Page 61 of Pelvic Flaws

I didn’t trust myself not to say something snarky, so I just smiled.

“He died alone,” she continued. “In a grotty flat, so there was some justice.”

I laughed as Katie raised her arms in victory and gave a little ‘yay’. She was too fucking cute and I really, really liked her – more than I’d liked any woman this early on.

When I met Cherry, she was fun and crazy and she was what I needed at the time. Mom had died and there were some days that I felt as though I was being buried alive with the grief. Dad was already in El Paso and apart from my studio, I had nothing to fill my time once the doors were locked – Cherry filled that time. She got me through it and I knew that gratitude was what kept me with her for so long and what made me feel sad about her passing.

“So, you and Carl were childhood sweethearts then?” I asked, thinking we ought to get off the subject of Katie’s shit dad.

“Yeah, we were,” she replied a little wistfully. “I sometimes wish we hadn’t been. Wish I’d had more experience, and I don’t just mean sexually.”

“You don’t?” I asked with a grin.

“No, I don’t.” She giggled and slapped at my arm. “I mean, I wish I’d travelled and done girly holidays or had a gap year. Don’t get me wrong, I loved him deeply and just wanted to spend the rest of my life with him, make a family with him.”

“And that’s what you did.” I reached up and moved some hair from her eyes. “So nothing to regret.”

“I know, but if we were meant to be together, we would have been even if I’d gone away for a while. I adore my kids though and the thought of not having them.” Her voice cracked as she put a hand to her chest. “Shit, that’s just an awful thought I can’t even contemplate.”

“Things happen for a reason,” I said. “Just like your car breaking down.”

Katie smiled shyly, dropping her head so that I couldn’t see her face. I drew in a breath as I watched her, wondering whether I should kiss her and get on with it.

“What about you?” she suddenly asked, stopping my train of thought. “You said you’d nearly got married a couple of times, tell me about them.”

“You really want to know?” I arched my brows. “Neither story is that interesting.”

“I don’t mind, I want to hear them.”

Her lips pursed as she waited for my response.

“Okay, first time was my high school sweetheart. I thought we were going to get married, but she wanted to go be an actress and left me behind.”

“Did she tell you she was leaving?” she asked, her eyes wide with shock.

“Yeah, she did.”

“Even though you were serious enough to consider marriage, she just left you?”

I laughed at the look of horror that had now replaced the shock.

“Yeah, but it’s fine Katie. I was upset for a week and then realized she’d done the right thing. We were too young. Plus, I wasn’t really what her parents wanted for her.”

“Let me guess, they wanted some smarmy executive without tattoos.”

“Something like that, although I didn’t have tats then either. They all started when I went to work for Sam. Point is, I’m pretty glad she left me. If she hadn’t I may have found some secure, boring job to support her, then she’d have resented me because she wasn’t acting and we’d have probably divorced within five years.”

Katie looked totally floored by this and slapped a hand to her chest. “That’s so sad.”

“Katie Cat,” I said on a low laugh. “It didn’t actually happen like that. She went to LA and I stayed behind and spent three years having sex with girls my buddy went to college with. It was all good.”

“Okay,” she replied, sounding less than convinced. “So what about the second time, what happened there?”

“That was with my ex, Cherry. The woman I was with for three years. It started more fun than anything and we kinda fell into living together.”

“Sooo romantic,” she quipped.

I squeezed her knee, making her squeak. “I can be romantic.”

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