The Trouble With Snowmen (9 page)

Chapter 18

Haley had lost time. She’d sat on the couch, snug under her favorite quilt from her grandma. She had turned on the classic movie channel, losing herself in a black and white world. Her phone beeped, alerting her to a text message, which made her realize that her day had turned into night. The message from Travis let her know what time he’d be there to pick her up. Since she wasn’t working at Kickers that evening, Travis had asked if she wanted to go dancing there. And why not? Maybe for the night she could forget about her world that had crumbled all around her.

“Oh crap,” she said, noting the time. She was supposed to have been at Maximilian’s thirty minutes ago. Maximilian wanted to do one more fitting so he’d be ready in case they picked him as a contestant on
Catwalk Wars
. He hoped to make it to the final round.

Maximilian had a small, loyal clientele and had worked at a dress shop in the Galleria Mall for years. As much as he seemed to enjoy being a buyer, Haley was pretty sure Maximilian would’ve done anything to have stores buy from him. She was super impressed by his passion and motivation.

Haley went to her bedroom and undressed as fast as she could, putting on her robe before running down the hall and into Maximilian’s apartment.

“I’m here,” she said, disrobing and thumbing through the clothes on the rack. She knew for sure she had to retry on the red sequined gown. The dress had been two inches too long the last time she’d tried it on. “I’m sorry I’m late. Maximilian?” she yelled.

“He stepped out,” a voice not belonging to Maximilian said from across the room.

Haley froze, gulped, and then turned toward Larry, who only wore a pair of boxers.

Larry’s eyebrow went up as he shrugged. “Somehow I got roped into being a model for Maximilian’s new men’s line.” He gave her a nod. “Looking for something to wear?”

She glanced down and let out a little squeal. She stood there in her bra and panties. At least they matched. She yanked the dress up against her bare body like a shield.

Larry took a couple of steps toward her.

His boxers had cute little squares—
Oh, crap
. She was checking out his boxers. By the time she made it to his face, he also wore a sinister little grin. She turned her attention to the little lines in the hardwood floor. And she had to keep her mind focused on that second, not on the memory of the feel of his hands all over her body.

“I’m glad you’re here,” he said. “I wanted to talk to you about everything. You know.”

“Right,” she said and snapped her head up, making sure her gaze didn’t stop anywhere else accept for his eyes.

Larry’s smile had disappeared, replaced by a thoughtful frown.

Was that a little cleft in his chin? It must have been hidden by that awful unruly beard the other day. She couldn’t get over how he was like two different men. His voice sounded the same. His fit, lean, masculine body was the same. But he was not the same man. The guy she’d gone home with could’ve passed for someone who slept on newspapers. The handsome man standing in front of her belonged in the pages of a magazine.

“I’m sorry—”

The door burst open. “Haley? Are you here?” Travis asked.

Haley was about to apologize to Larry for walking out on him without saying goodbye, but she couldn’t very well say that now. But her mouth still hung open as she glanced from one man to the next. This situation did not appear appropriate.

“Haley?” Travis looked at Larry in his underwear and then back at Haley in her state. “Who’s he?”

Haley got her voice working, kind of. “I, uh, this is, uh, Maximilian’s friend.”

“Who?” Travis frowned. “Maximilian’s . . . oh.
Oh
.”

“I came over to do a fitting for Maximilian,” Haley said quickly. “I didn’t realize he had company. So I was about to put on this dress and there he was. Ha-huh.” Which was all true.

Travis offered Larry a handshake. “Nice to meet you. I’m Travis. Travis Bruce.”

“Larry.” He stood tall and confident, even though he wore only his underwear, and politely shook Travis’s hand.

“How long have you and Max been dating?” Travis asked.

Awkward silence. Travis waiting on an answer, Larry looking from Travis to Haley with a little frown forming across his brow, and Haley holding her breath.

“What?” Larry finally asked. His eyes darted down to what he was wearing or not wearing. “I’m not—”

Haley, who was out of Travis’s vision, frantically waved her left hand, while her right hand held onto her dignity. “Please,” she mouthed and shook her head. She had Larry’s attention, which made Travis turn to her. She put her hand down, hoping he hadn’t seen anything. Travis smiled and then kind of frowned at her but then turned back to Larry. “You know, you look familiar.”

Haley’s heart pounded
. Breathe, breathe
. The last thing she needed was to faint and wake up to find that they had discussed everything while she was out. She needed to be able to explain everything to Travis if need be. As self-indulgent as Travis was, he was the only thing she had left. And what was left was in Larry’s hands, the guy who she had snowmanned. The guy who’d thought she was a streetwalker. She squeezed her eyes together, waiting for the last shoe to fall, for this to be the end of everything. She might as well go back to her apartment and start packing to move back in with her parents.

“I get that a lot,” Larry said. “And me and Maximilian, don’t call him Max, have been together for months.”

“Oh nice,” Travis said. “I’m surprised I haven’t seen you around.” He turned to Haley. “So you ready to go?”

Haley was about to breathe a sigh of relief until Maximilian strolled through the door, which Travis had left open, and stopped in his tracks.

He looked from one person to the next and said, “Interesting.”

Haley walked up to Maximilian, the boys behind her. She gave him as serious a face as she could muster, eyes wide, trying to will him with her mind to understand what she was about to say. “I just introduced Travis to your
boyfriend
, Larry.”

“Say what?”

“Your
boyfriend
, Larry. Because
my
boyfriend has never met him before.”

Maximilian sighed. “Okay.” He walked over and picked up Haley’s robe from the floor and helped her put it on. He then hung his dress back on the rack.

“I have a great idea,” Travis said. “Why don’t y’all come with us tonight? We’re going to Kickers to do some dancing.”

“A double date!” Maximilian exclaimed. “I would love to go.”

“Cool,” Travis said. “I will see all you ladies in a little while. I’ve got to spruce up. Hey Haley, do you have any hairspray. I ran off and left mine at home.”

She nodded. “Sure, sure. There’s some on my dresser.”

“Thanks.” Travis gave her a kiss before leaving.

“I haven’t been on a double date in forever!” Maximilian sang. “I’m so excited. I can’t believe I will get the chance to road-trip one of my new designs.”

Haley turned slowly, trying to be nonchalant about the whole ordeal. Larry looked more dumbfounded than anything. He stared at her as if he were trying to figure things out.

“I need boots and a belt buckle,” Maximilian said.

Thankfully, Larry turned his attention to Maximilian.

“You do know I’m not gay?” Larry retrieved his pants from the back of a chair.

“I’m not gay either,” Maximilian said, putting his hand on his chest.

“What?” Larry and Haley asked at the same time.

“I’m pansexual! You know, gender-blind. We are all beautiful so why limit your dating field? I’m just saying, I don’t get it.”

Larry put on his pants. “In any case, Maximilian, I umm . . .”

“Don’t worry, lover boy, I know your heart belongs to someone else.”

Haley tried not to show her disappointment and the pain over Larry dating someone, especially Brenda.

“Besides,” Maximilian said and lifted his chin, “I have no time for anyone right now, so don’t flatter yourself. But I sure could use a night out to let my hair down.”

Larry began to politely decline, until Maximilian whispered something in his ear.

Really? Haley thought. They have secrets now? Was Larry going to take her best friend away from her too?

“You’ve got a point.” Larry kind of smiled at Haley but he kind of seemed ticked too.

This was all messed up. “Y’all don’t have to come tonight,” she said. “Please, please don’t come tonight.”

“Are you kidding?” Larry said. “I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

“Yes!” Maximilian clapped his hands together. “I’ve got a date with Larry White.”

“You know you can call me just Larry. You don’t have to say my whole name.”

“I know.” Maximilian said, and started walking to his room.

“What about the fitting?” Haley called.

“Tomorrow morning, before the birds wake up. So don’t drink too much tonight. We all know how that turns out, Haley. Now I’ve got to go get my shit-kicker club outfit all ready.” Maximilian walked inside his bedroom and shut the door.

“Thanks,” Haley whispered under her breath. It was so nice of him to bring that up right now.

“So what was all that about?” Even though Larry looked different, handsome and put together, he had those same dark, sexy eyes that made her weak in the knees.

Haley cleared her throat. “Yeah, sorry. I panicked. We were, you know, and I was afraid my boyfriend would jump to the wrong conclusions. Thank you so much for playing along. I don’t know how to thank you. Travis doesn’t know anything about you . . . about us. We just got back together, and I haven’t had a chance to tell him. I will.” Maybe she would, but what she really wanted was to try and forget any of it had happened.

“He’s your boyfriend?” he asked, his tone a bit angry. “Wait, Travis? Is that’s the same bastard who hurt you?”

Haley felt a surge of confusion race to her heart and then flash to her face. Maximilian, she concluded. She couldn’t believe Maximilian had told Larry about Travis. But they did seem buddy-buddy now. What all had Maximilian told Larry? By the looks of Larry, a lot, or not enough, or too much.

“Haley?” Travis called from down the hall. “Do you have any floss?”

She heard Travis, but her eyes were locked with Larry’s, and she didn’t turn away. “I gotta go,” she finally said.

Larry’s intensity began to soften, and he whispered, “Haley, wait.”

Haley blinked her eyes and shook her head, releasing herself, and hurried out of the apartment. She stopped in the hallway to catch her breath, to try and keep from crying, or did she want to smile? She couldn’t comprehend any of the emotions that surged through her. She had to get a hold of herself and make herself walk the rest of the way toward her apartment, toward Travis, and away from Larry.

Chapter 19

Getting away with not going to dinner with Brenda had been easy once Larry had decided to lie. He did feel a little guilty about telling her he was busy writing and would be horrible company, along with how she had made it all possible by giving him such a wonderful gift, but it did allow him the free evening.

Music blared, and even though Larry didn’t recognize the song, he recognized the tune as country. Even if there hadn’t been music, he knew they’d just crossed into another world, one where everyone enjoyed the same music, drank lots of alcohol, and wore boots and cowboy hats. Growing up in Texas, seeing urban cowboys now and then was nothing new, but he hadn’t seen so many of them at the same time since the Houston Live Stock Show and Rodeo back when he’d been a teenager.

And Larry had been impressed with Maximilian’s clothes, button-down shirt, jeans, and boots.

“Well, don’t look so surprised,” Maximilian had said after Larry complimented him. “I am a designer, and I live in Texas. I know what to wear to a country bar. What’d you think I was going to wear? Sequins?”

Larry kind of wished he had so there would be less attention as to how he’d dressed. Brenda had bought and put a nice selection of clothes in his closet but none of them were casual. According to his wardrobe, she had planned on them going to a lot of the swanky dinners and such. Other than those, all he had were a few clothes from home. He’d managed to put together a T-shirt, slacks, and a pair of dress shoes.

“They’re over there,” Maximilian yelled over the music, pointed, and then walked through the crowd.

Larry followed, wondering if this had been the best decision. The music was so loud, he didn’t think he’d be able to talk privately with Haley like Maximilian had whispered to him in his apartment earlier. And seeing Haley with another man was going to be tough. A very handsome, muscular guy. The type of guy he’d actually used as his hero in a few of his books.
Travis had a chiseled chin and chiseled muscles that ached to take out as many zombies as possible.

“Hey guys,” Travis said as they approached. He wore about the same garb Maximilian had on, but somehow looked way more comfortable in it. Larry rolled his eyes at the fact that Travis wore his shirt two sizes too small so it would show off his arms and chest.

Larry thought maybe he should be the hero and back down. But he couldn’t. He felt something for Haley that he couldn’t walk away from now that he’d found her. Besides, no way Haley had real feelings for this guy, the guy who had hurt her so much she had thrown herself at a stranger. He decided, right then and there, to fight for her.

Larry nodded and tried not to look over at Haley. But he did. She stood by a little round table, staring out at the crowd. He could tell that this, this was Haley’s real world. She looked so different from when he’d first seen her at the séance and different than he’d seen her that next morning, freshly showered with no makeup. She even looked different than earlier when her hair had been away from her face.

Tonight Haley wore a pair of worn blue-jean shorts, pockets sticking out of the bottom, and pink cowboy boots. Her hair, which was down and straight, draped long on each side of her cleavage, revealing enough to arouse the memory of her entire gorgeous body.

Maximilian hit him on his back, bringing him out of his trance. “This lovely man wants to know if you want a drink.”

This also got Haley’s attention and she glanced at Larry.

Larry forced himself to turn to the server. “Yeah, sorry, sure, I’ll take a glass of—” he almost said red wine but noticed the beer mugs on the table. “Beer, whatever bock you have on tap.”

“I’m so glad you guys made it,” Travis said, and then his attention went to across the room. He gave a head nod. “I’ll be right back.”

Maximilian walked over to Haley. They talked and Larry stood there wondering what he should do? He went to join them when Maximilian turned back around, he had a frown on his usual cheerful face.

“Is everything all right?” Larry asked him.

“I’m going to the little boy’s room.” Maximilian trotted away.

Larry put his hands in his pockets, afraid to look at Haley. When he finally did, she wasn’t looking at him at all. Her head moved to the music but he noticed the tightness of her mouth. He caught Haley when she took a quick peek at him without moving her head. After a minute, after he got his nerve up, he took a step toward her.

“Excuse me, bro,” Travis said as he pushed past him and to Haley.

What happened next, their apparent ritual, made Larry cringe. Travis ambled over to Haley and, without a word, she took his hand. They walked out onto the packed dance floor.

Larry listened to the lyrics of the song that played, “You know you melt my heart - with your tender kisses. You melt my heart - with your warm embrace,” and felt defeated as he wondered if it was their song. It was their environment. They dressed the same, knew all the steps, felt at home here, and floated across the dance floor.

Larry didn’t want to watch them, but couldn’t take his eyes off of Haley. There wasn’t an inch between the two of them as they swayed and turned in perfect step. Larry walked closer to the dance floor after he’d lost sight of them, but soon they came twirling around the corner. When Travis turned Haley around, Larry wanted to run onto the dance floor and tear that son-of-a-bitch’s hands off of Haley’s ass. Larry’s heart pounded and a knot had formed in his throat.

Travis whipped Haley around again, and Larry caught Haley’s stare. She squinted before a small frown formed on her face. He must have looked like an idiot to her, standing there, watching them. Larry forced his eyes away, and unclenched his fist and teeth. He decided he needed to leave, get out of there before he humiliated himself further.

He headed back to the table, searching for Maximilian so he could tell him he was ready to go. The server approached with a drink. “I brought you a Shiner.”

Larry nodded. “Thanks.” He paid the guy and sat down at the table, deciding he might as well drink his beer while he waited on Maximilian. He did everything he could to not look back to the dance floor. He stared at his beer.

“Hey, aren’t you Larry White?” A young, pretty girl with red lips stood next to his table.

“Yes,” he said, going into professional mode. “How may I help you?”

The girl squealed. “I knew it.” She turned to someone behind her and said, “I told you it was him!”

A couple seconds later, a group of girls surrounded him. He signed shirts, napkins, whatever they could find. A couple of the women gave him their phone numbers and email addresses. This seemed to happen a lot, thanks to a couple of articles calling him a sexy, eligible bachelor.

Finally, Maximilian appeared and shooed them all away. “I can’t take you anywhere.” He seemed cheerful now, and Larry asked him about earlier with Haley. Maximilian shrugged. “Oh, something about loyalty.”

“Sorry, man. I shouldn’t have said anything about Travis to Haley. I just couldn’t believe that she took the guy back. I want to punch him.”

“You sure you want to do that? He’s a lot bigger than you.”

“Yeah, well, I’m quicker . . . maybe.”

“I hate him too, but no need for violence. But to tell you the truth, I think
I
could take him. I have a feeling he doesn’t know how to use those guns. More for show. And don’t tell Haley I said this, but I think Travis is a little daintier than I am.”

“Certainly prettier.”

“Hey!”

Larry smiled and felt himself relax a bit. He took another swig of his cold beer, wondering why he’d ever changed over to wine in the first place.

“Well, I’m not mad that you said something to her.” Maximilian shrugged. “That’s why I told you in the first place. I mean, how else are you going to get her away from Mr. Abs? I like you,
just Larry
, and I think you two belong together.”

“Don’t count on that.” Larry nodded toward the dance floor. “They look pretty cozy out there.”

“They’re not having sex, just dancing. Come on.” Maximilian grabbed Larry’s arm and headed toward the dance floor.

“I’m not sure two guys dancing in this place would end nicely,” Larry said. By that time, Maximilian had dragged him all the way inside the dancing couples, and before he knew it, they stood right beside Haley and Travis.

Maximilian tapped Travis on the shoulder. When Travis turned away from Haley, Maximilian asked, “May I cut in?” He held his arms out to Travis.

Travis looked confused, and Maximilian winked at Larry.

Larry seized the moment. He put his arm around the small of Haley’s back and gentle guided her into his arms. He mimicked the stance of the other dancers but also interlaced their fingers. He rocked her back and forth while trying to read her eyes.

“What are you doing?” she asked, but didn’t pull away.

“Dancing,” he replied.

“Not very well,” she said with a glimmer of amusement in her eyes.

Maximilian was saying, “Well, at least save the next dance for me,” as he followed Travis off of the dance floor.

Haley’s smiled widened and she shook her head but she didn’t take her eyes off of Larry.

“He’s a good friend,” Larry said over the music.

“The best.”

Larry felt a sudden comfort, having Haley safely in his arms. He wanted to tell her “Let’s forget about everyone else and get the hell out of here.” Instead, he said, “I want to talk to you.”

Haley stopped the ridiculous dance steps Larry attempted. They stood in the middle of the floor, still holding one another but not moving. Haley stared at him intently, her hazel eyes drilling a pathway to his soul. “Okay.”

Larry could feel Haley’s body trembling and this made him happily nervous. It had to mean that she was as anxious to talk to him as he was to talk to her. But he couldn’t think of any words.

“Why?” Haley asked.

Larry had to lean in so he could hear her. He could feel little wisp of her breath on his face as she continued, “Why didn’t you tell me who you were? Why would you pretend to be a starving artist?”

“I didn’t,” he said over the music. “Not really. I drive a nice car. You rode in it.”

“I thought it belonged to your friend, which turns out to be your girlfriend, my ex-boss.” She backed out of his arms.

“I had no idea y’all knew each other. And she’s—”

“I thought you were borrowing it, like you borrowed the house and the computer. And why did you think I was a prostitute? I mean, I know I came on to you, I was drunk, and dressed a little more sluttier than I thought I had, but then why would you have sex with me?”

Larry froze. Haley was getting upset and this was going in the complete opposite direction that this conversation was supposed to go in.

“I like—” He tried to talk but it didn’t seem like she was interested in what he had to say. He’d even lost eye contact.

She stared at his shirt and kept talking. “Don’t men usually pay for the services of a prostitute? I didn’t ask for any money. How could you think that about me?” She looked up at him, finally quiet, and waited for an answer.

“Everything added up,” he yelled so she could hear him. “I even told you I didn’t have money to pay for sex, and you said it was okay, so I thought you were giving me a freebie.”

The song stopped at the same time he’d said “freebie,” so it had been loud. And there was this instant when time seemed to stand still. In that instant, tears gathered in Haley’s eyes.

Then the world started again, another song began to play, and the motion of the dancers came alive around them. Larry let himself relax a little as Haley leaned closer to him.

But then she said, “I thought you meant you were poor and were embarrassed and wanted to make sure I knew that before we went any further.”

“Haley,” he said.

But she turned on her heel and darted off the dance floor.

“No, no, no! Haley, wait!” Larry went to follow but was stopped by a couple of women with a camera phone. He hated to be rude, but he had to be and didn’t stay to take a picture like he would have under normal circumstances.

By the time he made it back to Maximilian, Haley and Travis had zigzagged through the crowd and exited.

Maximilian was having a conversation with a girl in a glittery shirt so Larry plopped down in the seat beside him and put his head down on the table, drained.

Why? Why had he said that? Stupid, stupid, stupid! At least she had wanted answers, which he hoped meant she cared. Of all the stupid, idiotic things he could have said, he’d said the one thing he shouldn’t have. A freebie? What the hell was wrong with him? He had accomplished the opposite of what he had set out to do. Haley left with Travis. He had pushed her further into the son-of-a-bitch’s arms. He felt a little nauseated as he thought that he might have even pushed her into his bed tonight. Shit. What the hell was he going to do now?