Page 21 of Until Then

I squish my eyes closed.

There’s no doubt about it—I have a date with my vibrator tonight.

6

DERRICK

“What is this?”I glare at the plate Izzy slides in front of me with my so-called breakfast on it.

“Avocado toast and a boiled egg. It’s good for you. Healthy.”

I glower at my new tenant. “I’m not going to fall over dead because of a couple of slices of bacon.”

“Maybe not yet.” She sits across from me, the disgusting contents on her plate matching mine. “But in the future… you never know. You should be thanking me. I’m looking out for your arteries.”

“Thankyou,” I mutter.

She smiles beatifically, swishing her dark waterfall of hair over her shoulder. “You’re welcome.”

“This is that LA gut-healthy bullshit, isn’t it?”

With a roll of her eyes, she takes abite of her toast and swallows it before responding. “People all over love avocado toast. It’s not solely an LA thing.”

Grimacing, I pick it up and sniff it. “I’m going to be hungry five seconds after I eat this.”

“No, you’re not,” she argues. “It’s filled with good fats and protein. You’ll be surprised. Trust me.”

Trust Izzy? Not a chance.

Because I’m starving, and because, though I’m much larger than Izzy, I have a feeling she’d take me out if I even thought about getting bacon out of the fridge, I take a hesitant bite.

It takes a moment for the flavors to register, and when they do, shockingly, it’s not terrible. With another careful bite, I continue my assessment.

It’s not the greatest thing I’ve ever eaten. It’s a little slimy, the texture not quite to my liking, but it’s edible.

Izzy smiles knowingly. “Not bad, huh?”

“I’m not saying I love it,” I warn her with a pointed finger. “But it’s better than it looks.”

She does a little shimmy, basking in her win.

With the toast held out in her direction, I say, “I guess I can expect more of this shit in my future, huh?”

Wearing a smile so big she’s squinting, she nods vigorously. “Oh, yeah.”

For the next several minutes, we eat in silence. It’s not uncomfortable, but I still find myself racking my brain for a subject to talk about. Because strangely enough, Iwantto chat with her.

“I was thinking,” I say, pulling her attention from her plate, “we could take the boat out this weekend if you want.”

The way her whole face lights up makes me want to fist-pump the air in victory. She’s been morose in a way that, until now, I thought was impossible for someone as bubbly as she is.It’s only been a few days, but I figured she’d have perked up by now.

“Really?” She grins, bringing her toast to her lips. “That would be fun.”

I only got the boat out once last summer, after Lili begged for a solid week. I’m a sucker for whatever my granddaughter wants.

“Saturday good with you?”

She wipes her mouth on a paper napkin I don’t recognize. I tend to use paper towels. What’s the point of buying two products that have virtually the same purpose?

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