Chapter Eight
M y parents had gone over the basement plans with me the night before, giving their stamp of approval on my initial notes for the contractor.
Sitting at the kitchen table, I wiped my sweaty palms on my jeans while I went over the floor plan again.
I was also ready with photos and swatches for flooring and paint, but I wasn’t sure if he would need that already.
Originally, I envisioned a white-washed wide plank floor, but my parents had shut it down, citing the risk of flooding if there happened to be a strong storm.
I settled instead for a warm, amber-colored concrete stain and many area rugs.
Like, an obscene number of area rugs— to give off a sort-of Moroccan vibe with a modern color pallet.
The bell rang, and I heard my mother come down the stairs and open the door.
“Mike! Good to see you, thanks so much for being willing to work with us on our project,” my mom greeted the man at the door. He was the husband of someone my parents knew through one committee or another.
“Not a problem; I’m looking forward to it.”
I stood and put on my best “I am not a silly teenager” face.
The man who walked in the room looked exactly as I expected him to.
Mid-forties in a flannel and jeans with a flat pencil behind his ear and a clipboard in his hand.
He had a nice face, though. Non-judgmental.
My mother introduced us, and if he was surprised by the fact that I would be running the remodel plans, he didn’t show it.
“All right, Vanessa, show me what you’re thinking,” he offered warmly, gesturing to the table. I took a breath and launched into my design. Tentatively at first, but he was taking notes and looking at me like I knew what I was talking about, and my confidence grew.
“I’m not sure how much detail you need at this point in the process, but I just wanted to be prepared.”
“No, this is all great. Most people I work with just have a general idea what they’re looking for, but the more detail I have, the better.
I can also get you some samples of window coverings now that I know the look you want.
Could you show me around the space so I can take some of my own measurements and photos? ”
“Yeah, absolutely.”
I was floating on cloud nine down the stairs.
While he worked, he started pointing out some options we had for running electrical where I envisioned several lanterns hanging, giving off a dim glow.
I almost had to close my eyes to believe I was going to get to see this project come to fruition.
While I was vaguely aware of my mother opening the front door again, I was so lost in my vision that I jumped noticeably when a pair of solid arms wrapped around my waist.
“Whoa there, sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you,” Zack muttered.
“You almost gave me an aneurysm. I didn’t think you were coming over until later,” I replied, turning to face him and catching my breath.
“What can I say? I wanted to see you.” He smiled broadly and bent down to kiss me.
I pressed my lips to his quickly and focused my attention back to Mike, who had a question about the arrangement of the three-piece bathroom.
I bounced around, wondering where the wave of confidence I’d been riding had gone.
I was also acutely aware of Zack’s eyes on me as I followed Mike around with my notepad.
“Well, I think I’ve got more than enough to go on. Let me do some mock-ups, get a total budget together, and I’ll be in touch. I think this is going to look great though when all is said and done.”
“Thanks so much, I can’t wait to see it all come together. ”
Mike reached out to shake my hand before heading upstairs. I turned around slowly to take in the picture of Zack Rhodes leaning against the wall of my basement, his dark hair falling into his face.
God he is pretty.
It seemed ridiculous that he was in my house. To see me. My heart fluttered at the realization of it, and I half-skipped over to him.
“Sorry about that. That was our first meeting; I didn’t mean to ignore you or anything.” I chewed on my lip, not certain the meaning of his passive expression.
“It’s okay. You can make it up to me,” he declared with a smile, his tongue running along the backs of his canines. “You look very official with your notepad and a tape measure. It’s cute.”
I blushed at his compliments, hoping they were genuine, and he wasn’t making fun of my over-preparedness.
“Yeah?” was all I could manage.
“Yeah,” he confirmed, rubbing his hands up and down my arms. His presence was enough to make me dizzy, and the feeling of his skin on mine wasn’t helping matters. “Do you have time to go for a drive?”
“Yeah, let me just tell my mom. You met her I suppose?” I asked, climbing the stairs.
“I did. I think she likes me,” Zack bragged, following, his hands resting low on my hips as I walked in front of him. I may have made them sway a bit more than was natural.
“Confident, are we?” I giggled, thinking he was probably right.
His parents were apparently the kind of people everyone in our tiny city knew—the ones who ran the fundraisers for improvements at the community parks and sat on every committee imaginable.
I was surprised no one had named a street after them, until I realized how ridiculous “Rhodes Road” would look on a sign.
“I try,” he murmured. “I’ll meet you outside, okay?”
“Okay.” I went to find my mother, who looked like she’d been waiting in their kitchen posed like a statue—arms crossed and a curious expression on her face.
“Hey, Zack and I were going to run out for a bit, maybe grab some food.”
“He’s cute, Vanessa,” her mother stated as if it were an accusation.
“I am aware.”
“Well, be careful.”
“Will do.”
“And be home by nine.”
I managed to smile over the eye-roll I was stifling.
Realistically, I probably could have argued and won, but the day had been too perfect to mess it up with a fight now.
I grabbed my black and silver Pink sweatshirt on my way out the door, the air much cooler now that the sun had set.
I opened the car door, excited about being alone with him now that things seemed to have settled a bit.
He was looking at something intently on his phone but quickly put it away.
His gaze landed on mine, and my insides twisted from the intensity of the look he shot my way.
“Anywhere in particular you wanna go?” he asked.
“Not necessarily. I didn’t eat dinner, so if you’re hungry we could grab something fast.”
“Sounds good to me. Rich just texted and asked me to swing by there, too. Do you care if we head to his place after? It should only take a minute.”
“Not at all.” I was secretly elated that he wanted me to hang out with more of his friends.
Ignoring the fact that I had no interest in football beyond cheering on the sidelines, I asked him about his season and the team.
He drove through Wendy’s so that I could order the least healthy dinner I could dream up: chicken nuggets and a cheeseburger and fries and a Frosty.
There was no meal from Wendy’s complete without a Frosty.
“You can seriously eat all of that?” he asked incredulously.
“Probably before we get to Rich’s, yes,” I confirmed proudly .
Usually, I ate healthy, though it wasn’t by choice. My mom was a salad pusher.
“You’re not worried about like, calories or fat grams or anything?”
“Not particularly, no. Why?” I was starting to feel self-conscious about my choice at the moment.
“Just different than what I’m used to, that’s all. You gonna share your fries?” He stole several before I could answer, however. He was lucky I liked him, because taking my food was one of the gravest offenses a person could commit against me.
My mind immediately flew to Jenna, and I wondered if that’s who he was referring to. She had a body most girls would kill for.
Whatever, he’s not with her anymore for a reason.
Although, I still had a morbid curiosity to know exactly what happened.
“So, I think Vader is down to take the redhead to homecoming.”
“Liv?”
“Yeah. He remembered her from his bonfire.”
“Awesome, she’ll be so excited. Do you think we should go out before then? The four of us?”
“Yeah, sure. I’m house-sitting for my parents this weekend and was thinking of having some people anyway. Why don’t you guys come, and they can hang out?”
“Sure. Do you want me to bring anything?”
“It’s not a potluck, V.”
“No, I know, but like snacks or something?”
“Sure. Snacks would be great,” he agreed. “And maybe you can wear that purple dress? Not that I’m not loving this hoodie and jeans look, but I’ve been bragging to everyone about your legs.” He grinned.
“You have?” I asked, taken aback a bit by the wardrobe request and the fact that he’d been talking to his friends about me.
“Hell yeah, I have. Have you seen you? ”
He grabbed my thigh affectionately. A smug feeling bubbled up in my chest, reaffirming that it didn’t matter what I ordered from Wendy’s. I bit my lip to keep from smiling too widely.
“I might have something better than the purple dress,” I admitted. Feeling appreciated, I slid my hand into his as he drove.
“Well, that I have to see,” he replied, tracing a figure eight on my palm with his thumb. The light motion gave me goose bumps, but I didn’t ask him to stop.
We pulled up outside of Rich’s townhouse in one of the nicer areas near campus, complete with a two-story brick facade and a wide front porch.
Before we even knocked, the door swung inward, revealing a shirtless Rich with a beer in his hand.
He looked mildly surprised to see me there with Zack, but he didn’t seem bothered.
His sandy brown hair was rumpled, but it didn’t make his biceps any less impressive.
“Hey, sorry, I didn’t know you had anyone with you.
I’m Rich,” he stated, reaching out his hand.
I shook it and introduced myself. “Ah, Vanessa, of course. Zack has been talking you up a bit.” Zack shot him a look, but Rich just grinned harder.
“Come on in, I just gotta grab your shit. I’ll be right back. ”
Zack led me through the kitchen to the TV room, which featured a massive TV, more speakers than I would know what to do with, a basic tan couch, and absolutely no decorations whatsoever. I itched to start measuring for art to hang.
The townhouse itself was lovely, but fairly plain—neutral wall color, beige carpet. There wasn’t much there to inspire me.
“Where’s the bathroom?” I asked—partially because I had to pee, but also because I was nosy. As I suspected, there were only builder-grade fixtures in there as well. At least it was clean, though.
His parents probably hire someone to come clean it for him.
I just couldn’t imagine that guy wielding a sponge and tile cleaner.
I checked my appearance, raking my hands through my hair, and sighed happily knowing that my design plans were going to be amazing.
I had picked out an oversized arabesque wall tile in white with metallic tiles scattered throughout.
Impatiently, I just wanted everything to arrive, so I could actually see it all.
Walking back to the main area, I could hear Rich talking to Zack, but only caught the tail end of it. “…couldn’t understand why you were going off about a freshman, but I get it now. I’d put in the work to pop that cherry, too.”
“Dude, shut up,” Zack replied, making Rich laugh.
A cold, staticky feeling worked its way up my spine.
It took a moment for it to click in my brain that he was referring to me being a virgin, which he had absolutely no way of knowing.
I felt my self-control take a hike along with my sense of propriety.
I walked into the room, faux confidence on display, not wanting to let on that I’d heard them.
“Hey babe, you ready to go?” Zack asked, not seeming startled at my appearance. Rich still had a trace of a laugh on his face.
“Yeah, almost. I’m still hungry though. I could really go for some dessert. Rich, do you happen to have any fruit? Specifically, cherries? I don’t know why, but I’m really in the mood for cherries right now. Doesn’t that sound good?”
Rich now looked unsettled. “Uh, no. No fruit, unfortunately. Maybe next time.”
“Yeah, for sure. So nice to meet you.”
I grabbed my purse off of the couch and started for the front door.
I heard Zack mutter “ shit ,” under his breath before following me out.
I didn’t turn around until I got to the car, and even then, it was only because it was still locked.
There were tears welling up behind my eyes that I was determined to keep tucked away, and I was glad the sun was setting, giving me shadows to hide in.