“Yes.” Her tone is different, like she knows she trespassed. “I’m finished.”
Heat burns in my stomach. I don’t need pity.
“Thank you for your time.” The ice wall is firmly restored. “I’ll change in my bathroom.”
“I’ll see you in a week.” She takes the towel from my slacks and uses it to wipe her arms.
Her expression is calm, and I wonder how we went from me having the upper hand to her acting like she knows some secret I haven’t shared.
She knows nothing.
“Your payment will be in your Venmo account in the hour.”
“Thank you.” Her soft voice carries as I shut the door.
When I return, she’s gone, but the scent of peppermint lingers. She also left a bottle of water on my desk with a note. It reads “stay hydrated” and has a little smiley face.
I swipe it off my desk ready to chuck it across the room when my phone buzzes. Glancing at the face, I see it’s a text from her. Sorry if I pushed you today.
My thumbs move quickly with my reply. I don’t know what you mean.
Several seconds pass, and she responds, It felt like things had changed in Oceanside. But you still don’t want to share your scars with me.
My answer is quick. I mixed a pain pill with alcohol in Oceanside.
It’s a dodge, but fuck it.
She doesn’t immediately answer. Gray dots appear then disappear… appear, disappear. Finally, she replies, I don’t sleep with intoxicated men.
I huff a laugh at her throwing my words back at me. I was angry just now, but she always manages to make me laugh. I don’t understand it. We’re going somewhere I’ve never been, and even when I fight, I still go back to her.
I have to get on top of this.
Lowering my device onto my desk, I don’t reply.
Chapter 15
Joselyn
“Tree frogs can live five to nine years.” Ollie sits on the opposite end of the couch from me holding his weird little pet with the oversized orange eyes.
He’s got on a gray-camo Old Navy hoodie, and he looks like a little man with his blond hair parted to the side. He’s such a cutie.
I’m using Judge Judy to distract me from obsessing over Spencer, and she’s about to go off on some schmo giving her an obviously fake story. I love it when she does that.
Glancing at Ollie, my nose curls. “Why do her eyes have to be like that? It’s creepy.”
“She uses them to scare off predators. If she were in the forest, she’d blend with the leaves. If something gets too close, her eyes pop up.” He does a little pop motion with his hand, and his brown eyes widen.
“She’s a freak.” I squirm, scooting farther away on the couch. “Don’t let her get on me, okay? If she got lost in my hair, I might have a heart attack.”
“She won’t hurt you.” He flops away again, giving me a disappointed face. “People think frogs are poisonous, but they’re not. They have toxins on their skin to protect them, but it won’t kill you.”
“Wait…” He has my full attention now. I pull my feet under me and move to a squatting position. “So you’re saying that little lady is toxic?”
“If a dog ate her, it would get sick. But it wouldn’t die.”
“How sick?”