“I was so damn good at it, it could practically be my superhero name. Captain Friend-Zoned.” –Derek
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With the sun beating down on me until I’m sure I’m going to keel over and likely fall into oncoming traffic, I squat down and reach for my water.
My crew is working on a different median today, but it’s no less busy. We travel up the road at a steady pace, adding in the proper irrigation and stone layout, all the while cars pass by at frightening speeds.
I’m so glad I’m not part of the construction crew that built the median to begin with, they treat the road like their playground, always wandering around like it’s an office instead of a major road and I always wonder how they don’t freak out when accidents and the like happen right in front of them.
I rise again and head to the truck with the trees we’re planting today. Every six feet we plant a tree and given the length of road, well, it’s a lot of trees.
I let my mind wander to the other night when I got to dote on and hold the woman of my dreams in my arms and play like she was mine in front of everyone.
Fucking hell, but it was the best night of my life.
When I originally agreed to do this for Viv, my reasons were mostly selfish. Sure, I wanted to do it to help her out. I loved her in more than just romantic love and wanted her to have a safe person she could rely on.
But mostly, I couldn’t stand the thought of some douche nozzle doing this for her. Touching her, kissing her, calling her his.
Nope. Couldn’t stand it.
But when I told Cyrus and Lillian about how we got together and I’d looked down at Viv, when I’d said that I was fourteen when I fell in love with her—truth—I’d seen something in Viviana’s eyes I’d never seen before.
Want.
Fuckingwant. For me.
She had actually looked at me like I was something other than a friend or her brother’s best friend and I was a goner.
Again.
So I’d taken the chance and pressed my lips to hers. Just a small peck to keep it friendly and PG but also because when I kissed her, like really kissed her, I was going to make it one she would never forget.
Kissing was something I could do. The other stuff… well, that’s a story for another day.
“Moore!” Barks my boss, standing at the front of his truck and peering over some paperwork on the hood.
Dread settles into my stomach.
Unless there’s an explicit need, the boss doesn’t interact with the crew much. He makes sure that his right-hand man knows what to do and basically lets him boss us around.
So him calling me over. Yeah, that wasn’t going to be good news.
I stride up to him, holding on to my confidence and say, “Yes, sir.”
“We have to let you go.”
Just spits it out there. That’s all he says.
“Um, sir? Is there something I could do differently?” I struggle to maintain the respect in my voice that my grandmother instilled in me.
But fuck, it’s hard.
Was I really about to be fired?
“Sorry, kid. Nothing personal. Budget cuts.” He hands over an envelope. “Here’s the rest of your pay for the month. Good luck.”
They already had the check made. Fucking hell, how long had they known? I wish I would have gotten more than rumors spreading around as a heads-up.