When she passed away, Royce and the other guy were both left not knowing which one of them was the father, or who she was going to choose. Royce has never been able to forgive himself, or fully be the man I deserved because of his guilt when we were together. He thinks if he would have stepped aside letting his friend be with her…she’d still be alive. The accident wasn’t Royce’s fault though, or the other guys. Elizabeth had no business getting behind the wheel of her car while she was so hysterical. I’m not saying the accident is her fault either. Bad shit happens. It’s tragic and I’m sorry it happened, but life goes on.
Royce was trying to move on with me, until he wasn’t.
I remember the first day we met like it was yesterday.
Royce had come into the gym to talk to Jay. I remember thinking wow, when he walked in. He was a guy that clearly took care of himself. Standing at 6’4 and weighing a good 250 all muscle, with a nice tan complexion, he was pleasing to the eyes. His eyes were roaming all over my body as I stood behind the counter answering the phone.
He couldn’t keep his attention off me.
I held my finger up as I took a call coming through. It was someone wanting membership pricing. He continued to gaze at my body, like he was undressing me right there on the spot.
I felt exposed, but not uncomfortable by it, like I normally would when men checked me out. I returned his gaze and drank him in. His hair was medium brown, peaked in a faux hawk, and he had a smoldering pair of sexy grey eyes. I could have gotten lost in the storm brewing in them for days.
There was a sea of pain hidden behind his flirtatious stare. A sea I wanted to drown in as long as he kept looking at me like he was.
He broke me out of my trance when he started speaking. “What is it that you do exactly, other than standing here looking beautiful and making me hard?” I couldn’t help but laugh and blush at his forwardness. Those were the last words I expected to hear.
He was charming, the word beautiful rolled off of his tongue like velvet. How could I not melt with the way he was looking at me, like I could be his anchor. Men never came on to me so blatantly. Sure they would stare, but not like Royce. They weren’t genuine like he was. Like I believed he was.
“What you see here is pretty much it, exciting right? So what is it you do?” I turned the conversation back on him, I wasn’t comfortable talking about myself. Years of bullying had left me socially awkward.
“A little of this a little of that,” he replied vaguely. He laughed and then he just had to bite his lower lip and lick it.
I stood there like a mute, unable to speak. There was something about the way he bit that lip, and the way his tongue circled his mouth. I suddenly felt parched and, took a drink from my water, covering my awkward pause. Was I just imagining this man grabbing my face and thrusting his tongue down my throat? Maybe.
I shook my head and continued to gape at him.
“So pumpkin, what’s your name?”
“Pumpkin,” I mumbled to myself. I followed his eyes as they shot to my chest. I could feel the heat of embarrassment washing over me.
He leaned in close, whispering his words, “Don’t take this the wrong way, but your tits look like perfect pumpkins. In fact, I think I will just refer to you as Pumpkin Tits, that is unless you decide to tell me your name.” I remember thinking, what in the hell? This guy had some real nerve or no filter. But I found that I liked it. A lot.
The level of red my cheeks were had to be a solid ten. What was he asking? Oh, right my name. “Brandi,” I answered in a giggle.
“Brandi sweet like candy. I like the way it tastes as it rolls off my tongue. Tell me, do you think you taste as good as your name?”
I didn’t know what to say as I stood there giggling with red cheeks.
A man who is that big of a flirt should have come with a warning label. Caution: Bites his lip and licks his mouth in a seductive manner. So fucking sexy it is a sin. Has the capability to make you forget your own name. Gives cute pet names to strangers that makes you want to get down on your knees and beg him to call you by it one more time. He screamed danger and hot sex. And the way he was smiling at me right then told me he knew every thought I was having about him. Yeah, he knew he could push every single one of my buttons and hit the right spot.
And God did I want him too and boy did he ever.
“Yeah, I know that, but I miss us. I miss your smile. Fuck, I even miss the way you laugh. This is hard for me to even ask but will you take me back? I need you Bran. If I could take it all back, I would.” He rubs my cheek lovingly with his rough, calloused hand.
A part of me longs to lean into his touch and just say yes, but it’s not that simple. Royce hurt me, badly. My heart has the scars to prove it.
It would be easy to fall right back in with Royce, but just because he misses me doesn’t mean I am ready to forget the past five months since we’ve been apart. Royce has made no secret of his bachelor lifestyle full of booze and the skanks at the gym, and not to mention him flaunting them on his arm at the fights. Sometimes a girl on each bicep.
“Royce, I wasn’t expecting this—from you. I thought maybe you wanted to talk about the fight or something. Not us. I need to think about it. I just need time.”
“I get it. I fucked up. Can I at least call you, this weekend? I’m not fighting. We could watch Kline’s fight together. Like we used to.” He looks at me and that pain he used to hide is prevalent. I have to wonder though if this is because OZ was flirting with me on Instagram.
“You hate Kline.”
“Hate is a strong word. I just don’t like him very much. We disagree on some things. Just say you’ll think about it. You know you want to.” He smiles at me and pierces me with his dimples; a guy with dimples wins me every time. “We can have an early dinner.”
“Fine call me Saturday, but I have to leave right after. I have to work the closing shift.” I’d love to know who came up with the bright idea to be open until 1 AM. I hate that shift, but believe it or not the insomniacs love it, and have been pushing for 24 hours.