Take the Chance (Top Shelf Romance #9) - Brittainy Cherry Page 0,119

worst days are behind me, right?” I grinned weakly and slugged him in the shoulder. “I’m going to prove my parents wrong, you’ll see.”

Max’s expression softened. “I can’t tell you how to recover, Dar. That’s a long dark road that each addict takes on their own. As your sponsor, all I can do is point out the road signs you don’t want to miss, ones that I’ve passed myself.”

“And?”

“And from my pseudo-professional opinion, I don’t think you’ve passed as many as you think you have.”

I started to argue, but then snapped my mouth shut. That’s what addicts do. They talk about how they’re not addicts anymore. But I was recovered. Actions mattered more than words.

“Then I’ll prove you wrong, too.”

Chapter 7

Sawyer

“Let me get this straight,” Jackson said, pressing the bar up and holding it. Sweat ran down his temples to the bench beneath him. I stood over him as a spotter.

“This new neighbor of yours…” He eased the bar down to his chest. “She’s hot, funny, great with Olivia, so—naturally,”—he grimaced and pushed the weight up—“you kicked her out.”

I helped him set the bar on the rack, and he sat up, sucking in air.

“It wasn’t quite like that,” I said.

My best friend fixed me a look. Hastings gym was never crowded this early in the morning on a Monday, he had nearly the entire place to himself in which to lecture me uninterrupted.

“I love you, bro, but you have lost your ever-loving mind.”

“Come on, Jax, you know my deal.” I went to the tricep rope machine. “What the hell was I supposed to do?”

“Is this a trick question?” Jackson moved to a rack of hand weights. He hefted a forty-pounder in each hand and faced the wall mirror. “Forget your deal, and ask her out. Or take her to bed. Or take her out and then take her to bed.”

Take Darlene to bed.

Instantly, there she was in my mind’s eye; naked and curled against me, her dark hair spilled over my pillow, her brilliant smile muted in the soft light of morning.

I shook my head, irritated.

“You can’t have a one-night stand with a person who lives in the same building as you. That’s madness.”

“And something beyond a one-night stand is impossible?” Jackson said, his eyebrows raised.

“Yes. If it goes south—which it will—I’ll have to move.”

He chuckled, then narrowed his eyes. “Hold up. If the whole situation with the lovely Darlene is hopeless, why tell me about it? Because you want me to talk sense into that thick skull of yours, am I right?”

Shit.

“Wrong,” I said. “I told you because it was newsworthy. She’s a new person in my building.” I heard how stupid that sounded and kept talking as if I could bury the words with more words. “And we’re not compatible anyway. We’re too different. She’s…”

Weightless.

“She’s not serious,” I said. “And I am.”

“Understatement of the century,” Jackson muttered. “So she’s fun? You need fun. You’re in desperate need of fun.”

“What I need is to graduate, then pass the bar. Besides,” I added in between reps, “she’s not interested in dating. She said she moved here to work on herself, which is code for, ‘I’m a young, hot girl who doesn’t want to hang out with a guy and his toddler.’” I pressed the ropes down, hard as I could, my muscles screaming. “She’s going to go out. Party. Have dates. I don’t have the time or funds for either one, never mind the mental energy to put toward a girlfriend.”

“Hold the phone.” Jackson’s triumphant smile was blinding. “In all the five years I’ve known you, you have never used the word ‘girlfriend’ in my presence.”

“Because I’ve never wanted one.”

“Wanted? Past tense? But now you do?” Jackson said through the strain of bicep curls. “The plot thickens.”

I rolled my eyes. “I don’t have girlfriends and I’m not doing casual hook-ups around Livvie. And I can’t ask Elena to babysit more than she does already so I can take someone out. I don’t see Olivia enough as it is.”

“That’s noble, my friend. And stupid,” Jackson said. “You need to blow off steam before you have a mental breakdown. Remember Frank? In our second year? All the guy did was study. Got busted snorting rails of coke between classes to stay awake.”

“I’m not going to do drugs, for fuck’s sake. I have a kid.”

“Not saying you are, but the pressure of law school breaks people down. And you’re buried.”

“I’ve got it under control.”

Jackson looked like he was going to pursue it, but