by Allie York
“Uh, do you still have that bring a friend thing at your gym?” I tried to sound casual about it, but Blair turned her head so fast to study me that her head should have rolled off her shoulders.
“O.M.G! Oz, are you wanting to go?” Blair started grinning, revealing her perfect white teeth, and bouncing on her toes.
“Yeah, I think I’ll give it a shot. Hitting a treadmill couldn’t hurt, right? I’ve let my weight get a little out of control.” I went back to fixing the display while Blair started raving about fitness classes. Pilates, yoga, and spinning were her top three, followed by Crossfit and Zumba. Apparently dancing was exercise and super fun.
“Let’s leave this for tomorrow! I can take you to tour the gym now and then we can go meet, Ivy,” Blair bounced and grabbed my hands, “You are going to love eye candy, and I swear, it will make you feel so much better!” I smiled, realizing that my thick self had just made a huge mistake, “And did I mention the hot guys?” No promise of hot guys made me excited about our trip to the gym at all.
Walking through the gym with Blair, and some guy named Chris, made me want to vomit. Everyone there looked like the gym was the last place they needed to be. All of them were perfect, not an ounce of fat, and beautiful. No one looked like they were even breaking a sweat. Blair was openly staring at Chris’ ass while he pointed out the weight machines that looked intimidating as hell. I’m not going to last five minutes. Blair looked so excited that I was going to be there with her, that I just couldn’t back out. The girl was a gym rat. Between sex-filled weekends and early mornings at the gym, it was no wonder her body was perfect. I leaned more toward the sleeping until the third snooze went off and grabbing the last slice of pizza, and yet I was touring a gym.
Once we had gotten a good look at the sauna, and some of the shirtless men roaming around, Blair made me drive toward the bowling alley. Me driving meant she was drinking, but she was even more fun with a little liquid courage. Actually, she was just fun in general. I was the boring one.
“Okay, so the guy with the dragon on his chest, hot right?” I rolled my eyes, “Oh, please don’t tell me you didn’t notice him!” I had noticed him, but I really didn’t think he was that hot. Ripped yes, but not a sex god or anything. Not like Harris. I shook my head and ditched that thought really fast even though I had found myself comparing every man at the gym to Harris. I need to get laid... or I need a shrink.
“He was hot. Does he have a name?”
“Psht. Like I know his name. He’s just the sexy dragon guy. I don’t need a name.” Blair smeared some of my pink lip gloss on, popping her lips in the mirror. “Oh and bowling shoes are going to look so cute with your outfit.” My best friend started giggling uncontrollably. My cuffed pink pants and flowing floral shirt would look ridiculous with bowling shoes, but I truly didn’t care. At least I hadn’t worn a dress. I was going to relax and have fun with my girls, not worry about my fashion sense. I just hoped we didn’t run into any customers who expected me to look like a boutique owning fashion icon while bowling.
Chapter Seven
Harris
Rick, Angie, Ember, Paul and Jax greeted me like they hadn’t seen me all damn day as soon as I set foot in the bowling alley. When Rosie found out I was going to be social, she insisted I let her tag along to help me buffer. Ozma telling me I was hard to work with hit a nerve, so I made it a goal to be more social with my new coworkers and that meant beer and bowling.
It wasn’t common for me to go out with them, especially when ‘out’ meant bowling with my co-workers, but we had gone all day with minimal emergencies, and Dr. Jenkins had called to tell us that he was on the mend. Having him and Angie both back at work would be such a relief. Rick and Angie, Dr. Jenkins’ kids, would be taking over the practice when Bill finally retired and they were probably the nicest people I had ever worked with, even if I was difficult. They were far more understanding than anyone from vet school, and more proficient. With Ember keeping our appointments and Jax as our main vet tech, the place was running smoothly. I actually fit in really well at their practice, which rarely happened for me. They took my lack of bedside manner in stride and had me do more surgeries than actual appointments. It worked out for the best, and I needed to show my appreciation. I bought the first round of drinks.
The Shores was far better than my first job out of school. Dr. Lisa Walker’s practice was a mess, and I learned pretty quickly that it wasn’t my surgery skills she wanted, it was my dick. We stayed either over or under booked and she let clients get away with not paying half the time. She had finally given me an ultimatum after weeks of innuendos and accidental groping- sleep with her or find a new job. Then she fired me when I refused. I was lucky as hell that the Jenkins family knew that Dr. Walker was a crazy woman, and gave me a shot. I was new, but a damn good vet. I had a steady hand and a knack for the job. It terrified me that Dr. Walker would ruin my entire reputation all because I had no plans of fucking my boss, but I got lucky with the Jenkins and they seemed to feel the same about me. My first burn right out of school made me keep my distance from the opposite sex whether it be a co-worker or a client. Unless that client was Ozma. She made me forget that I was a smart man.
I bought the second round of drinks, too, sitting at the touch-screen computer to put in names. We listened to Rick unload about a particularly irritating client that day. Ember chimed in with her own story about the same man, and we all agreed that some people shouldn’t own animals, or talk to other humans. All of us rarely got to relax and laugh together, but bowling was the perfect chance. The place was a typical bowling alley with black lights, an arcade, and lanes set up just for kids, but every week, they had a night for adults only. Adult nights included booze and music that was a little racier which suited us just fine. Rose turned up around eight with an outfit not suited for bowling, but insisted on bowling anyway. She punched my arm and hugged Ember. Ember and Rose went to school together before Ember graduated and Rose loved her. Rose went in search of a ball that matched her outfit because only Rose would bowl with a pink ball.
I wasn’t the first one to notice the group two lanes over, Rick noticed them first, and his reaction made me need to keep my temper in check, “Jax, isn’t that Ozma and Blair?” Rick tapped Jax on the chest, and my head turned at warp speed to see Blair with her arm around Ozma’s shoulder, “What I wouldn’t do to be the meat in the middle of that sandwich.” I grit my teeth while Jax agreed wholeheartedly. Rick was single, decent looking, and always the flirt, but Ozma was off limits to him as far as I was concerned. Mine. My brain and my emotions immediately went to war. I wanted to hit him for his comment, but had no logical reason to be so possessive. I should have been agreeing with him, but I wasn’t, not at all. Actually, I had forgotten the other girl’s name again. All I saw was Ozma in one of those flower print shirts that Rose suddenly liked to wear, smiling at some other girls. There were four of them leaned over the computer screen putting in names. Ozma leaned over Blair’s shoulder with her hip propped to accentuate her ass. I was taken back to that tank top and those shorts from the night before. This girl is going to kill me.
My sister shrieking snapped me out of my head and I realized that not only had I been staring, but I got caught staring. A set of chocolate eyes bypassed my screaming sister and locked on to mine. Well, shit. Ozma’s face turned that sexy shade of red while she talked to Rose, but watched me over my sister’s shoulder. How the hell is a guy supposed to bowl with a constant hard-on? Bowling was going to be a blast.
“Dude, Blair is fucking hot.” Jax leaned close to my ear. The guy called everyone dude. Me, Rick, Ember, even Dr. Jenkins was dude. It was one of his more endearing qualities that was only rivaled by his constant need to ignore his job when any woman walked into the office. “I mean that body is bangin’.” We were going to have to agree to disagree on that one. Blair was pretty, but a little too thin for my liking and not my type. Until I saw Ozma for the first time, I didn’t know I had a type, but
my type started and stopped with blonde, curvy, and feisty.
Without answering him, I strolled over to meet their other friends, “Small world, Dr. Oswin,” Blair spoke first, flashing me a smile and tossing her hair over her shoulder.
“Apparently, it’s very small. Hi.” I fixed my gaze on Ozma. “How’s Ziggy?”
“Good. Whining in a crate at home. He obviously can’t be trusted to not commit doggie-suicide, so he’s on lock down.” Ozma tugged their other friends next to her, “This is our friend Rochelle, and Ivy, one of our lovely employees.” I recognized Ivy as their cashier, but Rochelle was new. The new girl had some awesome curves and her sleek black hair hung loose around her shoulders, but nothing about her compared to Ozma. I shook her hand and introduced myself, but my eyes kept wandering to the blonde that had taken over my entire world.
“Nice to meet you, ladies.” I knew the smile on my face had given me away, but I didn’t give a shit. I was too busy setting up the perfect line to get her alone. I needed my mouth on hers, her body against mine like I needed my next breath. A conversation went on around me, but I was completely gone.
“It was good to see you guys again. Rose, I’ll give you a call tomorrow, and tell Rick I said hey,” Ozma smiled up at me. I had missed my window all because she was chatting my sister up and I was in an abyss of how amazing her curves would feel against me.
“Tell me yourself! Too stuck up to speak to me now that you run a business?” Rick was suddenly at my side with a shit-eating grin. Then his arms were around Ozma, squeezing all those lush curves to his body. “I guess I missed you the other day when you had the new pup with you.” Rick let Ozma go, but his hand lingered on her waist. My nails dug painfully into my palm and I swallowed the urge to completely freak out. Something was going to have to happen between Ozma and me before I combusted, or killed the next man to touch her. Neither option would score me any points.
“Yeah, we had the pleasure of meeting Dr. Oswin instead. How’s your dad?” Ozma took a step back out of Rick’s grasp and I was able to relax. I was taken back to a story my dad told me about when he met Mom. They went to school together, and she worked at the café around the corner. Dad hated coffee, but was there drinking it black every day, just to see his future wife. Mom was dating someone else, but Dad suffered through all the high school-aged PDA until the guy dumped Mom and he swooped in to make her feel better. Dad said watching the girl he wanted being fondled by some other asshole made him livid. Not that I had enough time to fall in love with Ozma, but getting to know her was on the top of my to-do list for sure, and Rick putting his hands on her was not something I was going to tolerate. She’s turned me into a crazy man.
“He’s better. Pneumonia is rough, but he should be coming home soon. They called to say he was in a regular room now, so he’ll be back to himself any day.” Rick was begging for me to hit him, like on his knees pleading, “You ladies drinking? Next round is on me.” The man had a death wish.
“Blair is, but not the rest of us. Ivy and Rochelle are too young, and I don’t drink. Thanks though, Rick.” Ozma took another step back toward her friends, looking me over again, “You guys have fun. I’ll see you Friday, and hopefully not before. I don’t think my sanity could handle another Ziggy disaster, or another door to the head,” Ozma winked at me and sat to pull on her bowling shoes. Not that I wanted her dog eating a pint of ice cream again or to hit her with anything, but seeing her again before Friday sounded pretty awesome. I gave them a nod and moved back to my group, walking backwards most of the way. Rose was standing at the end of the lane, sending a bright pink ball hurtling toward the pins. I hadn’t even made it to pick up my beer when Rick said another thing to make me want to murder my co-worker.
“Hey, Em, what’s your read on Ozma? She seeing anyone?” My beer went down the wrong pipe and I choked. Not only was I totally into the girl, but Rick was probably twenty years older than her. Ember was the only one who seemed to notice me coughing and gave me a look. She was on to me, but I didn’t care. It wouldn’t be the end of the world if Ember told Ozma I was into her.
“No. Oz hasn’t dated since high school. The guy was a complete ass to her, so she swore off men. Between Brad and her loser dad, the poor girl doesn’t have the best view on guys. Actually, she hates men. It only takes one of you assholes to ruin it for the good ones.” Ember picked up her ball, smirked at me, and took her turn while Rose dropped next to me, laying her head on my shoulder. I glanced up just in time to catch Ozma looking right at me and she smiled, flashing me those dimples. Anyone who treated her like shit must have been the world’s biggest moron.
Chapter Eight
Ozma
Crap. Crap. Crap. Harris caught me staring, again. He smiled every time he caught me, but the poor guy was just being polite, and I looked creepy. I was a total stalker, but it was like my eyes had a mind of their own. We had only been bowling two hours, but Harris had glanced up at the exact moment I looked at him at least five times, maybe more. It was like the man knew I was obsessing over him. I never got all weird about men, but Harris Oswin was going to make me crazy and I’d need to be committed. My palms were all sweaty, I felt my face turn red, and the little jig in my stomach was out of control. I was the driven one, not the distracted one. I was the one all about our business, and marketing, and remembering to return emails. Blair was the one distracted by men and the one who forgot to order more hangers because a new hottie was all over her. I shook my head, taking my turn, and shooting for a spare. I turned back just in time to see Harris at the bar. The hunter green t-shirt was snug, accentuating how tone his entire body was, and making me weak in the knees. No human should look that perfect. Dark wash jeans fit snug on his incredible ass and thighs. It was like mother nature put all the sexy into one human and then dropped him right in the center of my life. Harris turned, beer in hand, and winked at me. The coil of want tightening in my stomach was almost as annoying as the flutters in my chest. Crap.
“Stare any harder and the man is going to need a restraining order.” Blair bumped me with her hip and I rolled my eyes. Harris wasn’t the only one onto my staring, so I was being too obvious. My body wasn’t giving my rational brain a choice. My eyes just did what they wanted and I was an unwilling victim.
“Do you blame her? Dr. Oswin is an orgasm on two legs. I’d have his babies.” Rochelle sighed and propped her chin on her hand. She had pretty much summed it up. The man was gorgeous and not nearly as awful as I first thought. We would make pretty babies too, but that required sex, and there was no way that man would be interested in me being naked. And I didn’t have sex anyway.
“I didn’t say I blamed her, I said she should stop staring before she scares the man. Is it safe to say our little Ozma finally has a crush? Look at you all grown up.” Then all eyes were on me, including the giant green ones I was lusting over. I turned back to my girls, forcing my attention off of the sexy hunk of a man making me crazy.
“Yeah, he’s nice to look at.” I grumbled and sucked some Diet Coke through my straw. I really wanted another piece of pizza, but with my new resolve to go to the gym, I just couldn’t bring myself to eat that third slice. He was making me all nervous anyway. Eating was my safety net so one more piece would not be enough, “And maybe he isn’t the asshole I originally thought him to be. Everyone has a bad day sometimes. I admit that I misjudged him.”
“Ozzie is having dirty thoughts. Maybe it’s time to give up that cherry,” Then my eyes went wide and the room kicked up about ten degrees. I covered my red face. “Do not look at me like that, Ozma. You are almost twenty-three. Do you know how many women make it to twenty-three with their virginity?” Blair paused for an answer, “One, and it’s you.” My best friend wanted to die at a bowling alley apparently. I whipped my head around making sure the entire bowling alley didn’t know the status of my V-card.
“Whoa. Hold the damn phone. You are a virgin? Like for real or the reborn kind?” Ivy looked completely shocked, �
�Are you waiting for marriage?” Ivy was not the first person to be shocked by my ultimate virgin status. Actually, my father had the tendency to call me a whore despite the fact that I had never even been close to a dick, at least not a naked one.
I shook my head, “No, I’m not really waiting for anything. The opportunity just hasn’t been there.” I shrugged. It was kind of a lie. I had made a point to make sure there was never that particular opportunity, and I was waiting for the non-existent fairy tale true love. I had high hopes for my first and the longer I waited, the higher the bar was raised. That bar had hit Milky Way levels. So it seemed unlikely to ever happen.
“Yeah, that opportunity takes a penis and you avoid those. Well, until now.” Blair tipped her head at Harris, who just so happened to be looking our direction, again. “He looks like he would know his way around a woman, and he’s tall, so I bet he is hung.” I ripped my gaze from Harris’ and started laughing. I should have been mortified, but instead I just laughed. I had obviously thought about it, but hearing Blair say it like it was normal conversation was hysterical.
“I’ve noticed that you aren’t the only one staring, Oz.” Rochelle downed her Coke and grabbed a ball. “I’m just saying, if you are planning on giving up that V-card, he wouldn’t be a bad choice. He hasn’t stopped staring either.” I fought the need to look back toward Harris and watched Rochelle shake her ass at the end of the lane before shooting the ball. If the girl was proud of anything, it was her amazing ass. And with good reason. Her butt put the rest of us to shame. “Oz, just go climb the man like a tree and tell him you want the D. He won’t turn you down.” When I couldn’t hold out anymore, I snuck one more glance and thought maybe Rochelle was right. I would just have to follow through with the gym first. I could at least get on a healthier path before jumping into a distraction like Harris.