FREDDIE
Fuck, I had better answer my cell before whoever was on the other end gets pissed off with me from the constant ignorance.It wasn’t unusual for someone to be angry with me lately, though. I bet the guy with those soul-searching deep gray eyes whose name I couldn’t remember would add me to his shit list within the next thirty minutes, too. I’d assessed the meat available last night and went for an easy target at Keyo, the swanky club my brother Mark worked at. He’d shown his true colors immediately with his flirtatious attitude—a large grin and moves on the dancefloor that would’ve given my bestie Everleigh a run for her money—but I didn’t care. I wasn’t looking to build a relationship with a guy; instead, I wanted to fuck hard and forget my mind. Yes, I was a prick lately, but worst of all, I didn’t give a shit about it. I thought I was too much of a lost cause to be fixed.
My cell must have gone off a dozen times or more before I finally reached across his firm body that was spread next to me. I tried to uncurl his leg that was plastered over mine and held my breath, feeling him shift his weight closer as I grabbed the cell from the sideboard in my hands.
Fuck. Please don’t wake up.I hoped his breathing settled back to an even rhythm and fast as we’d slumped down together in a lazy piled mess after our strenuous workout. I recalled and replayed thoughts from a mere few hours earlier, but his breaths began to even out. He stirred, and I noticed the time. We’d only been back from the club three hours and I had to leave before the light cracked through the shutters or I’d have broken my deal. My cell started to ring out again, and I cursed under my breath as I noticed the name.
“Are you going to answer that?” he mumbled in a sleepy tone, as he reached his palm out and rubbed it up and down my bicep.
“Not this second,” I replied, trying to keep my mind focused on my escape plan as I remembered his name. Garrett. “Why don’t you go and freshen up in the shower, Garrett, and I’ll sort out some cover for work? Then…” I placed my hand over his and squeezed it, not missing his hard erection pushed into my side. “We can then have the rest of the morning to ourselves?”
“I’d like that,” Garrett replied before he licked his lips and got out of the bed and headed toward the bathroom door. With one hand placed on the doorframe, he haltered. “If you’re not too long, maybe you could join me in the shower.”
“Maybe…” I leant up on my elbows as the covers dropped to my waist and winked.
“I’m counting on it… Remember, I know how good your persuasion skills are.”
He wandered into the bathroom and closed the door too as I counted and waited until I heard the sound of the hot spray of water. I threw back the covers and jumped out of the bed, my heart pounding against my ribcage in case Garrett came back out in search of me. The last thing I needed was for him to drag me in there with him or I’d be fucked. All I knew was that the clock was ticking, and I had to get out of here.
I’d managed to get the art of silently sneaking out of a guy’s apartment down to a couple of minutes now. It’s why I took my time undressing so I could find my clothes with ease and make a quick exit whilst the guy I’d just fucked cleaned up. Like Garrett had pointed out, I could be persuasive and I would do what I needed to make a clean break. Even if that meant slight white lies. I bet they thought I was a bastard sneaking out as they showered, rather than just be honest. I didn’t though. I thought I was cautious and protecting my heart from heartache. It was nothing but a painful experience that leaves you out of control. You see, to me that was all it was. A quick fuck to ease the tension in my body without any complications. A way to expel the wrapped up energy trapped inside without breaking that fine tightrope that was holding my emotions from snapping to the people who knew me.
I didn’t care if it was morning, noon, or night. I’d never stay long after or they’d think I wanted more; a second date or worse, and that just wasn’t something I was willing to do. A couple of hours were enough to make them think they’d fulfilled me, then I’d use my skills to escape. I’d had my heart stomped on by Cole, my now ex, and he’d damaged me enough for me to know how rock bottom felt. Screw that. He’d ripped my heart out of my chest just as I’d finally learnt it was okay to let someone in. That I could have a life like Everleigh had found with Dawson, but no. Not a chance for me. Instead, I was meant to be alone. I wasn’t destined for love, just heartache. At least now I could actually say the words, single and available, without becoming an emotional mess.
It had taken Isobel and Chrissie, two of my besties, to coax my thoughts out of me over cocktails as I drowned my sorrows. I’d gone from being an emotional mess to angry and, by the end of the evening, solemn. I had slowly realized; why should I care when he didn’t? He’d already found the next man of his dreams, as he described it. It was the tip of the iceberg as I was thrown a spoon and my favorite chocolate cherry ice cream and switched on reruns of Clint Barton in Hawkeye. At least watching this, the three of us could drool over some decent eye-candy together without the risk of heartache.
I slipped out of the front door just as I heard the water stop.Phew.I took the stairs two at a time down and didn’t dare look up at the window behind me as my skin prickled. Garrett had come looking for me and found the place empty. Did I feel guilty? No, but I should have, as my cell started up again.
“Can’t a guy get any peace?” I snapped down the line, not caring who was on the other end.
“Nice Fred, real nice,” the stern tone of Isobel’s voice wafted down the line. “You know, since Cole left, you’ve become such a prick lately.”
“Do I care?” I asked as I headed down the trash-lined streets and kicked a bag across the sidewalk, narrowly avoiding a couple hand-in-hand. “It’s not like anyone stays around and cares…”
“I’m here, aren’t I?”
“But for how long? Everyone leaves…” I mumbled as I heard Chrissie shout down the line.
“She finally got hold of you, then?”
“Unless I sound like anyone else?” I chastised back, as I slid my hand into the pocket of my black skin-tight fitted jeans from last night that showed my package off in all its glory.
“Where are you? It’s an hour after shift changeover. I couldn’t get anyone to cover and Mr. Granbler has turned up. He wants to talk to you,” Chrissie whispered as I heard a knock at the door.
Before I had the chance to make an excuse, her voice turned stern as it echoed back down the line.
“I’ve got to go Fred, but I tell you now, you’ve got thirty minutes. Freshen up, get changed, do whatever the fuck you need to, but get here. I’m sick of having to cover for your backside. I don’t want this to cause an issue between us all—but it will.”
“Mr. Granbler…” I heard Isobel announce just as Chrissie cut the call.
Fuck. Had things really gotten so bad that my girls deemed it necessary to pull me on my shit now?I mean Everleigh would’ve given me a week at most before she’d taken control and forced me to get back on track. I’d have been dragged, suited and booted, to work and coerced into providing smiles until they just became a natural occurrence again.
Is that what I wanted? Isobel and Chrissie to spout off my escapades to Everleigh, so she’d actually kick me in the balls and give me the time of day? The reality was, I did. I fucking missed her. I missed her smile, and I even missed that overprotective guy of hers, my boss, Dawson. I just wished she could be happy and content here, but at the moment she couldn’t and I understood why—just not why I’d become a distant stranger as a result. All I could hope for is that in the near future, Everleigh would be able to confide in me about her reasoning for pushing me to the side and I could give her the support that she needed to heal.
I suddenly stopped and took shelter in an alcoved shop opening and looked up at the night sky. You wouldn’t think it was the middle of the night with the amount of people out on the streets. I took in a deep breath as I focused on a shooting star that shot across the stillness of the darkened canvas. I remember just a few years back, the sky full of them on the eve of my Nonna’s passing.
What guidance would you have given me, Nonna?I chuckled, as I knew she’d have dragged me to sit down next to her and then clipped me behind the ears after such a pathetic tale of woe and pity. ‘We don’t cower, Fred; we rise high like a king.’ I gazed down at the brandished tattoo of a crown on my forearm.
“Thank you, Nonna,” I whispered into the night air. “I won’t let you down.”