Page 10 of Gravity

This time, she reaches out and lightly drags her fingertips over my forearm. The scent of her cheap perfume attacks my senses.

“Maybe you need a good woman to ease your tension.”

I’m tempted to ask if she knows of any, but I’m not that much of an asshole. Instead, I lean forward, keeping my voice low. “Lace, I suggest you go serve people that actually want a drink. Just because I’m this side of the bar doesn’t mean I’m not watching my staff.”

With a roll of her eyes, she goes to head off, but Asher calls her back, ordering another drink when he hasn’t even finished his other two.

Glancing up, I find Mark looking at me with a cocked brow, grinning.

“She’s been trying to get in my pants since the day I hired her,” I sigh. “Usually, her flirtatious behavior wouldn’t bother me.”

“She’s a pretty woman.”

“And a great little worker. She’s just picked the wrong day.” I tug back my beer as Asher comes to stand between us.

“Why not just fuck her and get it over with?” he states.

“Because I think I’d rather chew my own ball sack.”

Truth is, I loathe feeling like this. I’m not one to treat people like shit because I witnessed that on too many occasions growing up. My mother raised me right—taught me to value those around me—yet later on in her life those values she’d taught me suddenly meant fuck all to her. I’m not normally an asshole, but I can’t remember the last time I felt good inside either.

“Seriously, though, it’s about time you got some loving in your life.”

“Jesus, since when did you turn into a relationship therapist?”

“We’re just looking out for your welfare,” Asher grins, throwing back his whiskey.

“My welfare is great thanks. Although, yours might not be if you carry on.”

“All I’m saying, granddad, is that you need to get out of this slump you’re in.”

“And if you’d have listened when you originally asked, I said I wasn’t in the fucking mood.”

“Christ,” Mark chuckles. “Listening to you two is like listening to Charlie and Makenna when they’re on a hormone rage.”

Both Asher and I laugh as I reply, “Didn’t you know entertainment night had been moved to Fridays.”

“You haven’t seen a hormone rage until you’ve seen Nora,” Asher snorts. “The girl is like a loaded sniper when she verbally lashes out.”

A hot tingle chases down my spine at the mention of her name, and like always, my mind wanders back to the very girl that holds my forbidden dreams. With skin so pure and eyes so blue, I can’t push her out of my thoughts even if I try.

Nora Nelson.

The one I dream of having but the one I know that I can’t.

God, I’ve missed her blue eyes.

Having her head off to college should have been the greatest distraction given the fact she’s off limits—only it wasn’t. The distraction had turned to a longing I couldn’t comprehend, and now the distance between us is about to close with her arrival home imminent.

With her going away, I’d decided it best to take a step back: not only had I been fighting my attraction toward her, but I’d not wanted to burden her with my struggles or distract her from her studies. As time had gone by, I hadn’t even needed to try. I’d become consumed by the grief of my mother and begun focusing on the one thing that I could control: work. And although each time Nora was on college breaks it had got easier to avoid her, it had also become harder and harder for me to watch her walk away.

Although Asher is like a brother to me, I find I can open up in a different way with Nora, but that had changed—I’d put the barriers up—and where I’d promised her I’d never give up on our friendship, here I am throwing it away with no explanation because I don’t understand it myself.

“Right, I’m out,” Mark says, placing his empty beer bottle on the bar.

“You’re going already?” I ask.

“I have a wife that needs my attention.” He smacks Asher on the shoulder. “Call me tomorrow when you can think straight. Jackson has some business to discuss with us.”