Forever and Almost Always Page 2

Chapter Three

  Dax

  Wilton and I stood in a daze for at least five minutes, after she had taken off down the street. This overwhelming feeling I was having, was foreign to me. Don't get me wrong; I'm your typical guy. I could notice a good looking girl from at least a thousand miles away, but this girl was different. She caught me by surprise, and that rarely, if ever happened. If I thought she looked good the first time I saw her, holy hell she looked even better the second time around. Wilton shoved me hard from behind when I still hadn't moved. I spun around and quickly smacked him against the back of his head.

  About a half an hour passed, when we were bringing in the last piece of my furniture. I was exhausted and probably could have dropped dead right in my tracks, but I had to return my co-worker's truck to him before six, and it was already five thirty. Man, I needed to get a vehicle, and fast. As soon as the big screen was placed strategically across from my bed, I fell to the floor and laid flat on my back. It only took me a second to realize that Wilton had said he spoke to her earlier. Now I was intrigued about what he said to her.

  "Hey man, what did you say to her?" I instantly felt like an idiot for asking. What were we in fucking high school?

  "Not a whole lot. I just said hey and then invited her to the party we are having tomorrow night."

  Before I could totally comprehend what he had just said to me, Wilton was on his feet and running through the house to his room. I clambered to my feet, trying to catch up with him, but he shut and locked his bedroom door.

  "Your lucky you sleep on the opposite side of the house, asshole." I shouted into the doorframe. "I have to leave for a bit, but I'll be back. See ya."

  I turned, making my way into the kitchen to grab the truck keys off of the counter. I glanced out the kitchen window one last time, before I made my way outside. Leaving right now was the last thing I wanted to do. As pathetic as it sounded, I wanted to wait until she got back from wherever she went. I wanted, no I needed, to see her angelic face one last time tonight.

  I made the last minute decision to clean out the cab of Ernesto's truck, hopefully buying myself some time to catch a small glimpse of her. After I discarded all of the non-existent garbage, I sat in the driver's seat and turned the radio up. I glanced down at the clock on the dash and realized I only had fifteen minutes to get to our work, and it was at least a twenty-five minute drive. Shit! I turned the key over, bringing the truck to life. Just as I was pulling out of the driveway, a bright yellow SUV pulled into her driveway. An older lady emerged from the vehicle and I could only assume that it was her mom. She glanced in my direction, so I waved and sped out of there faster than a speeding bullet.

  I wasn't really a meet the parents kind of guy. As much as I wanted to get to know this girl, I really didn't know how it was going to go with her living with her mom. I shook my head trying to clear my mind of all thoughts pertaining to my hot ass neighbor, as I pulled into the right hand turn lane to go towards the freeway. My eyes shot wide open and I almost slammed into the car in front of me. Her and another girl drove right past me, going in the opposite direction. My pants grew tighter and my heart noticeably sped up. Damn it, what the hell was she doing to me? For fuck's sake, I didn't even know her name. I ran my hands down my face, trying to compose myself. This girl was going to be the death of me, I swear it.

  When I pulled up to the welding yard I worked at, Ernesto was nowhere to be found. I parked so the headlights were facing the yard, but I didn't see anybody around.

  "ERNIE!" I waited a second for an answer, before shouting his name again. "ERNIE!"

  When he still hadn't answered, I pulled out my cell to try and call him. The only problem was, Ernesto didn't speak very good English and this white boy knew not a lick of Spanish, except for hello and good. Someone answered on the second ring and I was thankful it was his fiancé and not him. She spoke English. "Veronica, hi. Is Ernesto at home with you already? I'm at the shop, but he isn't here."

  "Yes, he is here. He said to just pick him up in the morning."

  "Okay, tell him I will see him at six tomorrow morning. Thanks."

  "Okay."

  I silently cursed Ernesto for not picking up his damn phone to tell me he didn't need me to come get him. I knew my reasoning was irrational and completely not thought out, but fuck, I probably could have seen her again. I jumped into the lowered Chevy S10 and slowly made my way back to the house. We didn't have too much going on tonight, but I needed to relax and a beer sounded amazing right about now. I was only nineteen, but that's what was so perfect about living with Wilton, he was already twenty-one.

  When I turned the corner onto our street, the first thing I noticed was my buddy Aaron's Trans Am parked along the curb. The next thing I noticed was her teal green Honda Accord parked in her driveway. I did a silent fist pump and pulled into my driveway. Before I got out, I quickly scanned around to see if she was around, but I didn’t see anyone, so I made my way inside of my house.

  The minute I opened the door, a group of people sat staring at me in the living room. I just nodded my head and headed down the hallway to my bedroom. I wanted to grab a quick shower before hanging out, but my plans were going to be delayed for a minute, because when I opened my bedroom door, Aaron was perched on the edge of my bed.

  "What's up? What are you doing in here?" I didn't really care that he was in my room, but I was curious. He was usually with everyone else.

  "Abby is out there and we broke up yesterday."

  "Why the fuck is she here then?" Aaron and Abby had only dated for about six months, just long enough for her to turn into a psycho. She was a super cool chick when we first met her, but shortly after her and Aaron started dating, she tried to pull the whole bullshit of telling him who he could and couldn't hang out with. He wasn’t okay with that, so I wasn’t okay with that.

  "I don't know. I think she came here with Evan to try and piss me off."

  "That sounds about right." I laughed. "Well, I'm going to jump in the shower real quick and then if you want, we can leave and go do something."

  "Yeah, okay. I'll just wait for you in the game room."

  I slapped him on his shoulder, "Don't worry bro, shit is going to change around here real quick."

  "Thanks man."

  I closed my door behind me as I headed to the bathroom. Once inside, I turned on the water and let the room get nice and steamy. When I pulled the curtain back to get in the shower, I was almost assaulted by a spider the size of a small island. I quickly jumped back in all my glorified nakedness, trying not to scream like a girl. I could deal with just about any insect, but spiders, I didn't do! Once my heart rate resumed its normal pace, I quickly turned the showerhead so the steady stream of water was now berating down on the spider. It took a few minutes but that fuzzy asshole finally gave up, and made his way down the drain. Once the shower was spider free, I jumped in and washed up like my life depended on it. There was no way I was staying in there longer than needed.

  Chapter Four

  Charlee

  "Taylor, I'm telling you, he was absolutely gorgeous. I have never seen a guy with that amount of muscle look good enough to eat." Taylor and I had been outside swimming and lying out since my mom left. It was a Thursday, so absolutely nothing was going on.

  "I know nothing of this mythical man you speak of. For all I know, you just made him up."

  I threw my cold unopened soda can at her, hitting her right in the side. "Trust me, I didn't make him up. You'll see." I closed my eyes as I flipped onto my stomach and untied my bikini top.

  "Obviously I won't see." Her laughter echoed off of the covered patio a few feet away from us.

  I wasn't sure what time it was, but the sun was slowly starting to get lower and lower. I tied my top back up and glanced over in Taylor's direction. She was totally passed out, so I made my way inside to grab a new soda, since mine had gotten shaken up in the process of me hurling it at Taylor earlier. After I closed the fridge, I noticed a few cars
outside of Wilton's house. The first one I noticed was a silver Trans Am parked half way between our houses and then I saw the maroon truck back in the driveway. My heart rate accelerated and I quickly ran out to grab Taylor.

  "Girl, the truck is back. I think he might be home."

  "You do realize you sound like a complete stalker right now, right?"

  "Ha ha, and honestly I don't give a shit. You have to see him. Come on." I tugged at her arm.

  "Okay, okay, I'm coming."

  We made our way into my kitchen and sat at the computer desk that faced his house. I know I seemed like a stalker, however if that was the case, then Taylor was now my accomplice. I clicked on the computer and started pretending to do something, anything that made all of this seem less creepy.

  "Holy hotness, is that him?"

  My heart practically jumped into my throat at the mere possibility of seeing him again. When I looked up, I caught sight of a very tall and lanky good looking blonde guy. It wasn't the guy from earlier, but this guy was almost as good looking.

  "No. I don't know who that is." I let out a very loud audible sigh and turned my attention back to the computer screen.

  "Well that guy is hot. We need to find out who he is too." She laughed.

  "I can go ask him for you, if you want me to." I giggled.

  "Yeah, as soon as you go talk to your guy."

  I play punched her in her arm before turning back around. Just as the chair came to a stop, so did my eyes. They became locked on the tall blonde guy, and my guy. Earlier did not do this guy justice, he was indescribable. He was running his hand across his buzzed sandy blonde hair and laughing along with his buddy. His teeth were amazingly white and perfectly straight, but nothing mattered when those striking blue eyes turned in our direction. I knew they couldn't see us because the blinds were turned up, but he seemed to be looking at something.

  "That's him." I whispered in Taylor's direction.

  "Why are you whispering?" She whispered back.

  I cleared my throat and stood, pulling her up with me. I drug her through the kitchen, the living room and then out back. Before she could even react to what was going on, I was diving into the deep end of the pool. I held my breath, only letting out small bubbles to keep me at the bottom. I was acting ridiculous. I was never intimidated by guys, hell; they were usually the ones intimidated by me. I was a bit of an aggressive girl, but not to an off-putting point. I just went after what I wanted, but this time what I wanted, didn't seem the least bit interested. I opened my eyes under water and noticed a dark figure standing at the edge of the pool. I let out the last little bit of air I had left, as I pushed myself up to the surface.

  "Charlee, someone is at the back wall for you." Taylor laughed.

  I looked in the direction of Wilton's house, when my watery eyes got caught in the ray of those mesmerizing blue eyes I had just seen. They instantly locked on mine, and I was suddenly speechless. I quickly walked up the steps of the pool, hugging my hands to my chest as a cool breeze floated over my hyper sensitive wet skin. As I got closer, his lips parted into a wide smile and I almost tripped over my own two feet.

  I wasn't sure what he was expecting me to say, but once I got over to the well I didn't need to say much.

  "Hey." Oh that voice! I closed my eyes for a brief second to take it in, before opening them and giving him my full attention.

  "Hi, I'm Charlee." I didn't offer my hand, but I didn't need to. He was already propped up on the wall, looking down at me.

  "Hi Charlee, I'm Dax. I just figured I should come introduce myself, seems how Wilton already knows you."

  I could sense a small hint of irritation as he spoke about his roommate knowing me, but I left it alone. "Well it's nice to meet you. So what are you guys up to tonight?"

  His eyes went wide, and I wondered if maybe I was being too forward. "Oh you know..."

  Huh? No I didn't know. I gave him a perplexed look and then turned to introduce Taylor. "This is my girl Taylor. Taylor this is Dax."

  She waved, and then went back to lying on her lounge chair, ignoring both of us completely.

  "She seems fun." He winked.

  "She is, she's just moody right now." I raised my hand to shield them from the sun, so I looked up at him. My tongue slipped out, wetting my bottom lip as I took in each facet of his adorably handsome face. He looked like a mix between Paul Walker and Kenny Chesney, weird I know, but so fucking hot. My mind flitted to thoughts of his bare sweaty back that I had seen earlier and I could feel the wetness pooling between my legs. When I caught sight of the dimple in his left cheek, I almost came right where I stood. What the hell was going on with me?

  He cleared his throat, just as I realized that I was staring. "Well you guys are more than welcome to come over anytime. A couple of us are just hanging out. I have to get up super early for work, but you guys are coming over for sure for the party tomorrow night, right?"

  I was at a loss for words, so I just simply nodded and smiled. When words still failed me, he must have taken that as his cue to leave. He jumped down off the wall, landing on the retaining wall on their side of the fence.

  "Alright, well I guess I'll see ya around."

  "Yes you will." I mumbled before turning on my heel, and walking the five feet to my lounge chair next to Taylor.

  "Well that was smooth." Taylor laughed as she rolled over.

  I was determined to get to know Dax, if it was the last thing I did. There was just something about him that I was drawn to, and it was more than just his good looks.

  Chapter Five

  Dax

  I must've had the widest smile when I walked back into the house, because the guys wasted no time giving me a rash of shit. I just laughed it off and nodded towards Aaron. "Hey man, you want to get out of here?"

  "Yeah, where you want to go?" He grabbed his keys and we both walked out the front door.

  "Let's go grab something to eat."

  We took off down the street and I couldn't help but wonder if Charlee would take me up on my offer to come by tonight. I was silently hoping she would, but if not, no big deal. Or at least that's what I kept telling myself. All I could see every time I blinked were her long tan legs, her small waist, her overly plump breasts, oh who was I kidding? I couldn’t stop thinking about everything about her, including those perfectly enticing lips. Oh man those lips. I could only imagine the things that she could do with those given the chance. Every part of my body wanted to feel her against me, feel her smooth skin against mine and run my fingers through her long silky hair. I shook my head and turned my attention to the radio. I didn't want to go too far, just in case her and her friend came by, but I didn't want to appear pathetic and stay home all night either.

  Her friend was pretty good looking too. She looked to be a little bit taller than Charlee, but they had the same sky blue eyes. Though I couldn't tear my gaze away from Charlee while I was talking to her, I noticed that her friend was almost the complete opposite of her, body wise. Where Charlee was thinner and had a small tight ass, her friend was a little bit thicker with a decent sized ass. Her chest was nowhere near what Charlee's was, but she still filled out her bikini top. In place of blonde hair, she was a box-died auburn. It didn't quite suit her, but she wasn't who I was interested in, so I didn't really give it much more thought than that.

  Just then, an idea clicked in my head and I knew it would almost guarantee that Charlee would be around more. "Hey bro, so I met the neighbor's friend Taylor earlier. I think you'd like her. She's definitely your type."

  "I bet! Are you sure you aren't just saying that so you have a better shot at getting into your neighbor's pants?"

  He knew me all too well, and though getting into her pants sounded amazing; I had the feeling I wanted more. "Well it would help." I let out a throaty laugh.

  "Maybe I'll go over there and introduce myself. But I'm not taking one for the team, if you can't close the deal on your own."

  Asshole!

&nb
sp; I was more than capable of closing the deal with a girl, although this particular girl did seem like she would be more of a challenge. We went through the drive thru at Jack in the Box and then headed straight back to the house. I shoveled as much food as I could into my mouth before we reached my street, in hopes that she would be there and I wouldn't have to waste my time with her eating. I felt my cell buzz in my pocket, just as we pulled up outside my house. I checked the caller ID and noticed it was Trevor. Without a second thought, I answered and went off.

  "Dude, seriously?? Thanks for leaving me hanging today. You're fucking lucky Wilton was home to help me with the rest of my shit. What the fuck, bro?"

  "Sorry man, I had to get home and do some shit for my mom before I could go out tonight. What's your deal?"

  "Nothing man, its just fucked up that you straight ditched me."

  "Sorry bro. What are you guys up to tonight? There's a huge house party just a couple blocks away from mine. You guys wanna go?"

  Conveniently enough, Trevor's house was only a neighborhood away from where I was living now, and as much as I would have loved to go to a house party, I seriously needed to see Charlee.

  "Nah man, I think we're just gonna hang out at my house tonight."

  "Okay, cool. Well tell everyone I say what's up. I'll see ya tomorrow."

  I hung up, thankful that Trevor didn't want to come over. I loved the guy to death. Hell, he was like a brother to me, but he had a way with the ladies that made me look like a chump. I wasn't willing to give up on her just yet, especially not for my best friend. Aaron looked over at me before exiting the car and I followed suit seconds later. I glanced over at Charlee's house, noticing that all of the lights were currently off. Hopefully that was a good sign. We made our way up the walkway and I could hear voices drifting through the night. I knew Wilton and a few others, but then I stopped dead in my tracks as I recognized that small, melodic sound. Fuck, she was already here. Damn it! Wilton would definitely be vying for that piece of ass, if I was slacking. I walked a little bit faster and swung open the screen door like I owned the joint.