Page 56 of Overdue I Love You's
Oh God. Cal asked me in front of Dean. For what? To make him uncomfortable? My blood boils. How dare Cal? People make mistakes and sure, Dean is no Muhammad Ali, but he works hard. I’ve heard people say he doesn’t leave the office until everyone is gone—even the janitors. Mrs. Vuk mentions that he comes over every weekend and spends time playing chess with her. Azar says he doesn’t talk much but anytime he mentions what he needs, it’s at his door the next morning.
I know nothing about Dean as an ex-convict, but I know of him as a man and let me tell you, he’s a damn good one at that.
Whatever vendetta Callahan has with his brother, he needs to grow the heck up and deal with it like a human being and not a prick who doesn’t know which type of trash he belongs in.
Not recycling, I tell you.
“It doesn’t matter,” I say while looking at that sharp, bearded jaw.
Rhys shakes his head in disbelief. “We can never be too careful.”
Dean’s ear twitches and from watching him without realizing it in the past year, I know he doesn’t like the attention one bit.
Then why is he here?
“My dad’s an ex-convict,” I casually throw out. “I didn’t know him until I was ten years old. But guess what,” my tone sharpens. “He now spends his time farming fish.”
Rhys visibly flinches at that. “Nova, I didn’t mean?—”
“You did,” I don’t fidget from the eye contact. “And that’s okay because we all assume the worst. We’re humans after all.And,” I look at the group. “Don’t we all deserve second, third, and fourth chances in life?”
“Of course,” the sound comes from Katarina. But soon the rest of them follow.
When the conversation starts flowing again (thanks to Hina), Rhys excuses himself from the table, and I go back to jabbing a fork into cold meat.
My knee bangs against the table when a rough hand grabs mine from underneath.
Coughing, “Sorry!”
Pulling my hand away, I swallow gulps of water. Not daring to look at the culprit.
But he does it again once the coughing subsides. This time Ifeelit.
The hiss of our touch. A bottle of soda popping open. Carbonation sizzling through the air.
Dean turns my hand palm side up and traces out the words.
Thank you.
CHAPTER 15
Who made your heart flutter today? Send a message that you’d like them to know, your message will remain anonymous.
I click my phone shut. Plopping my head against the comfortable pillow, I turn to Hina who’s busy playing Stardew Valley on her phone. The face mask she has on makes her look right at home.
“You alright over there?” She asks me.
“Yeah, just thinking.”
“I know. I can hear your thoughts doing water gymnastics.”
“Oddly specific,” I turn my phone on again to stare at the text. “Did you already send your message?”
“Yep,” the comforting greens and yellows from her screen shine on the beige wall behind the bed frame. “It’s impossible for someone who isn’t a shadow daddy to make my heart flutter, so I picked the best mediocre option.”
“Which was?”
She lets out a hearty laugh before glancing at me. “Rhys,” she says. “Even though I shouldn’t be telling you.”
