Chapter 3
Three hours later
I got some good rest, but it felt like I was only asleep for a matter of seconds.
It was a while later when I felt a hand on my shoulder.
"Excuse me," I heard a man's deep voice, and it startled me.
It was a lot to take in all at once.
I had been dead asleep, and I had forgotten where I was.
The sun was terribly bright.
I was out in the sunny woods when I should have been in my own warm bed. The woods were of no consequence to me, though, because I had other things to deal with.
Standing no more than three feet away, was a man, a stranger, a male stranger. The sun had shifted and was shining directly on me now. His face was hidden in the shadow, but I knew it was a man, and I knew it wasn't either of my brothers. I still had on my sunglasses, and I could see that he had some on as well. I sat up and shielded my eyes with my forearm .
He was actually gorgeous. I couldn't see his eyes, but the rest of his face was perfect, unbelievable. For a second, I thought I might be dreaming. He was what male perfection looked like. I thought he might be an angel.
"Hello?" I said, sitting up and blinking. My mouth was dry. He was standing, and I scrambled onto a nearby rock so that I wasn't so flat on the ground.
"Are you okay?" he asked, peering at me.
I cleared my throat, glancing in the direction of the tunnel. My mouth was dry. I didn't see my brothers or anyone else. I cleared my throat again. "I'm fine. My brothers own the construction company that's making the tunnel out here."
"Do you mind if I sit down?" He gestured to the rock next to me, and I felt like I was dreaming. His dark hair was long on top and he looked like an ad for shampoo. It was supposed to stay tucked behind his ear, and he adjusted it as he moved toward the rock. His mouth and his jawline were that of a male model. I had been sleeping hard, and it was surreal to wake up to such a sight. The whole thing felt slightly supernatural to me. I thought there was still a chance I was dreaming. I hesitated for so long that he casually sat even though I didn't give an answer.
"I'm JJ Kennedy," he said. "My parents own this place."
He waited for me to respond .
"My brothers are working on your… I told you that… the tunnel. Kirkpatrick Construction."
"Yeah, I, uh, I was out here, checking out my parents' house since they're about to move in, and I… I was talking to your brothers for a few minutes. I asked if I could come over here and talk to you. I hope you don't mind that I woke you up. I think you might want to move out of the sun."
"No, no, it's fine," I said, touching my face.
I had no idea why he had come over to me, but I was too attracted to him to care to ask. I worked in clubs and at festivals all over, and I was accustomed to a fair amount of male attention while I was working. This setting was completely different, though. It was bright outside, and I had been sleeping for long enough that it was taking me a second to remember where I was.
I remembered the boy and his Nana and thought this man must be related to them.
"It looks like you got a little sun," he said gesturing to his own jaw. He was so handsome that the gesture was distracting and I didn't hear what he said.
"I’m sorry, what?"
"I think you might have been sleeping in the sun a little bit." He glanced at me reluctantly and used his hand to touch the side of his own jaw.
"Oh," I said, when I realized that my face hurt to touch. "That sucks." I stared at the rock as I touched my face all over. It was painful. "I wasn't in the sun when I fell asleep," I said, despondently.
I didn't dare take off my oversized sunglasses because I knew there would be a lighter mark where they had been. He was so good-looking that I instinctually played it cool even though the upper and lower thirds of my face must've been noticeably red. I hated my brothers for letting me sleep in the sun.
"That's why I wanted to wake you up," he said.
"I'm glad you did. Thank you."
"I had been talking to your brothers, but I originally came out here to talk to you."
"Really? Why?"
"My son. You met my little boy."
"Oh, the boy was yours?" I asked.
"Yes. He… we are about to head home, and he told me about you a few different times… he was saying that… " He trailed off and glanced around suspiciously. He leaned in and stared at me like he was concerned. He spoke quietly when he continued. "Your brothers seem like okay guys. I met them, and they gave me a completely different take on the story. But my son was saying he met you, and he mentioned several times how your brothers were mad at you. It seemed like he was kind of worried about you, and I just wanted to come out here and make sure you're okay and didn't need one of us to intervene… somehow. "
"Aw, with my brothers? That's so sweet. The little boy was worried about me? No, tell him thank you, but my brothers were probably justified in being mad at me."
"Good. Ethan kept talking about you. It seemed like he was worried, so I wanted to come out here before we left."
"That's really very nice of you. And of him. Of both of you."
"We came out here earlier. My sisters were out here, and we were all talking. None of us even knew you were here until we came right up on the firepit. You scared us, actually. My sister screamed, and we had a whole big conversation about it, and you didn’t budge."
"Yeah, I'm obviously exhausted."
"Seeing you sleeping on the ground combined with the fact that my son seemed to be worried about you… I just wanted to come back. I'm glad to know you're not in danger."
"Your son was really sweet. I like that kid."
"Me too," he said.
"Thank you for waking me up."
"I mentioned it to my mom also, and she agreed that it was a good idea to come check on you. I'm glad I did, with how the sun had shifted. Do you need a ride home or anything? My truck is pretty full, but we can squeeze you in for a few minutes if you live near here."
"I don't live close by. I live in Raleigh. "
"Oh, I live in Raleigh, too. Do you need a ride back? I think we could probably make it work."
"No, thank you. That's really nice of you. I want to take you up on it really bad. I wish I could. I'm kind of at my brother's mercy with getting my car fixed. They have a couple of friends who own a body shop. Unfortunately for me, they probably want me to sit here and fry for a little bit right now. Not because they're abusing me, just because they're mad at me."
"Maybe you could wait in the shade."
"I'm planning on it," I said.
He stood up to leave.
"What did my brothers tell you?" I asked.
"They were telling me you were in trouble a lot and they were trying to help you."
"They said I was in trouble a lot? I’m not in trouble, other than wrecking my car. I'm not in trouble. Who said that? Phillip or Salem?"
He stepped back smiling and lifting his hands in a gesture of surrender. "I was just glad to hear that your story went with theirs. Ethan was worried about you, and I wanted to ask you for myself. Anyway, all I was saying was that it seems like your story lines up with your brothers."
"Yeah, I guess," I said, staring into space and feeling embarrassed over the whole situation.
The pain of the sunburn and the inevitable redness resulting from it was just icing on the cake of my humiliation. It was better that this gorgeous man had a family with children. That was the only thing that made the interaction a little less shameful. Maybe it made it more shameful. Oh well. It wasn't my morning, it seemed.
"It was nice meeting you," he said. "What's your name?"
"Sadie."
He smiled. "That makes sense. I could see how he would think of that."
"Think of what?"
"Ethan. He was telling me about your name. He couldn't remember it, but he said he thought it was Sad."
"He thought my name was Sad ?"
"Yeah, he was really trying to remember. He said your name was "like sad".
"Was it Shy?"
"No, it's Sadie. You just told me it was Sadie."
"He might have been thinking of Shy. That's my other name. I told him that name."
"Your other name is Shy?" he asked.
I nodded.
"Your name is Sadie and Shy?" I nodded again.
"Who calls you Shy?"
"Everyone at my work. It's like a stage name, but it's for my photography and kind of for me when I'm out. I dance a lot, but mostly I'm known for being a photographer. The club scene is a big part of my life and a lot of people call me Shy there. But people at school and stuff, and my brothers, they all call me Sadie. My life is about half-and-half honestly."
"My name is about half-and-half too."
I glanced at him when he said it.
"Do you have another name besides JJ?"
"Yeah, I do, it's John-Michael. Most people call me John-Michael. JJ's just my family."
"John-Michael is your first name?"
"Yes."
"A double first name?"
"Yes."
"So, your middle name starts with a J?"
"Yep."
"What is it?"
"Joseph."
"John-Michael Joseph Kennedy. I like that name."
"Thanks," he said.
"Anything to do with the president?"
"No. No relation."
"Cool."
I was quiet after that, and he stood up and added, "I'm glad you're good."
"I’m good," I assured him as he started to leave. "Your little boy is sweet for asking about me, and he's a neat kid," I said.
He waved as he began to walk away. "Thank you. He really liked you! "
I just smiled and waved at him. He was already several yards away, leaving me sitting on the edge of that circle of giant rocks.