She thinks for a moment. “Beau, usually, I’m really good at pretending I’m good. Even if my world is falling apart, I am able to laugh and act like everything is great. But there comes a point where I can’t pretend anymore. When that happens, I sleep basically an entire day, and it’s like something inside me is reset. I’m back to crazy, fun-loving Jo. Then, the cycle starts all over again.” Her eyes meet mine again. “Do you think I’m nuts?”
“Yes,” I joke with a smile. “But you’re my kind of crazy. I’ll make you a deal.”
“What kind of deal?”
“Any time you feel like you need toreset,you just let me know. I’ll make sure the rest of the world stays away from you for a while.”
“You’re too good to me,” she says. “I’ve ignored you all day, and you’re still willing to do something so nice for me. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” I kiss the top of her forehead as I hold her closer. “Are you hungry?”
“You’re going to laugh at me, but would you be mad if I went back to bed?”
“Anything you want, beautiful. Anything you want.”
Chapter forty
ADHD, One. Jo, Zero
Jo
After sleeping for damn near 24 hours, I wake up, feeling good as new. Okay, maybe not good asnewbut definitely better than I was yesterday.
I’m still not working at the shop today, but I decide that I am going to do my best to have a better day. No more depressed Jo.
For now anyway.
I spend my morning playing video games and then taking Mia for a walk. As I walk the streets of Lilly Leaf Falls, I try to thinkof something nice to do for Beau. He was amazing yesterday, and I’d like to show him my appreciation.
Yes, I could just get naked and do dirty things to him, but I think pairing something else with that would be a nice gesture. As I’m making my way through my second Red Bull of the day, I decide that I’m going to make him dinner.
If he can cook for me, I should be able to do the same for him. Don’t they say the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach? I guess that’s whattheysay, but I’ve always thought it was through his dick. Maybe that’s why I was attracting the wrong caliber of man for so many years.
When I get back to Beau’s, I get Mia some water and then start looking through his fridge. There are a whole lot of ingredients in here, but I don’t know how to make anything with any of them.
The extent of my cooking knowledge ends at pizza rolls or ramen noodles. Something tells me making either of those things wouldn’t be that impressive to Beau. You’d think I would have asked my parents to show me how to cook. After all, both of them are in the kitchen all the time at Andre’s. They are both excellent chefs.
When I was a teenager, though, asking my parents to give me cooking lessons was at the very bottom of my list of things I wanted to do. I guess that really came back to bite me in the ass.
Just like all of my other stupid decisions.
Not having a clue what I’m doing, I decide to call in reinforcements. Pulling out my phone, I scroll through to find my dad’s contact info.
It only takes a couple of rings for him to answer.
“Hey, my little Jo. What’s up?”
“Dad, I need your help.”
“Help as in you need money? Or help as in you need someone to help you bury a body?” He laughs, but I know his questionis partly serious. I don’t ask for help often, and when I do, it’s usually for some off-the-wall reason.
“Neither. I want to make dinner tonight, but I have no idea what I’m doing.”
“Why don’t you just warm up some ramen or something?”
“I’m making dinner for Beau,” I say after a slight hesitation.
“Ohhhhh.” He elongates the word. Where my siblings would use this opportunity to give me shit, and my mother would lecture me, my dad does neither. “Okay, kiddo, what do you want to make?”
