Fear of Falling

makeup, and I could have sworn she was talking to herself. That should have been a huge red flag that this chick was bat-shit crazy. I had dealt with more crazy broads to last a lifetime, and I wasn’t looking to pick up another. Not that I felt like I needed her in my life. No… definitely not.
    But I continued to walk towards her. I had no clue what I would say or do, but I knew that I had to say or do something. Anything to erase the pain that she so clearly shouldered. But before I could—before I could do something stupid in an attempt to make it all better—her car door swung open, and I ducked back under the shade of the building before she could misconstrue my intent.
    The second sign was her eyes. They seemed to pierce right through me, making it impossible to tear my own gaze away. Eyes that had witnessed grief and pain. Eyes that glazed over and tried to push all the hurt away. I should have let her off the hook then. Should have let CJ irritate the shit out of her until she was fed up enough to leave and never look back. That was what I should have done. But I’d never been good with the obvious solution.
    None of those signs meant a damn thing the moment those perfect lips touched my skin. I could have been choking on the smoke signals, and I still wouldn’t have stopped her. She was so…soft. There was a fragility about her that made me want to cherish and protect her. It was ridiculous and stupid and downright embarrassing. But none of that mattered. Her touch had branded me in the most permanent way, over a shot of tequila and a wedge of lime.
    I didn’t do drama. Not anymore at least. I had learned to let go of the bullshit and free myself of all emotional baggage a long time ago. So I surely didn’t need her showing up inquiring about a job. And I damn sure didn’t need to be working side by side with her, making the temptation to delve deeper behind those haunting green eyes, to reveal those hidden pains that much stronger…
    “Dude, what the fuck? Did you even hear a word I just said? I swear, B, you’ll scrub a fuckin’ hole in the wood if you keep that up.”
    My eyes snapped to my cousin, CJ, then down to the area on the bar that I had been mindlessly—yet forcefully—wiping down with a rag. “Uh, my bad,” I stammered, my glazed eyes blinking out of their trance.
    CJ shook his head while unraveling his tie. He had rushed here from his day job as a contractor in hopes of seeing Dive’s newest addition. Unfortunately for him, I had sent Kami home an hour ago, when I honestly couldn’t think of another detail to exhaust. I had introduced her to the day staff, shown her the bathrooms, locker rooms, and she had mastered all the signature drinks. There was honestly no other excuse to keep her other than wanting her near me. Even after she had gone all cold and distant, I couldn’t deny my attraction to her. And I could tell that she felt it too. Shit, anyone in a 10-mile radius could feel the sexual tension rolling off of us in heated waves.
    “Like I was saying,” CJ started, rolling his eyes at my lack of enthusiasm at whatever idiotic thought had popped into his shallow mind. “Wendy asked about you. You remember, Wendy from high school? With the big titties? Dude, I swear, I would motor boat the shit out of those double-Ds.”
    I narrowed my eyes at the Neanderthal known as my cousin, Craig Jacobs. I should have been used to him, being that we had lived together since the 9 th grade when I was sent to live with him and my Uncle Mick. Craig and I had become more like brothers, and I was immune to his idiocy. Yet some of the asinine shit that left his mouth still surprised me. If we weren’t related, I would bet money that he was a product of one of those stories you hear about where the teenage, coked-out mom gives birth in the toilet. Something was wrong with him, yet he was the only one who couldn’t see it.
    No matter how I felt about CJ and his rude and crude ways, I knew he was a good guy. And he was family. He and Uncle Mick were the only ones there for me when shit had hit the fan, resulting in my return to Charlotte a year ago. I could have gone anywhere else, but I needed to be with the people that knew me…that understood me. And though they were both rough around the edges, they were there for me in my darkest hours. I owed them.
    CJ took a long swig of his beer before launching into stories of his latest conquests. As disgusting as he was, he somehow pulled