Page 176 of Dark Love

“What do you disagree with?”

“Trusting people is a weakness. Being friends with people leaves you exposed.”

He’s right.

“Why haven’t you trusted people, Dahl?”

My therapist would say it’s some sort of learned trauma or distrust of myself. “Because it’s easier not to. And I’m lazy.”

“A woman that spends four hours making bread for a stranger is hardly lazy.”

“Even if she’s the same woman that plans to spend all of Sunday in bed reading?”

“How about we split our time between bed, the library, and my balcony?”

His balcony? “I didn’t see a balcony.”

“You didn’t exactly have a tour the last time.”

That means. “You have a library.”

Vex nods.

“Can we go see it now?”

“You sound like a kid asking to go out for ice cream.”

Ohhh. Ice cream sounds good too. “We could pick up ice cream on the way to your library.”

“Dahl, it’s nine at night, and you have to work tomorrow.”

The irritating man is right. “Party pooper.”

Vex chuckles, wrapping an arm around my shoulders. “We could pick up ice cream on the way back and eat it in bed.”

“See, now that’s a good answer. Then we can spend the whole afternoon Saturday and most of Sunday exploring your library.” I would have suggested tomorrow, but if I don’t get to work packing, I’m never going to get it done. Where did I stick those suitcases?

“Sounds like a plan.”

I should really tell Vex about next week, but not now. Right now, I need to decompress from the day with more sugar and safe arms.

Vex made me safe then, and he’s keeping me safe now.

“What do you think our lives would be like if we met each other as kids?” We could have dated all through high school and been that couple that everyone was jealous of. Vex might never have gotten his monicker.

“I’m glad we didn’t.”

There’s a resolute sadness in his voice. What happened when you were a child? Now isn’t the time to ask, but hopefully soon he’ll trust me enough to share. Will I ever be ready to share mine with him?

No.

Wednesday At Three

Vex

How can I go about getting cameras into Dahl’s office? Wait, I don’t know where she even works. Every morning, like clockwork, a car arrives to take her to work and the same car seems to drop her off every night. She has to be an executive somewhere to afford a service like that.

She’s organized enough to run a big company.

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