Total pages in book: 24
Estimated words: 23821 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 119(@200wpm)___ 95(@250wpm)___ 79(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 23821 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 119(@200wpm)___ 95(@250wpm)___ 79(@300wpm)
I took a step back and exhaled a decade of craving.
“What’s going on?”
“I’ll stay until the end of this season,” I informed him. “But then I’m going back to the States, picking a city, and buying my own place.”
“What kind of place?”
“Not sure yet.” I grinned. “But I think I can be a good boss, ya know?”
“Bri—”
“Go get your kink on, V,” I replied, sitting back down beside Aidric. “We’re gonna get drunk while you get laid.”
“Are we now.” Aidric laughed, his hand on my shoulder like it never was, companionably. “You think you can outdrink a Scot?”
“Hell yeah.” I waggled my eyebrows.
Varro was at a loss.
“Just go,” I said cheerfully. “Don’t worry about it.”
He was suspicious. “Just like that?”
I nodded. “You can only carry a torch for so long before you finally have to drop it.”
“I don’t— What? What does that mean?”
“Everything’s gonna be good,” I promised. “I swear, baby.”
He visibly jolted.
“What? Only you get to say that?”
“I—”
“Off you go.” I dismissed him, turning to Aidric. “Get me a pint, will you, mate?”
Aidric’s grin was huge and crooked. “I like you this way, Mr. Christie.”
Everyone did.
FOUR
The season ended in Valencia in November. I informed Varro I would stay until Thanksgiving, and if he was going home to New York to see his folks, I would fly there with him.
But he was going to Paris for Thanksgiving—there was a new girl—and then he was going to some chateau in the Alps for the holidays. I promised to convey all his love to his family, hugged and kissed him and everyone else, and took the first flight out. I could breathe once the plane left the ground.
We were friends, but even though I had made it clear in my head that I no longer had any feelings for him, my heart didn’t know that. I could do it, just be his buddy, but it took a lot out of me. It was nice to not have to look at him anymore.
The best part was that I’d figured out what I really wanted: to open a shelter for kids. Not the kind where they just came to sleep or stay when they were on their way from one foster family to another, but the kind where they could learn some skills for life, sort of like Job Corps. But if they were artistically inclined, I would have ways to help with that, as well.
Basically, Chameleon—which is what I named my business—helped you fit in wherever it was you decided you wanted to be. You wanted to learn how to fix cars? I had an apprenticeship for that. If you wanted to go to college, we had programs to get school figured out and help you with financial aid and all the scary parts of preparing to get a two-year or four-year degree. Whatever you needed, we could provide. And once you registered with Chameleon, if you stumbled—drugs, alcohol, pregnancy—we would be there for that too.
I was stunned to find out how many programs out there wanted to partner with me, how many schools, private businesses, and rehab facilities. We had wonderful donors with charitable dollars to spend and write off on their taxes.
People I met when I slummed around the world with Varro remembered me, people who had money to burn that I was more than willing to take off their hands. Things ramped up so fast, for the first six months I had no time to think or worry. I had big plans, and what I thought would take time instead moved at light speed.
Mr. and Mrs. Dacien didn’t understand why I chose Long Beach, California. But it was a mix of a smaller city cusping on an enormous one, which was perfect for me.
When I had visited a friend there during college, I had fallen in love. Before, I had always worried about Varro, about where he wanted to be, but I had come to realize he was a nomad, living out of his trailer because that was his life. It wasn’t mine.
I loved my little house close to downtown, a block from a really great Japanese restaurant. My business was close to 1st and Pine, close to the Transit Mall, which made it easy for the kids to get there on the train. I walked every day from my place, and on the very few nights when I actually got out at a decent hour, the friends I made—from going on art walks, being involved in community activities, and attending gallery openings—and acquaintances from the chamber of commerce would show up to meet me. I was building my life; things were good. I even started dating my real estate agent.
So of course, right at that one-year mark, when I was on track and together, was when Aidric Barnes showed up on a Saturday. It all made perfect sense.