Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 76203 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 381(@200wpm)___ 305(@250wpm)___ 254(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76203 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 381(@200wpm)___ 305(@250wpm)___ 254(@300wpm)
Finished, I made my way back to her bedroom to find she’d already neatly rolled what looked like almost every item of clothing in her closet, and somehow fit it in the case.
The other case was already zipped, and I figured it was likely bras and panties in there, and she didn’t want me to see them.
I, ah, I had to agree that it was probably a good thing for me not to know what they looked like. Or I’d be spending the next however long imagining her in them.
“Okay. I think that’s it,” she said, coming back in with her toiletry case. And a bag full of her full-size shampoo, conditioner, and body wash.
She was packing like she was moving in.
And I liked that more than was even remotely appropriate.
“What’s up?” I asked after she zipped her big suitcase. Then stared at her bed.
“Would it be really weird of me to bring my blanket?” she asked, gesturing toward it.
“Whatever you need to bring to feel comfortable doesn’t seem weird to me,” I said, shrugging. “I’ll grab another bag.”
I brought back two.
And was not surprised when she filled both of them with more items.
I knew a lot of guys who would call her high-maintenance.
I figured that she just liked her creature comforts.
“Anything else?” I asked as I grabbed all but the smaller rolling bag that she took and moved through the apartment.
“Okay, this is going to seem crazy,” she said, rushing across her living room to grab her records. “It’s just a comfort thing. Even though I have them all digitally,” she said, shaking her head at herself.
“I’m not judging,” I said, shaking my head. I didn’t think I cared about anything I owned as much as she did everything she owned. It was endearing.
“Okay. That’s it,” she told me with a firm nod, like she was trying to convince herself. Given enough time, she’d probably be taking the art off the walls.
But we put all her stuff in the SUV, then climbed in.
“Oh, word to the wise,” I said as I started the car. “Don’t touch the cat.”
To that, she looked over, brows scrunched.
“You have a cat?”
“The club has a cat.”
“Why can’t I touch him?”
“Because he has this quirk… he hates women. All of them. Even with several living in the clubhouse. I know you’re going to go all ‘I’m sure I’m the exception’ on him. ‘Cause all the girls have. But you have been warned. Everyone has scars from trying.”
“Noted,” she said with a nod. “Any other animals there?” she asked.
“ Dell has a corgi who will think you are his best friend in the world. Because everyone is. And Murphy has her two very well-trained German Shepherds,” I said. “You’re not afraid of dogs, are you?” I asked.
“No! No, I love dogs. I would love to have a dog. But the apartment…” she said, rolling her eyes.
“What kind of dog? If you could have one.”
“You’ll make fun of me.”
Not a chance of that.
“I won’t. Something small, right?” I figured. It would fit her aesthetic.
“I want a Pekingese. I know! I know. Everyone thinks they’re ugly. But I think they’re unusually cute. Especially the beige ones with the black faces. I could sit and brush one all day and night,” she said wistfully.
I wasn’t a dog expert, but my mind flashed with a long-haired fluff ball with a flat face. She was right. Objectively, kinda ugly. But I could see how she would think that it was in a cute way.
We fell into a silence as soon as we pulled onto the main street in town, and her gaze slid to the prison, every bit of her tensing.
“That’s not gonna happen,” I told her. And not only because Shady Valley Penitentiary only housed men.
“I need to believe that,” she said, voice small. “I, ah, I didn’t handle jail well,” she admitted. “Our bunks were in the common area. And there were like twenty or so of us. It was loud even at night. Thank God for Della…”
“Della?” I asked.
“Oh, she was in the holding cell when I got to the SVPD. She’s a sex worker. She went with me to County. And she’d been there before, so she kind of showed me the ropes. I think I would have been in a nonstop panic attack if not for her. But she was arraigned and released the next day.”
So she was all alone in a crowded, unfamiliar place full of perpetrators of unknown crimes, and not even a door to make her feel safer.
No wonder it looked like she hadn’t slept since I’d seen her last.
“Della,” I repeated. “Don’t think I know of her. But we can track her down if you want to thank her,” I said.
“That would be great, actually,” she said, giving me a small smile.
“I’ll talk to Jack.”