She was pleased. Deep inside pleased and it bubbled in her soul contentedly. About the house. Of course. About all
the pieces of Hector that were scattered throughout it. About the way this place felt. So - right. And - welcoming.
There weren't many old things in her life. Her family on her Da's side had none. And on her Mum's side... new and
shiny was called for. Old things were only kept if they were priceless and that kind of thing Andi had never been close
enough to the 'inner circle' to see. This - this was nice. Old and new and nice. She hopped up onto the counter top
again and tapped her bare heels thoughtfully against the cabinet door, braid starting to come loose and hanging over
a shoulder.
"Well." She gave it some thought. "If we borrow Mrs. Johnson's I'll feel as if I'm back in school again, sneaking out in
my parents' car. If they'd had a car and I'd gone to school near them at least. I'm not sure if that would make snogging
awkward or just encourage it." She gave him a bright, laughing look. "I wouldn't mind babysitting tomorrow for
Cassie's car but that's an hour away and might cut in to our sleeping in late tomorrow morning if we stay out
hopelessly late tonight. If we borrow your friend that's the teacher all we have to do is get his car back to him by the
time its time to go to work." Not that she thought they'd be out all that late though it was fun to joke. Not when they
simply enjoyed being together in bed so much.
"Tommy it is." Hector said and grabbed the phone, dialing. "Tom, it's Hector. Yeah, worked out great. At least I
appreciate the food you stashed up for me." He winked at Andi at that comment. "So, listen....can I borrow your car?"
He made a face of waiting as Tommy's muffled voice could be heard. "Yeah, yeah. Yes it's a date." He laughed. "No,
definitely not from around here, gotta leave some pickings for you, man. Gotta be a friend. Yeah, I'll call you back.
Five. Yup. Talk to you then."
He hung up the phone and leaned against the counter next to her and tilted his head back to look at her. "Okay. He's
wavering. We have to promise not to crash it, dent it, smoke in it, play the stereo too loud, put muddy shoes inside
the car, or otherwise damage it in anyway to make it unrecognizable. To him. He just got it." He chuckled. "And I have
to discuss the rules with you before I call him back."
Andi laughed. Quiet but it was still fuller and easier than it had been yet as she looked down at him. She shifted over
so her leg rested against his arm and gave it some thought.
"No smoking, loud music, reckless driving, or muddy feet?" She protested. "But that cuts out all the things we were
planning on doing tonight." She softly started combing his now dry and slightly shaggy hair back from his forehead
with her nails. "What are we going to do with ourselves instead? Still, if it gets us 'wheels' I suppose we can make the
sacrifice..."
Hector laughed. "He'll be dropping off the car and playing play station until we get back. He figures if he can get good
at a game, and kick my ass later, that'll make up for whatever new car smell we eradicate from it. Should be
interesting. So let me call him back." Without moving he dialed the phone again. "Hey, its me. Yeah, we're going to
behave. Promise. I won't run your car into a ditch, or drive too close to other cars or so much as turn the radio above
a whisper. Okay. See you then." He hung up the phone.
"He'll be in here in two hours." He said with a chuckle. "He's most excited to see the girl not from around here that I'm
going to be chauffeuring in his car. Has to make sure you're good enough for the car. Screw me, right? So go hope in
the shower." Since he'd already taken his shower.
"Mm." She made the hum deep in her throat and leaned down to kiss him. Taking her time. Drawing back a bit she
kissed the tip of his nose.
"Then I'll try not to be a disappointment." She teased, voice soft. Slipping off the counter, she added: "Two hours.
That's a very long shower." Her lips twitched. "I think I can manage to stay out of trouble that long though."
Hector laughed. "Yeah, we'll see." He teased and kissed her and urged her to the shower. Once she was in the
shower and it was running, he changed his own clothes. Again. He chuckled, he hadn't changed clothes this often in
one day in a long time.
Tommy Mathison came in, uninvited, and without knocking. He did have a key after all, and Hector wanted something
from him. He was a big, big man, just short of seven feet tall. He looked more like a retired linebacker than a high
school teacher, wide shoulders, wide (but not fat) build, were it not for the ever present grin on his wide cheeked
face, black face topped by a shiny bald head. He looked like a big soft teddy bear, and Black Bear had been what he
had been called in high school and college, his 'football glory years' where he was chosen for his very build rather
than any illusion of speed.
Much the same way that he was chosen over Hector in pick up games of basketball. He was tall, and hard to move.
Perfect guard.
"Come on, man, where is she?" Tommy said, setting his keys down on the table.
Andi, of course, didn't take two hours in the shower. She couldn't have if she'd tried. But she did take a long time. And
that was - nothing short of glorious. If she wasn't careful she'd get used to hot running water, she thought with a smile
as she got out and dried off.
She'd actually suggested this with the thought of wearing one of the sun dresses. Suz, despite not being asked, still
knew her taste and the ones she'd packed were soft and sweet and, well, admittedly, flirty. But Andi had seen the way
Hector's eyes had changed at the mention of the black dress...
Usually she was very careful how she dressed. Being raised early on that it wasn't kind to tease men. Influenced, in
equal parts, by her mother's care in that area and seeing it go the exact opposite way with other members of her
family. Flirting was all right but she'd seen how teasing could so easily go cruel and that had never appealed.
The black dress Suz had packed definitely fell into the 'teasing' range.
For one, it was short. Not short enough to give anything away but short enough to hint that it might. If it felt like it. And
for two, it fit - very well. Softly hugged every slim curve she had and, as far as Andi could tell, created the illusion that
they were a bit curvier than they were. No sleeves of course, just slim straps to show off her shoulders and
collarbone. It was honestly a very simple cut without a lot of frills but - that was kind of the point. It was one of those
dresses that was supposed to show you off and not the other way around. Andi looked at herself in the mirror and
decided - she still looked like herself. Just - a side of herself that wasn't usually allowed to come out.
She debated putting her hair up but Hector liked it down. And besides, she liked it when he touched her hair. So she
simply brushed it out of the braid she'd had it in now that it was mostly dry and, thanks to the braid, it fell in nice
waves. She even actually put on makeup which she probably hadn't done for years as well. Since she didn't have any
jewelry there were no hard decisions in that area. And she was just slipping into the strappy high heels when she
heard voices downstairs. She listened to the faint rumble of them while she found her bank card and, lacking
perfume, simply dabbed a bit of her floral soap on pulse points. She seemed to remember Hector referring to Tommy
as a giant. Which was saying something coming from Hector. While she hadn't dressed for Tom's approval she hoped
she didn't disappoint. She wanted Hector to have bragging rights over her.
If she was truly doing her fellow women justice, she would have made them wait for her. After all, that was one of the
tricks. Instead she simply let herself out of the bedroom and went down, pausing at the top of the bottom flight of
stairs.
Yes, the man was huge. Bigger by far than even she would have imagined. But... she started to smile softly. Attention
shifting entirely. Sometimes it was such a miracle to her that someone that looked as amazing as Hector was hers...
Hector grinned widely and stood up when Andi came into the room. "Wow..." He said. "Now that's a black dress. You
look great...." He said and kissed her cheek. Tommy cleared his throat. "Andi, this is Tommy, Tommy, Andi."
"Knew eventually he'd get around to me. Hard to miss the biggest guy in the room." He said with a chuckle as he took
Andi's hand in his large one, larger than even Hector's. "It’s nice to meet the girl that finally turned his head. For a
while I thought he had all the leanings of an amoeba. And not sure I wanted to see him split himself in two. Would
have been interesting from a scientific view point, but then we would have had two of him."
Andi laughed quietly while she shook his hand.
"One is really quite enough." She agreed with a smile. "It’s nice to meet you. Hector's told me such terrible stories
about you." Her eyes were laughing as she 'confessed' it. And then she turned her head and looked at Hector. "And
Suz swears the lipstick is smudge proof." She added. "She left me a note challenging me to prove otherwise."
"One is more than enough." Tommy said. "You, however, feel free to split at any time."
"I'll be sure to tell Amy that." Hector said with a chuckle.
"And taking the car keys back....." He made a reach for them, but Hector grabbed them. "Sure you don't want to take
her on the bike?" He winked at Andi for that part.
"I'm sure." He said with a chuckle. "So, thanks man."
"Okay, but after school I'm coming over to play." Tommy said with a laugh. "Probably bring some of the others too."
Andi grinned.
"That would nice." She agreed. Actually having wondered where Hector had stashed his well mannered friends who
were polite enough not to come over without invitation. Besides, she liked men. They expected a great deal less of
her than other women. Particularly the women around here. "And thank you again for the car."
She was chuckling as they walked out the front door, her hand in Hector's.
"Oh. I do like him." She gave Hector a laughing smile. "Though you're going to have to come shopping with me
tomorrow and point out the appropriate snack foods." She slide him a sideways look. "I didn't know you have bike."
"Really? I thought I told you." He said, and he honestly thought he had. But they had covered so much ground all the
time, it was easy for a little thing like that to slip through the cracks. "But yeah, it's nice. Just not....dress appropriate."
He said with a chuckle.
"And there's a car in the garage that hasn't run for years, it's nearly thirty years old and not in the greatest shape, but
the guys come over and we valiantly try. In between eating." He said as he unlocked the doors. "Wow....this is a nice
car. I'm going to definitely have to be nice to him now."
Andi had a brief moment where she automatically turned toward one side of the car before remembering with a quiet
laugh that they drove on the wrong side of the road here and their steering wheels reflected that. She slide
comfortably into the passenger side and settled in. Wrinkling her nose with a grin.
"This is new." She managed, looking over at Hector as he got in. Still able to smell the 'new car' smell they'd joked
about. Pleased she ran her fingertips lightly over the seat, the dashboard, the inside of the door. Laughing quietly,
she looked over at Hector. "He must not know you very well to trust you with his baby this way."
"He knows me too well." Hector said. "That's why I might be the only one who could borrow it before it hit the hundred
thousand mile mark. That...and he could probably kill me if he wanted to." He chuckled at that part. "See? I told you I
had friends bigger than me. Unfortunately, he's the only example, though I think some of them are working on the
girth part."
He pulled out of the driveway fast, with screaming tires and laughed, knowing Tommy was watching from the window,
and returned to more normal driving once they were out of sight.
Andi, knowing how Hector felt about cars, settled back comfortably once he was out of the driveway. Laughing as she
relaxed, crossing her legs. Tommy, still single apparently, at least of the moment from the sounds of it, had bought
himself a sports car. And given it to Hector.
Good friend.
"We'll have to find an excuse to take the bike out next time." She smiled over at him. "Maybe a road trip somewhere
sometime." She could day dream, couldn't she? "You can show me more of your country."
She did enjoy looking at him...
"We definitely don't need an excuse." He said with a grin, shifting the gears after a stop sign. "There are, I've been
told, three signs I'm home. One, the lawn mower is going. Two, other repairs...hammering, once even a jackhammer
when I replaced the patio. Three, the bike."
He chuckled. "The unmentioned fourth is the group of strange men gathered in my living room making lots of noise." It
was really hard to keep his eyes on the road, but out of respect for his friend and not wanting to get them killed, he
somehow managed as he drove out of town, to the neighboring one.
She liked watching him drive, she decided. Everything from the way he handled the car to his profile. In fact, she
might never drive a car again, if the other option was being able to watch him do so instead.
"I'd like that." She agreed comfortably. "Both the bike ride and your friends coming over. I like meeting your friends."
Because they were generally enjoyable people. And because she also liked seeing Hector the way he was around
people he was comfortable with. "But I may have to abandon you to the video games. I've never been very good at
hand-eye coordination."
Hector laughed. "Nice qualities for a surgeon to have." He chuckled. "Then again, first person shooter games aren't
my strong point, so what's that say?"