Page 13 of Ask Me To Stay

I’ve spent the last several hours trying to clean this place. When my parents told me I could have the house for the summer, all I was thinking of was not having to clean all summer. Now, I was regretting that decision. The family room looked like a frat house. Empty pizza boxes were stacked on the coffee table. Beer cans lined the counters in the kitchen. I don’t know the last time the toilet was scrubbed, and the fridge had beer and water in it, and that’s about it.

I glanced at my watch. They were going to be here in about a half hour. I grabbed a trash bag, and rushed around chucking everything I’d neglected to toss over the last two weeks. I wiped down the surfaces, and sprayed some of that Febreze in the air. It was supposed to make anything smell good, right?

After carrying the bags out to the can, I rushed to take a shower. I was still in my sandy swim trunks, and I needed to at least look like I cared when they got here. I forced Taco in the shower with me, and gave him a scrub down too. He smelled like fish from his beach adventures.

After drying off, I slipped into a pair of khaki shorts, and tugged a golf shirt on. I had no idea what the girls would be wearing. I combed my hair, and spritzed on some cologne. “That’s good for now, right boy?” I turned to Taco like he could answer me. His head cocked to the side, and then he barked. “That’s what I thought. You ready to hang out with Willow? You have to be a good boy. No sniffing!” I wagged my finger at him. “Come.” I opened the door, and Taco followed me downstairs, wagging his tail.

Just as I fired up the grill, there was a knock. Taco barked, and I called out “Come on in!” The door slowly opened, and there she was.

Willow stood smiling shyly, dressed in a pair of denim shorts and a blue tank. The cerulean blue looked perfect against her tan skin. “Hi.” She waved. “We brought dessert.” She motioned to a bag Aimee was holding.

“It’s ice cream,” Aimee held it out. “Where’s the freezer?”

“I got it. Thanks.” I took the bag. “I was just getting ready to cook the burgers. You wanna a drink or something?” I rounded the corner from the kitchen, holding three beers.

“Thanks,” Aimee took two of the beers and handed one to Willow.

“I thought you were never doing that again?” Willow gave her a weird look.

“Drinking twelve? I’m not. This is one, Miss Teacher. One.” She popped the top and took a giant gulp.

Willow rolled her eyes as she opened hers and took a dainty sip. Her lip curled as her face twisted up and I couldn’t help but laugh. “You still don’t like them, do you?”

“It’s great, thanks.” She took another sip but couldn’t help the face she made.

“Come on out here. You guys can chill with Taco while I cook.” I opened the slider, and motioned for them to follow. Willow seemed off, and I couldn’t put my finger on it yet, but something was wrong. The girl I used to joke around with and bomb around town was nowhere in sight. This quiet unsure woman had replaced her, and I wanted, no needed, to figure out why.

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