Page 75 of The Price of Love

“Yes!” I rush to my dresser and pull out a pair of black shorts with white lace trim and buttons up the front. “How about these?”

“Perfect,” Shadow says. “Put ’em on.”

I kick off my shoes and step out of my dress. Once I’m in the new outfit, I turn in circles trying to look at myself. Shadow takes a few pictures with my phone so I can see.

“I love it,” I say.

“The fuck?” Storm says. “Those shorts are way fucking shorter than that dress.”

She’s right, but I no longer feel exposed. “Doesn’t matter. I feel like a badass bitch in this outfit.”

Shadow smiles. “Like someone nobody’s gonna mess with.”

I smile. She understands.

CHAPTER 31

STORM

Shadow and I stayed with Dimples for a while after she settled on her outfit. I wanted to make sure she was okay. Now I’m nervous as I lead Shadow down the hallway to my room. It isn’t much, but I want her to see my space. Silly, I know.

I hold open the door, and Shadow enters.

“And this is it.” I sweep my hand out wide. “Not much to look at, but it’s home.”

“You’ve got a suite,” Shadow says.

I snort. “Yeah, ’cause I’m the president. But it’s not the Ritz.”

“It’s nice. Homey.” She walks to the wall with all my pictures and points to the eight by ten. “Aces?”

“How’d you guess?”

“The position of importance gave it away.” Shadow grins. “Plus, her name patch says Aces.”

“Cheater.”

“Hey, cut me some slack. I already figured it out.” Her expression grows serious. “What was going on with Dimples?”

“What do you mean?” I’m stalling because I don’t know how to explain.

“That wasn’t normal panic.” Her face falls. “That came out wrong. No disrespect, but she was losing it.”

I nod. It’s Dimples’ story, not mine, but I need to tell Shadow something. “She’s had a hard life. Sometimes I forget because she’s just so damned, uh, so damned—Dimples. But today was a reminder.”

Shadow’s eyes show her concern. “There for a bit, when you touched her cheek. You were trying to calm her, weren’t you?”

“Yeah, it grounds her. I thought she was gonna space out, but it doesn’t happen much anymore. I just feel bad I didn’t catch it earlier.”

“Space out?”

“That’s just what we call it. Doctors have a fancier name for it…uh…dis…disa—”

“Dissociation?”

“Yeah, that’s it. The way she describes it, it’s kind of like she leaves her body. Sees everything from outside herself.” My jaw tightens, thinking of why she learned to do it. “It’s how she protects herself.”

“I understand. I learned about it when I took a psychology class in junior college.” Shadow’s eyes fill with sadness. “I’m sorry she experiences that.”