I climbed into the front passenger seat, closing the door behind me while Dean stood watch outside. I set aside his clothes and reached for the zip on the back of my dress, awkwardly angling my arm up behind my back until my fingers brushed over the small plastic zipper. It was much easier to do up earlier today when all I had to do was pull up and then let the dress fall into place. But now I was getting a cramp in my hand as I tried to grip the zipper. And once I had, it refused to move.
I dropped my hands in exasperation, blowing aside a strand of hair that fell across my face.
“This is just perfect,” I hissed to myself.
I turned to look at Dean through the window. His hands were in his pockets as he faced away from the car. A little reluctantly, I opened the door, pressing my lips together tightly as I considered what I was about to ask.
“Dean?” I cringed at my own voice.
He turned halfway, not quite looking in my direction just yet. “Yeah?”
“I need help with my zipper...”
He hesitated, and then replied with an unsure, “Okay...”
I stood between the door and the car seat as he turned to face me. “It’s stuck.”
He nodded once, a subtle crease in his brow as he motioned for me to turn. I did so tentatively, taking a breath as my nerves caused my stomach to flutter when his hands very lightly nudged my back, where he gripped the zipper and tugged gently to no avail.
It took several tries just for it to budge an inch before it completely snagged.
Dean huffed, taking a second to shake out his hands before trying again, angling his hands. “This is the tiniest zip I’ve ever seen.”
I chewed my bottom lip and shut my eyes. “Just rip it.”
His hands paused, prompting me to look up at him from over my shoulder. He brought his eyes from my back and raised a brow. “You sure?”
As much as I loved my sundresses, the beer stain on this one had set in.
“Yes,” I gulped, turning back to the car. I brought a hand to my chest, just in case.
“Alright,” he crooned.
He gripped the top of the dress firmly and I sucked in a breath when his knuckles brushed against my skin. Then, without hesitation, he tore the fabric down the seam of the zipper with a loud rip. Only stopping at my lower back as the dress loosened around my midsection.
I clasped my other hand over my stomach to keep the dress in place on my front. Feeling a little breathless by his efficiency before he ever so lightly, and briefly, traced a finger over a small section of my backbone just above my bra clasp. It was different from the unwarranted touches. This one had me fighting the urge to arch into it.
“I didn’t know you had a tattoo,” he said, voice low.
I turned around to find him standing a little closer than I expected. “It was a graduation thing...”
Something bloomed in the pit of my stomach with the way he chewed his bottom lip in thought. His head tilted back slightly while he watched me. Like he was trying to figure me out. “Huh...”
A light breeze crossed the parking lot, tousling his jet-black hair. And reminding me how exposed my back was as I shivered.
“Thank you. For the help,” I said quickly before ducking back into the car.
Once he closed the door again and turned his back to me, I widened my eyes to myself; To whatever the hell that was.
I experience one fleeting moment of rebellion and suddenly I’m letting men rip my clothes in half?
Hunched forward, so no one saw me through the other windows, I hastily tugged off the tattered dress. I used the dryer parts of it to mop up any drops of beer that lingered on my skin.
There was no salvaging the dress now. It looked horrible and smelt just as bad. I discarded it on the floor and snatched up Dean’s clothes, tugging the T-shirt on first and slipping on the shorts. As expected, both swam on me. I had to pull the drawstring on the shorts as tight as possible so they fit my hips.
Tying the bottom of the shirt into a knot, I climbed out of the car again.
Dean only turned back around once he heard the door shut again, a smile playing on his lips as he took in the shorts hanging below my kneecaps and the T-shirt sleeves covering half of my arms.
