Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 78142 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 391(@200wpm)___ 313(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78142 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 391(@200wpm)___ 313(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
And if she does?
File that under Not my problem.
This is my last night to unwind for a while, and I’d like to make the most of it.
Chapter Twelve
Dragon
Sometimes I wonder if allowing myself a joint and a few beers helped me stay away from the harder stuff.
Already I’m second-guessing my decision to come along.
Because that craft beer is calling to me. And so is the marijuana, its pungent smell drifting around the room.
I used to let myself have that kind of stuff, and I kept it cool.
But this time, I promised my therapist I’d stay clean.
And that means totally clean.
No pot, no beer, no wine.
I never had a difficult time staying away from hard liquor. I don’t really like the flavor, though I certainly drank my share of it when I was younger.
But beer? Wine? Pot? Allowing myself those few vices seemed to help me stay away from the hard stuff.
Not that I think anyone has narcotics at this party. This seems like a pretty tame crowd, despite the fact that Tracy is dressed like a dominatrix. Fishnet, black leather shorts, and a white blouse so sheer I can see the red tips of her nipples. One of them is pierced.
Funny. I have pierced nipples myself, but I don’t really like the look on a woman.
A woman’s breasts are beautiful without any adornment.
Tracy gets me a glass of water and hands it to me. “Here you go, Dragon. Do you want to dance a little?”
I take a sip of water. “Not much of a dancer.”
She walks her fingers up my arm. “What do you like to do?”
“Play the drums. Read. Watch movies.”
“What kind of movies do you like?”
Funny that she didn’t ask what kind of books I like. Diana did at the diner. But Tracy doesn’t strike me as much of a reader.
“I like the classics. They don’t make movies like that anymore.”
“Classics like Pretty Woman?”
I have to stop myself from laughing. “No. I’m talking about much older classics. One of my favorites is Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner.”
She wrinkles her forehead. “I’m not sure I know that one. Do you like Casablanca?”
“Yeah, that’s a good one. I also like all the old Woody Allen movies.”
She wrinkles her brow again. “I’m not familiar with his work.” She takes a sip of her IPA from the amber bottle.
Fuck. I can almost see the malty hops sliding over her tongue… For an instant, I want to grab her and kiss her, just for the slightest taste.
I swallow. I will always crave what I can’t have. I can’t change that. I wish I could, but I can’t.
Funny thing is that any other night I might consider relapsing. Just a few sips of beer.
But tonight, with Diana here… I don’t want to disappoint her.
Not that I think she’d be disappointed. I don’t think she cares about me one way or the other. She’s letting me live at her place as a favor to Jesse and Brianna, and I appreciate it, but I certainly don’t expect anything from her.
So why do I give two shits if I disappoint her?
Man, I can’t stop staring at Tracy’s beer.
My gaze is drawn to the amber bottle as if it’s got some magnetic force. The condensation accumulating on the outside of it, and Tracy’s full lips as she clasps them around it and takes a drink of the intoxicating elixir.
“Excuse me,” I murmur as I head toward the door.
I don’t have a clue where I’m going. I don’t know this building, although Diana did say something about it having a great roof for parties.
I scan the hallway and find the stairwell. Once I’m on it, I walk up to the top and open the door.
The roof is huge—a large concrete pad. On one end is a barbecue setup, and on the other end is a bar.
No one’s here, so no one is having drinks.
The sun has set, and I look up to the stars.
There are a lot of things I like about the city, but the view at night is not one of them.
Out on the western slope—without the light pollution of the city—I can see the stars so much more clearly than here. One great thing about Colorado is that we have over three hundred days of sunshine a year, and though the sky’s not cloudy at all tonight, all I can see are a few speckled stars and the moon.
On the western slope, the entire sky lights up at night.
Sometimes I sit outside, especially during the summer when it’s hot, in a lounge chair and just stare at the sky for hours and hours.
It relaxes me.
Makes me realize I’m just a speck in a sea of something so much grander.
Makes my problems seem infinitesimal.
But here? First, there’s no lounge chair, and second, while the moon is beautiful, it’s way closer to the earth than the stars are. Some of the stars I see on the western slope are stars that burned out millennia ago and the light is just getting here.