Joey pushed on the doorbell and rubbed her cold, trembling hands together. She had told herself that it was frigid weather that caused her hands to shake and not her uneasy nerves. She hated lying to herself.
“Joey?” Harrison said with warm.
“Hey you,” she grinned.
He stared at her before shaking his head. “I’m sorry, come in.”
“Don’t be sorry, Harrison,” she stepped into the house.
“It’s freezing and snowing, and I’m just standing here like an idiot gawking at you,” he helped remove her coat. “God, you’re trembling.” He guided her to the fireplace. “It must be hell out there.”
“It is…but that’s not why I’m shaking,” she meet his eyes but couldn’t speak.
He saw the hesitation in her eyes and put his arm around her as they sat down.
“Joey, you don’t have to tell me,” he told her.
“I know…it’s just..”
“What?”
“I missed you.”
He held her hands. “I missed you too, is that why you were shaking?”
“Were?” She looked down at her hands and noticed that she had stopped trembling. Then, she had realized that his touch calmed her.
“Joey, are you OK?”
“Yeah, I just really needed to see you.”
“Well, you being here is a pleasant surprise.”
“You’re so sweet to me,” she cupped the side of his face.
He took her hand and said, “Would you like something to drink?”
“Coffee…please?”
“I’ll be back,” he left the room. As he removed a paper filter from the drawer, he yelled to her. “So how long have you been in town?”
“About an hour, I just dropped my stuff off at the house.” She heard a baby crying from upstairs. “Harrison?”
“Yeah?”
“Do you have a baby that I don’t know about?”
“Not that I know of…oh, that’s Toby, my friend’s son. He’s staying here for awhile because his basement is flooded,” he removed an oversized coffee mug from the cabinet in front of him.
“That sucks,” Joey said.
“It sure does,” Ericsson answered her when he came down the stairs while holding Toby in his arms. “Hi, I’m Tony,” he shook her hand.
“It’s nice to meet you, Tony. I’m-.”
“Joey, I know. My son and I are huge fans,” he smiled.
“Really, I guess he must be my youngest fan. He is so adorable,” she smiled at the infant.
“Would you like to hold him?”
“Of course,” she carefully took Toby into her arms.
“If you’ll excuse me, I have to go warm up his milk,” he went into the kitchen and spoke to Harrison. “Why didn’t you tell me that she was coming?”
“I didn’t know she was,” Harrison explained. “She just came into town.”
He noticed Harrison’s concerned expression. “And you’re not happy because?”
Harrison lowered his voice, “I’m glad to see her but..something’s up. You should have seen her when she first came, she was trembling.”
“Sounds serious,” Ericsson replied while putting the bottle into the warmer.
“I don’t know..maybe it’s her anxiety. Whatever it is, it really got to her,” he poured the coffee into the oversized mug.
“Well, whatever it was, she seems to have gotten over it.”
“That’s the weird thing,” he looked down at the mug before looking up again, “she calmed down when I held her hands.” He stared at his friend for an answer.
“Heavy.”
“That’s it? Tony, you’re supposed to be the intuitive one and all you can come up with is ‘heavy’?”
“Harrison, I’d love to help ya but I just met her,” he tested the milk’s temperature on his wrist.
“But you’ve already formed an opinion; I see it in your eyes.”
“You got me. Maybe she’s here because she needed you..to help her with whatever was bothering her.”
“No,” Harrison’s tone was doubtful. “Who would travel 3,000 miles just to see someone that they just met?”
“Someone who is falling in-.”
“Don’t say it,” Harrison warned him.
“Whether I say it or not, it doesn’t make any less true. She has friends in Los Angeles that could have easily helped her but she came to you. Think about it man. Now, I’ll just take this to Toby and we’ll just be upstairs for the rest of the evening.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, and it’s pretty obvious that she wants to be alone with you,” he put a hand on Harrison’s shoulder. “Have a good night, man.”
“Thanks,” he said to Ericsson as he walked out.
After applying her chocolate flavored lip balm, Ky leaned her head against the headrest and smiled at Nick as he drove. Earlier, he had tried to hold her hand after starting the car but she had pulled away from him. She had already stepped dangerously close to the edge by holding his hand and then by touching his face while apologizing to him. One more step and she would be falling; she refused to let that happen.
He felt her gaze and glanced at her.
“What?” He asked her while keeping his eyes on the road.
“Thank you, for tonight.”
“Ky, you really don’t have to thank me.”
“I want to. Tonight was just..unbelievable. I’ll never forget this and I have you to thank for that, even though I don’t deserve it,” she tucked a lock of her black hair behind her ear.
“Now what would make you say a thing like that?”
“I stepped on your balls!” She cried out.
“I had it coming!”
“True, but I applied more pressure then I needed to.”
“I can’t really disagree with you there. Although I’m pretty sure we’ll-I mean…nevermind,” he mentally slapped himself.
She stood up straight in her seat and said, “What did you say?”
“Nothing.”
“No, you said something about having kids.”
“Oh that yeah, I said that I’ll still be able to.”
“I’m pretty sure you said-.”
“Ky, I know what I said, so just drop it, ok?”
She decided to obey his request after hearing his defensive tone. “Alright, it’s forgotten.”
“Good,” he nodded.
Changing the subject, Ky asked, “What’s it like being popular?”
“You should probably ask someone that is,” he chucked.
“But you were and I’d like to know how it was like?”
“Why? I thought you hated popular people?”
“I do, but that popularity is projected as this great life and for some people it’s a goal. I just never got into the allure of it but I want to try to understand.”
“Well,” he shrugged, “it’s not a big deal.”
“Nick,” she tiled her head to the side.
“The parties are cool; the special attention that I used to get from some teachers was good too. But, most of it is just bulls***.”
“Because of the people?”
“Yeah, a lot of them are so fake.”
“How about Andy and Keith?”
He sighed heavily. “I’ve known them since forever. They can be pretty good guys…sometimes.”
“So, I guess they’re only ***holes to me then.”
“They’re not ***holes; they just need to grow up.” He waited a few second before speaking again. “Keith invited me to his post game party on Friday.”
“And you want to go?”
“No, why would I?”
“Because he’s your friend and I think you should. At least he’s making an effort.”
“He doesn’t like you and I can’t be friends with him if he’s an ***hole to you.”
“Obviously he knows that and maybe this invitation is his olive branch?”
“Why are you saying this?”
“Because, being an outcast is very lonely. I’m not saying that I would throw myself back to my friends but high school sucks and it’s only bearable if you have someone by your side,” she stared into his eyes.
“I’m not alone,” his penetrating gaze caused her to turn towards her window.
Quietly, she said, “I know.”
He smiled.
Wrapping his arm around her waist, Harrison breathed in her beautiful scent and kissed her head. She responded by resting her head on his shoulder and turned her head towards him. They sat next to one another and gazed at the crackling fireplace before them.
“Jared came over,” she met his eyes. “He wanted me back.”
“What did you tell him?” He held her close to his body.
“I turned him away. The moment I saw him, I was reminded of what he put me through.”
“How did he take it?”
“Not too well, especially when I mentioned you. But that doesn’t matter, he’s not in my life anymore, you are,” she kissed him. He brought his hand to the side of her face and deepened the kiss. They embraced and relished in each other’s warmth. When the kiss ended, she smiled.
“Thanks,” she told him.
“For what?” He questioned her.
She kissed him again.
It always felt as if time had stopped whenever he was with her. Silently, Jacobs admired Trish as she slept. Carefully, he slipped out of the bed, put on his boxers and grabbed the condom wrapper off the nightstand. Underneath his rough soles he felt the cool tile when he entered the bathroom. When he stared at his reflection, he saw a different man. He was a man in love but he was scared. Now, he had crossed the line and what scared him was; he didn’t care.