The Eyes and Ears of Love Read Online Free

temperature of 110 degrees.
    He spends several minutes using all his strength and power to pull the trampoline in the backyard over the Jacuzzi. The steam of the water from the Jacuzzi oozes between the screen of the trampoline. Bentley uses his dad’s plastic drop cloth to keep the moisture from seeping through. To make the trampoline more comfortable, Bentley throws the fluffy goose feather blanket his grandma had made years ago over the plastic drop cloth. He tests it out, he climbs onto the trampoline and sits in the center, and he feels the heat of the water steaming through. Bentley then destroys his father’s shed in search of the Christmas lights. He places the lights all over the backyard, in his mother’s garden, along the fence, around the trampoline, and throughout the balcony.
    He drives to pick up and put on the tuxedo he rented and scurries to the barber shop before closing. His golden-brown hair is curly and shaggy from the months that passed since his last haircut. When he allows his hair to grow out, it looks like a perm from the 1980s.
    “Bentley Boy!” The owner of the barber shop, Gil, shouts. “What can I do for you, son?”
    “I need to be cleaned up, Gil,” he says, sitting in the barber chair.
    “Well, that’s for damn sure!” He chuckles. He cuts locks of Bentley’s hair until the pile of hair on the floor begins to look like a small dog. “You got a date tonight?”
    “Yes,” Bentley answers with a subtle grin.
    “Well, she must be special because you haven’t been in this shop for months.”
    “She is.” He nods. “Very special.”
    “Your Pops was telling me Emily’s home.”
    “Yeah, right where she should be.”
    Gil pats him on the back. “That’s good to hear Bentley.” He pauses. “How is she doing?”
    “We take it day by day.”
    Gil nods with understanding and stops chatting when he puts away his scissors and uses his electrical razor. The razor is loud and obnoxious. The buzzing vibrates Bentley’s entire head and sends ringing through his ears.
    “All done! Now how about a good ole fashion straight razor shave?” Gil asks.
    Bentley admires his fresh cut and eventually shakes his head. “My date likes a little hair on a man’s face. So, what’s the damage?” Bentley reaches for his wallet.
    “It’s on the house,” Gil says.
    “I insist.”
    Gil pushes Bentley’s wallet away. “It was just really nice seeing you and you paid with good company.”
    Bentley gives him a hug while sliding a twenty-dollar bill into Gil’s jacket pocket.
    His final stop is at Shag’s Burger Shack. They sell the best burgers and milkshakes in town. He orders through the drive through because he doesn’t have enough time to wait in the dinner rush line. He orders directly at the drive thru window as the speaker box is out of order. He reaches for his wallet in the passenger’s seat and when he looks to order, Shelby is standing in front of him. She’s wearing a Shag’s Burger Shack employee shirt with a ketchup stain right above her belly button.
    “Bentley.”
    “Shelby. Hi, how are you?” he says awkwardly.
    “Good. Yeah, I’m good.”
    “I didn’t know you worked here?”
    “Yeah, well there are a lot of things you don’t know about me.”
    Bentley fidgets with his hands. “You know someone once told me that real men don’t hurt women. I’m sorry I treated you so badly, you didn’t deserve that from me and you don’t deserve that from anyone.”
    “We didn’t have sex that night. You know, if that’s the reason you were so eager to kick me out.”
    “We didn’t?”
    “No,” she says looking down at her shirt. “I drove you home because you had too much to drink,” she continues, scratching off the ketchup stain.
    “Why did you stay then?”
    “Because you asked me to.”
    Bentley stares at her, observing the sensitivity in her gentle eyes. It’s something he never saw before when he looked at her.
    “Are you on a date?” She smiles