Page 3 of Redeem My Heart

chapter

two

Dane

“Grady,” I call to my older brother. He ambles over, a long neck dangling from two of his fingers.

“What?” he asks.

I nod across the room. “Who is that?” I say about the blonde that I haven't been able to take my eyes off of since she walked into the room.

He looks at me, kind of up and down and then into my eyes as if he's trying to see into my soul.

“What?” I ask.

He just smirks and shakes his head a little. “That's Sugar Coleman.”

Sugar? “Why does that sound familiar?”

“She and Daph were friends growing up. I think she came over for a slumber party or a birthday party or something a couple of times. She's Luna’s little sister.”

“Luna.” I nod. “Yeah, okay. Makes sense.” But I can't reconcile any memories in my head of pigtailed girls with the curvaceous bombshell across the room.

Her tits look amazing in her Goonies t shirt. And even if I wasn't already a huge fan of the movie, I would be now just because of the way that shirt molds to her curves. And that's not even taking into consideration the way her jeans hug her ass and her thick, thick thighs.

For a brief moment her eyes catch mine and it’s like the world around me freezes. She bites down on her lip, then her eyes drop away from me.

“If you keep looking at her like that, you're gonna incinerate her clothes with just your eyeballs,” Grady says.

“Fuck you.” I take a swig of my own beer. “I’m just looking. You know I don't mess with girls like that.”

“Girls like what exactly?”

“Good girls. Sweet and naive. They don't have the necessary skills to deal with someone like me.”

Grady snorts. “Because you’re so tortured and broody? Give me a break.”

I glance over at my brother. “Again, fuck you.”

I scan the room and it’s comprised of mostly couples. It seems like everyone in my life has paired up. “I’m not a relationship guy. Never have been. That woman screams relationship. Like get-down-on-one-knee-and-promise-me-the-moon kind of romance. I am so not that guy.”

Grady chuckles. “Well, it looks like she's a fan of your favorite movie.”

I shrug. “Everybody our age likes that movie.”

He makes a noise in his throat. “No. Everybody dad's age likes that movie. He just saturated our childhood with all of the 80’s goodness.”

I say nothing.

“All I'm saying is that maybe you should give dating a try. If you remember correctly, I wasn't open to it either. But somebody I know told me to go for it.” He gives me a knowing look.

Okay, yeah, when Grady and Jess first met, he was being a whiny-ass pussy about going after what he wanted. Maybe I gave him a nudge. But this situation is different.

“No, I told you to fuck her, not marry her.”

“I did both,” Grady says.

Instantly, I’m struck with a vision of me fucking Sugar.