Page 82 of Fighting a Riot

We drove back to the clubhouse after leaving Relax –Lisa’s furniture store, which was cool as all hell. Before Yak turned off the car, he looked at me. “You only have one more chemo treatment?”

I grimaced. “That was… kind of a fib.”

His eyes narrowed a touch. “What do you mean, ‘kind of’?”

My eyes darted to the side for a moment as I weighed my words. “I just met Lisa. And everything was upbeat and positive. Talking about chemo has a way of making everything very somber.”

He sighed. “You never have to worry about that shit when you’re with me, woman. Hell, Lisa and Rage wouldn’t have—”

I grabbed his hand. “I know they wouldn’t have, but at the same time I just wanted to change the subject and fibbed. But, to answer your question, I have a treatment next week like I said, and then three more after that.”

He powered off the car. “Wow.”

I grinned. “Then I do either proton therapy or radiation.”

“Then you’re done?”

I gave a slight frown. “Then another PET scan and we’ll see. Fingers crossed, I’ll just have yearly mammograms.”

His lips twisted. “That seems quick –not that quick is bad, but—”

I grabbed his tattooed forearm. “It was a small tumor, but given my family history, they were aggressive.”

He shook his head. “That moron is a serious moron.”

“What?”

His index finger traced the shell of my ear. “It’s one tough year for you, but I can tell you’re gonna move on like nothing happened. He couldn’t stick with you for this—”

“He wants kids. Badly. He’s the opposite end of the spectrum from you about kids.”

“That doesn’t—”

“It’s why he broke things off – or so he told me.”

His head reared back. “When did you talk to him?”

I shared about the work run-in with Destin.

When I finished, he kept quiet for a beat. “Guess I’m glad he’s an idiot.”

That was one way to look at it.

He unlatched his car door. “We’re sleeping here tonight.”

I threw him a sideways glance. “I have work tomorrow.”

“Call in sick.”

“No.”

He faced me. “Nora.”

“Yak, the next treatments are probably going to hit harder. I need to save my time. And I don’t feel that bad.”

His eyes filled with irritation. “There’s also a lunatic out there who broke into your home.”

“Or thought it was Roll’s house.”

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