Page 27 of Sparrow

She moans and the sound goes directly to my cock. “You have no idea.”

“No food like this in Hollywood?” I take a bite of my sandwich.

“Well, I didn’t live in Hollywood, I lived in San Diego most of the time, and no. California is full of healthy, organic, vegan, green, tofu, and extremely expensive food. Not that there is anything wrong with that. I had many delicious meals there, but there’s nothing like good, ole Southern food.” She wraps her lips around her straw and sucks up more tea.

Fuuuuck meeeeeee.

“Well, I’m happy I got to be with you for your first proper meal back here.”

“I’ll be coming back weekly. You’ve awakened the monster inside of me.”

“I’ll wear that badge with honor.” I wipe my mouth with my paper towel. “So, tell me about how you’ve been since 2004. You can tell me as much or as little as you want. I just want to know about you.” I relax in my seat when I see that she isn’t going to deflect.

“My dad and I moved from here to San Diego roughly two weeks after you left for basic. I hated my high school at first, but I made some decent friends. My freshman year at San Diego State though, that’s when I met my best friend, Nora. She was a blessing.”

“Are you still friends now?”

“We are. She is still in California, though. I miss her every day.” Her eyes are sad when she speaks of her friend.

“That must have been hard. Leaving her.”

“It was, but sometimes you have to do things that are the best for you. Moving back home was best for me, and I’m glad I did.” Her eyes meet mine and she smiles.

“Were you able to go to culinary school like you wanted?”

“I did. It was everything I wanted it to be and even more. I learned so much and I still use the skills every day.” She takes a breath before she continues. “My dad died a week before my graduation ceremony.”

“Fuck. I can’t imagine how hard that was for you.” I look up, telling the server we are all right and don’t need anything else right now.

“It wasn’t easy, that’s for sure. After that, I took catering jobs here and there. Worked where I could. I never really found my spark, you know?” There’s a long pause and then the bomb is dropped. “I met my husband, Jaxon, four years ago.” She stares into my eyes, presumably to allow time for this to sink in.

“Husband? You’re still married?” Jealousy I didn’t even know existed inside of me boils forward.

“We are in the process of divorcing, but technically I’m still married. I’m hoping the divorce is final sooner than later.”

“Can I ask what happened?” I can sense, just from her body language, it’s been a nasty marriage. Her shoulders are slumped and they look tense. She’s fidgeting with her necklace too.

“Let’s just say, it’s a very long story.”

“Then I won’t push. You can tell me about it when and if you’re ready one day.”

“One day, Gray. I promise. Can I ask a question now?” she asks.

“You just did.” I laugh, trying to break the small amount of awkwardness created from talking about her husband.

“Ha-ha-ha. You know what I mean. Your daughter’s mother, is she still a part of her life?”

I don’t relish talking about Laura. It’s not a memory I dwell on, but I feel this need to purge myself to Amelia. To tell her everything. Every secret. Every story I’ve kept beneath the surface.

“No. She isn’t. She left when Cadence was six months old,” I admit.

“Left? Just like that? She left you and your baby?” She seems appalled.

“Laura was a very complicated human being. To this day, I still don’t have all the answers to her complex mental state. When we met, she was bright and funny. She seemed to have everything together. We met at a difficult time in my life. I had been home from the service just a few months. She was working in my doctor’s office at the time.”

Amelia doesn’t speak; she just listens and absorbs.

“We hit it off pretty instantly. We started dating, things got serious, we bought a house together, and before we knew it, she was pregnant. That’s when the switch flipped. It was like the minute she got pregnant, she hated me. We were never the same after that.

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