Page 137 of The Last Good Man

He acts like he’s never seen me in his life and doesn’t care in the slightest about my red dress and sexy heels.

“Have a nice evening,” she says dismissively, and I nod and climb the stairs, my knees shaking all the way to the exit.

‘I need to cancel my Thursday session’is the first thought that crosses my mind as I walk outside.

MELODY

Moments later

He came on foot, took a cab, or someone dropped him off. Maybe he parked his car a few blocks away.

Finding a parking spot in this area at this hour is extremely difficult.

A gust of wind slides cold hands around my neck, shooting a shiver down my spine.

I wish it was a man’s hand.

This is my third and most epic failure to read a man in seven short days.

Wow.

I never thought things could go sobadso quickly. Tying my belt and hugging myself, I try to stop shaking.

I look up the street.

I don’t want to go home. There’s a small club around the corner. It’s usually packed, but the crowd is not that loud. They’re more into music, drinks, and the blue lights swirling around the space.

The bartenders are friendly, and they have snacks. Delicious snacks. I was there with Alice the night she announced her engagement.

I head that way, refusing to think about the man Ijustsaw.

I’m disciplined in every other way, but not when it comes to him, so I lift my gaze and look at Aretha’s windows.

The lights are dim inside her place––yet she was so worried with the stairwell lighting–-but that is not unusual.

She keeps her room as calming and soothing as possible for all her clients.

I imagine him out of his jacket, sprawled on that couch, leaning back into his seat, refusing anykind ofdrink, and answering her questions.

If he has been mandated to do these sessions as a condition for his early release, he doesn’t have tospill his heart out.

I wonder if Jax London would do it anyway. He’d sooner make up a story than give the scoop on his life.

I wouldn’t be surprised if he had done some research to offer her the correct answers and get off the hook as quickly as possible.

How strange this is.

I needed help to make sense of my dating life, and now there are things I can’t tell her.

Pushing the memory of him back, I pick up the pace, and before long, a neon sign guides me to a different world.

Hopefully, the time spent there will make me forget.

25

MELODY

I plop my rear into a seat at the far end of the bar, away from the live band, close to the window and the entrance.

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