Gloria moves, but not in the way I want. I watch her glossy black hair curtain her face as she gets comfortable in my guest chair.
“Look, if you think we’re about to have some touchy-feely heart-to-heart bullshit ass conversation, then there’s no point in sitting. It ain’t happening.”
She smirks while her light eyes penetrate me. They’re clear and glassy. I’ve told her before their clarity creeps me the fuck out. She knows exactly what she’s doing. I concede so she can drop the blank stare.
“I’m not saying I have a problem, but why do you think I have one?”
Gloria pretends to think. “Uh, I don’t know…maybe it’s the ridiculous things you ordered.”
I glance at my plate. “What about it?”
“Come one, Jason—a double-bacon, avocado cheeseburger with mushroom, sautéed onions, and bbq sauce. A side of a mixture to sweet potato and steak truffle fries, and a root beer float…”
“I know what I ordered. You usually work the night shift,” I deflect.
“There is no way you regularly eat like this,” she waves her hands up and down in my direction. “and look like that. You’re eating feelings.”
“Am not.” My denial is childish.
That’s exactly what I’m doing. Bree has grown on me in ways I didn’t expect, and we’ve only fucked twice. Yet, I still want to cash in the remaining eleven times. A smart man would run. I should run, but I can’t. Just thinking about her makes me want to do dirty, dirty things to her. Currently, I’m hiding in my office—where I don’t need to be—and suppressing the urge to text her.
“Does it have to do with your girlfriend?”
“Who?” It’s sad I know exactly what the fuck she’s talking about.
“Sorry. Yourneighbor.”
“That’s what she is to me,” I stonewall.
“And, all your neighbors have the power to walk into your closed bar, hang out at the employee gift exchange and make you feel embarrassed about the gift you received. And, you volunteered to leave the party early to Christmas shop?”
I feel attacked. Everything she said is one-hundred percent true. I shrug off her comments.
“I needed to get some stuff.”
“We all know you hate shopping. Look, you don’t have to talk to me about it, but you should work it out before you lose all your sexy.” She leans in and adds in a whisper, “There’s nothing wrong with falling—”
I snort to end her statement; she’s crazy. I shove a few fries in my mouth, savoring the salty, sweet, and savory combination. People don’t fall in love that fast. Right? I mean, some good sex and dirty talk doesn’t equal love. Taking a big bite of my burger, I allow all the greasy goodness to distract me from Gloria and my thoughts. This is a damn good burger. I made sure of that when we created the menu, but she’s right, I cannot continue to eat things like this. It’s been three days since I’ve seen or spoken to Bree. I’ve been escalating to this point. I’ll let the guilt send me to the gym tomorrow. Right now, I’m going to enjoy this nonsense.
I meet Gloria’s soul snatching eyes again as I take a long satisfying sip of my float.
“I’m going to need more root beer.”
Gloria sighs and throws her head back in exaggerated annoyance.
“I knew you were going to be tough to crack; I brought reinforcements.”
She opens my door to reveal that big Olympian looking motherfucker who’s my friend somehow. I could fire both. I could legit tell them to get the fuck out, but this burger, though. I take another bite as a new stare down ensures.
“Damn, I thought Gloria was exaggerating.”
“I think both of you are exaggerating,” I tell the super loud giant over a mouthful of fries.
I drop my burger on the plate and wipe my hands when my phone vibrates.
Bree: You forgot something.
I groan and rub my face in frustration when I see the attached picture of her nude with my leather jacket draped over her body. She’s trying to kill me. There’s no other explanation.
