Falling for Trouble (6 page)

When
he looked at her, he noticed she kept her eyes downcast as she ate. “Everything
all right, Kid?” The sound of his own voice had those fucking construction
workers drilling behind his eyes working overtime. He heard her swallow and
then she lifted those gorgeous eyes to him. Damn, he wished he could give her
everything she deserved.

She’d
had a pretty fucked-up childhood, what with a cracked-out mom who didn’t care
about her. Thankfully she had gotten out of that situation early enough. Of
course it hadn’t been soon enough for him. They had met shortly after that, and
as they said, the rest was history.

Sophia
Isabella Kidd was his rock, whether she knew it or not. He knew without her he
would have gone down a bigger slope then the current one. He might drink,
fight, and fuck a lot of women, but dammit, without Sophia, he probably would
have been in prison right now, or worse, dead.

“F-Fine.”
She went back to eating and, although he wanted to push her to talk to him, he
let it go for right now.

Putting
down the food was harder than shit, but not because it tasted bad. Kid could
cook, but because when the bacon and eggs hit his stomach, it felt like a lead
weight settling in for the winter. “Man, I feel like shit ran over. What the
hell happened last night?” Her head snapped up and her eyes grew wide. “Was I
that drunk?” Her lips parted like she was about to say something, but she
snapped them closed again. “I didn’t kick anyone’s ass, did I?” He did a quick
physical inventory and it came back that he had no injuries that would suggest
he got into a fight. Then it dawned on him. “Shit, Kid, you didn’t walk in on
me fucking some chick, did you?” A vivid image of tight, full breasts tipped
with dusky nipples slammed into his brain. Despite him feeling like crap, his
dick got hard, and that just made him feel like an even bigger prick.

By
the stunned look on her face, Abe surmised she probably had caught him with
someone. It wasn’t like she cared who he fucked. Well, she never acted like it.
But the disgusted expression that crossed her face on more than one occasion
when she had found him and the girl he screwed that night naked, either in his
room, kitchen, or living room, had always ingrained itself in his mind. Yeah,
he was a shitty guy and an even shittier friend for putting her through that.
Of course his intention had never been to let her see his gritty inner life.
Where she was all good and sweet, he was futile and despicable.

“I’m
sorry, Kid. I hate that I am such a crap friend to you.” He reached across the
table and took her hand in his. “I’m gonna do right by you, sweets, I promise.
You shouldn’t have to put up with my shit.” Truth be told, if Sophia said she
wanted him, that she felt a sliver of the emotions he felt for her, ones that
had nothing to do with being friends, he would change in a heartbeat. Yeah,
maybe if he changed on his own, she would see him as a man worthy of her love.

He
saw tears swimming in her eyes and he frowned. “What’s wrong?” The hand holding
hers tightened but she drew it away and stood. Her head was shaking but she
didn’t say anything. Abe started to panic. “Sophia, what the hell is wrong? Did
someone hurt you?” Rage built inside of him. Had some prick messed with her
last night at the bar? He tried to recall everything that happened, but the
last thing he remembered was downing a shot and finishing his beer. After that
everything was black. “Sophia.” He stood and rounded the table, ignoring his
pounding head and cramping stomach. Abe gripped her shoulders and turned her
around.

She
refused to look at him and his anger and panic grew. “Kid, did someone hurt
you? I’ll fucking kill them. Just tell me who it is, sweetheart.” His voice
rose and he feared he was scaring her. That wasn’t his intent, but adrenaline
rushed through his veins and his muscles tightened. She reached to grab her
purse off the counter. Before she headed out, she stopped and looked back at
him, tears still swimming in her eyes.

“It’s
nothing, Abe. I’m just having one of those girlie moments. I’ll call you
later.” She headed out the door and a moment later he heard her car start and
fade away.

Chapter
Six

Two weeks later

“Two
Buds, one shot of Jose, and a ruby slipper.”

Sophia
filled the order that Tiny’s newest waitress, Bec, rattled off. It had been two
weeks since she slept with Abe, fourteen
freaking
days since she had given him her virginity and he had walked in the next
morning without remembering a damn thing. To say she had been hurt and
humiliated would be the understatement of the year. She had known he was drunk,
blitzed out of his mind, but when he had looked at her that night, touched and
kissed her, she would have sworn he had been looking at
her
. It was apparent she had just been the willing, convenient body
in his bed for the night.

Setting
the drinks on Bec’s tray, Sophia looked over to where Abe sat with a bunch of
the guys from Red’s. There were also a few blondes loitering around the men,
their scantily clad bodies on full, tempting display. They had just gotten off
of work and motor oil still stained their shirts. Just looking at him had
longing spearing into her. He said he would do right by her, whatever the hell
that meant, and she had noticed a change in him. He didn’t drink as much, and
when he did come to Tiny’s, it was more of a social call than to get drunk. The
majority of those times were to see her home safely. A lot of her free time was
spent with him, ordering takeout, watching movies, and falling asleep in his
arms. Yet here she was, unable to admit what they had done for fear that
everything would change between them for the worse. For the time being, Sophia
could pretend that their relationship was the same, untainted by the scars of
their past. How many horror stories had she heard about friends sleeping
together and ruining their relationship? No, she could not risk that. Abe meant
far too much to her.

 
She had played with the idea that maybe he
would take her into his arms and kiss her senseless when she told him. They
would live happily ever after, of course. Several times she had opened her
mouth to confess it all, but fear stopped her. What if he thought she was
lying? Since he didn’t remember, he might not believe her. The doubt that would
most certainly fill him would come as a devastating blow to her heart and their
relationship. Watching him laugh with his coworkers melted her heart. Deep down
he was a good guy,
her
good guy. Come
to think of it, she hadn’t seen him with any girls since their time together.

For
the hundredth time she thought,
how could
he so easily forget something that means so much to me?
Letting her
thoughts take control would only make her feel even more awful. Sophia needed
to tell him, but she could never find the right time to do that and she still
didn’t know how she would broach the subject.

Drunk, Sophia. He was
drunk and you knew that when you let it go as far as it did.

She
exhaled, and as if he sensed her stare, Abe looked at her. He wore a
white-and-red baseball cap with the OSU logo on it. He had obviously been the
only one to change after work. His dark T-shirt was clean and stretched tight
over his chest. His whole demeanor was relaxed as he held her stare and brought
his beer to his lips. How could he make taking a drink of beer look so damn
sexy? His smile was slow and all for her. Even though he wasn’t physically near
her, her pulse raced and her palms started to sweat. All she could think about
was that night two weeks ago, how he had brought her to orgasm over and over
again. He had touched her more than just sexually.

The
image of his hands skimming across her body, touching areas where no man had
ever touched before had opened her eyes to paradise. She still dreamed of that
night, still touched herself in her cold, dark room, picturing that is was
Abe’s hands getting her off instead of her own.

“Hey,
shuga.” She turned her attention to the two guys that had just sat at the bar.
They looked rough, like they had just gone mudding and didn’t care how filthy
they were. They had to be in their thirties, but might look younger if they
cleaned the shit off their faces.

Sophia
smiled and set a napkin in front of each of them. “What would you guys like?”

“You
with nothin’ on, honey.” Sophia forced herself not to roll her eyes. She had
heard so many lame pickup lines throughout the years that this one didn’t even
hit the top five. When she didn’t respond, just cocked one of her brows, they
both sobered and mumbled their choice of beer. She set the two longnecks in
front of them and went to the other end of the bar to help a group of girls
that were part of a bachelorette party.

“Soph.”
When she handed the last girl her frilly drink, complete with an umbrella, she
turned to look at Hunter. His hands were in the front pockets of his jeans and
his black T-shirt with the Tiny’s logo in the upper left hand side stretched
across his flat, hard chest. The corner of his mouth was tilted in a smile. He
was good-looking,
very
good-looking
honestly. His blond hair was a little shaggy, brushing the tops of his ears but
not overgrown like he needed a haircut. His eyes, though, his eyes were a whole
other story. They were so dark they looked like onyx. They seemed to penetrate
the very recesses of her soul. He was big and tall, not as muscular as Abe, but
toned like a swimmer would be. Dammit, why did she have to compare him, and
every other guy, to Abe?

“What’s
up, Hunter?”

He
looked at his watch. “You get off in an hour, right?”

Well,
shit, she had a feeling she was going to be asked to stay over. Not that she
didn’t need the money, but she had a date with a bottle of cheap wine, Johnny
Depp, and a pint of ice cream.

 
When Abe had asked if she wanted to hang out
tonight, she had declined. He wasn’t stupid and would know she was avoiding
him, but he was just smart enough not to pry. Oh, he had tried to get her to
talk about what her deal was two weeks ago, was actually still trying to get
her to talk, but she kept brushing it off with an excuse about being on her
period and moody. Of course those had been all lies. Keeping her distance
seemed like the right thing to do with her emotions still rampant.

“Yeah.”
She dried her hands off on an already damp rag.

“Can
I speak with you in the back?”

Shit.
Had she done
something wrong? Hunter never wanted to talk to the help unless something was
wrong. Thinking back, she tried to recall if her till had been correct the
times she closed. Abe hadn’t gotten in a fight since that drunken night, so it
wasn’t that Hunter meant to tell her that Abe had to cut the shit.

“Yeah,
sure.” She told the other bartender she’d be right back and followed Hunter to
his office. She glanced over her shoulder and saw Abe watching her over the rim
of his bottle. All she could see were his eyes beneath the bill of his cap, but
they were smoldering. Furrowing her brow, she turned back around and went into
Hunter’s office. He shut the door behind her and gestured to her to have a
seat.

****

Abe
watched Sophia disappear with Hunter. God, she was so damn beautiful. It was
more than just physical, though. She was just as gorgeous on the inside as she
was on the outside. Since that strange morning two weeks ago he hadn’t felt
right. There was something different with her, but every time he asked her, she
changed the subject and got antsy. He told himself if she had been hurt he
would know right off the bat and that their relationship would warrant her to
tell him. He had told her he would start being a better person, and he was
making true on that. All he wanted to do was spend all his free time with her,
but recently she seemed to pull away from him, emotionally and physically.
Thoughts of him holding her, her small frame curled into his body, like she knew
that was where she was meant to be, undid him every time. A part of Abe hoped
she would realize there was so much more to them than just being friends.

He
took another long pull from his beer and turned back to the men at his table.
Red was watching him with a knowing look. At least his boss didn’t feel the
need to call him out on his clear infatuation with Sophia.

Abe
wasn’t good for her anyway, not with the life he had led. Since his parents’
deaths, he’d jumped from one woman to another. Maybe he was trying to fill a
void? Maybe things would have gone down a different road if he had just come
clean and confessed how he really felt for her? No one on the planet could give
him what he needed like Sophia could. Her gentle nature had soothed him on some
of his worst nights, but there were also parts of him he had never told her
about. She didn’t know about his nightmares that were hindered when he drank
himself unconscious. He surely must look like some kind of alcoholic to her.
Hell, to everyone. Truth was he hadn’t gotten drunk since that morning fourteen
days ago. He’d told her he was going to do right by her, and dammit, he was
trying.

Everything
he did was a start. If she didn’t want that kind of relationship with him, then
he would take whatever she would give. Having a life without Kid in it was not
something he wanted to face. He supposed that was why he hadn’t admitted his
feelings to her yet. That rejection he might face from revealing such things
also hung in the air like a black cloud. He would take each day one at a time,
and then, when he felt the time was right, he would lay it all out for her. He
would bare his fucking soul to her and pray like hell she didn’t walk away.