Page 12 of Andy

Excitement filled her as she drove to Andy’s place. He lived about twenty-five minutes away, so she put on music and car-danced her way to his house. Though she usually was alone, she made sure she enjoyed her time on the weekends. She hoped spending time with Andy was fun. He said he was intense, and she liked what she’d seen. How would that translate to time together?

She slowed when she turned onto his street and started reading the house numbers. About half a block down, she spied a group of men standing outside a house. Her throat closed as panic filled her. Was she really going to be meeting his friends? The closer she got to the group, the surer she was that the men were outside Andy’s house. What would they think of her? She'd heard so many derogatory words from friends of guys she'd dated. She almost didn't want to get out of the car.

They all turned and watched her approach. Then she saw Andy. He was the shortest one in their group. He almost looked tiny compared to some of the guys. And she’d thought he was huge. She pulled over in front of his house and got out, still staring, wondering why she’d thought he was so tall and big.

“Hey,” Andy waved as he broke away from the group of guys and came over.

He reached out and took her hand, which honestly felt amazing, and led her over to meet the group of guys. “You look great,” Andy said as he put his arm around her when they stopped in front of his friends.

“Wow, you are short,” one of the guys said.

The two guys standing next to the dude backhanded him while another guy swatted him on the head.

“Peach, what the hell?” someone said.

“Sorry, Peach is unfit for human consumption.”

“What?” Peach said. “You’re a short dude, a munchkin, really, and now you’ve found a woman that is your size. It’s great. I mean—” another guy slapped Peach on the head. “Hey, I’m giving them a compliment.”

“Good God, you’re making a horrible first impression.” A tall man with a dusting of hair on his jaw stepped forward and stuck out his hand. “I’m Wild, and I’m sorry that Peach is such an idiot. Andy told us how brave you were during the robbery. I’m glad you agreed to see him. Honestly—” Wild turned to look at Peach, then snorted. “We can behave. Right, Peach?”

Peach nodded. “Really, I meant no disrespect.”

She narrowed her gaze then cocked her head to the side. “Do you all have weird names, or is it just you two?”

“I’m Jax, and you’ve already met Peach and Wild. This is Bear and Harry. We like our weird names. So Mel, is that short for Melanie?”

She let go of a bark of laughter. “It’s short for Melrose. My mom loved the show, and since our last name is Fielding, like one of the characters on the show, she decided Melrose would be a good name.”

“That’s wild,” Peach said. “My mom used to watch Melrose Place all the time, so I ended up watching most of it, but I was a kid and didn’t understand it.”

She shrugged. “Yeah. I haven’t watched much of it.”

Peach held out his hand for her to shake. “Andy is a great guy. You really impressed him.”

She held Peach’s gaze. “I’m sure he is. But I’m really not impressive.”

Andy squeezed her closer. “Trust me, you are.”

“Be kind to him. He needs someone in his corner.” Peach turned and walked away.

“He’s not wrong,” Wild said. “It was nice meeting you. We’re going to get out of your hair. We’ll see you later, Andy.”

“Sure. Bye, guys,” Andy called out as his friends left.

“They seem nice,” she said after they’d driven away.

“They’re great guys. So it took me longer than I thought it would to move everything over here. Traffic sucked. Would you be okay if I took a few minutes to shower?”

“Sure. Sounds good.”

“Awesome. Oh, I don’t have a couch yet. I do have a kitchen table and two barstools.”

“I might be too short for the barstools.”

Andy narrowed his gaze, then threw back his head, and laughter spilled out. “You’re funny.”

Her lips spread into a smile. “There are many sides to me.”

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