“Say something," he pleaded, his smile vanishing.
“You did this for me?” I asked, wishing my brain would hurry and catch up.
“Yeah, I wanted us to have fresh start when you realize I'm the one for you. I knew you would worry if I didn’t get checked.”
I blinked at him, trying to focus around the tears building in my eyes.
“Hey, don’t cry. I feel like the weight of the world has been lifted off my shoulders. I was so worried I’d ruined my chance with you before we even began.”
“You know, a lot of those are cured by antibiotics, so it wouldn’t have beensobad if you’d had some of them.” I tried to make light of the fact that he went and got tested so he could have a chance with me. Sarcasm seemed to be the only thing keeping me from crumbling at his feet.
“I know, but I would have felt tainted, not good enough for you. Waiting for these results, hell, I thought I was going to go crazy.” He jumped up and swung me around. “Come on; let's go celebrate. Get dressed, and let's go out to dinner.”
Seeing Kill’s playful side emerge was contagious, and I couldn't help but feel his enthusiasm. I kissed his cheek and shooed him out of the room so I could get dressed.
“Hey, ready to go?” Kill asked when I made my way downstairs.
Everyone got up from where they were sitting in the living room.
“Are we all going?” I asked, trying to keep the disappointment out of my voice.
“Yep, this asshat has been such a dick lately. He owes us dinner,” Van answered, slugging Kill in the shoulder as he went by.
“Come on, Slick. You can ride with me,” Kill said, grabbing my arm and leading me to the garage.
Later that night, Kill held me against him. My body warmed to the strength his arms seemed to give me.
“What are you waiting for, Slick?” Kill whispered in my ear when he thought I’d fallen asleep.
My brain kept me awake the entire night, wondering the same thing. Before sleep finally claimed me, I came to the conclusion I was done being scared. I would take Kill for however long he would have me.
Chewing on my handful of Tums I took my phone off the charger the next morning. I stared at it in my hand and pressed the call button, knowing that when the person on the other end answered there would be no turning back.
“Hello.”
Tears immediately sprung to my eyes when I heard him at the other end. It was time. “Hey, Daddy, how are you?” My voice was surprisingly calm, given the emotions running through me.
“Hey, baby girl, what’s the matter?”
Why I thought he wouldn’t pick up on my mood was beyond me. It had been us against the world for too long.
“Nothing's wrong,” I answered, trying to convey the emotion equivalent of my fake smile through the phone.
“Don’t bullshit me. I’ve been taking care of you since you came into this world. Now, tell me why you called me this morning so we can figure it out.”
I smiled at his take charge attitude. His persistence was one of the reasons he was such a good cop.
“I need to tell you something, but I don’t need you to make a big deal out of it.”
“What is it, Faith? You're scaring me. I will fly down there and make sure you're okay if you don't start talking.”
I heard the panic and love in his voice, and it gave me the power to speak. “Dad, I broke up with Jason.”
He was quiet for a while.
“Daddy, are you there?”
“I’m here, baby girl. I'm just waiting for you to explain. I was afraid if I cut you off you wouldn’t continue.”
