Read Online Take It - Part Two by DJ Stone, B.E. Raj - Free Book Online

know what thorny and winding path led me here, but maybe he can help me find a better one.
    “Should we give Tracey a lift home?” Pierce asks, craning his neck to keep an eye on her and the man she’s fooling around with in the corner.
    “I don’t think she’ll want one. I can go ask though.” I grab my purse and start shimmying my way out of the booth, but he clutches my arm.
    “Who knows who that jerk is? I’ll go over there. You stay here.” Striding over to the corner booth, he knocks loudly on the table, and both of them quickly sit at attention.
    I can only imagine what is going through Tracey’s head as she stands and walks obediently behind Pierce on their way back to our table. “You want to drive Tracey’s car back to her place, and I’ll follow you guys in my truck?” Pierce asks as he assesses how little of my drink I’ve ingested. Once I got the vibe that drunk girls weren’t his thing, I decided to just push it to the side.
    “Sure,” I smile, and shrug my shoulders as Pierce heads for the door, and Tracey gives me the look of death. She tosses me her keys and when the doors to her tiny car close the silence is broken by her angry voice.
    “What the hell was that? Captain Goody Two-Shoes over there just broke up a damn good make-out session with Will. Or was it Seth? Maybe James, but anyway, what the hell?” Her arms are folded across her chest like a petulant child, and I’m not really sure how to answer.
    “He’s a straight-laced guy, and he was worried you had too much to drink. I think it’s sweet he wanted you to get home safe.”
    “I haven’t gotten any ass in almost a month. I’m finally over the last jerk, and I was ready to get back out there tonight. What kind of caveman is Pierce to think he has any business telling me who I can mess around with? It’s the twenty-first century. I can do who and what I want.”
    “You’re right,” I agree, feeling so grateful that Pierce isn’t here to witness this outburst. “I think he doesn’t get out as much as we do, and he was worried for you. He’s a firefighter and EMT, and he sees a lot of harsh stuff. He wasn’t judging you.”
    “For your sake I hope not because if he’s judging me, then he’s judging you, too. What the hell happened to the guy who was fucking you seven ways to Sunday and fulfilling all your sexual dreams? I’m guessing Pierce isn’t setting your world on fire in the sack. Please tell me you didn’t trade in the sex aficionado for a virgin superhero.” Tracey reaches into her purse and pulls out a cigarette, finishing her sentence with it pressed between her lips.
    “More like he screwed me over. It’s too long a story for tonight, but it has me thinking maybe it’s my own fault. What the hell have I been doing with my life just hanging out at the bar and then acting like a freak with Harrison? I didn’t even tell you everything we did and where we did it. It was downright shameful, and maybe I got what I deserved.”
    “Don’t make me slap you. This manicure is fresh and I don’t want to break a nail, but I’ll do it if you keep that shit up. You are completely worthy of a fantastic sex life, and having one doesn’t mean you deserve getting shit on by some jerk who doesn’t know how good he has it with you. And you don’t need some other guy judging the fact that you let your freak flag fly for a little while.”
    “It’s more complicated than that, Tracey.”
    “So this new guy doesn’t mind that you were getting banged all across the state with some guy who was playing your lady parts like a well-tuned piano?”
    I break out in a laugh at her words. Tracey’s metaphors always get me giggling, and it’s what I love about her. Maybe some people would call her rough around the edges, but her rough edges have always fit pretty well with mine. “I get it,” I admit as I pull up to the front of her apartment and put the car in park. “Do you want me to take you upstairs?”
    “No