Love me like you loathe me

Chapter5

I was sipping more mimosa, it was just me and my phone underneath the shade of an umbrella on Mike's porch with everyone else being social in the garden, starting to cook the mountains of meat that Mike had bought apparently, having a big grin standing by the grill and acting like the i***t he really was when he was around people.

"Stephanie…hey… long time no see…." a man had come towards me when I didn’t look up seeing the looming shadow before me, not wanting to talk to anyone before lifting my head up and seeing the tall, handsome and clearly muscular man that was beaming at me with all his might, almost making me about to faint from the surprise of understanding who he really was.

"Jimmy, oh my god, is that really you??" He was already helping me up and hugging me hard when I hugged him back, almost giggling, seeing the familiar face that suddenly didn't belong to a skinny guy with freckles and bad teeth, the only one that didn't tease me for being weird, my best friend in high school, Jimmy Dodson.

"Oh my god… Jimbo…. How are you so… big?" I said it, almost embarrassed to his snicker. He was still holding me in his arms and beaming proudly at me in awe; he didn't look like this before!

Someone had replaced the skinny nerd with this huge muscular man, who was so big that I could barely understand that he used to be able to fit two legs inside of one of my pairs of jeans!

"Yapp, I got big and strong…" he smirked more at my radiant smile against his when he was still holding me. My head tilted upward, and I felt like, for the first time since I came back, I was okay of being here since Jimmy was around. He was my best friend growing up. The only one that didn’t act like I was the scum of the earth. No, we were good.

"You look great, I mean… You always did, Jimmy, but…" I blushed, tripping over my own words, not understanding why. This was still Jimmy, and I knew he was still grinning, seeing just how stunned I was over his transformation.

We hid in the shade, and people stared at us. He was still wrapping his massive, bulky arms around us, making my heart race slightly. How did he get so goddamm good-looking?

“Yeah… six hours a day in the gym will get you that…” he wasn’t letting me go to my cheeks flaring even more, six freaking hours? Didn’t he have a job or something like that? Wasn't he a dentist like his mom was?

He was still grinning, letting me go, and I was smiling when he sat next to me on the staircase.

"Thanks…" He was still staring at me like he hadn't seen me growing up as a kid, his eyes still on my face like he couldn't believe I was back. His smile was tremendous and white. Did he have his teeth replaced? They must have since I remember them being crooked before, and now they look perfect against the tanned skin.

"You look great too, Steph… but then again, you always did…" He smiled more at my smirk, knowing he was teasing me, as always.

"So... where is yours?" I nodded towards the kids playing with my brother and other guys in the yard. There were a bunch of them. To my surprise, I heard his laughter, as if I was being funny, when I turned back, seeing his grin and shaking his head. He didn't have any kids. That made no sense. He looked great, and any girl would love to have him!

"No, not yet… almost had some with my ex-wife, but…we had a miscarriage and… yeah, she and I weren't meant to be, got divorced last year…" Jimmy was still smiling, making my heart break more. I knew he loved kids, and he always did. He was staring out onto the full backyard of families and just hanging out here with me, the lone loser, as always.

"I'm sorry, Jimmy…" I rubbed his arm and got a trying smile back from him, nodding like he knew I was. We were all sorry.

"Yeah, life screws you over… but I'm glad you're back, Steph; we should hang out like we did before you left… I can show my house…" I lost my smile hearing him talking about his house. I bet he had a nice one, and all I had was living back at my parents with Mike taking care of my bills; I needed to get a job, no matter how much I hated the person that was the owner.

"Yeah, sure. I would love to see your house, Jimmy…" I smiled at his proud grin.

He gave me another side hug when he got up, and I sighed since he wouldn't pull me out towards the other guests. He was nicer than that, no matter how big and brawny he is these days.

"Let me give you my number…" I was still smiling at Jimmy with my eyes above the crowd, frowning slightly at Mike for leaving me here. Wasn't he supposed to be the host, or was that just his harpy of a wife who told him to invite me but really didn't want me here? Her brother, standing further away, talking to a nicely dressed woman, laughing at his stupid jokes, and ignoring me, was burrowing my eyes into him.

"Here you go…" I made a thankful smile towards Jimmy's lovely face, his teeth almost blinding me from how nice and perfect they were—nearly too perfect—but I didn't have the heart to tell him since he was so proud, as he should be.

"Okay... thanks, and I will call you…" I said more teasingly, almost having a heart attack. I felt his arm around me, pulling me in for another hug that I didn't see coming, to my nervous laughter and trying to get him to let me go as nicely as possible.

"Oh, you should, because I know where you live…" He chuckled louder, making me feel more tense. He wasn't trying to scare me; his words were innocent, but knowing that he did know, just like everyone else in this town, made me feel worse.

"...or come by my office. I could give you a discount, not that you need it, of course! You look great!" I nodded and realized I had no idea why he was giving me a discount… I gave him a nod, trying to smile as nicely as possible before he walked away from me.

"Bye, Jimmy!" I was waving at him and smiling, my eyes shifting and my stomach getting cold, seeing the stern stare from Lewis Caldwell, looking like he wanted to kill me.

I looked away, snapping my eyes on my phone, and lost my smile. I hated him even more for staring at me.

He was still a bully and made me feel bad around him, no matter how many years had passed between me and this town.

I got up and started to walk around the back of the house, wanting to be left alone by anyone trying to talk to me. The feeling of people asking me why I was back made me think that this barbecue was over.