanted to die. Like, have a higher power remove me and any traces of my big, stupid mouth from this earth.Nice one, Stevie.
“It’s fine.” He offered, seeing my discomfort. “I was an asshole. Hearing that my face resembled a cock was brutal, but I definitely earned the verbal lashing.”
It didn’t. At all. It was a stupid handsome face on what looked like a stupid perfect body. He had a sharp, chiseled jawline peppered with the perfect amount of scruff. Dark, full brows that framed his sultry brown eyes and thick lashes that most women would kill for. The most alluring part of his face was his mouth. He had the most perfect smile I’d ever seen, and his lips looked like they could make even the filthiest words sound beautiful.
Before I could think of a clever or witty comeback, he had already turned on his heel and began walking. And after a moment of shock, I quickly caught up with him.
“Which one’s yours?” He asked, nodding his head to the row of cars lining the street.
“The uh... the Focus.” I chirped, still in disbelief at how this night had turned out.
“You shouldn’t park so far.” He noted, keeping his eyes on the sidewalk ahead. “A girl like you could get in a lot of trouble this late at night.”
A girl like me… I didn’t know whether to be flattered or annoyed. DC had already made an assumption about me, and we’d known each other for all of thirty minutes. Then again, I made my own quick assumptions about him and he was already proving them wrong.
By the time we arrived at my car, I realized we walked the rest of the trek in silence.
“Well, we’re here.” He said, gesturing to my car.
I nodded and gave him a small smirk. I didn’t know what to say. ‘Thank you’ seemed lame and ‘see you later’ seemed presumptuous. But he didn’t miss a beat.
“See you around…” He paused, letting his eyes roam my breasts unabashedly. “Stevie.”
My heart slammed in my chest as my body rebelled against the calm composure I tried to cling on to. The name tag, Stevie. He was only reading the name tag.Get a hold of yourself and pussy, don’t you dare quiver right now.
In that moment, as his golden brown eyes roamed my body, I felt exposed and objectified and strangely excited. No one had ever looked at me like that, let alone caused my body to react so strongly to a damn look. The rush was addictive. I wanted more.
From that day forward, I requested to close on every shift I worked. It was stupid, but I secretly hoped we would meet again and I’d have more chances to feel that rush.
Two years later, our meetups had sort of become our unspoken rule. Almost every closing shift Dry Cap or DC as I liked to call him, would show up, order his drink, and hang out to make sure I made it safely to my car.
For nearly a year, I refused other guys’ advances. I waited for DC to make a move that never came. I could never be in an actual relationship. I learned the hard way that there are too many emotional expectations that I just couldn’t deliver on. But sex was fun and uncomplicated, and well, my body wanted him. But every night, he’d walk to his car, I’d walk to mine, and we’d go back to our lives as if nothing happened. As if the spark crackling between us was a hoax.
Alex usually stayed at a friend’s house while I worked, but after that close call earlier, I wanted to keep my eye on her. Maybe it was a good thing that he hadn’t shown tonight. I hadn’t spoken a word about him to Alex. I told myself it was because we’d be leaving eventually and it didn’t matter anyway, but that was a lie.
The truth of the matter was, I cared about him. Probably more than I should’ve. When his piercing eyes looked at me, it was like he was looking deep within my soul, seeing each fucked up layer. But instead of being repulsed by what he saw, he embraced it.
I rarely laughed at his jokes, but it didn’t seem to bother him. Other guys I’d dated in the past couldn’t handle the blow to their ego, but DC didn’t seem to care. He had this quiet confidence about him that made me feel at ease. I didn’t have to worry about my reactions offending him. Carla’s conditioning was still so deeply ingrained into me that my body still feared expressing emotions, even eight years after her death.
Overtime, I grew to be more comfortable with this formidable stranger than I was with my own flesh and blood. Alex was my sister, and I loved her to death, but we couldn’t have been more different. She was warm and trusting, while I was cold and suspicious. She was tan, svelte, and cool blonde, while I was pale, curvy, and deep brunette. She was spunky and outgoing, while I was quiet and closed-off.
But in him I found a kindred spirit. I enjoyed pretending that in a different life, he and I could be something more. Something beyond this pseudo security guard/confidante relationship that we had fell into/ so easily.
I debated asking him for help with Malcolm once, when one of Malcolm’s fits of rage resulted in a cracked rib, but I didn’t want whatever the dynamic between us was to shift. He viewed me as a normal person, not some girl with a fucked up life. The last thing I wanted was for him to take pity on me. I couldn’t stand seeing that look in his eyes.
Almost as if thinking of him had brought him into fruition, the sound of the fan over the door kicked on, showing that someone had walked through the door.
“Be done soon.” I mouthed as Alex popped her headphones back in with a nod.
Butterflies swirled through my stomach the moment my eyes caught sight of his familiar 6’3 frame. As usual, DC came in dressed impeccably. He probably worked in law or finance because after two years, I had yet to see him without a sharp suit on.
Tonight was no different. He walked in the cafe wearing a perfectly tailored navy suit with a crisp white button-up shirt that made the healthy glow of his skin stand out.
“Hey DC, the usual?” I called out as I breezed by him.
I purposely kept things platonic with us after realizing that nothing more was coming from this. He didn’t need to know that my stomach did flips every time he walked into the room. Or that my traitorous pussy pulsed every time his seductive scent of smoky sandalwood and soft amber surrounded me.
