Page 9 of Fake Dating Daxton Hawk
Whoever says I’m a pessimist is lying.
It’s twelve a.m. when the fire is extinguished and the same female police officer reports back to me on the side of the road. “Firefighters believe the fire started in your apartment from an electrical appliance.”
Jesus. The curling tongs. Did I leave them on?
I don’t say a damn word and act oblivious, but I know the fire had to be my fault. I’m a walking disaster. I’m just thankful all residents were evacuated well before the fire grew out of control and that no one was harmed.
“Do you have anywhere you can spend the night?” the officer asks me. “With family? A friend perhaps?”
“Ah… yes. I’ll figure something out.”
“Very well. Please do take care. Authorities will be in contact with you over the following days.”
The officer walks away, tending to someone else. I pull out my phone to dial Mina’s number. It takes me a few seconds of tapping the screen to remember the battery is dead. “Oh, screw you.”
A mother and her young child walk by, looking deeply offended by my words.
I send them an awkward smile. “No, not you. I was swearing at my phone. It died.”
The officer returns to my side. “I can lend you my phone if you need to call someone.”
“Thank you, but I don’t know anyone’s number.” Panic begins to creep up inside me once I speak those words. I have nowhere to go. No one I can call for help. My mind races with thoughts of sleeping on the streets.
I’ve made many friends through my dancing career, but don’t know where any of them live. As for Mina and Zac, they work late nights on Broadway and told me they’re attending the afterparty of some show tonight. Who knows what time they’ll be home to let me stay with them.
I sit on the front steps of a nearby apartment building and claw my hands through my hair, mentally running through my options. The stress of it all gets to me when I realize there are no options. Tears fall down my cheeks and I can’t stop myself from sobbing. I’ve lost everything in that fire and I’m literally going to be sleeping in a gutter tonight.
A soft hand pats my back, followed by the officer’s voice. “Can I at least drive you somewhere? A family member’s or friend’s house, perhaps?”
“I have no one.” I unzip my purse in search for a tissue. I always have a couple on hand to blot my lipstick, but keeping in line with tonight’s luck, I’m all out.
And then I see it.
Daxton’s business card stares back up at me, tucked into one of the pockets of my purse from the night we first met. The sight of it makes me laugh, because no way am I really considering turning to him for help. But as the seconds tick by, reality sinks in. Daxton is literally the only person I can turn to in this moment.
I look up at the officer. “Ah… actually, I would like to make a phone call, if that’s all right?”
“Certainly.” She passes her phone to me.
I swallow back my pride and dial Daxton’s number. This is truly rock bottom.
The phone rings for upward of twenty seconds. I’m about to hang up when I hear Daxton’s smooth, deep voice. “Hello?”
I clear my throat, assuring there are no traces of weakness in my voice. “It’s me. I’m calling from someone else’s phone.”
The line goes quiet and I realize Daxton still has no idea who’s calling him.
“It’s Delphine—”
“I know your voice, Delphine. You don’t need to clarify.”
The way he speaks my name does strange things to my chest. My name sounds intimate on his lips even though I’m sure he doesn’t intend for that at all.
“Look, there’s a water leak in my apartment and I need a place to stay tonight.” The lie slides out naturally, a defensive barrier, because I don’t want Daxton knowing anything about my life and I’m afraid that if I speak the truth, I’ll crumble with tears again, which I willnotlet him witness. “I would have called one of my friends and asked to stay with them, but my phone died so I’ve lost all my contacts. Is there any vacancy at your hotel?”
“I don’t manage reception. I wouldn’t know.”
His smug tone is the tip of the iceberg that pushes my stress over the edge. “A real great help you are. I could really do without the attitude, but apparently you don’t know how to communicate with someone when they’re in a stressful situation.”
