After leaving Zero One, Colt and I head over to a salon—where to my surprise I find he’s already booked me an appointment. While I go through a consultation Colt disappears again. He doesn’t show back up until I have a bag full of products and just the ends of my hair trimmed.

Between the salon and the boutique, the entire working day has passed. It’s after five before I’m back in his car, and I’m a little disappointed—and just a little suspicious—that we never made it to his agency. I still don’t even know where the agency is actually located.

“So, where do you want to go for dinner?” Colt asks as he let’s go of the gearshift to grab my hand at a red light. He lifts my hand to his lips and kisses my knuckles while I think best how to answer him.

I didn’t leave my brothers enough money to fend for themselves, and I haven’t had a chance to go grocery shopping yet. The fridge is empty. As much as I would love to have dinner with Colt I can’t leave my brothers hanging.

“Uh, Luther and James expect me for dinner…”

“Okay,” Colt grins easily, not missing a beat. “We can pick up some takeout and take it back to them.”

And that’s exactly what we do. We pick up Chinese takeout and return to my apartment for dinner.

Dinner with Colt and my brothers turns out to be quite nice. The three of them love sports, and they’re so cute and animated as they talk about it. I actually feel myself start to relax, even though I can’t keep up with half of the conversation. They’re talking about sacs, yards, and red zone conversions. And Colt seems to be perfectly at ease, sitting at our scuffed dinner table, in one of the four chairs that don’t match.

Everything is great. Dinner was tasty, Colt is awesome, and my brothers seem to love him. The three of them haven’t stopped talking since we sat down.

Then my mother stumbles in.

Just like that, we all fall silent and the room fills with heavy tension. That tight ball I carry around in the pit my stomach tightens.

“Hey,” my mother slurs and slams the door behind her.

“Hey, Mom,” James says first, popping up from his chair and rushing over to her to help her. “Where ya been?”

My mom’s face is a mess of old, smudged up makeup. Her clothes are dirty, worn, and wrinkled. Her hair is wild, her blonde curls frizzed out around her head like she’s trying to pull off a blonde afro.

I know exactly where she’s been. She’s been on a bender.

“Oh, I was just hanging out with some friends,” she slurs in her overly sweet, syrupy voice. She pats James’ hand affectionately and lets him steer her over to our table.

It always starts like this. She’ll return home, sweet as can be, but as soon as one of us does something or says something to set her off – and you can never tell what will set her off—she turns into a mean monster spitting venom.

Luther crosses his arms in front of his chest and broods in his chair, not saying a word. He gave up on my mother years ago. He’s begged us to do the same, and I know it would be easier for him if we did the same, but James and I just can’t abandon her. She’s our mother. She gave us life. We owe her something for that.

Colt pops up from his chair next and pulls it back, smiling. “Here, you can have my seat.”

My mom stops dead in her tracks and widens her eyes at him. She may be high or hungover, with her pupils obviously pinned, but there’s sharp calculation in there.

“Who are you?” she asks, her voice hitting an uncomfortable high note.

Unperturbed, Colt strides confidently up to her and sticks out his hand. “Colton Jackson, ma’am.”

My mom sticks out her thin, shaky hand and places it in his. “Who?” she asks, as he gently pumps it.

“I’m an acquaintance of Whitney’s. Well, actually,” he releases her hand and chuckles. “I’ve hired her to be my new assistant, so I guess that makes me her boss now.”

My mother wasn’t expecting that. I can see exactly what she’s thinking as she looks Colt up and down, sizing him up and assessing him with years of practice. When you’re someone who always takes, you learn to quickly recognize the ones who have the most to give. Colt’s dressed in a nice suit with nice shoes and an expensive watch, and the only guys that dress like that around here are guys like Ray.

“Colt is a sports agent,” I rush to explain before she can voice the conclusions she must be jumping to.

I don’t exactly care what she thinks—I mean, she’s a junkie, who is she to judge me—I just don’t want her to say or do something that could further embarrass me in front of him. Her stumbling in, looking like something the cat puked up, is humiliating enough as it is. I don’t need her getting all falsely offended that I’ve suddenly turned into a sex worker. I know for a fact she doesn’t truly care where the money comes from, as long as it’s there for her to shoot up her nose.

“Oh?” my mom asks looking over to me, then back to Colt. “A sports agent?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Colt nods and smiles, continuing to hold the chair for her as she sits down. Once she’s seated he pushes the chair forward. “I help broker deals and negotiate terms for my athletes.”

“So Whitney works for you? How did you meet?” My mom asks and I practically jump out of my chair.

“You know what, I’m stuffed and it’s been a long day.” I check the time on my phone.

“It has been,” Colt agrees. “I should head out. It was a pleasure to meet you all.”

After my brothers and Colt exchange goodbyes, I walk him to the door. He inclines his head towards the front step and I follow him out.

“Are you okay?” he asks, stepping close with his hand brushing across the small of my back.

I puff out a breath and send strands of my hair flying. “Yeah, I guess. It really has been a long day, and you never know when she’s going to show up…”

“We don’t have to start so early tomorrow. I can pick you up a couple of hours later. Or…” He leans in and I instinctively lean back.

“Or?” I ask, my pulse fluttering.

“Or you can come back to my place and we can sleep in.”

If only.

“I can’t,” I say with regret.

He steps even closer until his chest is brushing against my breasts, and now it feels like he’s looming over me. “Why not?”

“I just gave them the impression that I’m going to bed. And not to mention you just told them you’re my new boss. If I leave with you they’ll think…”

“That you’re interested in me?” he completes for me.

I shake my head. “That we’re sleeping together.”

“We are.”

“We were,” I correct him.

“You don’t want to do it again? Was it that bad?” He bumps his hips into me on purpose. “Give me a chance to fix it.”

I tip my head back and frown up at him. “No, it’s not that…”

“Then what is it?”

“I can’t sleep with you again because you’re my boss now.”

“So?”

I throw my hands up in frustration. His little smirk only irritates me further. “If I sleep with you now they’ll think I’m doing it for money.”

“But you did do it for money.”

“That was different.” I frown and glance towards the still open door. I lower my voice and whisper, “I was desperate.”

“Would you have slept with me if I didn’t pay you?” he asks, his voice dropping down a few notches.

That deep voice vibrates against my spine, causing all the little hairs on my body to stand on end. His gaze is so dark, so intense, it’s either look away or be sucked in. It takes too much willpower to look away.

My heart is pounding so hard I have to swallow before I fib, “Probably not.”

“Liar,” he rasps before his chin drops and his lips capture mine in an overwhelming kiss.

His mouth slants over mine and his hands grab me by the hips, to keep me from escaping from him. At first I stiffen, intent on resisting him, but he kisses me until I can no longer stand it. Even though the door to my apartment is still wide open, I start kissing him back.

“Come home with me,” he huskily demands.

“I can’t,” I sigh between pulls and then his tongue thrusts hard into my mouth in frustration.

His fingers dig into my hips and my neck bends back beneath the force of his kiss.

“You can,” he insists, driving his point home with a hard suckle pulled back.

“I can’t,” I groan, as my body writhes against him.

“You’re a grown woman. You can do what you want.” He tears his mouth away from mine and now I’m panting as he hungrily suckles and nibbles his way down my neck.

I am a grown woman, and I can do what I want but… I’ve never actually done what I wanted to do, it’s always what I think I should do. Will my brothers think less of me if I grab my bag and tell them I’m spending the night with Colt? Not likely. They may not be happy with me about it, but I think they’ll still love me in the end. It’s more the thought of telling my mom that I’m worried about. I’m not even sure why I care about her opinion, but something inside me does.

“Last night was torture,” Colt breathes out and then his teeth nip at my earlobe. “My bed was empty and I could smell you on my pillows. It was all I could do to keep myself from driving over here and picking you up.”

“You wanted to do that?” I ask, feeling my resolve crumbling under his confession.

“Yes,” he huffs hotly into my ear, sending shivering tingles down my spine. “I wanted to drive over here, throw you over my shoulder, and take you back home with me—where you belong.”

My knees tremble. How on earth am I even standing? I clutch at him. “To where I belong?”

“Yes,” he groans and cups my face in both of his big hands. “Don’t you feel it? You belong with me, in my bed.”

I’m not sure if that is what I’m feeling, but I’m definitely feeling something. My body is drawn to his body of its own accord. Just being near him is enough to shoot off all kinds of pleasurable sensations and endorphins inside my head. It’s crazy. I get a buzz just thinking about him. I’ve never felt like this for someone before, and it’s all happening so fast. Love at first sight? No, definitely not. I do not love him… at least not yet. Animal magnetism, perhaps? I never believed in such a thing before, we’re not animals after all, we’re humans. But perhaps there’s more animal in me than I’d like to admit.

There’s must be something crazy inside of me, something wild inside of me because I tell him, “Yes.”

“Fuck, Whitney,” he groans and bends me back with the force of his kiss.

My spine arches almost painfully but the pleasure is worth it. It’s so worth it. By the time he pulls back, my lips feel tender, sensitive, and swollen.

“Grab your stuff. I’ll wait here,” he commands in a harsh breath. He helps steady me on my heels then he gives my butt a little pat as I turn away to do just that.

I don’t know how long we were standing outside together, but by the time I walk back inside everyone has already gone to bed. Quickly and quietly I sneak into my room—where my mother is already passed out on the bed, snoring—and pack a bag. I grab my purse and my heart does a little flip-flop. Stepping into the hallway, I check my cash. I don’t dare try to count it, I just grab a few bills and tiptoe quietly up to Luther’s bed.

I hate to wake him, but I also hate to leave my brothers without any money. I could come back in the morning but I really, really want to sleep in. I can’t even remember the last time I did it.

“Luther,” I whisper into his ear and he groans, peeking one eye open.

“What’s up?”

“I’m going out. Here’s some money for food tomorrow. It should be enough to get you through the day.”

I slip the bills into his hand—when did his hand grow so big?

He blinks sleepily at the bills. “Okay.” He slips the money under his pillow and then asks, “When will you be back?”

“I don’t know, but I will be back.”

“Okay.”

“I’m sorry I woke you. Sweet dreams.”

“Night,” he grunts and rolls over. He’s snoring again in seconds.

I linger for a second, watching my brothers sleep, marveling at how they’re not little boys anymore. Sometime while I was working my ass off they’ve grown into good, strong, young men.

“Are you ready?” Colt asks as I walk out the front door to meet him. His eyes are bright as they search my face. He stands tall but there’s something about him that seems tight, like there’s barely controlled tension boiling just beneath the surface. I get the feeling that if I were to refuse him he’d press the issue. That on this, he’s going to get his way whether or not I want to give in to him.

I don’t know what I’m feeling or what I’m doing. I don’t know what I expect out of this because there are no expectations on my end. I’m not foolish enough to assume any of this is permanent. I just know that I want this, I want to be with him—no matter how temporary it is.

“Yes,” I force a tight smile and nod my head. “I’m ready.” I want to do what we did the other night. I want to connect with someone. I’m ready to live.