Page 40 of Naz & Roz

Well, fuck her whole life.

“He’s not calling you back, or what?” Katya asked.

Roz sighed. “It doesn’t—”

“It does matter, or you would leave your phone alone, yes?” Kayta raised her eyebrows as if to dare her daughter to deny it. Roz chose to stay silent. That was her best defense when words wouldn’t work. And very rarely did words work when it came to her mother. Katya never fell for that kind of thing. “Maybe he’s just … busy? He is a very active young man, Rosalynn. I’m sure he’s not out doing something you—”

“I don’t think he’s with someone else, if that’s what you’re trying to say,” Roz was quick to interject. “I just don’t know where he is, or why he won’t answer my calls.”

Her mother nodded. “Hmm, did you ask your brother?”

“Called him this morning.”

“And?”

“And he said Naz was working. That was it. Working.”

Which told Roz nothing, and left her with more questions than answers. Actually, that was when the anger started to bleed away, and her concern really picked up. If it was just work, then her brother should have been able to give her more information, right? Why couldn’t Naz find five freaking seconds to call her back?

None of this made sense.

Katya sighed quietly. “You’re sure Luca said Naz was working?”

“I’m not deaf, Ma.” Her mother gave her that look, and Roz was quick to check her attitude. “Sorry.”

Katya pressed her lips together, and then hummed under her breath. Setting the cup aside on the counter, she pointed a finger at Roz and then said, “Give me a few minutes. Maybe I can help. But keep that bad mood for him, yeah? Not your mother, dushka.”

Roz smirked. “Got it, Ma.”

She didn’t know how exactly her mother planned to help, but it didn’t matter. Roz was distracted by staring at her phone again, and wondering. Love really was like a fucking sickness she couldn’t shake.

Maybe because it was a first love.

Her first love.

Was it supposed to feel like this?

All crazy and heavy and fragile.

Like if she breathed the wrong way, she was going to fall apart at the seams?

God.

“Get your jacket on, and let’s go,” came a new voice from the kitchen doorway.

Roz found her father standing there with a set of car keys hanging from his fingertips. Zeke flashed a smile, but Roz stayed put.

“What, why?”

“We’re going to go visit someone,” her father said. “And I didn’t ask for questions. I told you to do something. Get to it.”

Roz gave her father a side eye, but despite his words, his tone was joking in nature. Zeke flashed another smile, and twirled the keys around his finger. Another silent demand for her to hurry up, and get moving.

She got her ass up from the table, and moved.

“I thought you said we were going to visit someone,” Roz said, glancing over at her dad.

Zeke shrugged, and cut the engine on the car. “We are. Cross and Catherine.”