Chapter 7

Scott

I rolled over onto my back and let out a deep breath, groaning as I straightened out. Cassie was lying down on her stomach and turned her head toward me, smiling and chuckling to herself. I turned to my side and kissed her shoulder, thinking about how beautiful she looked with messy hair and red cheeks.

“What are you laughing at?” I asked.

“Nothing,” she said. “That was just amazing, unexpectedly amazing.”

I laughed. “It was pretty good, wasn’t it? I guess it’s better you giggle now than at the beginning. That would have put a damper on my whole night, and probably into next week.”

“Oh,” she said, rolling over onto her back. “Who’s pretentious now?”

“Stay the night with me,” I said, throwing caution to the wind. “I don’t want you traveling alone at night, and you can sleep in tomorrow.”

“I wish I could,” she said, smiling, “but unfortunately, duty calls.”

“Duty? You leaving for the war in the morning? I mean, I am a sucker, but not that big of one.”

“No.” She nudged my shoulder and giggled. “Family duty. My aunt and uncle are in town for the weekend, and my father has them very busy. They are going to want to have breakfast with me at the crack of dawn. I don’t see them often anymore, but when I was little, they lived just down the street. I was very close to them, and I am home from college, so they want to see me before continuing on from here and heading to the islands for vacation.”

I snorted. “The islands. I love how you rich people refer to some mystical rich-person vacation. What islands? The Bahamas? Hawaii? Japan?”

“You’re silly,” she said. “I’m not really sure where. I just know that wherever it is, it will be sunny and sandy.”

“That sounds nice,” I said. “I’ve never been outside the state, much less the country, and I’ve definitely never been on some fancy vacation.”

“You’ve never been on vacation?” she said, propping her chin on her hand.

“No. We were poor growing up, remember? I’m the descendant of a great construction worker.” I smiled.

“That’s right,” she said, fading off. “I’m sorry. That was very snobbish of me.”

“At least now you are aware of it,” I said, chuckling.

“Okay, Mr. Laughs. What are you doing this weekend? Bellying up to the bar all weekend?”

“Nope,” I said, shaking my head. “I’m working the entire weekend. Can’t be lazy. I have things to save up for, places to go, nails to hammer.”

“But there is only one shift this weekend,” she said. “The eight to twelve.”

“Which I almost forgot about.” I laughed. “I have that and other work, but if I tell you, well, I might have to kill you.”

“Oh, yeah? Tell me. I can keep a secret,” she said, wide-eyed.

“Well, on the weekends, from one to six, I’m a secret agent,” I whispered. “Then on Sunday, after church of course, I am a sexual surrogate for Mrs. Hoebottom down the street.”

She grimaced. “Isn’t she, like, ninety-seven?”

“Hey, everyone needs love, even the elderly,” I said. “Not as spry as she used to be, old broad, but still doable.”

“God,” she groaned. “You are so gross.”

“You like my humor,” I said. “It keeps you on your toes.”

“When I’m running away from you,” she said and laughed at her joke.

“No, really, I drive for Uber at night on Saturdays for extra cash,” I said.

“That’s cool. I’ll have to get your number so I can make the mad dash from my parents’ house,” she said.

“Or that’s just an excuse to get my number,” I said, wiggling my eyebrows.

“Dream on, playboy.” She smiled. “I don’t have to fool you to get your number.”

“Is that right?”

“Mhmm,” she said, standing up.

“You think I’m that easy?”

“No,” she replied. “I have access to your work file.”

“Ahh.” I laughed, shaking my finger at her. “Tricky, tricky. It’s probably for the better anyway. We wouldn’t want your father to see me pull up out front and pick you up. It might start the rumor mill flowing.”

“And get you killed,” she said.

“I’m not afraid of your old man. I can take him.”

“Right,” she said, rolling her eyes. “Until he fires you and has his brutes toss you to the curb.”

“I don’t think you could toss me anywhere,” I said.

She gasped and put her hands on her hips. “You called me a brute.”

I grinned. “You are pretty mean.”

“Well,” she said, putting on her clothes and then leaning over me, “I’m only mean to the ones who deserve it.”

I smiled and leaned up to kiss her, but she pulled away before I could. I turned over and watched her walk to my bedroom door and stop. She turned around and waved daintily before walking down the hall and out of the house. I smiled and turned over on my back, shaking my head. She was playing hard to get now, and for some reason, I really liked it. That had been the hottest sex I had ever had, and though I’d finally gotten her, I still wanted her just as bad. I flipped off the light and pulled the covers up, thinking about Cassie until I fell asleep.

When I woke up the next morning, I slowly opened my eyes and looked out the window. It took me a moment to focus, but when I did, I saw the sun was brightly shining in the sky. I shot straight up and grabbed my watch, groaning at the time. It was five minutes to eight, and I had to be at work. I jumped up from the bed and found my work clothes. I pulled them on and grabbed a danish on the way out the door. When I jumped in my car to head over to the job, I laughed at how my hair looked in the mirror. I had sex hair, and I didn’t care a bit. When I got there, I jumped out and ran up to the office, clocking my card about fifteen minutes late. The supervisor on duty looked up from his paper and over at the clock, shaking his head. I gave him a big toothy smile and headed over to my post.

When I got there, I was happy to see that I didn’t have to work with Carl. Apparently he wasn’t chosen for overtime this weekend. It would have really chapped his ass to know I was here and he wasn’t. I started working, whistling as I went, nailing in boards, lugging various material over to the edges of the property to be picked up, and working without the normal weekday stressors that the crew brought to the job. I had a pep in my step that I didn’t normally have, and I could feel happiness in my chest that hadn’t been there in a long time. It was nice, and I wasn’t going to complain about it. In fact, I wished every day could be this carefree.

I knew what was driving my happiness, and it wasn’t the danish I’d scarfed down on my drive to work that morning. It was because of the events that had unfolded the night before. I didn’t care that I had slept with the boss’s daughter. I cared that I had slept with Cassie. She was spunky, happy, and lit up the room when she was in it. She was a different person outside work than she was when on the job, and for good reasons, I supposed. Then again, I was a different person too. I had a sense of humor, unlike what the crew seemed to think. I hadn’t gotten the nickname Silent Scott for no reason. I never seemed to find anyone who interested me enough at work to have a conversation with.

I spent the rest of work getting a ton done and thinking about Cassie at the same time. I wished I was that productive on a regular basis, but until then, I hadn’t had the motivation. When the shift was over, I headed back to my house to get a shower and some lunch. I sat at my dining room table, wondering what Cassie was doing in her world at that moment. She was probably dining outside with linen tablecloths and mimosas. I laughed while thinking about her sitting there at the table and talking to her relatives about college, all the while thinking about how I’d fucked the hell out of her the night before. It was amusing to me when it should have been terrifying, considering her father held the keys to my future. I had only ever worked construction, and if I got fired, I would be screwed.

That night I loaded up the car with Red Bull and snacks and headed out on my Uber trek. The business was the same as usual. I started out the night chauffeuring giggling girls to the bars with their perfume choking me to death. Then there were a few in-between fares which led into the night rush from the bars. There was nothing worse than taking carload after carload of drunk dudes back to their houses. Or even worse than that, the random hookups who liked to make out in the back seat of my car. All in all, though, I was still in one hell of a mood, which was good because I had some serious weirdos that night. By the time things started to wear down, I was feeling a bit more than exhausted. I wasn’t even sure what time I had passed out the night before, but most likely the sleep had been minimal.

When the last fare had been dropped off, I clocked out of my Uber app and headed over to the twenty-four-hour food joint down the street. I grabbed a burger, some fries, and a shake and headed back to my house. I plopped down on the couch and flipped on the television, putting my feet up and devouring my late-night dinner. There was nothing on TV as usual at three in the morning, so I clicked it off and leaned my head back, thinking about Cassie. Her body ran through my mind and how hot she was naked. I wished she were here because I really wanted to fuck her again. I opened my eyes and sighed. It was probably for the better that she wasn’t here. I stood up and walked to the kitchen, tossing my trash in the garbage before heading into my room.

As I undressed, I thought about the fire I was seriously playing with by involving myself with Cassie. For God’s sake, she was the daughter of the owner of the company I worked for. Her father seemed like a reasonable man, but I was pretty sure that when it came to his daughter, he’d rather fire a fourteen-year employee than see her with a roughneck, even though I was probably the best pick out of all of them. Still, that didn’t mean much. It was like saying you got to pick the best of the rotten tomatoes to eat for dinner. The best of them only smelled a little, and your case of food poisoning would only be minor compared to the others. I was a rotten tomato.

I lay down in bed and stared up at the ceiling, realizing I had just compared myself to a half-rotten tomato. It was time I got my head back in the game. I’d had my fun and now it was over, and it needed to stay that way if I didn’t want to find myself in a pot of boiling water. I had come too far to give it all up for some sex, no matter how much I thought I liked Cassie. I went to bed, the excitement I had felt that morning gone.