I’ll come back later to swim and attempt to sort out this tangle of thoughts I have about Sophia.
xxx
I don't go into the bar when I drop Sophia off at her car but turn around and head straight back to the lake. I walk along the open beach to the cluster of trees around the east bank. In the clearing by the old tattered rope is an enormous fire pit filled with charred bits of wood and the odd burnt-up can of beer. I think about texting the guys for a bonfire, but I don’t have a phone. I could swim, but I just don’t feel like it anymore. Kayla will be at work by now, maybe a little sex distraction. But then I see Sophia’s smiling face, her hair blowing around as the wind whipped through the truck.
Fuck.
Who is this girl? And how did she get so far into my thoughts that I don’t even want sex?
Chapter Eight
Sophia
The whiskey burns my nostrils long after David has left the office, and I still have yet to actually meet him in person. But I guess he had to come in and sign our checks, and Brenda says I’m lucky it’s on time and for the right amount. I sign my time sheet saying that I showed up for my shift, and dump my purse on the desk. Two weeks I’ve been working here and finally I’m alone. Kayla trusts me enough to take a night off. Tuesdays are quieter than death in this place apparently.
“Corbin came in this afternoon to sort it out.” Brenda sits on the opposite side of the bar just after her shift, having the one beer she allows herself per day. “Math whiz, that kid. I’ve known him since he was a baby. Coulda done a lot for himself if he’d had better circumstances.”
Brenda tries to tuck her too short hair behind her ear and takes a drink as I wipe down the thick wooden bar around her.
I’ve seen Corbin almost every day since the day at the lake, but we’ve kept our distance. Never going beyond pleasantries, like friends. He comes in here almost every night for food; or with Garett and Riley for a beer. He’s here when Kayla tells him we need to discuss this Bash thing they plan in the summer, but especially when Kayla’s around he’s distant. But not just to me. To her too. It’s like he’s retreated inside his head and refuses to come out.
“Yeah,” I mumble only half paying attention because I don’t really want to talk about Corbin’s circumstances if he’s not the one telling me. It feels invasive. I’m already wondering too many things. I don’t need more mystery around him.
The loud creak of the door reverberates through the dimly lit bar, and I look up to see Garett and Riley walk in with two tall almost identical looking girls. I recognize Jackson’s girlfriend, Becca, still in her scrubs from the hospital, but the other girl looks like her sister. Becca waves to me and Riley nods his head. Garett smirks and my face reddens. I still haven’t talked to him about that first night here. If he doesn’t bring it up, I figure we just won’t talk about it. It was what I wanted, a one-night stand. But I still can’t help but be driven by embarrassment, so I wave him over while pouring myself a shot of whiskey and downing it. I pour another one and push it across the bar to Garett.
“What’s this for?” he asks, but takes it back like a pro, not doing the sputtering spine shaking shiver that I did.
“Truce.” I smile at him, but he looks confused for a moment before his little grin pulls up the corner of his lips.
“Aw, Sophia.” He laughs and leans across the bar cupping my cheek in his hand. It doesn’t elicit half the response that Corbin’s touch brings me but still I react. “Was I your first Fuck ’em-and-forget ’em?”
My mouth drops open which makes Garett laugh harder. He leans closer, kissing my forehead quickly. I can’t stop this horrid heat from ripping through me, and not a good heat.
“Listen, Soph. You are... Uh, fucking sexy as all hell,” he says and runs his thumb along my jaw. “But I totally get
xxx
I don't go into the bar when I drop Sophia off at her car but turn around and head straight back to the lake. I walk along the open beach to the cluster of trees around the east bank. In the clearing by the old tattered rope is an enormous fire pit filled with charred bits of wood and the odd burnt-up can of beer. I think about texting the guys for a bonfire, but I don’t have a phone. I could swim, but I just don’t feel like it anymore. Kayla will be at work by now, maybe a little sex distraction. But then I see Sophia’s smiling face, her hair blowing around as the wind whipped through the truck.
Fuck.
Who is this girl? And how did she get so far into my thoughts that I don’t even want sex?
Chapter Eight
Sophia
The whiskey burns my nostrils long after David has left the office, and I still have yet to actually meet him in person. But I guess he had to come in and sign our checks, and Brenda says I’m lucky it’s on time and for the right amount. I sign my time sheet saying that I showed up for my shift, and dump my purse on the desk. Two weeks I’ve been working here and finally I’m alone. Kayla trusts me enough to take a night off. Tuesdays are quieter than death in this place apparently.
“Corbin came in this afternoon to sort it out.” Brenda sits on the opposite side of the bar just after her shift, having the one beer she allows herself per day. “Math whiz, that kid. I’ve known him since he was a baby. Coulda done a lot for himself if he’d had better circumstances.”
Brenda tries to tuck her too short hair behind her ear and takes a drink as I wipe down the thick wooden bar around her.
I’ve seen Corbin almost every day since the day at the lake, but we’ve kept our distance. Never going beyond pleasantries, like friends. He comes in here almost every night for food; or with Garett and Riley for a beer. He’s here when Kayla tells him we need to discuss this Bash thing they plan in the summer, but especially when Kayla’s around he’s distant. But not just to me. To her too. It’s like he’s retreated inside his head and refuses to come out.
“Yeah,” I mumble only half paying attention because I don’t really want to talk about Corbin’s circumstances if he’s not the one telling me. It feels invasive. I’m already wondering too many things. I don’t need more mystery around him.
The loud creak of the door reverberates through the dimly lit bar, and I look up to see Garett and Riley walk in with two tall almost identical looking girls. I recognize Jackson’s girlfriend, Becca, still in her scrubs from the hospital, but the other girl looks like her sister. Becca waves to me and Riley nods his head. Garett smirks and my face reddens. I still haven’t talked to him about that first night here. If he doesn’t bring it up, I figure we just won’t talk about it. It was what I wanted, a one-night stand. But I still can’t help but be driven by embarrassment, so I wave him over while pouring myself a shot of whiskey and downing it. I pour another one and push it across the bar to Garett.
“What’s this for?” he asks, but takes it back like a pro, not doing the sputtering spine shaking shiver that I did.
“Truce.” I smile at him, but he looks confused for a moment before his little grin pulls up the corner of his lips.
“Aw, Sophia.” He laughs and leans across the bar cupping my cheek in his hand. It doesn’t elicit half the response that Corbin’s touch brings me but still I react. “Was I your first Fuck ’em-and-forget ’em?”
My mouth drops open which makes Garett laugh harder. He leans closer, kissing my forehead quickly. I can’t stop this horrid heat from ripping through me, and not a good heat.
“Listen, Soph. You are... Uh, fucking sexy as all hell,” he says and runs his thumb along my jaw. “But I totally get
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