“I’m not in town for long,” Willow says, resting her palm on her knee when we finally pull our hands away. “What’s fun to do in Star Falls?”
The truth is, I don’t have a damn clue what’s fun anymore. I work, sleep, and occasionally fuck. I’m thinking that very thing when I feel a gentle nudge against my arm.
“Say it,” she urges. She’s smiling at me, the curve of her upper lip begging to be sucked. I can’t resist a beautiful woman, but the more I look at her, the more I can see this woman is not merely attractive. She’s confident and assertive. She’s a stranger in town, alone at a bar, and she’s most definitely flirting with me. I’m sure of it now. And I’m not about to let a torrential rainstorm put a damper on this flame.
“Say what?” I ask, drawing out my words and grinning.
“Whatever you were thinking,” she says, a tease in her voice. She runs a fingertip along the lip of her coffee mug and cocks her chin at me. “The look that you had on your face was seriously naughty.”
“Naughty,” I echo, shaking my head. “Yeah, it was.”
“So…” she urges. “Come on, Ben. What were you thinking? What’s fun to do in Star Falls?”
I sip the last of my coffee and set the mug back onto the saucer. I chuckle. “Honestly,” I tell her, “I was thinking all I do is work, sleep, and occasionally fuck. That’s what I do for fun.”
“That’s perfect,” she says, leaning toward me. “Because I was about to ask who I have to fuck to get a copy of that ravioli recipe.”
2
WILLOW
I don’t havea five-year plan.
I have a one-year rule.
And that rule is never, ever stay in one place for too long. There is so much freedom in living with a finite horizon ahead. It’s made me fearless in the face of so many things that scared me. Offered me peace when everything around me felt like chaos.
And when it comes to getting what I want, there is no better motivator than the one-year rule.
How would your life change if you knew with every certainty that you would be someplace else, surrounded by a whole new group of people, doing something totally unique, at the end of one year?
You can damn well bet that you wouldn’t sit around and wait for anything.
Not for the promotion. Not for a call from some guy. Not for anything.
So much can happen in one short year, but if you sit on your bum and stay in place?
I won’t ever let myself get stuck that way.
Never again.
I’m one week into my one-year experiment in Star Falls. This is my last night in the hotel before moving in to the condo my company has rented me for the next twelve months.
I had no intention of hooking up with anyone when I finally made it to the little Italian place everyone in Star Falls raves about. I can’t even remember the name of the restaurant now… Bruno’s or something. I’ve been working nonstop and have so many restaurant names in my mind and so many people to meet, it’s all a bit of a blur.
What are the odds that I’d meet a hot delivery driver on a cold, rainy night? The only thing waiting for me in my hotel room is aprobablystale half bottle of Chianti and a vibrator that most definitely needs to be charged.
Our banter is fun.
And when he stands up from the bar to turn off the coffee, he gifts me a glimpse of his ass that has me rethinking my usual safety protocols. He’s tall, dark, thick, and funny.
Exactly my type.
But since I am not about to end up the lead story on a true crime podcast, I need to pump the brakes just a little.
While he clears away our mugs and stands to lock up the restaurant, I pull my phone from my purse and text my friend Jessa.
Me: Met a hot guy. May take him back to the hotel. You’ve got my location?
