Page 122 of The Last Good Man

It was more than I had told her.

“What did he say to you?”

“That he liked me, and it wasn’t because he wanted to have sex with me. Apparently, he wasn’t after sex.”

The corners of her mouth slide down as she looks at me, disheartened.

Or maybe I’m projecting.

“What else did he say?”

“He asked me to give him a chance,” I murmur, my ploy of making a villain out of him swiftly failing.

“Why would he say that? He just met you.”

I shrug, looking at her as if I’ve eaten the entire bowl of candy, and trying to deny it.

“Why wouldn’t you give him a chance?”

Because he’s the twenty-something ex-convict who’s coming to you for anger management issues, I suppose.

And he’s fucking a married woman. Or used to fuck her. And if necessary, he can put out a guy with a punch.

Not exactly the guy you want to bring home and introduce to your mother.

“It was too early to give him a definitive answer,” Isay in my defense.

“Were you scared of him?”

I flick my eyebrows up, my jaw locked.

“Yeah. You were. I’d be scared too if someone would come onto me so strong.”

I don’t know if Dr. Aretha Stenson has someone in her life. I know she’s not married. And I’m sure there’s a reason for that.

It’s great that she validates my fears, but that doesn’tmake things better.

“So… What happened after that?”

“Nothing. I haven’t heard from him again.”

Her eyes go blank.

“I see,” she says in a dull voice.

Now she knows how I feel.

22

MELODY

I can’t say I’m not disappointed when I stop in front of Aretha’s building.

It’s not only because of the conversation we just had but also because there are no cars with racing stripes outside.

On top of that, no one follows me, no one calls me, and there are no messages on my phone.

Jax London fell off the face of the earth.

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