Free X-Treme Measure by S. N. Garza, Stephanie Nicole Garza Page A

a little bit.”
    “Well, happy money making day for you then.”
    “Thanks.” I walked to my room, and set my belongings on the bed. It really was such a huge bed. I didn’t really need so much space, but I wasn’t complaining. I couldn’t wait to sleep in this bed. Looking at the clock it was just a little after ten. I set my alarm, then climbed on the bed, sprawling my body out right in the middle and shut my eyes.
     

     
    By Monday, my hot neighbor, barely spoke to me. I mean, what the hell happened to make him become this cold-as-ice robot? He hadn’t been like that Friday night, or Saturday morning. When I got there Saturday night, he was brief and spoke to Reighlyn quickly before nodding a short thanks and leaving the apartment.
    Not that it was a big deal, I had a good time with Reighlyn. She wasn’t very open, but I understood why she was so closed inside of herself. Not once did I see her on the phone talking to a friend. She just read or watched TV. I thought I had made a small friendship with her, but Saturday night, it was like Friday night didn’t happen. It made me wonder if she and Daniel argued about something. My suspicions were confirmed on Sunday when after Daniel left and I asked her about the hospital volunteer thing, she said her dad thought that wasn’t a good idea.
    I was actually shocked at him saying no. Of course, I was a stranger, but hey, I wasn’t strange. It’s not like it would be anytime soon. I’d have to get to know her. She’d have to get to know me and learn how to trust me. Whatever Daniel must have said to her made her close in.
    Which made me kind of angry. Actually it made me a lot angry. I mean, I wasn’t the one that was desperate for a babysitter that I asked my neighbor. Which made everything deflate. It was wrong to think like that. It was my anger thinking. He did trust me with his daughter to watch over for the weekend, but he was cryptic with me and only said to call if there was a problem. He was a single dad taking care of a little girl who needed some female guidance. Of course, I remember him saying his mother took care of her the nights he worked, but Reighlyn seemed so closed in. She was genuinely happy Friday night when we talked about what we liked and the whole girl bonding thing. Maybe I was babysitting wrong. It’s not like I’ve ever done that before.
    Sunday, he had to leave by five and said he would be home around two in the morning. Weird shift but what did I know? I worked at a restaurant, shifts were what they were. Instead, he came home about ten, Reighlyn had just fallen asleep about twenty minutes ago when he came in, flustered and angry.
    I had tried to calm him down—big, and I mean BIG mistake. He growled at me, like a freaking Grizzly Bear.
    “Thank you, but I was cut early, you can go now.” He was curt. His voice was a low rumble of barely controlled rage.
    Since Reighlyn didn’t seem to want to talk to me and Daniel was being a beast, I had said goodnight and left. I was just trying to get him to calm down, he seemed like something was terribly wrong, but I was exactly what I was. A stranger. I didn’t need to get involved in their lives. He was a single dad supporting his child and I was a college student almost down on her luck trying to graduate.
    So why was I sitting in a booth at work, still worrying over it, two weeks later?
    “You totally need to go out.”
    My head lifted and Chirsta, another server, sat across from me and looked at me with pity.
    “No, I’ve heard about the times you and the girl’s go out. It’s a crazy, free for all.”
    “Ha. I wouldn’t say all that. It’s just girl’s night out. Sometimes some of the guys go with us. We hang, drink and gossip mostly.”
    “Not my cup of tea.”
    “I’m not one to judge, but you seem like you need it. Oh, hey! Next month is your birthday, isn’t it?”
    Was nothing secret here? “Yes.”
    “We’ll go do something. Have you ever been to a male strip