Having spent the Sunday decluttering my closet, I had a bag of clothes in the car waiting to be donated so I decided to spend this impromptu day off running errands. After dropping off the clothes at a charity shop, I refueled my car and headed to the supermarket to get some groceries. As I loaded them in the car, I was distracted by the sound of a motorcycle driving by and being parked in the space in front of me. The bike itself was cool, but what grabbed my attention was the driver's tattoos covering his muscular body. Taking his helmet off, he turned around and we locked eyes, making my heart skip a beat.

Liam Jacobs, 29 years old - Kevin Creekman

Feeling embarrassed for getting caught staring, I tried to close the boot by taking a step back, but being the awkward person I was, I ended up tripping on a bag I forgot was on the floor and landed right on my ass. I was thankful to have parked in a somewhat empty section of the car park as I felt mortified, "you alright?" the man I was checking out asked with a sexy deep voice, while holding his hand out for me to grab. As soon as I placed my hand in his, I was pulled back on my feet while his other arm wrapped around my waist, holding me close to his hard body.

Liam's POV

I must admit, putting my arm around her and holding her like that when I was a stranger, was probably not appropriate, but I couldn't help myself. With her hands on my chest, we stared at each other before she hesitantly pulled away, "thank you" she said with a shy smile, "fuck she's beautiful" I thought to myself having checked her out as much as she had with me. "You ok?" I asked again, "yeah sorry, I can be so clumsy at times" she replied with a laugh making me smile. Noticing the bag still on the floor, I picked it up and placed it in the boot before closing it for her, "oh thank you, you didn't have to do that" she said politely, "that's alright, didn't want you to trip again" I teased making her laugh. Tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, "well, thanks again for helping me out" she said before walking towards the driver's door and unlocking the car, "my pleasure" I replied as we exchanged a smile. "See you soon" I happily thought to myself while walking away.

Annabeth's POV

Sitting at the driver's seat, I watched him walk away from the rear-view mirror while biting my lip, "he's so hot" I said out loud to myself. Just then my phone went off, making me jump a little. Checking the screen, it wasn't a saved number and I didn't recognize it, "hello?" I asked expecting the caller to start talking about 'an accident I was involved in' like the usual cold-calls I received, "hi, Annabeth?" a familiar female voice asked, "yeah?" I replied mentally trying to guess who it could be, "hi, this is Sam" she said before pausing for a second, "from earlier at the shop" she continued hesitantly, "yeah hi" I said taken by surprise, "sorry to call, I went back to the shop but they told me you went home and that girl Lori gave me your number" she explained, "what is wrong with that bitch?" I thought to myself frustrated, "though I don't think she should have done that" Sam said as if reading my mind, "are you alright?" I asked genuinely worried. She didn't say anything for a while but then, "I know this is going to sound weird but, would you maybe want to meet up for lunch? I wanted to talk to you" she said and despite feeling apprehensive about it considering the circumstances, I accepted.

After quickly dropping off the groceries at home, I went straight back out not wanting to keep Sam waiting. I entered the cute little restaurant and spotted her auburn hair at a table in the corner of the room. "Hey" I greeted her, noticing her puffy eyes, "hey, thanks for coming" she said with a small smile as I took a seat in front of her, "no problem" I said returning the smile. I was starving, but we only ordered orange juice as we needed to talk first. As I took a big sip, I heard her take a deep breath before, "I wanted to thank you" she said getting my attention, "you were the only decent person who had the balls to tell me the truth" she said with her voice cracking.

The last thing I expected as her fiancé's side chick, was gratitude. "I thought it was the right thing to do and if I was in your position, I would only hope someone would tell me" I said making her nod, "I'm sorry this happened to you and having to find out the way you did on top of it" I sincerely said and she shook her head, "my fault for thinking someone like Cole could go for someone like me" she said while tears started to flow down her cheeks, "what do you mean?" I asked already knowing the answer, "you've been with him, you know how good looking he is and look at you and Aubrey, he was never going to be satisfied with me" she explained while sobbing.

As she wiped her tears with a napkin, "please don't do that" I said making her look at me, "don't blame yourself for something your fiancé chose to do" I said as she stopped crying, "you deserve someone who loves and respects you and would never make you doubt yourself, and I know it's not my place to say but as someone who struggled with body image and an eating disorder, I think you should be kinder to yourself and know that just because you don't look a certain way, doesn't mean you're less beautiful or have less worth" I said as respectfully as I could. After a few seconds of silence, "God you're right" she said to herself as if thinking out loud, "he's such an ass, thank you" she said with a soft smile which I happily returned, "I don't know about you, but all that crying made me hungry, shall we order some food?" she asked while reaching for a menu, "yes!" I replied a little too excited making her laugh.

Having finally eaten, I felt much better and strangely enough, Sam and I had a lovely meal as if we were good friends catching up on life. "I've decided to go back to the farm and be around my family while I cancel the wedding" she said once we exited the restaurant, "I'm always here if you need anything and don't be a stranger ok?" I replied with a smile, "you too and thank you for everything" she said returning the smile, "I better start packing and return this to Cole" she disappointedly said while taking her engagement ring off, "or, you could sell it and keep the money for yourself" I suggested with a cheeky smile, "I do like the sound of that" she said as we laughed together. Exchanging a hug, we went our separate ways.

The vibe I'm going for, but with more greenery:

Calling it a day, I took a long shower and with a freshly made green juice in hand, I stood outside the balcony I finished decorating over the weekend. As I spaced out, "hey neighbor" a deep voice made me jump, almost making me spill my drink. I looked around and found the motorcycle guy looking at me from the balcony next door, "hi" I hesitantly said. With his eyes on me, I suddenly felt conscious that only a small towel covered my naked body.

Liam's POV

I was emptying some boxes with the balcony's door open when I noticed her. I watched as she sipped her drink, enticing me with only a towel wrapped around her curvy figure. I walked out and greeted her, taking her off guard, "didn't mean to scare you" I said amused making her smile, "I thought that apartment was empty, did you just move in?" she asked interested while holding onto the towel with her free hand to keep it secured, "yeah" I replied distracted, my mind busy picturing her naked body pressed against mine, "no, you can't" I mentally scolded myself, "small world" she joked pulling me away from my thoughts.

Annabeth's POV

"Have you been living here long?" he asked as he leaned on the fence, making his arm muscles flex, "only a couple of months, so if you ever need a tour guide I'm not the best person to ask" I joked while placing the drink down on the side table, "noted" he replied amused, "oh, before I forget a parcel came for you" he said making me curious as to what it could be as I didn't recall ordering anything, "I would pass it to you from here, but there was a leakage" he explained and I couldn't help but pull a face, "leakage?" I repeated after him, "yeah, shall I bring it over to you? It'll make sense when you see it" he said with a light chuckle and I nodded in response. Still feeling self-conscious about being in just a towel, I quickly placed the drink in the sink before rushing to my bedroom to get changed. I had enough time to put some underwear and a oversized t-shirt on when I heard a knock at the door.

Once opened, he checked me out making me feel flattered as I gestured for him to come in. Closing the door behind him, I peeked at the open box he was carrying and saw canned foods, pasta and other groceries in it, "would you mind putting it on the counter?" I asked confused as to why I had received that, "thank you" I said after he placed it down, "a glass bottle of olive oil cracked and spilled everywhere so I had to open your parcel, sorry" he explained and I shook my head in response, "don't be, I'm sorry you had to deal with the mess" I replied, noticing that he had cleaned the groceries too, as much as he could, "this was also in the box" he said while handing me a piece of paper with oil stains on it, "love, mum and dad" I mentally read to myself and automatically let out a sigh of frustration.

I know it sounds weird because everyone wishes to be rich, but growing up in a rich family I often felt like I didn't have any independence as everything was handed to me. The worst part was realizing guys were dating me for my parents' money and so called friends hanged out with me for my fancy house and holiday villas. I stopped trusting people and knew I had to move away. I wanted to get a job, have a place of my own, pay for things with money I earned myself and let people get to know the real me, and as much as I loved my parents and appreciated their kindness, I didn't want them to send me care packages. I wanted them to know that I could make it on my own.

"You ok?" he asked pulling me away from my thoughts, "yeah sorry" I replied not wanting to rant to a stranger about my 'rich people' problems, "you probably think I'm a very ungrateful daughter" I said with a nervous laugh, but he shook his head in response, "I'm sure you have your reasons" he said with a reassuring smile. As we locked eyes, my heart started to race. He wasn't intimidating as one might think by looking at him and I felt a strong attraction to him, one I had never felt before.

I noticed him checking me out again, taking more time on my exposed legs, but to my disappointment, "I should probably head back" he said after biting his lower lip, "sure, thanks again for the parcel" I said while following him to the door, "no problem" he replied as he exited my apartment. I held the door as he stood in the hallway and, "oh, I'm Annabeth, but you probably figured that out from the parcel" I said as I thought about it out loud, making him chuckle, "Liam" he finally introduced himself. We looked into each other's eyes for a couple more seconds, before he smiled and walked away, leaving me hot and bothered.