You Are My Sunshine

Chapter I.

This isn't home.  Nowhere ever is.  And besides, it doesn't matter anymore- I'll be on my own in the world soon enough.  I'm already eighteen, all I have to do is wait until I finish my senior year then I'll be on my way.  

I knew my dad was watching me closely as he led me through the two-hour tour of the massive estate he now owns.  He wants me to like it here- there was a glittering hopefulness in his eyes that has managed to still last.  I don't understand how he could hope for me to find stability and happiness in every new place.  It's been so long since I've actually hoped for either.  We've never stayed in one place for over a year so there was never a point of laying down roots.  It's already the end of the first semester of my senior year and I've been to five high schools, not including the newest one where I'm supposed to start classes on Monday.  

"Your room is on the second floor.  It's the biggest," my dad informs me cautiously.  "I also bought you, well I didn't really buy it, but you'll be getting new furniture.  In fact, it should be arriving shortly."  

I don't need new furniture.  I don't even need the biggest room.  My dad usually tries to make me feel as comfortable as possible everywhere we've lived, but this is something different.  He's keeping something from me and I know I'm not going to like whatever it is.  

I can't believe that we now live in a glamorous California mansion, in Malibu, nonetheless.  Hell, the house- or excuse me, estate- comes with five miles of private beach, two tennis courts, a basketball court, two swimming pools, a large sauna, movie theatre, personal gym, guest house, pool house, stable with 3 horses, wine cellar, underground game room, fifteen car garage, and about five thousand acres.  The pristine lawn, winding road through an orchard leading to the driveway and three-story main house left me wondering how my father could afford it all, not to mention all of the other unnecessary things.  He had told me that the company he works for sold him the estate at a great deal.  I didn't question what that "great deal" was.  

"I'm all settled in.  Well, aside from the furniture," I announce after emerging from the realm of boxes I've been busy with for the last hour and a half.  Dad snags a take-out menu from the pile of brochures his employers left for us on the kitchen island's marbled granite.  "Thanks for that by the way."  

My father's gaze snaps from the thin, pink sheet of folded paper he was examining onto me, clearly shocked by my small display of gratitude.  Usually, I would mope around and ignore him for a week for making me move, but I'm not upset this time.  Instead, I'm surprisingly intrigued.  

"You're welcome, honey!  I hope you like it, I wasn't really sure about what to buy so I got a little bit of help from a friend.  In my opinion, he actually did quite a fine job," Dad rambles, clearly pleased with himself.  

"He?  Dad, don't you think it's a bit strange to have another man your age help you pick out furniture for your teenage daughter?  He probably found something with cherubs in the -," I'm so close to finishing my witty quip when I'm cut off by a firm knock at the front door.  

"Oh, great!  That should be him now Kenny.  I'm excited for you to meet him! He and I have known each other for quite some time."  And with that Dad asks me to answer the door quickly.  

Walking to the door I notice the fact that I'm barely wearing clothes.  My bikini strings are peeking out of my t-shirt collar while my belly-button piercing is playing peek-a-boo with the ragged line of my crop top.  Not to mention, that my ass cheeks are nearly hanging out of my daisy dukes.  Damn it, I've been so busy unloading my things out of the truck that I was just focused on lounging by the pool and maybe going for a swim, not meeting one of my dad's old friends.  Well, it's too late now.  

I reach the heavy mahogany door and press my fingers against the cool handle, opening it.  I'm so relieved when I see a handsome, young man at my door clothed in a pair of hip-hugging jeans and a tight, ragged t-shirt that accentuates his broad, defined shoulders.  Dad's friend must have just sent a delivery guy instead of coming himself.  Awesome!  It would have been so embarrassing for him to see me like this, not that I'm ashamed of my body.  Hell no!  But my dad speaks highly of this guy so I guess I should be at my best when I meet him.  

The man in front of me can't be more than twenty-five with a physique like his.  His biceps bulge under his sleeves as his shirt clings to the defined muscles of his chest and stomach.  Damn, what do they have this boy lifting off those trucks?  My eyes travel back up to his face as I notice his jawline flexing while his eyes make the same trek mine did.  His eyes are a deep shade of blue that contrast sexily against his tanned russet skin and precise bronze fade.  

Finishing my careful appreciation of his appearance I blink a few times then open my mouth to speak.  "Oh, um sorry, do you need me to sign something for the delivery or..."  I say as my sentence trails off, waiting for an answer.  

His full lips curl into a smile revealing perfectly white, straight teeth.  "No, um, you're Kendyl, right?  I recognize you from the pictures, though you seem a bit older than when they were taken."  

"Yeah, that's me?"  I say, a bit uncomfortable.  I'm not used to crazily sexy men knowing my name.  Maybe I'm dreaming????  Maybe he's a stalker, I wouldn't mind...  

"Oh, sorry I don't mean to startle you," he says, throwing his hands up as if to demonstrate that he's harmless.  "My name is Spencer.  I'm friends with your father."