A blush fills her face, and to be quite frank, I don’t believe I’ve ever seen her blush before. Well, other than yesterday when I decided to flirt back with her.
But I haven’t seen her without makeup in a ridiculously long time.
And let me tell you, boys… She’s beautiful.
Hadley grabs a blanket off her bed and covers herself up, letting her hair completely shield her face as she plops down on the bed.
“Get out!” she shouts at me, but I can’t help but stand there and think of the beautiful woman—her pale skin, platinum hair, and icy blue eyes. A woman who’s so full of light but thinks she is messed up beyond repair.
“Rawls! Out!” I come to my senses and realize this is aperfectopportunity.
“It’s—“ I glance at the digital clock on her nightstand, “5:34 in the morning. You were supposed to be ready by 5:30, Bully.” I sit down next to her, reaching my hand out to tuck her hair from her face. She swats my hand away before I get the chance to touch her.
“I’ll be ready in ten minutes.” She clears her throat while looking away, trying to hide her face. “Just get out, okay?” I watch her shoulders slump, and I do what she asks because the uneasiness and hurt lacing her voice cuts me deep. Why is she hiding her face? Because she isn’t wearing makeup?
It had never dawned on me until that moment that I had never seen Hadley without makeup. Not once since middle school, at least.
Was that causing her uneasiness?
I backtrack outside to shut my truck off, then I turn on her television, brew a pot of coffee, and fry Hadley a few eggs.
Ready in ten minutes, my butt,I scoff, knowing good and well we are going to be over an hour late heading out on the road tripsheplanned.
Just roll with it,I remind myself.No sense in getting tight-wadded over a road trip schedule that you didn’t plan.
I slump into the couch when my phone rings. My sister.
“Hello?” I answer.
“Hey, Bratz, what’s up?” she asks, using the nickname she gave me when I was born. According to our parents, it’s because she couldn’t fully say my name at her young age of three.
“Waiting on Hadley to finish getting ready before we leave.”
She sighs. “Are you sure about this?” This is not the first time she has asked me this question. And to be honest, I’m kind of getting tired of it.
“I’m a grown man, Brandi. I can manage my own affairs. Er, I mean road trips.” This is NOT an affair with Hadley. Just a road trip with my best friend. At least, that is what I keep telling everyone. No one knows my plans to make Hadley mine. No one but my neighbor Ole Hank Jones, that is.
“You’ve had googly-eyes for that woman since we moved to Juniper Grove. And you’re always at her beck and call, swooping in to help her.”
“So what?” I ball my fist at my side. “So what if I want to be there for her? No one else is. Why can’t I date her? That would bemybusiness and not yours.” I check my surroundings, making sure Hadley hasn’t stepped outside her room for some reason. Checking the time, I should still have twenty more minutes until she emerges from her in-home beauty salon.
Brandi remains quiet on the other end of the phone.
“Look, Brand-o,” I continue, using the nickname I’ve known her by for as long as I can remember. Maybe it was a retaliation for her naming me Bratz. When those ridiculous dolls came out, the name was officially mine in Brandi’s eyes. “I know you are looking out for me. I know all the reasons I cannot date Hads. But whether I do or don’t is ultimately up to me. If I choose to get my heart broken by her, then that’s that.”
“You’re smart, kid. You’ll make the right decision for yourself,” she says, nonetheless implying my smartness will lead me away from Hadley. I choose to let it go.
“Exactly.”
“Oh, Michael wants to talk to you real quick. Something about a new house he’s building.”
She puts Michael Kelly, her husband, on the phone and we chat for a few more minutes about his design plans for a new house. He teases that I should join his company as his architect one last time before hanging up.
I rub the bridge of my nose, wishing I could join his company. But it’s just not doable right now. Plus, I’d see my sister more often, and I’m not too fond of that right now after she has criticized Hadley so much.
My sister is the only one who doesn’t root for Hadley and me to end up together. Brandi is friends with Hadley and knows all too well the type of woman Hadley is—a hot mess. Yes, I’ve dated around in my past, but Hadley….she leaves men shriveled up like a prune when she’s done with them. No relationship of hers lasts longer than six months, well, besidesDaniel. Even my internal thoughts sneer at his name. Hadley has issues, but I like to remind anyone who would dare bring up her past to me that we all have issues.
We all have some kind of past that we would like to forget.
