Don't Let These Boots Fool You

My mouth went dry as I looked at him. Explaining this situation to people was never easy because they always assumed that I would just sit back and have an easy job that daddy provided for me. I poured another glass of whiskey and tipped the glass back. “Well I like helping people. The money doesn’t matter to me. Actually I put a lot of it toward other people and don’t end up keeping it long.” I tipped more of the amber liquid back.

Jordan moved around the counter and sat beside me. I looked at his white knuckles then up at him. He looked hurt, confused, and even a little relieved. I wanted to be honest with him but felt that it was extremely hard to be honest with him. I hated seeing the hurt cross his face that he didn’t know everything about me. “Why didn’t you tell us? Wait, you don’t have to it should be none of our business.”

Relief washed over me as I realized that they didn’t care anymore. They liked me for who I was even if I had been rude around them for a while. It put me at ease more than the disgusting alcohol I was trying to use as a calming device. I finally looked into Jordan’s big blues and broke. I had to tell him everything or at least part of what I had go on in my life.

“Jord, I have some stuff I need to tell you that I don’t know if Sidney blabbed his mouth about or if Danny blabbed about.” He nodded his head as he led me into my small living room where Joe was sprawled out in front of the couch snoozing. He pulled me to the couch as he sat at one end and turned to face me with his long legs haphazardly thrown across the couch.

Joe sensed us and sat at my side with his head in my lap. I had missed these moments with my dog, let alone people. I missed people actually caring about me. After the guys had pulled me into Jordan’s house after what happened with Mike, or even the fact that they had flown all the way to Kentucky to my brother’s funeral, and felt sad when I had left for Philly. I looked up at Jordan and realized telling him everything wasn’t what I needed to do anymore.

I moved toward Jordan and sat on his lap with my arms around his neck and my face beside his. His body stiffened as I first sat down but his arms slowly wrapped around my waist which made me feel more comfortable with the actions that I knew I was going to proceed with in the next few minutes. “Jord. I wanted to tell you about my past but you know what I don’t care. I told my brother I wouldn’t quit living with reckless abandon like I had once done with him by my side. I’m going to start doing that again right here and now.”

His eyebrows knitted together and confusion covered his face as I looked him dead in the eyes. I knew he wouldn’t expect anything like this after I had stayed with him when his girlfriend cheated on him. We had gone from enemies to friends to I wanted something with him, even if it wasn’t supposed to happen, even if I was only going to be just another girl to him.

My courage would only hold me so long before my conscious kicked in and told me that I was being an idiot. I moved my face closer until I pressed my lips to his. I felt the bottom of the floor drop from beneath me. Things between us would either be extremely awkward from here on out, we could let this only happen once, or it was going to get extremely different between us. I pushed a little bit more against his lips before I pulled back to gauge his reaction.

I didn’t want to force him into something that he didn’t want. I had never wanted to be that girl. I had almost opened my eyes until I felt his hand pull my neck back to him. His lips felt rough against mine but the felt good, like they would let me live and forget for a while. I let him lead me, it took the pressure of having courage off of me. I leaned back to look at him and felt his arms pick me up. I wrapped my arms tight around his neck.

“You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to do that to you Kelly. That day I followed you out of the restaurant was the first day I realized just how pretty you are.” He began to walk back to the door that held my bed. “I realized that until I changed my life I wouldn’t get an opportunity with you. I also figured out that I’m not perfect either and I make wicked mistakes and will quite possibly try to screw something up in the next twenty four hours.”

I smiled as I was placed on the bed with ease. I didn’t care if whatever was going to happen lasted for the next month or the next week. Living my life for me was something that I was going to do instead of trying to be a wife, a boss, or fear my future could stop me.

His shirt felt soft in my fingers as I tugged on them to pull him down on me. I waited for him to kiss me again but was cut short by a knock on the door. I looked over at Jordan but was met with an equally confused look on his face. “Wait are you expecting anyone tonight?” I quickly asked pushing myself off of the bed.

“No I told most of the guys I needed some time to figure my life out. I planned on coming back, selling my old house and getting a hold of the realtor to find a new one.” I felt the heat radiate off of him as I walked down the hallways toward the front door where Joe was sitting with a smile on his face.

Clearly Joe didn’t see this person at my door as an intruder otherwise he would have barked. He was a trained police dog, which meant he got used to people’s scent and wouldn’t bark. I looked back at Jordan who nodded his head to open the door as his hands snuck down to my waist and rested there. I pulled the door open just as Joe jumped out of the door and barked happily licking the hand of the person standing in my doorway.