Page 3 of What If I See You

Fifteen minutes later, there’s a knock at my door. I get up to answer it and Corrigan comes with me, no doubt ready to offer a welcoming hug to her best friend. I turn the knob and open my door and in tandem, Corrigan and I drop our jaws and stare at the crying wet mess of a woman standing before us.

Sometimes when it comes to women I think I’m Superman. I can get a woman to laugh or smile so easily thanks to my positive and fun-loving personality. But if there’s a kryptonite to my Superman, it’s a woman in tears. I’m too empathetic of a person to see anyone cry, let alone a woman. Anytime I see a woman crying I feel for them immediately and try to do anything to make them feel better.

But this?

Layken Hobbs standing in my doorway, the front of her literally soaking wet with mud dripping from her hair, her face, and her body.

Yeah. I don’t know how to fix this.

But I instantly want to hurt whoever it was that did this to her.

“Oh no! Layken! What the hell happened?” Corrigan pulls her inside while I shut the door.

“Are you hurt?” I ask, sincerely concerned. Everyone in the living room is now watching.

“No. I’m fine,” Layken squeaks, trying to rein in her tears but failing miserably. “I mean my ego is obliterated and my tits are a soggy mess but what’s another sprinkle on top of my shit sundae anyway?”

Well, that’s a way of putting it.

Also, I’m not looking at her soggy tits.

Rephrase: I’m trying very hard not to look at her soggy tits.

But she said soggy tits and now I really, really, REALLY, need to look at them.

Just a quick peek.

Won’t hurt anyone, right?

Okay. Yep. They’re a hot mess.

Wet. Muddy. Well-defined under her sopping blouse.

Probably very pretty when not covered in mud.

Actually, even splashed with mud they’re pretty.

Wait. No.

She’s crying.

Not funny, Griffin.

Okay all done looking at the soggy tits.

See?

Didn’t hurt anyone.

Corrigan takes her hand and leads her inside. “What happened to you?”

Layken swipes at her tears, which only spreads the mud on her cheeks across her face. I don’t bother to tell her it looks even worse now. “I parked around the corner and was walking down the sidewalk and out of nowhere this asshole driver got a little too close.” She pauses and cocks her head, bobbing it this way and that. “Or now that I think about it, he probably did it on purpose because he’s a pecker pinching wiener beater, but he drove right through a huge puddle on the road and it soaked me from head to toe.”

Pecker pinching wiener beater…

She said that like it’s a nickname she uses every day.

A girl after my own heart.

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