Chapter One
I’ve been watching him for two weeks now. He’s beautiful, absolutely, undeniably, beautiful. He’s about 6’1, with a hard, but lean and athletic body. His short haircut fits his soft but chiseled features and that smile. Don’t get me started on that smile. Every time I see it, it sends a shiver right down my spine and I almost have to sit down to regain my composure. Then, there are the lips. Those pretty pink lips. They are so alluring that it would make God himself take off a Sunday afternoon just to admire them. I think that’s what I like about him most, his lips. I mean, everything else on him is simply stunning but those lips just do something to me. I can almost feel them on my skin and I can only imagine what sort of sensations would rip through my body. Too bad I’m not the only woman in the neighborhood that has noticed him.
Like I said earlier, he moved in about two weeks ago and to tell you the truth, I’ve never seen as many women flock to anything like they have flocked to him. Old women, young women, and even teenage girls have been bringing him home-warming gifts and welcoming him to the neighborhood. As I watch him now, Ms. Buchanan, a recently divorced mother or two teenage boys, gingerly saunters over to his driveway. He is under the hood of his cherry red 1965 Ford Mustang with N.E.R.D.’s Lapdance playing from his radio. This woman is anything but subtle, wearing only a bikini top and some daisy-dukes. She flips her long, golden locks over her shoulder and taps him lightly on the back, scaring him just a bit. I watch them exchange words for a few minutes and see her pass him what looks like a piece of paper. She waves goodbye, flips her hair again and makes her way back to her house. She gets on my nerves, he’s been here two weeks and she’s already got him on her fuck-buddy list. He looks over her note, smiles a little and then goes back under his hood.
I myself have not had the courage to go over to him and say anything. I’m pretty sure I’m not his type of girl. He’s probably used to pretty blonde, blue eyed girls with perfect bodies. I’m not saying that I’m a monster to look at but you know what I mean. I’m just not… that. Let’s just say, I enjoy a good chocolate bar every now and again, and I’m a little browner than your average white person. I would probably end up embarrassing myself and fumbling over my words like I tend to do when I get nervous and it would just turn into one gigantic mess. I’ll save myself the trouble. My phone starts to ring and before I turn to grab it, I see yet again, another woman making her way over to him. I laugh to myself quietly and pick up my phone.
“What up girl?” I hear my dearest friend Olivia say.
“Hey babe, what’s going on with you?”
“Nothing”, she says letting out a sigh, “So how’s the new stranger?”
“How in the hell should I know? It’s not like I watch him every second of the day.” I lie.
“Bitch, don’t front. Anyway, I’m on my way over. You better have something for me to eat.”
“Yeah, yeah. I’ll see ya in a few.”
I put the phone back in its cradle and turn my attention back to him. He’s disappeared into his garage so I decided to go into the kitchen to get a water bottle. A picture catches my eye of Olivia and I on my refrigerator and a smile spreads itself on my face. She’s that typical blonde, blue-eyed girl but she has no shame what-so-ever. She’ll say whatever she wants without a second thought about it. We’ve known each other for about seven years and they have not been dull. She will be the end of me, mock my words. I walk back out to my living room and I see her pull into my driveway. She wasn’t kidding when she said she was on her way, was she? I open the front door and laugh as she gets out of her truck, nearly falling flat on her face. Flipping me off, she passes right by me and heads to my kitchen.
“Well, hello to you to.” I mutter.
All I hear is her rummaging through my pantries and take a seat that I had been occupying earlier. A few minutes later, she emerges with some yogurt and a water bottle. She plops next me and tears open the Yoplait container and digs into the smooth strawberry yogurt. She inhales the yogurt faster than a homeless person would and turns to me with a warm smile on her lips.
“That hit the spot.”
“Well, I’m glad.” I laugh.
She lets a sigh and leans back into the chair, “Oh, there’s our mystery man.”
I turn my attention back over to his place and see that he has now taken off his shirt and his jeans are riding low on his hips. He stops briefly to take a sip of his drink and I swear it is like a scene from a movie. The sun makes his body glisten and it looks as if he’s glowing. He lowers the drink from those delicious lips and runs his hand across his forehead and returns to his task. Olivia must have noticed me gawking because now she has that stupid smirk on her face.
“Don’t even start with me right now.”
“What?” she asks innocently.
“Just don’t.”
We get quiet again, but of course, she breaks the silence, “We should go say hi.”
I look at her as though she’s lost her mind, “You should really lay off the pot Liv.”
“What are you talking about? It’s only the nice thing to do! He’s been here for two weeks and everyone else in the neighborhood has welcomed him except you. Your momma would be ashamed Ashlynn.”
“Liv, you know me. I don’t introduce myself to just anybody. He could be an axe murder for we know.” I’m desperately trying to get her to drop the subject.
“Uh-huh. I sure haven’t heard of any axe murders lately. If you didn’t want to meet him, then why have you been watching since he’s been here?”
Shit, why do I even tell her anything, “Olivia, there is nothing that you can say or do that is going to get me out of this freakin’ chair.” I cross my arms across my chest to display my displeasure for this situation.
“Fine, then I’ll go myself and tell him how you’ve been eyeing his every move for the last two weeks. I’m sure he’ll love to hear it.” She stands up and hurries over to my front door.
“Olivia, don’t. Olivia, you wouldn’t dare.”
She opens the door and starts out across my lawn, “Olivia, no! Shit!” I scream as I jump out of my seat and follow her, regretting every step I take.
Her long legs get over to his house quickly and I try to grab her before he notices but the bitch calls to him before I can catch her, “Hi there!”
I groan inwardly and curse the day I met her. He looks over in our direction and I groan again. I thought I said I was going to save myself this trouble? He stands erect and smiles a bit while wiping off his hands. Olivia stops short of where he’s standing and extends her arm.
“Hi, I’m Olivia and this is my friend Ashlynn.” She says pushing me closer to him.
“Hi, I’m Justin.” He says, taking her hand and then turning to me and does the same.
I mumble a ‘hi’ and tuck some hair behind my ear and look at my feet, “I’m sorry we haven’t come by earlier to say hi. Ashlynn gets a little nervous when it comes to introducing herself.” Olivia says while smiling.
Is it possible for a black person to blush? Well, there is a first time for everything. I start rubbing my hands together as the sun beats down on my back. I’m so nervous I feel like I’m about to burst into tears. Why does she always do this to me? Then she goes and just blabs this embarrassing shit to him. He probably thinks I’m an unsocial freak now that just sits in the house all day.
My breath catches in my throat when his large hand settles on mine, squeezing them gently, “Don’t be nervous, I don’t bite.” He chuckles.
I giggle some and tuck more hair behind my ears. Olivia begins to speak again, “So how do you like it here? Is it your first time in California?”
“Yes and no. A friend of mine lives out here and she practically begged me to move out here the last time I visited her.” He looks over at me again and I divert my gaze away from him.
“So your spontaneous to just pick up and move like that. What do you do?” Olivia asks.
I can still feel his eyes on me as he answers, “I’m actually part owner of a few auto shops. That’s the other half of why I moved out here, the market is excellent.”
“Really? Well, Ashlynn’s in advertising. You know the Geico commercials? She came up with that whole concept.”
“God.” I mumble again, looking down the street to see if I could just break out in a run to get away from this situation.
“Really? That’s awesome. I’ve always kinda wondered who came up that. Those commercials are really funny.” Justin says smiling at me.
Again, I divert my attention away from his blue pools, “Thanks.”
“Do you like what you do?” He asks, trying to engage me in the conversation.
“Umm, yeah. It uh, keeps me pretty busy.” I say.
“Well, that’s cool. I bet you make some pretty serious dough at the end of the year.” He says, rubbing the back of his neck.
“Yeah, you could say that.”
Olivia shifts her wait to her left leg and continues to probe into his personal life, “Do you have a girlfriend, Justin?”
He laughs and again, I can feel him looking at me, “You’re not to shy, are ya? No, I’m not seeing anyone right now.”
“Oh, well neither is Ashlynn.”
I hit her on the arm and nearly pass out, “Olivia!”
She responds by laughing and turns back to Justin, “Well, I guess we’ve taken up enough of your time. It was nice to meet you.”
“Likewise. Hey, I’m having a little get together on Saturday, you girls are welcome to come.”
“We might just do that. What time?” she asks.
“Uh, around 5 or 6. It’s like a house warming party so, people will be showing up at all times.”
“Great. Hey, um, do you have a pen?” Oh God, what is she up to?
“Yeah, hold on.” Justin turns and rummages around in his car, “Here ya go.”
Olivia grabs his hand and scribbles something on to it. She puts the cap back on his pen and clips it on one of his belt loops, “That’s Ashlynn’s number, if you need anything. We’ll see you Saturday.”
She turns on her heels and begins to descend back to my property. I smile at him one last time and hurry after her. I don’t say anything until I close my front door, “What the fuck was that?!”
“What are you talking about, I just got you-“
“Don’t fuckin’ play with me Olivia. Could you have embarrassed me anymore out there? Oh, Ashlynn gets a little nervous when it comes to introducing herself.” I mock her.
“Chill out Ashlynn.”
“Don’t fuckin’ tell me to chill! I told you that I didn’t want to fuckin’ go over there, but once again, you never take anybody else into consideration. God, I felt like a damn 5 year old!” I yell as I start to pace in my living room.
“Well, whose fault is that?! Huh?! If you weren’t so damn insecure and shit, I wouldn’t have had to go over there and practically force you to talk. You know what, Tony was right.”
My face falls as soon as his name leaves her lips. Feeling the tears brimming under my eye lids, I just turn and start upstairs. I hear Olivia calling behind me and trying to apologize but I keep going. Not until I’m in the safety of my room, do I let the tears fall down my cheeks. I glance out the window over at Justin again, and shut the blinds.
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