Page 93 of Always Salty

“Sounds like a plan,” I said as I grabbed my purse and phone.

I glanced at the phone, frowning slightly when I realized that it’d been a while since I’d gotten a text from Dima.

He’d said he wasn’t too busy today and would catch up with me around lunch.

Granted, it was only ten, but I would’ve thought I’d hear from him by now…

“You’re a little bit obsessed,” Copper teased as we got into the elevator.

I shrugged. “Is that a bad thing?”

He shook his head. “No.”

We rode down the elevator in silence, and I couldn’t stop myself from pulling my phone out and sending a text.

Me:

Hey, what are you doing?

Since I wasn’t expecting an immediate reply, I shoved my phone back into my purse.

When we rounded the building, I asked, “How are you doing really, Copper?”

He looked down at me, then back ahead before saying, “Are you asking me how I’m coping not being in a prison?”

“Yes,” I answered. “Though, I wasn’t trying to announce to the whole world you were in prison.”

He shrugged. “I was.”

“Copper…” I grumbled.

His lips tipped up. “Surprisingly well.”

I bumped him, which caused him to laugh.

“I’m doing good, sister,” he said softly. “I thought it would be harder than it was, but I think that it’s because I have y’all as a support system.” He hesitated. “I don’t think that I ever expected to get out and have money, though.”

I rolled my eyes. “What, you thought we’d all spend our money while you were in there and not have your back?”

“I wouldn’t blame you,” he admitted.

I pulled him to a stop with a hand to his sleeve and yanked his shirt at the collar, causing him to bend toward me.

“I don’t blame you for anything,” I whispered harshly. “I blame myself.”

His eyes widened. “What? Why?”

“Because what he was doing to me was the reason you had to go to prison in the first place,” I pointed out. “If he hadn’t been hurting me, you wouldn’t have reacted like you did. And I wouldn’t have stolen fifteen years of your life!”

He wrapped me up in his arms so tightly that I couldn’t breathe and lifted me off my feet.

“I would go to prison for life to stop him from hurting you ever again,” he whispered fiercely. “I love you.”

Tears burned my eyes and I closed them to keep them from falling.

I swallowed hard past the lump in my throat and said, “I never wanted you to go, though. I needed you with me.”

He smoothed a hand over my hair and said, “It’s okay now.”

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