My only saving grace to not find myself back at that bookshop was the fact that I was a workaholic. If I wasn’t working, I was in the gym or playing basketball with a few of my friends.Keeping myself busy was the only way I managed to not keep my mind focused solely on Karla.
I worked four twelve-hour shifts that week, and I ended up picking up another shift to help a buddy who’d gotten food poisoning. By the time my two off days rolled around, I was already packed with commitments. Every now and then Chase and I would play basketball with three of his cousins who were brothers. Chase was the one who forced me to attend the games because he told me being so antisocial wasn’t good for me, especially in our job industry.
We saw some pretty awful things sometimes in the streets of Chicago. I also knew how dangerous it could get, seeing as how my father lost his life trying to save others. Chase said having hobbies to clear out the noise in our heads was a good thing. I wasn’t certain basketball could clear the noise in my mind, but on days when I didn’t want to come, he’d legit show up at my house and drag me down to the court. For a while, I fought him, but he was a persistent bugger. The more I said “no,” the more he’d try to convince me. At one point, it just got easier to grab a ball and play with them for a few hours.
After a few weeks, I began to enjoy the game. It was a good way to move my body, and Chase’s cousins turned out to be a good time. They were almost carbon copies of Chase, which meant they had a way of making me laugh even when I didn’t feel chipper. As a self-proclaimed introvert, I didn’t pride myself on my ability to build friendships. But leave it to my extrovert coworker to pull me out of my shell a bit.
“About time you showed up,” Shawn said, tossing the basketball my way after I sat my duffel bag on the bench.
Shawn was the first cousin I clicked with when we met.He was a giant. He stood at six-five, was built of solid muscle and energy drinks, and had a heart of gold.
The other two guys, Luke and Adrian, were just as cool and good looking, too, the fuckers. The brothers were in transition to take over their father’s entertainment company, which involved a level of commitment I never wanted to see in my life.
Needless to say, the three of them were loaded. And by loaded, I meant the kind of money that I couldn’t mentally make sense of. They were born into wealth, but they sure didn’t dress or act like the cocky individuals that their paychecks would’ve allowed.
If anything, they acted like college frat boys who dressed like Adam Sandler. It just so happened that they were closer to billionaire status than millionaire when they combined their finances together. Which made it even more comical that they befriended me. I was far from rolling in money. Same with Chase. But they treated us as if we were on the same playing field. The only difference was if we ever went out for drinks, which they made me do often, I was never picking up the tab. They wouldn’t even allow me to think about paying.
“We thought you were standing us up,” Luke mentioned as I tossed the ball his way and he dribbled it between his legs. “Thought you found some new friends or something.”
I smirked. “I think it’s cute that you think we’re friends. We’re barely acquaintances.”
He gasped and held his hand to his chest. “Don’t hurt my sensitive heart, you dick.”
“Yeah. Luke is PMSing this week. Don’t make him cry,” Adrian teased. “Now can we get a game going before Hallie calls me to come home to listen to her complain about her best friend for the fifteen-hundredth time.”
Adrian was the only one out of the group that was in acommitted relationship. He often talked about how uncommitted he dreamed of being.
Whenever we told Adrian he should investigate ending things with Hallie, he’d seem shocked by the thought of it and say, “She’s the love of my fucking life, guys. How dare you suggest such a dramatic end game.”
Therefore, we stopped giving him advice and just rolled our eyes whenever he complained about the love of his life ruining said life.
We played a few games, and the guys hammered in on me for playing like crap. It was no secret that my mind wasn’t completely focused on basketball.
“What’s your deal?” Shawn asked, cocking an eyebrow at me.
“What do you mean?”
“You’re playing like Luke,” he said, which meant I was playing like shit. Luke flipped his brother off before grabbing the ball, shooting, and missing.
“I’m not that bad,” I replied as I collapsed on the bench. I grabbed my water bottle and squirted the water into my mouth. Chase sat beside me, grabbed a towel from his duffel bag, and wiped his forehead.
“Ash ran into a woman who used to be a big deal in his life,” Chase explained to the other guys. “He’s been unfocused ever since.”
“Bullshit,” I shot at him. That wasn’t true. I was focused just fine.
“You burnt your lunch three days in a row because I caught you daydreaming,” he said.
“That microwave at work is shit,” I countered, trying to ignore the fact that he was fully correct. I had been far from focused.
“So you like this woman?” Adrian asked. “Like, more than just sleeping with her? Most of the time you don’t even remember the names of the women you hook up with. And everyone knows your rule.”
“One-night stands only with no strings attached,” the other boys said together, as if it was a life motto of mine. It made me sound like a dick, but it was true. I didn’t do serious relationships. It wasn’t something I was interested in.
“We all know about your commitment issues,” Shawn mentioned.
“Trust me, guys. This girl is different,” Chase told them. “She’s special.”
I grumbled. “Chase is making more of the situation than he needs to.”
