Page 113 of Force a Date

“Give her the week,” I issue out, not that I want to but it sounds like it’s needed. Then maybe I can mentally get my shit together to try and make this easier for the both of us because we never got a break.

Winslow doesn’t waste any more time with me and fucks off.

This might be good for us.

Yet, after that, I don’t know where it leaves shit. Because I still want her and that comes with a child.

A memory.

One that should’ve been a reality. A piece of fate that was given to me because maybe I wasn’t built for kids, and that has to be okay.

Or maybe it’s my second chance with the woman I can’t quit.

thirty-three

. . .

LIV

“Are you sure? You’ve never lived outside the state before. And this is a big move.”

I’m positive.

Terrified, but positive.

This is the only way I’m going to be able to forge forward and not be bothered by the current things that plague me and every single day that comes.

Especially when Miles texted me two days ago to tell me that my mother was looking for me at the parlor and then Mia had to shove me into our coat closet just to hide me inside our apartment because Mom didn’t believe I wasn’t here.

I’m done with the negative energy and I’m searching for a fresh start that might suit Rory and I both.

“I got this,” I tell my best friend, trying to manifest the words into feelings and actually being okay with them.

“I know you do,” Mia replies softly as she watches me begin to slowly pack up my bedroom. “It’s just a big change of pace.”

“But a good one. Rory will love the beach and being in California will obviously be closer to her dad.”

“But you’re moving to Eureka. That’s, like, on the other side of the state.”

I glance over at her, finding worry and anxiety written all over her face. “Did you want to come? You can surf the waves at Samoa Beach. Check out some red pandas at Sequoia Park Zoo. The food looks great.”

“I just don’t want you leaving to run away from your problems.”

My face scrunches up because I am, for one.

I never made it a mystery that I wasn’t. And two, I got a job there at a local food truck.

Leaving this place is a bonus.

“I’m not seeing the negatives here, sis,” I claim wholeheartedly. “I need away from my mom and sister. I need to stop feeling like I don’t belong.”

Mia stares at me before giving me a small nod. “Yeah…I get it.”

“Do you, though?” She bobs her head again and it makes me feel like shit.

Mia is just as alone as I am.

Her mother died when she was a kid. Her father was a drunk and was sent to prison. And she’s an only child.

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