Hands-On Learning
Chapter One
LILLY
Whenever I had a major decision to make or a difficult problem to solve, my dad always used to tell me, “Keep it simple and sleep on it, sweetie.” Sitting in my car in the driveway outside the Jaworski’s four-bedroom colonial, my stomach churned knowing that I hadn’t done either of those things before launching into what was sure to be the most complicated and rash plan of all time. But the problem needing solving was a whopper—the biggest of my life—and it had my head spinning. My better judgment flung free via the centrifugal force of my spiraling life and my body led me to the doorstep of the most irksome guy on earth—Derek Jaworski.
My hand shook as I reached toward the orange glow of the light on the doorbell. Derek took his sweet ass time getting to the door, but I knew he was probably in his “command center” as he referred to it. The rest of us just called it the basement.
Through the gathered sheers on the small strip of windows next to the door, I saw his shadow approaching. The porch light popped on and the front door swung open. Derek’s backlit figure froze in place on the other side of the screen door. His lips curved upward in a lascivious grin as he stood in the doorway, uncharacteristically silent. Lord knows he was probably formulating some kind of awful thing to say.
He stood staring at me and I stared right back. In the almost two decades I’d known him, every time I saw Derek, his near perfect features and his impossibly tall, Olympic-swimmer-esque build seemed to hit me in the back of the head—an unwelcome reminder that he was the hottest guy on planet earth. Unfortunately, all that majestic beauty was overshadowed by his abhorrent personality. He breathed in to speak and I braced for impact. Derek had given me shit ever since I was in the third grade.
“Well, fuck me cross-eyed, Lush! To what do I owe this honor?” he asked, dropping his hands on his hips. His wide grin was both joyful and a skosh evil.
“Please don’t call me that,” I said. If I had a nickel for every time he teased me with that stupid nickname, Bezos would be looking over his shoulder at me gaining on him in the billionaire race.
“Come on now, Lush. You can’t possibly be upset being referred to as luscious. Lovely Luscious Lilly from Lark Lane.” He leaned his forearms on the door frame on either side of him, accentuating his broad muscular chest through his white undershirt. My mouth dried, watching the shirt pull up just enough to reveal a couple of inches of flat stomach and a peek at a treasure trail above the waistband of his boxer briefs.
Though his scantily clad appearance may have lit my pilot, his delight at embarrassing me with filthy talk doused the flames. “Are you going to let me in? Or should we get you a mic so you can humiliate me on a broader scale?”
Derek’s arms fell from the doorway, and he sobered. “I’m not trying to humiliate you, Lushy. I just think it’s time that we finally satisfy decades of sexual tension. I’m already mostly undressed.” He took a step back and held out his arms to display his glorious self.
All his fake come-ons hit differently than they normally did, considering what I was about to ask him.
“Can I please come in?” I asked, pulling the screen door open.
“You can come wherever and whenever you want. Just say the word.”
Derek made sure not to give any ground when I stepped inside the door. My nose nearly connected with his sternum. I cursed the proximity for filling my senses with his citrus-y body wash and clean laundry smell. It really was unfair to all other guys in the world that Derek was both incredibly good looking and smelled like heaven to boot.
Planting my palms on his hard chest, I gave him a shove. “You’re a real pig. You know that?”
He laughed and stumbled back a couple of steps. “I didn’t know you liked the rough stuff, Lush. I’m totally up for it if you wanna push me around.”
“Just move, Derek,” I said, marching past him into the kitchen.
From the age of eight, all the way through my current age of twenty-seven, I’d spent vast hours at the Jaworski house. So much so, that it was completely legit that I opened a cabinet, pulled out a glass, and filled it from the tap. Leaning my back against the counter, I sipped the water and tried to quiet my thundering heart.
Never one for allowing personal space, Derek hoisted himself up to sit on the counter beside me. His foot brushed the side of my leg as he swung his feet. Stubbornly eschewing his obvious intimidation technique, I drank half the glass before taking a step to the side to get out of his reach.
An open notebook on the counter caught my eye. It had rough sketches and measurements in it. A tiny pair of brown shoes sat on one of the pages. They were about the size of Barbie shoes, except instead of the typical plastic pointy-toed pumps, they were clunky hiking shoes.
“What’s that?” I tilted my head toward the notebook.
I had never seen Derek so nervous and off his game. He pounced on the book slamming it closed, sandwiching the tiny shoes between the pages.
“Nothing. I—it’s nothing.”
Oookay.
We sat in awkward silence until I looked up and saw his furrowed brow and concerned eyes searching my face. His worried expression made my throat ache. Tears heated up at the back of my eyes threatening to fall.
“Lil, are you okay? Now that I see you in the light, you look like you’ve been crying.” His voice was shockingly gentle.
“I’m fine.” Keeping my response brief was a necessity. If I’d said any more, my voice would waver, and he’d know for sure I was upset.
“Well, if you’re having an emotional thing and need Sarah, I’m sorry to inform you she’s out on a date with Jason the Jerk.”
Derek’s sister Sarah and I had been best friends since the very day Dad and I moved to Carlisle Oaks. She and Derek shared the house they grew up in thanks to their parents retiring to Florida and offering it up to their kids to help them save money until they settled down.
“I’m not here to see Sarah. I’m here to see you,” I said, folding my arms.
Derek stared at me with his mouth hanging open. I’m not gonna lie, he had every reason to be shocked. I never ever in my life, ever would have sought his presence. All I’d ever done before was to try to avoid it.
His teasing smirk replaced the gaping-mouthed shock. “I can’t tell you how good it feels to finally hear you say that, Luscious.”
Oh, just wait until you hear the rest of what I want to say to you.