Page 69 of Doc Showmance
Amber in a pair of skinny jeans and a form-fitting black T-shirt floored me. Her red-streaked hair danced down her back, free. Her curvy chest was in tight contour in the shirt. Her lips were shiny from some sort of pink lip gloss and her eyelashes mascaraed, making them stand out more than they usually did.
I gripped my cell phone in my palm tighter, not realizing how desperately I’d wanted to see her this morning, but now I second guessed myself and what happened yesterday. Did she remember? Had she meant it?
There was nothing I could do to rewind the choices I made in the car and after. I didn’t want to take anything back. I also wanted this to be our moment to do a real step forward. A sober step forward.
“Morning.” Amber looked guarded. “I had to get out of the house. Your brother… Good God, he walked right to the edge of the cliff of insanity and dived off.”
“I’m sorry for whatever he said. I packed all our stuff. We’re not staying there, not with him and my parents.” I took the seat across from Amber and next to Nabi.
“You packed us up?”
“You wanted to stay there?” I looked at her, eyes wide.
“Uh, no. I’m… Call me impressed by you growing some balls around your family.”
“I’ve always had a point beyond which I’m done. I said I didn’t want to do this from the beginning. It always degenerates into someone like Brock doing something unforgivable since he has no empathy, or Mom arranging me to get cornered with her choice of a future wife.”
“I’ve been treated like dirt before, but I’ve never felt quite as shitty as the way your brother spoke to me.” She lowered her tone to whisper to me, “He proposed a pity fuck and that you might be gay. He even said you were happy to share your girls.”
“You should’ve punched his balls.” I could dream. “Maybe even cut them off. He’s a soulless jerk.”
“I didn’t want to get anywhere close to his disgusting balls.”
“I broke his nose.”
Amber covered her mouth. “You didn’t.”
Nabi chortled. “Go Ian.”
As I started scanning for hotels on my phone I said, “Wanted to do worse. I’ll find us a hotel or a rental house, but we’re not staying there.”
“I knew you and Amber…that there was something real, something hot.” Nabi made a sound that wasn’t a laugh or a chuckle but more of a snorting happy sound. “Just watching you in real life… This is like being part of a fairy tale.”
“Not like any story I’ve ever read,” Amber said. “Can we go home now, Ian? I’ll even pay for my own commercial ticket. Happy to sit in the middle or ride in cargo.”
I didn’t answer. Because we were stuck. We’d agreed to do this. Did I want to be here? Nope. I dreaded the next time we had to get close to my family again.
“Well?” she asked. Her eyes raced back and forth over mine as she waited for my answer.
Sweat rolled down my spine. I wanted to say yes.
Say something.
Anything.
She crossed her arms and sighed.
“You look good,” I said to her.
“Do you really think a compliment is going to get you out of forcing me to endure more time with your family?”
“Maybe?” I tried to say cutely.
“It won’t.” She scowled.
“I’m sorry.”
“No, Marianna is going to be sorry.Sheshould come up here and spend time with them.”
