Page 7 of Drawn To You

Abby: Not going to happen. Please don’t contact me again!

After that, he doesn’t text back, so I figure he knows I’m serious. I hope that none of the girls can see that I’m shaken up right now. I don’t want to have to explain who was texting me and why I’m so bothered by it.

Just then Josh walks up with Maddox at his side. In a flash, Lily is out of her seat, and she and Josh are kissing each other like there’s no one else around. It’s a miracle those two ever get anything done. They’re always all over each other. I look away to give the pair some privacy. And, you know, to keep from gagging.

“You two ever feel like we’re intruding when they get into these little love fests?” Jules whispers with a laugh. “All the time,” Rain and I say in unison, which has all three of us laughing. Meanwhile, Maddox is standing off to the side, blatantly eye-banging Jules. She doesn’t even seem to notice, though. Not until I nudge her and nod toward him. “I think he’s letting you know he’s cool with it if you wanna hit that,” I whisper, drawing a quiet chuckle out of her.

“Pass.…he looks like a pretty boy,” she answers. “Pretty? Maddox?” She bumps me with her elbow when she laughs. “I mean, he probably spends more time getting ready than I do. Just look at him. I’ve learned that perfect guys expect the perfect girl… and who the fuck has time for that?” she grumbles, flashing a cheeky grin.This girl!I can’t help but think as I try not to shake my head at her.

Seven

Dr. Seuss & First Impressions

Abigail

A week later I was settling into my newly rented room at the Vandeberg’s house. My friend Lainey’s family home. The small room I was renting had obviously once been a nursery as all four walls were covered with Dr. Seuss-themed hand-painted murals done by Lainey’s mom Sandra.

Each and every inch of all four walls had its own individual illustration and color scheme with pictures from classic Dr. Seuss books. One wall had a “Cat in the Hat” theme with the classic black, white and red layout with Thing One and Thing Two captured inside a butterfly net to the immediate right. The “Horton Hears a Who” painting featured rolling hills of green with the star character resting on a grassy knoll and if you looked to the side of Horton, you would see “Green Eggs and Ham” being served up on a large plate. The “Fox in Socks” character was doing a handstand at the foot of my bed on a bright yellow background next to the window. To top it all off the ABCs were painted as a border in bright colors around the room.

As much as I was thankful to have a place to stay, I knew it would be interesting trying to sleep in this loudly decorated room. As it was I was already normally awake at night, mostly because that’s when the nightmares found me. They were so bad that eventually, I stopped falling asleep altogether. Mostly small catnaps during the day and coffee kept me going. But sleeping the whole night through? Not likely.

There was a knock at my door and I heard Lainey jokingly shout, “Open up Bitch, it’s time to start getting ready for the party!”I opened the door for my friend and she burst into the room like she always did. Full of life and way too much energy than was right for one small girl. She was always something to see when she was in action, and she never seemed to be still. Small and very fair, with almost white-blond hair and darker blonde brows and lashes on a lovely face with flawless skin, she had a small, pert nose and big blue eyes that forever danced merrily. She was dressed in a hot pink halter top and skin-tight pants and looked absolutely stunning. It was just in her nature to be the life of the party. I adored her.

Later that night as I made my way into the Vandeberg’s backyard to join the rest of the party I couldn’t help but feel like a fish out of water. I wasn’t in a partying mood but Lainey would have my ass if I didn’t at least make an appearance.

As soon as I stepped out onto the deck I immediately saw him standing by the entrance to the pool house across the way talking with Lily’s fiance Josh. A breath of shock squeezed into my lungs as our eyes met. The stranger was absolutely gorgeous. He was the kind of man you had to stop just so you could take him in. I don’t know if it was just a trick of my imagination but his soulful brown eyes seemed to jump wider just a bit as he saw me too. His rugged beauty knocked all sense of what was an appropriate length of time to get caught staring at a complete stranger from my brain as I soaked him in.

“Abigail, get over here woman!” Lainey yelled from the patio set the girls were sitting gathered around. Thankful for the distraction that pulled my gaze away from the handsome stranger I made my way toward my friends.

* * *

I’m a firm believer that every person has a moment they can pinpoint in their lives as monumental. Some pivotal event that for better or worse changed the course of their entire existence from that point on. The moment in itself doesn’t have to be great. It often isn’t. The moment could be exciting, devastating, and astonishing; I could go on and on. All that matters is that the moment is life-altering and memorable enough that you instinctively know from the second it happens, that who you are from that event on will be irrevocably changed.

Sitting exactly as I was in the Vandeberg’s backyard, for reasons I didn’t understand I knew without a shadow of a doubt that this was one of those moments as the hot-as-sin stranger approached our table with Josh at his side. I made an intentional effort not to make eye contact with him again because I didn’t like the way his gaze seemed to have the power to unsettle me.

Josh made his way over to Lily and bent down to give her a kiss before asking, “Ladies, would any of you like a drink before I start the barbecue?”

“I’ll take a beer and Abigail needs a shot so she can catch up to the rest of us!” Lainey responded. I started to shake my head in protest but the look Lainey shot me, let me know she was going to have her way so I conceded.

“Abby, what’s your poison tonight?” Josh asked with a smile my way. Feeling the stranger’s eyes on me I felt oddly self-conscience and so not thinking I blurted. “I’ll take a shot of Jameson please.”

The stranger raised an eyebrow and smiled down at me. “A whiskey girl, huh? I’m impressed.” I could feel myself blush at his words and the quiet that followed could have lasted two seconds or twenty, and his smile seemed to deepen when I didn’t immediately respond and I got the impression he knew I was flustered and found it amusing.

Say something. Say something. Say something now, I screamed inside my head. “Irish girls are made of whiskey,” Anything but that, idiot! Could you be more cheesy? My cheeks flushed hot and I rudely snatched the cup from Rain’s hand, before steering my gaze toward the ground. Rain shot me a confused look but kindly didn’t remark on the fact I just downed her drink without so much as asking.

“Here I thought all girls were made of sugar and spice?” He just had to be witty and charming too, didn’t he? He laughed, and I immediately despised him for it. Even his laugh was sexy.

“Oh, I completely forgot you two have never met. Abigail, this is the other Josh.” Lily introduced us and for some reason, I couldn’t fathom I felt my heart sink a little. The other Josh, as in married with kids other Josh, and that made him entirely off-limits. I don’t know why that mattered to me at all. I had zero interest in dating anyone I scolded myself.

He cracked a wide smile and stuck his hand out to me. “Nice to meet you, Abigail.” Placing my hand in his, I fought off the urge to relish in the warmth it provided or from appreciating how small mine looked in his. We shook hands, and as soon as it was acceptable, I yanked mine back to myself. Trying to tell myself that I didn’t feel a tiny zap of electricity at our brief contact. Not today Satan, I’m not the kind of girl who lusts after married men!

I couldn’t help but smile at my train of thought. Having tuned out the conversation going on around me I suddenly realized that I was not entirely sure if it was an appropriate time to smile or not. I had a tendency to do that when I got lost in my own inner dialog sometimes. Which only enhanced what I like to refer to as my socially awkward superpowers.

Small talk has never been easy for me, in fact, I cringe when it comes to “breaking the ice”. And let’s not forget how I laugh at inopportune times and trip over my own feet. Despite my best efforts to be “normal”, I’ve found that the powers of being socially awkward are permanent qualities.

“So Abigail, what’s your best scar story?” Joshua asked while sitting in the chair next to me. “What?” I couldn’t help but laugh, a twinge of amusement curled into my bewilderment at how completely random his question was. “You heard me, what’s your best scar story?” he challenged.

“Oh, this is a good one!” Rain burst out laughing so hard she was practically snorting, already knowing the absurd answer. Everyone else looked at me expectantly, waiting to hear my answer. There was no getting out of it so I decided to just blurt it out.

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