Page 41 of Break My Heart
We go in his apartment and he flips on the overhead light. I like his place. It has an industrial look with the exposed pipes, but also some historic charm with the brick walls. He doesn’t have much furniture, just a brown leather couch and a wood coffee table that matches the wood in the bar. The small kitchen has an island with a metal stool next to it. That’s probably where he eats. He doesn’t have a kitchen table.
‘Have a seat,’ he says as he passes through a curtain that I’m guessing hides his bed. His place is just one open room. There must be a bathroom near his bed, but I can’t see it from the couch where I just sat down.
‘Need help with dinner?’ I ask, noticing I don’t smell anything cooking.
‘Sorry, but I didn’t have time to make anything,’ he says, coming through the curtain. His work shirt is off and the one he was going to put on is still in his hand. My eyes drop to his bare chest, to the muscles along his shoulders then down to his six-pack abs. ‘You okay if we order something?’ he asks, putting his shirt on.
‘We could just do this some other night,’ I say, getting up. I wouldn’t mind staying if I hadn’t just gotten turned on at the sightof Sawyer without a shirt. I need to get out of here before I do something stupid.
‘Gina, don’t go.’ Sawyer races up to me. ‘I can have something here in ten minutes. The restaurant down the street is open until midnight and I’m friends with the owner. If I tell him I need something fast, he’ll get it here.’
‘I think I should go. You need to be downstairs. Maybe we could do this tomorrow.’
‘There’s a Packers game tomorrow. The place will be packed. Yours will too. We’ll both need to be working.’
‘My place won’t be busy. I only have two TVs. You have like ten.’
‘Point is, we can’t do this tomorrow. Just stay. I promise the food won’t take long, and in the meantime, you can have a beer or some wine and whatever’s in my fridge.’
I smile. ‘What’s in your fridge? Beer and batteries?’
‘I have more than that.’ He walks over to the kitchen and opens the fridge. ‘I’ve got the steaks I was going to cook, some cheese, eggs, a bagged salad I was going to make to go with the steak, and the cheesecake I bought for dessert.’
‘So you really were going to make me dinner,’ I say, meeting him by the fridge.
‘You thought I made that up?’ He closes the fridge and turns to me.
‘I wasn’t sure. Guys tend to promise stuff and not deliver.’
‘What guy are we talking about here? Your ex?’
I shrug. ‘Not just him. All guys are like that.’
‘Why would I promise to make you dinner and then not do it?’
‘To get me over here.’
‘For what reason?’
‘I don’t know. Just forget it.’ I walk around the island and sit down on the metal stool.
Sawyer comes over to me. ‘I planned to make dinner, but I didn’t have time. I didn’t invite you here just to lure you up to my apartment.’
I nod. ‘Yeah, okay. So do you have a menu?’
‘For the place down the street? Yeah.’ He goes over to a drawer and pulls out a menu, handing it to me. ‘Order whatever you want. It’s on me.’
‘Sawyer, you don’t have to pay. This isn’t a date.’ I look at the menu, but I’m not reading it, my mind trying to figure out why I’m here. ‘What exactly is this?’
He laughs a little. ‘Does that mean you don’t like the menu?’
I set it down. ‘No, sorry, I meantthis, tonight. Why’d you invite me over?’
‘I want to get to know you.’
‘But why? Like you said earlier, we’re competitors. I would think that would make you want to stay away from me, not have me over for dinner.’
‘I was just being friendly, that’s all. You’re new here and I’m guessing you haven’t had time to make friends yet.’
