Page 9

9

JOHNNY

I woke up early and rolled over to check my phone, barely missing a pillow dive to the floor.

There was a new text from Sawyer, and a grin instantly erupted on my face. Don’t skip breakfast, brat. And check those wounds to make sure nothing is red or infected. Does 6:30 work for dinner?

It was 7 a.m. and he'd chosen to start the day with a goddamn novel. It was sweet. 6:30’s good. Before I put my phone down, my mind started working. He thought he knew what a brat was, but he had no idea… I’ll meet you at the restaurant. Lemme know where.

Not gonna lie, I almost expected him to offer to drive me to work since my car was still at the park, but maybe he’d forgotten about that. Or maybe he was waiting for me to ask.

Either way, it didn’t matter. I had a backup plan that would blow his mind. I would ride my motorcycle to work and to dinner, just to see what he’d have to say about that. Based on his extremely low tolerance for danger, I had a feeling he wouldn’t like it very much.

Nothing on the surface of my skin hurt, so I didn’t worry about the majority of cuts and scrapes. A quick peek under my ankle bandage confirmed all was well there too, so I took an awkward shower with my foot hanging out of the spray and resting on the toilet and then shoved a pack of Pop-Tarts into my backpack. A little bit of sugar to start the day never hurt anyone.

At least, it never hurt me.

I briefly wondered what Sawyer was having for breakfast. Granola, probably. With fresh fruit and a tall glass of being a control freak.

Feeling proud of my plan and almost giddy for my date, I basically skipped out the door with my helmet under my arm and my leather jacket warming my already warm skin. When I walked outside and saw my stupid car parked on the street, I knew Sawyer hadn’t forgotten about it. He must have arranged for a tow truck to get it here during the wee hours of the night.

Tears welled in my eyes, and a thick lump of emotion blocked my throat at the gesture. It wasn’t even just a gesture. It was actual caretaking. He wanted to make sure I had a way to get to work, and instead of leaving it to me to figure out later, he handled the situation so I didn’t even have to think about it.

No one had ever done anything like that for me before. I couldn’t even remember my parents going out of their way to be thoughtful after elementary school. But Sawyer was.

Too bad for him, I already had my helmet in my hand, so I turned away from the safe sedan on the street and headed for my crotch rocket in the carport.

The morning was chilly, and my bike didn't sound happy when I tried to start it. It probably needed a tuneup soon. Or maybe a new battery. After a few tries, it roared to life. I was responsible enough to know I needed to give it a minute to warm up, and then I hopped on the back and was soon zooming through traffic.

From there, the morning flew by. Work didn’t seem quite as boring as usual, and I had a new sense of accomplishment with every report I marked as done. If only all days could be like that. Morris came by on his way back from the coffee machine and leaned against my desk.

“Hey, man. You didn’t call.” He craned his neck to look me over. “I wasn’t sure if you were a goner, but I’m happy to see you survived the skate park.”

"Survived and thrived!" I kicked out my leg to show him the ankle bandages. “Took a spill, but it all worked out.”

He narrowed his eyes. “You’re never this cheery in the morning. Or at all. Did you do speed before work?"

I shrugged and kept the smile plastered to my face. "Just had a good night, and I'm stoked."

"For what? You got sword swallowing plans for the evening."

“Kinda.” I laughed and waggled my eyebrows. "A date with a hot Daddy."

Morris took a sip of his coffee, waiting for more details. If he was gonna live vicariously, I couldn’t keep the good stuff to myself.

“Okay, I don’t know for sure he’s a Daddy. He’s joked about it when I’ve asked, but he said we’d talk tonight at dinner." I picked up a half-dead highlighter and tossed it in the air. "He’s seen me naked and just covered me up so… my night’s more likely to end with a Band-Aid and some Neosporin instead of a blowjob." I sighed at the reality of who Sawyer was as a human and who I was. We couldn’t be farther apart on the spectrum. “But I’m desperate enough to take whatever I can get.”

"You're insane."

"Not clinically…probably." I paused then tapped the highlighter against my mouth. "Actually. Watch this."

"Watch what?" Morris stood up as if I might tackle him, but I hardly ever did that. At least not since HR sent me that email.

"Video it in case I die." As soon as Morris had his phone pointing at me, I wheeled my chair to the far corner of the office, spinning it for momentum, then hopped onto the seat and propelled myself onto the crying couch with a dramatic summersault. “How did that look?”

A small crowd of people in the office had gathered around and were gaping at me. A few snide comments about it looking like a four-year-old on Mountain Dew had been let loose in the office, but I didn’t pay attention to them. Now and then, I needed to release a burst of energy and they all knew it.

“Dude, that was awesome.” Morris punched the screen of his phone and shared the file with me. “But put that chair back before the bosses come in.”

The people in charge were as stiff as Sawyer and didn’t appreciate office parkour at all. But it helped me push through the rest of the day. At five on the dot, I was out the door and back on my bike, jamming home with plenty of time to shower and change.

The shower was quick but picking my outfit took forever. I changed my shirt about twenty times, cycling between preppy and cool and careless. In the end, I settled on jeans and a tight tee that had embroidered sailboats on it. Not exactly Little to a random stranger, but I needed to remind Sawyer who I was. If he wanted to have a serious conversation, all our cards needed to be on the table.

A small part of me wanted to drive to dinner, but much like my shirt choice, I needed Sawyer to know about my bike. That was non-negotiable. Probably. At least, for tonight it was.

There wasn’t much traffic, so I kept my speed within the limit and still got to the restaurant at 6:29. Punctuality wasn’t usually my priority, so I was impressed with myself.

Sawyer was impressed too, or at least he would have been if his eyes didn’t zero in on the helmet in my hand.

I did my best to play it cool as I strutted over to him in my leather jacket. "Hi, Sawyer. I hope you weren’t waiting long."

“Nope.” Sawyer smiled and pulled me into a warm hug. "I’m happy to see you made it here in one piece."

"Always." I pulled back slowly, letting my palms slide around his sides just to cop a feel. “Also, I was highly motivated to get here safely.”

He held the door open and waved me toward the lobby. “Shall we?”

I followed him inside, and we were quickly taken to a table.

Sawyer didn’t say much as we walked, but he kept his hand on the small of my back. As soon as we were seated and alone, he exhaled. “A motorcycle?”

"It’s my favorite toy.” I held his gaze, waiting to see if he’d bite.

He just nodded with an almost resigned look. Fuck, he was about to bail. I knew it. I expected it.

"I’m sorry you wasted your time." I kept a cheery facade even though I wanted to throw a fucking tantrum. “I’ll understand if you want to take off.”

Sawyer reached for my hand across the table as he cocked his head. "Why would I want to leave?”

I couldn’t look directly at him or the tears that were on the verge of spilling definitely would have. "I’m too much for most guys, in general. But for someone like you… Well, I’d get it if you could never put up with someone like me."

“I see.” He didn’t make a move to release my hand or leave the table. He just sat in silence until I finally looked up at him. “And what if I said you’re exactly the right amount of just about everything for me?”

I swallowed hard and my breath stuttered. “I-I’m not sure I’d believe you.”

His thumb brushed across my knuckles as he softly smiled. “We need to discuss a few things, but if you were serious about what you said last night, then I’m here for it. For you. I’m here for you, Johnny.”