Page 74 of Bae

I didn’t bother with it. I pulled it up into a massive knot on top of my head. Because I still had some flyaways going on that looked like horns, I fished out a yellow polka dot headband I sometimes wore when I washed my face. I used it to make me look less like Satan, then called it a success.

No, I didn’t care that the headband didn’t match.

I was just about finished when Romeo let himself into the bathroom, paused on his way past to kiss me on the temple, then went to the toilet to pee.

And this was marriage, folks. The real kind. Not the kind in romance novels.

Romeo had no qualms about peeing in front of me. Or doing any other bodily function, no matter how gross or stinky.

“Hey, baby,” he called, and I rolled my eyes.

“No,Romeo. I do not want to hold it for you.”

Men.

“You really didn’t call them?” I asked, putting my pajamas and hairbrush I didn’t use back into my bag.

“Didn’t have to. They’re family,” he replied simply.

Even after all this time, I still was surprised by the people I got to call family.

After he finished up and washed his hands, Romeo grasped me around the waist. “I wish I could come home with you today.”

I tilted my head back. “Me, too.”

“Rim!” B yelled from outside the door. “Your phone is going off!”

I wrinkled my nose. “Who would be calling me?”

I left the bathroom, and Braeden was there, holding out my phone. “It’s my dad,” I said because I knew Romeo was curious.

“I’ll make you a coffee,” he said on his way past.

“Dad?” I answered. He didn’t call very often, and when he did, it wasn’t this early in the morning. It made my stomach twist.

“Hi, Rimmel, honey,” he said. There was no trace of alarm in his voice.

“Is something wrong?”

“No, no. Everything here is fine. I’m still working, and I haven’t missed a rent check.”

“Oh, well, that’s great to hear,” I told him. Ever since my father lost literally everything and went to treatment for his severe (and frankly, deadly) gambling addiction, he’d been trying to rebuild some kind of life.

For a while, he stayed at my grandparents’ home while he searched for a new job (which wasn’t too easy to find after all the press coverage).

But then he got hired on at a construction site as one of the crew (must have been a bitter pill to swallow considering he used to be a foreman for his own business) and was able to save up to rent a small, one-bedroom apartment.

I hadn’t been back to Florida since everything happened. I’d only seen my father once (at our wedding), but I did still try to talk to him every week or two.

Up until now, I was uncertain whether or not our relationship could ever be salvaged. Sometimes I still doubted it. But if I could get to a better place with Valerie, then there was hope for my father.

There was an awkward pause between us while I waited to see why he called. He cleared his throat. “I just wanted to let you know I’ve been contacted by the press.”

“What!” I squeaked.

I felt several pairs of eyes turn to me from across the room.

“Don’t worry.” He reassured me. “I told them to shove their pile of cash where the sun don’t shine.”

---