The Rock Season (14 page)

Stevie -

“Ok, don’t think about him naked and wet on the other side of the door, Stevie.”

What a whirlwind morning! First the breakdown upon waking, the luxurious and wonderful cuddle time with this beautiful man, the breakfast interrogation followed by more of Grandma Samadi’s probing questions. She wasn’t messing around! I needed to tread lightly with her. I didn’t think she would appreciate my flippant sense of humor. And surprisingly, I found myself hoping I did not alienate anyone in Aaron’s family, no matter how awkward I felt being asked if I was going to marry a man I’d only just met. Strangely enough, that part didn’t bother me either. My only fear was the whole great grandbabies part. I very much wanted to have children, but a part of me was scared to death to get pregnant again. I didn’t think I could survive another lost child. When the time came I’d have to trust the doctors and I’d have to trust my own feelings.

Too much of what happened, of what my body was telling me, during my pregnancy, I ignored because I was trying to keep my sanity. In hindsight, there were so many things I would have done differently, number one being I would have left Ben immediately upon learning of his disinterest in the baby. So much time wasted. So much unnecessary stress I put myself through. But I wasn’t going to beat myself up about it anymore. Enough of that.

I stood from Aaron’s oh-so-comfortable bed and moseyed over to his iPod. I scrolled through the artists and giggled at the sight. We could have had an identical iTunes library from what I was seeing here. I stopped at Halestorm, a band I’d recently discovered, and played their debut album. I danced over to the kitchenette sink and proceeded to wash the teacups from last night. I didn’t hear Aaron come out of the bathroom. When I turned, I saw him bent over with only a towel wrapped around him, getting boxers out of his bottom drawer. In his haste I guessed he’d forgotten to grab clean clothes. I watched him move about grabbing his clothes and thought I’d died and gone to heaven!

He had to be near six and a half feet tall and his olive skin was smooth over his nicely defined form. He wasn’t bulky. He was lean and toned. Perfect. He had black and grey tattoos on his chest, both of his shoulders and biceps, and I saw one on his calf, but he was too far away for me to make out what they were. And then he turned around and caught me appreciating him.

“Hey,” he said nervously, maybe even a little shyly. “Thanks for washing those,” he said, gesturing to where I’d set the cups to dry on a towel. I bit my lip and almost told him I’d rather have been washing something else, preferably something below his towel. I knew his brothers would be here any minute and as sweet as they were, I didn’t need them to catch us in a much more explicit act than they did last night.

“Not a problem. If anything, perhaps your family will keep me around because I’m a good dishwasher.”

He shook his head and smiled bashfully. “I really am sorry about that. Let me get dressed and we can go. I, uh, hope I didn’t overstep when I mentioned taking you to the DMV and to get your keys. I just wanted to spend the day with you.” He had his hands on his hips, his towel dipping low in front. My hand came up to my chest and I felt myself blushing. He was unbelievably sexy. He just really had no clue how devastatingly handsome he was standing there, dripping on the floor. My eyes were drawn to the trail of dark hair that led down from his navel-

“You can very much spend the day with me however you want,” I said, feeling light-headed all of a sudden. He grinned and walked back into the bathroom. I had to sit down.

“Asshole, you ready yet,” came a shout and incessant banging on the door. I unlocked it and opened it to the startled face of one of the twins. I think it was Patrick. The boys were identical and wore their hair in the same super short cut. But Peter’s features were a little softer and he smiled a lot more. Patrick, I think, had a beauty mark on the top left side of his forehead. I wasn’t sure yet, so I wasn’t going to let on that I didn’t know who was who yet.

“Sorry, Stevie. He said to-”

“Come on in, he’s just getting dressed,” I said.

The boys walked in looking nervous. They were dressed nicely in button down shirts and khakis with dress shoes.

“You two clean up nice,” I said and they rolled their eyes.

“Mom makes us dress like this any time we are going to work at the store. It’s not like anyone we know ever comes in there, though, so I guess it’s whatever.”

I think that was Patrick. I smiled and turned to see Aaron emerging dressed in jeans and a t-shirt from the bathroom.

“You guys ready?”  

They nodded.

“Hey, are you going to tell Mom, you know, about last night?”  

Aaron’s expression was solemn. “I am, little man,” he said quietly. “She needs to know in case you guys have to testify or anything. She’s not going to be angry, you know that.”

They both looked at their shoes.

“Yeah, but I don’t want her to be disappointed knowing we were at that kind of a party.” Peter looked really sad.

Aaron burst out laughing. “Right. Like she doesn’t know what the hell you clowns get up to. You guys are doing what you’re supposed to do, going to school and work, pushing yourselves in your sports. It’s ok to have a good time, but you guys do have to be careful. That’s all she would tell you.”

Patrick frowned. “Does she know you went to parties and stuff?”  

I nodded. “Yeah. I told Mom and Pops everything when I was growing up. It made my life a helluva lot easier.”

They looked wary and turned to go outside to the car.

“Wow, you are really good at that,” I said to him, almost in awe. “I’m not kidding!”  

He laughed and grabbed his wallet and keys. “I try not to lose it with them. I’m just lucky Mom has a much more Western view of everything than Grandma Samadi does. And heaven forbid she ever find out what those two goofballs get up to! They’d never hear the end of it. My cousin Aziz, he lives in the apartment next to mine? Yeah, he is living here because he got into some trouble in college. DUI, that sort of thing. His parents sent him here from New York so Grandma Samadi could watch him. Luckily for me, Mom is much more assertive and laid the ground rules when I was a boy that she would be handling my discipline. Grandma Samadi still puts in her two cents, obviously, but she holds back a lot.”

I had many students who struggled with being first generation immigrants. Their parents had really high expectations of them and they were just trying to fit in and find their way in a foreign place with completely different rules. Aaron had been lucky his mother was so understanding, which led me to another question. Aaron locked the door and we walked down the steps together.

“Aaron? Is your family Muslim? You and your brothers?”  

He shook his head. “No. Well, yes and no. Grandma Samadi and Mom taught us about the Quran when we were young, me more so than them, but Mom did not practice the religion. We mainly went to the Catholic Church with Grandma and Grandpa McShane and Pops. Mom came, too, but never joined. She said she loved to learn about both religions so she could understand people better.”

I nodded, again seeing what an enlightened woman his mother was. I was in love with her already!

The drive to the store was over in a blink. Aaron dropped the boys off in the back and told them he’d be back later to pick them up, and to text him if they needed anything. He waited until they were inside before he turned to me.

“So, Miss Wilson. Now that I have you alone, may I steal just one more kiss before you point me in the direction of your home?”  

He was so adorable, and maybe even a little unsure of how to be around me. I wanted to put him at ease. I took his face in my hands and kissed him lightly with the promise of more.

“Get on 92, go over the bridge, and turn right. Let’s go.”

 His smile was full of excitement. Then his phone started buzzing. “Ugh,” he said, checking his texts.

“Schroeder wants to know if he has to feed them lunch, too. You mind playing secretary?”  

I shook my head and he handed me his phone.

“Tell him yes and he needs to change their diapers, too. Nap time is at 1:00 and they get cranky if they have too much juice.”

“Hold on! I can’t type that fast.”

He chuckled as he pulled out onto Foothill, followed the business loop back onto Mission and then turned right on Jackson to catch the 92/San Mateo Bridge. I hadn’t spent any time over here so I was paying attention to my surroundings. I was enjoying the murals painted all over town and I asked Aaron about them.

“Yeah, they’ve come up in the past couple of years. The city is really trying to clean itself up. That’s why it worked out for us to open our shop downtown. It’s perfect because I’m still close to home.” He reached over and took my hand, kissing it before resting it on the center console.

“So the boys play sports?”  

He nodded. “Water polo and swimming. They’re pretty damn good. I’m hoping it will help when it’s time for college. Putting two of them through is going to cost a pretty penny.”

I smiled, knowing I’d have something to talk to them about next time.

“I was a swimmer. Junior high through high school. Fly was my favorite, and medley relay.”

His eyes shot to mine and he laughed. “Individual Medley and 200 Free.”

My eyes bugged out. “How funny! That’s so cool!”  

We talked about swimming for a while and I was excited to hear that he helped coach and everything! I told him I coached the JV girls at Paly and his smile just kept getting bigger and bigger. By this time, we were almost over the bridge so I gave him directions to my apartment complex. It was a non-descript high rise overlooking the freeway. Nothing exciting. He pulled into a visitor spot in the garage and we walked hand in hand to the lobby so I could get a spare key from the manager. It took just a few minutes for them to get me a new key. I told the receptionist to add the cost to my rent for the month as I didn’t have any cash and she just smiled and shook her head.

“No worries. Just bring it down when you have it. I’ll make a note in your file.”

I thanked her and led Aaron to the elevator. My apartment was on the third floor.

It hit me that I was about to have him alone, and that now was the time if I felt I needed to put any brakes on. A quick mental search found no reason to apply them. I was smiling like a loon as I unlocked the door and swung it open.

“Ta da,” I said, gesturing to a whole lot of empty.

His eyes widened and he barked out a laugh. “Wow,” he chuckled. “I had no idea what to expect, but furniture did cross my mind.”

I giggled with him as I shut the door and locked it. “Yeah, I haven’t gotten around to shopping. I kind of don’t really need anything else for right now so...”

I probably should have prepared him, but he was being nice about it. My fancy studio apartment contained a queen-sized mattress on the floor, a trunk with my flat screen on it, and my funky desk with comfy chair. I still had my music in boxes along with my books. My closet had some things hanging and the rest folded in piles on the floor. Maryland tried to force me to take a dresser from her spare room and I politely declined. When I was ready to settle down, I’d get the rest of my things from storage and have a real home of my own. I’d kept some things that belonged to my parents, their van, and some of the furniture from my townhouse, in storage for years now. They could stay awhile longer.

“As long as you have a place to sleep, I guess,” he said, his voice sounding concerned.

I wanted to get out of my grubby clothes so I said, “I’m going to take a shower and put on some clothes that don’t smell like gross. Make yourself, um, as comfortable as you can? There’s drinks and stuff in the fridge. I’ll hurry,” I said and he smiled, sitting down in my desk chair.

“Take your time, love. I’m yours all day.” He picked up my iPod and started flipping through it.

“Play something,” I told him. I smiled one last time before I pulled a long skirt and a tank from my closet and grabbed undergarments. Of course I was still debating coming out in a towel like he did. I was suddenly extremely nervous. I hurried through my shower, stifling a squeal when I nicked the back of my Achilles’ while shaving.

“Slow down, Stevie. No need for you to have to get stitches. That will certainly delay things.”

When I turned off the water, I finished my routine quickly and left my hair to air dry with a little product to tame the frizz. I took a deep breath for courage and opened the door.

McShane

When Stevie closed the door to the bathroom, I thought I would combust from all the damn sexual tension. But then I bumped my elbow against her desk as I sat down and the screen woke up to display her blog. I looked first to be sure that it was public before I read it.

Oh, Stevie! She’d written about losing her baby. Damn, she was so strong! I had to control my verbal filter when she mentioned to me that the father didn’t want anything to do with the baby. What a fucking prick to not take care of her! If I had to guess, I would bet she went through the delivery alone as well as everything after. God, I wanted to cry for her. What she’d been through was so unfair. She deserved so much better.

I flipped through her iPod, laughing at how similar our tastes were. Her collection was timeless. Everything from Motown to 70’s rock, 80’s new wave to 90’s grunge. And so much Metal! I couldn’t believe it! There were even some bands and artists I hadn’t heard of. I stopped at a band I was semi-familiar with, Drowning Pool, but I hadn’t kept up with them after their first singer died. I turned on a song called ‘Over My Head’ and I leaned back in the chair.

I could have written these lyrics. They described my feelings about this situation to a T. I had a crazy thought that I should learn this song and play it for her one night at Open Mic. I thought of so many things I wanted to do with her, even some that didn’t involve us being naked. I was really relaxed and so deep in thought, I didn’t hear her come out. Next thing I knew, she was sitting on my lap.