“Fine,” I said.
I left it at that. Anything more, and there probably would have been some trouble. I knew Tim well enough to know that when he'd made up his mind about something, it was done. Case closed. I wanted to keep my job, so I did as I was told. I left his office and grabbed my things from my locker, slamming it shut even harder than the first time.
A week off. Maybe two unless I didn't suck it up. Some people would relish a surprise vacation, but not me. I had no fucking clue what I would be doing with myself or my time – aside from meeting with some goddamn shrink. I had no one other than my crew and had no idea what I'd do with the time other than sit at home and stare at the walls. Fuck this, I thought.
I pulled out my phone and texted Finn.
“Where you at? Guess I'm going to be joining you guys after all.”
Finn let out a low whistle when I told him the news. “Hey, at least you get some paid time off,” he said.
“I don't want time off,” I mumbled.
I rolled my eyes and stared down at my beer. We both knew that men like us weren't the type to just sit at home watching TV. Guys like us had to be in the thick of the action. We had to be doing something. Anything. What in the fuck was I supposed to do – start gardening? Pick up a book? Nah, I lived to work. I was the job. There was literally nothing else that got me up in the mornings.
Justin was sitting across from me, and he smirked, but wisely didn't say a word. Justin and I weren't all that close. He was probably my least favorite person in the house. I found him to be arrogant, a bit smug, and slightly obnoxious. He was the clown, the prankster of the team, and I didn't really have patience for the likes of him right now – or ever, if I was being honest.
Justin was your typical pretty boy – blonde hair, blue eyed ex-MVP for his high school football team. If you were a little different or not in his clique, he was the jock who made your life a living hell in high school. Not because he was a bully. On the contrary, he tried too hard to be a regular guy, always cracking wise. To Justin, life was one long joke.
Finn, on the other hand, was more like me. Well, not exactly. Maybe a mix between Justin and me. He could crack jokes, but he was also more down-to-earth and could be serious when the situation called for it.
Like me, he had darker hair – though his was closer to black while mine was more of a dark brown. We both had dark blue eyes. He was a little older than me, only a couple of years, but he often liked to step up and be a mentor to others, including me. He was a good guy. One of the best I'd ever known. It was why he’d become my best friend.
I was closer to him than anyone else on the team.
A hand clapped me hard on the back, nearly knocking the bottle of beer from my hands.
“Hey Jax,” Caleb said, taking the seat next to Finn.
His brother, Phillip, came up behind him. They were twins, nearly identical. I could only tell them apart because Caleb had shorter hair and tended to smile more. Phillip took the seat on the other side of me without greeting anyone. He was quieter, more laid back, while Caleb was the life of the party. It was no surprise he and Justin got along perfectly, and before the long, the two men were laughing together about some private joke between them.
I finished my beer, suddenly regretting the decision to join the guys at the bar. I just wasn't really feeling it. I thought it would give me something to do, allow me to get out of the house a bit. Since I'd be having a lot of free time over the next week, I’d figured it would do me some good. As I sat there with everybody though, I was starting to have my doubts.
“Wow,” Caleb said, leaning back in his seat, staring off toward the doorway to the bar. “Look who just walked in.”
The other guys quickly turned to look and I was the last, not overly interested. Being New York City and all, it could be a celebrity sighting. I doubted it at a dive bar like Pete’s but hell, you never knew. It was hip these days to slum it with the likes of us. Dive bars and shitty little drinking spots had suddenly become all the rage and you never knew who you might run into.
But the woman who'd stepped inside wasn't a celebrity, as far as I could tell. She just looked like one. With raven hair and big blue eyes, she was easily one of the most beautiful women I'd ever seen. The dark hair was a stark contrast to her pale features, and I could tell it wasn't her natural color – still, it looked stunning on her.
Her hair fell in soft waves over her shoulders, leading to a nice view of her ample cleavage. Her rich, red dress fit her very well, showing off curves for days. With matching heels, she looked way too classy to be in a place like Pete’s.
And she was alone too.
“I'm gonna talk to her,” Caleb said, standing up quickly from his seat at the table.
“She's out of your league, brother,” Phillip teased.
“Oh yeah? Watch me knock this one out of the ballpark, brother,” he said, winking at all of us as he swaggered over toward the beautiful woman.
Phillip turned around to watch, a grin on his face. He seemed to think there was no way a woman like that would be into the likes of Caleb, but I didn't see why not. Caleb was a handsome guy, the type of guy most women would be proud to take home to mama.
“He has absolutely no clue how to talk to women like that,” Phillip said, shaking his head.
“What do you mean?”
“A woman like that – of her obvious station and caliber – doesn't want to be hit on. She doesn't need someone to buy her a drink, she obviously has money,” Phillip said softly.
“Then why in the hell would she come to a place like this?”
Phillip shrugged. “She's probably bored. She's just dipping her toes into the water, seeing how the rest of the world lives,” he said. “But she doesn't want to get in and immerse herself. Not fully and not with the likes of any of us. Caleb is the type of guy who comes on way too fucking strong for his own good and he's about to down in a big, fiery heap. You watch.”
Suddenly, I was curious too. I had to admit I sort of wanted Caleb to fail, but not because I wanted Phillip to be right. No, a knot formed in my chest as I looked over at the woman. Her eyes were crystal blue and filled with such depth that I found it compelling. Almost intoxicating. There was a sadness to her though, something I couldn't put my finger on. She seemed lost and alone – those were feelings I knew all too well. I wanted him to fail because I wanted her for myself.
Caleb approached her, and the woman didn't even crack a smile. She looked past him, her gaze falling on our table of men. I watched as she took us all in, one-by-one, and when her eyes fell on me, I felt my heart start to race all on its own accord.
I knew I was an attractive guy. I worked out a lot given the field I was in. I had to stay strong, fit, and agile; ready to carry people down ladders or several flights of stairs in a hurry. All of us were in great shape though, so if all she cared about was a body – well, she had quite a few to choose from.
No, when our eyes connected, she stared at me for a second longer than she had at the rest of the guys. Or maybe I'd imagined it. Either way, I knew I had to have her. Caleb was trying his best to talk to her, but she wasn't paying attention. I stood up, and before I knew what had gotten into me, I walked over to the beautiful young woman.