Rock Bottom (Bullet) by Jade C. Jamison Read Free Book Online Page B

he’d learned much of anything during that time.  He’d been too busy scoring and trying to get his band—located elsewhere—off the ground.  This young woman had to have at least one degree, maybe two.
    So why couldn’t she counsel him and fuck him?  He couldn’t even remember the last time he’d been with a woman.  No, that wasn’t entirely true.  He’d managed to score once in rehab, and if he and the girl would have been caught, they both probably would have been kicked out.  As it was, it had been a quickie, because they were both trying to avoid someone walking in on them and finding out.
    But since?  No.
    It wa sn’t that he didn’t want to be with someone, but he was trying hard to stay sober.  He had to be careful not to get involved with a woman who’d make him fall off the wagon again.  It would be so easy.  Sex, drugs, and music went together…thus, the old saying.  It would be way too easy.
    But this woman?   Hot damn.  She was sexy and intelligent and, he suspected, a little metal.  He couldn’t tell because she was wearing a blazer over her blouse and jeans, but he thought he was right.  He was sure she had recognized him.  Then she’d turned him down without much thought.  He was no shrink, but he thought it meant one of two things—either she did want to sleep with him and was trying to hide it, or she really had no interest and, in fact, disliked him.
    He needed to find out for sure.  He wouldn’t be able to sleep tonight without knowing.  If that made him look like an arrogant asshole rock star, so be it.
    So he paused on the sidewalk and waited for her to approach.  She didn’t startle seeing him, probably because he was bathed in light from the street lamp.  “Can I ask you a question?”
    She got closer to him.  “Sure.”
    “Would it be so bad to go out with me?”
    He thought he could see a flicker of a smile on her face , but that was all it was.  She asked, “Do you think that would help your recovery?”
    Ethan smiled then.  “I don’t think it would hurt it.”
    She drew in a deep breath.  “I have to disagree with you.  Something you need to understand, Ethan, is that you’re vulnerable right now…whether you want to admit it or not.  It’s very easy for people in your position to look to those who are helping and feel a connection, often a connection that’s not there.  People like me are a lifeline between your past, the past you want to rid yourself of, and a future full of hope.  But we’re not saviors.  We can only guide you.  You have to do the hard part.”
    “I know that.”
    “But sometimes it will feel to you like we care about you personally.  Don’t get me wrong—we do and will—but it won’t be what you think.”
    Time to turn up the charm.   Ethan had learned from a very young age to use what he had.  He hadn’t had the advantage of being able to shrink into a little ball of nothing that people ignored or disregarded, so when the shit started to hit the fan at home, he was a target for people’s attention, whether good or bad.  People had often commented on his looks, though, even as a child, and he’d learned to use them to his advantage.  Soon, people were drawn to him, and before he started having bouts with the dark cloud that would make him lose his way, he realized that, along with his looks, he could charm people.  Because they were naturally drawn to him, he figured out early on how to win people over.  He’d passed more than one class in high school thanks to that ability.  Surely, Jenna was no different.  Yeah, she could see through him—she knew he was a junkie who really needed help—but maybe she would also understand that he was a man with needs…and, goddamn, he wanted her.  So he smiled that cocky smile that he knew melted panties and said, “I’m not talking about love, sweetheart.  I get the whole emotional bullshit stuff you’re talking about.  I just want to know if you’ve