Page 51 of I Am Sin

I swallow. “A few blocks away. But I have to warn you. I don’t keep any alcohol in the house.”

“Did I ask for alcohol?” He smiles.

“No.”

“We can just talk.”

I roll my eyes at him. “I’ve heard that before.”

He puts a hand up in front of him. “You’re a friend of Teddy’s. And I don’t use women. So we go to your place. We talk alone. If something happens, great. If nothing happens, great. Maybe we’ll see each other again. Maybe we won’t. There’s no pressure, Diana.” He shrugs. “It’s just two people who met and want to get to know each other a little better.”

When he puts it that way…

“Okay, why not? Let me just tell Teddy I’m out of here.”

“We’ll go together,” he says.

And I smile.

I feel okay about this.

ChapterSixteen

Dragon

Some demons you never slay. Some you just have to learn to live with.

Tim’s words haunt me as I walk around downtown Denver.

It’s nearing midnight, and the clubs are hopping, and of course the smell of marijuana is on every corner.

You can’t escape it in Colorado, especially on a Saturday night.

That second piece of cherry pie and my chocolate malt are heavy in my stomach. Not a good idea. I’ve never been one to substitute food for alcohol or drugs, so I’m not sure what got into me tonight.

Going to the party with Diana… Having that woman, Tracy, flirt all over me as she sucked on an IPA bottle.

Was it her lips on the amber rim? Or was it the beer itself?

Because Tracy was hot for sure, and she dressed like she’d be up for anything.

Still…aside from the malty beverage, all I’ve been thinking about is…Diana.

How attracted I am to her.

I’m going to have to find another place to stay.

But first I have to find a job—at least for a few months, until the band is back in business. We’re not booked for anything else yet, and we couldn’t take anything anyway until Jesse and Rory get back from their honeymoons. Brock and Rory went back to Europe and are going to be gone for at least two months. Jesse and Brianna are hanging on a beach in Jamaica, and they won’t be back anytime soon either.

Part of me wants to go home. Hang out with Cage and Jake, the other two members of the band. Except the two of them like to drink as much as anyone.

I’m better off here with Diana. Diana, who doesn’t keep booze in the house and rarely drinks herself.

As I walk by a twenty-four-hour liquor store, its neon sign pulses at me in sync with my heartbeat.

It saysliquor.

But to me it pulses with different words.

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