Page 63 of Hung Up
She grins. “What about you? I know you were sceptical and hesitant when you got here, but it seems like you’ve really found a home here.”
A home. Is that what this feeling has been? Back in the office, I always tried to be the best—to beat everyone else to the next best story to get my name out there. People in the sports world knew who I was. Athletes would stop me in the street or come up to me in a bar and thank me for an article I had written about them, and fans loved to read my articles. But it was a habit, a routine. One I loved, but one I did because it’s what I had to do.
But here? Despite how everything started, although I was a fish out of water, I’ve found comfort in being here, in this assignment. It’s something new, different. Something that pulls me out of my comfort zone but makes me feel like I’m making some type of difference. All of my past articles were starting to get repetitive, predictable. It was the same types of stories for the same sports, and while the fans loved it, I was truthfully starting to lose my passion for the job.
This assignment has sparked something new in me. Something I haven’t felt in a long time.
Excitement.
“It’s definitely weird to say, but I think I’m extremely comfortable here.” Her megawatt smile only grows. “I mean, it’s an odd sport, and one I never thought I’d be covering, but it’s actually difficult to imagine myself going back to anything else.”
“Damn it,” I hear Kai say from behind me as he approaches us, slinging an arm over my shoulders. “I owe you twenty bucks.”
I glance between them. “What were you betting on?”
“Kai here thought you wouldn’t ever fully enjoy this assignment of yours.” I turn to look at him with narrowed eyes.
“Hey, in my defense, you’ve been very up and down on how you feel about us.”
I can’t help it as I roll my eyes. “It’s not all of you, it’s one particular rider. The rest of you are fine.”
“Still not getting along, huh?”
I’ve never truly talked to Kai about anything that’s transpired between Jesse and me since we agreed to keep it a secret. I believe that he’s stuck to his end of the bargain in that department, too. But I can’t help but suddenly wonder what everyone else thinks is going on with us and how it must look to the others.
“We have our moments,” is what I end up responding with a shrug. “Some days he’s fine and others I want to wring his neck.”
“If it makes you feel any better, you get under his skin, too.”
No, it doesn’t make me feel any better.“I just wish we could be adults, that’s all.”
“I just think that?—”
“Sorry to interrupt,” a deep, masculine voice says from behind us. Kai and I turn around, coming face to face with an extremely gorgeous man who, if I hadn’t been dealing with a certain pain in my ass bull rider, I would’ve normally jumped at the opportunity to try and take home. “I’m Eli. I was wondering if I could buy you a drink?”
Kai looks at me with a raised brow, so I respond with a nod, needing some type of distraction. He turns and grabs Maxine’s hand, leading her toward the other end of the bar despite her protests. Turning back to Eli, I take a moment to really take him in. He’s got dark black hair and tanned skin, freckles dancing across his nose and cheeks much like my own. He’s extremelymuscular, his biceps straining against the sleeves of his shirt, and he stands at about six foot three.
Again, normally my type of man.
“I’d love a beer.” I set the half-drank glass down on the bartop. “And I’m Faith.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Faith.”
I smile. “Pleasure is all mine.”
Just as he’s about to flag down the bartender, I feel a hand settle on my lower back, and I jump slightly. But the moment I look over my shoulder, I wish I hadn’t. ‘Cause there’s Jesse, his hair tousled and messy, his green eyes mesmerizing, with that signature smirk on his face, which has me narrowing my eyes.
“Sorry, she’s taken, man.” Eli turns and looks Jesse up and down in a calculated way.
I’m about to open my mouth, to tell Jesse to fuck off and not ruin my chances to talk to this nice man when Eli speaks up.
“Sorry, man. I didn’t realize.” He looks down at me. “It was nice meeting you.”
As he walks off, I spin on my barstool and hit Jesse in the chest, but much to my disdain, he doesn’t budge. “What the hell do you think you’re doing? You have no right to?—”
“No right?” There’s an edge to his voice that I’m not used to hearing. “Last time I checked, you are technically taken. We agreed our deal was an exclusive one.”
“And you ended our deal, so who said I was yours?”
