Rule Breakers (Off Limits #2) - Nicky James Page 0,13
of Edison the other day that I’d set as my wallpaper. He wore a spirited, Harley-esque type smirk on his face. Rebellious and mischievous and sexy all rolled into one. The deviousness behind his eyes was also inherited from his father, and it caused a swell in my chest and pants every time it was aimed in my direction.
“Aren’t you supposed to be in class,” I said, my tone as firm as I could make it but nowhere near as commanding as I would have liked.
“Um, hello to you too?”
“What’s up, Eddy?”
“Classes are canceled. Snow. Are you still at work?”
“Yeah, and it looks like I’ll be here awhile. I’m doing everyone’s job plus my own. Why?”
A long silence.
“I have a counteroffer.”
I glanced at my door, ensuring it was closed. “What do you mean?”
“Your proposal. I have a counteroffer.”
“I never said it was negotiable. In fact, it isn’t.”
“You don’t even know what I’m offering.”
I gazed at the Excel sheet on my computer. My vision blurred while staring at all the numbers and data. I didn’t have time for this conversation, not with Miles’s work to do, the accounts to balance, and the toner issue. But this was Edison, and he called to me in a subliminal way. Work could wait.
It was the story of my life. On one side was this mundane, suffocating job where I jumped through hoops and bent over backward for a shitty paycheck and zero thanks. On the other side was freedom. Forbidden freedom but freedom nonetheless. I’d thirsted and yearned for this escape since the day Harley and I had decided to end our taboo affair twenty years ago. No other man had been able to liberate me from this banal existence until Edison had shown up on my doorstep in August.
Why those two of all people was the million-dollar question. It was sick and perverted and morally unsound. I’d argued against it to exhaustion. In the end, I’d had to admit there wasn’t an explanation. Like Harley had told me a long time ago, it was what it was. Why fight it? Why question it? Just go with it. If it feels good and right, then let it be.
That was the truth of the matter. With Edison and Harley, I felt alive. My tunnel vision cleared when I was with them, and I could see for miles in every direction. Unencumbered. My soul came to life, and it no longer felt like I lived at the bottom of a well, looking up at the world through a restrictive, narrow lens.
I paused. For a second, that nagging voice in the back of my mind, the one I’d almost managed to completely banish, told me I should abandon this foolhardy plan, find a real boyfriend, and seek therapy. Extensive therapy. This was not healthy.
“Helloooo? Did I lose you?”
I snapped back to the present. “I’m here. I’m sorry. What were you saying?”
“I said I have a counteroffer.”
“I doubt your offer is anything I want to hear. Besides, unless it involves three people, save your breath.”
“And what if it does?”
I leaned back in my chair, less worried about work as I denied that inner voice any power and kicked my feet up onto the corner of my desk. “Fine. Go on.”
“I think we should discuss it over drinks.”
I laughed. “Nice try. No deal.”
“Why not?”
Because I was a slave to alcohol. The minute it soaked into my bloodstream, my brain relocated to my dick, and I couldn’t maintain any semblance of control. I knew it, Edison knew it, and Harley knew it. If I was going to stand my ground, I needed to stay sober.
“Because I think it’s your ploy to get me to cave.”
“It’s not.” The words came out on a laugh, nullifying Edison’s attempt at persuasion. “Don’t get me wrong. A drunk Uncle Denver is far more fun than a sober one.”
“Eddy, I’ve got a lot of work to do. How about we discuss this later?”
“Can we go out tonight? You don’t have to drink. I just want to have fun. All the guys in my class are talking about going to the strip joint. I can’t go there because Dad’s there, and there are way too many naked girl parts just flopping around everywhere. I never know where to put my eyes so they don’t sting and burn and make me blind because… Eww.”
It was my turn to laugh. “Yeah, it helps if you wait until ladies’ night. All the male nudity you could ask for.”