The Boys Next Door

This is gonna be a trip.“ Terri sighed as she stood looking up at the tiny dilapidated two story house she and her niece Dani had just closed the deal on. It wasn’t the worst house they’d lived in but it wasn't  the nicest either. “I’m sure it’s not as bad as it looks. Danielle smiled and reached down for one of the buckets carrying cleaning supplies. Terri fake- smiled back and grabbed the other bucket, following Dani up the steps and into the house. “Somethin’ smells dead.” the younger of the two women said dragging her long auburn hair away from her face as they trudged across the porch. “It’s the smell of my hopes and dreams… They are so dead.” Terri answered. To which Danielle threw a sponge at her head. “We are gonna be fine here, just like always. Think of it…like when we were growing up… You can tell me What Ifs again.” Danielle grinned. “What If we get dead in here and no one cares enough to come look for us? How’s THAT for a What If? ” “Stop being morbid… What If we found a naked guy in here?! “He would most likely be homeless and lice ridden…and around 100 years old… And a serial killer… ” “Well aren’t you a big ball of sunshine. I thought being a pessimist was my job.” Danielle scoffed. “I wish talking me out of this was your job.” Terri sighed again as she sat down on the dusty wood floor. Her straight dark hair was wadded carelessly into a knot high on her head and already stray wisps were tickling her face. She began emptying out the contents of the bucket… “What do you wanna start with? ” she asked rubbing at her cheeks. After about three hours of cleaning the two had the kitchen in order. Every surface had been washed, disinfected, scrubbed and/or polished. Painting would have to wait… No money in the budget for that at the moment. But the warm yellow on the walls was in good shape and something both women liked so it was something they could live with. And they wouldn’t have to live with it long. They never did. “I call break! How about it? "Terri asked. "Oh yeah! I’m starved! ” Danielle dropped her washcloth into the bucket and went to the sink. Peeling off her oversized rubber gloves she discarded the orange monstrosities onto the floor. As she washed her hands she peered out the window above the large double sink. All thought of food disappeared as she looked across the small unkempt patch of green outside. “Ohh… My… God.. ” she whispered slowly, never taking her eyes from what she saw. “ What?” Terri asked, scooching in next to her to get a look. Her gaze travelled across the fence separating her small backyard from the work in progress next door. On the roof of the house across the way were four angels… Very sweaty sexy angels. One had hair that truly DID belong on Olympus… He was wearing faded jeans, workbooks and a white t shirt that was split down both sides to the bottom band. Around his forehead, holding back that glorious hair was tied a blue bandana, he was wielding a hammer in his right hand. Another angel working beside him was dressed in a similar fashion. Stockier and shorter hair. He had facial hair where “blue bandana boy” was clean shaven. He had a red bandana tied around his head and each time he swung the hammer in his hand the girls could see the muscles in his stomach and sides tighten. The third angel was wearing faded bibs… No shirt… And again.. work boots . His blond blond hair was sticking up even though he was sweaty… His chest, and arms were reddened from the sun and glistening with perspiration… And the last was slender… Spikey dark hair, a wife beater style muscle shirt and ripped faded jeans. He wiped his brow frequently with his forearm. A tiny high pitched squeal escaped Danielle’s lips and instantly four heads turned in their direction. Terri spun away from the window dragging Danielle with her. They stood just out of sight from the men with their foreheads touching. Danielle could barely choke out the words for laughter. “I forgot the window was open! ” Trying hard to stifle giggles the two slid slowly down the wall to the floor and sat holding hands. Maybe things would turn out OK after all. After a few minutes when they felt safe that the guys weren’t looking the girls got to their feet. “Let’s go see if we can find what’s dead and stinky."Terri said heading for the front porch. "I think it’s coming from the gutter. ” she said wrinkling her nose and planting her hands on her hips. Stretching on tiptoe and craning her neck, she tried to see into the leaf filled gutter overhead. “You’re never gonna see it from there.” Danielle said. We need to go out the upstairs window and onto the porch roof.“ ” You knock yourself out… I am not crawling out onto that roof. The way my life is going right now I’d either fall off or fall through. I’ll just climb up on a box or chair or something and see if I can see it from here.“ "Suit yourself.” Danielle said heading for the stairs. Five minutes later two screams pierced the afternoon stillness simultaneously,one from each girl. As Terri hung from the edge of the porch roof both legs kicking only two or three feet above the stone steps of the front porch, Danielle clung to her hands trying to keep her from slipping. “Can you imagine how bad this would be if I’d gone onto the roof? Terri joked. "Not funny. ” Danielle grunted, hanging on as Terri swung her legs looking for a foothold. “Stop kicking! ” “I’m trying to find something to put my foot on.” Terri said trying to defend her actions. “Well.. Don’t… Can’t you just drop down?” “No I cannot just drop down… I can’t see where I’m dropping to and I’ll end up rolling down the steps and breaking my neck. ” “Hello? What are you doing up there? ” This beautiful voice was sent from heaven… Actually it was very British and soft… But Terri was sure it was exactly what angels sounded like… One of four to be exact. Terri couldn’t risk looking down so she just listened to a voice that would have melted stone. “ I was contemplating suicide… This is just a trial run. I’ve decided it’s not high enough, so do you think you can help me down?” She felt strong arms wrap around her legs and a very broad shoulder ease up under her butt. But when he tried to move she realised that Danielle was still gripping her hands… Very very tightly… “Sissy.. You can let go. ” Terri said. “Yeah, you can let go, luv. ” Uh oh another male voice. Terri looked up to see wife beater boy kneeling beside Danielle on the roof. Huh where’d he come from? Danielle let him gently take her hands away and lead her inside the window to safety, and Terri was lowered to the porch steps in one piece. Only then did she see who had rescued her… Olympus boy himself. “ Oh boy.. My butt was actually touching him?! ” She thought. He’s young… Young enough to be my… Son. Apply breaks quickly and breathe… Step back and look away quickly… Run into the house and lock the door… None of these happened and she felt her stomach flutter as he smiled and she noticed two very sexy dimples appear on his very sexy face. “ Where is Danielle and why is she taking so long?” ran through her head as she tried to think of something not stupid to say. Suddenly a very dead bird dropped to the steps in between them. Hott Stuff looked up and so did she. Looking down and smiling was wife beater guy… “Found your smelly dead thing!” he said proudly. Grabbing the edge of the roof he swung down and landed squarely on his feet and did a little bounce just as Danielle stepped through the door. “Ohh!” she squealed, startled as he sidestepped to stand in front of her. “d'I scare ya, Luv?” he smiled.

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