She gives my hair an aggressive tug. “Don’t act innocent. You know what you did.”
“Okay. Fine. I did it. Happy?” I finally let myself smile.
“My best friend is officially a skank. I’m totally happy.”
I roll my eyes, and we sit in silence as she finishes my hair.
“I can’t believe you weren’t going to tell me,” she says finally.
“Brynn,” I sigh, as if her name itself is a valid argument. “I didn’t want to make our graduation all about… well, you know,” I explain. “I was going to tell you after.”
She laughs. “Like you could hide it. Your face is lit up like the sky on the Fourth of July.”
I feel my cheeks heat—along with other parts. “There were definitely fireworks.”
She laughs and drags me to my feet. “You’re hopeless. Come on, gorgeous. Let’s get these diplomas so we can make this world our bitch.”
A little over two months later, it’s official. I’m a nursing student.Reid is taking pre-law, while I’m on my way to becoming a master at the art of understanding the human body. I want to change the world. Or at least help heal the broken. Yeah,that’s probably a little more realistic.
Reid, on the other hand, is just carrying on the family profession. His dad was a lawyer before he became a judge, as was his grandfather. Needless to say, college is more about going through the motions for him than pursuing his life’s dream.
We decided to cut the cord and move out of our parents’ homes, renting a one-bedroom apartment uptown. I took a job waiting tables at a locally owned Italian restaurant, while Reid landed a bartending job on Frenchman Street.
“You couldn’t find a job at… I don’t know… a coffee shop or something?” he says when I give him the schedule for my first shift at Suppato’s.
“It’s money, Reid. And we have bills now.”
“Yeah, but—” he stops himself. “Just be careful, is all I’m saying.”
Be careful? “I’m waiting tables, not fighting crime.”
I get it. This is my first job, and it’s across town in an area I don’t really know. I think he just doesn’t like me being away from home at night. He’d rather have me home wet and naked when he gets off, which honestly doesn’t sound like a bad idea. But with my school schedule, there’s no way I can work during the day.
He’s getting all growly and caveman-like, and it’s kind of hot. Then again, everything he does is sexy. I haven’t been able to keep my hands off him since the first time he touched me. In fact, right now I’m sitting on a hand-me-down sofa, staring across the room at him as he sits at the dining table going over his own schedule and comparing it to mine. The sit-com I was watching isn’t enough to distract me from needing to touch him, so I walk over to where he sits and straddle his lap.
His strong hands float across the tops of my thighs, and a cunning smile welcomes me. “Can I help you with something?” he asks.
I run my fingers through his hair and lick my lips. “Don’t you find it hot in here?”
He cocks his head to one side. “A/C must be out.”
Ass.
I shake my head at him.
He raises his eyebrows. “No?”
Another head shake. Just one. “No.”
He shrugs as his eyes move over my body. “Hmm. Maybe you’re just overdressed.”
“Maybe.”
“My gorgeous little freak,” he says, as he pulls my tank top over my head.
During one of my first night shifts at the restaurant, the president of my apparent fan club decides to slash the two front tires on my car. Welcome to adulthood, Makenna. I guess this is what Reid meant when he told me to be careful.
I don’t know my boss well, but I know enough to know he scares the piss out of me. I’m pretty sure he scares the piss out of everyone. He’s one of those men who can silence an entire room with a single word. I somehow get the impression that this is only one of the many layers of Carlos Suppato—layers that a select few ever get to truly see. Maybe it’s the custom-tailored suits he’s always wearing or the thick Italian accent. Perhaps it’s his well-sculpted physique or his lack of tolerance for bullshit, but the man demands respect. I’ve never seen him lose his cool. Even when an employee screws up, he doesn’t make a spectacle of reprimanding them. They just simply disappear. Here one day, gone the next.