Johnny's car is waiting in my driveway and Johnny's on the front steps with a bouquet of flowers.
That's new.
I walk up the sidewalk and stand in front of him. "Hi."
"Hi."
"What are you doing here?"
"I wanted to take you on a date."
"You never take me on dates."
"I know." He runs his free hand through his hair. "But I messed up the other night."
"Yeah. You did."
"I know. And I'm really sorry."
"You tried to start a physical fight with kids around."
"I know."
I look down at the ground for a second and he wraps his arms around me.
"I'm sorry. I know I really hurt you."
"And you did it anyway."
"In the moment I was just so heated, I wasn't thinking straight. Seeing another guy look at you like he was." He shakes his head.
"Bryce is just a friend."
With benefits.
"I know that's all it is on your end, but his might be a different story."
I shake my head.
"Alex." He reaches out and grabs my hand. "I'm sorry."
"Let's go inside." I open the front door and let us in.
"Are you gonna take your flowers?"
"When we get inside you can trim the stems and put them in a vase for me." I joke.
"Oh, I can do it?"
"Yeah, you can do it."
"You're lucky you're cute."
"I know." I grin and lead him into the kitchen.
He sets the bouquet of red roses on the counter and grabs the scissors from the wooden butcher block while I grab a glass vase out of the cabinet above the fridge. I place the vase on the counter and start filling a glass with water.
"Is this a good height?" Johnny asks and I look over to see him holding a flower next to the vase.
"That's perfect." I dump the glass of water into the vase and he drops the first flower in. I set the glass on the counter by the sink and stand behind Johnny. I wrap my arms around his torso and rest my cheek against the back of his shoulder.
"What are your mom and grandma doing today?"
"I think they're out shopping."
"Why didn't you go with them?"
"Well, I was still sleeping when they left. But either way, I had to go next door."
"Right. How's she doing?"
"She's okay." I slide my right hand down his stomach and it settles on his hip.
"Babe."
"Yes, babe?"
"I'm holding scissors."
"So?"
"So you probably shouldn't put your hand near my dick."
"That's boring."
"It's distracting."
"I think you'll live."
"I might lose a finger." He laughs.
"Then maybe you should hurry up and finish with my flowers so we can get to the fun part."
He shakes his head and I'm sure he's got a smirk on his face.
The last few stems are cut and the flowers are placed in the vase. Johnny dumps the packet of flower food in as I pour in some more water. He discards of the plastic the bouquet was wrapped in and grabs my hand.
I stand back and admire the vibrant roses. The bright red petals compliment the bold green stems and I hug Johnny.
"What are you doing?" he asks with a laugh.
"Thank you."
"For what?"
"Making it right when you fucked up."
"Don't get used to it."
I wasn't planning on it.
I roll my eyes and kiss him.
"Hey," he says. "I love you."
"I love you too."
His hands grab my ass and I'm certain he's forgotten all about his intention of taking me out on a date today. We kiss for a few more moments before he lifts me onto the countertop. I lay my right hand on the back of his neck as his fingers pull on the fabric of my black tank top and he yanks it over my head just before he freezes.
"What's wrong?" I ask.
"I think I heard a car door."
And as soon as the words leave his lips, the front door opens.
"Fuck," I whisper. I rush to turn my shirt right side out while Johnny fixes my shorts that I hadn't realized he unbuttoned. The fabric of my tank top barely covers my skin as I hop down from the counter just in time.
"Hey, guys." Mom smiles from behind her collection of shopping bags.
"Hi," Johnny says.
"Where's Grandma?" I ask.
"She's outside talking to Grandma Peggy."
"And she left you with the bags?" I laugh.
"Typical Grandma." She rolls her eyes.
"What are they talking about?" I ask.
"So nosy." Johnny laughs.
"Isn't she always?" Mom agrees. "Your grandma wants to seal the driveway and Grandma Peggy just had hers done so she's asking her who she used for hers."
"And I'm the nosy one." I laugh.
The front door opens again and Grandma comes into my view.
"Did you get the name of the company?" Mom asks.
"Oh, we're not using them. She said they had to come back a second time because they messed it up the first. Kids today, you guys are so stupid you wouldn't know your ass from a hole in the ground." Grandma shakes her head.
I want to laugh at her word choice but I hold it in so I don't piss her off even further. Johnny, apparently, doesn't get the memo.
"Hey, you're included in that group." Grandma points at him.
"At least I'm a stupid kid and not an old person starting to lose it." He shrugs.
"Johnny!" I whack his arm.
"You better watch it, kid." She warns.
"Why don't the two of you go do something fun? Out of the house." Mom suggests.
"Good idea. Let's go." I grab Johnny's wrist and pull him out of the kitchen and down the stairs before pulling him out the front door and slamming it shut behind us. "What the hell was that?"
"What?" he asks.
"Could you have been any more disrespectful?"
"I could've, actually."
"Johnny!"
"What?"
"You're unbelievable."
"Thanks, babe." He winks at me.
"You should go."
"Are you serious?"
"Yeah, I am. Go."
"Unbelievable."
"Believe it." I cross my arms.
"What about our date?"
"I'm not going on a date with you."
"Fuck you, Alex."
"Fuck you too, Johnny."
He gets in his car and I see Bryce standing in his driveway. Johnny pulls out of the driveway and takes off up the road.
Tears form in my eyes and I try to blink them away but they escape down my cheeks. I sit on the steps and bury my face in my knees. After a few seconds, arms wrap around me and a small part of me hopes it's Johnny here to apologize. I look up and see Bryce.
"I'm not gonna tell you you should be with me, but you shouldn't be with him." He kisses my forehead and I lay my head on his shoulder.
"What did I do to deserve a guy like him?"
"You didn't do anything. Alex, the sooner you break up with him, the sooner you'll feel better."
"I can't believe he showed up with flowers and I actually thought things could be different now. God, I'm so stupid."
"You're not stupid. He's manipulative and the flowers were just a tactic."
I pick my head up and see that my tears have turned tiny patches of his baby blue shirt a dark navy. "Sorry for crying on you."
"Don't apologize. I want to be there when you need me."
"Do you want to come inside?" I ask.
"Sure."
He stands up and holds his hand out for me. I take it and he helps me up before I open the door to let us in.
"Back already?" Mom asks. "There better be an apology for that outburst."
"I'm not with Johnny." I climb up the stairs. "Bryce is here."
"Oh, perfect. The two of you should come sit so we can have a chat."
Does she know about us? She couldn't.
I lead Bryce into the dining room where my mom and grandma are sitting at the table together.
"What is this, an intervention?" I laugh.
"Actually, yeah." Mom nods.
"What? Did you know about this?" I ask Bryce.
He silently nods and looks down to avoid my glare.
"I talked to him when I got home and he seemed to agree with my thoughts."
"Your thoughts on what?"
"Why don't you sit down?" Mom points to the chair across from her.
"If I have to sit, so do you." I order Bryce and he sits down with me.
"We wanted to have this conversation with Johnny here but after his attitude, we're just going to do it now."
"Do what?"
"Alex." Mom starts. "After what happened the other night, we don't think you should be with Johnny anymore. And today solidified those feelings."
"What exactly happened today?" Bryce asks.
"The little punk wanted to talk back to me and suffer no consequences." Grandma shakes her head.
"He was downright rude." Mom agrees.
"And I made him leave instead of hanging out with him today." I point out.
"Oh, big deal. Tomorrow you'll be right back to kissing his ass." Grandma scowls.
"I don't kiss his ass, but if he apologizes, then yes, I will accept it and be nice to him." I roll my eyes.
"He's not gonna apologize, Alex." Mom shakes her head.
"He apologized for being a jerk the other night. He got me flowers too."
"Oh, tell him to go shit in his hat and punch it." Grandma slaps her hand down on the table.
"Do you not believe that you deserve better?" Mom asks.
"You know what happens when I try to break up with him." I remind her of his suicide attempts.
"Yeah, I do. And that's even more of a reason for you to break up with him. That's manipulative. He's toxic and mentally, emotionally, and verbally abusive."
I don't say anything because defending Johnny in front of Bryce would just mess up what we have.
"You could do so much better, Alex," Bryce says.
"See? Right here? Why can't you date Bryce?" Mom asks.
"Excuse me?"
"Johnny wasn't wrong about the way Bryce looks at you." She shrugs. "He'd treat you a hundred times better too."
I shake my head. "You're insane. You barely know him."
"Why are you so damn stubborn?" Grandma asks.
"Because I can be." I deadpan.
Bryce laughs.
"And he thinks you're funny." Mom raises her eyebrows. "He's already doing much better than Johnny."
"You guys are so weird." I roll my eyes.
"Just hang out with him." Mom persists. "You're not busy today, are you, Bryce?"
"Not at all." He shakes his head.
"Fantastic. Go do something fun."
"Are you serious?" I ask.
"Yes, I'm serious. Go."
"Why can't you encourage me to hang out with Cassie or another one of my girl friends?"
"Cassie's on vacation but good try. Go."
I roll my eyes and get up from my chair.
"Have fun, you two." Mom smirks.
I grab my keys and lead Bryce outside.
"Are we really gonna go hang out?" he asks.
"Do you want to deal with another one of those?"
"Not particularly."
"Then, yeah, we're gonna go hang out."
"What are we gonna do?"
"Ever played with cows?" I ask.
"There's cows everywhere back home, you see them at every street corner."
"But have you ever played with them?"
He thinks for a minute. "Actually, no."
"Then I'll bring you to play with the cows."
"Sounds good."
We get in my car and I pull out of the driveway.
I exit the neighborhood and head down the main road.
"Are we almost there?" he asks.
"Excited to see some farm animals?" I laugh.
"A little, yeah."
"Well, we're not even halfway there."
We get to the end of the road where we meet a green light so I go straight to go across the highway. I stay straight for a few miles and finally see the wooden fence of the farm.
"Is this it?" Bryce asks.
"This is it." I pull into the parking lot and pick a space by the barn.
"Do you come here a lot?"
"Over the summer, yeah."
We climb out of my SUV and head into the big red barn first.
"Sheep are this way." I point to the left.
"There's sheep too?"
"There's also chickens and pigs and back outside there are bees."
"Oh, wow."
I lead him to the area where the sheep are usually kept.
"It's empty."
"Give it a minute. Randy will bring them in."
"Randy?"
"The owner. He knows my car so he knows to bring them in when he sees me."
"Wow, you do come here a lot."
About twenty sheep come running into the barn, including a couple babies.
"Holy crap." Bryce laughs. "This is insane."
"Hi, baby." I bend down and reach through the fence to pet the first one that runs to me. I reach into the wheelbarrow of hay and pull out a handful to feed her.
"We're allowed to feed them?" he asks.
"Yeah, Randy leaves this here every week. Sometimes there's just hay, sometimes there's carrot tops. People can bring things in and as long as they're approved by Randy, they're added to the wheelbarrow for people to give the animals."
"That's awesome."
"Grab a handful."
He reaches in and pulls out a carrot top and the sheep I was feeding leaves me and runs to him.
"You stole my sheep!" I laugh.
"He likes me better."
"She."
"She? How do you know?"
One of the lambs runs over to her and starts to nurse.
"That's how."
"Hey there, Alex." Randy smiles.
"Hey! This is Bryce. His family just moved into the house next to mine. Bryce, this is Randy."
"Welcome to your new home." Randy reaches out and shakes Bryce's hand.
"Nice to meet you."
"Stick with Alex, and you'll be here quite a bit this summer."
"That doesn't sound too bad." He smirks in my direction and I feel myself blush.
"Hey, have you seen the bees yet?" Randy asks.
"Not yet." Bryce shakes his head.
"Oh, you gotta see the bees. Let's head over."
We follow Randy outside and through the garden to the bee yard.
"What are these things?" Bryce points to the wooden boxes covered with bees.
"It's called an apiary." Randy explains. "This is where I harvest the honey."
"That's really cool."
"It is." I agree. "The honey always tastes great. And that's coming from someone who hates honey."
"I'll have a batch ready tomorrow, I could drop some off if you'd like." Randy offers.
"That'd be great, we're getting low."
"I can bring a jar for your family too, Bryce."
"Yeah, we'd really appreciate that."
"Why don't you two go see the rest of the animals? The cows are in the field, you can let yourself in."
"Do they need to be brushed?" I ask.
"Yeah, Benny does. Thanks."
"No problem, I'll catch up with you later." I smile and without thinking I grab Bryce's hand. "Cows are this way."
"Okay." He smiles and he doesn't try to pull his hand away.
I lead him to the field and I open the gate to let us in.
"Where are they?" Bryce asks.
"They're usually on the other side of the hill. It's just a short walk." I grab the brush off the hook.
We make our way through the grass and reach the top of the hill. Four cows stand about halfway down and a smile spreads across my face.
"Ready to go pet some cows?" I ask.
He smiles and we walk down to them.
"Here." I hand him the brush.
"What do I do with this?"
"You brush them."
"I have no idea how to brush a cow."
I take the brush back from him and brush Benny a few times. "Like this." I hand the brush back and he takes over.
"So, you do this a lot?"
"All the time."
"You ever bring that boyfriend of yours?"
"This isn't really his thing."
"What do you mean?"
"Dirt."
"Oh, so you're dating a princess."
I laugh until I realize how different Johnny and I really are.
"You okay?" Bryce asks.
I nod.
"Hey, what's wrong?"
"Nothing. I'm good."
"Alex."
"Bryce."
"You can talk to me."
"It's just, Johnny and I don't even have anything in common. If I were to meet him today, I don't think I'd have any interest in him."
"You can leave him, Alex. I'll come here with you every day. I'll let you show me all your favorite places and I bet I'll love them, too. You don't have to stay with Johnny."
I let out a sigh.
"Alex, I'll treat you how he should've been treating you this whole time." He inches closer to me and begins to lean in. I do the same and our lips are just centimeters apart when Benny lets out his loudest moo.
•I just posted the third chapter of the day and it's not even 11 am who am I? Enjoy this chapter!
~SS💘