Full Out

Chapter Seventeen

The sound of my hammer knocking against wood could have been heard from the other side of California. I groaned as I missed the nail for the hundredth time. Roman was studying me from behind, laughing harder every time I missed.

I rolled my eyes, turning around. Roman stood with his arms crossed over his chest. They looked even bulkier when he stood that way. The sweat on his arms could be seen since he changed into a black, ribbed tank and his holy jeans. Boots covered his feet. I had changed into a t-shirt and a pair of sporty shorts that I had brought with me to the studio. Not wanting me to damage my feet wearing the thin flip-flops I had, Roman's grandmother let me borrow a pair of her tennis shoes for now. They were a little small, but I could manage.

I held the hammer out to him.

"Do you want to do it?" I raised an eyebrow at him with my free hand on my hip.

Roman held his palms up to me, shaking his head with a smirk.

"Nope. You got it, Bob the Builder," he teased. I groaned and turned back around. I grimaced at the nail sticking out of a two-by-four. It was dented and oddly shaped now that I have hit it so many times. No matter what I did, I couldn't seem to hit it straight.

Taking a deep breath, I marched forward, drawing my hammer up. Before I could swing, fear took over and I stopped. I spun back around, feeling helpless.

"You could at least help me, you know?"

Roman sipped on his red gatorade before recapping it.

"Help? I've pretty much built the whole damn thing," he chuckled, gesturing towards the halfway done, wooden shed. I sighed, slouching.

"I mean, you could teach me how to do this stuff. That way we can get it done faster," I suggested, my voice coming out as a whine. Roman, taking pity on his inept friend, chuckled again, wiping at his mouth before placing his gatorade off to the side. He walked over towards me, careful where he stepped. I turned back to the wood when he was next to me.

Observing the crooked nail with his hands on his hips, Roman laughed once.

"Damn, you fucked that thing up." He then reached for the hammer in my hand gently. I happily passed it over to him. The metal tool looked much bigger in my hand than in his.

I chewed on the inside of my cheek, feeling a little embarrassed. Roman was really good with this kind of stuff. I felt so stupid for not even being able to nail down a piece of wood.

Roman reached up, pointing the claw of the hammer towards the messed up nail. He wedged the nail between the prongs of the claw, pulling down. He pulled down on it a few times fast before the nail finally popped out of the wood.

I was relieved.

"Okay," Roman said as he tossed that one to the side before grabbing another from the box. "Come here."

I obliged, moving to stand in front of him. The hole where the nail was supposed to go was directly across from Roman's face. To me, I had to look up to see it. Roman's warm chest pressed to the back of my head.

"Alright, I'll start the first one for you. Watch," he demanded softly. I did as I was told, eyeing everything he did. He placed the tip of the nail on the board with one hand. The hammer soon came into view, held by his other.

Roman tapped lightly at the head, sticking it's point through the wood, but not by much.

"You want to make sure you have it in there straight first, okay?"

I nodded my head, my ponytail gliding against his shirt. Roman then tapped on it a few more times before he hit it once. I jumped at the sudden blow, my head bouncing off of my friend. He reached a hand up, brushing his large fingers over the perfectly placed nail. It was shoved expertly into the wood, not sticking out of it.