Page 33 of Doughn't Let Me Go

I hold my hand up, stopping whatever it is he wants to say. “Save it. We both know how this ends. I didn’t get the job. It’s fine.”

“But—”

“Please,” I beg, slamming my eyes closed, letting all the dreams I was secretly excited for slip away. I open them again, and he’s watching me with those piercing gray eyes I barely know but am going to miss. “Just don’t.”

He shoves his hands into his pockets, dropping his chin to his chest.

I take one last look at him, drinking him in.

It’s for the best, I lie to myself. I knew it was too good to be true anyway—the job and him.

Even if we hadn’t slept together, this would have never worked. I’m not that lucky. Never have been.

It’s for the best.

“Goodbye, Porter.”

This time, he doesn’t chase after me.

Slice Five

Porter

“Ineed you to send me everything you can about Doris Palmer.”

“Did you love her?” Mel asks excitedly. “I knew you would. I had a feeling about her when she sent in a passionate letter about how she just wants to help children along with her resume. Her heart felt so big.”

I squeeze my eyes shut, thumping my head against the leather headrest in my SUV.

Of fucking course Dory would send in a letter to her potential boss. She marches to the beat of her own drum. I don’t have to know her for years to see that. It’s obvious in the way she carries herself.

“Did she tell you how she’s going to use her salary to pay for a degree in social work? I mean, it felt like fate, given your history. I know how grateful you are for the woman who saved you.”

Another thump.

When Dory told me she was going to school to become a social worker, I almost busted out my checkbook and wrote one for enough to cover ten years’ worth of schooling.

The look on her face as she talked about it… Man, I could have kissed her in that moment. Not that she’d have let me, but still.

“She was really something,” I say into the phone, almost robotically.

Mel sighs, and I can picture her scowling. “What’s wrong, Porter?”

“Nothing.”

“I know you better than that, jackass.”

Not even Mel calling me names can get me to smile, and it usually does. I’m known for being a grump. Mel’s the only one who never stood for any of my moody shit. It’s a big part of why I hired her.

“I’m…I’m still trying to decide is all. I’d like to see her file.”

“Okay, but I have to warn you, there was one requirement of yours she didn’t meet. She’s not twenty-one yet, but her birthday is coming up in three weeks, so I figured she’d be close enough.”

“Just send the file, Mel.” My tone is clipped.

She doesn’t say anything for a moment, probably trying to figure out what’s going on. “Okay, I’ll send it over now. But, Porter, are you sure you’re okay?”

“Fine.”

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