Page 93 of Invisible String
He nods. “You’re a good man, boss.” He grins, and now I know I said too much to him. But with Leo, I try to be what Carlos is to me. A mentor. Family. A father. “Just a grumpy ass at times.”
Shit. The cameras. I rush back into my office. I’m sure she saw my photo of her, but did she mess with my computer? I move the mouse to wake up the screen. She is driving recklessly into the parking lot. Noted, she still drives like shit. She doesn’t park in a space. It’s slanted. She walks into the café with a face that can slice your balls. I click the camera in her office. Rainey’s staring into the camera.She knows.The office heats like an inferno. Or is that my body? I unbutton the top three buttons.Then I man-spread my legs on the rolling chair. It’s been so long since I’ve seen her bare. Rainey’s perfect breasts fill her bra. She’s giving me a show. Fucking sexy. My body is buzzing with anticipation. She unbuttons her jeans and shimmies them off. My erection swells. How many times did I fantasize about her glorious ass? A habit I’ve always had with Rainey: I would bite my lip, just like now. She gropes her breasts and then moans as her hands slide down between her legs.
Damn.
“Fuck, baby. So beautiful.” I groan as I stroke. Up and down. “Keep going, sunshine. Spread for me.”
She does.
Sweet Jesus, she’s about to take her underwear off.
I bite my lip, waiting….
She flips me off.
“Fuck!” I toss a stapler across the room. “Damn you, Rainey.”
She’s clearly pissed. Let’s add more to the list I need to atone for. But without a doubt, mytesorowill pay for my painful, hard-as-stone dick when the time comes. She will beg for me to be inside her.
“Thank you so much, Max,”Mrs. Debbie says sincerely, smearing peanut butter on a slice of bread. Mrs. Debbie had taken over Needs for Teens, the nonprofit for homeless teens, when her parents, the founders, handed it over to her. The seventy-year-old woman has a heart of gold. “I just knew you’d come down to help with my water leak.”
“I told you I would.”
“I know, but a young man like you has too much going on. You should be out doing hanky panky, or what do you all call it these days, hook-up, fling, or something like that? Maybe even married.”
Married.
The idea of marriage has crossed my mind throughout the years, but I knew who held the title ofwifewould solely be Rainey. She’s the only person I could imagine spending my entire life with.
“In order to be close to marriage, that would mean I would need to have the woman back in my life.” I’m giving Rainey the weekend so she can cool off some before she chews my head off for watching her on the cameras.
Mrs. Debbie spreads strawberry jelly on the bread and glances at me. “Do you know how my husband won me over?”
“How?” I ask, putting the wrench on the kitchen counter and leaning my back against it.
She smiles, remembering. “He didn’t just tell me he loved me, but he showed me. Still, to this day, he does just that.” She places the sandwich in a Ziplock bag and piles it with the rest. “Show her with kind, beautiful, memorable gestures.”
“I’m trying. I show up at her café and try to make conversation, but she doesn’t give me the time of day. I understand why.” Fuck, I sound pitiful. “I sent her snacks so she could have them when she read. I just need to up my game, I guess.”
Mrs. Debbie leaves her task to walk toward me. She’s wrapped her long gray-braided hair in a bun—the same style she wore years ago when I was a kid, just without the gray.
“You need to listen to this.” She points at my heart. “It will guide you. How long have you loved her?”
“Much too long. I just didn’t know its depth. It was buried among the layers of darkness.”
She cups my cheeks in a motherly way. “Then you peel every layer for her. Show her the real Max, the genuine Max, not just the facade you've been presenting. Let her see all of you. Even the aspects you consider flawed or unattractive. She will come to love Max for who you truly are. I’m sure she loves you deep in her heart. She just wants all of you.”
“Those are my plans.” I’ve been eating food at the café I shouldn’t eat when you’re preparing for a fight. I have worked extra hard to lose those extra pounds. I do it for her, to see Rainey at the café, and to get a chance where just maybe she will let me in her heart a little at a time.
She pats my shoulder. “Good. You’ve come a long way, Max. I’m proud of you. You’ve set an example to children worldwide that, with hope and faith, we can achieve anything.”
After tightening the last screw and wiping my hands on a rag, I place an envelope stuffed with cash on her office desk. The room is cozy, with walls adorned with colorful posters and shelves filled with books and board games. The building itself is a modest four-bedroom house converted into a welcoming space for teenagers to gather, share meals, and find support. Outside, it stands on the corner of a bustling street lined with similar homes, each transformed into various small offices and community centers.
Mrs. Debbie’s eyes fill with tears. “Max, you’re such a generous human.”
I adjust my wet t-shirt. “I’ve walked in similar shoes. Your resources helped me all those times I needed them. I’m giving back. I have a roof over my head and food to eat. All I need is my woman, and I’ll have everything.”
Stepping out of Needs for Teens, I unlock my truck. I prefer my car, but since I needed to pick up parts to help Mrs. Debbie, it would have to do. Although I like my new truck, I prefer my Nova. Two men suddenly pin me against the truck, taking me bysurprise. I throw punches at both of them, one after the other. I know these men—they’re the Underground boss’s second and third in command. A cold metal gun presses against my head. I freeze as Daniel steps in front.
