Page 23 of Sweet Spot

Chapter Sixteen

Chase

Zane had picked up burgers. The four of us met in Trey's office for our once a month lunch where we agreed to talk about anything except business. It helped us to not forget how the four of us had started life, not as four business partners but as four friends growing up in a tough neighborhood with families that were anything but ideal. Trey and I had both grown up with single parents who had to work multiple jobs just to pay bills. But we'd still had it better than Aidan, who grew up with both parents in the house. They were two adults who acted more like kids. They were so obsessed with partying and making themselves feel good that they never paid any attention to Aidan. He ended up getting expelled from high school for fighting. He was constantly in trouble, but his parents couldn’t have cared less. Eventually, he realized doing radical things to get in trouble wasn't helping him get the attention from his mom and dad he craved, so he stopped. After that, he worked hard at two jobs to have enough money to move out of his parents’ house. He'd finally found something that got his parents’ attention. Wealth. They were still a couple of worn out losers, only now they lived in a nice house.

Zane, on the other hand, had everything going for him until his mother married a creep who Zane stabbed one day to defend his mother from the man's physical abuse. Things went shitty for him after that. But once the four of us met up again at a friend's wedding, we found we still had that deep connection we'd had as kids. We also all had a keen desire to make something of ourselves. Now we had. The lunches helped remind us of where we’d started from.

Aidan, who could down two double cheeseburgers with ease, pulled a spare chair up to the side of Trey's desk. Gray clouds hovered in the sky outside the massive office window. Rain had drizzled down all day, and I wondered how the bad weather was affecting Macy's business. After I left her place on Sunday, I knew that I'd gotten myself in deep. I couldn't stop thinking about her.

Zane walked in with that bunched up look he got when something had him pissed. He sat down in the chair with an angry clamor.

Trey pulled his burger from the bag and leaned back in his chair. "What's got you in a snit?" he asked Zane.

Zane rummaged through the bag for his burger. "Got a fucking parking ticket. When the hell are they going to be done paving the parking lot? I thought they said a week."

Trey squeezed out a packet of ketchup onto his fries. "They did. And it's been nearly ten days, so I think it's time for you to go down there and talk to the foreman and let him know it needs to be done tomorrow."

Zane took a bite and washed it down with soda. "Why me?"

I swallowed my bite of food. "Because you're the team asshole. The asshole is the person you send out to do dirty work."

Zane looked at me. "Why the hell am I the asshole?"

I pointed at Trey with a French fry. "He's the cool, level headed guy."

"Yeah," Zane interrupted. "And Aidan is the guy with the fists and the lethal right hook. And you," he rolled his eyes, "you're just a lot of air wrapped in a package that women can't resist. And I'm . . ." He dunked a fry in ketchup. "Shit, I guess I am the team asshole. I'll talk to them after lunch."

Aidan pulled the onions out of his burger. "Hate it when they load these on. Then it's all I can taste." He shoveled half the burger down in one bite.

"It's a wonder you can taste anything at all with the way you suck that thing down," Zane noted. He turned to me. "Hey, where the hell were you last night? Thought we were going to play racquetball. I texted you like five times."

I pulled my phone out of my pocket and scrolled to Zane's name. "Huh, you sure did. I was busy."

Aidan laughed. "Whose pussy were you in this time? I liked that little brunette you were dating for awhile."

Trey reached for his soda. "And by awhile, he means longer than twenty-four hours."

"Well, fuck you all, and I wasn't with the brunette. In fact, I'm not even sure who you mean. I met someone." I took a huge bite so they'd have to wait for me to chew and swallow before I continued. But I'd gotten their attention. They all stared at me. Before I could swallow, they burst out laughing.

"That's fucking rich," Zane said. "I've met someone," he said in an obnoxious imitation.

"Fuck off." I continued with my lunch deciding they were assholes who didn't need to hear any more.

"C'mon, Chase," Trey said. "You have to admit, those words coming from the guy who can meet his soul mate in the morning at the coffee shop only to have already broken her heart by the time the whipped cream melts on her frappe. It's funny. Admit it."

"Fine. Don't believe me. But this time is different."

"How is this different?" Aidan asked. "Red hair instead of auburn?"

"She's a virgin."

Zane choked on his sip of soda. I took pleasure in giving him a hard clap on his back.

"Did you say virgin or that her name is Virginia?" Aidan asked.

I shot him an eye roll.

"Exactly what does that mean?" Trey asked.

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