Relinquish(7)

Following Jayden across the way, I skim the crowd at the café and land on a pair of handsome eyes. So handsome, I stop walking.

Sitting at a table full of sexy men is a short, blond-haired guy, his face hard and chiseled. My God, his arms are pumped with muscle as his hands flex around a brown football. My core blossoms with incredible need as I eye his toned arms, and what I assume is a matching hard chest beneath his jersey.

“Charlie, let’s go!” Jayden yells, making me realize I’ve been standing here like an idiot, staring at a sexy stranger in a café. The guy smirks at me and tosses the football in the air, breaking eye contact.

I tuck my hair behind my ear, giving a small smile in return before walking forward. I suddenly crash into something, the impact throwing me back on my ass hard.

“Shit!” I shout with pain.

“Fuck!” roars a male voice standing above me. My eyes jolt upward to find a broad-shouldered man in a black suit, holding a broken plastic cup in one hand with coffee spilled all down his front. My stomach tangles into a bundle of tight knots, and my hands tremble from the strength and power this man radiates. Oh, shit.

“I am so sorry!” I stand up and start frantically brushing at the man’s very expensive-looking suit. My God, it’s like rubbing a rock. His body is so toned and strong beneath my palms, which isn’t helping me get a grip on myself. My eyes skirt up his arms, finding the fabric stretched tight around his biceps and causing me to swallow the lump forming in my throat. The knots in my stomach crawl into a fit of butterflies, and my heart races. He’s handsome—intimidating, really. The way his toned body and squared shoulders take up the space takes my breath away. His jaw is chiseled to perfection with scruff claiming it perfectly. I bite my bottom lip to keep from moaning.

“It’s fine, really,” he states, his voice deep as he grabs my wrists to stop me from slapping at his stained shirt pathetically. My body sparks with electricity where he grips me firmly. My mouth parts and my breathing shallows as I slowly trail my eyes from his hold on my wrist to his eyes. They’re green with little brown flecks thrown around them. They’re captivating. His jawline is strong and defined, his nose broad, and his dark hair is smoothed back with just a trail hanging loosely out of place on the front of his forehead from our sudden run-in. He’s f*cking gorgeous, and I can’t look away.

“Are you all right?” he questions, raising an eyebrow. His voice is low and rough, making my eyes focus on his mouth.

“I-” I stutter, completely lost in the thought of his luscious lips on mine. These lips are not like any belonging to the guys at my high school, that’s for sure. When you look at them, his lips look like they’re made to make love to a woman’s body. The thoughts of the glorious pleasure they could bring make my cheeks warm, my chest ache.

“Charlie, let’s go!” Jayden hollers, catching mine and Sexy Man In a Suit’s attention.

“That your friend?” he asks, his lips that hold the perfect cupid’s bow turn into a slight smirk.

I open my mouth to speak but a wild hiccup noise escapes instead, caused from the wild beat of my heart against my chest. I close my eyes, humiliated.

He chuckles, releasing his hold of my wrists. The way he laughs causes my skin to rise with goose bumps.

“I gotta go,” I whisper nervously. I look down and stride quickly toward Jayden, praying I don’t bump into any more hot men on the way.

“Lord, give me strength. Vegas is already becoming a bad influence,” I mutter, catching up with Jayden.

She takes us down a dark alley between old brick buildings, fire escapes climbing up the side of them. In the distance, a dog barks angrily. Yeah… this is the ghetto.

“Here it is,” Jayden chimes, looking up at a building plastered with spray paint and posters.

“How do we get in?” I ask, looking at the door which is barricaded with metal fencing.

“Fuck if I know. Let’s knock,” she suggests.

She steps up the cement blocks and knocks against the door with a rusted cage at the front of it.

Nothing.

She continues to knock and knock, knowing we have nowhere else to go.

A light flickers on behind the caged door, and the door swings open with haste.

“What the f*ck is your problem?” a man with dark brown, curly hair mopped over his ears hollers, standing in his boxers.

“Um, are you renting out an apartment?” Jayden questions, her tone soft. I scowl at the man for talking to her so harshly.

“Yeah, I am.” He crosses his arms, sticking his chin outward.

“Can we rent it?” I ask annoyed.

“I need six hundred now in cash, and it’s yours.” He gurgles in the back of his throat before hawking a big wad of spit right onto the sidewalk. Gross.

Jayden reaches in her breast and thumbs out the cash, handing it to him.

“Great. Follow me,” the man says without emotion.

Jayden and I follow the man inside and up a set of dusty stairs. They’re made out of old wood, splinters and nails sticking out of them everywhere. There’s only one light showing the way, swinging from a long electrical wire, above the stairs.

“My name is Henry. I expect rent at the end of every month or you’re out,” he explains, opening a door to the left. “I’ll get you keys in the morning.”