4. Skylar
I barely slepta wink after what happened last night with Cade. What a complex man–like a delicious multi-layered cake.
I did not expect him to react the way he did when I told him I’d never had sex before. I also didn’t expect him to be such a gentleman about it and promise me we’d do it in a better place at a better time so it could be something special for me.
I’m sure a lot of guys would have pushed me to do it right then and there, just so they could get some. But not Cade. He didn’t even pressure me to pleasure him or return the favor in any way. We just lay there, side by side in the back of his truck, until I eventually fell asleep in his arms.
Luckily, he had to get up early for work and I managed to sneak back into the house before Dad went off for work. Despite me being eighteen, he still has this habit of checking in on me before he leaves “just to make sure I’m okay.” Part of me wishes he would quit, but at the same time, I know how sweet it is. And with Momma having passed, I know that one day he won’t be there here anymore either, so I should appreciate him while I’ve got him.
I should have my mind on my first day of work at the tattoo parlor, but all I can think about as I step through the doors of Dark Forrest Tattoo is Cade.
Misty, my main contact at the shop, spots me as I enter and gives me a big friendly wave from her station. We already know each other pretty well. She was the one who looked over my portfolio and interviewed me several times and ultimately made the decision to take me on as an apprentice. I basically owe her everything.
She’s one of those girls my aunt would hate–covered in tattoos, sleeves on both arms, a big dragon piece on her neck, three small stamps under her left eye, piercings all over, a few big pieces on her back, and one huge one on her left side that still isn’t finished. She has several on each leg and I’m sure a few I haven’t even seen as well. I’d actually love for her and Beatrice to meet. Misty is not afraid to speak her mind and would never put up with my aunt’s shit.
“Good morning!” she says gleefully. I take a seat and set my bag down, but Misty immediately leans back and frowns at me.
“What?” I ask, suddenly off guard.
“There’s something…different about you,” she says, giving me her all-knowing-eye.
“Different?”
She nods. “Definitely. You’re not…present right now. You’re elsewhere.”
“No I’m not,” I reply, shrinking away. This is my big day, and I cannot screw it up. “I’m right here.”
Misty smirks, leans in, and takes my hand in hers. “Sky, sweetie. This is me we’re talking about, not Pete. I don’t own the salon–I just work here. You can relax. Something’s going on with you. Now spill the beans!”
“Okay, you’re right,” I laugh.
“It’s a guy, isn’t it?” she asks.
“Yep.” I nod. “It’s a guy.”
“I knew it! Is he hot?”
“So hot,” I groan. “So stupidly hot that I don’t even know what to do with myself.”
“And thus the spacing out on your first day at your dream job?”
Misty grabs a seltzer that she keeps in the cooler at her station, hands it to me, and then takes one for herself.
“Tell me about him. Where’d you two meet? Dating app?”
“Oh God no,” I reply, cracking my can open. “He actually works for my aunt. He’s part of her landscaping crew. I saw him working a couple weeks ago, and it was like…” I mime my jaw dropping and my eyes going super wide, and Misty just nods like she totally understands. “Six-two at least, gorgeous, mesmerizing eyes, huge muscles, these big strong hands that are all rough–”
“Sounds like your dad a little bit.”
I reply with an earned knee-slap that causes her to laugh.
“What? Your dad’s hot. You want me to deny it?”
“Maybe just not mention it?” I ask. “That would be nice.”
“Okay, my bad,” she snickers.
“But you’re right. He actually did remind me of my dad when I first met him.”
Misty gives me the naughty eyes. “Uh-oh, girl. You’ve got that thing girls get where they go for guys who remind them of their dad.”
I groan. “No…do I?”
She shrugs. “Sure sounds that way.”
She does have a point. Cade is tall like Daddy, works landscaping–which is manual labor like Daddy–is tall and tanned from working outside like Daddy, and his rough hand immediately reminded me of Daddy’s when I first shook it.
“Oh no…” I sink down and hide my face with my hair. “I’m a weirdo!”
Misty bursts out laughing. “No you’re not. It’s totally normal. My friend Eric who has fantasies about girls covering him in jam and calling him names for hours is a weirdo.”
I can’t tell if Misty is joking with me or not, but it works and snaps me out of my moment of self-realization I’m having.
“But there’s a problem. I’ve never told you about my aunt, have I?”
“Your rich aunt?”
I sip my drink and nod. “She may be rich, but she doesn’t share any of it with my dad or me.”
“Sounds like a wonderful woman,” Misty jokes.
“Right? So a couple of weeks ago after she first sees me talking to Cade, she lies to me, saying I left something up at the house and I need to come get it, but when I get there, she gets right up in my face and tells me if I ever talk to him again she’ll never leave me a dime of her money, and then slams the door in my face.”
“Whoa,” Misty remarks. “Psycho bitch alert!”
Even just thinking back to that moment suddenly gets my heart racing. I can just remember how my aunt’s face looked, glaring at me like a witch out of an old Disney cartoon, like she was going to curse me with a terrible spell or turn into a hyena and eat me alive.
“What did your dad say?” Misty asks.
“I didn’t tell him.”
“What? Are you crazy? Don’t you think he should know he’s got a crazy bitch for a sister?”
“When she slammed the door in my face, I was so stunned that I just sort of walked back to the truck in a daze. And after that I just didn’t know what to say to him. He has this idea in his head that we’re all going to be this happy family one day or something.”
“Oh, spare me.” Misty rolls her eyes. “Sorry, Sky, but I don’t see that happening with this old bag anytime soon.”
I nod in agreement. “Neither do I.”
“So you’ll ignore her, right? And just go for the guy?”
“I don’t know. What would you do?”
“Me?” Misty laughs. “You’re asking the girl who was raised Mormon and got her first tattoo when she was fourteen just to spite her asshole missionary father. I’m pretty sure you know what I’d do.”
We both crack up. “Fair enough.”
“Do you really know this guy though, Sky? He may be hot and all, but barely talking to him once at your aunt’s house isn’t exactly a great reason to go starting a family feud. There’s lots of hot guys out there, and I’m sure you can find more than a few ready to throw themselves at your feet.”
“I don’t know about that,” I reply sheepishly. “But it wasn’t just a short conversation outside of my aunt’s house either. A little bit more happened…”
Misty looks at me suspiciously, picking up on the look I’m giving her. I can feel myself blushing, and her eyes go wide. She leans in and whispers, “Wait, what are you saying? Did you guys…?”
I nod vigorously, feeling my heartrate rise as I think about last night’s adventure in the back of Cade’s truck.
“Oh my God,” Misty squeals, covering her mouth. “Shut up! You? The innocent little virgin?”
“Shut up!” I laugh.
“Okay, tell me everything!”
I relate that night to her the best I can without feeling too embarrassed. I leave out a few of the key details so it doesn’t feel like I’m narrating an erotic novel, but even so, her jaw keeps dropping lower and lower so that by the time I’m finished, she looks like Ghostface from Scream.
“Holy shit,” she finally says. “Wow.”
“I know.”
“This guy sounds incredible!”
All I can do is nod, excitement plastered all over my face. I’m so glad she sees Cade the way I do without even having met him.
“I’m jealous, Sky. All my ex did was mooch my food then cheat on me with my roommate, who I thought was my best friend.”
“Ouch. I’m sorry.”
“Eh, to hell with him,” she says dismissively. “But this guy sounds like a keeper. Are you gonna give him your v-card?”
“I…I don’t know,” I admit. “I want to, but–”
“You’re worried about your aunt?” I nod, and Misty immediately shakes her. “Don’t worry about that old bag. She hasn’t helped you and your dad out yet, has she?”
“No, but maybe in the future–”
“People don’t change, Sky. We are who we are, and your aunt sounds like a selfish old bitch who probably has a crush on your future man here.”
A revelation comes over me like my mind has just exploded with a thought that never even occurred to me.
“Oh my God, you think!?”
“Absolutely.” Misty nods. “Your aunt’s an older lady with a thing for her younger, hot lawncare guy, and she’s getting all territorial because she knows he has the hots for you. So she’s threatening you with something you’ll never get anyway. And even if she decides to put you in her will, how long will it be until she croaks? Decades?”
“Probably.”
“And that’s decades you could have with this guy if things end up working out between you two. Would that be worth it?”
“No.” I shake my head.
“Then it’s pretty obvious what you need to do if you ask me. Don’t you think?”