Page 67 of Love, Luck & Clusterf*ck

Preaching him on the virtues of patience was the whole pot/kettle thing again. I wasn’t the ideal role model for that, but I felt I’d done my best encouraging Stu to keep the faith after Kenny’s first rejection. I’d convinced him that he wasn’t so much as saying no as saying he just needed more time and wasn’t ready yet.

“You look happy,” Stephen said.

“I am. A friend of mine is getting closer to something he really wants.”

“Lucky friend.”

The next two were from Dre. I thought it was coincidental timing, considering.

Bad news, babe. They’re replacing the upholstery and carpet. Whatever got in there fucked it up too bad to surface clean. I’ll need to hold on to your car a little longer.

What?What?My gut turned inside out. I couldn’t even imagine how much that cost. The nausea was billowing up big-time.

“Perry?”

I brought up his second text:SorryI’ve been out of touch lately. Just have a lot going on. We’ll talk soon, babe.

“Perry?” he said again. He touched my hand and I jolted. “Sorry.”He withdrew it. “I just wanted to make sure you’re all right. You did a one-eighty in a matter of seconds. Bad news?”

I almost laughed. According to Dre it was. I was a shitty person and an even shittier girlfriend.

“Yeah, you could say that,” I said.

“Anything I can do to help?”

You already are. “I appreciate the rides. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

We were quiet after that. He didn’t push and I really liked that a lot. When we were almost to work, I said, “Let’s say you spilled something really bad on these seats.” I ran my hand over the leather. “And it wouldn’t come out, so you had to get the seats replaced. How much do you think that would cost?”

“Just the covers or completely reupholstered?”

“Um, I’m guessing completely. Oh, and the carpet too.”

“Well, this is a question I don’t get asked every day.” He glanced at me and I nodded. “Not sure exactly. I’ve never priced out something like that, but probably several thousand.”

I felt carsick so I cracked open the window. I kept hoping that he was cheating on me so my conscience would be alleviated. How very, very wrong was that?

“Is that why Dre’s using your car, because something spilled in his?”

“Something like that.”

He pulled into the lot and parked, then turned towards me. “Your down mood right now… are you the one who spilled it?”

One corner of my mouth lifted and my eyes felt all watery. “You could say that.” I was suddenly all emotional, my PMS finding an excuse to come out and wreak havoc. My period had started two days before, and usually I was even-keeled by now, but obviously, that wasn’t the case.

His features flashed a look akin to anger, and I felt even worse.Stephen didn’t seem obsessive, but he was still a guy with a truck. I was sure he could understand the hassle and expense involved with getting all this work done.

“Is he making you feel responsible?”

“Well, considering I am—”

“He’s making you feel this way over a fucking seat cover?”

I flinched a bit, his reaction throwing me. “Not just a cover, remember? And a carpet too.” I smiled, trying to boost it up.

“I don’t care what the fuck you spilled, Perry, or where you spilled it. He shouldn’t make you feel like this.”

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