*****

"It hurts when you're being ignored by the person whose attention is the only thing you want in the world."

*****

Devlin had fucked up.

He had fucked up big time and he knew it.

He had planned everything so well that he was sure nothing was going to mess things up but eventually the mission went sideways.

And my cake fell in the wrong hands, he scoffed.

The friend, Nicole, had bad news written all over her the moment she entered the room ruining their moment. Adding fuel to the fire, she was seducing him right in front of her.

It really was ironical how the one he wanted to act all lovey dovey with him was too quiet the whole time while the one he wanted to be quiet or even disappear was the one acting as if he was her boyfriend and he has been away for a long time and he had just returned!

"I really am shitty at this luck thing." he muttered to himself.

The only good thing he got from from the whole of that encounter was her name.

Sharleen.

Even her name alone was able to ignite his sexual desires. At least now he could put a name to the beautiful face that was bringing crazy thoughts in his mind.

It was already 7pm and he was surprised he had been walking aimlessly for all that time since he left the flower shop. He badly needed a beer to drink and someone to give him some advice on what he was to do about the next day's invite by the ladies.

Since his mom would most likely ask too many questions that he did not know if he could answer, he decided to fetch his phone and text his friend.

Hey man, be at our usual bar in ten minutes or you will have no balls during your wedding. And he sent the message.

Twenty minutes later, Devlin was sipping his second beer at the bar when Kevin budged in and joined him at their usual table.

"Were you seriously threatening my balls? You know they got no spare, right?" Kevin asked as he sat down referring to the message his friend sent earlier.

"Hello to you too my friend. My day was good, thanks for asking, how about yours?" Devlin greeted him sarcastically. Sometimes he wondered how Kevin became a lawyer.

"I won't great you back if that's what you are waiting for, not after you made me almost pee in my pants with your message." Kevin said, ordering a beer of his own.

"So tell me what's up." Kevin inquired after taking a first sip of his beer.

"Why does anything have to be up? Can't i call you to just chill out? I was bored here alone." Devlin said trying to avoid the question.

"Tell that to the goats maybe they will believe you. Now tell me what's wrong before I carry my ass out of here." Kevin inquired again.

"It's about this girl..." Devlin started.

"Oh, so it's about a girl!" Kevin interrupted. "Finally! Someone to remove the cobwebs around your dick." He continued teasingly.

"We are not talking about my dick and certainly not my sex life." Devlin groaned to his friend.

"What?" Kevin raised his hands innocently. "I bet it is full of rust right now. I wonder if your balls..."

"Okay, enough." Devlin stopped his friend. "Do you want to listen to this or not?" He asked.

"Fine. I never knew i could play Dr. Love but well... it is what it is. Bro code must be respected." Kevin mumbled loudly so his friend could hear.

Devlin rolled his eyes to his friend childish behavior and explained, "There is this girl that i want, but her friend seems more interested in me than she is. What should i do?"

"Well... Tell her the truth that you want her. Ladies love men who are honest." Kevin said in an obvious tone.

Devlin thought about what his friend said an concluded that it was not at all a bad idea.

"How should I tell her? I mean, do i have to make it special?" Devlin asked again.

"Do what you gotta do my man. You can even tattoo 'i love you' on your butt and show it to her." Kevin teased grinning.

"Well... Thanks for the advice but i don't think my butt is relevant for the occasion. I shall think of something." Devlin concluded.

"You are welcome Dev, and you can come to me anytime with those lady problems, after all i am the lady's man here." Kevin grinned some more.

The two friends continued talking until their beers were over and they both went separate ways after that.

The next day, Devlin woke up in a happy and jovial mood. After his talk with Kevin the day before, he came home and decided to write a letter. A love letter, telling her how he felt.

Letter writing was something Devlin only saw in movies. In fact, he had not even thought of that until he was given the suggestion on his phone after googling how to declare your love to a lady. You heard it people... Googled.

After taking breakfast with his mother downstairs, he quickly sent a message to Nicole's number asking where her house was located. After some minutes, Devlin received a message with the address and decided to get ready.

Devlin took a quick shower and decided to put on official shirt and pants. Though this was not his style but he had to look presentable if he was to air out his feelings. Bidding his mother a bye, he quickly walked towards Nicole's house.

After some minutes, he was at the front door of the address Nicole sent him. After knocking twice, the door was opened by none other than Nicole herself. She looked in a bashful mood and Devlin just hoped everything could go well.

"Welcome Devlin... Wow, you look hot!" Nicole complemented looking Devlin from head to toe.

"Thanks. You don't look bad yourself." Devlin said trying to be polite and followed her to enter the house.

The interior of the house was beautiful, Devlin thought. The sofas were arranged stylishly with a table in the middle and a flat screen television on the front. He even wondered why she wanted to rearrange it.

His eyes scanned the room quickly, searching for a certain someone and when he did not find the face that was always running through his mind, he felt disappointed.

"Where is Sharleen?" He found himself asking automatically. Saying her name made him feel some desires arise in him and today was no different.

"Oh, Sharleen had a slight headache, she had to sleep it off so she called and told us to have fun without her. Don't worry about her, it's ladies stuff." Nicole lied swiftly and Devlin had no option than to accept.

Devlin noticed how she said 'fun' and how she was behaving with him. He was no fool. Nicole had worn a short and thin black dress that reached her knees. When she walked and talked, she exaggeratedly shook her assets for him.

You can shake your butts till you break your legs, or even wear only a scarf on your body, my heart already belongs to someone.

"Come on, what do you want?" Devlin was brought out of his thoughts by her question. The look she was giving him totally confirmed to him that it was not an innocent question.

"What?" He tried playing dumb.

"I mean, to drink. What do you want to drink?" She asked again after she saw he wasn't cooperating as she expected.

"Water would be okay. I mean i can't get drunk and have a tipsy Devlin rearranging the house. You don't want your house to look like a public toilet, do you?" Devlin joked, trying to make the atmosphere comfortable.

Nicole laughed a little and said, "Okay, have a sit on the sofa and I'll bring you your water before we begin." and then went to the kitchen.

After some minutes, Nicole came back and handed him a glass of water and another glass for herself that contained orange juice.

They chatted for a few minutes. If Devlin was being honest to himself, Nicole was funny and he would not mind having her as a friend. He would also not mind her open affection if he was not pursuing her friend, but well, things were different.

"...Well, after what he did to me, i decided to pay him back. I went to his house and since i knew where he hid the spare key, it was easy to get in. Guess what I did? I poured chilly and pepper powder on his boxer, right where his dick should be. Lets just say he was fired the next day because the employers feared he had a contagious disease that made him scratch his balls like a mad man." Nicole was now laughing as she shared her past with Devlin who was now smiling.

"Should i be afraid of you?" Devlin asked, faking fear.

"Nah, i have a weakness for the hot and cute ones, you are safe." Nicole teased back while flirting.

"Oh, thank you." Devlin was always not good at taking complements. "I think we should start now." He said, changing the subject.

"Sure, but as handsome as you look in official, i don't think it is the right wear for what we are about to do." Nicole commented.

She was right. Devlin could not disagree with that. Without thinking much about it he started unbuttoning his shirt unaware of the person next to him who was looking at him mouth ajar and eyes ready to pop out of their sockets.

When Nicole commented about his attire, she had not thought he would take his shirt off, I mean, what the fuck! But she couldn't complain, could she? She had been fantasizing about his abs and muscle the whole night and here she was, about to get a free show.

When his shirt was off, Devlin looked towards Nicole wondering why she was quiet all of a sudden. He found her feasting on his body with her eyes and he cleared his throat making her look at him with her now flushed face.

"Ahh... Hand me that shirt. I'll go hang it at the door hanger and then we can start." Nicole said, trying to hide her already visible blush.

Devlin nodded and stretched out his right hand to give her his shirt. Nicole received the shirt and quickly left, embarrassed. While hanging it, a piece of paper fell from the shirts' breast pocket. Curiosity killed the cat, they say, but Nicole who was always the daring one, opened the paper.

Hey beautiful,

I am not good at this but you are worth a million tries. I've been debating on how to tell you how i feel, but my inexperienced self decided on a letter. So yeah...

Here it goes. I like you. Like really like you. I might even love you, i don't know, but it might be possible. I know it's crazy, a stranger you only know his name, nothing more, dropping this bomb to you?

I always trust my heart and since i saw you, my heart has been singing one song. You. Can you believe that?

All i need is a chance. A chance to get to know you. A chance to spend time with you, to share your happiness, your sadness and be part of your memory.

Will you allow me to enter your life, beautiful?

Love always, Devlin.

*****