Total pages in book: 64
Estimated words: 61576 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 308(@200wpm)___ 246(@250wpm)___ 205(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 61576 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 308(@200wpm)___ 246(@250wpm)___ 205(@300wpm)
“Jesus…” Logan sighs, shaking his head.
“But you know what I think I’ll do?” I say slowly, formulating my plan in my head.
“What’s that?” Ryan asks.
“I think I’ll take her up on her little offer. But instead of just being some kind of typical dude-bro about it, I’ll use our time together to prove to her just how much she needs me in her life. I’ll show her just how good we are together, and before she knows it, she’ll be throwing this little rule of hers out the window.”
I’m grinning from ear to ear. Yeah, this is going to work. Sadie is going to be mine, and she won’t even know what hit her.
“And if it doesn’t work?” Logan asks. “If she finds out what you’re up to?”
“Well, then I guess the whole thing will blow up in my face,” I chuckle. “But it won’t.”
“Who is this chick anyway, boss?” Ryan asks.
“Who is she?” I reply. “Well, here comes the worst part.”
“It gets worse?” Logan asks.
I nod. “She’s my next-door neighbor.”
The boys look at each other. “Oh, man, you are screwed,” Ryan chuckles.
I sigh. “Yeah, tell me something I don’t know.”
16
Sadie
It’s such an interesting feeling going to work with sexy lingerie on under your terrible work clothes. I don’t actually feel different physically, but just knowing I’ve got on a lace pair of panties, a gorgeous bra, a garter belt and stockings under my worn jeans, faded T-shirt, and stained waitress apron has just been doing something special mentally to me all night since I came in for my shift. And I absolutely love it.
Of course my shift has been a nightmare since the moment I arrived. Emily, one of the other girls I work with, warned me that there were some real assholes already seated as I was coming in, and she was right.
There were two tables of guys who seemed like they were high school seniors or recent graduates, acting like they came from the British Royal Family or something, snapping their fingers and shouting for service whenever they wanted something. Then they’d take forever staring at the menu, asking obvious questions, and wasting the time of everyone else who needed to be served.
“I can come back when you’re ready,” I told them once, and all they did was snap back at me that they were ready, and then order at a snail’s pace. I swear, some of the kids who live in this area are the most entitled little brats you’d ever want to meet.
Then there was a table of eight who showed up. They were super polite, and I was really excited because they ended up raking in bill of almost four hundred dollars. But when they left, I saw that they had ended up tipping me a whopping ten bucks, and my heart sank.
That’s when I went into the back room and had a good cry. Julia, one of the nicer girls I work with, found me there and has been comforting me before she goes back to her table.
“People are assholes,” she says as she rubs my back.
“Giant gaping assholes,” I sniff, dabbing my eyes with a napkin, doing my best not to ruin my mascara.
I wish Jake was here.
The thought invades my mind without any warning. I almost can’t believe it.
Just the idea that I would want to be comforted by him, a guy I just met, is crazy to me. I’ve been on my own for two years now without a man, and my rule says very explicitly that I wouldn’t go to a man in a situation like this. So why is my brain betraying me right now?
I’ve never even had a deep conversation with Jake that would lead me to believe he’d be good at comforting me. All we’ve done is engage in light chit-chat and…other stuff. But he is great at both those things.
Especially the other stuff…
“Don’t worry,” Julie says. “It’s just one night.”
I love Julia, but she just doesn’t understand my situation. Julia is in her early twenties and just doing this job so she can have some extra spending money while she’s in college. College which her parents pay for. She can’t understand how much a single night means to me. She can’t possibly understand that this job is my entire livelihood. Without it, I lose my house. I lose everything I’ve spent my life building.
I’m in quite a mood, and part of me wants to throw a tantrum and go off on her. I want to scream and shout at her, but I know that wouldn’t do any good. She’s just trying to be nice. No one else who works here is even taking the time to come back here and comfort me.
So instead, I just dry the last of my tears, take a breath, and smile at her.