Neighborly

The Blue Bull

I tossed and turned all night that night. I was so tired at work that I could hardly concentrate on my morning meetings. One bride had decided to completely change her entire wedding after seeing goth-inspired weddings on Tik Tak. She now wanted to go down the aisle in a coffin. All I could do was nod and smile. I didn’t have the energy then to explain to her how far out of her budget that was going to be. And with the way things were going, she’d probably put me in the casket for telling her no.

Around lunch time, I texted Marni and asked if she wanted to meet me at The Blue Bull for a beer and a burger. She told me she was already there getting a table, so I grabbed my keys and headed out. The Blue Bull was the best burger joint in three counties. It was always packed with guys from the paper mill and teenagers trying to find an escape from their parents. The weather was nice, not too hot, so Marni opted for sitting outside on the deck that overlooked the Cahaba River. She was busy texting away on her phone when I walked up. Her bright orange curls were pulled back into a high ponytail. She was wearing a navy wrap dress and had stacked red and gold bangles on each wrist.

“What are you so dressed up for?” I slid onto the picnic table bench and picked up the menu.

“A DEA agent came to the office today.”

“Holy s**t!” I sat my menu back down. Marni had told me a few weeks ago that she was having issues with one of her doctor’s overprescribing medicines and prescribing medicines that he wasn’t even qualified to prescribe. She had been so stressed about what it would mean for her if the DEA were to find out, since she was the office manager.

“It wasn’t even as bad as I thought it was going to be. I have documented it several times where I reprimanded Dr. Glover and reminded him about the guidelines so I’m in the clear if he gets in any more trouble.”

“Oh, well, that’s good news. But why do you look like someone kicked your dog?” She looked up at me sheepishly.

“Because you’re about to be pissed at me.”

“Why?” I crossed my arms and stared at her.

“Well, I invited Bryce to eat lunch with us.”

“Why would I be pissed about that? I love Bryce.”

“He’s bringing a friend.”

“Marni,” I rolled my eyes at her. She was constantly trying to set me up with every Tom, d**k, and Harry that she and Bryce knew. “Is this a setup?”

“No. I promise. I didn’t even know Bryce had a friend with him until he texted me.”

“So, what’s the problem?”I reached over and stole one of Marni’s fried pickles and popped it in my mouth.

“Him. He’s the problem.” She pointed behind me. I knew who it was before I even turned around. I totally forgot that Bryce and Grady had been best friends when we were kids. Of course they were getting reacquainted. I just could not escape this damn man. I quickly gave the waitress my order, deciding on whiskey instead of a beer. I’d need something a lot stronger than a Coors Light to sit through this lunch.

“Is that my bestie I see?” Bryce leaned down and wrapped his arms around me. He kissed my cheek before he walked around and sat down beside Marni. “Hey gorgeous.” He kissed the tip of her nose and she giggled. I was starting to feel nauseous. And then Grady sat down next to me. Yep, I was most definitely going to be sick.

“What’s up, homie?” Grady threw his arm around my shoulder and grinned at me. I grabbed his hand and guided it off of my shoulder.

“I’m definitely not your homie.” I glared at him. I couldn’t believe that he had the nerve to touch me after last night. Then it dawned on me that he might not even remember last night if he went home and drank more like I had done. I thought if I got drunk enough I would pass out and stop replaying his words in my head. I was hoping the alcohol would erase the feeling of his lips against my neck. No such luck. Just feeling his arm on my shoulder was enough to make me feel like I was in the middle of an electric storm. He had to go.

“That’s no way to talk to a friend.” He bounced his eyebrows at me.

“I’m not your friend.”

“Fine. That’s no way to treat a client.” His eyes bore into me, daring me to say something else. I wanted to have some clever retort so badly, but I didn’t. He had me there and he knew it. No matter how crazy he drove me, I still had to play nice or I’d lose my job. Mrs. Markham was a big fish in a little pond and that big fish had lots of money to blow. Jared wouldn’t just fire me if I lost her as a client. He’d sent me straight to the moon.

“Why can’t y’all both just play nice?” Marni asked between bites of her burger. “It’s been twenty years. Can y’all not just start over as adults?”

“Yeah,” Bryce joined in. “Middle school was a long time ago.”

“Excuse me, Y’ALL? I wasn’t the tormentor in this situation. HE was.” I spat as I took a sip of my whiskey.

Grady spun to look at me incredulously. I could see that I’d obviously struck a nerve.

“Oh, what the f**k ever. You were an absolute b***h to me!”

“I was defending myself from your bullshit.” I growled at him.

“You BOTH were little shits to each other. " Marni interjected. I glared at her. She was supposed to be on my side. She had been there to witness everything. How could she even act like I wasn’t justified in everything I did to him?

“Is this about last night?” Grady leaned in towards me.

“What happened last night?” Bryce dropped his french fry that he was about to put in his mouth. Marni stared at me wide-eyed. Great. I was trying to forget the whole thing even happened and now he’d brought those two into it.

“Nothing happened.” I turned my head towards Grady and lowered my voice. “I didn’t think you would even remember. I was trying to just forget it.”

“I had planned on coming over tonight to apologize. I didn’t know Bryce was bringing me to lunch with you guys. I’m sorry, Molly. I let the alcohol get the best of me.” He put his hand over mine and rubbed the top of my hand with his thumb. “I was way out of line and I hope you can forgive me.”

Marni crossed her arms and glared at me. “So what happened last night?”

I looked at Grady hoping that he would go with my story that nothing happened last night and just get them to drop it. But he was still as stupid as he was when we were kids. He let out a long sigh.

“I went over to her house last night to hang out and hopefully connect better as adults and get over all the kid stuff.”

“Okay,” she dragged out. “So what went wrong? What did you do?” She looked at me pointedly.

“I didn’t do a damn thing. This i***t here got drunk and tried to f**k me.” Bryce choked on his drink. Marni’s jaw dropped to the floor.

“Woah, woah, back up.” Grady was waving his hands in front of him. “Kiss, yes. I was definitely going to kiss you. I wasn’t trying to f**k you. It would have taken a hell of a lot more whiskey for that.”

I don’t know why. I have no idea why hearing him say that pissed me off so much, but it did. And I reached back and slapped him before I could even think about what I was doing. I hated him. I’ve hated him since we were twelve years old. Why should I care if he doesn’t think I’m fuckable? Why should I care that he said he’d have to be really drunk to f**k me? The look of shock when he touched his face brought me back to the conversation. I had to get out of here before I hit him again. I threw my napkin down and jumped up, bumping into the waitress.

“Oh, I’m so sorry. Here, lunch is on me.” I wrestled a hundred dollar bill out of my wallet and shoved it in the waitress’s palm. “Keep the change.” I smiled at her.

Grady jumped up as well and was walking towards me. His face was still red from my palm meeting his gorgeous face. Seeing him standing there looking confused and helpless lit something on fire in me. I wanted to slap his other cheek to even out the color. But I also suddenly wanted to do more. Much much more with him. And that fueled my anger even more.

“Molly, —”

“Don’t you dare come near me. I’m going back to work. I’ll see you guys later.” I turned and stomped out before he could get any closer to me. I practically ran out to my truck, intending on jumping in and peeling out as fast as I could. And that’s when I realized I’d left my keys sitting on the table. f**k. I dropped my head and stood there for a minute contemplating whether to go back and get them or text Marni to bring them to me.

“Forget something?” I heard him behind me.

“f**k you.” I seethed. I heard him walk towards me and then suddenly I could feel his body heat on my skin.

“Turn around.” He growled.

“f**k off, Grady. I don’t know how many times I can say it. Go the f**k away.” I was watching him in the reflection of the driver's window. He was staring at the back of my head. I watched him twitch and bite his bottom lip. My skin felt like it was on fire. He took another step closer and he was now flushed against my body. I let out a gasp when I felt him against me and turned around on instinct to get away from him. He caught my arms and pulled me up against him. I pushed my hands against his hard chest and tried to push him away.

“Stop it. Stop it right now. Act like a f*****g adult and talk to me.” His face was inched from mine. There was a darkness in his eyes. Something low in my stomach growled in reaction to his gaze.

“f**k. You.” I sneered at him. The only thing I knew to do in this moment to save myself was to continue to be defiant to him. I felt like his fingers were burning the flesh of my arms. My head was swimming with his scent and I was desperately hanging on to the hate I had for him to keep from kissing him. What the f**k was happening to me? As if he knew what I was thinking, he closed the space between us. I could feel him rock hard against me. My eyebrows shot up in shock and a small squeak escaped my mouth.

“I am trying to apologize to you, you f*****g asshole.”

“I’m the asshole? I’m not the one who said I had to be incredibly drunk to f**k you.” I bit my lip and looked away from him. I saw him grin out of the corner of my eye.

“That’s what’s got you upset?” He c****d his head to the side, studying me. He leaned his head down so that his mouth was close to my ear. “Molly, I’m sorry. I’m sorry for last night. I’m sorry what I said. But I’m engaged. Very publicly engaged. I can’t admit to anyone that I’d love nothing more than to bend you over the bed of this truck, yank down your panties, and f**k you until you can’t stand.” He nuzzled my neck and my knees buckled. Thank goodness he was still holding on to my arms. I straightened myself up before he could notice the effect his words and his touch had on me. I could feel my heartbeat in my c**t when he pushed himself against me. My mouth was still hanging open.

“You should probably close that smart mouth of yours before I put something in it.” He laughed in my ear as I pushed him away, slapping his chest.

“I hate you.”

Grady grinned that lazy grin at me. He had a look on his face like he knew the biggest secret in the world and he wasn’t going to share it with me. Something caught my eye and I was drawn down to the bulge in his pants. I heard him chuckle and I looked away, turning red knowing I’d been caught.

“You might hate me, but you definitely like what you see.”

“I think strawberries look delicious but I don’t eat them because I know they’ll kill me.”

“You think I might kill you?” He slid back up to me in one fluid motion, slowly dragging his hands down my arms. I shivered in response to his touch, hoping that he read it as disgust and not excitement.

“I think you’re set out to ruin my life, as usual.”

“Oh, Molly,” he rubbed his thumb across my bottom lip. I immediately felt a shock of electricity go from my lip to my p***y. I shifted my legs trying to get rid of the sensation. “I only want to ruin you, not your whole life.”

“Give me my keys. I have to go back to work.” Maybe if I ignored him, he’d stop talking.

“Say please,” he teased me.

“Give me my f*****g keys.”

Grady slid his hand around the nape of my neck. I felt him wrap his fingers in my hair and pull hard. He tilted my head upwards so that my neck was fully exposed to him.

“Say please, Daddy.” He growled so low that I almost didn’t recognize his voice. It was feral and animalistic and it had me panting, wanting to push him to see how far he would go.

“Well, glad to see you two made up.” Marni and Bryce stood next to my truck. Marni had her hands on her hips and Bryce was smirking at Grady.

I jerked away from him and held my hand out for my keys. My mouth was so dry I could barely speak. Grady pulled my keys out of his pocket and deposited them into my hand without saying a word or without looking at Marni.

“He was just apologizing for being an asshole. But everything is fine now. He’s promised to leave me alone unless we’re working on wedding-related things.”

I could feel him glaring at me but he didn’t say a word. He shoved his hands in his pockets and walked towards Bryce’s car. He didn’t even bother to say goodbye. Bryce waved and followed him.

“What the f**k just happened?” Marni giggled as she watched them walk away.

“I - I honestly -”

“You two should just f**k and get it over with.”

“Marni!” My eyes went wide and I looked around to see if anyone else heard her. Specifically, the two men walking away from us. I covered my mouth with my hand as I started laughing. Marni hardly ever cussed. I was the one with the foul mouth.

“What? I saw what he did. And I didn’t hear everything, but I’m pretty sure I heard him say the word ‘daddy’. So, don’t act coy with me. Obviously, there’s something going on.”

“Maybe with him. Not on my end. I’m not interested. But I have to play nice until we get him married to this girl so that I don’t lose my job. This is going to be the most expensive event this year. Jared will dig my grave himself if I lose this.”

“You’re not even a little bit interested?” She c****d an eyebrow at me. “He was a cute kid but hot damn he turned into a fine ass man.”

“You can take my turn then.” I winked at her. Marni blushed and laughed.

“I don’t think Bryce likes to share. I have to get back to work. Call me later. Love you.”

Marni headed back to her car. I climbed in my truck and checked my phone before I drove off. There was a text from Grady. I decided not to read it, put my truck in drive, and peeled out of the parking lot, headed back to work. I had to start working on a timeline for Grady’s wedding. I also needed to get started on a storyboard of ideas to present to the bride. She’d be coming in next week for our first meeting. I got a sick feeling in my stomach just thinking about meeting her.