I loved his smile and the sound of his voice. I loved the slight stubble I felt against my face when we kissed. I loved how his calloused fingers were always tender. Dylan was perfection, but I didn’t stop washing until I couldn’t smell or feel him anymore.
Emerging from the shower, I found Harlow sitting on the closed toilet.
“Explain,” she said, looking haunted. “Mom and Dad think something bad happened or that you’re not ready. Tell me they’re wrong and I didn’t fuck up by setting up this date.”
Wrapping myself in a towel, I stared at my sister and thought about how clueless she was about men. Maybe even more clueless than me. At least, I had a crush on a guy. Harlow planned to keep her vagina closed to business forever.
I tipped my head over, spraying her with water from my hair.
“Hey,” she grumbled.
I wrapped my hair then stood up. “Dylan kissed me and tasted really good.”
“So why are you scrubbing yourself that way?”
“My head wants him to touch me, but my body hates it. I forced my body to deal with the touching then I gave it a shower as a reward.”
I walked into the bedroom where Mom fluffed my pillows.
“Are you okay?”
“I really like Dylan.”
Mom nodded then took the towel I dropped once slipping into my long flannel nightgown.
“We’re going to the movies tomorrow.”
“You’ll take Harlow or Jace with you.”
I glanced back at a frowning Harlow. “I don’t want to take Jace.”
“Then I guess I’m going to the movies. Better not be anything lame.”
Once Harlow left the room, I stood with Mom who studied me.
“Maybe you’re not ready.”
“Maybe I’ll never be ready. I like Dylan and he’s right now. I can’t wait.”
“Is he pressuring you?”
“No,” I said, taking Cookie Monster off the shelf and sitting him next to me on the bed. “Dylan is patient. Sweet too. Most guys wouldn’t be okay with having a chaperone. He didn’t care. He just wanted to hang out with me.”
Mom smiled. “Sweet is good. Your dad is sweet. He’ll punch a guy in the face for looking at my ass too. Complicated is best.”
“Dylan is complicated.”
“Then I’m glad you’re dating him.”
Nodding, I knew Mom wanted to leave and reassure Dad. I wanted her to do the same. Dad might be a man of God, but he had no problem with his club dishing out biblical vengeance.
I had found a rerun of The Big Bang Theory when Harlow returned in her pajamas. She climbed under the blankets and rested her head on my shoulder.
“Dating is a lot of work. Sure you want to keep doing it?”
“I’m sorry you have to come with me tomorrow, but I like Dylan and I like how he likes me.”
“He’s nice, Winnie, but he’s a guy. They want stuff we can’t give them.”
The thought of having sex made my stomach clench. Yet remembering Dylan’s lips on mine, I smiled.
“He said I’m a good woman. Not hot, but good. A guy wanting me because he thinks I’m hot won’t last. Dylan sees good in me. I like that.”
“Men lie,” Harlow said quietly.
“I know,” I whispered, handing her the doll. “You’re having a bad night.”
“I don’t want a guy touching me ever.”
“I felt the same way until Dylan. Now I want him to touch me even if it scares me.”
Harlow glanced at me and saw me smiling. “I’ll go to the movies, but this time you have to do more of the talking. I can’t fake a good personality two days in a row.”
I laughed as we moved farther under the covers. “I wanted to touch Dylan’s face tonight. I’m going to try and do it tomorrow.”
“Good luck with that. I wanted to ignore both of you and play games on my phone. I’m going to try and do that tomorrow.”
Laughing again, we turned off the light and watched TV. I didn’t doze off for hours, but finally dreamed of Dylan working on a house while I watched from a distance. He seemed so far away until the end of the dream when I turned around and found him watching me. His smile erased my fears.
Chapter Six ~ Dylan
After Winnie went into the house, I forced myself to go home. This plan lasted for an hour before I was driving past the Todds’s house on my way to a Whiskey Kirk’s.
I’d started visiting the bar because of my stepsister Raven. Her husband was the enforcer for the Reapers Motorcycle Club. Normally, I wouldn’t want to hang around men so willing to kill a guy for offending them. Except I took a bullet to the chest while trying to protect Harlow and Winnie. This led to me being part of the crew, making me accepted and protected.
Like most Friday nights, Vaughn and Raven were at the bar. In a corner booth, they sat with Reapers enforcer Judd and his wife Tawny. As I approached, Raven remained oblivious. She was too busy fending off Vaughn’s tickling hands. Next to them, Judd and Tawny ignored the racket while whispering to each other.
Judd noticed me first and threw a handful of peanuts at Vaughn who was getting his ponytail yanked on by a ticklish Raven.
“Dick,” Vaughn muttered, fixing his hair and wiping peanut shells off his shirt.
Raven adjusted her tee and smiled at me. “Hey, bro. Hair’s growing out nicely.”