Page 31 of Trust Me
“She’s apparently back in town. Said she was going to be starting a job here but wouldn’t elaborate about it.”
“Okay. So, what’s the problem?”
“When I ran into her in the aisle, she was turned toward the shelves and gave me a full side profile view. I couldn’t help but just stare at her. She’s this short, little redhead with big green eyes. She turned toward me and gave me a stunning smile. Then, it’s like she realized who I was, and her smile faded faster than an ice cube on a hundred-degree day. I tried to smile at her, but she just turned away. So, I walked up to her and tried introducing myself and she responded with, ‘I know who you are.’ That was it. She turned her attention back to what she was looking at, as if to just completely dismiss me, like I was no longer standing there.”
“So, the great Jake Stevens was dissed by a girl?” I ask as a questioning smile appears on my face.
“It wasn’t just that I was dissed, Maddox. When I asked her what her name was, she said, ‘Doesn’t surprise me that you don’t remember my name. Why would you? You only made my life a living hell in seventh grade.’ I had no clue what she was talking about and even asked her about it. The only thing she would tell me was her name was Erin, and then she walked away.”
“Wasn’t that the girl you teased in seventh?”
“Yeah, once I got home that night, I couldn’t get her out of my head, so I called my mom and asked her if she remembered an Erin from when I was in school. She reminded me Erin Anderson was only in school with us for less than a year. Her dad was in the military, and she moved around a lot. Mom knew instantly who I was talking about because that’s the girl I got that in-school suspension for. We had to meet with her and her parents after school. Remember that shit?”
“Absolutely. You teased and picked on her that entire year. She was the journal girl, right?”
“Yeah, as soon as Mom started talking about it, I knew immediately who she was. I guess I just keep thinking about what a dick I was to her back in school. Apparently, she still thinks that of me because she wouldn’t even talk to me.”
I sit here and watch as the play of emotions crosses his face. I can’t tell if he’s upset there’s actually a girl out there oblivious to his charms or if he might feel guilty for how he treated her twenty years ago. Could Jake finally have met his match?
“So what are you going to do about it?” I ask and take another drink of my beer.
“Nothing. She doesn’t want to talk to me, and I’m not gonna make her.” Jake then focuseshis attention back on the game, but I can tell he’s not actually watching the action on the screen. I’m glad that he finally confided in me what’s been eating at him. He’s apparently not going to do anything about it, but that’s not really my problem.
After the game and Jake heads out, I grab my phone before climbing into bed. It’s after eleven and I can’t help but wonder if Avery is still awake. I don’t want to call her just in case she’s sleeping, so I settle on sending her a text.
Me: Sleeping?
Avery: Nope. Reading. Jake leave?
Me: Yep, just left. We’re back on at 9am tomorrow morning.
Avery: Well, you should head to bed then. Good night, Maddox.
Me: Good night.
I hit send and then stare at my phone for a few more moments, wondering if she’s going to reply. I’m just starting to set my phone back down on the nightstand when it rings. I glance down at the screen and smile when I see her name.
“You’re supposed to be sleeping,” I answer in way of greeting.
“Can’t sleep. My book just got scary.”
“Scary? Do you need me to come over and protect you?”
“Like check under my bed and in my closet for monsters?” she asks with a chuckle.
“Definitely. I’ll have to check under your sheets too. Maybe in your pajamas. You never know what kind of scary monsters can lurk within your pants.”
“I didn’t even think about my pajamas,” she replies with mock horror. “Whatever will I do if there’s something in my pajamas?”
God, I love her playfulness. “Well, first things first. I’m gonna need to take them completely off. That’s the only way to ensure you don’t have any monsters hiding anywhere.”
“Makes sense. What happens after my pajamas are off?”
“See, that’s where my experience as a master monster hunter comes in. You can’t just look and know that everything is fine. You have to get your hands dirty, really explore the entire body. Between my hands and my mouth, I can make sure there are no monsters lurking anywhere.”
“Sounds like you know how to do a very thorough job…of checking for monsters.”
“Fuckin’ right. How about the next time I see you, I give you a thorough monster check?”
