Page 103 of Turn

He threaded his fingers through mine and kissed my hand. We’d had more than our fair share of legal drama over the past few weeks. Not only had Curtis’s mother returned but the whole Parker Neely horror show was nearing a swift conclusion. He was pleading no contest to the assault charges, meaning he wouldn’t admit guilt but wouldn’t deny it either. The judge would likely offer him probation since he had a fancy lawyer and it was his first offense on the record but I was still glad I’d pressed charges. Cami had urged the newspaper to run several short articles on the case. Plus Debra had told me the news was all over social media among the old high school crowd and this time people definitely weren’t on his side. The more information was out there about Parker Neely the higher the likelihood that the next girl wouldn’t make the mistake of trusting him.

Parker wrote me a letter even though he’d been ordered to have no contact with me. I tore it up without reading it. I wasn’t interested in his phony apologies anymore. I knew what he was and I knew he’d never change.

Curtis was watching me. “What are you thinking?” he asked gently.

I pushed aside all thoughts of Parker Neely. “I’m thinking maybe we should take Brecken out to Game and Grill tonight.”

“You want to spend the evening listening to video games beep while eating greasy chicken wings?”

“Absolutely.”

“Then it’s a plan.”

I unlaced our hands and seductively ran my fingertip along his pulse point. “And afterwards we can make some different plans.”

Curtis was interested. “Tell me what you had in mind.”

“I’ll send you some dirty texts when I return to my desk.”

“Don’t hold back on details.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll be very explicit.”

He let out a low groan. “I can’t wait.”

I remembered something. “Oh, remind me to grab some more clothes when we stop by my folks’ house to pick up Brecken.”

In fact half my wardrobe had already landed at Curtis’s apartment over the past few weeks. I was serious when I told him yesterday that I’d been spending so much time there that I ought to chip in for rent. I wasn’t trying to take over his apartment but I knew he didn’t have a lot of wiggle room where money was concerned and since I was taking up space there all the time it seemed I should help. Curtis refused to take a dime from me though. I understood it was a point of pride with him so I didn’t push the issue.

“Now what are you thinking?” I asked after he was quiet for a few minutes and I saw how he kept watching me.

Curtis swallowed the bite of hamburger he was chewing. His expression was serious now. “I was thinking that I’ll never get tired of looking at you, of being with you, of hearing every word you say.”

He wasn’t shy about giving me compliments. Curtis was always telling me how beautiful I was, how lucky he felt. I never doubted that he meant the things he said. But right now he’d caught me off guard so I blushed.

“Sometimes you leave me at a loss for words, Curtis Mulligan.”

Curtis leaned forward across the table. “You know I only want to hear one thing.” He reached out and lightly traced my lips.

“Say it, Cassidy,” he whispered.

I said it. Loud and clear.

“I love you.”

---