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“Do you want him to come up here and insist he stick around until he’s sure you’re not going to end up in a psychotic state again?”
I spun around and plastered a smile on my face. “Thanks for taking me shopping!” I said cheerily.
“Too much. Way too much,” she muttered. “Just go inside.”
I slipped past her, relieved when I was out of sight. I waited by the window, peeking around the edge to see if he would leave. It took a minute. He stared at the door for a good thirty seconds before he finally turned and got in his truck. I didn’t breathe right until he backed out and left.
“Oh, thank God!” I sank to the ground, ducking my head between my legs.
“Wow, you’re really bad at this,” Vira chuckled.
I scowled at her. “Bad at this? I wasn’t doing anything. You started saying things that I don’t need to hear right now. I just got out of the psych ward. The last thing I need to think about is another man.”
“Girl, all you need to think about is another man. One who can give you proper orgasms. And that man can definitely check all the boxes.”
No matter what kind of look I tossed her way, it didn’t phase her. She just went on her merry way, not even considering the fact that she just pushed me off a cliff and into a river with no life jacket.
“I don’t need a man to check boxes. I need…I need…”
“Orgasms. The word you’re looking for is orgasms,” she said pointedly.
I got to my feet and stared at her, not even knowing what to do. I never stood up for myself. I never talked back to anyone. I didn’t even know how to argue with her.
“Vira, I would appreciate it if in the future you would not say things like that to me. I’m trying to get my head on straight, and the last thing I need to think about is men.”
She cocked her head at me and smirked. “We’ll see.”
Then she turned and sauntered out of the room.
20
JASON
“Carli!” I called out, wondering what the hell was taking her so long. I’d sent her upstairs to brush her teeth ten minutes ago.
I looked at my watch and sighed. I was supposed to be in a meeting right now, but instead, I was trying to convince my four-year-old to get her butt out the door.
“Carli!” I shouted again. “If you don’t get down here in three seconds, I’m coming to get you!”
I heard a giggle from upstairs and rolled my eyes. The kid didn’t even have any fear when it came to me. Maybe that was my fault. Had I been too soft with her? Hell, I didn’t know what I was doing.
“One!” A burst of laughter came from upstairs. “Two!” A squeal. “Three!”
When she didn’t come down, I got really pissed and stomped up the stairs, marching down the hall to her room. When I walked inside, she was nowhere to be seen.
“Carli, this isn’t the time for games. I’m supposed to be at work right now.”
I was trying to hold my temper, but she was really pushing my buttons this morning. She wouldn’t eat her breakfast unless I played a game with her, and then she refused to get dressed until I guessed which fairy princess she was. And since I wasn’t up to date on fairy princesses, it took forever until I got her dressed.
I heard a little giggle from under the bed and got down on my knees, searching for the little rugrat. “Get out here now.”
“Daddy, you’re supposed to say, found you!”
“I’m gonna be saying a hell of a lot more than that if you don’t get out from under that bed. I told you to brush your teeth.”
“I did, Daddy. See?” She spread her little cheeks wide in a smile as she showed me her teeth.
“Then what have you been doing for the past ten minutes?”