Page 3 of Taffy
Oh well, at least Troy isn’t standing near me anymore.
Not that it should matter to me. I mean, he's Kate's dad, so he should always be standing far, far away from me because it would be odd if we stood close, wouldn’t it? Like, it would be odd if I noticed how tall and muscular he is. And it would be strange if I admired the snug fit of his jeans as he walked away too. Even worse, if I admitted the way my hand tingled when he took it, and how my stomach flipped when he smiled at me. And I’ll never admit to the thought in the back of my mind that involves that shower head and the apex of my thighs…oh no, that would be all kinds of crazy. He’s my best friend’sdad.We don’t fantasize over dads.
Do we?
Giving my head a shake as I force everything out of my mind, I fish a hair elastic from my bag and pull my hair back from my face. I decide to stick my AirPods in and blast some Beyoncé in my ears to help keep my thoughts off the unexpectedly hot dad named Troy (seriously, I was expecting someone like my dad—over fifty with a paunch and a bald spot).
Bootyliciouscomes on, which is my favorite Destiny’s Child song because I’m a big girl with a big ole bootylicious ass on me—no one is ready for my jelly. I hum along while I sling the bag over my shoulder and stack my boxes three high to minimize the number of trips I have to make between here and my car. I’m one of those people who will break her back carrying all her groceries in one go, so this isn’t unusual. I have to walk like I’m on a tightrope to keep the boxes steady in my arms, and I wobble a little on the first step, but I’m determined, so I recover pretty fast.
The doors pose a greater problem. I really should have thought to prop them both open before I came out here, but if I angle my body like so, I can use my pinky to turn the handle on the main door, but I need the key for my room. The key that’s sitting on my counter. Excellent.
Doing a little twist and shuffle, I make my way to Troy’s door and thump my elbow against it to knock. I can’t even see from the boxes, so I’m trying to angle myself so I can look over my shoulder and see when he gets to the door. It’s terribly awkward, but I see the door opening, so I know he’s close enough to hear me when I say, “I’m locked out.”
Troy
Iopen my door to a stack of boxes with those lethal thighs I can’t stop thinking about poking out under them, accompanied by yelling, “I’m locked out.”
“Ah, no problem,” I say. “I’ll grab the spare. You want me to take those boxes?”
“I don’t have my key!” she yells again, which prompts me to just take the boxes and set them on the floor against my door.
“Oh, thanks. My key is in my room.” She’s still yelling at me, so I stand and pull the AirPod out of her ear, fighting a smirk as she blushes and quickly takes the other one out as well.
“I was yelling, wasn’t I?”
I hand the earbud back. “A little.”
“God, I’m so embarrassing,” she mutters under her breath, but I couldn’t disagree more. I think she’s a breath of fresh air. Most people have this mask that they show the world, and it takes forever to get past it and learn about the person underneath. Tina seems open and pure, and it’s fucking refreshing.
“Let me get that key.”
She waits to the side while I grab the spare from my drawer and cross the hall to unlock her door.
“Thank you,” she says when I push the door open, and I’m so busy staring at her ass while she picks up the boxes that one, I forget my manners—I should be offering to carry those in—and two, I get locked out of my own apartment. My keys are on the other side ofthatdoor.
“Fuck,” I say the moment the door clicks shut.
“What? What’d I do?” Her eyes go wide, and the poor girl looks stricken.
“Oh, honey, no. You didn’t do anything wrong.” I take the boxes from her hands and carry them into her room, setting them on the floor. “I just leftmykeys inmyapartment.”
“Oh no. The boxes were propping your door open! Oh god, I’m so sorry. You must be regretting this so hard right now. I am such a dunce. This is why I never got chosen in gym class, and why—”
“Hey.” I grab her by the tops of her arms and look directly into her eyes. “You’re not a dunce. You’re not weird. And I’m not regretting having you here. I’ve known you for all of five minutes and already, I can see you’re kind and caring, and…beautiful.”Shit. I shouldn’t have said that.
Her eyes widen. “You…you think I'm beautiful?” she whispers, and if I was a weaker man, I’d take that as an opportunity to kiss her. But that would be wrong. So wrong.
But fuck, I want to kiss this girl so hard. It’s impossible to explain it, but there’s something there, something about her I feel drawn to. I don’t want to look away.
“Every man with two eyes in his head can see how beautiful you are,” I say as I release her and step back.
“You think?” She twists the edge of her t-shirt with nervous fingers. “Because I don’t…I don’tfeelbeautiful.”
I look at her for a long moment. There are things I want to say, things I want to do, but all of them feel caught in my chest. “Let’s just get those boxes from your car before I do or say something I’m going to regret.”
“Like what?” she asks in a whisper, stepping a little closer. My skin prickles with the need to close the distance between us, and I fight it with everything I have, but my mouth doesn’t seem to get the memo.
“Like ruin my relationship with my daughter by bending her best friend over and fucking her until she can’t walk straight.”
