Lacey 


I was on a mission to get over Adonis and start becoming more independent.

I hadn’t decided what I wanted to study, but getting the job at the restaurant had set into motion my plans to have a life of my own and to get over my obsession with Adonis.

It wasn’t healthy and the only way I was going to get over him was to keep seeing him to a minimum, so that meant spending less time at home where there was a possibility of bumping into him. The hurt I felt at hearing that he’d gotten some girl’s number had helped me set my mind to keeping him at a distance. With work and my plans on spending more time by Reece over the weekends, I wanted to see less of the boy who kept bruising my heart.

I was nervous when my mom dropped me off for my first day at work. David showed me to a small staff room in the back of the restaurant. He picked up a neatly fold shirt on the desk and handed it to me.

“You must wear this,” he said, and I took the shirt from him.

“You can wear it with jeans or a black skirt,” he told me and nodded. Unsure what I had to wear, I’d shown up in a shirt and jeans.

“Go change,” he said, and I went into the girl’s toilets to change into the white button-up shirt with the

“Gourmet Burgers” logo in blue written on the pocket. It was a size too big, but it would have to do.

I tucked the shirt into my jeans and grabbed my normal shirt before I left the toilets to go back to the staff room.

There was another guy in the office when I entered. I looked around nervously.

“This is Jax,” David introduced me and I extended a hand to him. Jax smiled as he shook it.

“You’ll be working the same shifts as he is until you are ready to work on your own,” he instructed. “Good luck.”

I followed Jax out of the room and down the small passage to the restaurant.

“Don’t be nervous.” Jax threw me a look over his shoulder. “We all start at the same point, knowing nothing. You’ll get the hang of it and before you know it, you’ll be a pro and wondering why you were so nervous to start off with.”

I liked him straight away. He was taller than me. His hair was a sandy blonde color and reached just below his ears, and his eyes were a deep blue color that reminded me of the sea.

It was Monday, so the restaurant wasn’t that busy, but there was a steady stream of customer and at lunchtime it got busier. I kept my eyes glued to Jax and tried to remember as much as I could so I when I got to work on my own I didn’t mess things up.

At the end of my shift at four, I felt tired and my feet hurt.

“You did well,” Jax said. I shrugged because I had done nothing but follow him around and watch him like a hawk.

My mom was waiting outside when I left the restaurant.

“So how was your first day?” she asked with excitement.

“It was good,” I answered.

By the time I was home, I felt tired. First stop was the kitchen to get something to eat. I wanted to have an early night.

“So how did it go?” Alex asked when I entered the kitchen.

Adonis was sitting beside him at the kitchen counter, and his eyes rested on me. I pulled my gaze away from him and turned my attention to my brother.

It shouldn’t have surprised me he was there, but I couldn’t stop the way my heart sped up at the sight of him. I hated the fact that despite everything he’d done that had hurt me; it hadn’t diminished the way I felt about him.

“It was good.”

I answered all the questions my family had, but I was aware of Adonis’ eyes on me. The few times I glanced his way, he was looking at me with an unreadable expression.

Trying to ignore him, I ate dinner, but it was harder than I’d expected. On edge, I excused myself and took my plate to the sink.

“I’m going to bed,” I said my mom.

“Sure baby.” She gave me a brief kiss on the cheek.

“Are you okay?” my father asked. I smiled at him.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just tired.”

It was half the truth. The other half was me not wanting to be around Adonis.

I felt his eyes on me as I left the kitchen and went upstairs to my room. I got ready for bed.

No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t stop myself from thinking of him. Even for the rest of the week, he crept into my thoughts when I wasn’t attempting to not think about him.

That Friday after my third shift at the restaurant, I walked out with Jax expecting to see my mom, but it surprised me to see Adonis’ car waiting for me.

“You’re doing well,” Jax said, and I nodded, but I fixed my eyes on Adonis’ car.

“Thanks,” I pulled my attention back to Jax.

“I think you might be ready to do this on your own in another week,” he said. I felt excited at the idea and a little nervous.

“Are you sure?” I asked, not feeling ready at all.

“Yeah.”

“I got to go my lift is waiting for me,” I told him giving him a friendly smile.

“See you next week.” He winked before turning around and walked away.

Feeling nervous at the unexpected sight of Adonis’ car, I took a deep breath and released it as I walked over to it. I opened the door and got inside.

“Your mom was running late, so she asked if I could pick you up.” His voice was stiff with his eyes fixed in front of him.

His tone took me by surprise. He was always friendly, so I wasn’t sure what I’d done to be on the receiving end of his bitter tone. Without another word, he started up the car and a heavy silence settled between us.

The quietness between us was uncomfortable, but I did not know how to ease it, so I kept my mouth shut and keep my eyes fixed to the scenery outside my window. When we got to my house, he parked the car and switched off the engine.

“Thank you.” I made a move to open the door, but his hand on my wrist stopped me.

“Who was the guy?” His eyes glittered with anger, his tense jaw. He was confusing me.

“Guy?” I asked, not sure who he was talking about.

“The guy outside the restaurant.” His tone was short.

“Jax.” I studied him, trying to read why he was acting so strange.

“Who is he?” And the questions kept coming. I held his gaze as I tried to figure out why seeing me with Jax had made him so angry. I didn’t understand.

His eyes darkened as he waited for my answer.

“A guy I work with.” I tried to pull my wrist from his grip.

“That wasn’t what it looked like.” His hand still clasped my wrist despite my attempts to break free.

He was acting like a jealous boyfriend. If he liked me, why had he taken the girl’s phone number after trying to kiss me? None of it made any sense.

“Why do you care?” I held his gaze. What was with him and all the questions?

He pressed his lips together as he released me and let my wrist go. I rubbed my wrist, not because it hurt but because my skin still tingled where he’d touched me.

I waited for his answer but he remained silent like he was contemplating whether to say anything.

“Why does it matter to you?” I was direct, needing to know why he was acting so out of character. This wasn’t like him.

Something in his eyes made me still.

“Tell me why?” I asked softly, and I held my breath, waiting for him to say something. His gaze flickered to my lips briefly before his eyes met mine again.

He closed his eyes as he turned away from me. A moment or two passed before he let out a sigh as turned to face me. The conflict I’d seen earlier on his face had disappeared.

“Can you blame me for worrying about you after what happened with your date the other night?” he said. “You’re my best friend’s little sister. It’s my job to watch out for you.”

My heart sank at the realization that was all I would ever be to him. Angered flared up inside of me, but I refused to allow him to see it.

“I’m not dating him.” I kept my tone even.

Just because one guy tried to force a kiss with me didn’t mean that every other guy was going to do the same. There had been a tiny little piece of me that had held onto the hope that it was jealousy.

He was rockstar who could have any girl he wanted. It was laughable that I’d even entertained the idea that he might like me. I kept doing this to myself and I needed to learn to stop it, somehow. I rubbed my forehead when I got a slight headache.

“You okay?” he asked, pulling me out of my thoughts.

I gave him a side glance. “I’m fine.”

“You sure?” He studied me for few moments.

I nodded my head.

“It’s just you rubbed your head. Are you getting a headache?” He wasn’t letting it go.

“Just because I’m getting a headache doesn’t mean I’m going to get a migraine,” I said.

When I’d started working, it had worried me I might get more migraines, but so far I hadn’t.

“Thank you for the lift.” I made a move to open the door.

“You’re welcome,” he said before I got out the car.

He followed me inside my house. It was a Friday night, which meant going out with my brother somewhere. I had made plans to spend the night by Reece. We were planning to go to a party, and I was looking forward to it.

I walked into the house and it was quiet, which meant we were alone.

Inside the kitchen, I went to get something to drink. I’d just gotten a glass out of the cupboard when I heard his footsteps. I was always nervous when we were alone, and I hated I felt that way. Adonis stood in the doorway watching me as I walked to the fridge to get some orange juice.

“Do you want some?” I asked.

“Yes, please.”

I got another glass out of the cupboard and poured him some.

“Thanks. How’s the job going?” He stood beside me and took his glass.

“It’s okay.” I shrugged. I was earning my money and meeting new people. It was giving some independence I craved.

“Have you got plans tonight?” he asked, looking curious.

“Yes. I’m going to Reece and then we’re going out.”

Whenever I felt his eyes on me, I could feel the butterflies flutter to life inside my stomach.

“What are you and my brother up to tonight?” I asked, glancing in his direction.

“We’re going out.” He gave a dismissive shrug.

I took a sip of my orange juice before I walked back to the fridge and put orange juice carton back.

The sound of the front door opening signaled the fact that we weren’t alone anymore.

“Hi.” My mom entered the kitchen with a couple of grocery bags in her hands. Adonis took the bags from her and put them on the kitchen counter for her.

“Thanks for picking her up for me,” my mom said to him.

“You’re welcome. I was happy to help,” he said, in his usual easygoing voice. He sat down at the kitchen counter and took a drink of his juice.

Later that evening Reece picked me up, and we went back to her house to get ready for the party.

“Are there any cute guys at your job?” she asked as she finished applying her makeup. She had just broken up with her last boyfriend and she was on the prowl for the next one.

“None that are your type.” I put on a pair of sandals.

When I looked up, and she was look me through the mirror at her dressing table.

“I have a type?” She stopped applying her lipstick.

“Yes, you do,” I said. “Bad boys.”

Her last boyfriend had been a tattoo artist with more tattoos on his skin than I could count. But like most of her boyfriends, they didn’t like rules and monogamy. She’d caught him making out with a client in the tattoo shop late one night.

“I’ve decided that bad boys aren’t my type anymore,” She turned to face me. I was unconvinced and struggled to take her. Being attracted to someone wasn’t something that you could control. I, above all people, knew that. Despite every logical reason, loving Adonis wasn’t a great idea didn’t change how I felt about him.

Reece glared at me and I tried to keep from laughing further.

“We’re going to go out and have fun tonight. And maybe we might meet some guys.” She turned back to the mirror to finish applying her lipstick.

After my incident with Evan, I was a little more wary about guys, but I would not let that stop me from meeting someone new. Not all guys weren’t like him, I just had to be careful. We were going to a house party so there would be so many plenty of people around, and that made me feel safer.

When Evan had tried something with me, we had been alone in his car. As long as I made sure I wasn’t alone with a guy, I would be fine.

I was ready and just waiting for her to finish up with her makeup. I’d decided on some skinny jeans and a baby pink top. Reece had settled on a black miniskirt and a white tank top.

It was late by the time we said goodbye to Reece’s parents and got into her car to go to the party.

The party was in full swing when we pulled up in front of the house. Joey was a guy we’d gone to high school with and his parent’s had gone away for the weekend so he’d thrown a party.

Reece parked the car, and we got out. Then I took a deep breath and released it. I wanted to go out and have fun. I would not think about Adonis.

With that determination, I walked into the house that was pumping with music as I followed Reece inside. We greeted some people as we made our way to the kitchen to get some drinks.

“You made it,” Joey announced as we walked into the kitchen. He was busy pouring drinks, but he stopped to walk over to us. He hugged Reece and then turned to me to give me a bear hug that lifted my feet off the floor.

“We told you were going to come,” I said as he released me and set me back down on my feet.

“I know, but girls have minds they seem to change at the drop of a hat.” He turned back to the kitchen counter where there were a variety of alcohol bottles.

“What do you want to drink?” He looked back to us as he asked the question.

Reece told him what she wanted and asked him to make it two. With the migraines, I didn’t want to drink too much. This time I remembered to bring my migraine medication with me to Reece’s house, so if I got one I wouldn’t have to call anyone.

The thought took me back to when Adonis fetched me. I shook my head, trying to get rid of the thought. I’d promised myself I would not let thoughts of him monopolize my thoughts.

“What are you doing here?” A familiar voice asked from behind me. The voice belonged to my brother. The sight of Adonis beside him made my stomach flip.

“They invited me.” I shot back with a raised eyebrow, trying to calm my erratic heart.

“So were we,” Adonis said.