Page 64 of A Hurt So Good

“You asshole! It’s a dolphin!” She squeals. The dolphin swims right past us, and Arya can’t take her eyes off it. “Oh my God, Denz. It’s a real dolphin!”

“I liked it better when it was a shark,” I tease her. She slaps at me as she keeps looking out into the water for more. When she’s had enough, I carry her back to the shore and set her on her feet. She takes off running toward War and Harlon, telling them about the dolphin. She looks happy. Her smile is bright as she talks animatedly about what she saw and how close it was.

This is how I want her to be always. I want to see this side of her more often than not. I want her to live her life and smile. I stand back and look at the three of them together, and I can’t think of a better way to spend my life.

I walk over and drop onto her towel before she crawls into my lap. I hold her tight as she sighs into my chest.

“You okay?”

“Yeah. I’m just thinking, is all,” she replies softly.

“About what?”

“Everything. What’s going to happen when I move out?” Now I laugh. I laugh hard, too.

“As if we’re going to let that happen.”

“I can’t stay in your dad’s house forever,” she reminds me.

“I didn’t say we’d be there forever. Who the hell knows, maybe we’ll get a new house,” I tell her. She pulls back and looks up at me intently.

“Really?”

“Yeah. I mean, I’ve been thinking about it. We’re making more money working for Dad, and Sasha would love it.”

“What about your mom?”

“What about her?”

“You can’t just leave her, Denz. There’s a reason you still hang around there, and it isn’t just Sasha.”

“You can read me like a book, can’t you?” She grins at me.

“I know a good heart when I see one.”

“There are days I hate her. Days I wish she would just die already and let us live our lives. But there are others I’m reminded that she’s my mom, she’s Sasha’s mom. I know things were bad growing up, but there had to be good times, right?” Arya smiles sadly, nodding her head.

“I’m sure there were.”

“Yeah, I’m sure.”

“Okay. Perk up, I’m hungry,” she tells me. I laugh and nod my head as she stands from my lap. She grabs her shorts and pulls them on before her tank top.

“She’s hungry,” I tell the other two.

“Me too,” War adds.

We pack up our stuff and head back toward the car when Arya’s phone chimes. She pulls it from her pocket as she watches the sand she’s kicking around. She stops walking for a second, looking down at her phone with a strange look on her face.

“What is it?” Harlon asks her.

“Nothing. Everything’s good,” she says before quickly sliding it back into her pocket. She starts walking again before leaping and jumping on Harlon’s back. Me and War share a look before he speaks.

“What do you think that was about?” he asks.

“I don’t know.”

“She’s been doing that a lot lately,” he says.

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