Worth Saving(26)

“Ah, so that’s it. You’ve had some bad experiences with men. Is that why you’re so guarded?”

The image of my father’s face flashes in my head, followed by Damien’s scowl.

“Yeah, you could say that. I’ll be honest with you. You’re very sweet, and I like talking to you, but I have a hard time trusting people, men in particular. So, as much as I appreciate you always trying to make me smile, even against my will, it takes a while before I trust anyone. So, don’t take it too personal.”

“I’ll try not to,” he replies with a nod of his head. “And I don’t mind putting in however much time it takes for you to feel like you can let those walls down with me. It’s obvious you’ve got some internal stuff going on when it comes to men and trust, but we all have our issues we have to deal with. I’m dealing with my own personal shit, and that’s okay too. Once we make it through our shit, we’ll be stronger than the rest of the people out there who’ve had it easy their whole lives. So, I’ll be here whenever you need me. If you wanna talk, or take a walk, or have dinner, or breakfast, or lunch, or brunch, or snack time, or dessert, or appetizers, or a post-midnight bowl of cereal, or any other form of eating you can think of. I like kicking it with you, too, so just give me a call, okay?”

I look Austin in those big blue eyes of his, and there’s something about him that’s so mesmerizing. His eyes draw me in and I feel like we’re having a staring contest for a second. He truly is beautiful, and I’ll admit he’s different from any other guy I’ve met, but I’ve run into too many *s to let my guard down so fast. So, I have to brush off the extra-long eye contact.

“Thanks for being so cool, Austin. Have a good night,” I say, then I reach my hand out for him to shake.

Austin looks down at my hand and smiles at it, shaking his head.

“You have a good night, too, Layla,” he replies as he pushes my hand to the side and moves in to hug me. It’s a short hug, and I’m hesitant at first, but once it happens, I’m glad he didn’t shake my hand. This is better for sure. He smells like a sexy version of heaven that only women get to go to, and the hug ends much too quickly.

Once we let go, Austin turns on his heel and climbs into his car. I watch him as he backs out of the parking space and drives away, into the direction of the sunrise.

My watch now reads just after five in the morning, and as I head upstairs, I feel strange as questions start to bounce around in my head. Maybe Austin isn’t like every other guy. Maybe every man isn’t a complete *. I don’t know. I guess only time will tell. But I’d be lying if I said he wasn’t off to a good start.





Austin

“Well, I’ll be damned! Look what the cat drug the f*ck in.”

“Wow, it’s been a minute, Jason. It’s about time you came down here to see me, you bastard.”

Jason Adrien—one of my closest friends when I was in school, all the way up until we split and went to different colleges. Jason and I were pretty much inseparable because we were always in the same school from elementary through high school. Although Jason is three years older than me, he was two years ahead of me in grade—something about how his birthday came right after the school year started. So, when Jason was a senior in high school, I was a sophomore and we still hung out.

Jason’s father was a big time lawyer while my dad was a pilot for the Air Force. I spent all those years in Seattle with my mother, who didn’t want to do all the moving around that my dad did, because she wanted to stay close to her family. She wanted me to have a settled down kind of life, especially when I started to get older and closer to graduation. When I joined the Air Force, my dad retired and finally came back home to my mother. It was a bit unorthodox growing up that way, but my mom made it work for us.

“Look at you, all dressed up, looking like you’re somebody now,” I joke. “You look like you’re about to head to court right after we leave here.”

“Ah shut up, man. I just checked in and I didn’t feel like changing clothes because I was trying to come see your crazy ass.” Jason and I embrace in a hug and the people in the restaurant look at us like they’ve never see two men hug before. “It’s good to see you, man. I see you’ve got your little beard growing in and shit. Enjoying that time off?”

“Hell yeah. It’s only been a few days, but I need this time. I’m glad you’re here, bro, I really am.”

“Me too.”

Jason and I walk over to the counter and place our orders. Jason goes for two Double Doubles and so do I, but I get mine plain. In-N-Out Burger has the best cheeseburgers I’ve ever had in my life, and I’ll probably end up getting two more before we leave. Once we have our food in hand, we grab a seat at one of the red and white tables and take some time to eat and catch up.

“So,” I begin. “I thought your partner was coming with you.”

“Yeah, he is. He had to finish up some stuff at the firm first though. We’ve been getting a lot of inquiries since we opened the new firm.”

“Oh, that’s right. I heard you started your own firm, just like your dad.”

“Yep, Harper/Adrien,” he replies with a proud smile. “I can’t believe we did it, but we did. It was a long time coming though, bro, let me tell you.”