Right Kind of Wrong Page 3

  “Who did she end up getting?” Reese asks.

  “Miss Hayes,” I tell her and her face breaks out into a huge smile.

  “You know her, I take it?”

  “Yeah, we’ve gotten close in the short time I’ve known her. Harlie’s in good hands.”

  “Ah, well I’m glad she’s got your approval.”

  “She’s single you know . . .”

  “Shut up. Right now. It ain’t happening. You know my rules”

  “Oh fuck! Here we go with the rules. Grow some balls and get over it already!” Blake says.

  “I’m fine just the way I am.”

  “Yeah, we’ll see.”

  “No, we won’t. End of story! So what else is up?”

  “Nothin’ we still doing our annual barbeque this year?”

  “I think so, I don’t see why not.” I reply.

  “Same list of people, same group?” Blake asks.

  “Yeah, I don’t see why we need to change it. We’ll close the bar down that day, like we always do.” I grab my phone and pull up the calendar, “We’ll do it in two weeks.”

  “Alright, I’ll post something at the bar and let everyone know.” Blake says.

  “Sounds good. Do the Bring your own booze thing.” I tell them.

  “Alright, well we’re gonna take off. Bar’s covered tonight, right?”

  “Yeah, Zack and Billy have it covered. Couple of the girls are there too.”

  “Ok good. Well dude, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  “Alright, Oh and Reese . . .” She turns and looks at me, “I’ll be surprised if she accepts your invite.” I wink at her.

  “How the fuck did you know?”

  “I’m not dumb, I saw you texting . . .”

  “I didn’t say anything, just asked her what she was doing in two weeks. She said nothing. So, I’ll talk to her tomorrow.”

  I don’t say anything else, just stand there with my arms crossed and shake my head.

  “Well, you have a good night.” Blake says slapping me on the back.

  “Yep, you guys too.”

  Reese gives me a hug, “Stop thinking everyone is too good for you. You’re rough around the edges but you’re not that much of a dick.” She whispers in my ear.

  I kiss her on the forehead “Get your wife out of here!” I say with laugh.

  Harlie helped me clean up the kitchen. She goes and gets her bath and gets herself into her pajamas. I’m staring at the piece of paper Miss. Hayes gave me with her phone numbers on it. Biting the inside of my mouth.

  “Fuck it, I wanna hear her voice.” I say out loud and grab my phone and dial her number.

  “Hello?” She answers.

  “Miss Hayes?”

  “This is,”

  “Hey it’s Xander, Harlie’s dad.”

  “Oh hey, is there something wrong?”

  “No, umm, is there homework or anything she needs to be doing at night?”

  Emily lets out a little laugh, “No, not really. We’ll be working on spelling and math tomorrow. You can always read to her. Kids do better in school if their parents read to them. Also, you can get her to write her name too.”

  “Reading, we got. We do that every night. Writing her name. Ok, that’s a good idea. Sorry I bugged you.”

  “You didn’t. It’s ok. So was there anything else?”

  “Umm, not that I can think of. Again sorry, this could have waited until morning.”

  “It’s Ok Xander, really. I wasn’t doing anything at all. Thanks for calling and making sure. You’re a good dad.”

  I laugh a little. “Thanks Miss. Hayes. Well I’ll see you in the morning.”

  “Ok, oh and Xander, you can call me Emily.”

  “Ok, Emily. Have a good night. Bye.” She says Bye and I hang up. Dip shit! I say to myself.

  I read to my baby girl for about an hour and half until she starts to fall asleep. “Alright Princess, it’s bed time.” I say standing up and picking her up. I carry her into her bright pink bedroom with Hello Kitty covering every square inch.

  Grandma and her did this while I was at work one day. Not my favorite thing, but then again who am I kidding? When it comes to this kid, she can do whatever she wants and get away with it. I get her tucked in and kiss her on the forehead.

  I sit in the chair I have in her room and start thinking about the bitch who left us.

  Tessa’s been gone for three years now. Why? I don’t know. We were engaged and our wedding was just a few months away when she just up and left. She left a note saying . . .

  And that was it. I went to work one day, my mom took Harlie for the day of shopping and girly stuff and when I got back home, all of her stuff was gone, and so was she. She ripped my heart out and ever since that day, I’ve become cold and sworn off all relationships. Why fall in love with someone who’s just going to ruin you?

  It’s been two weeks since school has started and I’ve made every attempt to pick up Harlie every day from school. My mom has noticed too. My excuse is just that I’m making time for my kiddo. It’s a good excuse, I think. Knowing my mother, she doesn’t buy it.

  “So, tomorrow is the big barbeque?” Mom asks.

  “Yep! You’re coming right?”

  “Yeah, Dad and I will be there. I mean I wouldn’t miss this annual thing, especially since it’s for Nathan.” My mom says and her voice goes quiet.

  “I know mom, and that’s why we’re doing it. He’s the reason why I started riding my bike and I’ll keep doing this every year for my big brother.” I say giving her a side hug.

  “You know you may act like a hard ass, but deep down you’re just a softie.”

  “Shhh, come on mom, don’t let anyone hear you say that shit.”

  We host this barbeque every year for my brother who died ten years ago tomorrow in motorcycle accident. I was only fifteen when he died. The day he died, I promised I’d ride for him every year. Our dad started it on the first year anniversary of his death. We eat, we ride and then come back to drink and toast him.

  “Well I’m going to go home and start cooking and baking. I’ll see you tomorrow.” She says.

  “Oh hey, can you take Harlie tonight? It’s Friday and I promised Billy I’d come in and help out tonight.”

  “Yeah that’s fine, and I’ll keep her tomorrow night too.”

  “Thanks, Mom.”

  “Thank you, Xander.” My mom kisses me on the cheek and walks out and goes home.

  “HEY,” REESE SAYS peeking into my class room.

  “Hey, what’s up?”

  “You ready for tomorrow?” She asks me.

  “Yeah, are you sure it’s ok I come?” I ask.

  She’s invited me to her husband’s best friend’s barbeque. I feel a little weird going, but I need to get out more.

  “Oh, it’s totally fine. It’ll be a lot fun!”

  “Ok,”

  “Want to get some dinner? Blake is taking the kids to his parents and he’s going to go work for a few hours.”

  “Yeah that sounds good. Mind if we go to the mall? Kind of want to get something a little bit less “Wisconsin” for this party.” I let out a giggle.

  “Yeah we can go, but honestly Em, there’s nothing wrong with your style. Personally, I love it.”

  “You don’t have to say that to be nice.”

  “I’m not, I actually dress a lot like you outside of this place.”

  “See, I knew we would make great friends!” I smile at her.

  “Right? Now let’s get the hell out of here!”

  “I’ll come pick you up in a couple of hours and we can go get some dinner and do some shopping.” Reese says getting into her car.

  “Sounds good. See you in a little while.” I get into my car and head home.

  When I get home, Mel’s already home. “Hey, what’s going on tonight?”

  “Reese one of my colleagues from school and I are going to dinner and gonna do some shopping. She’s invited me to this barbeque tomorro
w night and I want to look a little less out of place.” I say walking back to my bedroom and she’s following me.

  “Good! It’s about time you get out.”

  “Yeah, that’s what I was thinking. So you’ll have to place to yourself until I come home tonight and tomorrow night.”

  “If you come back. Watch, you’ll meet Mr. Right and then I’ll never see you again.” She pouts.

  “Like that will ever happen!”

  “Ya never know!” She winks at me and leaves.

  I take a shower and get myself all cleaned up. I slip into my dark boot cut jeans, a sleeveless button down black top and my black wedge sandals. Blow dry my hair, add a little gel to it to give it the messy look, my make-up is done simple and I was done. Reese sent me a text saying she would be here in a couple of minutes. I grabbed my purse and by the time I walked outside she was here in her Black Mustang.

  “You look cute!” she says.

  “Thanks. Not too country?”

  “Not at all. Come on let’s go eat.”

  We pull into a small Mexican restaurant. “Hope you don’t mind but this place has the best food.”

  “Nope not at all, this has been my food of choice since I’ve moved here.”

  We get inside, order our margaritas and put in our food order. You would have thought we were gonna feed the world with the amount of food Reese and I ordered.

  “I gotta ask, why here? Why did you leave Wisconsin and move here?” Reese asks.

  I take a long drink of my drink. “Short version? Small town, too much drama. Pastor’s daughter. I wanted to find me and be me and not what my family and town wanted me to be. Mel’s been wanting me to come out here forever. So when I got done being a teacher’s aide. I was done and here I am.”

  “If that’s the short version, what’s the long version?” She says laughing.

  “Ok, so it wasn’t the short version per-say. But it’s the reasons. It’s scary as hell being here. I’m not used to all of this craziness, but I like it. I don’t really fit in, but I like that there’s no right way to be. Everyone can be themselves.”

  “Yeah we’re a bunch of free sprits here.” She says rolling her eyes.

  “So tell me about your family . . .” I say.

  We talk about her family. She’s been married for three and half years. They have two kids. Jameson who’s three years old and Izzy just turned a year old.

  We finish eating and Reese takes care of the bill for us. We walk out to her car and I see a couple of guys on motorcycles drive past us. The one guy looked over at me and my stomach started turning.

  “Xander.” I whisper and I tried to hide my smile.

  “You know him?” Reese looks over at me.

  “I have his daughter in my class.” I reply back.

  “Oh, Harlie right?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Yeah, I know them. My husband actually works with Xander. He’s a decent guy.”

  “Oh,”

  “Alright, shall we go shopping?” She asks changing the subject.

  “Yeah, what should I wear to this thing tomorrow?”

  “Come on, let’s go. I’ll help you pick something out.”

  We go to the mall and she takes me to a few different stores. I’ve bought a couple pairs of shorts, a few tank tops, a new bikini, a pair of jeans and some t-shirts.

  “So ok, now what should I actually wear for this thing?”

  “Well definitely bring your bathing suit, a pair of jeans and a t-shirt and tennis shoes. But actually wear, I’d say those cute cut off shorts and the green razor tank top.” She says.

  “Well ok then. Ummm why do I need the jeans and tennis shoes?”

  “It gets chilly sometimes. I always bring too much just in case. You never know!”

  “Good point.”

  We get back to her car, “Do you want me to pick you up tomorrow or do you want me to give you the address and we can meet there, or I can swing by and you can follow me.”

  “Would you mind just swinging by and I can just follow you? I’d say I’d meet you there, but I’ll end up getting lost. Yeah, it’ll be a disaster.”

  “Yeah that’s fine. I gotta make one more stop before I take you back. Is that ok?”

  I shrug my shoulders. I have nothing going on, so why not. “Yeah that’s fine. It’s not like I got anything going on at home.”

  “Ok it won’t take me long.” She says pulling out of the parking lot headed to I don’t know where.

  She’s scanning through to radio station and it lands on a country station. “Country, ok?” Reese asks.

  “It’s my favorite.”

  “Compass” By Lady Antebellum is playing. “I wanna see these guys in concert so bad some year.” Reese says.

  “You won’t be sorry. They’re awesome.”

  We pull into what I’m guessing is a back parking lot to where her husband works. “You wanna come in with me? Otherwise I’ll be right back. Just got to go get something from Blake.”

  “Nah, I’ll stay in the car.”

  “You sure?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Ok. Well I’ll be right back.”

  Reese is gone for a few minutes and then back. She drops me off at my place. “So I will see you around eleven-ish, noon-ish.” Reese says to me.

  “Ok, just send me a text. Hey, do I need to bring anything?”

  “Nah, they’ll be plenty of food. No worries.”

  “Ok, well I’ll see you tomorrow!”

  When I get into the house, Mel’s sitting on the couch with Scott. “Hey, did you have a good night?”

  “Yeah, it was fun.” I walk through the living room and head into my bedroom to put my bags away. I walk back out and sit on the chair in the living room.

  “What the hell are you watching?”

  “Some action fucking bloody movie Scott picked out.”

  “Well on that note, I’m out. I can’t watch this shit.”

  “Awe, you girls are so weak.” Scott tells us. Mel punches him in the arm.

  “Hit him for me too! But seriously, I’m gonna go get some work done and call it a night. Long day/night and tomorrow is gonna be interesting.”

  “Oh that’s right, my cousin is leaving me for someone else.” Mel pouts.

  “Oh my god, whatever! You keep telling me I need to get out and meet new people. So, here I am. Be happy! Maybe I won’t be all depressed and shit every day.” I say walking back to my room.

  I lay out what I’m wearing tomorrow and pack up a backpack with the extra clothes. Instead of tennis shoes, I pack my brown cowboy boots. It’s kind of my signature piece.

  I tried to concentrate of school work and I just can’t. My head is everywhere but school work, so I decide to put it away and go take a shower so I can shave. Then I don’t have to do it in the morning. I get myself all cleaned up and I slip into my oversized t-shirt and a pair of boy shorts and crawl into bed.

  I’m up and dressed before 10am. Instead of wearing what Reese said, I decided to go for my coral sundress and cowboy boots. Hair is tucked behind my ears, and my make-up is done, like always, very minimal. I grab my back pack and head out to the kitchen.

  “You look hot Em!” Mel almost shouts.

  “Thanks!”

  “Nice look for you. What’s with the backpack?”

  “Just taking extra clothes, in case I get cold or uncomfortable. Ya know.” I shrug.

  She lets out a small laugh, “Yeah I know.”

  The doorbell rings. I open the door and see Reese smiling big at me. “Well, hello hottie! You ready?”

  I let out a small laugh, “Thanks. Yep let me just grab my bag.” As I grab my bag, I give Mel a hug and head out to my car. I tried turning over my car four times. “Son of a bitch!” I shout. I get out and walk over to Reese.

  “The fucking car won’t start!” I say in my pissed off tone.

  “Well hop in, we’ll just ride together.”

  “Are you sure? I can stay here.�
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  “The fuck you are. Get your bag and get your ass in the car.” She says sternly.

  “Alright.”

  It takes us a good thirty minutes to get to the BBQ site. When we pull into the drive way, it’s a longer driveway then I was expecting. Actually this property is huge. “Wow this is amazing. Didn’t think Phoenix had houses like this.”

  “You haven’t seen anything yet!” she smiles at me. We park behind a couple of vehicles already filling up the driveway.

  “Grab your bag, I’ll show you were to put it.” Reese says.

  We walk in through the side gate into this huge back yard with trees and there’s a huge swimming pool with a fence around it. I see this grey thing come flying towards us. Once he reaches us, I’m expecting to be bit, but instead I’m licked nonstop.

  “Oh this is Axel, he’s supposed to be the watch dog, but he’ll just lick you to death.” Reese giggles. “Alright Axel, that’s enough!” She tells him.

  “Come on.” She says.

  I follow her around the corner, when out of nowhere I hear. “Miss Hayes!!!” I look around and I see that beautiful little blonde haired, blued eyed girl. She comes running up to me. “Miss Hayes! What are you doing here?”

  I look at Reese totally confused, and now feeling very uncomfortable. “Hey Harlie, she’s my guest. That’s ok right?” Reese says.

  Harlie starts jumping up and down. “Yes!” she shouts.

  “Sorry, I was afraid if I told you who it was, you wouldn’t have come.” Reese says quietly.

  “Is this even ok? I mean that we hang out with parents outside of the school?” Son of a fucking bitch! Anyone but Xander. I can barely contain myself when I have to deal with him in school and now? Here at I’m assuming his house. What the fuck. If this is the universe pulling some fucking joke on me, fuck you!

  “Yeah it’s fine, Emily.”

  “Does Xander even know I was coming?”

  “No, I told him I was bringing someone, but didn’t say who it was. Come on, if you’re not having a good time in a couple of hours. I’ll drive you back to your place. Ok?”

  I take a long deep breath. “Ok.”

  I follow Reese in where I can drop off my bag and we go back outside. The moment I walked outside Xander and I locked eyes. He looked so fucking hot. Blue jeans, white tennis shoes and a white wife beater style tank top. He’s got tattoos up and down each arm and he’s fucking hot. He’s a lot more muscular then I have imaged in my head. I’ve never been this turned on before. Ever!