by Tj Hannah
Fuck.
Who is this girl? And how did she get so far into my thoughts that I don’t even want sex?
Chapter Eight
Sophia
The whiskey burns my nostrils long after David has left the office, and I still have yet to actually meet him in person. But I guess he had to come in and sign our checks, and Brenda says I’m lucky it’s on time and for the right amount. I sign my time sheet saying that I showed up for my shift, and dump my purse on the desk. Two weeks I’ve been working here and finally I’m alone. Kayla trusts me enough to take a night off. Tuesdays are quieter than death in this place apparently.
“Corbin came in this afternoon to sort it out.” Brenda sits on the opposite side of the bar just after her shift, having the one beer she allows herself per day. “Math whiz, that kid. I’ve known him since he was a baby. Coulda done a lot for himself if he’d had better circumstances.”
Brenda tries to tuck her too short hair behind her ear and takes a drink as I wipe down the thick wooden bar around her.
I’ve seen Corbin almost every day since the day at the lake, but we’ve kept our distance. Never going beyond pleasantries, like friends. He comes in here almost every night for food; or with Garett and Riley for a beer. He’s here when Kayla tells him we need to discuss this Bash thing they plan in the summer, but especially when Kayla’s around he’s distant. But not just to me. To her too. It’s like he’s retreated inside his head and refuses to come out.
“Yeah,” I mumble only half paying attention because I don’t really want to talk about Corbin’s circumstances if he’s not the one telling me. It feels invasive. I’m already wondering too many things. I don’t need more mystery around him.
The loud creak of the door reverberates through the dimly lit bar, and I look up to see Garett and Riley walk in with two tall almost identical looking girls. I recognize Jackson’s girlfriend, Becca, still in her scrubs from the hospital, but the other girl looks like her sister. Becca waves to me and Riley nods his head. Garett smirks and my face reddens. I still haven’t talked to him about that first night here. If he doesn’t bring it up, I figure we just won’t talk about it. It was what I wanted, a one-night stand. But I still can’t help but be driven by embarrassment, so I wave him over while pouring myself a shot of whiskey and downing it. I pour another one and push it across the bar to Garett.
“What’s this for?” he asks, but takes it back like a pro, not doing the sputtering spine shaking shiver that I did.
“Truce.” I smile at him, but he looks confused for a moment before his little grin pulls up the corner of his lips.
“Aw, Sophia.” He laughs and leans across the bar cupping my cheek in his hand. It doesn’t elicit half the response that Corbin’s touch brings me but still I react. “Was I your first Fuck ’em-and-forget ’em?”
My mouth drops open which makes Garett laugh harder. He leans closer, kissing my forehead quickly. I can’t stop this horrid heat from ripping through me, and not a good heat.
“Listen, Soph. You are... Uh, fucking sexy as all hell,” he says and runs his thumb along my jaw. “But I totally get it. It was fun, and if you ever want to do it again I am all in, but I get it.”
He winks at me and walks away just as Corbin walks through the door. My eyes connect with his immediately and his shoulders tense, looking from me to Garett.
Leave it to me to be in this situation. I suck in a deep breath and tell myself not to think too much about it. I can’t afford to panic at work. Not when I’m on my own for the first time.
“You alright, kid?” Brenda asks from down the bar next to Richard the regular. I nod.
“Just going to go get a couple cases from the walk in if you can keep watch for a second.” I speed walk out from behind the bar and rip open the door to the huge walk in cooler. I’m surrounded by stacks of beer cases and big round silver kegs. The air is amazingly cold, and I lean over to suck it into my lungs.
“Need help with anything?” I hear his voice and spin around violently. My foot slips, my ankle rolls over in the high heels I’m not used to wearing, and I’m falling before I know what’s happening. Corbin takes a step toward me, and as I grab his shoulders, his hands hold my waist.
“Easy,” he says, pressing my body to his, and I can’t help but think this is how all terrible movies begin. I try to step back, but the pain in my ankle shoots up my leg, and I stumble again. Corbin’s arm is back around me. He scoops me up like I weigh nothing, without a single word, and carries me to the office.
I’m not usually the type to swoon over a knight in shining armor, mostly because I’m not the anything type, but I involuntarily gasp as he sets me on the desk and sits on the spinning chair in front of me.
“Corbin, I’m fine.” I try to protest as he rolls up the leg of my jeans but as soon as his fingers touch my skin, my mouth shuts.
“I’m sure you are. But I’d feel guilty if you broke something.” He slowly pulls the bright red pump from my foot, and the pain is dull, already dissipating. Just rolled it. But as he holds my calf with one hand and runs the other over every part of my ankle and foot I don’t argue. I couldn’t even if I wanted to. The effects of his fingertips grazing along my skin travel up my calf to my thigh, pulsing up my entire body. I clear my throat so that I don’t make any more unexpected sounds.
“Would you even know what to do if I broke it? And I’m the biggest wimp to ever live, so we’d know if I broke it.”
Corbin laughs, and the sound makes me smile. It’s a full laugh that catches me off guard with its genuine tone. It’s not the dismissive laugh of my father or the mistrusting laugh of my mother. It’s real.
“I work with heavy machinery that spins at seventeen hundred RPMs… We are required to have first aid training. I could bring you back to life-” he starts before his eyes go blank and my breath catches. “Sorry, I didn’t mean-”
I wave my hand and I scoot to the edge of the desk, lowering my feet to the floor. He’s so close he could kiss my stomach if I moved just a little bit which makes me hold my breath. Finally, I put my hands on his shoulders.
“Thanks, doc. I think I’m all fixed up.” I twirl my foot, rotating my ankle to show him it’s fine and slip my shoe back on. All the while my heart thunders with this entire encounter. Him. How his presence affects me. The mention of how I told him something I avoid talking about at all costs. Our close proximity. Everything.
“Have lunch with me.” It’s half a question, half a command, and it’s all insecure. He stares at my stomach.
I look away as soon as he angles his head to meet my gaze. “You have a girlfriend, Corbin.”
“No, I don’t.”
The thundering in my chest gets louder, and my head swims with all the reasons this is a terrible idea. But half of me wants it. Someone I can talk to. I just wish he didn’t come with all these other feelings.
“I’m not sure Kayla would agree with you.” I still stare at the floor, but I hear him get up. I feel him all around me.
“I have a deal with Kayla. If I want to sleep with someone else, I tell her. But I didn’t ask you to fuck me. I asked if you want to have lunch with me. Tomorrow.”
He lifts my chin with one finger and smiles this taunting half smile. He’s daring me to say no.
“Fine. And you didn’t really ask me, by the way.” I return his smile and duck under his arm, fighting through the dull ache in my ankle as I try to walk as confidently as I can, hoping he can’t sense the vibration that lingers in my limbs from his touch.
Chapter Nine
Corbin
I’m not really sure what lunch even means, but I haven’t thought about anything but her since the lake. Even while fighting it out with Kayla as to why I’ve been avoiding her. I blamed it on my phone at first, and then I just worked as much as I could, focused on anything except Kayla and Sophia. I still spend time with Kayla, I guess, even though we haven’t hooked up once since that night at the bar when I thought of nothing
but Sophia. My excuses are running out.
When I pull up to Tobie’s house, Sophia is sitting on the step, bronzed legs sticking out of shorts that shouldn’t be legal. Her hair is up, making her look more innocent than I think she is which just causes my mind to wander. This isn’t really the best way to start out lunch.
She pulls open the truck door, flooding me with her smell and who’d of known that fruit shampoo could make my dick hard, but here I am shifting and trying to smile.
“How’s the foot?” I throw the truck into drive and she lifts her leg rolling her ankle around.
“Good as new,” she says as I glance at her bare leg. “So where are we having lunch?”
“A place I like. I have a hook up.”
Her eyebrows furrow, but I don’t say anything else. We park downtown and walk the few blocks to the little coffee place I go almost as much as I go to the bar. I hold the door open, and Sophia ducks under my arm, eyeing me as she passes. I could just open it properly for her, but I like having reasons for her to be close.
We stand in line, and I watch her read the menu on the back wall. It’s totally a soup and sandwich kind of place, but like I said, I have a hook up.
“Do you trust me?” I lean over to her, whispering in her ear, making her jump.
“Um, what?”
“Two questions Sweet Sophia. One, do you have any food allergies, and two, do you trust me?”
“Um, no. And I don’t know you, so no, I’m not sure I trust you. Why?”
I stumble only for a moment before a smile cracks across my face. “Ouch. What happened to innocent until proven guilty?”
“I’ve never really subscribed to that school of thought.”
I laugh. “Okay. I just invented the best sandwich in the world, and I thought I’d share it with you, but I’m not sure I want to now.” I’m teasing her, and I can see the tension begin to melt from her shoulders.
“I suppose if it’s just a sandwich…” She pushes a smile and gestures to the girl behind the till.
“This isn’t just a sandwich. And also, are you one of those I pay my own way in this world kind of girls or can I buy you lunch?”
The question catches her completely off guard, which was the intention. Her wide eyed stare always makes me wonder about where she comes from that she seems so afraid of everything one minute and then be full of attitude and confidence the next.
“I have money.” The statement is dry, unsure of me.
“That’s not what I asked.”
She smiles. “Yes.”
“To what?”
“To both.”
We’re at the front of the line, and the girl is just about to ask us what we want, when a tall skinny kid slides over and bumps her out of the way.
“It’s okay Amber, I got this.” The kid says before looking at me. “Corbin, you fucking asshole. You owe me twenty bucks.”
Sophia looks between us with a raised eyebrow as I pull a twenty out of my wallet and hand it over. “Nice to see you, Caleb.”
He snatches the twenty from my fingers for the bet we made about a girl, but I probably won’t tell Sophia about that. It wasn’t my girl.
“Who’s your friend?” Caleb asks, nodding to Sophia.
“Sophia, this is Caleb. Brenda’s son. Don’t listen to anything he says. It’s all lies.”
She shakes his hand, and they talk about nothing while I hold my breath. Once we order, I try to throw a couple bucks in the tip jar, but Sophia stops me, holding out a ten to Caleb.
“Here. This is for whatever bet you two are going to make about me when I go to the bathroom.” She winks at him and takes her drink off the counter. Caleb’s jaw drops and I push out my breath in a laugh. She’s good.
“I might love her,” Caleb says.
“Down, boy.” I swipe my own drink off the counter and follow Sophia to a couch at the back of the shop.
“So how do you know him so well? You talk to him like he’s your little brother,” she says, and her eyes shift from me to the window.
“Practically is, I guess. He apprentices under me at the shop. Works here part time and hooks me up with this sandwich that is the most intense sandwich you’ll ever eat. So prepare yourself.”
I turn the topic from Caleb because his story is too similar to mine, except his mom is decent and not a lying bitch, and I don’t want to get personal today. Not that kind of personal anyway.
Sophia doesn’t push me, and she also reacts appropriately to the triple decker sandwich that I’ve been spending years perfecting. Her eyes widen as Caleb sets the sandwich down.
“How am I going to fit that thing in my mouth?” She looks at Caleb who chokes back a laugh.
“I hear that a lot, actually.” I smirk at her as she hits me and proceeds to use her palm to crush the toasted sandwich smaller.
I’ve never really been on a proper date. And not that that’s what this is but after three hours of talking about nothing and everything at the same time I’m surprised by how much I actually enjoyed the whole thing. How closely I watched her twirl her fingers through her ponytail and rub her finger over her bottom lip as she listened to me. How I noticed that she throws her head back when she laughs for real, but tilts it down when she pity laughs. How hard we laughed about Rich and his stories of Ruthie, about how she thought a bra would solve her problems, about how I own a pair of skin tight swim trunks that she now insists I show her. How after drinking more coffee than anyone should in the middle of the afternoon, I actually regret reminding her that she has a barbecue to go to. Like I want to keep her to myself for just awhile longer.
She rolls her eyes. “Do I have to? Don’t I know everyone already?”
“Tobie loves this shit. I think it’s more for her than anything else.”
“Fine, but my car’s still at the bar from last night, so can you drop me off there?”
I pull my keys from my pocket and wave to Caleb who wiggles his eyebrows, and I give him the finger.
“For sure.” I push open the door for her and she ducks automatically, just expecting it from me now. I like that and it feels strange. The way she anticipates me ignites a physical response which is confusing. I’ve never reacted to someone without ever touching them. Not that I don’t remember the softness of her skin or the way she fit perfectly in my arms.
“Corbin?” she says before opening the truck door.
“Yeah?” I shake off the entirely different reaction I have to the memory of touching her.
“Thank you.”
“For what?”
“My life tends to be overly dramatic, so thanks for distracting me.”
My heart plummets, but again I don’t know why. The sadness is back in her eyes, like the last few hours never happened. Her life is like some Shakespearian tragedy. Or at least from what I hear about them, I don’t read that shit.
xxx
On the way back to the bar, my new phone buzzes in my pocket. I fish it out with one hand and slide it open.
“Hello?” I say and glance over at Sophia who’s watching me.
“Where are you?” Kayla’s voice rings out and it makes my chest constrict. This is a new feeling. I’ve never dreaded a call from her before. But I’ve never gone behind Kayla’s back like this either. I should just end it. Whether Sophia sleeps with me or not, I just don’t have any interest in being around any other girl. Which shouldn’t be the case if I actually cared about Kayla in any deep way.
“Hey, Kay. I’m just dropping Sophia off at her car and then heading over to Tobie’s. Why? What’s up?” I pull up next to Sophia’s car and hold out my finger for her to wait.
“You’re still with her? You said you were going out for lunch like ten hours ago.” It doesn’t sound rude, but I know she’s not impressed.
“Don’t exaggerate, Kayla. She doesn’t know anyone here. I went for lunch with her. Talked. You know what most people do to make friends.” I can’t keep the irritation out of my voice as I struggle to keep my
breathing even.
“Oh, you guys are friends? Sure you are, Corb. Your dick probably has nothing to do with your decision to play BFF to the new girl.” Kayla’s laughing like she’s right. She’s totally right, but I don’t dare say anything. Sophia rolls her eyes, able to hear Kayla’s words and reaches for the door handle. Before I know what I’m doing, my hand goes out and grips Sophia’s wrist, pulling her back into the truck. She slides across the seat toward me, eyes wide.
“Don’t be like that. Bitter looks bad on you.” It’s amazing how fast things can change. Kayla’s never spoken like this to me. I’ve never wanted to avoid her. No girl has captured my attention as quickly as Sophia. I feel like a total ass on the phone with one girl while I have another in my arms. I’m not this guy. Not anymore.
“I know,” Kayla continues. “Tosh was just at the bar. He mentioned the barbecue. He invited me, but I wanted to make sure you were going.”
“Yeah, I’ll be there.” I catch Sophia’s gaze again and she shakes her head, pulling away from me. I can’t say anything as she slides out of the truck and slams the door.
“Good.” Kayla sounds more like herself now. “I want to talk to him about DJing the Bash. I don’t know why I didn’t think of him before. He’s good, right?”
Yes, definitely more like normal. She’s concerned with no one but herself. I’d be pissed about it, but I’m only thinking about myself as I watch Sophia drive away.
“Uh, yeah I guess. I’ve only seen him spin once. A long time ago.” I press the cell between my ear and shoulder as I back up the truck and follow Sophia to Tobie’s place.