I didn’t answer.
I didn’t know what to say.
This dating thing seemed like a lot of work. Hard work. Admittedly, it’d been a long time since I’d dated, and I was more than a little rusty, but it just seemed so damn hard. I wondered for a moment if it was even worth it.
After I watched Mia sashay out of my classroom, I cleaned up some of the mess. Pushed in chairs, picked up stray pencils from the floor, and cleaned off the white board, before I grabbed my bag, slung it over my shoulder, hit the lights, and headed out the door. I took the long way home. And by long way I meant I made the five minute ride last forty. By the time I got there though, I had more questions than answers in my head. Mia’s words and half hints had left my mind spinning.
The next four weeks went by in a blur of routine and fatigue. I went to work, worked on the house, and tried to teach myself to cook with very little success. I saw Josie a couple of times a week when I went to the club to get a decent meal. She was always polite but distant. Although I couldn’t prove it and I’d never call her out on it, I would have bet money that the blush that tinted her cheeks each time I saw her was because of the memory she had of us. It was a memory I couldn’t shake loose, and really, I didn’t want to. I’d spent more than a handful of cold, lonely nights remembering the way her warm mouth felt wrapped around my cock.
It was pouring rain, blowing a gale and freezing cold, and I was not in the mood. I’d had enough of a lot of things. The Parents and Citizens’ Association meeting at school tonight had been the most torturous and wasted two hours of my life. I thought for a while the argument over what their next fundraising venture should be would never end. Thank fuck it did. Forcing open the door to the bar, it was pretty much deserted. It was only a Wednesday night, and in this weather I guessed most of the guys, the regulars I’d come to know, would rather stay home and eat baked beans on toast than venture out. Not me. I couldn’t stay away. And it wasn’t my rumbling stomach drawing me in.
“Hey Josie,” I greeted her, plastering on my best panty-dropping grin.
“Hi Nate. You’re out late.”
“It’s only nine.”
“On a school night.”
“Been at a meeting.”
“Ah, makes sense. What can I get you?”
“I’ll just take a steak, medium rare, with mushroom sauce.”
“Chips and salad?”
“You know me too well.”
“You’re in here enough. You must like the food.”
“Or the company?” I tossed out haphazardly. I was fishing for a reaction. I knew it the moment the words escaped my lips.
Josie’s cheeks burned under my gaze. “Can I also have a serving of calamari salad?”
She raised an eyebrow but didn’t question my order. Instead, I watched as she noted it down before turning her attention to the cash register. Quickly I handed over some cash before heading towards my usual table in the corner.
I never thought I’d have a regular spot. I may have spent more hours than I could count and more money than I had, working on my house, but I still never expected to put down roots. Not here anyway. It wasn’t part of my plan. When I’d accepted the position I knew exactly what I wanted. I was going to come out here, do my five years, gain the experience I needed, and head back to civilization. Back to the beach. Back to life. Fixing up the house was just supposed to be something to fill in time.
I don’t know what compelled me to force the issue, all I knew was I’d had enough. There was just something about Josie I couldn’t stay away from. And my conversation with Mia, the warning she’d tossed out, didn’t deter me either. If anything, it intrigued me even more.
“Here you go,” Josie said as she placed the plates down in front of me before adding silverware.
As she spun on her heel and went to head back to the bar, I reached out and wrapped my fingers around her wrist. The black long sleeve shirt she wore did nothing to contain the warmth from her skin from seeping into my hand.
“Sit down, Josie.” My voice was strong, firm, and left no room for argument. I watched as indecision flickered over her beautiful face. I might not know about the demons that haunted her, but her gorgeous, innocent face, as it stared wide-eyed back at me, had me wanting to. “Sit down and eat your dinner.”
“My—what?”
“Your dinner. I know you haven’t eaten yet, and I’d like some company.”
“You just think—”
“Josie, please,” I huffed. Standing up, I pulled out her chair and waited. After a long, painful pause, Josie dropped her ass into the seat and picked a piece of calamari out of her salad and bit down, groaning.
My dick twitched at the sound. It was a sound I’d only heard once before, and looked forward to hearing again. Soon, if I was lucky.
Sinking into my chair, I cut off a piece of steak and stuffed it in my mouth before I said something stupid. Every thought in my head right now was stupid, it was only a matter of time before one of those traitorous thoughts escaped.
“How’s the salad?”
“Not bad. Why?”
“Nothing.”
“Nope. It’s never nothing. You got something to say, Nate. Spit it out.”
I coughed. Choked on the words stuck in my throat. “I got nothing.”
“Bullshit.”
