Break You Down

Mushy Man

Brittany POV

“Your school is calling again,” Chris said around a big bite of cheesy potatoes. My phone was in one hand and his paper plate in the other.

“Just ignore it,” I told him for the hundredth time. “They’ll stop calling eventually.”

“What about ‘Professor Dickhead’? Will he stop calling eventually too?”

“Beep!” Hailey said from the couch, censoring bad words like she usually does, thanks to my brother.

“Sorry,” Chris muttered. “Professor p***s-head is calling you now. You want me to ignore that too?”

“Yep,” I scowled, then tore off a chunk of fried chicken from the bone with a little too much force with my teeth. Professor Dickhead is what Missy changed Elias’s name to, and I liked it much more than the ‘Professor Courage The Cowardly Dog, since it was one I knew she liked falling asleep too. I then wished her goodnight one more time before I pushed Chris out of her room so she could go to sleep.

“Alright, mushy man. Time for you to go home so I can go to bed too.”

~

Chris POV

“Ah, I’m not full yet,” I whined, putting on the breaks once her pretty little hands pushed me out to the living room. “There’s still two pieces of chicken left.”

She looked down at the bowl and grimaced. “They’re old and gross. If you eat those, you’re going to get sick.”

“Now, I wasn’t talking about the chicken,” I wiggled my eyebrows, pulling on those hands that were pushing me moments ago and bringing her against my chest. She let out the cutest little huff then scowled up at me.

“Chris, I told you no. I’ve told you no in every way imaginable. Just grab your salmonella chicken and take it to go.”

“But I want a sleepover too,” I said softly, moving my face closer to hers. She didn’t flinch away. She never moves away from me when I get close to her. She stands her ground, then gives in when I just….

“Don’t you dare,” she brought her hand up to my lips before I could kiss her. “I’m not doing this with you. Hailey is going to sleep in the next room.”

I kissed the tips of her fingers, smiling when it made her gasp so softly before she narrowed her eyes. “So does that mean if she wasn’t here you would let me kiss you,” I puckered my lips against her fingers once more. “Kiss you again, I mean.”

“If you just wanted kisses, then that wouldn’t be the problem.”

Oh, I know. We had already started things backward, so of course she thinks all I want from her is s*x, but I don’t think she really realizes I want much more.

“One date. Agree to go on a date with me and I’ll leave for tonight without a fight.”

She pursed her pretty lips. The little humming sound she made while she was thinking was driving me crazy.

“No,” she stubbornly said. “My brother-”

“Your brother isn’t your daddy, Brittany. You’re an adult. Dre can’t control you.”

She frowned. “No, but he can control you. Chris, this town is too small to casually date someone without consequences. You know that.”

I groaned, hating this excuse. Yeah, it’s a small town, but she’s Brittany Brewer. No one that knows her would ever think in their right mind that she would just be sleeping around or casually dating anyone. She’s the diamond in this rough mountain town, untouchable for all her adult life because no one wanted to anger her brother to get to her. I was the exception, and now that I had got to touch the rarest jewel, I didn’t want to let anyone else come in and snatch her from me.

“Let me stay for one more beer then. One more beer and then I’ll go.”

She huffed, the smallest, faintest groan leaving her with her heavy sigh. “Fine. One more beer and then it's time for you to go.”

“Yes!” I pumped my hand in the air.

“Just. One,” she held her finger up.

I smiled, mirroring her with my finger, then following her to the cooler to grab another Coors light.

I took my time, sipping my beer slowly, laughing at Brittany as she tried to figure out what to do with the rest of the leftovers while chugging down her own beer. It was maybe her fourth one, and when she grabbed her fifth while I was still nursing my one, I could tell she was getting a little tipsy. She plopped her skinny booty down beside me on the loveseat, giving up on the food. Her kitchen was a mess, half finished with most of her boxes of kitchen goods still in her brother’s barn or her dad’s garage. I started telling her about all Adrian was having us do to her house to finish the kitchen this week before we started on the master when she grabbed her sixth beer.

Her eyes were getting glossy, and her laughter was more abundant. This was the same Brittany from the bar that night we hooked up. She was teasing me, but not in that annoying flirty way most of the bar bunnies do. She was like just another one of the guys with the way she talked, but she was gorgeous, so it had thrown me for a loop back then and it was charming the laughter right out of me tonight too.

Pressing my luck one more time, I brushed the hair off her shoulder as I asked, “You sure you don’t want me to have a sleepover too? I can make a mean eggo waffle in the morning.”

She laughed, so carefree and beautiful at me that my hope started to rise. “Nope,” she poked my nose with her finger. “Not going to happen, mushy man.”

I groaned at the new nickname. “Come on. I can wake up early and go get you coffee and donuts, then help you unpack?”

“Nope. Nice try,” she said, then fished off her beer. She got up to toss it in the trash before grabbing another, the last one in the cooler. “Your beer is all gone and looks like we have no more. Too bad. Now, you gotta go and I gotta shower,” she said with a giddy voice, her words aggregated a bit.

I sighed, knowing I should give up for today. I was still planning on showing up in the morning with donuts and coffee. Waiting a few hours to see her again wouldn’t kill me.

I tossed my beer and she ushered me to the door. Before heading out, I leaned against the doorframe, towering over her, enjoying the gleam in her eyes and the tipsy smirk on her moist lips. I couldn’t stop myself. I leaned down and tasted them, groaning lustfully when she kissed me back.

After pulling away, I rested my forehead on hers. “Goodnight, Brittany.”

“Night, mushy man,” she giggled, watching me as I walked back down her sidewalk to my truck.

I looked back just in time to see her close the door, swinging that bottle to her lips. Damn, she looked good drinking a beer. She looked good all the time, but seeing her lips on the end of a bottle made my mind go to dirty places.

I had just gotten my keys in the ignition when my pocket started to buzz. s**t. I almost left with her phone. I pulled it out and frowned when it was her school calling her again. It was after nine at night. What the hell?

Without thinking much about it, I answered her phone, half expecting it to be some sort of school emergency. I wouldn’t know what kind of school emergency would entail a phone call this late, but I was still curious.

“Ye-ellow?”

The phone line was silent.

“Hello?” I repeated again. I was about to hang up, thinking it must be one of those automated calls, when a man’s voice finally spoke.

“Hello? Is…. Is this Brittany, uh, Brewer’s….”

“Brit? Yeah, she’s getting in the shower. Can I take a message?”

“She’s…. She’s in the shower?” the voice repeated in disbelief. “I’m sorry. Who are you?”

“Uh, who are you?” I said sarcastically, not liking his tone. “Wait, let me guess. Professor Dickhead?”

“I beg your pardon?” he practically growled. “Who the hell are you, asshole?”

“Hey, hey, hey. Don’t get mad at me. We were talking about a Professor Dickhead earlier and I was just curious. Don’t get your panties twisted. If you want, you can give me a message to give to Brit. If not, I’m hanging up.”

There was a loud crash at the other end before the phone line cut off. Guess he didn’t have a message for her. That was weird. The weirdest phone call I’ve ever had, to be honest. I’m more confused about what that was about than before I answered. I still didn't know why her school kept calling her.

I pulled my keys back out of the ignition, then started walking back to her front door, shutting off her phone so she didn’t accidentally answer it drunk. I know Hailey has a phone, so hopefully, if Missy or Adrian need to call they will call their daughters when Brittany’s doesn’t work.

I knocked on Brittany's door, and only two and a half knocks in it swung wide open. Before I can say anything, Brittany throws her arms around my neck and pulls me down to kiss her. I was surprised for about two seconds before melting into her beer-tasting lips.

“I thought you were really about to leave,” she whispered in a rough whiney voice.

I groaned, kissing her senseless again before picking her up and carrying her back to the other bedroom, so f*****g thankful it’s two doors down from Hailey’s, whose TV was still on, and even more thankful for that weird phone call.

~

Elias POV

“DAMN IT!” I yelled, tossing the entire landline phone across the room, making it break against my office wall. “Damn it,” I said in a more broken tone, leaning back against my bookshelf before falling to the floor.

Damn everything. Damn the school for granting her this early graduation. Damn Lindsey for her stunt on Christmas. Damn f*****g everything, including the asshole with her right now, showering and taking messages for her.

If she would just talk to me, just for a second, I could explain. I could tell her everything I was planning on telling her anyway the second she graduated.

Now, she is showering with some hick back in her hometown, talking about me and calling me insults that are deserved but not for the reasons she thinks.

I should have been honest with her from the start. I thought I was protecting myself and her but keeping her at a distance for now, but if I knew this was going to happen, I would have told her everything the moment I knew I had more than just lust for the young woman.

I wanted her. Brittany was a breath of fresh air, like pure oxygen, after I'd been suffocated in the toxic filth of my life before I met her. Now that my oxygen is gone, I don’t know how to breathe again. I don’t know how to survive or function without her here.

She was my escape, but now she has escaped from me. She’s showering and joking about me with some common-hick joe, and I’m unable to breathe.

Damn it, I’m not going to just wallow here any longer. I need to do something. Everything is almost done. I was going to wait until the final arrangements went through to do something, but now I realize I don’t have the luxury of time.

Brittany, my sweet flower, exuding clarity and beauty, providing me with life’s most basic needs. I will not stay still while some other man takes you from me. I won’t let a misunderstanding cause me to lose everything.