“Clearly, your guys’ cars are into one another, so you'd better date him. I’ve seen how this ends when the owner’s dogs fall in love, and I need to know how it ends with cars.”Mia takes over as Laurel covers her face with one hand, her cheeks going red. “Look, if the cars bumping uglies isn't a good enough euphemism for you then I believe you two shouldn’t be together, and maybe we can't be friends.”Angie decides it’s her turn again as Laurel goes scarlet. “If he keeps ramming into you like that, I'm going to leave a Google review that says this place is not family friendly, so you'd better tell him yes so he can stop.”“Oh my gosh, you guys, knock it off.” Laurel is so red I worry she’s about to have a stroke, but I can’t stop laughing at her friends.“Laurel, he makes you happy. Give him a chance.” Mia’s tone has shifted to one of sisterly love and concern. “You are going to regret it forever if you don't.”“Besides, he's super cute. If you don't date him, somebody else is going t
Arson Only three days have passed since Laurel and I parted ways, but I feel like I haven't slept in a week. But that’s fine; I've used the time I should have spent sleeping to come up with a plan. I thank my lucky stars that when I’d called Mia and poured my heart out, she had offered to help me. I guess she's been trying to plant it in Laurel 's head that today's dating world is different than the dating world she’d given up on years ago. Of course, she'd made me promise a few things, namely that I wouldn't hurt her best friend, that I take good care of Laurel, and that I'd be the man she deserved. And I have every intention of following through on those promises. She texted and told me that everything is ready, so here I am, driving with oddly sweaty palms toward Laurel 's work. I really hope this plan works. I tried to come up with something that really suits Laurel's sense of humor, something that might make her smile. Is my plan going to work? Probably not, but I absolutel
“But did he mean it?” That's the real question here. What he did to my best friend is absolutely unforgivable, so I can't even imagine accepting an apology from him or thinking he's changed or that he's worth our time. “I have no idea, but I doubt it.” She scrapes the side of her bowl with her spoon and pops the last bite into her mouth. When she puts her bowl on the coffee table, the spoon clinks and rattles. “He also tried to tell me that he really loves me and breaking up was the biggest mistake of his life.” I’m fully ready to laugh at her words when an alarm on my phone goes off. I pull the device out of my pocket and stare at it for a moment, trying to make sense of what I'm seeing before glancing up into her curious, worried eyes. “Weird question and this might be the drugs talking, but would you drive me to my office?” She nods her head and stands up. I rise from my seat slowly, trying to make sure that woozy feeling doesn't come back. Arson isn’t here to catch me if I fal
Laurel “I know I should have listened to my gut.” I take a bite of the triple fudge brownie ice cream that Mia brought over after work. Between the two of us we nearly empty the brand-new container. Break up hang out sessions can be like that though. I can’t get the look in Arson's eyes out of my mind when he'd asked me if I’d taken the medication on an empty stomach. I could see the genuine worry there and his concern nearly changed my mind... until I thought about how he’d slept with another woman in the sex club he owned but didn’t think to tell me about. “You can't beat yourself up.” Mia seems unconvinced as she takes a deep drink of her spiced rum and soda. I had asked her to make me a drink, but she refused because of the medication. Apparently pain pills and alcohol aren't a good mix, so I'm going to have to wait till I'm off of the meds to have a drink. That's fine with me, the pain medication messes with my head and makes me feel woozy anyway. I imagine alcohol would onl
She's given me a pretty detailed list of my indiscretions. “I only recently bought this club and the conversation hasn't come up. I don't work here as much as just own the place. I didn't realize there was an expectation for me to disclose partners.” If she had boundaries, they should have been set at the beginning, but I know this is also my fault. I still can't remember if I ever went into detail about how I prefer no strings attached situationships to relationships. “I apologize for not being clear about my intentions sooner, but I don't generally get into relationships.” As I say the words, her lower lip trembles and tears shimmer in her eyes. That reaction alone tells me where I went wrong; she’s under the impression that we’re more than what I’d thought we were. Her mouth closes, her jaw flexes, and she blinks, her whole expression hardening. “That's good to know.” Of course, the way she says the words tells me that there's nothing good about this whole situation and she’s mis
Arson I’ve finished off my drink and the bartender is still sitting with me, but my mind is still on Laurel. “I should probably go find something to do.” As I say the words, I stand up from the bar stool and she nods her head, mirroring my motions.“I should probably get back to work too. I wouldn't want the boss to get upset at me.” She winks at me, and I wonder if I’ve missed something. The only thing I can figure out is that she thinks that we have a different relationship and understanding because of the little bit of time we spent together. At some point I'll have to set her straight and let her know that she's completely off course. Today is not that day because I absolutely need to get away and get something accomplished because thoughts of Laurel had been holding me captive inside my own mind. I'm pretty sure the way to banish her from my thoughts is to either get blackout drunk or get busy. Given that I'm at work, getting busy seems like the better of the two options. B