Knight In Shining Denim
"Whatthehellwasthat?" Delilah cackles. "You're the only person on the planet who could get Rhys Reid to fall in love with you looking like that."
She points at me while bending and clutching her stomach with her other hand. Really selling it.
But one glance in the hall mirror confirms her reaction. My usually soft and wavy flow is damp, flat, and stringy. My glasses are spotted with dried raindrops and I have a smear of engine grease on my chin.
"Many people find my rugged beauty irresistible." I shrug but it is a little surreal.
Okay, a lot surreal.
In a million years I couldn't have expected Rhys Reid, in his rain speckled sweater and perfectly fitting jeans, to be the one to rescue me on the side of the road.
And in another million years I never could have expected him to be so charming. It is like he doesn’t have to try to be flirtatious.
On the other hand, it’s all I think about. I’m always tuned into the conversation lying in wait to drop the innuendo or joke at the perfect time.
Rhys Reid seemed surprised by the delightful lines he landed tonight.
I'd be willing to see him again if our paths cross.
I mean, he's wonderful to look at.
But the reason I had him take me to Granny's instead of home with him is because the connection we shared was warm at best. It didn’t feel like lust was a runaway train drawing me to him. It felt like sitting next to a fire on a rainy night.
Which is exactly what I'm going to do now.
***
"Heave-ho!" Granny yells the next morning as Dad, Delilah, and I rock The Golf Cart back and forth from the mud pit it might have to call home from now on.
Mom sits behind the wheel gunning the gas trying to get traction.
And, as a result, the three of us behind the car are getting covered in mud splatters.
"Duncaroo, get down and lift this side a bit." Granny instructs from her place well behind us. She's decked out in wellies and a poncho. To be fair, she had us all put on wellies too but somehow we’re all covered in mud splatters and she’s in ship shape.
I move to the side of the car that is leaning down into the ditch. I can see how the tire is spinning and sinking deeper into the earth.
I don't think Coach expected me to do car lifting as part of my off-season conditioning but here we are.
I squat and get the corner of the bumper in my grip. "Alright, go." I grunt as I lift and the car inches forward.
"Aye Aye!" Granny yells as my family grunts and my mother grips the wheel.
I shove my chest into the side of the car trying to get it to move, nothing. So I roll my hips up and, there's no other way to describe it, thrust.
The car moves ahead another inch so I thrust again.
"Buy a lad dinner first." Granny snickers behind me.
My hips jut forward and my forearms feel like they’re going to explode as I hold the car up and get into it.
"Aye, he's forward that one."
My spine straightens and I freeze mid-thrust. "Duncan! Don't stop." Delilah grunts but I drop the corner of the car back into the ditch and turn around.
There next to Granny, atop a white horse no less, is Rhys Reid.
