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“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” Emily blurted out.
“I don’t understand how this happened! You were a freaking virgin until two weeks ago! You’re not the type to…”
Katrina’s voice trailed off, and Emily’s heart sank. Her friend knew her too well. This was exactly the line of thinking Emily had wanted to divert her from, but it was too late.
“Oh my God… Oh. My. God. When we talked about it, were you talking about… Did my dad—” She cut off, making a retching sound. “I think I just threw up in my mouth a little.”
“I’m so, so sorry,” Emily said again, wincing. “You weren’t supposed to ever know.”
“I can’t decide whether or not that makes it better,” Katrina muttered.
Phoenix looked up from where he was sitting on the kitchen table and meowed at her. Maybe it was her imagination, but it sounded a little judgmental. Sighing, she went to scratch his head before replenishing his water. She needed to go get him some food.
She hadn’t even thought to check on her car last night. She was so used to not having one, she hadn’t given it a second thought. At least she knew her dad hadn’t torched it too; that she would have noticed.
“Okay, so you and my dad did the nasty. And I do mean the nasty.” Katrina took a deep breath. “I’m not calling you mommy.”
“Oh my God, it’s not like that! It’s… I don’t know. It was a one-time thing.”
“Are you serious? Do you hear yourself? It’s already been a two-time thing! Unless… were there more times? I thought I was going to have to lecture my dad about taking advantage of you during an obviously vulnerable time, but now I’m thinking maybe you need a talking to about using my dad for his… Oh my God, I can’t even say it.”
Her voice was going a little shrill again, and Emily knew the joking was to get around her uncomfortable emotions. Katrina dealt with most things with dark humor. That wasn’t going to cut it in this case. They needed to really talk.
“Are you mad?” Emily asked softly.
“I… I don’t know what I am.” Katrina sighed. “I think… I think I need to think. It would help if I knew what your intentions are toward my dad. And what his are to you.”
“We said one night that first night.” Emily’s lips quirked up in a half-smile as Katrina made another retching sound. Unlike before, she could tell her friend was just milking it now. Well, mostly. There was probably some real feeling behind it as well. “And again last night. I just… I was really upset. My dad set the fire.”
Silence.
Emily bit her lip, waiting for Katrina to say something. Phoenix meowed again, trotting up to her and demanding attention, so she reached out to scratch behind his ears, and he batted at her hand playfully. She tensed because she didn’t know why her friend had suddenly gone silent. Did she not believe Emily?
“Well, dammit, how am I supposed to stay mad at you after that?” Katrina huffed. “Your dad? That fucking shit stain. What the hell?”
Relieved to change the topic, at least a little, Emily sat down as she started to relay the events of the previous evening, hoping this morning hadn’t irrevocably changed their friendship forever.
21
Uncomfortable Discussions
Damian
Coming out of his room, fully dressed now, Damian was relieved to see Emily sitting in the main room of the trailer, not crying. He took that as an indication the conversation with Katrina hadn’t gone terribly, at least. The phone was on the table in front of her, and the kitten was sitting on her lap.
Looking up, Emily gave him a weak smile. “She’s going to call back later.”
“Okay.” He ran his hand through his hair and cleared his throat. “So, uh, we need to go get Phoenix some new food. And supplies. I figured I could take you out to breakfast while we do that. We should pick up clothes for you, too.”
Emily blinked, as though she was trying to figure out the meaning of his words, which he’d thought were pretty clear. Then she frowned. “Don’t you have to work?”
“No. I’m going to call in.” Striding forward, he picked up his phone, which brought him right next to her chair. His awareness of her presence kicked up another notch, his dick twitching as if to remind him that they hadn’t finished their morning interlude. Apparently, his daughter only provided a dampening effect when she was actually present in some manner. Now that she was no longer on the phone, his body was back in business. Which sucked.
“The fire chief said they’d be back to look over the trailer today in the light, and I want to talk to them about it. Plus, you’ll need to file a police report, and I’m going to be there with you through that, too.”
She looked as if she were about to protest, but as soon as he mentioned the police report, she snapped her mouth shut. No, she likely wouldn’t want to do that on her own. She’d had her fill of cops when her mom had been arrested. And there was no way Damian was letting her go on her own. They weren’t all bad, but they sure as hell weren’t all good, and the ‘not bad’ ones had the bad habit of not intervening when the shitty ones were shitty. It was something he’d gotten into multiple fights with his cop twin about.
If Desmond was still on the force, Damian would have had no hesitation about sending Emily to him, but he wasn’t. So, Damian would be there for her and make sure no one gave her any grief.
