Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 66863 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 334(@200wpm)___ 267(@250wpm)___ 223(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 66863 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 334(@200wpm)___ 267(@250wpm)___ 223(@300wpm)
“You should make sure you eat a solid, healthy lunch today. Take the time you deserve. It’s good for you and you need to take care of yourself. You should get a good night’s rest too. It’s good for the body and the mind.”
I frowned. He wanted me to eat and sleep? Who in the hell did this guy think he was? I didn’t need him telling me what to do. “Yeah…sure, okay,” I said, when I should have told him to fuck off and mind his own business. It was weird as hell to tell me something like that.
As I stepped out of the elevator and the doors started to close, Kieran added, “I’m serious. Healthy lunch. It’s important.” He got the last word out just as a wall was formed between us and Kieran rode the elevator back up.
What the fuck had that been about? He’d ridden down with me and that was it?
“Weirdo,” I mumbled to myself, and then hurried to the medium-sized Chicago firm I worked at. It had always been my dream. Felt like the kind of career people in control had.
It was busy like it always was and I fucking loved it. People looked up to me here and came to me for advice, which I readily gave.
And for some reason, I ate lunch for the first time in weeks.
It’s because I’m hungry, I told myself. I couldn’t continue to skip meals. My body would betray me if I didn’t eat better. Yep, that was it. Eating had absolutely nothing to do with my crazy neighbor. Nothing to do with him at all.
CHAPTER THREE
“Hey, Jared. Do you want to go out for a drink with some of us tonight?” Phil asked. He was a newer lawyer at the firm and a very nice guy. He said hi, asked about a case, or congratulated me from time to time, but that was the extent of it.
People didn’t typically ask me to go out with them. I likely didn’t make it too easy, because I’d rather keep to myself. I wasn’t always great around people, had never had close friends, and didn’t want the hassle of it, which I understood wasn’t how most people were. As with most things in life, I tied it back to how I’d been raised. “Oh wow. That’s nice of you but I can’t. Maybe next time. I have a few things to take care of at home.” My words were stilted, robotic—mostly lies. Yes, I had things I should do but I wasn’t sure if I’d do them. My eyes felt grainy and I thought I might just go home and go to bed. One thing for certain, I wasn’t going to have another night like last night. I refused to get off on kinky porn.
“You were fucking brutal in there today. Cutthroat.” He gave me a smile that made me shift uncomfortably. There was more to the look than your typical random conversation…something hungry to it. Did he somehow know I was gay? Was he? I wasn’t ashamed, I just wasn’t used to letting people get that personal with me.
When I didn’t reply, he added, “I’ve heard talk that Simpson and Hayes are looking for another partner. Your name is being kicked around.”
I shook my head because how would he know I was gay? Right now, I was more interested in what he’d said. I’d heard the rumors too, but I wasn’t sure if there was any truth to them. I wasn’t sure how I felt about it if there was. It was a good opportunity…a great one. Something about growing up without the basic necessities, I never would have thought it’d be a possibility for me. The position would prove that I could take care of myself…but then…what about everything that came with it? Did I want that commitment? The added stress? Sometimes, it felt like too much. Like maybe that was why I struggled every time I walked out of the building… I’d worked so hard to make something of myself, and it was killing me during my downtime.
There wasn’t a chance I could answer those questions because I wouldn’t like the answer. It would reveal the manufactured control I worked so hard to portray was all a lie. “That’s because I’m the best.” I winked at Phil and he rolled his eyes. It was much easier to play the game than to give in to the demons in my brain.
“You’re conceited.”
When it came to this, yes I was. I knew I was one of the best. It wasn’t just conceit but reality. Being a lawyer was all I had. This was the only aspect of my life where I felt completely confident. “Anyway, thanks for the offer. I’ll see you tomorrow,” I said, ready for the conversation to end.