Page 57 of A Dangerous Kind of Love

Chapter 21

Michael

She talked me into watching Bring It On, reciting half the movie. I didn’t pay attention to the screen. I watched her. I watched the way she had most of the lines memorized, the way she leaned into me without thinking about it, and the way she looked over when she wanted to see my reaction to certain scenes. Now she’s stretched across the couch with her head in my lap, looking up at me while she talks.

She grew up in this house. She never knew her dad. The piece of shit ran out on her mom when she was pregnant. I listen while running my fingers through her hair.

Her mom started forgetting things when she was in high school. They were small things at first, then more. When she graduated, she stayed here and commuted to Cal State LA. That’s where she met Sarah.

“Right after graduation, my mom went to the grocery store and never came home.”

My hand stills for a second.

“We couldn’t find her for hours. The police finally did—down by the lake, feeding the ducks. She didn’t know where she was.”

I keep my hand moving through her hair.

“Early onset dementia,” she says. “That’s what the doctors said.”

She swallows.

“I couldn’t take care of her.”

She gives me a faint smile, but it doesn’t hold.

“I found a place for her in Britten Valley. It’s really nice. That’s why I work at the bar. It’s expensive, and insurance doesn’t cover all of it.”

“That’s a lot for a twenty-four year old to deal with,” I say, my hand still in her hair.

“I make it work,” she says.

“I have a question for you,” I say.

“What?”

“If money wasn’t an issue, what would you do? Would you have chosen to be a teacher?”

“No,” she answers immediately.

“That was fast.”

She smiles. “I’d be a painter.”

“A painter, huh?”

She nods. “I love art, but it doesn’t pay the bills unless you hit it big.”

“Why don’t you think you’d hit it big?”

She shrugs. “I don’t know. I couldn’t take that chance. Anyway, what about you?”

“What about me?”

She sits up, cross legged again, facing me. She’s right next to me, and her hand settles on my leg.

“I don’t really know anything about you.”

“You know I’m a CEO. You’ve seen my house. You know I like fruit roll-ups.”