"Finally," Anita sighed as Luce pushed through the screen door, her arms full with a bag of groceries.
"I bought all the spaghetti they had at the store," Luce stated as she set the shopping bag on the table. She reached into the brown paper, pulling out a large can of Guinness and crossed to the living room, handing it off to her uncle who occupied the recliner in the corner, his old hound dog curled up at his feet. He was a bitter old man but the one thing that made him smile without fail, was a cold beer.
"You're a God send," he stated, cracking the seal and taking a drink.
"No problem, Manny," Luce replied with a smile. Though she referred to the man as her uncle they were not technically related. "Guess who I ran into on the way back," she began, returning to the kitchen to empty the rest of the shopping bag's contents.
"Big Foot," Her sister-in-law replied. It was obvious by Anita's tone that she had no patience for Luce, preoccupied with slicing tomatoes.
"Remember last week, Eddie was talking about meeting that guy from Australia at the bar?" Luce leaned against the counter as she spoke, "I met them on my way home."
She had been walking out of the shop, trying to balance the shopping bag in one hand as a gust of wind blew her hair into her face when she ran into them. Quite literally, she walked directed into the broad chest of the stranger, who caught her elbow, keeping her from falling on her ass.
"Careful, Luce," the other guy said, helping her to find her balance. Turning her head, she wasn't surprised to see one of her older brother's friends. Eddie was a regular guest at the house, often showing up randomly for drinks in the evening.
"Sorry about that," she mumbled, adjusting her grip around the bag.
"This is my new friend, the one from down under," Eddie started making introductions with a gesture, "His name's Digger." Lucy looked up at the man she had run into. Her first thoughts were that he was big and hairy as she studied his broad shoulders and overgrown muttonchops. From the mess of curls on his head all the way down to his ducttaped boots, everything about him screamed that he was a bad decision and yet she found it hard to look away.
"Sorry about that," she apologised. "I'm Lucy by the way."
"The pleasure's mine," he smirked, holding her gaze for a moment.
She was the one to break the connection as she looked to the other man, "We're doing a big dinner tonight, you two should come."
"I wouldn't want to impose," Digger responded quickly, being uncharacteristically courteous. Digger was never one to turn down a meal, but something about the way she smiled drew the polite reply out of him.
"Oh you wouldn't! We always make extra, expecting more people than we invite," she explained as she stepped to the side, ready to continue on her way. "I'll see you two there. I'll save you a plate."
The men waved before continuing down the sidewalk, back to Eddie's place.
"She's cute," Digger stated with a smirk, thinking of the short girl with dark hair he'd just met.
"Don't even try, man," Eddie chuckled. Sure, he completely agreed that Luce had gotten very cute in the past few years, but he knew better. "You want to stay away from her, trust me."
"What?" Digger challenged. "She some man-eater in a sundress?"
"Nah," Eddie scoffed, "It's her brother. He pretty much raised her, like he literally adopted her when she was 10, since their mom was a drunk. He won't let any guy near her. I'm sure if he had his way she'd be a nun," he laughed and Digger found himself more enticed than before, and suddenly excited for spaghetti.
"There's my favorite girls," John's voice boomed through the kitchen as he kicked off his work boots. Reaching out first he hugged Luce, placing an affectionate kiss on her forehead before crossing to Anita who stood by the stove. "How was your day, my love?" he asked kissing her as Luce rolled her eyes, gathering the stack of plates to put on the table.
John was only Luce's half brother but he had readily taken on the mantle of guardian when she needed it, which she would always be grateful for. Though they both looked alike, sharing their mother's bottle green eyes, they could not be more different in personality. John was social and thrived at the center of attention, he hated being alone and always had at least one friend in tow wherever he went. Luce on the other hand liked to keep to herself, usually avoiding the parties John threw, reading in her room instead.
The sauce was just about finished when people started to arrive. One after another, John's friends filed through the door, each making the same excited sound as they were greeted by the smell of tomatoes that filled the air. Usually there would be one or two girlfriends tagging along, but tonight was a sausage fest leaving all the prep work up to Luce and Anita, they knew better than to expect any of the guys to help.
As he arrived with Eddie, Digger was quick to spot Luce. She stood across the kitchen, working at grating down a large block of cheese. Digger chose to bide his time, joining the other men in the living room, cheering over the hockey game.
"Alright!" Anita called, banging the wooden spoon on a metal pot cover, using it as a makeshift gong. "Food's ready!" Luce finished slicing the garlic bread, placing the still warm loaf at the end of the counter as the guys lined up eagerly with plates in hand.
"Looks delicious," someone commented as each of the group served themselves before moving to sit around the large dining room table. After bringing a plate to Uncle Manny, who stayed in his recliner, Luce took a seat in the corner, preferring to sit back and watch the others rather than get involved in their conversations. Slurping at her spaghetti, Luce couldn't shake the feeling that someone was watching her. Lifting her eyes she scanned the room, noticing only one other who was not paying attention to the ruckus around the table. In the opposite corner she noticed the newcomer.
The Aussie stood with his plate in one hand, mopping up the excess sauce with a slice of bread as he grinned at the girl, holding her gaze through the crowd. Blushing under his scrutiny, Luce turned her head, looking away. She tried to ignore him but every time she'd let her attention drift to where he stood, she found he was still staring, watching her for the rest of the meal.
It wasn't long before the men had inhaled everything edible placed in front of them and returned to the living room. Luce gathered the discarded dishes that were scattered across the oak table as she listened to them cheering on their team.
"You don't have to worry about clean up," Luce said as she sat the plates on the counter, noticing Antia was pulling on her rubber gloves. "You did most of the cooking, I'll take care of washing."
"You sure?" Anita asked, as Luce nodded. "Alright I'm going to watch the game," she smiled handing off the yellow gloves and topping off her glass of wine before leaving the kitchen. Turning on the tap, Luce let the water warm as she scrolled through the music on her phone, looking for something to play. Choosing a favorite album, she propped up the phone on the window sill in front of her and settled in to work, humming along as she started to scour the pans.
Not paying attention to her surroundings, Luce nearly jumped out of her skin when she felt someone place their hand in the middle of her back.
"Sorry, darl'," an unfamiliar voice spoke, though she could guess who it was by the accent. "I wasn't trying to scare ya."
"It's fine," she replied, looking up with a smile, "You need something?"
"Yeah, where's the loo?" he asked, "I need ta drain the snake."
"Down the hall on the left," Luce gestured towards the archway across the kitchen, while trying to stifle her laughter at his language.
"Cheers, luv," he replied, resting his hand on her shoulder as he crossed behind her, his touch lingering longer that it needed to.
Returning her attention to the dishes in the sink, Luce began rinsing off the suds. It wasn't a moment later that Digger returned, nonchalantly leaning on his hip against the counter next to her, watching her clean. She could feel the warmth of the blood rushing to her cheeks as he stood there, sipping his beer.
"I'm sure the game in the other room is more entertaining," she stated, looking at him from the corner of her eye, trying to break the awkward silence while she scrubbed at the scraps of pasta and sauce.
"Nah," he smiled lifting his half empty bottle. "I'm good here," Digger took a swig of his drink, smirking to himself as he watched her blush harder. "This is much more entertaining."
With an exasperated scoff, Luce turned away from him, grabbing a rag off the oven door's handle. "If you're going to stick around you might as well be useful," she suggested as she pulled the beer from his grasp and replaced it with the dish towel.
Looking him square in the eye she brought the drink to her lips and quickly drained the rest of the contents. Setting down the now empty bottle, Luce turned waiting for his reaction. It seemed that he had conceded as he stepped closer, reaching towards the dishes in the sink. Then, before she could notice, he shifted his hand away from the plates, scooping up a handful of water and tossing it towards her.
Luce responded instinctively, turning to brace her arms against further splashes as she yelped with a laugh, "Cut it out! You're getting me all wet!" Digger, recognizing her light and teasing tone, took full advantage of the moment. Quickly he leaned in closer, allowing his facial hair to just barely tickle the shell of her ear as he placed his palm flat on the small of her back.
"Trust me, I know better ways to get you wet," he teased, letting his warm breath dance across the skin of her neck. Luce could feel her reaction instantly, the goosebumps trailing down her spine as he moved closer, his slightly musky scent of cinnamon and tobacco drowning out the smell of the kitchen. Surprised by his words, she felt a drop in her stomach, not dissimilar to feeling of missing a step while climbing the stairs in the dark. She failed to respond as he smirked to himself, noticing her obvious interest in him. Sliding his hand further down, across her bottom he quickly tensed his fingers, squeezing her cheek. Luce turned, eyeing him as she bit her lip, very interested in what he was doing as he tightly grabbed again at the flesh of her ass through her jeans. She hummed quietly, leaning in as his arm guided her towards him and her eyes fluttered shut. While she was enjoying the heat of his broad hand cupping her bottom, he hunched forward slowly bringing his face closer to her's.
"The hell you think you're doing?" Immediately, Luce was jerked back to reality by the sound of her brother's voice as John stomped across the room, pushing at Digger's shoulders.
"I'm just flirting with ya sistah, mate," Digger replied, holding his hands up as if he was innocent while taking a step closer to John. "What's it look like?" Luce groaned, annoyed with both men's reactions.
"Eddie!" John hollered, obviously trying to keep himself from punching Digger square in the jaw. A second later their mutual friend was in the doorway to the kitchen, quickly having to take in the scene before him. "Get this scumbag outta here," John ordered as Eddie crossed the room to Digger, pushing him towards the exit.
"I told ya man," he stated, leading the Aussie down the wooden steps of the side porch as the screen door to the kitchen slammed shut behind them, "I told you not to try."
Digger just huffed in response, dissatisfied with the way things had panned out. Meanwhile Luce was in the kitchen swatting at her brother's arm, "The fuck is your problem!"
"I don't want guys like him around you," John responded, still breathing heavy with anger.
"You don't want any guys around me! But guess what! I'm old enough to drink, I'm old enough to vote, I'm old enough talk to guys!" before storming off to the sanctuary of her bedroom.
(part 2 coming soon ;D)