“Being a cop?”
Her question blindsided me. A moment ago, we’d been debating which restaurant had the best Nutella donuts. Now she was asking me the one question no one had asked me since the day I’d left. The one question I hadn’t dared ask myself. I didn’t want to answer it. I wasn’t ready to deal with the answer?it would make it real.
“Sorry.” Mia dropped her head and unclicked her seatbelt. She was running. “I shouldn’t have asked. It was rude of me. It’s really none of my business.”
“Mia!” My voice was steadier than even I thought it could be at that moment. I was expecting to hear my shaking thirteen-year-old pre-pubescent voice come squeaking out. Reaching over, I cupped her face in my hands as gently as possible, like she was a fragile doll. “You’re the only person to ever ask.”
“Oh.”
“And yes. I do miss it. More than anything, I miss it.”
“Okay then.”
“Okay then.”
“Thank you, Derek. For everything. For tonight. For the drive. For just…I don’t know. I guess for being real with me.”
“Any time, Cinderella.”
I watched as Mia scooped up her things and reached for the door handle. It was now or never. I can’t remember ever being this nervous before. It wasn’t like me. I was usually a cocky, confident, some would say arrogant asshole. But with Mia around, everything was different. Everything had to be. She was skittish.
“Have dinner with me, Mia.” I hoped it sounded like a question not a demand, but with me, you never knew. There was nothing I couldn’t fuck up.
With a wide smile, Mia didn’t leave me hanging for long. Thankfully. “Okay.”
“I’ll call you tomorrow.”
“Sounds good.”
“Good night, Mia.” Dropping a chaste kiss on her cheek, I found myself hoping like hell she’d get out of my truck ASAP so I could breathe again. This chick was driving me insane. I didn’t know what to do or where to look. I could barely tell which way was up. She was intoxicating and infectious and completely under my skin. I needed to get some distance and some perspective.
“Night, Derek,” she half whispered as she slid from the seat, shut the door with a soft click, and headed inside.
I waited until she’d disappeared through the heavy wooden door before I pulled out and headed home to take matters into my own hands. Something I hadn’t done since I was a horny fifteen-year-old who just found his dad’s porn stash.
By the time I walked in, it was almost one in the morning, and I was surprised to see Zoe was still up. She was barely awake these days, and if she was, she was hardly ever out of her room. Something was changing with her. It was a change, but it was definitely a good one. I wanted it to be permanent, but I couldn’t get my hopes up. I couldn’t let myself believe that everything was peachy. Progress was happening and I was ecstatic, but I couldn’t push her. I refused to.
“Hey,” she mumbled as she stuffed another handful of popcorn in her mouth.
“Hey yourself. You’re up late.”
“Yeah. I started watching this stupid movie and then I couldn’t stop, so you know…”
“What is it?”
Zoe blushed. I knew she was embarrassed, but unless she was watching some weird porn shit, she had nothing to be ashamed of. “Police Academy.” I saw her wince. It was still a touchy subject, one we didn’t discuss.
“Cool.” I flopped into the lounge beside her and stole a handful of popcorn.
These movies were shit. They were old and corny and completely full of bullshit but still, they were always good for a laugh. So, that’s what we did. Sat there, side by side, and snickered at the screen. It was nice. Normal even.
It must have been some kinda of marathon they had running, because as soon as one movie ended, another started. Somewhere around three, Zoe crashed, falling asleep on my leg. I covered her with a blanket and removed the half empty bowl from her lap. When the next one finished, my eyes felt heavy and I knew I had to get to bed. A night on the couch wouldn’t help my aching muscles at all. As carefully as I could, I wriggled out from under Zoe’s head, noticing the damp drool patch on my thigh. I was unable to hold back the smile.
“Zoe…Zoe…” I cooed softly.
“Mmmm” she grumbled back at me.
“Come on. Time for bed.”
