“Poet, it’s already changed! You quit your job.You.You didsomething bold and crazy, and I’m so proud of you for standing up for yourself.”
“Yeah, and now I have no money,” I drawled. “This is what I get for following my bliss. It didn’t pay very well.”
“It was killing you,” she stated. “You haven’t been happy for a long time. I don’t want that for you.”
“You weren’t this supportive of Salem moving home,” I reminded her. “In fact, didn’t you have a meltdown over it?”
“Salem loves the city,” she said. “It wasn’t the same and you know it. But you . . . I think you’ll be really happy in Huckleberry Hill. If you let yourself.”
I swallowed. “What about you?”
“What about me?”
“You’re going to be all alone.”
“Don’t worry about me,” she said, straightening her spine so that the top of her head briefly went off the screen. “The models renting out Salem and Hadley’s room are very nice—they share their vodka with me. We’re cool. Anyway, I’m probably going to move into the Carrington’s penthouse. I’m fine. I’ll be fine.”
I fell silent as I thought about everything she’d said.
“So the guy . . .” she began.
“What about him?”
“Does he know you’re a virgin?”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
The Truck
“This isn’t gonna work for me,” I grumbled early the next morning.
Brooks looked at me from the driver’s seat of the truck, a smile flashing across his lips. “Not a morning person?”
“It’s six-thirty,” I pointed out. “I don’t do ranch hours.”
“Technically I should’ve been at the ranch an hour ago. But Mrs. Powell let me get a late start for you.”
“Oh God,” I muttered. “I’m gonna need my own set of wheels.”
Brooks turned onto Elk Ridge’s private road. “I get off work at three. We’ll hit the grocery store and then head to the apartment so I can change the locks. Sound good?”
I nodded.
He sighed. “Talk to me, Freckles.”
“About what?”
“About what’s going on in your head.”
“I don’t wanna.”
“It’s early and I’ve only had one cup of coffee.”
“Sex,” I blurted out.
“What about it?”
“Tonight. Do you expect it?”
