like that, he was gone.
Several moments after he left, I hurried to the front window overlooking the street. Parked in front of the house, the passenger door of a taxi shut the second I glanced out. The car took off down the street and out of view, taking with it the sexiest man I’d ever met.
When had he called a taxi ? He’d been on the phone merely minutes ago. They couldn’t have gotten here so fast.
Unless the driver had been lurking about this entire time.
*****
“I can’t believe you gave him your wallet,” sighed Emily, kicking back on the couch as she flipped through the channels.
I’d just spent the last twenty minutes going over what she’d missed out on, hoping she wouldn’t pry for more details. I’d omitted a lot, particularly about Ben knowing my address. I didn’t want her to turn against him and then try and convince me to steer clear.
Besides, he’d been nothing short of caring and tender to me (if you omitted the harsh sex in the shower, of course). And he thought I was beautiful. Even with the Freddy Krueger scars, he looked at me with heat in his gaze, like he wanted to devour me.
“What if he was some murderer,” she went on, breaking me out of my thoughts. “You’re an idiot.”
“Says the girl that screwed a dude she didn’t even know last night,” I retorted, grabbing the remote harshly from out of her hands. “At least Ben and I talked. Do you even know the name of the dude you ditched me for?”
Her jaw dropped as she glared at me. “As a matter of fact, I do. His name was Darryl. And we did talk.”
“What did you talk about?”
“A lot of shit.”
“Like?”
She didn’t respond straightaway. Then she murmured, “I didn’t know you thought I ditched you.”
I rolled my eyes and shot her a sceptical look. “You threw some pothead wanna-be musician in my face to distract me so you could bump uglies with your prince charming.”
She shuddered. “Definitely not my prince charming, and I’m sorry about the pothead. I really thought you’d be interested in him. He was cute. And I wanted you to stand on your own two feet without me holding your hand every step of the way.”
“ I know.”
I settled on a mind numbing reality show and opened my text bo ok to do some idle studying. We watched a bit before she said, “Why did he take so long to contact you?”
I shrugged. “ He travelled for a long time, and he was busy with work.”
Her brows came together. I could see her brain working, but whatever was in there she didn’t vocalise.
“ So what went wrong with Derek exactly?” I asked, hiding my smile.
She grunted in disgusted. “Derek’s dick went wrong, that’s what.”
“Thought his name was Darryl.”
She paused and went red.
I let out a laugh. “Caught you, skank.”
She threw a cushion in my face. “Whatever. ”
We killed a day watching shit television and eating nasty generic ice cream until our bloated bellies made us look like heavily pregnant chicks. She spent the night in the guest room, and I chatted to Mom for twenty minutes before going to bed.
“Everything going alright?” I said, sounding upbeat.
“Great, and you? Did you have a nice night out?” she asked.
Downplay it, Claire! “Yes, it was pretty good, I guess.”
“I’m so glad, hon . I really like hearing that.”
“ Do anything fun?”
“Um, well,” she started, hesitantly. “I’ve done some things.”
“Like what?”
I could hear her moving around like she always did when she was nervous about something. I wondered what was wrong. This wasn’t like her.
“Mom,” I said gently, “whatever it is, you can tell me.”
“ To keep my options open, I started applying for jobs here,” she blurted out. “I got a call back at one of the hospitals. I have an interview on Monday. But… You know, I won’t be taking it or anything. I’m just… I just applied for the hell of it. I’d never
Several moments after he left, I hurried to the front window overlooking the street. Parked in front of the house, the passenger door of a taxi shut the second I glanced out. The car took off down the street and out of view, taking with it the sexiest man I’d ever met.
When had he called a taxi ? He’d been on the phone merely minutes ago. They couldn’t have gotten here so fast.
Unless the driver had been lurking about this entire time.
*****
“I can’t believe you gave him your wallet,” sighed Emily, kicking back on the couch as she flipped through the channels.
I’d just spent the last twenty minutes going over what she’d missed out on, hoping she wouldn’t pry for more details. I’d omitted a lot, particularly about Ben knowing my address. I didn’t want her to turn against him and then try and convince me to steer clear.
Besides, he’d been nothing short of caring and tender to me (if you omitted the harsh sex in the shower, of course). And he thought I was beautiful. Even with the Freddy Krueger scars, he looked at me with heat in his gaze, like he wanted to devour me.
“What if he was some murderer,” she went on, breaking me out of my thoughts. “You’re an idiot.”
“Says the girl that screwed a dude she didn’t even know last night,” I retorted, grabbing the remote harshly from out of her hands. “At least Ben and I talked. Do you even know the name of the dude you ditched me for?”
Her jaw dropped as she glared at me. “As a matter of fact, I do. His name was Darryl. And we did talk.”
“What did you talk about?”
“A lot of shit.”
“Like?”
She didn’t respond straightaway. Then she murmured, “I didn’t know you thought I ditched you.”
I rolled my eyes and shot her a sceptical look. “You threw some pothead wanna-be musician in my face to distract me so you could bump uglies with your prince charming.”
She shuddered. “Definitely not my prince charming, and I’m sorry about the pothead. I really thought you’d be interested in him. He was cute. And I wanted you to stand on your own two feet without me holding your hand every step of the way.”
“ I know.”
I settled on a mind numbing reality show and opened my text bo ok to do some idle studying. We watched a bit before she said, “Why did he take so long to contact you?”
I shrugged. “ He travelled for a long time, and he was busy with work.”
Her brows came together. I could see her brain working, but whatever was in there she didn’t vocalise.
“ So what went wrong with Derek exactly?” I asked, hiding my smile.
She grunted in disgusted. “Derek’s dick went wrong, that’s what.”
“Thought his name was Darryl.”
She paused and went red.
I let out a laugh. “Caught you, skank.”
She threw a cushion in my face. “Whatever. ”
We killed a day watching shit television and eating nasty generic ice cream until our bloated bellies made us look like heavily pregnant chicks. She spent the night in the guest room, and I chatted to Mom for twenty minutes before going to bed.
“Everything going alright?” I said, sounding upbeat.
“Great, and you? Did you have a nice night out?” she asked.
Downplay it, Claire! “Yes, it was pretty good, I guess.”
“I’m so glad, hon . I really like hearing that.”
“ Do anything fun?”
“Um, well,” she started, hesitantly. “I’ve done some things.”
“Like what?”
I could hear her moving around like she always did when she was nervous about something. I wondered what was wrong. This wasn’t like her.
“Mom,” I said gently, “whatever it is, you can tell me.”
“ To keep my options open, I started applying for jobs here,” she blurted out. “I got a call back at one of the hospitals. I have an interview on Monday. But… You know, I won’t be taking it or anything. I’m just… I just applied for the hell of it. I’d never
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