Parks
"Lunch. On me." Jackson wasn't going to relent until I agreed to get my ass out of the house. It had been a long two months and losing my father around the holidays had me in a funk.
"Fine, but I'm going to eat my fucking weight in lobster."
"Good. I wouldn't expect anything less of a street rat like you." He snorted and hung up on me.
I smiled, unable to help myself. The guy was such a prick, and yet, I loved him like a brother. He was the only one from my childhood that I kept in contact with. He needed a strong woman to come into his life, grab him by the balls and sling him around a little.
He needed an Ansley.
"I need an Ansley." I walked to the bathroom and checked my complexion in the mirror before sliding my hand down into my sleeping pants. The only action my dick had seen in the better part of two months was my own hand. I couldn't seem to find the desire to hit on one of the women at the hospital that I knew would put out.
My body ached with the need to feel soft skin pressed against me, to hear the soft whimper of a woman in ecstasy, and yet, all I could think about was Aiden's bitchy older sister.
Anger replaced need, and I walked to the bedroom, cursing under my breath. I was going to have to ask about her later that day when I saw Aiden. Even if it meant giving myself away a little. He knew something happened between us. The bastard was too smart to really pull anything over on him.
I didn't care. I needed to know what she was up to. Her fucking picture was off the website for Boston General, which meant she quit or lost her damn job. I prayed like hell it was the first of those two. If I were at fault for her losing her job, I'd be sick with myself.
After dressing in a few layers, I walked out of the house and made my way to my Mustang. The snow was too thick to drive the bike, and I'd freeze my ass off if I tried. From what I understood, my backside was one of my best assets. No reason to further fuck myself in this game of companionship.
I got in the car and turned it on, flipping the heater on high and shaking until the damn thing warmed up.
"A new year." I backed up and turned on the radio to the classic metal station. Motley Crew's Doctor Feelgood filled up the space around me, and I had to laugh. It was as if the Universe was slapping me in the face.
I drove to the restaurant, singing the song and enjoying myself as best I could. I would talk to Aiden, go find Ansley and make amends, and then come back home and get on with my life. She wasn't the woman for me, and I sure as fuck wasn't the type of guy she wanted long-term. It was better this way, or so I'd told myself three million times.
I pulled up to the valet at the fancy-ass restaurant Jackson wanted to meet at and got out, thanking the guy and walking to the door.
The hostess glanced up as I walked toward her stand. "Morning. How can I help you?"
"I'm meeting Jackson Barto." I slipped my hands into the pockets and glanced around her. She knew Jackson. Everyone did. He was the youngest billionaire in all of New York.
"Of course. He's already here." She gave me the once over as her cheeks burned pink. Normally, I'd have flirted a little to see if there was room for a mid-morning fuck in the broom closet, but something had shifted inside of me. It was terrifying. I was growing up.
"Hey, buddy." Jackson stood and offered his hand. He looked like a million bucks. Fucker.
"Hey, man. What gives?" I sat down and glanced around the five-star restaurant. "We couldn't do pizza and beer?"
"It's the first day of the New Year, asshat. I wanted to keep the tradition. We've been doing this for as long as I can remember. What's the matter with you?" He gave me a stern look. "You're not sleeping. You always get loopy without sleep."
I rubbed at my eyes as they burned. "Yeah. I don't know what's going on."
"Talk to me." He leaned back and picked up a glass of some dark liquid.
"Are you charging me for it?" I smirked and ordered a whisky on the rocks when the waitress came over.
"Not unless you cry. Then, yes, and you'll be paying for lunch too." He took a drink of his whisky and set the glass down. "You haven't been yourself since Boston. It's getting old. What the fuck is going on with you? This about your dad?"
I shrugged and leaned back in my seat. "I don't know. I think part of it is losing my dad, but most of it is about Ansley."
"Aiden's sister?" He lifted an eyebrow. I'd kept my problems to myself like I always did. Me talking about a woman who was almost three months in the past was probably a bit stupid, but she was the reason for my sleepless nights.
"Yeah." I thanked the server and drank half my liquor before growling and setting the glass down. "I don't know, man. Something about her."
"You fell in love." He laughed and leaned forward. "The great Doctor Parks fell in love? With an older woman? Shit. She must have been incredible."
"She was." I glanced down at my drink. "I can't shake her."
"Then go get her." He tapped the table near my hand, forcing me to look up. "She's probably not with anyone yet if she's the dominate female you said she is. Men are terrified of that shit."
"Men like you?" I smiled, giving him a little bit of grief.
"Fuck that and you. I'd take her down to the ground in an afternoon. No woman will conquer me. Not ever."
"You'll be pussy-whipped by the summer."
"Hundred bucks says I won't, but you will."
"Hundred on each. I'll take that bet." I extended my hand, and we shook on it before laughing.
"You're going down." He shook his head. "Actually, you look like you're already down. If this chick means so much to you, go after her. You're not twenty-two with ten dollars in your pocket, Parks. You're a grown ass man. Go get what you want."
"Right. I wish it were that easy." I finished up my drink and asked for another one. "She's not interested in me, dude."
"So the fuck what? Make her interested."
He had a point. Why was I giving up so damn easily? She pushed back a little, and I decided to walk away from something brewing inside of me that felt like forever? No. It was about watching my dad give up his life for my mom. That shit left me cold toward wanting to persevere through anything related to love.
"Next subject." I picked up my menu and ignored his jabs. He just wanted to talk about me and my shit to stay off the subject of him and his.
We were bachelors, and though we both hated it, we pretended we loved it.
It was sick and old, but it was us.