Page 63 of Hesi-Dating
I should run.
Instead, I croaked out something unintelligible. I thrust the note at him. "Had to get a new phone number. I might be out of gas."
His brows scrunched inward. He studied me, his eyes unblinking. "What's wrong, Joley?"
Not even a"Why are you here?"He'd jumped straight to knowing something wasn't right.
I didn't deserve the concern on his face nor the lack of judgement. His genuine worry broke something inside me. He dealt with people who had real fears and problems, the kind that were imminently life threatening, not some community college flunk out with a jerky gang leader control freak terrorizing her life. Perhaps, both of those qualified as real-life problems.
The tears came in a starburst that blinded me. I progressed straight into choking sobs, which I hadn't done since Jamal, Nosh's brother, got murdered in high school. I didn't even know why I was crying. Some was relief at seeing him. Most was disappointment in myself and a fear of everything.
He pulled me into him and into the house, closing the door with his other hand. He wrapped me with strong arms that offered a refuge I didn't deserve. I wanted this more than I'd realized. I relaxed into his warmth while the tears continued. His scent surrounded me. I cried out everything inside me. When the tears dried up, I was left with dry sobs every few seconds.
I remembered the crumpled note still in my hand. "I…I should go."
He tilted my chin up to make eye contact. "What happened?"
With two words all the weirdness surrounding me ghosting him vanished. The trust was still there, and I craved it. This was why I was here.
I squeezed my eyelids shut and pressed my lips tight together. "I failed out. He was right. I'm just a dumb girl with big boobs who's not good at anything other than hookups."
"There's a whole lot wrong with that statement. Whoever said that doesn't know you. You failed out of hygienist school?"
I dropped my chin and nodded. "I couldn't hack it." A residual choke broke through. "My sister will be so disappointed in me. I wanted to finally make enough money that I could stop mooching off her."
"How about we slow down, and you tell me the whole story. Have some pie with me."
"Pie?"
He let go of me to move toward the kitchen. "Do you like yours with ice cream?"
"Uh…" I pulled the hair band off my wrist and wrapped my hair into a messy bun while I struggled to breathe evenly. I focused on stopping the low-grade sobs that still hit every few seconds. I wiped my finger under my lids to get any runny mascara, but suspected I looked a hot mess.
He pointed at his round kitchen table while he put two pieces of pie in the microwave.
I twisted my hands together as I sat.
A plate with a huge dollop of ice cream over a messy slice of what looked like apple pie slid in front of me. He put a second plate down for himself.
"Pie will help." He waved his fork at my plate before he took a bite. His eyelids fell to half-mast. "It's good. Trust me. Take a bite."
I sampled it. The rich flavors of apple, cinnamon, and the cold of vanilla ice cream caressed my tastebuds. "Thisisgood."
"There's this bakery in Del Mar that's the best. Every chance I get I try another of their pies." He took another bite. "Never been disappointed."
"Why aren't you angry at me? Why are you being so nice?"
He didn't answer as he took another bite.
I couldn't look at him. "I'm sorry I…" I put down my fork and added, "Left. Last time, I mean."It's what I do best.
"Seems like you had a few demons chasing you." His eyebrows slowly rose. He drawled out slowly, "Maybe they still are?"
"I don't deserve pie."
"Did you really want to clean other people's teeth for the rest of your life?" His gaze continued to pierce me, penetrating and serious.
I dropped my gaze to the pie. "Not really. I wanted a respectable job."
