Lynnia (12 page)

Dario

The next evening

“Dario, cuz, I love you like a brother, but you have got to either start answering your phone or calling your parents and letting them know you’re going to be out of communication for a few days. Now, explain to me why I’m standing here with you and not with my wife and our beautiful daughters.”

Victor’s voice sounded calm, but Dario knew better. Inside his cousin was seething and just about ready to tear Dario’s head off. He had to have just come from home. In all the time that Dario had known the Cole family, Victor, his sisters, nor parents stepped out of the house in anything less than the best. As such, Victor hadn’t been seen outside of his home with anything casual covering his body. Jeans and a t-shirt weren’t his thing unless he was modeling. Seeing him in the bar was one thing. Seeing him in the bar wearing jeans and a hoodie had Dario doing a double take when the man first sat down.

The young lady two stools over whispered to her friend that Vic’s blue eyes were gorgeous and they could undress her anytime or any place that he wanted. All he had to do was say the word. She quieted when Dario cleared his throat, turned and raised an eyebrow. The girl looked embarrassed to have been caught. Dario just laughed and shook his head.

Turning back to Vic, he clicked his tongue before speaking, “My parents are going to call you regardless of my letting them know where I’m going or not, which I did before I even came here.”

“Mmm, they made it seem like they had no clue what was going on with you. They even sounded worried.”

“Yeah, they’re good for that. Have you not met Noel and Emily Anderson? It’s their thing. I’ve never had two people worry over my thirty-two year old self or my twenty-nine year old brother’s well-being more than those two. They hate the fact that they are in Arizona and I live here while Darien is traipsing the globe being Mr. Discovery Planet.”

Dario took a swig of Dario’s beer while motioning for the bartender to bring two more and grabbed a handful of peanuts. He picked up his phone and checked his messages again. Still nothing. No response to his messages or the calls. He was starting to lose it.

“Okay. I see why they called me.”

Vic’s six-foot-four frame blocked Dario’s view of the television long enough for his focus to go to the waitress that literally tripped over herself when she saw Vic sitting down at the bar.

“Don’t look now, fan encounter happening on your seven.”

Vic turned his head to the left just as the female made her way to his side. His cousin didn’t have a chance to react before he was bombarded with questions.

“Are you that hot model, Victor Cole? I mean, I know you don’t model anymore, but I’m still like your biggest fan. Do you model at all on the side? I would love to know. I’m not like one of those crazy females or anything. I’m totally normal. I was on your website a few days ago and they said you have a speaking engagement coming up soon, but I am going to be working. I hate that I’m going to miss it. So, will you be doing anymore modeling at all? Please say yes.”

The girl’s nametag had “Holly” on it. Dario smiled to himself. He loved watching his cousin deal with the legends of fans that he tended to have. It had been six years since the man’s last major shoot, yet there were times that the man couldn’t walk down the street without someone recognizing him. It didn’t help that a local boutique and a well known gym commissioned some of his last shots for their recent advertisements.

Dario chuckled as the girl’s face fell. She was cute if you liked the petite waist, big boobs, and bleached blonde hair type. It wasn’t his thing. Never had been. For as long as he could remember, he’d always been attracted to girls and women with curves. It was the reason he’d initially been drawn to Lynnia. The girl that she was at eleven years of age was already beautiful and filling out. He’d enjoyed watching her. The boy with the squeaky voice, head full of curls, and slightly crooked nose that he was couldn’t help but notice her. He’d been tall for his age, but short in comparison to the other boys at their school.

The day that he’d gotten up the courage to actually ask her to sit at the lunch table with him, he’d chickened out and asked her for a pencil instead. It was one of the dumbest things he’d ever done. He kept talking to her and tried again but ended up chickening out again. After a while, he felt like it was too late. He’d missed his opportunity. She was regularly talking to Mitchell Dobbs. The guy was ignorant smart and stupid tall. Dario had heard from a view of the girls just how “dreamy” they thought he was. The boy had good taste even though he’d hated him for breathing the air around the one girl he liked at that school.

A few years later, he’d learn that she wasn’t into Mitchell. She didn’t like how odd he was. By that time, they were friends and they would remain that way until she came to him with a problem. Lynnia had never been kissed and wanted to know what it felt like. He’d been fine with looking at her as just the girl he hung out with, shared everything with. He’d convinced himself that was the case until their lips met. That moment was it for him. He knew then that he wanted her to be his girl. The problem was, he didn’t know how to do it.

Once again, Dario built up the courage to talk to her. He was at the usual spot where they met up to walk home together when he saw her with Mitchell Dobbs, the boy she said she previously thought was weird … no, odd. The stood, hidden from most, under an archway lips locked and arms wrapped around each other. Needless to say, he was crushed.

The two of them dated for a year or two. He began dating another girl. Most of the girls he dated, he didn’t remember because they weren’t her. They were a substitute.

It took the two of them a while to talk again. He and Lynnia had grown apart. They spoke in passing in the halls, but they didn’t hang out like they used to. It made him feel odd that he missed her as much as he did and she didn’t seem like she was phased by their estrangement. How wrong he’d been.

She showed up on his doorstep one day. It was pouring down raining, but he could tell the dampness on his face had nothing to do with the raindrops that were pelting the earth around them. Lynnia hauled off and punched him right where he stood. He’d been on the front porch, having stepped out the door when he realized she’d wanted to talk.

“Why haven’t you been talking to me? What did I ever do to you? What’s wrong with you? You act like you like me then you go asking some other girl to the dance. You show me how to kiss then continue to treat me like a friend. You watch me like you wish you could be near me when I was right here. You’re a jerk, Dario Anderson. I don’t want to be your friend anymore!”

He’d been so surprised by her accusations that she’d almost gotten away from him. He ran after her and pinned her to a tree using his newly muscled arms. The kiss that he planted on her was one that he’d wanted to give her on more than one occasion. He loved the way that she felt against him. The dampness of their clothes didn’t leave much to the imagination and he felt the response of his excitement. Her eyes widened as she looked into his. His natural instinct was to rub his fifteen-year-old, excited body against her. She trembled against him and he thought she enjoyed the feeling as much as he had, but she pushed him. The force of the push had him stumbling backward. As soon as she was free, she took off running up the street.

The next time she saw him, she acted as if nothing ever happened between the two of them. When he tried to bring it up, she shut it down faster than a mosquito could bite and flee. He felt like he was in a constant stick and move pattern with her. It wasn’t healthy, but he accepted that little piece of her. They remained friends.

Over the years, they’d shared a lot. The two of them experienced sex for the first time together. They explored things that others didn’t get the opportunity to because they didn’t have someone close enough to share it with. They were free to be that for one another. Both seemed to have accepted that they weren’t going to be more than two friends who periodically shared each other’s body. Those times together were always off-the-charts amazing. Knowing there was at least one person that knew exactly what buttons to push to set you off was an absolutely freeing feeling. It was why they never gave their “Fuck Me Friend” time up.

Dario chuckled as he sipped on his beer.

“Earth to Dario. I need you to do a little something special. Important things to do here, ya know?”

Looking in the mirror that reflected his blank expression back at him, he saw that his cousin had five girls surrounding him. How had he missed the other females’ arrival? This thing with Lynnia was messing with his head. Dario recognized the cry for help and tapped the bar. Taking the last swig of his beer, he stood to his full five foot eleven inches and pushed passed the closest female to the center of the group.

“Ladies. Ladies. I’m sorry to inform you that the man behind you is not only a married man, but a new father of two beautiful daughters. His wife isn’t the sharing type, but I’d be more than willing to share quite a few things with anyone willing to go for a little ride. Who’s ready to grab the bull by the horns?”

For added effect, he grabbed hold of himself and thrust a few times. He didn’t take offense to the obvious disgust from a few of the ladies. Three of them immediately walked away. When the last woman remained where she stood and looked as if she were actually interested in what he’d proposed, Dario quirked an eyebrow at the sultry looking brunette. Maybe she could take some of the edge off of not having access to Lynnia’s body over last week and a half. Vic cleared his throat and broke the silent communication he had going. Pulling out a pen and a card, she quickly scribbled something on the back, handed it to him then walked away.

“You’re welcome,” Vic’s booming voice called as he tossed some bills on the bar then began making his way to the door.