Chapter 20 #2
I sit up and look back at Sutton. “What are you sending her?”
He lays a hand on his chest, feigning innocence. “Me? I haven’t sent her anything.”
“What did you do?”
He picks up his phone and shows me a folder of pictures. Each one shows her number scrawled on a wall behind or near a public toilet. Above her number, he’s written, Rate-A-Dump! Send me a picture of your most impressive shit and I’ll rate it from 1-10.
I slap my hand over my mouth. “People have been messaging her pictures of their crap?”
His grin couldn’t be more proud as he nods. “Seemed fitting since she’s a piece of shit.”
“Oh my god.” My eyes water from laughing as I try to get the words out. “Imagine the first one she got. Just an unexpected pile of shit in her messages. And then they keep coming!”
He turns off the heating pad and starts rubbing my back again. “Now, every time her phone goes off, she’s playing a game of text or turd.”
“It’s the best thing ever. Thank you!” Without any forethought, I turn and kiss him. Surprise parts his lips but doesn’t make him hesitate to slip his tongue in my mouth. Unlike our usual kisses, this one isn’t full of lust and desperation but it makes me melt in his arms just the same.
That gummy has me acting stupid. We don’t kiss when we aren’t having sex. Then again, we don’t cuddle either, yet I don’t hesitate to snuggle into him a couple minutes later when he puts the heating pad back on.
The rest of the night passes in a pleasant fog.
Once my back feels better, Sutton orders us some food.
We eat, and I lie on the couch, watching a movie until I doze off.
The last thing I remember is a warm blanket being tucked around me.
I’m pretty sure I dreamed the kiss on the forehead that followed.
My back is better when I wake up, but I decide a day off would be a good idea so I don’t make it worse. My plan is to shop for some things for my new apartment until Sutton asks me to go with him to his property.
“Why do you want me to go?”
He slides a shirt over his head as he answers and my eyes are glued to the flexing muscles in his chest. Why can’t I get enough of this man’s body?
“Huh-uh. No. Don’t look at me like that this morning. Your back needs a break.” A grin grows on his lips. “Before I break it again. Plus, I have work to do.”
Busted. “First of all, you didn’t hurt my back. And second, I wasn’t looking at you.”
“Yes you were. You were ogling me. Objectifying me. It was really inappropriate. You should feel terrible.”
“Shouldn’t you be at work?” I ask, realizing what time it is.
“I took a vacation day. My house is being delivered today.” He flops on the couch beside me. “Come with me to watch them set it up. We can bring Dusty, let him run around some.”
“Why don’t you take Amos?” He’s the one who’s supposed to be moving in with him, after all. Unless he decides to stay here and take over the trailer lease like I offered.
“I texted him, but he sent back one word. Sleeping.”
I’m curious to see what his new place will be like, and he’s clearly excited and wants someone to be there. “Okay, give me a few minutes. And I need to stop by the post office to drop off a package.”
“No problem.”
When we get to his place, I’m surprised by how different everything looks. “Wow, last time I was here it looked like a mud pit.”
“Don’t worry. I can hose down an area if you want another mud slide.”
“Shut up.” A gravel driveway has replaced the dirt one, and it leads up to a stone foundation. A new wooden fence marks off an area behind the foundation, with only the side that will surround the house unfinished. The shed has a new roof and fresh paint. “You’ve really been busy.”
He nods, parking the truck. “It’s coming together.” Dusty’s ass hasn’t touched the seat since we pulled in, he’s so excited. Both of us laugh when I open the door to let him out and he darts across the grass.
Sutton gets a text and takes a second to respond to it. “They’re fifteen minutes away. I’m going to back my truck into the field.”
“I’ll make sure Dusty isn’t in the way,” I volunteer, and hop out.
Dusty is busy running manic circles around the place, but he gallops over to me when I call him and follows me out of the way while Sutton moves his truck under a tree. Sutton gets out and comes over to join me, laughing as Dusty goes back to zooming back and forth.
“So, what do you think?” he asks, gesturing around.
It’s the middle of October and the trees are full of color. Morning sunlight makes them shine and throws shadows over the rich, brown earth. “It’s gorgeous out here. Did you inherit this place?”
He chuckles, rubbing a hand over his mouth. “I wish. No, I bought it. After the house here burned down, it was abandoned and the county auctioned it off so I got it cheap. I wanted a piece of land that I wouldn’t have to mortgage because I knew I had to take a loan for the container home.”
“That’s smart.”
He beams down at me. “Watch it, Delilah, that was a compliment. You’re going to let it slip how much you like me.”
“It’s just the leftover buzz from last night’s edible.”
His laugh is interrupted by the sound of a motor. “Contractors are here.”
He heads over to talk to them while I lead Dusty over to the tree near the truck where Sutton has attached a long cable.
It gives him plenty of room to move around but keeps him safely out of the way.
Right behind the contractors is a huge flatbed trailer.
It’s a good thing Sutton had the driveway put in and took down some trees around the entrance because the load it’s carrying is so wide, they barely make the turn.
I hop up to sit on the tailgate and watch as Sutton talks with the contractors and installers. There’s a lot of pointing and gesturing before he comes jogging over to me, all smiles. “Here we go!”
I’m not sure what I expected a container home to look like—like someone put a few windows and a door in a metal box, I guess—but what they’re bringing in is a finished two story house.
“Those are shipping containers?” I exclaim.
“Yes. Two on the bottom and one on the top. I could’ve done two on top but I wanted the roof of that front one to be an outdoor area.” It’s a beautiful house with large windows and a long rooftop patio. Painted in light green with a brown roof, it fits in with the surroundings.
We watch as they slowly get the house onto the foundation. Sutton bounces around, talking to the installers and contractors, then returns to watch with me.
“Are you moving right in?” He originally said three months and it hasn’t been nearly that long.
“Are you trying to get rid of me?” he teases.
“Of course, but that isn’t why I asked. It just looks…ready. I expected it to look like a train derailed. But it’s beautiful.”
“There’s still a lot to get done. The solar panel guys will be here later in the week, and it isn’t hooked up to city water or electric yet. But it’s close. Almost nine years of saving every dollar I could,” he says. “And finally.”
He’s been saving for his goal all that time, the same way I have.
I suddenly feel bad about what I said to him before.
I grab the side of his shirt and pull him close enough to hug him.
“Congratulations. I know what it’s like to work for a long time toward a goal then finally see it happening. I’m happy for you.”
He squeezes me tight, and his eyes are lit up when he lets go and looks at me. “Thank you.”
“And I’m sorry I called you a bad influence.”
His face softens. “Don’t be. There was a time it was true. I’m sorry I called you a pain in the ass who wouldn’t get off her high horse.”
Blinking, I look up at him. “You never said that.”
“Well, not out loud.”