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One
Ten Years Ago
Maya
I plop into my chair, throw my messenger bag on the desk, and lay my head and crossed forearms on top on it. Ugh. My eyes scan the classroom. The other students are still scattered all over, spilling through the hallway. Some goofing around, others messing with their phones. Just bored faces and huddles of teenagers messing around in the short time we have left before the teacher walks in.
But there’s also someone sitting quietly in a corner of the room, facing the window. His beautiful profile pulls my eyes like it always does. The deep brown of his skin, his dark eyes I want to drown myself into, his beautiful masculine features. The defined biceps nicely stretching the short sleeves of his t-shirt. His corded forearms… Lord. Adam Barrett, my lifelong crush. The tall, quiet and handsome boy who barely knows I exist.
Adam grew up in the same neighborhood as me, in our small South Carolina coastal town. Our families know each other. We grew up playing at the same park and hanging out at each other’s houses.
I always had a soft spot for him. From when he was a scrawny kid to the moment he turned into every high school girl’s fantasy.
As always, I try my best to not let my gaze linger too long over his handsome features and hot man-boy body. I try not to imagine what it would feel like to hear his low baritone rumble sweet nothings into my ear for hours over the phone. I really try, but he’s just too darn dreamy. The guy is nice, quiet, fucking hot, a good student, a talented athlete, and he never gets in trouble. He’s fucking perfect. But he doesn’t see me. Well, there was that one time… a magical afternoon when the stars aligned and gifted me a stolen moment with the boy who makes my heart beat faster.
***
It was a rainy day. My car wouldn’t start, my parents were held up at work, my sister couldn’t come get me either, and everyone I know had already left campus. So I called the roadside assistance service. I was waiting under the admin building, annoyed to be stuck at school after everyone else went home, worried about my car, completely unaware of my surroundings, when a deep voice called my name.
“Maya.”
I startled and turned in the voice’s direction to come face to face with a sweatshirt covered male chest. My eyes traveled up, up, up. Lingering on a corded neck, then climbed higher to a carved jaw, and finally the pair of full, sculpted lips that haunted my wildest adolescent fantasies. Until my eyes met the furrowed brow and brooding gaze of my crush.
“Oh- hey Adam…” I stuttered. “What are you still doing here?”
“Hey. I was going to ask you the same thing. Just finished practice.” He replied, the deep intonations of his voice making my heart beat faster.
“Oh, okay. My car won’t start and my family’s not available to come get me. So I’m waiting for roadside assistance.” I explained with a shoulder shrug, trying my damnedest to sound casual.
Adam gave me a head nod and planted himself next to me, legs slightly apart in his gray sweats, arms crossed, in a similar posture as mine. He looked good enough to eat. The soft material of his sweats loosely fitting his tall, defined body. His dark, short cropped hair still a bit damp from the shower. Ad he smelled freaking amazing. Gah!
“I’ll wait with you, then I’ll drive you home,” he declared.
What?! My heartbeat instantly picked up, panic spreading through my chest.
“No, you don’t have to do that. I’m sure the mechanic will give me a ride,” I protested vehemently.
“It’s fine.” Adam deadpanned.
Fuck my life. He was just being a good guy, rescuing someone from his neighborhood, a vague acquaintance who used to be a childhood friend. After a long day of classes and hours of basketball practice, the guy still had it in him to be a good Samaritan.
We stood in silence, surrounded by the sounds of rain. I was excited and stressed beyond measure to do or say something stupid. And Adam was his usual quiet self. The strong, silent type, ladies and gents.
I tried my best to keep my eyes away from him, his body in those damn sweatpants, his perfect lips, the skin of his neck that looked so fucking soft, his big hands with the thick veins running along the back. The long fingers I fantasized about on a daily basis, imagining how they’d feel running over every single inch of my body. Fuuuuccckkkk!
The fight to not inhale his clean, manly scent was killing me. Fresh out of the shower, smelling of woodsy aromas.
And we were standing so close that it was impossible not to notice the glaring differences between our bodies. His tall, athletic build, pure muscle, next to my medium height, curvy form. How many times had I fantasized about what it would be like to be Adam’s girlfriend and snuggle up against his giant stature?
But, of course, Adam was completely unaffected. He waited with me like the fucking gentleman he was, spoke to the mechanic, then gave me a silent ride home. End of story.
Well, almost… If I thought it was hard resisting his pull standing outdoors, I was completely unprepared for the close quarters of his pickup truck. Adam’s scent saturated the air of the truck’s cabin. Not only the fragrance of his body-soap, aftershave, cologne or whatever was turning me into goo, but the very essence that was attached to the guy’s skin.
I also tried, and failed, to ignore the powerful body sitting at a foot’s distance from me, his big hands on the steering wheel…
When we made it to my house, Adam insisted on walking me inside. I remember my father watching us with an amused glint in his observant gaze, but Thank God he didn’t tease me about it.
Yeah, so the note is definitely not from Adam. Despite my hopes.
