Page 46 of Not Catching Love

“Are all your clients as big of a pain in the ass as me, or am I a special case?”

“I think you’re interesting.”

“Poor you.”

His cheeks dimple. “I also think you have a lot to say, if you’d let yourself say it.”

I clamp my mouth shut, uncomfortably aware that I’ve given him too much.

I talk all I need to. At home, especially. If Sherwin thinks I’m going to walk in here and trust him with every little thought I’ve ever had, he’s an idiot. He’s done nothing to gain access to that side of me, and it’s not something I like talking about anyway. He already knows more than most people.

“You’ve had to be strong your whole life, haven’t you?” he asks.

I hum, not willing to give much away. “Ah,that’swhy my brain has cracked it.”

“Cracked it?”

“Gone fucking cuckoo.”

“Right. Tell me one thing you like about yourself.”

Like? About me? I don’t know how talking about that is supposed to solve all of my first-world issues, but I’ll humor him. “My hair.”

“And the second.”

It takes me slightly longer on that. “My eyes. No, my freckles. No. Eyes.”

He squints up into them. “They’re very purple.”

“Doc … are you hitting on me?” I pretend to curl my hair around my finger.

“It’s a fact, Xander. Is that your natural hair color?”

“Natural hair color. You’resofunny.”

He doesn’t bite.

“What do you like about your hair?”

“It’s bright.”

“And your eyes?”

“People always comment on them.”

He takes a moment. “Do people comment on your hair?”

“Sometimes.”

“Have you had any other color than blue?”

“Sometimes.”

“When was the last time it was your natural color?”

Before I met Seven, for sure. Maybe the foster family before him? No. It would have been the one before that. The family’s eldest daughter was always dying her hair black and did mine for me. I liked her. “Dunno. Maybe fourteen.”

“I applaud your dedication.” He runs a hand over his salt-and-pepper hair. “I don’t have the same level of commitment, I’m afraid.”

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