Never Too Late : A Romantic Story by Rachel Sabor Read Free Book Online Page A

hurt you or something?"
    She shook her head and unconsciously sniffed. "No, no one. I'm alright, just-I'm alright."
    He nodded slowly, as if he didn't believe her. "Do you have any friends in there? Want me t o go find them?" The only people she knew inside were Brad and his new object of charm. Sh e shook her head. "Well, you're not here alone, are you?"
    "No. Someone I know is inside."
    "Ah, guy trouble." She shifted away from him as he planted himself next to her. "I know tha t game."
    "You do?"
    He laughed. "No, not really. We guys can be real dicks sometimes though."
    "Yeah, you can."
    "It's all about our egos. We can't get enough of ourselves, so we don't think about how ou r actions affect others. Plus we only think about sex all day long."
    Amy found herself blushing, and tried to fight down the heat in her cheeks. "Sometimes I think that's all you people think about."
    The guy shrugged. "It pretty much is." He smiled at her. "My name's Cale."
    "Amy," she said after a few seconds.
    "Nice to meet you, Amy." He held out his hand and she took it. It was warm but not sweaty , and the shake he gave her was firm but not too hard. She smiled back at him.
    For all the strangeness of the encounter, and for all the horror stories of meeting strang e men at clubs and in alleys, Amy found herself feeling better as she spoke to Cale. He didn' t seem to have any expectations or issues. Of course, she knew that she only saw the bares t part of his surface, and that below it existed all the insecurities and compulsions peopl e had. But for the time being, she realized, she enjoyed being with him. He told bad jokes, h e laughed at himself, and he made her laugh. 
    Within a few minutes of sitting on those steps together, she had forgotten Brad. She forgo t how she felt about everything in general. She found like she had found someone who got her.
    Someone who neither validated her nor rejected her. Just another person she could spend tim e with, and feel good with. It was nice.
    Then the door opened behind them, and a voice - curt and rough - broke into their rapport.
    "What's this?" Brad asked.
    Amy, kicking in some sort of natural reaction, turned and spun around. Brad didn't have a lo t of muscles, but he'd been known to fight people before. He wore an Ed Hardy shirt and glare d down at both Cale and Amy. Cale stood slowly and smiled right back at him. The two wer e evenly sized, but Amy immediately felt worried that Brad would attack.
    "Hey man," Cale said, still smiling. "I'm Cale. You're Amy's friend, right?"
    "You know this guy?" Brad asked, turning to Amy and sticking his thumb in Cale's direction.
    Though frightened, Amy couldn't help but mentally sigh a bit. The man was such a walkin g cliché.
    "We just met," she said. Now that she thought about it, where was the girl she'd seen Bra d hitting on earlier? She tried to convince herself that this wasn't one of those times wher e Brad struck out and so settled for Amy. Of course, she knew it was, but she shoved tha t thought aside.
    Cale stuck his hand out, but Brad didn't go for it. He stood there, motionless, a face of ho t rage and maybe embarrassment. He looked as if he were about to hit something. Amy slid pas t Cale and walked up the two steps until she was eye-level with him. "Brad, are you ready t o go?" She asked.
    "You know," Cale started, "you don't have-"
    "Yeah," Brad cut in, swinging his arm around her waist possessively. He pulled her a bi t closer than she needed to be, and looked down at Cale with a smug grin on his face. Cale' s smile never left. "What'd you do for a living, bro?"
    Cale laughed. "I work for a bank, bro."
    "Corporate pig," Brad said. "It's people like you who ruined this country."
    "Wow, we're already going there, huh?" Cale shrugged. "Well, say what you will." He turne d his back, did something with his hands, and turned back. He held out his hand to Amy. "It wa s nice to meet you, Amy."
    Amy wasn't going to reach for the hand, but some small