Discipline

Which made the fight with Ben even crazier as I recalled it in my head for the hundredth time. Daniel’s perfect reputation was nearly ten years in the making and he had gone ahead and risked it all for a minute of fighting Ben. It just happened that the witness was old Mr. Davies and not someone who was a lock to spread the story around town. Not that he wasn’t still a risk, considering what a bizarre scene the fight had probably been.

And just as I had the thought, Kelsey read my mind and said it aloud.

“Kind of seems like Mr. Cole’s due for scandal, right? He’d be the ultimate story.”

I tried to respond but my phone buzzed. Kelsey instinctively looked over, raising her eyebrows at the name on my phone — Darien. I had saved Daniel’s number under that name because I anticipated a situation like this and because I have little to no creativity, apparently.

“Who the hell is Darien? Stories, please?”

“He’s just a friend,” I said, searching my brain for a convincing detail to add. “Adriana’s friend, really.”

“Oh.” Adriana had a lot of “friends.” It was a solid story. “But why is he texting you?” Kelsey asked as I opened the text message.

I didn’t answer as I read Daniel’s message.

Don’t be. You didn’t drag me into anything. I was the one who couldn’t just stand and watch him do that to you.

I let go of the breath I was holding. Kelsey’s voice was faint in the background.

“Whoa… are you sleeping with this guy, Nina?”

I ignored her as I rapidly began to text back, typing and deleting, typing and deleting. Before I could compose a coherent sentence, another text came through. Daniel again.

That being said, we can’t see each other again.

I stared and before I knew it, my fingers had typed and sent a response — Why? I immediately regretted it though, because I knew the answer. It was obvious. He had risked everything yesterday. And for me. It couldn’t possibly be worth it, and I’d be selfish for pressing to see him. What we had couldn’t possibly be anything more than physical attraction, which was a dumb thing to trade in for an entire career.

I waited for him to say that, to convey to me that I wasn’t worth the trouble. I was already prepping myself to be hurt when his response buzzed in my phone. Shifting away from a whining Kelsey, I read the message.

Because I’ve built my life and career on my discipline and I have none when I’m around you. Please don’t contact me again, Nina. I’m sorry.

CHAPTER 6

“Just like the good ol’ days!”

Adriana kissed my cheek once she popped out of the restroom, where she’d been changing into one of my work T-shirts in order to cover Em’s shift for the night. Its distressed logo matched with her faded Daisy Dukes, which looked more like denim underwear than a real article of clothing. They made my own shorts look like capris but of course, Adriana could get away with that sort of thing, especially at Todos Santos.

“I’ve missed this,” Harry remarked, his accent making the word I’ve sound more like of. He watched with a half grin as Adriana and I logged into the POS system near the bar. I decided not to tell him that I had to put my two weeks in after the shift. “Nothing against Em, but there’s something about the Adriana-Nina combo that makes the night go by even faster,” he said, holding his arms out for Adriana to walk into. She gathered her hair over her shoulder and walked into his open arms backwards, letting him rumble something of pleasure as he hugged her from behind.

“Sandwich,” she chirped, holding her arms out at me as Harry planted kisses on her neck. He glanced up at me while still brushing his lips along Adriana’s bare skin.

“Yeah, wake this one up, Ade. She’s been acting like a downer since last week.”

“Not true,” I protested, though it probably was. Saturday was the day that I’d come to work straight from the gallery interview. Despite hoping that there’d be a last minute snag, I’d gotten t

he job. And so I went through the motions of the shift like a zombie, my head distracted with thoughts of a new internship but mostly, Daniel’s damned text. He didn’t want to see me again because he apparently had no control around me — which felt like an insult and compliment rolled into one. Though more of an insult because whatever it was that I did to him, it made him want nothing to do with me again. So in the end, it was a loss.

And I couldn’t get it out of my head. It didn’t help that I hadn’t told Adriana about any of it yet either. After helping me get Daniel’s number through Mike, Linh had warned me to prepare for her wrath over once again being the last to know, like she’d been with the news of my quitting Todos Santos the first time and moving in with Ben. Along with Daniel, that thought had been weighing hard on my chest.

“Nina, boo. Tell me why you’re sad,” Adriana pouted, winding her arms up and around Harry’s neck, the bottom of her shirt riding above her pierced naval. Harry ran a finger up the line of her taut stomach. “I’ll fix it for you. Is Ben being stalker-y? Do I need to kick his ass?”

I laughed weakly. “Actually…” I started, prepared to finally tell her about Daniel. The fact that she and Harry were practically grinding up on each other didn’t faze me. Back when the two of us worked together, this was the norm at Todos Santos — all the waitresses flirting with the bartenders, everyone in the restaurant flirting with the customers and business being conducted as usual amid the boiling sexual tension in every corner. It wasn’t difficult for me to carry on a conversation as Harry slipped his hands down the sides of Adriana’s shorts. “Someone already kicked Ben’s ass for me,” I said.

“What? Who?”

“Um, Mike’s friend. Daniel. Whom we hung out with at the bar on Sunday. He ran into Ben at my brother’s graduation party when I went home last weekend.”

Adriana stared and squinted. “I’m sorry — what?”