chapter 1
Katie,
“Hey, Terry!” I yelled, waving frantically, hoping he saw me. I knew he’d never been to my house, so I stood outside waiting for him. My brothers Shawn and Rob were too busy to help me move, so I asked if Terry could help. I’m glad he said yes, because no one else had a truck. I stopped waving as he got closer and realized he saw me. While he parked, I adjusted my sundress. Although I had a little crush on him growing up, it had been so long since I’d seen him that I wasn’t sure if the attraction was still there, but I made sure I looked good just in case.
Even if I wasn’t attracted to him, I still wanted him to be anyway. Don’t ask me why; maybe because he never paid enough attention to me to notice how much I got flustered just from him looking my way. I’m pretty sure he had no clue. He was the son of my mom’s best friend and my brother’s best friend. He pulled right up to the curb just in front of my apartment building. He stepped out of the truck, and my heart stopped. When he came over to give me a hug, all these feelings swept through me, taking me right back to high school. I was the same girl who wrote my name as Mrs. Katie Black all over my notebooks.
He was much taller than I remembered. easily standing over a foot taller than me, and I’m 5 ’3. His chocolate skin was flawless and smooth. When he smiled, I knew I was in trouble. Those dimples made me want to grab his face and kiss his full lips. The hug was nice. He pulled me close, taking in a deep breath. I relaxed into him, wrapping my arms around his shoulders. After a while, it felt like it lasted a little longer than it should have, so I quickly pushed away from him, hoping he didn’t think too much of me holding onto him for so long. It took a moment to realize that he didn’t stop the hug; I did. I pushed the excitement building inside down and tried not to overthink it.
A hint of a smile played on his face as his eyes raked over me. “I missed you, Kitten.” His nickname for me since we were kids: my name is Katie, but when we were toddlers, the boys thought my mom was saying “kitten,” and that name stuck for a while. The nickname never sounded right when anyone would call me that, except Terry. His velvety voice always sounded like it dropped an octave when he said it, causing my heart to skip every time. I looked up at him with a warm smile. “It’s been forever since anyone’s called me that,” I said, giving him a light punch on the shoulder. He dramatically winced, laughing as I started going up the stairs. “ Come on,” I said, pulling the door open.
I looked back to make sure he was following me, catching him checking me out. He snapped his eyes up at me, realizing I saw him, and gave me a sheepish grin. He started up the stairs, rubbing the back of his neck. Aww, he’s embarrassed. My heart leapt in my chest. I forced back a smile when he walked up to me. Not really knowing what to do, I just acted like I didn’t see anything and said, “I have to hurry before Mike shows up.” He stopped and turned to me. “Mike?” he asked, catching his confusion. I shrugged. “Yeah, he’s my ex, but I haven’t told him that yet,” I explained, as if that’s an everyday normal occurrence. Terry just smiled like it was nothing and said, “Then let’s get moving.”
I sighed, relieved I didn’t have to explain too much. Although I knew eventually there would be questions. I hurried up to my apartment, grabbed 3 huge bags, and headed towards the stairs. As I passed his outstretched hands, he yelled: “Whoa, wait a minute.” I looked up at him, bewildered. “What?” I asked in a bit of a hurry. Annoyed, he took the bags from me. “ Give me those. You asked me here to help. I know you know I’m stronger than you, so why would you grab the heaviest things?” I rolled my eyes and said it’s not a question of strength, I’m just trying to get it done fast.” pressing my lips in a line and raising my eyebrows. He scoffed “if you want it done fast you should try to be efficient, use me for heavy things and you take lighter things” talking to me like I was a two year old child. He turned to run down the stairs.
I didn’t want to admit it, but he was right. Good thing too, because that was all I had, so I ran down behind him. Throwing my bags in the back, I looked up at myself sitting in the front, realizing he had done all the work. I just shrugged my shoulders, giving him a smug grin as I buckled up. He climbed into the driver’s seat, then stared at me, folding his arms. Movement near the car caught my attention. I looked up to see Mike going towards the building with a tall blonde on his arm. He was holding her ass as if she would fall without him.
Terry followed my gaze and asked, “Is that the Ex?” I nodded and looked down, hoping he wouldn’t see me. I scooted down in my seat a little and said, “ Let’s go.” As he pulled off, he put his hand on my knee. “I’m sorry,” he murmured. I furrowed my eyebrows, puzzled by this interaction. Then I realized he must’ve thought I was devastated, but I was over it, really; it wasn’t the first time. I had already checked out of this relationship. The only reason I stayed is that my name is on the lease, and I didn’t want to mess up my credit.
I tried to go through the motions, thinking I just needed time to get over it. Once I stopped looking at him through those rose colored glasses, I realized he wasn’t my type. Physically, he was, but he wasn’t all I hyped him up to be in my head. Not to mention, Terry was touching my knee, and even if I was heartbroken, His deep, velvety voice still could make me lose my train of thought. I couldn’t focus enough to care about his proximity. Normally, I would’ve acted like I was devastated, but I thought better of it and just said, “It’s fine, really.” He seemed a little confused that I wasn’t too upset.
He chuckled, and the sound sent a wave of heat straight to my core. I started to think maybe I had deprived my body for way too long. I shook it off and tried to focus on what he was saying. This must not be the first time.” I shook my head and answered, “Nope,” popping the p. He looked annoyed. “He’s an idiot.” I heard him say under his breath. Playfully, I asked, “Oh, and you’ve never cheated, huh?” raising my brows knowingly. He smiled and looked me up and down, then his eyes wandered out the window, and his smile dropped. “No, and I’ve never had someone like you,” he said, unvarnished.
It was uncomfortably quiet for a few minutes, then my phone buzzed, causing me to jump from the feeling. I looked at my phone and sighed audibly as I put it on silent. “Is that him?” he looked at me angrily. I nodded, and his knuckles went white on the steering wheel. He said, “Look, I know I can’t tell you what to do, and I won’t, but just know if you do go back to him, I’m going to break his nose or something.” I laughed a little, looking at him, causing him to laugh. In between laughs, he said, “I’m serious, I’m going to have to draw blood before I can be okay with that. Or I don’t know he needs to know that hurting you has consequences.” “Aww, my hero,” I said sarcastically.
