Effortless (Less Is More Book 3) Read online

“I just wasn’t sure if it has gotten to be too much yet.”

  “I don’t think it will.”

  She slides the card through the door-lock, and we push into the hotel room. It’s freezing, and I instantly walk over and adjust the air conditioning.

  “I’m not saying it will, I guess. I just know that these things usually end in one of two ways: you either fall in love, or one of you ends up getting hurt.”

  I set my bag down on the bed closest to the window and look over at her. I know she’s right, but so far neither I, nor Sam, seem to be in love or plan to break the others heart.

  “So, what time do we need to wake up tomorrow?”

  She pulls her phone out, and she says, “The thing is at eleven, so like nine or nine-thirty? Earlier, if you want to do anything before.”

  I leave my alarm on seven and throw my phone on the bed. I walk over to the window and look outside. There are lights everywhere, and the sun is just now starting to set.

  “It’s cool that they put you in such a nice hotel.”

  “I wonder what the book store looks like,” she says.

  I look down and see all of the people on the street. Some of them having no idea where they are going or what they plan to do tonight. They don’t think, and they don’t care, because they’re in a city that never sleeps, and they can do whatever the hell they want.

  We are going to go to sleep, though, because we are both tired as fuck.

  “Is it a big one or no?”

  “No.” She shakes her head and makes her way into the bathroom. “It’s a small, family owned one. I didn’t want to be at a big cooperation. This will draw people to their store and help them out, too.”

  I lie down on the bed and turn the TV on. I turn the sound down to where I can still make out what is being said and put the remote back on the counter between the two beds. I lay my head against the pillow and look up at the ceiling.

  This whole time, I haven’t thought about what Sam and I are doing as something that is going to end. I’ve been enjoying his company and assuming that he is enjoying mine, too. Not that I’m starting to wonder if we should be doing what we are doing, but it was dumb of me to not realize that this won’t last forever.

  ***

  “This isn’t as bad as I expected.” Sadie takes a drink from her bottle of water and sets it back on the desk. The desk is lined with copies of her book, and I think her hand is about done with signing.

  I look around the room and back at her. “This is awesome. You’re so… cool, right now.”

  She laughs and punches my shoulder. “Shut up.”

  “Seriously,” I shrug, “this is really cool. I mean I knew people liked you, but I didn’t realize just how many people did.”

  “I still don’t know why they didn’t make my first signing in Chicago.”

  “New York is where everything is at.”

  “True.” She yawns and looks at her phone. “Another half-hour. What do you want to do on this wonderful Saturday evening? Afternoon, I guess.”

  “Whatever the famous author wants to do.”

  She rolls her eyes and laughs. “To be perfectly honest, I’d really like to visit the library here. I’ve heard it’s beautiful. That, and I’d like to visit Central Park if possible.”

  I nod and watch another person come up and ask her to sign their copy of her book.

  “And,” she says, watching the woman walk away, “tonight we can get a drink somewhere. I feel like dancing.”

  Sadie says her goodbyes to the owners of the bookstore, and I lean against the outside of the building and people watch. I get my phone out of my pocket and see a message from Sam.

  Sam: Enjoying the smell of desperation and creative passion?

  Me: Of course lol. People watching atm.

  Sam: Me and Kelsey are going to go swim for a little bit. It’s so hot today.

  Me: Tell me about it. We are going to visit the library and the park here soon.

  Sam: Woah, don’t get too crazy today lol.

  Me: Have fun swimming. I’ll call you later tonight.

  “Let’s do this.” Sadie walks outside and looks down at her phone. “Library first, then the park.”

  “Is there anything else you gotta do here?”

  “Nope,” she says. She turns on her heel and starts walking in the direction of the library. I can make it out in the distance, and I can tell that she is a tad bit excited about it. “I know you don’t get it, but I just really enjoy all this geeky shit.”

  “I can’t stand to read, so no, I don’t get that part.”

  She laughs, and she says, “Honestly, you know how I’m so blunt about everything, but there’s a lot that I don’t say. Not as much secrets, I guess, but there are just feelings that I don’t know how to express in any other way besides writing. Reading gets those feelings out of me, but writing gives me the opportunity to express them.”

  “Today was pretty cool. Not because you’re this big, famous writer now, but because of what those people said to you. I might not get it completely, but they all do.”

  “And that’s all I’ve ever wanted with all of this,” she says. “The money is fantastic, but I like the satisfaction of touching someone.” Sadie pushes into my side, and I look over at her. A woman in a suit and heels quickly pushes past her and turns the corner. “What the fuck?”

  I laugh and wrap my arm around her shoulder. “Want to chase her down?”

  “We’ll let her live another day.”

  ***

  “I wonder how many people have been murdered in this park?” Sadie takes a bite of her pretzel and looks at the couple across from us that is kissing. “And how many babies were made here, rather than a bed.”

  The sun is starting to set, and I can already picture the hotel bed in my mind. It’s soft, beautiful, and ready for me to make it mine.

  I lean my head back and look up at the sky. “I wonder how many people have came here and thought about what the point of it all is?”

  Sadie turns and looks at me. I look over at her, laugh, and I say, “I’m just saying.”

  “One more thing to do before we go back to the hotel,” she says. She gets off the bench and holds her hand out to me. I grab ahold of it and get up off the bench. “I think I saw a bar by the hotel.”

  “Yeah,” I say, “a gay bar.”

  “Yes, that one.”

  She wraps her arm around mine and leans against my shoulder.

  “Does it have to be a gay one?” I ask her. “I’m not in the mood to get hit on.”

  “Come on,” she says. “It’s close, and I’m sure the service there is fantastic.”

  We get closer to the hotel, and I see the bar in the distance. It’s called “Gagg,” and the name already gives me assumptions as to what kind of people are inside. We walk in, and we see nothing, but women it seems like.

  “I thought this was a gay bar?”

  “It is,” she says.

  We walk over to the bar, and the bartender is one of the most gorgeous people that I have ever seen. He makes eye contact with me, and he smiles.

  “What can I get you two?”

  “Where are all the gays at?” Sadie asks him.

  He laughs and looks over at me. “They’ll be here later. This is one of the more toned-down gay bars in the city.”

  “With the name,” I say, “I figured it wouldn’t be.”

  “It’s the owners last name,” the bartender says. He leans onto the counter of the bar and looks over at Sadie. “It just so happens to mean other things. It wasn’t even a gay bar until they just started coming. The owner had so many customers that he just kind of declared it as one.”

  We sit down and order our drinks. The lights are low, but the bar is lit up. The dance floor is filled with girls who look like they are fresh out of high school, and I wonder if Sadie stills wants to dance or not.

  “Olli here is a bartender, too.” Sadie points over at me, and the bartender smiles at me again. />
  He sticks his hand out to me, and he says, “My name is Matt, by the way.” I shake his hand and pick my drink up again. “Do you work somewhere here in the city?”

  I shake my head. “We’re from Chicago. I work at a pub there.”

  “That’s a fun city,” he says. He looks from me to Sadie. “Are you guys just visiting?”

  “She had a book signing this morning.”

  His eyes grow wide, and he crosses his arms. “That’s awesome!”

  “It’s whatever,” Sadie says. She chugs her beer and wipes her lips. “Where’s the bathroom?”

  Matt points down past her, and she makes her way down the hall.

  “Bad day?” he asks me.

  I laugh. “She just doesn’t like the attention of the whole book thing.”

  He looks past me to the entrance doors and rolls his eyes. In comes a group of ten men, who already seem to have been drinking a good bit.

  “Here we go,” he says.

  One of the guys sits down beside me and raises his eyebrows. “Haven’t seen you here before.”

  “You come here a lot, I take it?”

  “Yeah.” He smiles and looks over at Matt. “Hey, gorgeous.”

  Matt nods with a laugh. “Arthur.”

  “Who’s this?”

  “This is my new friend, Oliver.” Matt raises his eyebrows at me. “He’s taken, though, sorry.”

  Matt passes him a beer, and Arthur says, “Damn.” He gets up off the seat and winks at Matt.

  “He’s a regular,” Matt says. “He will also have sex with anything that moves, so that’s why I said that.”

  I laugh and take a drink of my beer. “Thanks for the save.”

  “Are you?”

  “Am I what?”

  He smiles, and he says, “Taken?”

  My mind instantly wanders to thoughts about Sam, and I look at him with my mouth half open.

  I shake my head. “No. Nothing serious, I mean.”

  He leans on the counter just as Sadie sits back down at the bar.

  “What’d I miss?” she asks me.

  “I’m feeling a little sick,” I lie. “I know you wanted to dance, though.”

  She shakes her head and gets off the chair again. “I’m actually extremely tired. It hit me all at once.”

  “It was nice to meet you, Matt.” I get some cash out of my wallet and throw it down on the counter.

  He gives me a half-smile, half-frown, and he says, “You, too.”

  “Do you want to stop somewhere and get something?” Sadie asks me, turning the corner by the bar and making her way towards the hotel.

  “What?”

  “You said you weren’t feeling good.”

  “Oh, right.”

  She raises her eyebrows at me. “Or, were you lying?”

  “I just kind of wanted to get out of there.”

  “He was really cute, though. You probably could’ve got with that tonight.”

  “I’m good.”

  “I forgot,” she says. “You have a special friend back home.”

  “That’s not why.”

  “Whatever you say, Olli. Can we at least get something to eat? That pretzel wasn’t enough dessert for me.”

  Was that why I lied? Matt really was gorgeous, and I got the feeling that he was going to ask me what I was doing later, which is why I suggested we go. My thoughts did travel to Sam, though, when he asked me if I was taken.

  I’m not taken, though.

  We are just friends.

  Chapter Nine

  Sam

  I THROW THE NEWSPAPER IN THE trash and close my eyes. I have no idea why it bothers me so much, but it does.

  Andrew, my ex, is getting married.

  Braxton walks into my office, and I open my eyes, forcing a smile.

  “What’s up?” he says.

  I shake my head and roll my eyes. “I just read about my ex. He’s getting married.”

  His eyes grow wide, and he leans against the side of the door.

  I shrug, and I say, “We haven’t been together in years, but it just is really annoying.”

  “Do you know the guy?”

  “Yeah.” I get the newspaper out of the trash and hand it to him. “It’s the guy who he was fucking on the kitchen table the day I found out he had been cheating.”

  “Right.” Braxton throws the newspaper back in the trash and sits down. “Well, once a cheater, always a cheater. They’ll probably be divorced within the year.”

  I put my hands behind my head and look out the window. The windows off this floor are tilted inward and there is a ledge above the glass where birds perch and build nests. I look up and see a bird that, seconds later, shits on the window.

  I roll my eyes and twist back around in my chair. “Of course.”

  “Don’t let it bother you too much, man.”

  “I don’t even know why it has me in a mood.”

  He shrugs, and he says, “I can’t personally relate to that scenario, but I can say that it’s better that you aren’t the one marrying him. Trust me; he’s going to cheat on him eventually. Besides, you have a nice new toy to play with anyway.”

  I laugh and shake my head. “Oliver and I are just friends.”

  “Yeah, yeah. Just don’t let this get you too down. It’s not worth it.”

  I nod. “I know. How’s your day?”

  “It’s good,” he nods. “You’re, probably, not going to like what I’m about to tell you though.”

  I look at him, confused.

  He forces a smile, and he says, “I got a new job.”

  My eyes widen, and I smile. “Well, that’s wonderful. Why would that be upsetting?”

  “It’s in New York.”

  “Oh. When do you leave?”

  “Next month.” He frowns and gets up out of his chair, making his way over towards the window. “I mean I’m thrilled, but I’ve just established a great life here, so I’m back and forth on if moving just for a job is a great choice.”

  “What’s the job?”

  “The same thing you are doing now, but in film instead of video games.”

  I shrug. “I personally have always thought work was more than enough reason to go somewhere. Honestly, if I were offered a job in California tomorrow, I’d leave Chicago. I love it here, my friends and my sister are here, but you only get opportunities like that once. I feel like my job should be yours.” I see him smile. “What?”

  He turns around and crosses his arms. “I was offered this job in New York months ago; right around when Elizabeth was getting ready to get canned. I talked to Kenny about the position here, and I also talked to him about New York. He told me that he was also looking at you for the position, so I decided to take the New York job.”

  I open and close my mouth, lost for words at what he just told me. “You gave up your life here, for me?”

  He shakes his head. “I was already looking into New York. I thought you would make a good leader here, and I had been wanting to get away from this field and into film, anyway. Honestly, out of everyone here, you really are the most qualified. I knew that, and Kenny knew that, too, which is why he already had you in mind.”

  “I’m gonna miss you, man.”

  He smiles. “You’re gonna have to visit me. I already have friends there, so it won’t be like I’ll be alone or anything. I’ve just lived here for so long.”

  I wonder if I really would up and move if I got a job offer that made it all worth it. Not right now, but in a few years, would I?

  In a couple years, will I still be satisfied with this job and living where I’m living? Will I still be OK with being by myself and not in a relationship?

  Will Oliver and I still be on good terms, or will something happen that ruins our friendship?

  “So,” Braxton says, bringing me out of my depressing thoughts, “are you ready for your trip this weekend?”

  “I’m a little nervous.”

  He laughs. “Why?”

&nb
sp; “They haven’t really met Oliver yet. I mean they’ve seen him where he works, and he’s came over and talked to us, but they haven’t really gotten to know him.”

  “Are you afraid they won’t like him or something?”

  I shake my head. “No, it’s not that. I just don’t want him to feel overwhelmed or something. Plus, we’ve hung out a lot, but we’ve never spent more than one night together. I’m excited, but I’m also just nervous for stupid reasons.”

  “The fact that he wants to come says a lot about him. Plus, it’s Fourth of July weekend, so that will be fun.”

  “We’re all having dinner tonight,” I say. “To talk about the trip and everything.”

  “Seriously,” he says, making his way towards the doorway, “I think it will be a great time. Just make him feel welcome, and everything will be fine.”

  ***

  “It’s a four-bedroom, three-bathroom house,” Ethan says.

  We decided to have dinner at a local Mexican place, and we are just now getting around to discussing everything about the trip.

  Elliot leans back in his chair, and he says, “And it’s right by the water?”

  “Basically,” Ethan nods. “There’s a path that leads out close to the water.”

  I look over at Oliver who is listening very closely to everything that Ethan is saying. I smile, and I look back over at Ethan.

  “I’m just glad all you guys are going with us,” Ethan says. “I mean don’t get me wrong. I love when it’s just us, but this will be fun.”

  “There’s a boardwalk a little ways past the house,” Cody says. “We went there at night last time, and it was really nice. They have a bunch of food and rides and stuff.”

  “The last time I was at the beach was when I was little,” Will chimes in. Elliot looks over at him and raises his eyebrows. Will looks confused at first, then he says, “Oh.” He laughs and takes a drink of his beer. “I was, actually, just there not too long ago. It was cold when we went.”

  “But still nice,” Elliot says.

  Will wraps his arm around Elliot’s shoulder, kisses his forehead, and he says, “It was the best weekend of my life.”

  I smile and look over at Ethan who rolls his eyes.