Page 15 of Grayson

“Overnight I’d become a single mom to a young girl. I was dropping out of college, getting a job, and worrying about how I was going to pay next month’s rent. None of my friends wanted to hang around with a girl raising a pre-teen I was no longer the one that was comfortable sneaking into bars and flirting with bouncers. I wasn’t the girl that would flash the bartenders for free drinks anymore.”

“You did that?” She seems impressed triggering me to smile.

“Twice.” I hold up two fingers then pause. “Okay three times if you count the street festival.”

“Oh honey.” Vivian moves in and throws her arm over my shoulders. “You’re my hero.” I would think she was making fun of me had I not heard those words from her before. Vivian isn’t someone that says things she doesn’t mean. She may be sassy and sarcastic, but she is also honest and loyal. “And none of those bitches were your true friends, not if they bolted the first time things got rough. However just because you have a teenager at home it shouldn’t mean you forget live for you too.”

Again I bite at my lip nervously.

“Remember what we told Luann.” The woman with the new baby at home that had stopped taking care of herself the moment she brought her baby home. “Tori adores you, but she also is a smart kid and she knows what you’ve sacrificed for her. She knows what you continue to sacrifice, and your happiness shouldn’t be one of those things.”

“I’m happy,” I correct her and she hugs me tighter.

“Okay fine, but wouldn’t you be a tad bit happier if you had the occasional orgasm too?”

“Oh my God!” I hang my head and she laughs.

“You can yell that if you want, guys love to be called God.”

I shove against her and she laughs holding her stomach. “So are you ready to go inside? Maybe enjoy yourself a little.”

“Fine, let’s go, but you should know that enjoying myself doesn’t mean I plan on going home with a man.”

“Okay fine.” She opens the door and nudges me in front of her. “You can go home with a woman, I don’t judge.” And before I get the opportunity to offer her a response, she is pushing me inside, the sounds of her laughing ringing in my ear.

I start to scan over the space and instantly fall in love. It’s rugged with wood ceilings and bar tops. The back wall behind the bar is long with shelves lined with all different types of liquor. The barstools, steel and manly with wooden tops, match the rest of the place. It’s beautiful actually and it seems weird in my head to refer to a bar as such, but it’s true.

“Cooper, who is a fellow firefighter with your hot neighbor, owns this place. His younger brothers Axel and Joey are also owners and they named it for their late mother.”

I nod, feeling a respect for three men I’ve never met. If I had a place I could name after my parents I would.

“It’s somewhat of a hangout for all the firefighters.” Again I nod, then her words register. Spinning around to face her I furrow my brows.

“Wait, they all come here?”

She opens her mouth to reply then her gaze shifts up over my shoulder and I swear the little hairs on the back of my neck stand tall.

“Hey, neighbor.” A deep southern laced tone rolls through me.

I meet Vivian’s gaze once more and don’t miss the way she is attempting to fight her smile.

“Good evening, Gray,” she says only she is watching me.

And in that moment I want nothing more than to tackle her, then run.

11

Grayson Hawk

I’d just gotten a drink and turned around to rejoin Scarlett and a few of the guys when I see her step inside. Chills covered my arms and shoulders as I took her in.

Long legs that disappeared under a tight skirt. A sweater hanging off one shoulder and waves of chestnut colored hair flowed over her shoulders. The lighting in Ruby’s isn’t all that bright, but I could see the nervous energy rolling off of her. The way she worried her hands in front of her and the squared shoulders and wide eyes also gave it away.

Like a deer in headlights, my quiet little neighbor looked like she was about to bolt.

The minute she turned around to face Vivian behind her I felt other parts of me come alive. Who knew the sweet little mouse had a body like that under all those baggy clothes she wears.

Taking a step in their direction I watch as Vivian’s gaze shifts to meet mine but it’s the woman whose back is facing me that I’m more interested in.

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