Chapter 9
Rhonan
Plumbing, Piercing Talk, and a Car Wash
“Hold that still.” I motion for Elliot to keep the new showerhead stable on the connector from the wall while I grab my wrench.
“I can’t believe you called me over here on a Sunday to fix a fucking showerhead for your neighbor.”
I wrap the wrench around the pipe and start turning. “Was I just supposed to let Vienna go without a shower?”
“No. But why didn’t she just call the landlord?” He arches a brow at me.
“It’s an easy fix. No need to bother him, and then one of the two plumbers we have in town when I can get it done in a few hours. It would take twice as long.”
Elliot shakes his head at me. “Nah, I think there’s more to it than that. I think that since you’re fixing her pipes, you’re hoping she’ll return the favor.”
I glare at him as I turn the wrench one last time. “Fuck you.”
He barks out a laugh. “So, I’m right?”
Standing tall again, I wipe the sweat from my forehead. “No, you’re not. I am simply helping her out. There’s no ulterior motive here.”
Elliot drops his hands from the showerhead and reaches for a rag, wiping them off. “You know, you might crack a tooth from how hard you’re clenching your jaw right now, trying to pretend that you don’t want her.”
“I’m not…I don’t…”
Elliot rolls his eyes. “Rhonan, I hate to tell you this, but you’re a horrible liar.” He sighs heavily. “Looks like I’m losing another friend to a woman.”
“You’re not losing Fletcher and Henley, Elliot. And don’t worry about me. I don’t plan on dating anytime soon.”
“So, would you still be willing to go with me to get my dick pierced then?”
I hold a hand up. “Uh, I was never willing to do that.”
“Come on, Rho. I need someone else there.”
“Why? No one wants to see you get a needle shoved through your penis, man…respectfully.”
“Uh… I guess this was not the best conversation to walk in on.” Vienna’s voice comes from the door. She’s standing there with her hair piled up on her head, wearing a green tank top and a pair of denim shorts that are covering far more of her than the last pair I saw her wearing.
“Vienna, let me ask you a question,” Elliot starts.
“Okay…”
“If you wanted to, let’s say, get your nipples pierced… Would you want a friend to go with you?”
She darts her eyes over to me, but I hope she can’t see the thoughts going through my head before she focuses back on Elliot.
Vienna has perfect-sized breasts, and the idea of a barbell going through her perfect nipples is making my dick swell in record time.
I don’t think I’d ever be able to stop playing with her nipples if they were pierced.
You don’t want to play with them though, right, Rhonan?
Luckily, Vienna clears her throat while cautiously responding, pulling me from my thoughts. “Well, I don’t have any desire to do that. However, I did go with one of my friends to get her nipples pierced because she was afraid of going by herself. So, I can see your side of things.”
Elliot holds a hand out to me. “See?”
“Nipples are much different than your dick,” I fire back.
Vienna laughs behind her hand. “And yeah, sorry, Elliot, but I have to agree with Rhonan on this one. If she had asked me to go with her to get her clit pierced, I don’t think I would have gone.”
I arch a brow at her, surprised. “Thank you.”
“Of course. Besides, it doesn’t look like you’re done fixing my shower yet, so I’d better not piss you off or rub you the wrong way before you’re finished.”
Fuck, I’d let you rub me any way you want, woman.
I groan as that thought swirls in my brain and then turn my back to her and Elliot so they can’t see my dick start to swell again in my shorts.
“We should only be about another ten minutes. The hard part of installing the new connector and sealing it with tape is done, so now I just need to put on the new head.”
“I’m glad it was an easy fix. I can’t thank you enough, Rhonan.”
I glance at her over my shoulder. “Again, it’s not a big deal. Elliot and I will be out there in a little bit. Is Roscoe still with Ellis in the backyard?”
Vienna nods. “Your backyard, yes. Joanne’s watching them while I came in here to check on you two.”
“Then we’ll meet you back over there.”
She doesn’t say another word before leaving. I reach for the new showerhead and hand the detachable part to Elliot while I search for my other wrench. Elliot remains quiet, but I can feel him staring at me. “What?”
“I’m just trying to decide how long it takes for you to sleep with her.”
“You’re out of your mind. I already told you guys, I’m just trying to keep things simple here.”
“So, you wouldn’t mind if I asked her out then?”
I drop the wrench from my hands, the loud clang of it hitting the shower floor ringing out, but my eyes are laser-focused on my friend. “Don’t fuck with me, Elliot.”
There’s a smirk on his lips, but he doesn’t flinch. “I’m not. I mean, she’s hot, man. I can see why—”
Before I know what’s happening, my hands are fisted in his shirt and I have him pressed up against the shower wall.
He’s fucking smiling at me, knowing what he just did.
He dangled a carrot right in front of my face, and I fucking took the bait.
But I don’t fucking care. The thought of Elliot and Vienna makes me want to pry his hands off of his body so he can’t touch her.
“Don’t. Fucking. Think. About. It,” I grind out, punctuating every word.
Elliot’s grin is so irritating right now, I contemplate punching him just because. But I think I’ve made myself clear.
“Then you do something about it, Rhonan.”
“I told you—”
He cuts me off. “Yeah, I know what you said. But I call bullshit. I think the reason you’re so on edge right now is because your body is telling you one thing, but your head is telling you another.”
I deepen my glare. “Funny, I could say the same thing about you.”
His smile falls. “What the fuck are you talking about?”
“Tell me why you walked away when Dilynne was riding the bull at the bar,” I demand.
His hands wrap around mine where they’re still fisted in his shirt. “I needed a fucking drink.”
“You sure? Or did your little experiment work and—”
He shoves me off of him, both of our chests heaving. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
I huff out a laugh. “Yeah, that’s what I thought.” Turning back to the showerhead, I pick up the new piece and start to attach it. “Just take this as a warning not to come for me if you’re not willing to face your own fucking truth, man.”
Elliot stays quiet for a moment, but when he speaks, it’s not what I expected him to say. “Will we ever move on, Rhonan?” The words almost come out as a whisper, but they’re filled with much more uncertainty than I wanted to hear from him—because he sounds like me.
My thoughts race while trying to find an answer. “I—I honestly don’t know, Elliot.”
I can pinpoint several instances in my life that have turned me into this man, but the idea of moving forward means letting go of the past—and the only thing I’m certain of is that I have no idea how to do that.
***
“Look at me, Daddy!” Ellis shouts as she cruises past me on her bike, pride radiating from her smile.
“Nice, Ellis! Keep going!” Standing on the sidewalk and watching my daughter ride her bike without training wheels is a feeling I can’t quite explain. After last year when this task felt unattainable, she and I are both beyond proud of how far she’s come.
“I’m the fastest bike rider ever!” She turns around slowly at the end of our street and pedals as fast as her small legs will allow. I bet if I clocked her with the radar gun, she’s barely breaking five miles per hour, but to a five-year-old, I bet it feels like sixty.
Chuckling, I humor her. “Definitely the fastest one I’ve ever seen.”
Reaching down to pick up the hose again, I turn the nozzle on and spray the stream of water over my truck.
I meant to wash it last weekend, but I spent that time fixing Vienna’s showerhead instead.
Now, it’s Thursday and I’m working all weekend, so I won’t have time to get it done.
And I hate having a dirty vehicle, on the inside and out.
Ellis cruises back onto the driveway just as a car slowly comes down the street. It only takes me a few seconds to recognize the silver Mercedes, which means my neighbor is home.
Vienna pulls into her driveway, shuts off her car, and then slowly stands from her driver’s side door, smiling over at me and my daughter, waving as well. “Hi there, Ellis. I love your bike.”
“Thank you, Ms. Lewis. Uncle Fletcher got it for me.” She rings the bell on the handle bar. “It even has a bell and a basket for my dolls.” Lifting one of her Barbies from the basket, she waves it around.
“That’s really special.”
Ellis nods, then takes off back down the driveway and out onto the street.
“I didn’t see you look both ways!” I shout after her, but she doesn’t even glance back.
Vienna’s laugh rings out as she shuts her car door, slinging her bag over her shoulder. “She either didn’t hear you or is already great at ignoring you.”
“I think it’s a little bit of both,” I say as I watch her walk toward me, crossing the grass in her heels and navy dress, and doing so almost flawlessly.
Fuck, I’ve forgotten how sexy she is in the few days since we’ve crossed paths.
No, you haven’t, Rhonan, but keep lying to yourself.
Sadly, my subconscious is right. There has been no shortage of this woman running through my mind, and since I can’t seem to shut it off, it’s just making me more irritated.
But those legs, that ass, and that fucking twinkle in her eye when she smiles at me—she’s got me interested in her, and that’s a big fucking problem.
I don’t date. And I bet if I hadn’t already met her, hadn’t already felt that pull, she wouldn’t be affecting me this much.