Page 91 of The Price of Love

“The best.” She puts her other hand on top of our hands.

“I’m sorry I’ve been letting you down.”

Her eyes narrow. “Jesus, you think you’re letting me down?”

“I know I am.”

“Bullshit.”

“You’re pretty feisty for someone who looked like a raccoon ten minutes ago.”

She smiles, and this time, her dimples show. Removing her hand from the top of mine, she grabs her bottle and raises it to her lips. Her hand is still trembling but not like before.

Knowing Dimples as I do, I say, “Careful, you don’t wanna chip a tooth.”

She laughs. “Asshole,” she says before she takes a drink.

I return to my room in time for Shadow’s call. If Dimples had needed me, I would’ve stayed with her and missed it, but she kicked me outta her room. She knows Shadow’s been tentative—guarded—and it’s driving me crazy.

I wish she’d get on with it because her acting all weird with me is killing me. But I won’t tell her that. One thing I’ve learned from Dimples is patience. I can’t go in like a raging bull, expecting her to open up. As Dimples says, I gotta meet her where she’s at.

My phone rings. “Hey, you,” I say.

“Hey, back at you.”

Just hearing her voice makes my insides stir, while it also brings me peace. I lie back on my bed and cross my legs at the ankles.

“How was your day?” I ask.

“Better now.”

“Uh-oh, rough one?”

“If you call having a bedpan thrown at you a bad day, then yes.”

“Eww.” I laugh.

She chuckles. “You can laugh, but you’re not the one with urine in your hair.”

“Didn’t you take a shower?” I try to keep the repulsion out of my voice.

“I had to call you.”

The thought of her lying in her bed with piss in her hair leaves me speechless.

She laughs. “Jesus, you’re gullible. Of course I took a shower. Plus, they let me wash my hair at work. Did you think I’d go all day like that?”

“I didn’t know. If I stepped out of my bulldozer and fell in the mud, they wouldn’t let me clean up.”

“Then it looks like I have the better job.”

I laugh.

“You sound like you’re in a good mood,” Shadow says.

“I am. Dimples had a meltdown tonight.”

“That put you in a good mood?” Her tone is questioning, not accusatory.