She veers her stare, her jaw clenching tight. “How dare you?” Her mouth crooks to one side, and her teeth grind back and forth. “Who the hell do you think you are? You don't know me. You don't know anything about my life.”
Millie's fists are at her side, balled up tight. She spins around, storming off, and going back inside the house. I went too far, and I know it. She's right. I don't know anything about her or her life. I don't know how she was raised. I don't know her beliefs and morals.
But the one thing I do know is that sometimes you have to stand up for what you want and what feels right regardless of the risk. And I know that if you let people walk all over you, you'll never be happy.
I know more than anything that hard work can take you places regardless of where you started in life. The highs and lows make us human, but you're never truly stuck in one place.
I'm living proof of it.
3
Hardin
“Over here,” Oliver calls out as he holds up his beer.
I make my way through the bar to the seat next to him. “Hey, man,” I say. Folding my hands on the bar, I wave to the bartender, and order a beer.
“I haven't seen you all week. What's going on? How's the Chambers patio going?”
“It's coming along. I poured the new walkway around the pool, and I still need to finish the path that leads up to the house, but it's going good overall.”
Oliver cocks a brow, eyeing me as he takes a sip of his beer. “That doesn't sound very convincing. Did you fuck something up? You need me to come fix your mistake?”
I shake my head no as I look down at my hands. “No, I didn't fuck anything up. The job is fine, it's. . .” I pause as the bartender slides me my beer. Once she's gone, I take a long, satisfying sip.
“It's what?” he asks, turning on the stool to face me.
“It's this girl, Millie.”
“Mr. Chambers’s daughter?” Oliver's brows furrow.
Exhaling a heavy breath, I nod. “That's her.”
“What about her? Is she giving you a hard time?”
“No, she's not giving me a hard time. She's. . . she's, I don't know. This girl, she's different. She's not what I would expect from the daughter of a lawyer. She's smart, funny, and she isn't afraid to get her hands dirty.”
“Well, that's why you can't judge people before you get to know them.”
“Hey, babe.” Narissa comes up behind Oliver, kissing him on the cheek and taking the seat on the other side of him. “Hey, Hardin. How are you?”
I'm about to answer, but Oliver cuts me off. “He's love struck. Our little boy is growing up.” Oliver fake cries, then starts laughing.
“No, no, that's not what I said at all. I just said she's different. That doesn't mean I love the damn girl.”
Oliver chuckles as he lays his arm over Narissa's shoulder and rubs the back of her neck. “Look, if there's one thing I've learned, it's you only notice the differences in people when you're paying attention. And you, my friend, you're paying attention to her.” He points his beer at me and laughs. “That says more than you think.”
“Dude, I said one thing. Plus, I barely know her.”
“That's how we started, and look at us now,” Narissa says.
Oliver turns to her and they kiss each other. It's not a deep tongue kiss or a quick little peck. It's a kiss that says they love each other. I can see it as they look into each other’s eyes and smile. I can see it as she gently runs the back of her fingers down his jaw and he teases the very ends of her hair.
They have something special. A rich girl and a working boy who seem to blend together so nicely. It gives me hope that Millie and I might actually have more in common than I think. Just watching Oliver and Narissa shows me that it's not about how much money or power you have, it's about who you are inside.
The three of us chat for a bit. Oliver keeps busting my balls because I can't stop talking about Millie. I'm not trying to make her the topic of the conversation, but I just can't stop thinking about her.
She's gorgeous in so many ways. Her smile is infectious. Her laugh makes my heart skip a beat. And her body, hot damn her body is to die for. Thick curves, perfect and plump tits, lips that are soft as velvet, and eyes that are mesmerizing.
The girl has taken over my fucking head, burrowing in like a tick I can't remove.
“All right, we're heading home,” Oliver says, getting up and taking Narissa's hand to help her down from the stool. “You staying?” he asks me.