9. The Perfect Remedy
The Perfect Remedy
As soon as she sent that picture, I set it as her contact photo.
She was beautiful with makeup on, but without it, she was even more breathtaking.
I could see the freckles more clearly that were splattered across her face like little speckles of paint.
I was in deep with this girl already, and we’d only been on one not-real date, but I knew I’d do anything for her.
I’d buy her a farm so she could have all the dogs she wanted if she asked me.
Shit, she didn’t even have to ask. Did that make me crazy?
Maybe a little bit sure, but crazy was all I knew, so why change now?
I wasn’t tired yet, so I decided to hop on the game with Carson and Jacob.
“So how did it go, big guy?” Jacob asked once I joined their party.
“Yeah, man, did it go well?” Carson chimed in a second later.
“It went really fucking well. Dinner was great, we talked the entire time, and it didn’t feel forced or awkward. I did meet her dog tonight too, and she was so cute, her name was Dolly.”
“As in Dolly Parton?” Carson asked.
“I didn’t ask her specifically, but maybe.” Dolly was a cute little thing, and I was happy she took to me so quickly.
“Well, did anything eelllssee happen?” Jacob drew the word out longer than needed.
“A true gentleman doesn’t kiss and tell boys.”
“So you kissed her?” I could hear the smirk in Carson's voice as he said it.
“What about you? Don’t think I didn’t see how you were basically eye fucking her best friend when she introduced you two.”
“Did you see her, dude? Fucking gorgeous legs, baby blue eyes, but something about her seems familiar. I just can’t put my finger on it yet.”
“Well, maybe if things go well with me and Allie, you’ll see her again.”
“We’ll see, I dunno if I’m ready for anything serious yet.
What do ya’ll feel like playing tonight?
” Carson quickly shut down the mention of a serious relationship like he usually does, and I let him.
If he ever settled down or felt like taking that next step, he’d tell me.
But for now, he could continue on his playboy ways.
“What if we played Minecraft?” Jacob suggested.
“You know what? That actually sounds fun.” I couldn’t help but laugh at the suggestion because when was the last time any of us played fucking Minecraft?
However, a chill night with the boys and a low-stakes game sounded like fun.
We all redownloaded it and spent the next several hours playing like we were all in middle school again.
It was the most fun we’d had in a long time while gaming and joking around.
I glanced down at my phone to check the time, and before I knew it, it was already three a.m.
“Alright, boys, I think it’s time we hop off here cause it’s extremely late and I’m tired. I’ll talk to y'all tomorrow.” Both of my friends said goodbye, and I shut down my system before going to bed. I hadn’t showered when I got home, so I decided to take a quick one before going to bed.
It was hours later at this point, but I couldn’t stop thinking about Allie.
How good it felt to kiss her, how warm her thigh was in my hand when I wrapped it around me, how I wanted to explore more of her and spend more time with her.
Thinking about her sent all the blood straight downstairs, and as much as I wanted to imagine it was Allie on her knees in the shower, I was too tired to do anything about that right now.
The hot water relaxed the tension in my shoulders from the gym, and it was getting cold.
I stepped out, grabbed the waffle knit towel from the hook, and wrapped it around my waist as I headed to my dresser.
Opting to sleep in boxers, I slid a pair on then hopped in bed, leaning back against the headboard.
I ran through all the possible places I could take Allie next on a date, all the fall things we could do together, but doubt started to creep in too.
She’s too good for you, and she could do better.
Just look at yourself. Why would she ever—I shook my head, trying to force the voice to be quiet.
I wasn’t going to let the darkness win, and I was going to show her how much I wanted her.
I knew that I was a good person, and I was good enough for her, but fuck did my childhood really fuck up my head.
Maybe I needed to find a new therapist and try going again.
I didn’t have luck with the one I tried before, and I was left feeling even worse about myself.
Like somehow everything that happened was my fault, and that cutting them off was a bad decision, and I needed to reach back out since “they’re my parents after all. ”
I decided to scroll for a little and catch up, checking Allie’s page to see if she posted any photos from tonight when I got the notification I’d been dreading. My stomach bottomed out.
You have 1 new message request from JasonParker.
“Absolutely the FUCK not.” I all but screamed into the emptiness of my room.
I quickly closed the app out, immediately regretting even scrolling now.
I don’t care what they have to say; my “big brother” is the last goddamn person I want to hear from.
Jason was nothing but full of himself and thought he was God's gift to everyone.
He was always right, and everyone else was always wrong.
Older siblings, for the most part, stand up for their younger siblings if something happens to them.
Not Jason. No, Jason was exactly like my parents.
As far as I’m concerned, none of them exist, and it’s going to stay that way.
I just had to hope I never ran into them in town if they still lived here, which, knowing them, they did because they hate change and couldn’t afford to leave even if they wanted to.
The last people I wanted to run into, especially if I had Allie with me, were them.
I tossed and turned till I finally fell asleep, but even when I did, it wasn’t peaceful. It was a reminder of what I ran from and what I never wanted to go back to. Ever. Again.
I slept in till eleven the next day because we stayed up so late the night before, and the little sleep I did get was awful and filled with dreams of ghosts from my past. They were memories I didn’t miss in the slightest. I stretched out, feeling around on my nightstand, and grabbed my phone to text Allie.
Spencer: Good morning sweetheart
Allie: You do realize it’s almost lunch time right?
Spencer: And you do realize you have a smart ass mouth right?
Allie: Oh I know i do, because I am in fact a smart ass *gasp*
Now I’m thinking about what I wanted to do to that smart mouth of hers. I clicked on her contact and video called her so I could hear her sweet voice. She answered, still in her pajamas from last night.
“You wanna get onto me for sleeping in late, but you’re still in those pajamas.” I teased her and laughed when she got this angry little bunch between her brows and scrunched her nose up. She looked like a mad little bunny.
“You leave me and my comfy pajamas alone. I didn’t feel like changing or doing anything, so I’ve been relaxing this morning with Dolly. Besides, Sunday is the day of rest or whatever they say.”
“Sure, sure, day of rest. Hey, speaking of, is she named after Dolly Parton?” I asked, curious to learn more about her.
“You mean the South's Queen? Yes. Yes, she is. Problem with that, buddy?” She had a fire in her, and I wanted to dig it out more. I liked that she didn’t back down from a challenge and wasn’t afraid to say what she meant.
“Oh no, no, no problem, I was just curious. Speaking of the little devil, where is she?” She flipped the camera around, and Dolly was sprawled all along the bed, taking up most of it like she owned the place.
I could also see Allie’s thighs and part of her calves peeking out from the blanket too.
Now I was thinking about those legs again and how I wanted them wrap—
“Any plans for the day?” My train of thought was broken by Allie flipping the camera back around to finish talking to me. I shook my head because I didn’t want to go down that train of thought yet. I wanted to show her that I wanted to know who she was, not just her body.
“Nothing really, since it’s Sunday and I have work tomorrow. What about you?”
“Same. I was gonna rest and maybe catch up on reading and lie around. I have so much I have to do this week, I don’t know how much free time I’ll have.
” She flopped back on the bed and held the phone close to her face, and I could see the little furrow of her brow that I wish could smooth out for her.
“It’s been really stressful, and we’ve had to be on site more lately, which is frustrating because there are always so many people, and I hate it.
I don’t do well with crowds usually. On top of that, my little sister has some school programs this week too that I have to fit in, and it’s very overwhelming.
” She chuckled slightly to herself. “Sorry, that was probably a lot for a conversation when you first wake up.”
“There’s no need to apologize. It certainly sounds like a lot. Is there anything I could do for you?” I asked because I was hoping maybe I could come see her, but also because I wanted to help her any way I could too.
“Oh, no, that’s okay, but I’m gonna go ahead and apologize if you don’t hear from me much this week or see me. I know it’ll be crazy, and I know I’ll have to prioritize work.”
“I promise you don’t have to apologize for things you can’t control, pretty girl. Work is important to you, and I won’t be upset when you have to focus on that.”
“You’re sweet, thank you. If you don’t have any plans today, would you maybe want to come over and hang out?
I was going to make some homemade lasagna for dinner.
I know we work tomorrow, so you don’t have to, I promise.
” Her eyes darted around the screen, and I could sense the anxiety in asking me to come over.
“I’d love to come over, sweetheart. I need to shower and eat a little something, but I can head over after that if you’d like?” I tried not to sound too excited, and hoped she’d say yes.
“Yeah, that sounds good! I probably need to get up and change too. Just shoot me a text when you’re on the way, okay?” She was already throwing the covers back and climbing out of bed.
“Will do beautiful, I’ll see you soon. Bye.”
“Bye!”
I practically jumped up out of bed and sprinted to the shower.
I was so glad I did laundry on Friday, so I didn’t have to worry about it today in case I was over there late.
After I got out, I went to the closet to get dressed, going with jeans and a T-shirt since we were going to be hanging out at her house.
I made a last-minute decision to stop at Brewed Stories to surprise her with an iced coffee since I had seen her share a picture of a favorite order on her socials and had screenshot it in case I ever needed it.
After I got the two drinks, I texted her that I was on the way.
I couldn’t wait to see her, and couldn’t believe I was actually feeling nervous like I was a teenager again.
I didn’t know what we’d do, but it didn’t matter as long as I got time with her.
Especially after that fucking request last night and a shitty night’s sleep.
I needed something to brighten my day, and Allie was just the remedy I needed.