Bent (6 page)

As she pulled into Dick's Grocery, she wrestled over whether or not she was being too hard on Micah. Yes, he'd screwed her over worse that anyone. Yes, he'd lied to her. But they were kids then and they were adults now. She knew her life wasn't filled with good decisions when she was younger. She'd done plenty of things she would give anything to take back. Walking through the parking lot, she heard Annie's high pitched voice calling out to her.

When the leggy blond caught up to Julia, she pointed to the truck. "You're about the last person I expected to see behind the wheel of
that
truck. What gives?"

Julia explained the dead battery, the only man she knew that didn't have jumper cables and the trade-off of using the truck for lunch as if it was completely normal.

Annie looked over the top of her designer sunglasses,  "So, does that mean you two are getting along?"

And that was the million dollar question. When Julia left a message for Annie last night, she'd didn't mince words on what a prick Micah was, how she had left the bar before she slapped him and didn't want to talk to him again. This morning, after finding him working on the house, the anger in the voicemail was directed at Annie. Julia had been upset that she wasn't given a heads-up on who was going to be completing the work on the house. 

Now, just a few hours later, Julia was driving through town in Micah's prized possession. Annie's confusion was one of the only things that did make sense.

"We called a truce," Julia shrugged. Part of her wanted to stay mad forever. Part of her knew she was the only person who would be hurt by holding on to the pain. And she couldn't deny that present-day Micah wasn't a half-bad guy. He'd slow danced with her without allowing his hands to roam. He'd come clean with her. He given her the keys to his truck, no questions asked and no lectures.

Annie threw her arm around Julia's shoulder and the pair made their way into the grocery store. Julia could tell that Annie wanted her two friends to get along. And even though Julia didn't like it much, they were both friends. It stung that Annie had stayed in touch with Micah after the break-up. What hurt worse was the fact that Annie had kept so much from Julia for over twelve years. She knew she'd have to bring that up at some point, but not today.

As they walked up and down the aisles of the smallest grocery store Julia had been in in a long time, Annie explained that she had spent plenty of time staying mad at Micah for what he had done. It wasn't until Caleb's mom left that Annie had forgiven him. Apparently, that was a low point in Micah's life and he had needed someone in his corner.

It hurt to listen to everything Annie was telling her. Julia was still plenty mad but to hear Annie tell it, karma had punished Micah for his choices in the years he was trying to do the right thing and stay with the mother of his child. That in itself seemed so old-fashioned since people had babies without being in long term relationships all the time, but she admired that he'd tried for the sake of his son.

Pushing their shopping carts back through the parking lot, Annie made a simple request. "Jules, just give him a chance. He's not a bad guy, just stupid sometimes."

Chapter Four

The drive home wasn't nearly long enough. Julia needed time to think. Time to breathe. Time to process everything. Annie had shared a lot of information with her as they walked through the grocery store. Julia was beginning to admit that Micah may have learned from his mistakes. To hear Annie's version of life in Brooklyn, Micah was actually someone Julia would really get along with if not for their past.

After unloading the groceries and putting them away, Julia carried two glasses of iced tea outside. She was impressed with how quickly Micah was removing the floor of the front porch. To the left, everything was already gone. From the door heading to the right was still untouched. She set the tea and sandwiches on a small table and went to extend an olive branch.

"Thanks for letting me use your truck," she said, his keys dangling from the tip of her index finger. When Micah went to grab them, she curled her finger back to snatch the keys away from him. "I'll give them back to you on the porch. You need to eat."

With that, Julia retreated to the rickety porch swing curling her feet under her legs and picked up the iPad. It seemed like everything in the universe was conspiring to knock down a wall that she'd carefully built around the part of her heart she'd once given to Micah.

Over the years, Julia had spent a lot of time wondering what she could have done differently to make him see they could have survived the college years. Now she knew the answer was, unequivocally, nothing. Even if he'd told her the truth, chances are everything else would have stayed the same. Trusting people even less, she realized, would have been the biggest thing that would have changed.

It was time to get to know the adult Micah. The man her best friend had managed to forgive.

Micah wanted to know where the light switch was for Julia's mood swings. She'd always been an emotional girl and it seemed that time had only intensified that aspect of her personality. The past twelve hours showed him that she was still incapable of hiding her feelings. He prayed he wasn't getting ready to witness another swing like the one she'd had at the bar.

Walking to the front porch, it was nearly impossible to keep his eyes off her toned legs and the curve of her tight backside. What struck him most was her straight back and shoulders. Julia wasn't the insecure girl he'd fallen in love with as a teen. She was a confident woman and it showed. His insides stirred as he memorized her features.

Grabbing a sandwich from the table, he sat on the top step. They sat in silence, him eating lunch and her playing around on her iPad. She looked amazing in running shorts that looked a size too big and a tank top. She brushed away a lock of hair that had broken free from her haphazard ponytail and glanced at him through long, naturally curled eyelashes. "You're staring," she stated. He'd have thought she was annoyed if not for the slight curve on the side of her mouth.

"Am not," he responded. Apparently, playful Julia was still in his midst. Now the trick was keeping her there.

She set down the iPad and leaned forward, "Are too," she laughed. He couldn't get over the feeling that came over him when he heard her laugh. It was one of his favorite sounds.

"Okay, so maybe I am." He shrugged. Micah felt no shame in admitting the truth. It had been a long time since he'd had lunch in the presence of anyone other than sweaty construction workers and he wanted to enjoy it. "Can you blame me?"

Julia's cheeks flushed. She'd never been good at accepting compliments and it was obvious that hadn't changed. "Yes, I can." She shifted on the swing and muttered something about having work to do. She didn't look up through the rest of lunch, but Micah noticed her shaking her head and smiling as she ate.

When he finished, he thanked her for lunch and started back to the driveway. He was hoping to finish the first half of the porch deck before he had to quit for the day and sitting around watching Julia wasn't helping him accomplish anything. As he reached the edge of the lawn, he turned back to the front of the house. "Hey, Jules..." Her megawatt smile took his breath away for a second when she looked up at him. "I need my keys."

It was definitely playful Julia who slowly creeped down the steps. Her eyes were filled with a mischievous glint that he loved. She came over to meet him on the lawn and pulled the keys out of her pocket. She kept walking until her body was within inches of his.

Before he knew it, he felt her finger tips rubbing his thigh through the thin material of the pocket. "Thanks again," she whispered. Before he could react to her actions, she turned on her heel and walked away.

He stood there for a minute trying to regain composure. Julia was enjoying this torture. Once the throbbing in his jeans subsided a bit, he went back to work. Luckily, all of the precision work was done for the day because there was no way he could concentrate when all his mind wanted to do was replay the feel of her fingers grazing his pockets.

The innocent lumber bore the brunt of Micah's frustration as he tried to stop thinking about every misstep he'd taken when it came to Julia. If he'd been honest with her, would he have been doing repairs on their home right now instead of doing repairs on her rental? The rental she needed because yet another man had broken her heart. When he saw that he was gouging the planks with the force of his swing, Micah set down the hammer and walked away. He needed to clear his head.

As he turned to the sidewalk, he was jerked out of his thoughts. "Hey, are you done for the day?" Julia jogged down the front steps and across the lawn, her perfect breasts bouncing with every step she took. There was no way he was going to be able to do this every weekend until the work was completed. He was going to die of a heart attack before the end of today if she didn't stop. It didn't help that he had no clue which of her personalities would show up when she opened her mouth. One minute she was ripping his head off and the next minute, it seemed like she'd rather be ripping off his clothes.

"Uh, no," he stuttered, trying to think of something to say. He couldn't tell her that his mind kept drifting to walking into her house and stripping off every stitch of clothing she had on. He couldn't tell her how badly he wanted to take her breasts into his mouth. With her standing in front of him, it was even harder to think straight. He wanted to taste her. He wanted to blow off work for the afternoon and pull her close to him while they napped.

He was pulled out of his blissful daydream by fingers snapping in front of his face. "Hey, you okay?" Micah realized that even though he hadn't moved an inch, his breathing had become labored. Not only that, but if her eyes traveled lower, she would see exactly how
not
okay he was as his hardness pressed against his jeans, begging for release.

"Yeah, um, I just... I need some space." She told him last night that the truth was the most important thing, that they could work through anything if he told her the truth. He told her the truth. He simply left off the part about doing something they would both regret if he didn't get away.

The pieces of the puzzle started coming together in Julia's mind. Heavy breathing. Lack of eye contact. Fidgeting. Tense muscles. As her light blue eyes scanned his body, they got wide the moment they were south of his waist. Her own breathing spiked as she saw how ready he was. She swallowed hard, remembering how good he felt when they were younger. Every time. That's the thing about great sex, you never forget it. The memories might fade, but all you need is a trigger point and they're called back to the surface in high definition.

There was no doubt she was losing her mind. She wasn't just playing with fire, she was getting ready to throw a full canister of map gas into a bonfire. There was no way to avoid someone getting hurt from the shrapnel. Forgiving him was one thing, she told herself. Finding a way to become friends again was one thing. Allowing herself to fall into his arms and take her inside was completely different. She'd been stupid to ever entertain the thought that she could use him for sex to get him out of her system. She stepped back, hoping some distance would lessen the current flowing between them.

When she walked outside, she'd planned to tell him that she would go to dinner with him, Austin and Lizzie. She was giving him another chance, just like Annie suggested, and was starting to look forward to their night out. As her mind filled with thoughts of all the things she'd like to do to his sculpted body, she wasn't sure that was a good idea.

"Hey, while you're getting your space, call Austin and Lizzie. Figure out what we're doing for dinner," she said, stressing their friends' names hoping it was clear that this was not a date of any sort. She wasn't which one of them needed the reminder but it needed to be said. "When you get back, let me know where we're going so I can get ready."

The look on Micah's face morphed from frustration to confusion in a matter of moments. "Or not. If you don't want me to go with, that's fine too," she said trying to hide a tinge of disappointment. Maybe he'd already made the plans and told them she wasn't coming. Maybe he knew it was a bad idea for them to spend time together too.

"No, I want you there." The timbre of his voice was lower now. She watched his Adam's apple shift as he composed himself. "You decide where we're going." He rubbed his forehead as if he was trying to relieve pressure.

It would have been a kind gesture to allow Julia to choose the restaurant if not for the fact she had no clue what restaurants were still in business. She called Annie for recommendations. Julia felt a knot in her stomach the entire time she and her friend were on the phone. She was torn between spilling out everything she was feeling towards Micah and holding it in. While Annie was the one who said Julia needed to give Micah another chance, she was fairly certain there were lines even Annie hoped wouldn't be crossed.

With only a few hours left before dinner and a lot of work left on the front porch, Julia changed into a pair of jeans. Micah had never been one to quit before a job was done and she knew his unexpected break was going to put him behind schedule for the day. Helping him out would get the job done faster so he had time to shower. She came out the side door right as Micah was returning from his walk. "Hey, you feeling better now?"