Fear of Falling(73)

I shook my head and smacked CJ on the arm before jumping into serving, a wide grin on my face. I looked at the appreciative faces surrounding me, thanking me and showering me with praise.

All I could do was smile. I smiled for all the times I wished I could step out on faith and perform. I smiled for the friends that had been my rock and my family, and I even smiled for people like CJ that I had begun to care for, as unlikely as it may have been. But most importantly I smiled because I had finally found it. I had discovered the meaning laced between the lyrics of that song. I had finally found my exception.





The best part about being the boss? I could close up shop whenever I damn well felt like it. And if there was a reason to shut down for a day, it was getting to see Kami in a bikini.

Oh. Hell. Yes.

I decided a team-building trip to Lake Norman was in order and invited the entire staff and their families for a day of fun. I had even gone all-out with food and drinks. Shit, I deserved some fun. Ever since I came back over a year ago, I was all about business. I wanted to put the bullshit of my past behind me and prove that I wasn’t just some hot-tempered misfit with a record. Not for anyone else; I could give a flying fuck what people thought about me outside of my family and Ms. Patty. I wanted to prove it to myself.

But now that things were finally falling into place, now that I actually had a reason to wake up in the morning aside from the distraction of work, I was ready to slow down. And I wanted to slow down with Kami. Shit, I knew I was being presumptuous. I still knew very little about her and, honestly, there were things that she still needed to know about me. But I was ready to share them with her. Hell, I was ready to share my life with her. I just didn’t think I could ever tell her without scaring her shitless.

We caravanned up to the lake late Sunday morning, BBQ utensils and swimsuits in hand. Kami rode with her friends and the rest of the AngelDust girls, even though I wanted her to ride with me. It was cool though. They were taking Dom’s Expedition, and it was more convenient for her. Plus, I had agreed to drive my bonehead cousin and his random flavor of the week that had already started pre-gaming earlier that morning.

“So Blaine, do you have a girlfriend?” his date asked from the backseat, where she had been damn near giving CJ a handjob. I think her name was Mindy. Or Misty. Or something equally unappealing. “If I would’ve known you were coming alone, I would have brought one of my girlfriends. You are way too sexy to be all alone. We all could have had a little fun.”

I glanced at her through my rearview mirror, and shook my head. Her store-bought cleavage was spilling out of her bikini top, and she had the nerve to lick her inflated lips at me. Hell no. She had nothing on Kami. Hers were the only set of lips that got me hard as steel just thinking about them.

“Nah,” CJ answered, saving me from having to embarrass this broad. “He’s not interested.”

“Not interested?” Misty/Mindy scoffed indignantly. “How could you not be interested in this?” And with that, her hand snaked around my waist and tried to grab my junk. I swerved, barely missing the guardrail.

“What the fuck?!” I shouted, scowling at her through the rearview mirror. “Don’t ever do that shit again!”

Mindy/Misty waved off my warning. “Oh, come on, Blaine. I’m totally cool with taking you both, sugar. Don’t be shy.”

“Calm the fuck down, or your ass will be on the side of the road,” CJ interjected, his voice devoid of his usual playfulness. “Now I told you he wasn’t interested. He has a girl. A girl that is 10 times hotter and cooler than you could ever be. She’ll be at the lake, so you might want to take notes. Now chill the fuck out, or you can get the fuck out!”

CJ’s words left both Mindy/Misty and I with dropped jaws. I never expected him to speak up on my behalf. CJ and I had a reputation for sharing chicks in the past. We were the same age, and in high school, we were pretty notorious for our wild parties and sexual antics. Even when I had hooked up with Amanda, CJ was less than accepting. He thought Amanda was narcissistic and vapid. It nearly killed me to admit he was right.

When we pulled up to the lake, I couldn’t wait to escape the tension of my truck and scoop Kami up into my arms. She and her roommates arrived a little while later, the three of them lugging their towels and foldout chairs. I grabbed her things from her without a second glance. There was no way my lady was carrying shit when I had two functioning hands. I was a stubborn sonofabitch sometimes, but I had been raised right.

Dive’s head cook, Mr. Bradley, a 60-year old veteran that had been with us for years, had already fired up the built-in grills, while some of the other staff prepared the hot dogs, hamburgers, steaks and veggies. Of course, I ended up playing bartender.