by Sandi Lynn
“Thank you. I did all the decorating myself.” She smirked.
“And she spent a fortune doing it.” Cam sighed.
“Ignore him. He told me to do whatever I wanted.”
Cam chuckled and put Hensley and Kinsley to bed for the night. I helped Willow put dinner on the table and the three of us sat down.
“Are you okay with being here?” Willow asked.
I knew exactly what she was asking. “I’m okay. I needed to get out of Danbury and make a fresh start.”
“I understand that, but are you going to be okay here in New York?”
“I guess I’ll have to be. There was no way I was turning down the offer from Finn, Muir, & Abernathy.”
Cam pointed his fork at me. “Good girl, Avery. You can’t let your past decide your future. You did the right thing and that law firm is going to be happy to have you. You’re one kick-ass lawyer. Who can say that at your age? Most people, hell, almost all the people, would just be entering law school, not graduating and passing the bar at twenty-one years old.”
I gave a small smile as I looked down at my plate and twirled my fork around the spaghetti.
“Does he know you’re here?” Willow asked.
“No. How would he?”
She shrugged as she brought her fork up to her lips. “So when do you start working as a super-hot shot lawyer? Not that you already weren’t, but I wouldn’t call the firm you worked for in Danbury big.”
“I start on Monday. I wanted a few days to get settled in, but now that’s all screwed up since my furniture and boxes weren’t delivered today.”
“No worries. They’ll be here tomorrow and you have Saturday and Sunday. I’ll come by and help you.” She smiled.
Willow held up her wine glass. “To Avery. May your new life and fresh start in New York be filled with success and love.”
“Here. Here.” Cam smiled as he held up his glass.
“Maybe success but certainly not love. I’m done with guys.”
“You a lesbian now like Claudia?” Cam asked.
I laughed. “No. My focus is my career and nothing else. I won’t make the same mistakes again. I have lousy taste in men and I’m the one who always gets hurt while they walk away unaffected. See this?” I moved my hand up and down in front of me. “This is my defense wall. It’s staying up and there isn’t a single douchebag guy in this world who’s going to break it down.”
“You need love,” Willow pouted.
“And you need sex,” Cam chimed in.
“Love I don’t need, and as for sex, I can have meaningless sex just as well as any guy does.” I moved my hand up and down in front of me again. “The wall says so.”
Cam chuckled and Willow sighed.
“I have my job and I have both of you.” I got up from my seat. “I’d better get going. It’s getting late and I’m tired.”
“Stay here tonight. You don’t have any furniture. Where are you going to sleep?”
“Thanks, Willow, but I’ll be fine.”
“Let me get you some blankets at least because I know you didn’t pack any in your suitcase.”
A few moments later, she returned and handed me two blankets. “Call me tomorrow.”
“I will and thank you.” I smiled as I kissed her and then Cam on the cheek. As I walked out the door, I stopped and turned around. “Hey, Cam. Do you think you can grab a cab for me?”
“Sure. Come on.”
****
I opened my eyes at the sound of someone banging on my door. SHIT! I could barely move as I tried to get up from the hard wood floor. I looked at the time on my phone. It was seven a.m.
“HOLD ON. I’M COMING!” I yelled as I stumbled towards the door.
When I opened it, four large men were standing in front of me. “Furniture?” I asked as I held my breath.
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Thank God, but it’s really early. Who delivers at this hour?”
“Sorry, ma’am, but we got on the road as soon as we loaded the truck. You were our first stop.”
“Okay. Bring it on up.”
I picked up the blankets off the floor and ran into the bathroom to brush my teeth. The four large men delivered my furniture and set it up where I told them. Finally, my apartment was starting to feel like home. Shortly after the deliverymen left, the moving truck from Danbury showed up with my boxes.
As I stood in the small space known as my living room, I looked around at the multitude of boxes that sat in the middle of the floor. I needed coffee and I needed to find a gym before I could even think about unpacking. I changed into my workout clothes and headed out.
“Good morning, Davis.”
“Good morning, Avery. I see your deliveries came.”
“Yes, and I need to find a gym and get in a good workout before I start unpacking. Are there any close by?”
“There’s one two blocks from here. A really nice one. Owned by the Black family.”
“Who?” I asked as I gave him a confused look.
“Connor Black. One of the most influential families in New York.”
“Oh. Sorry. I’ve never heard of them.”
“I’m sure you will soon enough now that you’re living in New York.” He gave me the directions and wished me luck.
Chapter 4
Liam
I put my earphones in and set the treadmill to 6.2. Since it was Friday, I had taken the day off from work so I could head over to the townhouse to decide which project I was going to do first, but before I started, I needed to get in a good workout. The gym was more crowded than usual for a Friday. Everyone else must have had the same idea about skipping work. As I was running, my phone rang. It was Oliver.
“Hey, what’s up? I’m at the gym,” I spoke as I continued running.
“Have you seen the file for the Lloyd building? I can’t find it anywhere.”
“Last I knew, you took it home with you.”
“Shit. You’re right. Delilah distracted me this morning and I forgot to grab it.” I heard him sigh. “Thanks, bro. Enjoy your workout.”
“Thanks, Oliver.” Click.
I happened to look over at the beautiful woman who stepped on the treadmill next to me. Wow. She was pretty. She stood about five-feet seven and she wore her blonde hair up in a high ponytail. Damn, she was fit and those legs. That was what made up her height – her long, slender legs. I had never seen her here before and I had to quickly look away because she caught me staring at her. I took my earphones out when I saw, out of the corner of my eye, a hand on the other side of me reach over and touch the treadmill.
“Hey, Lucy.”
“Hi, Liam. Long time no talk. I thought I would have heard from you by now.”
Lucy and I went on a couple of dates, slept together, and then I never called her back. Not because there was anything wrong with her. She was a great girl. There just weren’t any feelings there on my end and I didn’t want to lead her on.
“Sorry, Lucy. I’ve been really busy at work and life’s complicated right now. I’m in the process of moving and there’s a lot to do.”
“I see,” she spoke with an attitude. “How about dinner tonight? I’d really like to see you again.”
Shit. Shit. Shit. “I can’t. Like I said, I’m in the process of moving and I have a lot to do. Maybe another time.”
“Yeah, sure. Okay,” she said with sadness as she got off the treadmill and walked away.
As I was putting my earphones back in, I heard the woman on the other side of me speak.
“Why don’t you just tell her that you’re not interested in her instead of leading her on and making her think you’re going to call her?”
“Excuse me?”
“I’m sorry. It’s none of my business, but we girls like to be told right off the bat if you’re not interested so we don’t spend months, days, and hours waiting around like complete idiots for a call that will never come.”
Wow. Those eyes. So blue and beau
tiful, but I was taken aback just a bit by what she said. “Okay. I’ll remember that.”
She put in her earphones and upped the speed on the treadmill. I seriously couldn’t believe she said that to me. I kept stealing little glances at her as I continued my run on the treadmill. She was fucking hot and I wanted to say something to her, but I had a feeling she thought I was a total douchebag.
****
Avery
What a douchebag. A typical hot guy who strings women along because he doesn’t have the balls to tell them he’s not interested. The first thing I noticed besides his pretty face was how muscular he was. It was obvious that he worked out every day. Maybe I shouldn’t have said what I did, but he needed to be told. I’d spent my life being strung along by guys who I thought were interested in me only to turn out they weren’t. They weren’t doing us any favors by trying to spare our feelings. If I could spare some girl from wasting her time pining away for a guy that wasn’t interested in her, then I would be happy. A while later, he got off the treadmill and disappeared. After completing a full thirty minutes of running, I went to the weight area to work on my arms and back and, lo and behold, there he was. I rolled my eyes, as the only weight bench available was the one next to him.
****
Liam
I saw her out of the corner of my eye. I tried not to stare, but I couldn’t help it. I completed one set of presses and, as I sat up, Lucy walked by and looked at me.
“Hey, Lucy. You got a minute.”
She stopped and stood up. “What?” she asked.
“Listen, I’m really sorry. You’re a great girl, but—” Shit. This was hard. Normally, I do this stuff over text. Never face to face.
“But what, Liam?” She cocked her head.
“I won’t be calling you. I just have so much going on in my life and I don’t want to lead you on.”
She slowly nodded her head as she stared into my eyes. “Okay. Thanks. I appreciate you being honest. ASSHOLE!” She flipped me off as she walked away.
I threw my arms up, turned around, and looked at the girl from the treadmill.
“I didn’t say she would take it kindly.” She lay back on the bench and began pressing.
I finished up a few more sets and went to the locker room to grab my things and leave. As I was walking out of the locker room, she was walking my way and we almost collided because she was staring down at her phone.
“Sorry. I didn’t see you,” she spoke.
“You shouldn’t walk and text.”
“And you shouldn’t go around breaking women’s hearts.” She smirked.
I chuckled and opened the door, motioning for her to walk out first.
“Thanks.”
“You’re welcome. I’ll try not to break any more hearts today,” I said sarcastically.
“I’m sure you can’t help yourself,” she replied.
I stood there with my hands on my hips and watched her as she walked down the street. She was some girl. Gym girl. That was what I’d call her from now on. I hailed a cab and went to my townhouse.
Chapter 5
Avery
I finally finished unpacking and everything was in its proper place. I had called Willow like she asked but she couldn’t come over because Kinsley had a fever of 102 and Cam was at work. I stood in the living room and took in my new place. The gray couch I bought fit perfectly against the wall and the round glass coffee table and end table really complemented it. My moms, Claudia and Lisa, bought me my entertainment center and TV, which sat on the wall directly across from the couch. I took a picture and sent it to both of them.
Claudia: “It looks great, Avery. I’m happy you’re finally settled.”
Lisa: “Looking good, sweetheart.”
Me: “Thank you. I’ll talk to you guys later. I’m going to grab something to eat. I love you both.”
Claudia: Love you too, darling.”
Lisa: “Love you, Avery.”
That’s right. I had two moms. Claudia was my real mother who gave birth to me. She met my dad in college. She got pregnant and he got scared, so she relieved him of any fatherly obligation, including child support, but apparently, he still paid her monthly as much as he could. It wasn’t until I was two years old that she came out and finally admitted to the world she was a lesbian. She met Lisa, they fell in love, one year later Lisa moved in, and they made it official and married in 2008 when the state of Connecticut made same-sex marriages legal. I had never seen them as happy as the day of their wedding.
Growing up with two lesbian parents wasn’t easy. I was ridiculed and called all kinds of names. I could have easily hid under a rock and turned into a recluse, but I didn’t. I embraced the fact that my parents had the courage to do what they did. They didn’t give a shit about what people thought and that was how I grew up. Not giving a shit about what other people thought. It also helped having an IQ of 159, graduating high school at the age of fifteen, graduating college with a bachelor’s degree at the age of eighteen, and then graduating law school at the legal drinking age of twenty-one.
My intelligence came from my mom and my dad. My mom, Claudia, was a well-known geneticist and my father was a high-powered attorney who graduated at the top of his class, just like me. Lisa, my other mom, was a psychiatrist who always tried to analyze me and gave me therapy for daddy issues as I grew up. When I was six years old, I met my father for the first time. I remember looking up at him and thinking he was tall. He would call every once in a while. Maybe four times a year, and the last time I saw him was when I turned eleven. He stopped calling and I stopped caring. In fact, I hated him. I hated him for abandoning me not only once, but twice. I finally came to realize that all men would eventually abandon me, and after this last breakup, an office romance that never should have started, I put up the wall. It wasn’t an ordinary wall. It was a wall made of half glass and half stone. A wall where they could see a part of me, and if they tried to break me, they never could do it fully. I was protected and that was the way I was staying.
****
I opened my eyes and stretched across my new bed. Grabbing my phone from the nightstand, I noticed there was a text message from Willow.
“I have a fever and I’ve been up all night vomiting. I’m so sorry that you just got here and we can’t spend time together.”
Poor Willow. “Get better soon. Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine. Can I bring you anything?”
“NO! Stay away. I don’t want you to get this.”
“If you change your mind, let me know. I can be over in a flash.”
“Thanks, Avery. Love you.”
“Love you too. Get better!”
I climbed out of bed and decided to start my day off at the gym. I changed out of my pajamas, put my hair up in a ponytail, brushed my teeth, and grabbed a bottle of water on my way out the door.
After doing a twenty-minute warm-up, I went to the weight area, and he, the heartbreaker from yesterday, was lifting weights. He didn’t see me, which was good, so I went on the other side and climbed on the leg press machine to do some leg presses. I was minding my own business, pressing and listening to my music, when I looked up and saw him staring down at me. I took my earphones out.
“That’s a lot of weight you have going on there.” He gently smiled.
I finished my set and sat there, taking in his sexy face. “So what are you implying? Are you saying that it’s too much for me because I’m a woman?”
“No. That’s not what I’m saying at all. I’m impressed.”
“Impressed because I’m a woman? I can guarantee that you wouldn’t be so impressed if a man was sitting here pressing the same amount of weight.”
He scratched his head. “True. It’s nice to see you again. I didn’t get the chance to ask you yesterday, but are you new to this gym, because I’ve never seen you here before.”
“Do you know every person that comes to this gym?”
His eyes narrowed and I could tell he was beginni
ng to get aggravated. “Do you always answer a question with a question?”
“Yes. Normally, I do. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have two more sets to do.” I put my earphones back in and pressed play on my music. He walked away shaking his head.
Fuck. He was hot and he wanted to talk, but he was a guy and couldn’t be trusted. I was sure he was nothing but one of those gym rats that scoped out women to fuck. But God, was he good looking. Shit, Avery, get the thoughts out of your head. Get him out of your head. I continued doing leg presses and when I finished, I went to over to the mats in front of the wall of mirrors and began doing some squats. After my workout was complete, I went to the locker room to grab my things, and as I was walking out, he walked out from the men’s locker room. My conscience was getting the best of me. Damn it!
“Hey. I am new here. I just joined yesterday.”
“I thought so. To answer your question, I do know just about everyone who comes here. I work out every day and I’ve been coming here for years. In fact, one of my best friend’s parents own this gym.”
“Oh. That’s nice.”
He held the door open for me and we walked outside. “Well, have a good day, Gym Guy.” My mouth gave way to a small smile.
“You too, Gym Girl.”
Chapter 6
Liam
I went back to the apartment, showered, changed into some old clothes, and headed to the townhouse. As I stood outside the 6,000-square-foot brown-bricked building, I smiled. Stepping into the garden foyer, I sighed and shook my head at the flooring the previous owners put down. This was going to be my first project since I couldn’t stand looking at it. I ended up at a place called Class Carpet and Interiors on the Upper West Side. After looking at the hardwood floor samples and different colors, I decided on an oak color to match the color of the staircase throughout the house.
“May I help you, sir?” a nice saleslady asked.
I pulled a piece of paper from my pocket and handed it to her. “I would like to order this floor. Here are the measurements.” I smiled.
