“Chase!”
“I mean, sure, text me when you’re free again and I’ll call as soon as I can, bestie. Or as soon as I wake up. I think I’m gonna pass out soon.”He doesn’t sound disappointed, which makes me feel a little better about rushing him off the phone.“Hey, uhm, I’m serious, you know? I miss you.”
“Yeah.” I bite back the smile, but can’t stop the heat from rushing across my face. “I miss you, too.”
“You do?! As friends and all, right? Or whatever. Hey, when I get back, I want to take you out somewhere.”His words slur together again and I catch the yawn.“I’ll tell you about it later. You’ll love it. Pluto… Plato… Platonically. Not a date. We don’t even have to bang after, I promise. But we should because you’re hot.”
“Go get some sleep,” I giggle. The feeling of belonging comes back, a comfortable ease I have when talking with him. I wish I understood it and how his words can touch my soul. It makes me want to say things I don’t mean. “I’ll talk to you about it later, Puppy. Goodnight.”
“Okay, goodnight Sunshine. Don’t forget to text me!”
“So?” Teresa asks with a side glance when I walk back into the room. “Girl, you’re about as red as a damn tomato. Spill it now, or I’ll go to Dani for the details.”
“We kind of ran into each other at the school, and he took me out to dinner. Which turned into two days at his house, snuggling and watching movies while he followed me around like a lost puppy dog. It was adorable—and different.”
“Different good? No, never mind, I have a better question. Does he treat you right?”
“Flowers and lunch almost daily since he left for his trip. He cooked for me instead of telling me I could lose a few pounds. He tells me I’m beautiful all the time.”
“And?”
“He crawled to me on the first night,” my face scrunches up in embarrassment.
“Jackpot!” She kicks her feet in the air and screams. “How long have you been dating? Why didn’t you call me? How big is his dick?”
“We’re notdatingand you don’t even like dick.”
“What? Why aren’t you dating?”
“Because Chase and I are just enjoying each other’s company. I don’t need that kind of hassle and extra bullshit right now.”
She rolls her eyes, then leans toward me and her voice drops to a soft, secretive tone even though we’re alone in the house. “Have you told him about your thing?” She moves her arm in a whipping motion.
I can’t hold back the laugh I bark out. “Ma’am, you are forty years old and can’t even ask me if I tie his pretty white ass up and spank him.” I watch her face flush before she covers it with her hands, laughing. “Now who’s red like a tomato? Yes, he knows, and that’s as far as I’m taking this conversation. It’s nothing serious, no labels.”
“Alright, alright. You keep on lying to yourself with that bullshit, but alright.”
We talk about our lives in different cities while we share a pizza and some mozzarella sticks, like when we were kids. She tells me about her wife’s new job and how much the kids are loving the snow in Chicago. We don’t realize how late it’s gotten until we hear the car door. A few minutes pass before Mama comes barreling into the house, frazzled and arms full of bags.
“Everything okay?”
“I’m fine!” She shoots back.
“Okay, so why the hell are you charging in here like a bull on fire?” I stand to go peek out the window, curious about who drove her home and what could have her so riled up, but my car sits alone in the driveway. “Mama, did something happen at the senior center?”
“No, everything is fine. I told you.” She doesn’t even stop to say hello to Teresa on her way to the back of the house. Theresa and I exchange a glare.
“You want to put on the kettle while I try to talk to her?” I ask Teresa, and she nods. Anyone else would leave. But Teresa is family, which means she knows how hard-headed and hot-tempered my mother can be sometimes. I’m just like her in so many ways.
“Mama?”
She spins around before she reaches her curtained doorway. Her words cut deeper than any knife as she yells, “I don’t want to talk to you right now, Renate! I know what you did. I know because Luis told me!”
CHAPTER12
THE END
HALSEY
