Total pages in book: 92
Estimated words: 85593 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 428(@200wpm)___ 342(@250wpm)___ 285(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 85593 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 428(@200wpm)___ 342(@250wpm)___ 285(@300wpm)
I was gasping for air and clutching my knees when I finished. Sweat dripped from my chin in a steady drumbeat.
I was supposed to meet Marcus and Tristan for basketball in thirty minutes. I’d let the run go much longer than planned, but I also didn’t want to pass up basketball. The only time I ever seemed to be able to shut my brain off from work or Darcy seemed to be when I was physically past my limit. At first, it had worked. But these last few days it wasn’t enough anymore.
Images of Darcy bent over picking up her things in the office or the way she’d smiled when I offered to give her another week for her piece would pop into my brain. I grabbed a towel from my gym bag and wiped away some of my sweat as I headed for the courts.
Marcus and Tristan had already started warming up by the time I got there. We snagged a few guys from nearby and played our asses off until I was too tired to keep track of time. With the run and then the game, I finally got to a point of exhaustion where everything went black. I played and didn’t even remember if we won or how it went. I only knew I was tired as fuck and it felt good.
For a while, I’d been numb and wasn’t questioning everything I thought I knew about myself.
Marcus and Tristan sat with me on the bleachers to cool off after the game. Little touches of Winter were already starting to creep into Spring. With the sun dipping behind a sheet of clouds, I felt like I could’ve sat there all day enjoying the feeling of the sweat evaporating and cooling my skin.
“That was some shit,” Tristan said.
“Yeah, no kidding,” Marcus agreed.
“What was?” I asked.
“You,” Tristan said. “You played like a fucking God today. I’ve never seen you so in the zone.”
“Yeah, normally you’re pretty shit. But I was happy to pass you the ball every chance I got. What was that?”
I shrugged. I really didn’t remember more than a few bits and pieces. “I’ve just had a lot on my mind.”
“Like Darcy McClain?” Marcus asked.
I stiffened. So far, neither of them had called me on it, but I knew this was coming. They saw me that night at the bar when I knocked the asshole off his stool for making her uncomfortable. They probably had also noticed the way I avoided her when I was so busy riding everybody else’s ass at work.
“What about her?” I asked.
Marcus and Tristan shared a look and then a grin.
“You want to fuck her,” Tristan said with a simple shrug. “So what’s stopping you?”
“You know what’s stopping me.”
“You’re not your dad,” Marcus said.
“You’re right. I’m not. And it’s because I don’t act on every fucking impulse that comes my way. It starts with one choice. That’s how you sacrifice your integrity. One choice. His was a different circumstance and it wasn’t over a woman, but it was that first choice.”
Tristan looked skeptical. “What, you mean that thing with the bribes?”
Tristan was incredible at what he did, but the man had the emotional and social awareness of a rock.
“Yes, dumbass,” I said.
“So what?” Tristan asked. “He bribed some senator and got out of some kind of shit, right? Everybody with money does stuff like that.”
“Dominic doesn’t want to be that way,” Marcus said. His voice was soft enough that I knew he at least understood this was important to me. “And good for him.” He clapped me on the back, grinning. “But I’ve always thought the thing about employers not dating employees was overblown. I mean, so what? If you both want it, then what’s the big deal?”
“The big deal is I’m her boss. There’s a power imbalance there. Who’s to say she wouldn’t be dating me to fish for a promotion? And what happens if we break up? How am I supposed to stay unbiased about her employment status if I’m pissed at her for something that happened in our personal lives.”
Marcus pursed his lips. “Yeah, I guess so. But are you unbiased right now? From where I’m sitting, Darcy is getting special treatment already. If you are attracted to someone enough, it’s not going to matter whether you act on it. You’re still going to treat them differently. So why not have a little fun while you’re fucking things up, right?”
“I fucked a girl I worked with at a taco shop once,” Tristan noted. “It was fine. But she did start expecting me to close every night so we could hook up in the walk-in. Our boss thought we were going above and beyond so he actually promoted us both. So, in my experience, fucking employees and co-workers is a great idea.”