"Wait, so what you're telling me is there's a guy, around our age that lives right next good to you?" Noah asked.
I set my towel down on one of his lawn chairs and slid out of my shorts. Then I traveled to the edge of the pool, sitting down and dipping my feet in the cold water. "Yeah. He's only staying for the summer. Mr. Gregg is his uncle."
Noah twisted his eyebrows in confusion. "What? How is that even possible? Wouldn't we have known him a long time ago?"
"That's what I'm saying.Maybe he just started coming around. Who knows?"
I watched Noah dive into the deep end of the pool. When he comes back up he wipes the water from his face and says, "Maybe. Do you know his name yet?"
"Justin."
He swam in my direction and pulled himself out of the water, sitting next to me. "Does he look friendly? Like the type that would want to hang out of we asked?"
I swayed my feet in the water and brought my shoulders up, letting them drop again. "I don't know. I mean we've only had like one conversation."
I did want to get to know Justin a lot more. And not just because he was probably the cutest guy I've ever met. Okay, maybe that was a major reason but he seemed odd, mysterious, much different from any guy who lives in this town. He was interesting and when he sat only inches away from me in my house earlier in the day I fought the urge to scoot closer to him, closing the huge gap that was between us, and kiss him. I know I shouldn't be thinking such thoughts about a guy I barely know but I couldn't help it. I've never had a guy who looked that good next to me before. Any normal teenage girl would have wanted to do the same thing.
"Noah, Lacey, the burgers are finished." Noah's step mom called. Noah wasted no time in getting up, leaving me to follow directly after him.
•••
I spent the next four hours at Noah's before I realized it was nearing eleven o'clock. It's just that his family was always so nice and they made sure you had a good time while you were in their home. I lost track of time every time I was there.
I said my final goodbyes to the family and used my damp towel as a jacket because I didn't bring a shirt and it had gotten so much cooler since earlier. My sandals hit the heel of my foot with every step I took on the smooth side walk. I took big steps and clutched my towel in my hands when a gush of wind surfed past me. When I place my hand on the cold metal that snapped my gate open and close, I heard noises coming from the back of my house. So I stepped aside and looked down the length of my house but didn't see anything.
Thunk! Thunk!
The noises continued and each time they came, I realized that it wasn't my house it was coming from, but Mr. Gregg's.
I pushed the towel up on my shoulders when it began to fall and made it my business to walk through my backyard to see what it was. The gate that seperate my house from Mr. Gregg's was short which left us no privacy at all so I'd he able to see just fine. I know it probably wasn't a smart idea for a half dressed teen girl to be checking out sounds at such a late time but if I didn't I wouldn't be able to sleep from the curiosity that would course through my mind late that night.
As I neared the back of the house, I saw Justin before he saw me. He had an axe in his hand cutting away at one of the small trees in Mr. Gregg's backyard. The light that was coming from the back patio illuminated half of Justin's shirtless body. Sweat traveled from his tatted collarbone down to his v-line. If his shorts and briefs hung any longer, he'd be fully exposed to the whole world.
He brought the axe up again only to let it sink into the thick bark in the tree. I wondered why he would even be out here so late in the night.
I stepped a little further into my backyard which caused the motion light to turn on. I almost forgot we had one of those.
Justin looked up at the sudden flash of light, his hazel eyes meeting mine.
I had no other choice but to just go all the way to the back now. So I did, stepping toward the gate that seperated my house from his.
"Uh," I started awkwardly. "I didn't mean to interrupt. I um...I heard noises. Just wanted to check it out."
He smirked at me and continued to slice at the tree. "Haven't you ever watched a scary movie? Checking out noises this time of night isn't very smart, don't you think?"
I gulped hard and tried not stare at the little trickle of sweat that slid down his neck, all the way to his toned six pack. "I-I guess not." I wanted to ask him why he out at such a night doing what he was doing but the words wouldn't come out. I just kept my eyes on his body and they wouldn't budge no matter how hard I was trying to get them to.
Eventually I came to my senses and got the strength to look away. I looked behind me at my house. All of the lights were off and I knew that meant my parents were sleeping. I should probably be too since I most likely had to work early in the morning. I opened my mouth to speak but Justin beat me to it.
"You're welcome to sit and watch me. It'd be nice to have a little company y'know."
Sitting watching Justin slice away at trees sounded like a great idea right now. I could watch him without seeming weird. For he was the one who gave me permission to. But I knew I had work in the morning and if I sat with him, there's no telling what time I'd be back home. It was already half an hour to midnight. I shook my head.
"Sure." My words went completely against my wishes.
What's wrong with you Lacey? Are you insane?! My subconscious spoke.
No, but his body is. Another voice said.
Oh God, I can't believe I just thought such a thing. But it was true. It was. I couldn't stop staring at it.
"Great. Here," he dropped the axe and held his hands out to me. "I'll help you over."
"I should probably grab a shirt first." I looked down at my towel wrapped skin and back up at him.
He walked to the patio banister and grabbed a white tank top before handing it to me. "Here." he said.
I reached out and took the shirt, my fingers brushing against his in the process, making my body tingle.
Draping my towel over the gate, I threw the shirt on. It was kind of long and barely covered the sides of my bikini top but, it was something.
"You ready?" Justin asked. His hands still out.
I nodded, a little unsure but still I placed my hands on his broad shoulders and allowed him to bring his hands to either side of my waist, lifting me up and over the gate. He quickly removed his hands and walked back over to his axe, to finish what he was doing before I decided to snoop.
Grass squished under my sandals as I hopped on the wooden table that sat firmly near the patio. Rope, scissors, and even a bush cutter, littered the table.
"May I ask why you're doing yard work at such a time?" I placed my hands on either side of me and swung my legs back and forth.
Thunk!
The axe created a brand new cut in the tree. With maybe five more hits and it'd be down completely.
"It's easier to work when the suns not beaming down on me." He answered. "I've been out here for a while now. My uncle's old, he can't do this kind of stuff anymore so he's paying me to do it. He ought to with the way it looks back here."
I looked around at the uneven grass, the wildly growing bushes, and the pool that probably hasn't been touched in years. It did look pretty bad back here. The grill near the pool leaned slightly, and even with the little light the patio was giving us, I was able to see the spider webs that had formed on the legs.
"I can help if you want." I offered.
Justin took a swing at the tree. "It's okay, I think I can manage. Besides, yard work is not something I'd expect a girl to want to do."
"So you're sexist." I said.
"Not at all," he answered. "I didn't mean for it to come out like that sweetheart."
Sweetheart.
Goosebumps formed on my arms at the name and the way he said it. So raspy, so pure. It was clear that I was attracted to Justin even if I didn't know a single thing about him. He was different from the guys around here. Mysterious, closed off, flawless.
"How old are you anyways?" I asked as I cocked my head to the side and grabbed the rope that sat next to me, twirling it around my fingers. I wanted to know as much as I could about him.
He finally looked at me. "How old do I look?"
I studied his face. It was youthful, soft. Anyone would have flat out said eighteen. But his body spoke something different. It was a body of a guy in his early twenties. So toned, so muscular, full of tattoos. With his face and body combined, it was hard to guess an exact age.
I sensed that he caught me staring so I snapped out of my trance and shrugged. "I--I don't know."
Holding a smirk, Justin faced the tree again and raised the axe. "Ten-ten."
It took a minute to register what he meant but then it clicked. He's twenty. That made me attracted to him ten times more. He was three years older.
He lifted the axe again and I watched the muscles in his back contract. I absentmindedly tugged my bottom lip between my teeth and just as fast as I did it, I stopped. I'm glad he didn't witness what I'd just done. I don't think I could sit here any longer without thinking about how his skin would feel against mine. I couldn't even begin to question why I was suddenly feeling this way. It was weird but, I liked it.
Thunk! Thunk!
Finally the small tree dropped to the ground the same time Justin dropped the axe. He used his forearm to wipe sweat from his forhead and looked down at the dead tree.
"Congratulations." I half chuckled.
Justin used both hands to grab the thin tree and walked it to the back of the yard where a few other ones lied. He walked over to the table I was currently sitting on and caught me all the way off guard when he slowly stepped between my legs, his skin rubbing up my thighs along the way. My heart pounded harshly against my chest and my fingers closed tight around the rope in my hands. What was he doing? Don't get me wrong, I didn't mind it not one bit. His upper half leaned in further and he brought his arms around me, grabbing for something. When his arms came back around the front I eyed the water bottle in his hands as he twisted the cap off and pulled the bottle between his lips.
My head was spinning and various thoughts flooded my mind. Would it be wrong to touch him? Even with just the pad of my finger? After all, he was standing between my legs.
He gulped the remainder of the water and placed the bottle next to me, now looking up into my eyes. "Thanks." his hot breath ticked my lips. His hands then rested over mine and my breathing hitched from his touch. His hands were warm but yet felt like they would melt the skin right off of mine. Justin wrapped his fingers around the rope making me free it completely. Then his mouth curled from one corner and he took the rope, backing away slowly and from between me, making his way back to the trees.
I still couldn't process what just happened. It was just--it was so sudden. I barely had time to react the way I would've liked to. I would've liked to smile at him and attack his mouth with mine. I would've liked to pull him closer and run my hands down his chest.
After he finished tying the trees he walked up the stairs to his patio and looked down at me with a small smile. "Will you be out tomorrow?"
I nodded. "I uh-I should be. Y-yeah."
"So I guess I'll see you then. Good night Lacey." He disappeared into his house locking the door and shutting off the back light, leaving me in complete darkness.
"Goodnight Justin." I whispered.
•
a/n: I'm suppose to be waiting until the second week of June to update this but idk if I can wait that long. So here you go!
Vote and Comment please. Feedback motivates me to update frequently.
Twitter: kxngjustin