“Why didn’t you ask your parents for one?”
“I did, but . . .” she trails off, and when she does, I encourage, “Take it for a spin.”
She completely surprises me when she doesn’t even hesitate. Holding the ball by the handle, she walks over to me and hands me her drink. “Here. Hold this.”
Taking her tea, I question, “You serious? That’s a toy for an eight-year-old,” I poke.
She sets the large ball on the ground and sits on top of it, saying with a huge smile, “In case you haven’t noticed, I’m about the same size as an eight-year-old,” before spinning around and bouncing away from me down the aisle.
I watch her, laughing as she bobs up and down, enjoying seeing her let go for a moment. She isn’t worried about how she looks; she never has been. Not embarrassed in the slightest and I revel in this moment.
When she turns to bounce back towards me, I start cracking up at the laughter coming out of her. I’ve never seen her like this—so carefree. It’s beautiful, and I just want to grab her off that stupid ball and kiss her. Just take her and make her mine, so I can touch her whenever I want—to have her.
She finally stops bouncing and stands up, still holding the ball in her hands. She continues to giggle while telling me, “Totally worth the wait.”
“Must have been a good ride,” I say. “I think the whole store heard you laughing.”
She tosses the ball into the cart, and as I c**k my head in question, she clarifies, “You have to buy that for the kids.”
She takes her tea out of my hand, and I’m lost in her. Everything about her. I follow her lead as we continue to make our way through the rest of the store, thankful that she doesn’t skip a single aisle because I need all the time I can get with her.
“Michael here?” I ask Mel when I walk into the bar.
“Yeah,” she hollers over to me. “Upstairs.”
The place is busy tonight as I head up to Michael’s office. It’s been a good day, although dropping Candace off at her house to come up here was the last thing I wanted to do, but I need to sit down with Michael. He’s been dropping the ball on a few things, and shit needs to get back on track.
His door is open, so I go ahead and walk in.
“Ryan, hey, man,” he says from behind his desk, which is a mess of papers.
I cut to the chase and say, “Talk to me.”
While he sorts and stacks a few files, he asks, “About what?”
“Not showing up. Supply orders going in late. Schedules not getting out on time.”
He drops the files onto his desk and leans back in his chair. “Fuck, man,” he sighs.
“You know I can’t have this, so either we figure it out or I’m gonna have to let you go,” I tell him honestly. No need to bullshit when it comes to my business.
“No, I’m getting everything in order. Things have been a little crazy at home, and I let it filter into work,” he explains.
“Kids okay?”
“It’s not the kids,” he says and takes a pause before revealing, “I found out that Amber’s been f**king around on me.”
Seems Mel’s eavesdropping skills don’t suck.
“Shit, man.”
“Yeah. It’s f**ked up,” he tells me. “Don’t worry about things up here though. I’ve got it under control.”
Not too comfortable with chatting about this guy’s issues, I leave it as is and let him get back to work, trusting that he’s gonna get his crap together.
I make my way back down to check in with Mel, and as I pass along the edge of the bar, someone grabs on to my arm. Turning around, I’m face to face with my past.
“What are you doing here?” I ask, and when her hand lingers on me, I take a step back and out of her grip.
“Having a drink. Waiting for a friend, but he’s running late.”
“You should pick a different bar next time,” I tell her, turning to leave and spot Gavin walking in.
“M.I.A.,” he calls out to me while shaking his head.
I’ve found myself drifting from Gavin as well as most of my bad habits, so seeing him is a little awkward, but not as awkward as him walking past me and straight to Gina, kissing her.
Irritation causes my shoulders to tighten, and when Mel appears from behind the bar, I snap, “Back room.”
She follows behind me as I head into the back stockroom, closing the door behind her.
“What the f**k did I just see?”
“He brought her in here the other day,” she tells me. “Said he’s been hooking up with her for a couple months now.”
The door opens, and Gavin walks in, thankfully alone.
“You mad?”
“Mad? No. Disturbed? Kinda,” I respond. “Dude, weren’t you screwing her roommate?”
He gives me an almost proud smirk and boasts, “Yeah, man.”
“Have fun with that one,” I tell him.
“So we’re cool?”
“I don’t care who you’re hooking up with, but that girl seems like trouble,” I tell him.
“Maybe so, but she’s good in bed, you know?” He laughs and then adds, “Yeah, you know.”
Regretfully, I do know. I wanna forget, but that isn’t gonna happen. It’s my past, and unfortunately, you can’t escape your past. I’ve dealt with that little piece of knowledge my whole life. But I do what I can to shut it out and tell him, “Don’t bring her back up here again.”