The next day, I got a phone call from Faith. My house phone never rang so it was a shock when it did. The only reason we still had one was just in case of an emergency. Mom and I shared her cell, although I had it more than she did.

“I saw the flowers,” Faith said.

She was whispering into the phone. The poor girl had probably never let go in her entire life. It was no way to live. It made me wonder how wild she’d be in the sack. As quickly as the thought came, I pushed it to the back of my mind. She wasn’t like the rest of the girls and had already somehow managed to earn a certain amount of respect from me.

“And?” It sounded rude, but I was curious where the conversation was going.

“And I wanted to say thank you. My dad can be a bit strict, and while I did get in trouble for being out, it would’ve been even worse if he’d caught me in a lie.”

“Don’t worry about it. I would’ve had to do it come Wednesday anyway. At least this way maybe I won’t be out in the heat all day.”

It really had sucked that I’d missed hanging out with my friends that night. Not to mention, my ex, Jenny, had been there and there was a good chance I was going to get laid, but it was worth it in the end, I guess. Faith already had it bad from what I could see. The least I could do was help the girl out.

“Do you always sneak out like that?” I couldn’t help but ask.

I thought I was seeing things when she’d stepped into my garage that night. She obviously didn’t belong there, and I wasn’t all that thrilled to have her there. A girl like her could be a liability. The last thing I needed was my boys getting accused of some crazy shit because an inexperienced girl got herself all caught up in our craziness.

She was a nice girl and I felt bad for her. The contrast between her and the rest of the girls in the room was pretty hilarious, though. They were all covered in makeup with painted-on clothes that left nothing to the imagination, and Faith was clean and covered.

I hadn’t meant to call her skirt ugly, but it was a crime for such a pretty girl to be so uptight. Not that she should walk around with her ass hanging out, but damn, she must burn up in all those clothes.

“That was my first time. I won’t be doing that again,” she said adamantly.

It was kind of cute. She was so childlike since her father had obviously sheltered her for her entire life. When I thought of all the things she was missing out on, it was kind of depressing. She was a teenager. It was her job to experience all the crazy shit possible. It’s how you become a good adult. You live and you learn. She was going to be thirty and still clueless to what life had to offer.

“That’s a shame,” I said with a grin as I rested the phone between my shoulder and my face.

Flirting was in my nature and I never suppressed what came naturally to me.

“Why’s that?” she asked.

“Well, I was going to see if you wanted to hang out one night.”

It was a last-minute decision, a kill-two-birds-with-one-stone kind of thing. I could get her out with me and show her a good time while pissing off her dad so much that he’d want me nowhere near his daughter. Win-win.

“Why?” she asked, confused.

She had no idea how pretty she was. I’d seen that when I called her pretty in the car on the way to her house. Confidence was sexy, but so was a beautiful girl who had no idea how beautiful she was.

“Because you seem like a nice girl, and I already told you I thought you were pretty.”

I didn’t mention the fact that I was also trying to get under her dad’s skin. I somehow didn’t think that would fly over well with her.

“But we’re so different,” she said.

She couldn’t have been more right.

“Opposites attract. Don’t you find me attractive?” I asked.

I’d seen the way she looked at me when she didn’t think I noticed. I’d seen girls look at me that way before and all of them had tried to get a piece of me at some point. Not that I was complaining or holding out, but still, I knew a girl who was attracted to me when I saw one.

She didn’t answer. I’d bet money that she was all huddled up in those restricting clothes, hiding from her parents like a five-year-old. And I’d also bet that she was ten shades of red since all she seemed to do was blush.

“I’m going to take that as a yes. Besides, it would just be a friend thing. Listen, don’t think about it. I’ll see you at the church on Wednesday, and don’t worry about the flowers. I’m just glad you didn’t get into any more trouble.”