Muffin Top

He was thirty-three, single, and he lived with his twin brother. All of his friends were married, some more than once, and he was still fucking around at bars looking for Ms. Right Now and nothing more, as if he was still twenty-five and an idiot. So, what was he waiting for? What was he missing? Was he just destined to be the designated Waterbury fuck buddy? He didn’t have answers for any of it, but that last question left a bad taste in his mouth.

It was past time for him to figure this shit out. He needed a reset, a change of priorities. He’d step back from the scene for a few weeks and maybe then he’d figure out what was giving him this itchy little feeling that things weren’t just off, that he’d missed something important. That was it. A temporary powering down of the small head to power up the big head. There was a reason why fighters didn’t fuck before a big match. Women messed with a man’s head. So he’d enter a little player rehab for a few weeks, just him and his right hand.

Yeah, but he wasn’t one for spending a lot of time by himself. Could be a twin thing or that he was just a people person in general, but even the idea of three weeks with only himself for entertainment gave him the cold shakes.

The waitress picked that moment to stop by, and he nearly grabbed his bill back from her to tear off the section with her number on it.

Get a grip, Hartigan.

He stilled his hand in time, but that had been damn close.

“Thanks,” Lucy said as she handed over the exact change plus tip.

Lightning struck for the second time in five minutes: he’d be Lucy’s date to her high school reunion  . It was the perfect plan because, as awesome as she was, she wasn’t his type. There wasn’t any teasing flirt to her. She was blunt, ballsy, and definitely not the kind of woman to relinquish control even for a second. However, she was fun as hell, and that was just what he needed to keep him busy and out of trouble. And the fact that she was definitely not into him was a bonus.

Lucy stood up and set her purse on her chair, then started to put on her jacket. Adrenaline jolted him out of his seat.

“You can’t miss your high school reunion  ,” he said, louder than he meant. “You owe it to yourself to go show them that their bullshit couldn’t hold you back. You already have the killer job, and I have the perfect solution for dealing with people giving you shit.”

“Really?” she asked, not even slowing in the process of getting her suit jacket on. “How’s that?”

“I’m gonna be your date.” He straightened to his full height of six feet, six inches. “No one gives anyone I’m with a hard time.”

Lucy laughed—loud enough to make the people around them turn and look—and smacked her hand to the table.

Damn. His ego was as big as he was, but it had taken about all it could take in one night.

“Very funny,” she said, wiping away a tear of laugher from her eye and catching her breath. “But I’m not going to drive with you out to Missouri for my high school reunion  .”

Now that was a haul. “Why aren’t you flying?”

That question wiped the smile off her face. “Have you seen how people my size are treated on a plane?” She gave him a slow up-and-down. “You of all people should understand that those little seats are uncomfortable unless you’re a Smurf.”

She wasn’t wrong. Every time he’d take his seat, he had to pretzel himself up to fit, and then the jerkwad in front of him always tried to tilt his seat back, right up until he saw the pissed-off giant behind him. Really, not flying made sense.

“So we drive.” He shrugged. “How long could it take?”

“A day and a half.” She picked up her purse and slid the strap over her shoulder.

He could make that work. “Good thing I am on forced vacation.”

“You’re suspended?”

“No.” That would be easier to take. Then there would be an actual reason why he couldn’t go to work, rather than because of some bullshit rule. “I haven’t taken any of my required off-time, and the HR department freaked out. Don’t make me sit home and be bored. Seriously. I don’t do time off well. Last time I built a deck.”

“That doesn’t sound bad.”

She was back to looking at him like he was a moron. He wasn’t dumb, but he was not someone who should ever be left alone with a hammer and nails.

“I had to pay an ungodly amount to have someone come in and demolish what I’d done and build one that didn’t try to defy the laws of physics.” He gave in to the sense of urgency flooding his system. “Come on, have pity on me. Let me be your date.”