Status Updates From Begin Again (Wish Come True...

There was no doubt in my mind that she’d seen my mother hanging all over me and entering the complex. I felt sick inside at the pain Tyler must have felt and I was never more ashamed of the way I’d treated anyone in my life than how I’d acted on our first day of classes.

Is there a problem here?” Jared asked in an ominous voice, his hand twisting Carl’s arm behind his back. My head snapped up and I watched in horror as Derek and Chase hurdled over the player’s bench in a dead run towards us. I closed my eyes and sighed. Drama. Drama. Drama.

Jumping out of bed, I threw on my jeans and a t-shirt, determined to corner Tyler before our English class to find out the truth. I could only imagine her devastation after our love making if she’d seen my mother’s antics that night. Guilt tore at my insides and I nearly sprinted to class only to find her seated in the middle of a group of friends.

What a pair we made. I couldn’t deny that I had some serious daddy issues going on, but apparently his mommy issues ran just as deep. So there was only one thing I could do. Start digging.

Tyler ‘Stay away from my friends. Got it? I really don’t want to smear your reputation but if I have to in order to protect them from you, then I will. Please don’t ask the chef to spit on my burger. ‘Cuz I’ll know.’

He stared blankly forward, refusing to even glance my way. It made me feel small and insignificant. A slow ache permeated my chest and snaked outward into my limbs. The thought that Chase hated me made me want to crawl into my bed and cry.

Was Chase like my biological father? A womanizer? I had no clue. My heart was screaming no. But my head was forcing me to heed the warning signs. The hug. The smack on the ass? Honestly, I couldn’t fathom a logical explanation for it. I stared down at my phone and the tears welled up again, spilling over and down my cheeks.

She smacked me on the ass. “So bossy!” she said and then growled like a cougar. “Bossy men are so hot.” “Don’t touch me.” My skin crawled from the contact; it was so friggin’ inappropriate. “Mother.”
“Don’t call me that. It makes me sound old.” So typical. “You are old.” “Eff you. I am not. Why do you have to be such a jackass, Chase?”
“Why do you have to be such a horrible mother, Candice?”

The man knew how to worship a woman’s body. No wham, bam, thank you ma’am from this guy. Grabbing both sides of my face in his hands, he pulled back and then leaned his forehead against mine. “I want you so bad.” “Me too,” I whispered, nearly shaking with the force of my desire.

Do you trust me?”
“Sure.” She reached for my hand and we started walking toward the river. “You don’t have to be anywhere tonight, Chase?”
“Nope. I’m all yours…if you want me.”
She peeked up at me and laughed. “More and more every minute.

Someone that sweet to his baby sister doesn’t raise his hands to women.” Her words were like balm on an open wound. So many people judged me harshly for my choice to earn cash at Dirty Dick’s. And yet here she was defending my character to me.

I’m not sure what you’re asking.” I peeked up at him. “Do you want to know if I had a date at the wedding or if love is in the air with me?”
“Both,” he said and winked.
“No to the first…and maybe to the second. It’s still a work in progress.

I needed to detox before meeting Chase. Why couldn’t my mother let it go and trust me to make my own decisions? Just because my real dad was a cheating asshole and my first long-term boyfriend had turned out to be a possessive jerk, that didn’t mean I was doomed to date losers my entire life.

Jordan bet that I couldn’t find a guy here who’d be willing to let me have the lint from his belly.”
A deep laugh burst out of my chest. What the hell! These ladies were a riot. Where did they come up with this sh!#?

For the first time since working at Dirty Dick’s I wished she would lean in closer to me. Flirting with customers in my line of business was never a good idea. Dating them was even worse. Because two types of women frequented a male entertainment club: cougars and cheaters. Neither was desirable.