Chapter 30
“You need some help getting it in?” my boss, Lee, asks as we stand in the office kitchen. I keep missing the powerpoint to plug in the kettle. I’m too distracted by thoughts of Maevyn.
“That’s what she said.” Jeremy, one of the other carpenters, throws his head back and laughs.
I push him as he walks behind me, still clutching his stomach.
Lee shakes his head at Jem with a smile before turning back to me. “What’s on your mind?”
I shake off the daydreams, manage to get the plug in, then turn on the spot, leaning against the benchtop. “My neighbour.”
Jeremy rushes back over, bumping into Lee’s side as he pins me with a curious stare. “She hot?”
“Why is that always your first question?” I ask.
He shrugs. “I’m superficial.” He’s actually not. Jem’s young, but he’s one of the most considerate guys I know. He’s got a good heart, so I don’t know where he gets that impression of himself.
“Remind me to never introduce you to my sisters,” Lee grumbles, while Jeremy’s face falls.
“At least I’m honest!” He smacks a hand to Lee’s chest. “Besides, I still know how to be a gentleman. I mean, look at this face.” Jem mainly points to the pornstache decorating his lip. “This just screams pleasure.”
“Yeah. I’m definitely not introducing you to my sisters.” Lee folds his arms over his chest. “Anyway, what’s happening with your neighbour?”
What’s not happening with her would be a better question.
She’s turning me upside down and inside out.
This past weekend with her was unlike anything I expected, and nothing like I’ve ever felt before.
Maevyn’s fun, daring, and so fucking sexy.
She’s a mystery box of intoxicating traits.
I’m not even certain which side of her I’m going to get when I’m with her.
But every side is just as good as the last. I would have counted it a successful weekend before she kissed me in front of Phoebe, but then everything else happened.
My body and soul were intimately introduced to hers in a way that felt binding.
I was bummed I didn’t see her again last night, but once I was done at my parents’ house, Mum called to say Dad needed an X-ray.
Mum’s usually the strong one in the family, always hiding her emotions.
That’s why when she called me from the hospital with a slight waver in her voice, I knew she needed me.
I texted Maevyn when I got home, but it was just after nine p.m. The lights in her bedroom were off, and my message never flicked over to read. I figured maybe she was spending time with Aurora, or she crashed early.
I leave the house by five-thirty most mornings. She didn’t respond until a few hours after that, explaining she fell asleep on the couch. She also asked me how my dad was, and I liked that she wanted to check in on him.
She agreed to meet me on the balcony later tonight, but all morning, my mind has been tossing and turning over what our interactions will look like now that our fake arrangement is done.
Mum invited her and Aurora over for breakfast, and Maevyn didn’t refuse the offer once we were off the phone.
Maybe she’ll bring it up later. I’d understand if it were too much for her, meeting my parents.
It’s a little too soon, and a little too real, for what our situation is.
But I think I want to propose something more.
I want real dates. Real confessions under the stars.
Spending time with her and her daughter.
Another woman who’s gotten under my skin.
Aurora has such a big, beautiful heart and such a unique outlook on life.
Something inside me screams to protect it.
Every time I’m reminded that some guy out there didn’t want them, it makes me want to erase the hurt of rejection, to show them I want them. I’ll always be there for them.
“We’ve been kinda dating?”
“Kinda?” Jeremy asks. “Like friends with benefits?”
I shake my head. “She needed a fake boyfriend, I needed a fake girlfriend, so we’ve been helping each other out, but along the way things… changed?”
“Is this some weird form of dating I’ll understand once I’m in my thirties?” Jem turns to look at Lee, who’s wearing a look of defeat.
“Damnit,” he huffs. “I owe Bombshell a pineapple.”
“A pineapple?” I ask.
“Fifty bucks,” Lee says with a shrug.
“Oh, that kind of pineapple.” Jeremy drops into a seat at the table and starts digging into his lunch.
Lee and I stare at each other, equal parts scared and curious.
“Jem, what’s your kind of pine—actually, I don’t want to know.” Lee shakes his head, then sits opposite Jeremy. “So, you and Maevyn?”
“We met a few weeks ago outside Sweet Escape, and then it turned out she was my new neighbour. We kept running into each other on our balconies and started chatting. Flirting.”
“Ohh, flirting. Hope you wore protection,” Jeremy says over a mouthful of food.
“Flirting can be just as hot as anything physical, young grasshopper.” I playfully smack Jeremy across the back of his head. “You should take notes.”
“Totally agree. Flirting with Claire is more fun than anything I’ve done with any other woman,” Lee says, just as Britt walks in, coffee cup in one hand and nose in an ereader. Lee leans over the table, speaking low. “Don’t even get me started on the physical stuff.”
“Should I come back?” Britt asks as she scoops a teaspoon of coffee into her mug.
“Not at all, Britt. We’re just talking about relationships.” I smile.
Britt’s dad, John, used to own this construction company before Lee bought him out when he retired and renamed it Connors Construction. She stayed on in her role, helping with design consults and admin, but she also became a sort of mother figure to most of the guys here.
“I’m happy to hear that. Not enough men talk about their relationships.” She looks over to Lee with a smile. “How’s Claire?”
“She’s great. I couldn’t be happier.”
“And Westley?” Britt looks at me now. “Anyone in your life?”
“I have sort of been seeing someone, but things have changed, and now I don’t really know where we stand.”
Britt raises one eyebrow as she stirs her coffee, and suddenly, I’m sweating. “You could always have a conversation with her.”
I squeeze the back of my neck. “I know. She’s never dated before, and she’s got a daughter. I-I don’t want to scare her off, but I also… don’t want to lose what’s been happening between us.”
“Boom. There’s your conversation.”
I bury my face in my palm with a chuckle. “Thanks, Britt.”
“Just keeping it real, boys,” she calls over her shoulder as she disappears from the kitchen.
I take a seat next to Lee. “When you met Claire—”
“Which time?” Lee butts in, chuckling.
Claire started as a client of Connors Construction.
I was her site supervisor, but Lee was the guy who did all the initial email correspondence.
The two of them did not see eye to eye. A few weeks into the project, when they finally came face to face for the first time, they realised they’d already met.
Multiple times. In Claire’s bed. They met in a club, never traded names, and kept hooking up for weeks before finally figuring out who the other really was.
“The time in the club.” I pause, thinking back over the weeks that followed once their identities were uncovered. “Maybe it was after you met in the salon, whenever it was that you realised Claire was different?”
Lee puts down his sandwich, then dusts his hands before leaning on a fist as he no doubt thinks about his girlfriend. “I knew that first night when we met in the club that once wouldn’t be enough with her.”
“Was there any connection when you were emailing?” I ask.
Lee shakes his head. “Not at all. She was a pain in the arse.”
“What changed?” I ask.
“When we fell into our little benefits arrangement, I tried to get to know her more than just physically, but she would pump the brakes every time. She just wasn’t used to having that kind of relationship with anyone. She had a shit impression of men.”
That’s similar to Maevyn. Her whole life has been dedicated to Aurora, which is admirable, but I wonder when she does things for her.
Over the last few weeks, this need has built inside of me to help her get there.
To bring her joy and comfort. I want her troubles and her secrets.
I get the impression there’s a lot more to her past than just the pieces she’s given me.
She doesn’t owe me all her secrets, but I would like to hope that one day, she’ll trust me with them.
“When it was just emails,” Lee continues, “she did piss me off, but once we connected the dots, I could put those two sides of her together. The way she’d push back at me, she enjoyed it.
Before she accepted that she wanted something real, I realised everything she did was begging for a reaction.
Challenging me to go toe to toe with her.
Give her right back what she was giving me and wait for me to do what she expected every guy to do—decide she wasn’t worth it.
We’ve been together for a few months now, and occasionally, she still pushes just to test how much is too much.
It doesn’t bother me, though. I know she’s doing it cos she’s scared I’ll leave her, and she doesn’t want that.
I’m glad I’m the only one to ever earn her love.
To get that soft side of her. It just makes me love her more. ”
“They’re not all like Claire, though. Some of them push you just so they can stomp on your heart.”
Lee and I slowly turn to Jeremy, who’s aggressively stabbing his fork through his rice.
“Jem?” I ask, checking Lee’s reaction from the corner of my eye.
Jeremy looks up, his face wearing a mask of resentment. In a second, it’s like he seems to remember where he is, who he’s with, and the tension bleeds away, the happy-go-lucky guy we’re used to coming back.
“I’m just talking hypothetical, boys.” He chuckles, and his eyes flick between the two of us. “Nothing like that’s ever happened to me.”
“If you ever need to talk about stuff, if you need anything, we’re always here to listen.” Lee slaps a hand affectionately against Jeremy’s shoulder.
“You could give me one of your sister’s phone numbers if it’ll make you feel better.” Jeremy grins, the pep in his voice returning to what I’m used to.
“Still no.”
As Jeremy and Lee continue teasing each other, I pull out my phone, bringing up my text thread with Maevyn.
ME:
Text me after Aurora goes to bed. I need to come over…
As much as I love meeting her on the balcony, I need to be in front of her for this conversation.
I don’t want her escaping into her house if it’s too much.
She can take time to think things over and process what I’m offering, but I don’t want her hiding from me.
I know that’s her comfort zone, hiding from things, her emotions, her past, but I’m talking about the future.
One that I hope she’s willing to take a chance on.
I watch as the message turns to read, but no response comes through. I pop the cover on my phone, pulling out the fortune cookie message I still have tucked inside.
There are no rules when it comes to falling in love.
I made a promise to those girls to live by that, and I’m ready to embrace it.
Can Maevyn do the same?
Can she live by her own fortune?
What was it again?
Oh, yeah. To be found, stop hiding.