AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Lena jumped up and punched the air while Mom shouted a laugh. Chopsticks went everywhere. Mom, when she calmed down, decided that now was the time for the fork.
“I knew I could count on you, sis,” Lena said. “So, when are you pressuring him into marrying you? Or is this a collect-evidence-for-the-sexual-harassment-case kind of thing?”
“Neither,” I said, shutting her down before Mom could take either idea to its extremes. “We just had sex once, and nothing after. That was a week ago.”
“So, just… business as usual after?” Lena asked.
“Yup,” I said.
“Oh, honey,” Mom said. “It’s one thing to sleep with your boss. It’s another if you don’t even get anything out of it.”
“Alright, that’s it. I regret telling you,” I said.
“Hush, Ma, Jesus,” Lena said. “Look at me, sis. Look at me.”
I did, eyes watering with frustration and embarrassment all at once.
“I was just saying,” Mom continued.
“It doesn’t matter,” Lena continued. “Are you happy?”
“I am when I’m with him,” I said.
“Then I’ll drink to that,” Lena said.
“And half a dozen other things,” Mom muttered.
“Hush, Ma,” she said, raising her beer glass high. “To Julia and her love life. Resurrected from nothingness to be far more interesting than anything that’s happened to me in a decade.”
“Hear, hear,” Mom said.
“Ma, you’re not supposed to agree with me,” Lena said.
“Then get a more interesting love life.” She laughed.
ChapterTwenty
Hunter
My first thought as I woke up was that, for the first time in my life, I really felt like a fool.
It had been a week since the second time I lost control over myself in the office with Julia, breaking the dam that I thought would lead to something either incredible or catastrophic. Instead, it led to me not knowing what to do for the first time in my life.
Never before had I not known exactly what to do. I didn’t feel like I even had to try most of the time. My gut instinct led me through it. It had never wavered, not when acquiring companies or making tough decisions. Not on sports fields that I excelled in, not in boardrooms. Never had my gut not had an immediate and correct plan of action.
But after being with Julia, and the mind-blowing night we spent in my office, I couldn’t decide what I was supposed to do now. On one hand, I wanted to experience that night over again, every night of my life until I was taken off the Earth. On the other, I was playing with fire and I knew it. One sniff of impropriety to investors and I could lose everything in an instant.
Nothing got her out of my mind, though. Not throwing myself into work, not distracting myself at home with television or working out. Not a sparring lesson with a famous heavyweight champ or doing heavy weights with a powerlifter. Nothing got her off my mind. And it was starting to affect me.
I wasn’t sleeping. And when I did sleep, it was restless. My buddies were about done with me, since I had avoided just about every opportunity to go out with them in the last six weeks or so, but when Sean texted me Monday morning, just as the sun came up, I knew I wasn’t going to be able to avoid them any longer.
For one thing, Sean was the bulldog of the friend group. The one most insistent on maintaining a friendship that didn’t involve business. He was the one who made sure we did stupid things together. Bowling, karaoke, eating at a Hooters of all places. He was the life of the party wherever he went, even before he made all of his money in the hotel business. But now, he was just livelyandrich. I often envied how he seemed so effortless in his control of his company, and how much fun he seemed to be having doing it.
Sean: Morning, Prick..
Me: Morning, jackass.
Sean: Oh, you’re up? Awesome. I haven’t gone to bed yet.
