Essentialism (Bridgette & Troy's Story) Read Free Page A

Troy and I are only friends. I don’t see the point of telling one about the other.”
    “You sure that’s a smart move, girl? I’d be worried that it would come back to bite me in the ass.”
    “Ugh, that would be awful,” I say and glance out the window hoping she’s not right.
    Pulling up to the station, there are a ton of vehicles. A good amount of people are standing around outside watching a group of guys playing basketball. As I get out of the car, I can’t help but join in on the gawking. I lean back watching the sweaty men battle back and forth. I don’t recognize any of them except for Abel. He sees us and shoots the ball, scoring.
    “God, isn’t he so yummy?” Cara says, as she slides up next to me and leans against her car watching the show. Abel jogs away from the game and Cara immediately goes towards him. I continue staring, but am pulled out of my daydream by Troy saying, “I don’t know what’s so interesting over there, considering I’m not in the game and all.”
    I can’t help but laugh at him. “I was just looking for you.”
    “Sure you were. Come give me a hug, you naughty, little thing.” He wraps his arms around me and instinctively I cling to him, resting my head on his chest. “You know, you really are small,” he says looking down at me.
    I look up into his mesmerizing eyes and respond, “You know, you’re really tall.” He’s wearing a hat, but I can still see his brown hair. It’s normally a mess and I would love to feel it in my fingers.
    “Eh, I’ve been told that in my day.”
    “In your day? How old are you?”
    “Twenty-six. How ‘bout you?”
    “Twenty-two.”
    “See, I do have you by a few years. So I can say ‘in my day.’”
    I slap his chest and he releases me placing his hand over the place I hit. “Did you really just hit me? You’ve got some anger issues, girl.”
    “I don’t have anger issues; you’re the one—”
    Cara and Abel interrupt our banter and look between us. We each point at the other placing the blame on one another. “All righty,” Cara says. “Let’s get all this food inside and feed these beasts.”
    She pops the trunk open and the guys grab everything, taking it inside. Cara and I walk behind and she asks me, “What was all that about?”
    “He was being annoying. I was only picking on him.”
    “Uh-huh,” she says rolling her eyes.
    I ignore her comment and focus on getting everything set up. As we empty all the bags and work together getting the food laid out, I can’t keep my eyes off of Troy, and every time I look at him he is looking at me. Finally, I move to the opposite counter and start slicing the bread. This way my eyes can only stare at the wall in front of me. I turn my focus onto deep-breathing exercises for a distraction. That is until I feel Troy behind me. I look to my left and he is reaching in a cabinet above me, pressing his pelvis into my behind. I can’t help but smile as he squeezes my hip before he turns around and works at the island. Great, there is no hope in calming my erratic breathing now.
    Fuck. My finger.
    I yelp in pain and stick it in my mouth. “Are you okay?” Cara asks.
    I nod my head as I fight back the tears. It hurts so bad. I can feel my pulse throbbing in the tip of it. I decide to take it out of my mouth and I wish I hadn’t. Blood runs down my finger and Troy grabs a towel.
    “All right, let’s get it wrapped up. You need to keep pressure on it to stop the bleeding.”
    “Mmm-hmm,” I say nodding my head.
    “Troy, why don’t you take her downstairs and clean her finger up,” Abel says.
    “Of course. Follow me, Bridge, and I’ll fix you up.” I smile and follow him downstairs. “Normally, I would take you down the pole, but seeing as you’re injured, that’s going to have to wait ‘til next time.”
    “Thanks.”
    As we get downstairs, Troy directs me to sit on a bench between the ambulance and fire truck while he grabs what he needs out of a supply