Desire

ONE

Gloria P.O.V.

I scanned the bar, but I wasn't really in the mood for this tonight. I pretty much forced myself to come out. My best friend, Stacy, just moved seven hours away to be with her new husband and I was feeling sorry for myself. I still found it funny the way Stacy and Kurt had gotten together. Stacy had been bummed about her father choosing a fiancé without getting her opinion first. So me being the party girl that I am, forced her to go out drinking with me. She had been so depressed, I'd been worried about her. Stacy Moore, who said she would never have a one-night stand, indulged that night. Although, it turned into way more than a one-night stand when she found out that her lover was Kurt Strong, nephew to Stacy's soon-to-be step-mother. Kurt and Stacy couldn't stay away from each other, even when they became step-cousins, with the marriage of Hal and Sheila.

I smiled. My best friend, who never put herself out there, got herself a man and was already knocked up, quicker than anybody I knew. I was the one who went out all of the time and yet I was still single. Life was a bitch, I thought and tipped back another shot. It burned going down, but I relished the feeling. Maybe I would just keep drinking until I was too shitfaced to feel sorry for myself anymore. With that plan in mind, I ordered three more shots. For some reason, my traitorous mind, drifted to a man that I had been having a hard time forgetting.

At Hal and Sheila's wedding, I'd gotten lucky with a guy before the ceremony even started. What can I say, I love sex. So we got busy in a closet and then, come to find out, the guy was Stacy's new step-brother, Sheila's son, Lucas Strong. Lucas knew his way around a woman that was for sure. He had left no inch of my body untouched and we weren't even in that closet for very long. When I had taken my seat, in the back of the church, for the wedding, I about crapped my pants when I found out who my rendezvous lover was. Before entering that closet we had agreed, no names and no attachments. Something happened in that closet, however. I'd felt more connected with Lucas Strong, than I had felt with anyone in my entire life.

That wasn't saying a whole lot though. I had an attachment disorder actually. I couldn't form connections with people. My therapist tells me that it's because of my upbringing. My biological mother was a prostitute who couldn't name my father. Or so I had been told, as she overdosed on meth when I was two. Then I lived in foster care until I aged out of the system at eighteen. I bounced around several families, but luckily they were all within the same area, so I got to attend the same school. I was basically just a means to a paycheck for my foster families, but I had Stacy and her dad, Hal. They were the only two people that I had really connected with, throughout my life. My therapist also told me that I used sex as a crutch. He says that it's the only way I let people get close to me and continued to tell me that it wasn't healthy. No shit, it wasn't healthy, but he didn't have to live with being me.

"Hey Beautiful, may I buy you a drink?" A deep voice to my left offered.

I didn't even turn to look at him, as the bartender placed my three shot order in front of me. I smirked, paid for the shots, and lifted one, saying, "Well, would you look at that? I don't need your drink because I already have three."

He muttered something about me being a cold bitch and walked away. I tipped the first shot back and thought, Buddy, you have no idea. I quickly downed the other two and decided that I needed to go home. I wasn't in a good frame of mind and if someone said one wrong thing to me, I just might lose my shit. I hopped off the barstool and teetered a little. Shit, I really should have eaten dinner before coming out tonight. I knew that Stacy would chew me out if she could see me now. I smiled sadly, missing my friend.

"Come on, I'll take you home." Someone suddenly took my elbow. I looked up, ready to give them a piece of my mind, but froze upon seeing that it was Lucas Strong. What was he doing here?

"Are you stalking me now?" I snapped.

Lucas glared, "No! I'm in here with a friend and saw you having trouble walking. I was concerned."

"Well, don't be. I'm fine." I tell him and jerk my arm free, but then the momentum had me falling. Lucas quickly grabbed me and pulled me upright. Him saving my face from injury would have been a good thing, if I wasn't now plastered against his chest. His rock hard chest. Damn it.

"Gloria, please let me make sure you get home safely." He whispered, pleadingly.

I squeezed my eyes shut as I whispered, "I heard rumors about you. You're not a nice guy, when it comes to women. So why are you pretending to be nice to me?"

"Is that what I'm doing? Pretending?" He asked, his voice laced with anger.

"I don't know what you're doing. We agreed no strings." I tell him and suddenly my whole body felt too heavy, so I leaned more fully against him.

"Christ, how much have you had to drink?" He cursed, as he lifted me into his arms.

"Enough." I tell him and pat his chest, with my hand. That's the only thanks he was getting from me, because I didn't have the energy for more. For some reason though, I found my mouth running away from me, as I said, "I don't feel sorry for myself anymore. That was my goal tonight. I drank enough. Now, I just feel sleepy."

As Lucas began to walk, carrying me, he asked, "Why were you feeling sorry for yourself?"

"Because nobody loves me. No, that's not why. Well, it's actually true. Nobody does love me. Stacy has Kurt and they have the baby coming. Hal has your mom. I've been left behind by the only two people who have ever cared about me." I tell him and snuggle closer to his chest. It felt nice to be held and he was warm. I could hear his heart beating against my ear and for some reason, it comforted me. I gave up the fight and let myself go to sleep.