Page 8 of We're One

“It’s a game of fate, my dear brother. You can’t fight it,” Blaze says, his voice ultra-melodramatic. “Sia’s obviously meant to be a part of your life. The more you fight it, the more it will hurt. I’m telling you to just go with it.”

I roll my eyes. None of us have ever liked being told what to do. Gramps raised us to be strong. We had no choice after losing our parents as teens. If we weren’t tough, we never would’ve made it through that tragedy. Maybe I do need to play the game. Both of my brothers have already been through this, and they’ve come out better at the end. I’m not sure any of us are capable of simply going along with anything though. We like to forge our own paths. Even if these paths take us down a rocky incline, we can say we chose the route as we stumble down the mountain.

I give Blaze a crooked smile and hold up my drink. “Here’s to fate.”

Blaze laughs. “Here’s to fate,” he agrees.

I look out at the dance floor and am pleased when I see the mystery woman down below. She left for a little while, but she’s back. She’s laughing with another woman when a man approaches her. He’s smiling... for a moment. He then frowns and walks away with his head tucked down. I smile. Hmm, the woman just became even more interesting.

Screw fate. I rise from my seat and ignore whatever Blaze says to me as I move to the stairs. It’s time to meet the mystery woman below. She intrigues me, and it’s time for a dance. No one and nothing controls who I see or want, especially not some mystery box on a desk in Gramps’s den.

The promise of a needed distraction draws me down the stairs and out onto the dance floor. It’s almost like a rope is tugging me. I ignore it as I’m choosing to approach this woman. It isn’t fate drawing me closer. Nothing’s pulling me to her. I’m fighting fate, not embracing it.

I approach the woman from behind as she begins swaying again, my gaze focused on her hips as she sexily moves them in a sweet black dress that hugs her body, yet leaves a lot to the imagination. It isn’t glued to every square inch of her, making me want to trace my hands up her hips, over her small waistline, and higher.

Sia’s face once again passes through my mind, and I scowl. No! I’m hitting on this woman, not thinking of Sia and her uptight hairdo and business clothes. I want a woman who knows how to please a man, not a woman who looks at me like I’m something she’s stepped on.

With a surge of raw determination, I push aside thoughts of Sia and focus on the beauty before me, ready to lose myself in the moment to whatever sparks are about to fly. I move forward only inches from the woman, then lean forward and whisper a greeting.

Chapter Four

Sia

I toss my purse on the counter as soon as the door shuts behind me. Like a zombie I walk to the couch and slouch down with a big sigh. The events of the day are swirling through my mind like a whirlwind.

“That’s a big sigh,” Nikki says as she sets her computer down.

“What are you working on?” I ask, not quite ready to talk about my day.

She beams at me. “My cooking vlog. I did an amazing video yesterday where the mixer exploded flour all over the place. I wasn’t going to redo the recipe so I went ahead and posted it, and the followers loved it. Makes me think I need to quit cutting out all of the mistakes I make. It seems they like the mess-ups as much as the recipes themselves.”

“We all want to be entertained. It’s harder to keep our interest in this ever-changing world of technology where we can literally look up anything we want with a few keystrokes,” I tell her.

“I love cooking so much and want this to be all professional, but it’s not really who I am so it might come across as fake.”

“I’ve been telling you from the beginning to be yourself because you’re amazing,” I insist.

“Well, I’m not going to fake disasters, but I’m going to let things play out. It will save me a massive amount of time in editing.”

“With all the extra time we can exercise more,” I tell her. Neither of us get enough of it.

A shudder runs through her. “Now you’re talking me into editing again. That’s much better than running.” We both laugh as the tension leaves my shoulders. I should’ve known being with her would instantly cheer me up. It’s always been that way.

“I wouldn’t want to do that,” I say, smiling with my lips, but knowing it’s not quite reaching my eyes.

“Okay, you’ve stalled long enough. How did it go with Zach?”

“I don’t know,” I say, confused. “He doesn’t remember me. There’s something niggling on his brain, and he asked if we know each other. I don’t know what makes me feel worse, that he can’t quite place me, or that he’s been with so many women that the greatest experience of my life was only a tiny blip on his radar.”

“I wish I could tell you it’s not a big deal, but that does kind of suck. We’re simply choosy about who we want to be intimate with, while others think a hole is a hole.”

I cringe. “That’s so gross.”

“I agree it’s gross, but a lot of men are pigs,” she says with no apology.

“I know my share of crappy women too.”

She laughs. “Believe me, I agree. We just look at lovemaking as something special. People like Zach look at it as nothing but pleasure. I’m not saying one way is right or wrong, but the two philosophies usually don’t mix. You can’t want an exclusive, beautiful relationship with someone who wants a new woman beneath him each week.”

---