Page 3 of Flushing His Pipe
"No," I growl. I wish I could run, but standing upright now is not a good idea. "I'm fine. I'm..." I trail off, unsure what to say.
"Jameson, it's no secret that I kind of crashed your space at a bad time. I really appreciate it. When Violet called to offer me the job, I was a few days away from re-signing my lease, so I didn't plan this out very well. I'm looking at apartments."
I stifle a protest as the heat from Naomi's body disappears. She pulls another chair so close to mine that our knees touch. I wonder if I can fake a back injury so I can walk out of this place hunched over because my nether region won’t be calming down for a while.
"What do you think of this one?" Naomi asks, turning her laptop to face me. "It's over on Forest Drive."
"Oh, yeah. That's Aubrey's old place." I swallow hard—the mere proximity of this goddess has me sweating buckets.
"I love how everyone in this town knows everyone. So you've seen it? Is it nice?"
"No. Never been there. Aubrey's fiancé, Max, is one of my best friends."
"Oh, yes! I met Aubrey at the pedicure night last week." Naomi bites her lip.
I think of baseball stats and ice-cold showers as the vision of her riding me to her satisfaction pops into my brain. At some point very soon, I’ll have to leave this chair.
I dig my fingernails into the palm of my hand, trying to ground myself. "Max is out in the main reception hall working today if you want to ask him any questions."
"Oh, that's okay." Naomi waves me off. "I'll look at it this afternoon with Violet, but thank you." She smiles at me, her eyes bouncing from my mouth back to my eyes.
I could kiss her right now, and she’d let me. That realization should spur me to pull her into my arms, but it's like a bucket of cold water being dumped over my head.
"I have to get back to work," I blurt out, standing so fast that the chair tips. Boner be damned.
Naomi catches it as I race to the door. Fred follows me, ready to don a hard hat and put in his time on the job site. I block the entrance with my foot to keep him inside the space.
Naomi strides over and grabs his collar. Our hands touch when she reaches for the door, and I pull mine away like I've been burned. I try not to run, but I'm worried about what I'll do if I stay.
"If you change your mind... I'd love to get my hands on you, Jameson." Naomi stands in the doorway, her curves filling out her yoga pants like a fucking wet dream. What I wouldn't give to pull her into my arms and make her mine.
Instead, I nod and head back to the main job site without another word.
My thoughts are preoccupied with a sexy blonde and her adorable dog when I reach my crew. Emmett tries to shush Max, who has his back to me.
"…he steals his girl. Then they have the nerve to throw the wedding in his hometown? What a dick."
"Hey, Jameson," Archer says quickly.
Max turns to me with a sheepish look.
I reach for my clipboard. "Time to work."
Max, Hayes, and Archer take off immediately, but Emmett hangs back.
"You get an invite or something?" I grumble, realizing he won't leave until we've talked about it.
He shakes his head. "No, but my mom did."
I nod. Right, my aunt and Emmett's mom are friends.
About three years ago, I proposed to my girlfriend, Crystal. She immediately said yes, and I thought the rest of my life was set. We invited friends over for an impromptu engagement celebration that night. During the party, I walked into the bathroom and found her half-naked with my cousin, Kevin. Turned out that Crystal and Kevin had been sleeping together for almost a year. Needless to say, the relationship was over. I was engaged and broken-up within a few hours.
I did a few months of therapy after I moved to Duhring Park, deciding that it was a bad idea to be using power tools day in and day out while carrying so much anger. It helped me work through my feelings, but I stopped going when the therapist tried to get me to consider dating again. I'm running a business, and dating people won’t help me build houses.
"I hope they're happy, Emmett." I lock eyes with him over my clipboard so he can see I'm being sincere. He gives me a long look, then nods.
The truth is, Crystal did me a favor. We were doomed from the start. Nothing I ever did was good enough, and I busted my ass trying to please her. I proposed because she gave me an ultimatum, and I'm not great with change. I realize now that we were in a vicious cycle where Crystal would threaten to leave me, and I'd give her whatever she wanted. It wasn’t romantic, and I was ashamed that I was willing to make such a major life decision out of fear of the unknown.
