Page 11 (1/2)
Except for that first day on the bathroom floor, I’d never seen him smile, never even seen hiht up inside My knees wobbled That couldn’t be nor all warm and happy just because he was I couldn’t afford to have any feelings for hiet out of this in one piece
"Thanks for putting up with me today, Mal," I said
"The pleasure was all o with hih"
David’s shtly against the base of"We’re out of here"
Mal grinned and winked at ?" I asked David
"Does it matter? Let’s just drive"
CHAPTER SEVEN
My neck had seized up Pain shot through htened and blinked the sleep froet the wheel and reached out, rubbing the back of ers "You okay?"
"Yeah Iin our surroundings, trying not to enjoy the neck rub too ood with his hands Mr Magic Fingers cajoled ly little effort I couldn’t be expected to resist Impossible So instead Ibarely aasTall, shadowy trees rushed by outside Trying to get out of LA, we’d gotten caught in a traffic jairl had never seen For all otten food and gas The rest of the time, Johnny Cash had played on the stereo and I’d practiced speeches in my head None of the words made it out of my mouth For some reason, I was reluctant to call a halt to our adventure and go off on irl panties and everything to do with how coun to feel with hi even, given the last day’s worth of dra freeing about it At around two in the aveto Monterey?"
"That’s whereup"
"Monterey?"
"Yeah What’ve you got against Monterey, hmm? Have a bad time at ato appear ungrateful "It’s just a surprise I didn’t realize ere, uhed and pulled off the road Dust flew and stones pinged off the Jeep (Mal wouldn’t be pleased) He turned to faceme in
"Talk to me, friend," he said
I opened my mouth and let it all tuoing to go someplace quiet for a couple of weeks until this blew over You didn’t have to put yourself out like this I just need to get my stuff froht" He nodded "Well, we’re here now and I’d like to go check out my place for a couple of days So why don’t you co deal It’s Friday now, the lawyers said they’d have the new papers sent to us Monday We’ll sign theht back in LA If you want you can lie low at the house for a feeeks till things calether then go our separate ways All sorted"
It did sound like a solid idea But still, I deliberated for a second Apparently, it was a second too long
"You worried about spending the weekend with aze held mine, our faces a bare hand’s breadth apart Dark hair fell around his perfect face For a ot to breathe I didn’t move I couldn’t Outside a ain
Was he scary? The ood measure
I don’t think he believedlike a creep back in LA"
"It’s okay, really, David This situation would do anyone’s head in"
"Tell etting the tat Anything else coe wasn’t soo Not with hi my life upended and splashed about on the internet Ridiculous, given nothing in my past was even mildly sordid Well, apart from the back seat of Tommy’s parents’ car "Does this eventhis conversation?"
"Guess so" He shifted back in his seat and put a hand on the wheel "You need to stretch your legs or anything?"
"A restrooreat"
"No worries"
We pulled back out onto the road and silence ensued for several minutes He’d turned off the stereo sometime while I slept The quiet ard now and it was allIt probably didn’t improve later in the day, but first up, without even a drop of caffeine to fortifyto talk, and I’d shut hiht is still a blur," I said
He lifted a couple of fingers off the steering wheel in a little wave Such was the su ht After that, it’s hazy I rehing, but that’s about it I’ve never blacked out in my life It’s scary"
"Yeah," he said quietly
"How did we roup of people were leaving to go to another club One of the girls wasn’t looking where she was going, bumped into a cocktail waitress Apparently the waitress was new or so and she crashed her tray Luckily, it was only a couple of eet involved?"