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Age 22: Well, I liked to block that year out of my memory completely. It was better that way.
Age 23: At first, I didn’t date anyone, and then I tried a one-night stand. When that went horribly wrong, I started texting with a guy online. We talked for months and had great chemistry. Yet, when we met, all he did was talk about my size and curves. He was proud of being what he called a “chubby chaser” and felt I owed him for being interested in me.
Dude, the only one concerned about my waistline was you. I was not a charity case bang. I might have hips, but I wasn’t stupid or low on self-esteem. Boy, bye.
Age 24:Well, the guy I’d been seeing proposed after the third date. A few restraining orders later, and I decided I needed a break.
Romance books and my vibrator became my go-to Friday night plans after that.
So yeah, dating never went well for me. Now, I was almost twenty-six and hadn't dated in over a year. Books had been my escape and never disappointed me. They were always there for me when I needed them.
I'd gotten so into reading, I'd started a romance blog. Weirdly enough, people read it. Apparently, I was good at it! Take that, fourth grade teacher who said no one wanted to listen to me! I had a considerable following and presence online. No one in my real life, outside Simon, even knew it was me. It was a fun way to pass my time by sharing all the books I loved in quirky ways and remove myself from being Lennox.
Noxbooks didn’t have baggage unless it was books.
Here lately, though, I'd wanted a little more. I couldn't be cursed forever with dating, or at least that was my hope.
The problem was, it was difficult to meet people I hadn’t known since I was in diapers. I couldn’t even date any of the guys at Emblazed Tats. I mean, I loved them all, but they were mostly older men and not exactly my type. Well, outside of Slade because let’s face it,he was everyone’s type.Until he opened his mouth at least.
Bubba had even asked me to marry him multiple times on a lark to make me laugh. He was almost as old as my dad though, and was my bearded guardian angel. Outside the creepy customers hitting on me, I wasn't fighting the guys off with a stick. My social pool was, sadly, very small and consisted of my gay best friend, twelve-year-old brother, and a forty-year-old biker.
Swiping through the messages, I deleted all the ones that screamed ‘dick pic’ guys. I did not need that on my phone. Just my luck, Noah would pick it up, and then I'd be charged with exposing a minor to lewd images. My dad wouldn't care if it was me or that I hadn't been the one to ask for it. He’d arrest me to prove a point.
So, yeah, nope. I didn't need that. I was not one for jail. I would not survive. I had accepted this about myself. It kept me out of trouble most days. You'd think my father being the police chief would stop me from breaking the law, but he was a big teddy bear most of the time. Noah was the only exception. We were all protective of that kid.
Clicking on a guy's profile, I hummed a country song as I read his profile. Someone walked up behind me, placing their hands on my hips before whispering in my ear, "Whatcha doing, short stuff?"
Jumping, I reared back, almost nailing Simon in the head, but thankfully, he had quick reflexes. His hands tightened on my hips, and I sucked in a breath.It was truly tragic to be in love with your gay best friend.
Part of my heart had broken the day he told me he was gay. I think in a way, I've been gun shy since then, the pivotal moment my curse was born. It was probably some form of a self-fulfilling prophecy, but when it was your life and your disasters, it felt safer to be gun shy.
"Sugar toast! Si, I could've killed you."
I spun around to face him, pasting a glare on my face to cover the lust. The move also helped to dislodge his hands from my waist, bringing my heart rate to a normal level. Crossing my legs, I smoothed the cute dinosaurs on my dress to calm myself.
Simon Fisher was too good looking for his own good. Standing at 6 ft tall, he was fit without being too muscular.We both hated to sweat, so his muscles had naturally developed from hard work and life. His dyed silver-grey hair cascaded over his eyes, the top long as it swooped over, the sides shaved close.
His eyes were almost the same shade, and I swear with his hair that color now, it made them glow in the right light. When he’d gone to barber school, he started dyeing his natural brunette hair and never looked back.
This, though, was my favorite look. It made him appear rugged in a sexy city-country way. Add in his light stubble, and I had to physically stop myself from biting my lip in want. I wouldn’t even get started on how good he smelled. The man was my kryptonite, and he wasn’t even an option.
I got distracted checking him out, and it cost me.
Simon grabbed the phone out of my hand, and like cold water being thrown on me, I immediately sobered and scrambled to get it back from him. Reaching out, I forgot about my shoes and the stool, and tripped, falling into his arms. He caught me, laughing at my clumsiness before righting me.
"You throwing yourself at me today, Lenn?" he chuckled, holding my phone out of reach. It was at this point, I gave up and hoped the embarrassment would end soon. I didn’t trust myself to move anymore. Leaning back, I huffed as I crossed my arms.
"What do we have here?" he grinned, but when he saw the dating app, a weird look crossed his face.
"You'redatingagain?"
Shrugging, I kept quiet. Simon had held my hand and eaten ice cream with me through each break-up and heartbreak. “I'm just looking, okay. Just to test out the waters."
"Are you even ready for that? You know, after everything that’s happened. Are you ready to challenge the curse again?" Simon teased, but it had a biting edge I didn’t usually hear from him.
Grabbing my phone, I clicked it off and shoved it in my bag below the counter. Spinning on the stool in one quick movement, I leaned against the counter, effectively ignoring him. I didn’t need to be reminded of my failures in love, especially not from him.
Simon wasn’t one to be deterred, though, and he walked around to the front like he should've done in the first place. Because our storefronts were in the same strip mall, the back doors let out to the same alley. He took advantage of this fact, even if to just avoid the girl at the front desk of the salon. Crystal was one of those girls who thought that she was all that and a bag of chips. It didn’t compute to her how Simon could turn her advances down, despite him telling her repeatedly he was gay. I think the poor girl thought he just hadn’t had the right va-jay-jay.
