Chapter 26
Chapter Twenty-Six
DOTTIE
T he day is over too soon, and I find myself sitting in my hotel room toying with my collar after Damon dropped me off.
I can’t wipe the damn smile off my face.
I can’t believe this is real, that I am in a relationship with Damon Woods, but the other part of me is wondering when the other shoe will drop.
However, amongst the chaos and niggling insecurity, one thing stays with me.
He loves me.
I grab my phone and open up to his last text message.
I already miss you.
That message came through the moment I walked through the door. The cheesy smile fills my face again, and I roll over and hug my phone to my chest, allowing the memories of earlier today to resurface.
Pulling my phone away, my finger hovers over his name, but just as I’m about to call him, there is a knock at the door that startles me. Snapping upright, my hand clutches my chest to steady my racing heartbeat.
“Open up, Wench! I know you’re in there; your deathtrap of a car is in the parking lot.”
Arrie. Shit!
I feel like I’ve been caught with my hand in the cookie jar.
I lock my phone, and give myself a pep talk, as I walk to the door to let Arrie in. Closing my eyes, I take a few deep breaths before jumping when Arrie knocks again.
I open the door to find her standing there with a shit eating grin on her face. She looks happy, and the contentment I was feeling moments ago is replaced with deep-seated guilt, and fear of her finding out.
“You going to let me in, or what?” she asks, pushing me out of the way and barging in.
Swallowing, I close the door and follow her in, unease prickling within me. Arrie turns around, her blonde hair flying around as she does, and then she’s pinning me with a glare. Before I have a chance to plead my case, she speaks.
“Where the fuck have you been lately? Even though you’re back home, I feel like we barely see each other,” she demands, finishing with pout.
Relief floods my system. This I can work with.
“You wanted me to help out at the workshop, paint a mural, and then I have my parents…”
Arrie’s features soften, and I feel like a lying sack of shit, but I can’t tell her the truth, not yet. Damon and I haven’t spoken about how we are going to break the news to her, or when.
My stomach churns with the motion of possibilities.
Will she accept our relationship?
Will she be angry?
Will she hate me ?
That last thought leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I don’t want to lose Arrie, but I don’t want to lose Damon. It’s a shitty situation I’ve found myself in, but there has to be a way we can work through this. There has to be.
“Earth to Dottie?” Arrie says, clicking her fingers in my face, and I wonder when she found her way in front of me.
“Yeah, shit, what were you saying?”
“How is your dad?”
The memory my mother and I shared resurfaces, but I’m not ready to tell that tale twice, not when I feel rubbed raw as it is. A bout of betrayal buckets through me because I usually tell Arrie everything, and the secrets seem to be piling higher and higher.
“He seems ok. For now.”
“Ok. Good. So, what are you doing tonight?”
I want to tell her I’m spent, and that I want to spend the night cuddled up with her dad, my fucking boyfriend.
I feel my lips lift in a smile before I can catch it.
“What is that smile for, cousin? You got some secrets to tell me about this new lover boy?”
You have no idea, Arrie.
“Not really,” I answer, shrugging.
“Bullshit.”
“What?”
Throwing herself on the bed, she pulls out a lollipop from her jean pocket, unwraps it and places it in her mouth. Sucking on it, she stares at me for a few moments, before withdrawing it with an exaggerated pop and pointing it at me.
“Well, that new necklace and giant hickey on your neck says otherwise,” she deadpans, with a smug as fuck smirk on her face.
I feel the colour drain from mine and then heat blooms over my entire body as I slap my hand to my neck, rushing into the bathroom to see if what she is saying is true. Arrie’s laughter follows behind me and I inwardly curse her.
Barging through the door, I stand in front of the mirror, moving my head from side to side to inspect the damage. Deep purple and red mars the left side of my neck, and the hickey isn’t small, it’s fucking huge.
Damnit, Damon!
On closer inspection, I come to realise it is also raw from the stubble on his beard. I’m going to kill him.
I look in the reflection to find Arrie sucking on her lollipop, a pensive look on her pretty face.
“What?”
“I feel like you’re pulling away from me, Dottie, and I don’t understand why. Have I done something to piss you off?”
“Oh god, no!” I say, rushing toward her and wrapping her in my arms. “You could never.”
“Then why do I feel this distance between us?” she asks, her voice breaking at the end, making me feel more like an asshole than I already do.
“I just have so much going on, Arrie. It’s nothing to do with you, babe.”
“Promise?”
“Of course.”
“Will you tell me about this new man?”
“We are taking it slow. I’m not sure if it will last,” I say, the lie singeing my tongue, but I don’t know what else to say.
She goes quiet for a moment, unwraps herself from me, and I hope she will leave it alone, because I don’t know how much more I can lie to her without it killing a piece of me inside.
“Will you tell me if it gets serious?”
“I will. ”
“Ok, but Dottie, you can’t keep pushing me away. I need you, Wench.”
“I need you more,” I admit, choking up as a tear falls from Arrie’s eyes.
She swipes at it angrily.
“Ok. Enough of this sappy shit.”
I grin and pull her out of the bathroom.
“So, tell me what’s going on with you, Adam and Connor?”
Her cheeks flush red.
“What?”
“We are taking it slow.”
I raise an eyebrow, remembering the look on Connor’s face when we were at the bar as he watched Arrie and Adam kiss.
“Connor seemed happy watching you and Adam pashing.”
“Ew! Who even says pashing anymore?”
I laugh at that, motioning for her to continue.
“We are just seeing what happens. No strings or expectations.”
“In other words, just fucking?”
“Dottie! Hush your hole!” she reprimands, but I see the smile breaking through. “I hate you.”
“No, you don’t.”
“Not even a little bit.”
We sit on the bed cross-legged and talk about Arrie’s restaurant and the issues she’s been having with some of the staff. She’s careful with what she says when she talks about the boys, but I can feel the happiness that surrounds her when she brings either of them up.
Whatever their relationship is, as long as it doesn’t hurt Arrie, I couldn’t give a fuck. I just want her to be happy, and a hopeful part of me prays she’ll feel the same when Damon and I decide to tell her .
A few hours later, we are huddled up on the bed eating pizza and watching one of our favourite movies of all time. 10 Things I Hate About You. We laugh at the same silly parts we’ve laughed at countless times, and we cry at the end when Julia Stiles reads her poem to the class.
The movie ends and Arrie stretches.
“I fucking love that movie!”
“Me too.”
Yawning, she grabs her phone and stands up to grab her bag. “I better get home.”
“Home to Adam, or Adam and Connor?”
“Shut up, asshole,” she jests, and the smile reaches her eyes. “I’m still sore from last night.”
I burst into a fit of laughter and follow her to the front door.
“Do I want to know?”
Arrie mimics a zip across her face and locking it before throwing the invisible key away. I smirk at her and stand in the open doorway while she juggles her bag and phone while searching for her keys.
“This is exactly what I needed, Dottie. Thankyou. I’ve missed you.”
“I’ve missed you, too.”
“Let me know what you’ve got planned for the rest of the week after work, and I’ll have Sally watch over the restaurant so we can have some drinks.”
We say our goodbyes, and when I close the door, leaning on it, I feel a little lighter than what I had when Arrie first rocked up. Locking it, I step away and make it to the bed as there is another knock at the door.
Grinning, I walk back to the door. “What did you forget, Wench?” I call out, assuming Arrie forgot something, but when I open the door, the person standing there is not at all who I was expecting.
“You’ve been a busy girl, Dorothy. Get your ass inside before I call my daughter back here and tell her exactly what you’ve been up to.” Aunty Kerry demands, a sinister edge to her voice, making my world tip off its axis.
The lightness and happiness that I was feeling moments ago, dissolves into a huge pile of nothing, leaving a harrowing and gaping chasm of fear and anxiety in its wake.
She knows.