Gorgeous: Book One (Gorgeous #1) - Lisa Shelby Page 0,89

can't help but think it's the same bike that nearly took me out the day Evelyn broke up with me—well, when she did Ronan's bidding for him.

My mother's warning fills my head, and I hear her frail voice telling me Dickey was still looking for me and how I would be in danger if he found me. My stomach twists in panic and irrational fear. If that was the same motorcycle, then why would a month have gone by? If Dickey had found me, I wouldn't be sitting here sharing a beer with my ex, right?

“So, how goes the job hunt?”

“No luck just yet, but luckily I got a rather large severance package when I was let go so...I haven't really been in a rush.”

He doesn't need to know that, in reality, it's just in the last week I've been able to even half-way resemble a human being. That I've been wasting away in my apartment reliving the events of my childhood that seeing my mother brought back. Not to mention licking my wounds after having my heart broken.

“That's the least that bastard of a boss could do for you. Olivia, you moved your entire life down here, and after a few months, he just lets you go like that. What an asshole.”

Bryce, doesn't keep up on celebrity news and therefore didn't see any of the pictures of Ronan and I as a couple that were plastered all over the Internet. He has no idea there was much more to me losing my job and that's okay. It means I don't have to talk about it.

"He went a different way with the position. It's all good and I'll be fine."

"He's still an asshole." Bryce winks and gives me a smile that says he's sorry things haven't gone so well for me since my move.

"Okay, he's still an asshole." I giggle.

"So, do you think you'll stay in California?"

"I don't really know just yet. I do like it here, but it's so expensive. I think I'll start getting serious about figuring it all out this coming week. I've been a slacker for too long now."

"Hey, you've worked your butt off your entire life. You're allowed to take some time off."

"I know, but it feels strange not to work. It's a first for me."

"Well, you know I vote for you to move back to Portland, but you need to do what feels right for you."

"Thank you. What about you? How's your project at work going? You making progress?"

Bryce, starts what I know will be a lengthy and boring explanation about his project. He has been working with patients with a specific kind of bone cancer. He is literally trying to cure cancer. No wonder he never had time for me. I would say his work is far more important than hanging out with me.

I'm trying my best to focus on our conversation, but my mind keeps going back to his question about me staying here in San Francisco.

Why am I staying?

I don't have anything tying me to this city, but I know I'm not leaving anytime soon. I'm not sure if it's the fact that Evelyn calls me every week to check in on me, leaving me to still feel connected to him somehow, or if it's the fear of going back to Oregon, where my past can easily haunt me. Whatever it is, my gut is telling me to stay put. But why do I want to stay here when every time I step outside, my gut also tells me I'm being watched, and I need to be on high alert?

The motorcycle comes back into my mind’s eye, and I can't help but think that the person on that bike has something to do with my uneasy feeling. I don't think the little can of mace on my keychain will be enough to stop the likes of him. I just need to stay focused on everything around me as much as I can and figure out my life. I need to move on and stop letting assholes like Ronan and Dickey control my life and the decisions I make.

I feel myself sit up a little straighter in my seat, and a determination to move on and not let fear or heartbreak determine my future settles in.

I got this.

I got me.

I will succeed.

The first thing I will succeed in is being a good friend, and that means getting out of my head and my own internal thoughts and listening to my friend talk about his life.

“...so, we're getting close and I'm hoping we can make some connections at the conference this week, and maybe we'll get the additional funding we need to really get somewhere.”

"Bryce, I am so proud of you."

He smiles and puffs out his chest just a bit.

"I have a good feeling about this week, and I know you're going to connect with the right person. I can feel it."