Read Online 9 Letters by Blake Austin - Free Book Online

house.’ I took out my phone. “I’ll just
put it into my phone this time. Rae, right? What’s your last
name?” I made a new contact.
    “Goode,” she said.
    I’d remember that. I didn’t
have the best memory, but I remember what’s important. I
decided I couldn’t let it be a sign, though. It was just a last
name. Totally wasn’t a sign. I’m too grown up to believe
in things like that.
    I tapped in her number, texted
her so she had mine, then I reached down, pet King on the head once
more, and left the shelter with my dog in tow, feeling pretty good
after all was said and done.
     
    That happiness didn’t last
too long, though. I was driving down the interstate and King had his
head out the window and life was feeling alright, until I thought
about those letters waiting on my table, until I thought about Emily.
I thought about Emily, and I started feeling guilty about flirting
with Rae and sleeping with Maggie. Then I started feeling guilty
about how rude I’d been to Maggie.
    I had to leave Maggie, I knew
that. Maggie was actually fine, she was a great gal. Smarter than me,
probably. Cared about dumb stuff, and not really going anywhere good
with her life just yet, but she was smart and tough and she’d
figure out what was best for her on her own time. And then, knowing
Maggie, she’d go get it. The problem wasn’t Maggie
herself, it was that she and I shouldn’t be together.
    Warren treated her like she was
his own daughter. She could do no wrong. And I was treating her like
trash, and that was wrong and I knew it. But there wasn’t a
relationship in our future; there wasn’t anything more than
sex.
    Oh, the sex. It was hard, driving
down the road, not to think about the sex.
    The first time we’d hooked
up was the day I’d come in to drop off my application, last
fall.
    “You tend bar?” she’d
asked, looking over the lines I’d filled out.
    “I could bounce,” I
said.
    “Don’t need a
bouncer,” she said. “But I think Warren’s looking
for a third bartender so he doesn’t have to work much himself.”
    “Could do,” I said.
    “You’ve done it
before?” she asked.
    “Sure,” I said, “my
sister-in-law’s parties.”
    “Don’t write that on
your application,” she said. “Say you tended bar
somewhere out of town. Then read about it online and shadow me for a
week or two. Hardest part of this kind of work isn’t the work.
It’s the people that come in here every night.”
    “Sure. I’m not going
to lie to get the job though,” I said.
    A smile quirked her lips. “Fine.
Shadow me for a week or two, then hope to Jesus Christ the Lord
Almighty that Warren takes my word for it that you’re good
enough.”
    “Okay,” I said,
because she was hot and I wanted to be close to her, and I needed a
job.
    “Also, I’m about to
take my break, and I want to suck your dick.”
    I stepped back. “Excuse
me?” I said. I must have misheard.
    “You’re the hottest
thing I’ve seen in this place in a long time, and I’m all
for a man in flannel, and I just want to suck your dick. How’s
that suit?”
    “All right,” I said,
because there wasn’t much else I could have said. She nodded to
Jake, who took over, and we went into the storeroom. She set a keg by
the door to keep anyone from getting in, and then crossed her arms,
grabbed her shirt by the waist, and pulled it up over her head. Yeah,
she was hot. I came towards her, reached around and unhooked her bra.
Her breasts were small and pert, her nipples dark and hard, and I
hadn’t been with anyone new in over half a decade. I was
burning with lust. Then she was up close to me, standing on her toes
to kiss me while her hands unbuttoned my shirt. I gripped her back,
tight, pulled her against me.
    She nuzzled her face up into my
neck and kissed my throat while her fingers found my chest beneath my
undershirt. Her fingernails traced up from my belt to my collar,
sending shivers down my spine.
    Then we kissed, our first