Page 9 of Bourbon Truths
Lyla had been working at the Lafayette Club with Goldie, making a positive change in her life, until she’d decided she didn’t need the help and went back to her old job, stripping at Kitten’s Castle on Bourbon Street.
Nodding, Jett sat back in his chair and said, “I offered her residence, and she’s considering it since we’re so close to the Quarter here. It would get her back on the right track, and maybe with the girls convincing her, we can get her away from the pole and offer something more substantial for her future. I thought that’s what you wanted.”
“No,” I lied. “Fuck. I mean, of course I want her to have more, but I was just starting to get past the fact that she wasn’t living under the same roof as me anymore and now she might live here? Fuck, Jett, it’s hard enough as it is, running into her all the time.”
“Not my problem,” Jett said heartlessly. “Maybe it’s time you grow a pair and face your problems instead of hiding behind them.”
“Face my problems? You really think I can make a switch like that and decide to let all my sins come to the forefront of my mind and deal with them?” In a menacing tone, I said, “I fucking killed a man, Jett. It’s not like I was beaten as a child or have some kind of drug problem. I physically killed someone with my fists. That’s something you never get over.”
“You can’t keep living the way you have been. You’re not experiencing what this world has to offer. You sulk around your room, take care of tasks related to your job, and work out. There is nothing else in your life. It’s unhealthy.”
“And like you have the authority to tell me what’s healthy? Fuck, Jett, you just came out of the hole you were hiding in a couple of months ago. And because of that, you now think you know everything there is to chasing your demons? You know nothing.” I inched closer and pressed my finger on his desk while I spoke. “Until you know what it feels like to be stripped of your life, of everything you’d worked toward, you have no governance over my life. I would appreciate it if you and the girls would just leave me the fuck alone when it comes to my personal life because as far as I’m concerned, I have none and I want to leave it like that.”
“Kace—”
“No.” I stood up, not even remembering why I’d come to see him in the first place. “Just stay the fuck out of it. Oh, and thanks for the heads up about Lyla. Looks like I’ll be looking for a new place to stay.”
“You’re not moving out,” Jett said sternly.
“You have no control over me. I can do whatever I damn well please, and if I want to move the fuck out, I will. I don’t work at the Lafayette Club anymore. I work for the community center, which requires my attention. It would do me some good to live closer so I can focus on the construction and plans to come.”
Blowing out a heavy breath, Jett shook his head and pinched the bridge of his nose. “If that’s what you really want to do….”
“Honestly, I don’t really want to fucking do anything. What I want to do is drink myself into oblivion. It would be so easy to just shoot one up my cranium, be done with this scorching pain that runs through my body every day, but that would be too easy, and I swore I would make my life a living hell. No, my true punishment is living every fucking day on this miserable earth, replaying what I did over and over in my head as a reminder that I’m a monster who deserves nothing more than to be tortured until my dying day.” I took a deep breath and turned toward the door. Before I left, I said over my shoulder, “I’ll be looking for a place as soon as possible. I’ll keep you informed of my search.”
“Thank you,” Jett said without another word. He knew when not to push me, and after my little drama queen rant, he knew the conversation was over.
With newfound purpose, I strode to my room to start looking for a new place on my computer. Maybe this was the little freedom, the little change in my life I needed. My days hiding behind Jett’s doors were over. It’d been long enough that no one would be able to tell I was the man who shamed New Orleans. It was time to try to separate myself from the man who’d covered for me and try to justify my existence.
Chapter Four
My Past…
A soft hand brushed my chest just as the morning sun peeked through my curtains. My body was stiff, thanks to three rounds and a few choice punches to my ribs from my opponent, but I welcomed the pain and the toll it took on my muscles. It reminded me of another fight I’d won, of another goal I’d accomplished, of the path I was continuing down.
“Mmm…,” Lindsay moaned as her hand slowly made its way down my chest to my waist. She’d been a late-night pickup at a bar I frequented. She’d been trying to get in my pants for weeks now, and last night, I’d needed to blow some adrenaline and steam. She’d been in the right place at the right time.
She was fucking hot—I would give her that—and she had huge tits I’d had fun with last night, but she wouldn’t be a forever kind of girl for me, and I didn’t think she saw me as a relationship kind of guy, which I appreciated.
Her hand started to slip dangerously close to my cock, and I thought about stopping her, but the idea of a morning blow job appealed to me.
The light touches she was making along my torso, and the way her breasts pressed against my side, made the blood start to pool at the base of my cock. With the final reach, she grabbed a hold of my dick and rubbed it up and down, and that was all it took. I sank into the mattress and let her do her work.
“Good morning,” she whispered into my neck, kissing my skin.
“Morning,” I answered gruffly, unable to control the deep timbre of my voice.
“Were you already awake?” she asked as she propped her naked body up. Her breasts swayed with her movements. It was the little things in life.
“Just woke up,” I responded, putting my hands behind my head and preparing for what she had in store for me.
“Good,” she grinned and shifted her body down. I spread my legs so she could set herself up comfortably.
She gripped my thighs and lowered her breasts so her nipples grazed my cock. I was fully erect within seconds of her little maneuver.
She continued to slowly graze my dick with her nipples, her hair lightly brushing my thighs. It was a tangled mess but sexy, because I knew my hands were the reason she wasn’t beauty queen perfect this morning. Her makeup was slightly smeared under her eyes, something I could ignore given the fact that she was about to suck me off.
Not the best fuck I’d ever had given my detachment, but she was hella good, the perfect ease for the ache between my legs.
