Page 11 of The Intimacy of Control

I hummed. “I’m a bit much, but I live a fairly boring life. What about you? Are you boring? I wouldn’t think so from the glimpse I got, but everyone is a little different outside the bedroom.”

Jack sighed, stepping back a little. Shit, had I pried too much too fast? “Forrest, the other night was fun. But do you realize how old I am?”

I glanced to the side, furrowing my brows. “What does that have to do with anything?”

“I know you didn’t just say that.” He groaned. “I’m almost forty. What are you, twenty-eight?”

“Twenty-six,” I mumbled.

“Oh, God. I am far too old for you. What year were you even born?” I started to answer, but he cut me off. “I actually don’t even want to know. My point is, absolutely not.”

I frowned at him, leaning back on the stool. “Oh, okay, you don’t date younger men. You only fuck them.”

“What could you possibly have in common with a thirty-nine-year-old?”

“I don’t know. Why can’t we find out?”

He closed his eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath before opening them again. “You’re determined, aren’t you?”

“I’ve been told that I’m ambitious. And that I’m a little chaotic. But mostly ambitious and determined.”

“I can tell.” He nodded behind me. “Go home, Forrest. Come back tomorrow for your shirt. I’ve got it washed and folded at home.”

I stood from the barstool, resting my palm on top of it and feeling the wooden grain beneath it. “You didn’t have to wash it. I’d have preferred it if it still smelled like you.”

Seeing him try to hide his smile made it all worth it. I’d definitely be back tomorrow, and though I planned to tread carefully, the way he was talking still gave me room for a tiny bit of hope.

chapter five

Andros was truly having the time of his life making fun of me, and I didn’t know how to feel about that. “So, your whole plan is to basically annoy the dude until he either tells you off or you get a date?”

I mean-mugged him before dragging a box along the floor. “I’m telling you, I think he likes me. He just needs to warm up to me.”

“Yeah, ‘cause that’ll go well. You’re a bit hopeless, aren’t you?”

“That’s rude. You hurt my feelings. You should apologize.”

He shook his head, hoisting the box and setting it on top of the other one I’d dragged over there. “I will not. Is it your gut instinct that’s telling you that?”

“Well, yeah.”

“There’s your issue. Are you sure you should be listening to that thing?”

I grabbed the clipboard off the shelf and turned the page. “It hasn’t steered me wrong before. I may be a tad impulsive, but all my gut instincts have been right so far. I mean, Pride and Pages exists, doesn’t it?”

Andros threw his hands up. “Hey, you know him a lot better than I do. Just don’t come crawling to me when you get your heart broken when he eventually shuts you down.”

“I won’t. Like I said, he needs some warming up.”

“That sex really was life-changing, huh? Maybe you should send him my way.”

I scowled at him, holding the clipboard out for him to take. “Hell no. Just for that, you can handle this part. I’ll man the counter until close.”

He groaned and whined and complained, but I simply shut the door behind me and made my way to the front desk. We didn’t have long before it was time to lock the doors, but sometimes we had a couple of late stragglers.

Afterward, I’d be going to Driftwood again to see Jack and get my shirt. Honestly, I was kind of hoping he’d forget so I’d have another reason to show up and talk to him again. Did that make me a bad person? I’d like to think it didn’t, but the way Andros was talking, maybe I was being a bit much.

Regardless, I was excited to see his face again. I wondered if he was secretly excited to see mine, too, despite what he said. I stood by my assessment that he needed to get used to seeing me, and then he’d warm up to the idea of my presence.