“What?” His smirk tells me he knows exactly what I’m talking about.
“Quit looking at my boobs when I’m mad at you!”
Harrison rises and comes around to the side of the desk where I’m standing. I take a step back. He stops.
“C’mon, Bets. It’s no big deal.”
“That’s easy for you to say. Tell me, Harrison, what do you imagine Leah thought when she processed a fifty percent raise for a position that was already fairly compensated? Oh, and it happens to be your girlfriend who benefits?”
He closes the distance between us and reaches for me.
“No. You don’t get to touch me and pretend it’s all okay. You’ve embarrassed me.”
A frustrated huff erupts from him, and he runs a hand through his hair.
“We should start over. Let’s sit.” He plants himself on the couch and pats the cushion next to him.
I can’t see my face, but I’m sure I’m glaring at him.
I walk to the chair opposite him and take a seat. Harrison doesn’t say he’s annoyed that I chose not to sit next to him, but the tic in his jaw speaks for him.
“Tell me why you need money. Are you in debt?”
I jerk back. “This is what you consider ‘starting over?’”
“Delaney,” he growls.
“No. Don’t ‘Delaney’ me. First, I don’t need to tell you why I bartend, and if it’s for the money, I don’t have to explain myself to you. But because you’re coming across as an arrogant, judgy… person, I’ll humor you. No, I don’t have any debt. Not that it’s any of your business, but I’m trying to save money for my mom’s ongoing care. I will do whatever I have to do to make sure she doesn’t have to move again.”
Harrison is silent for a moment. When I’m thinking maybe he’s getting it, he shatters that illusion.
“Okay. That’s easy to solve. I’ll pay her room and board.” He shrugs.
I stare at him. I cannot speak at this moment because, if I do, it will not be loving. I close my eyes and take a few deep breaths before I open them again.
“Harrison, I am not a charity case and I?—”
“I’m not treating you like a charity case. My God, you’re my girlfriend. That’s why I’d do it.”
I stand and fix my eyes on his.
“Right. Okay. So, you’re not treating me like a charity case. You’d do it because we’re sleeping together.”
He throws his head onto the back of the chair and presses the heels of his hands over his eyes. A frustrated growl escapes him.
“Delaney, that’s not what I?—”
“I don’t feel well. I need to leave for the rest of the day.” I turn and race out of the office.
I’m already at my desk, my bag and keys in my hand, when I hear him call my name. I don’t stop, and I’m in my car and pulling away when I see him at the front door of the building.
My emotions were overwhelming for what felt like forever, and I drove. Forty-five minutes later, I found myself parked a few houses down from where I spent the last fifteen years of my life—our house. The place that holds the memories of the last time Mom was okay, and I was just her daughter. Her daughter, who didn’t yet know she was about to lose her mom by a thousand cuts over the next decade.
I dropped my head back on the headrest and fixed my gaze on the house as I sifted through memories of our life here.
I fell asleep and woke up several hours later with a crick in my neck and the sun gone from the sky. The only light that shone in my car windows came from the streetlights of my old neighbors. I looked around for a few seconds, then I drove away, once again leaving behind my home to go back to the place I currently live.
Between the afternoon nap in my car and thinking about my fight with Harrison, I barely slept last night. Now I sit here at the dining table, biting my thumbnail and watching the clock. I’ve been up since dawn and I’m waiting for it to be a reasonable time to go see Harrison. Because lately, being with him is the only time I’ve felt anywhere near home.
