Page 31 of Psycho

It wasn’t like he would understand.

I had tried so many times to tell him what was going on at home, how hopeless I felt most of the time, and my guilt over my own feelings when it came to my grandma.

Garrett’s solution was to drink more, smoke more, and talk less.

So that was what I did.

Not the drinking and smoking—I would never let myself be that vulnerable with him or in the trailer with Dad—but talked less.

And now he wanted my words?

A flash of annoyance moved through me, and I knew it wasn’t all because of him.

It was everything that had happened.

“I don’t really feel like talking,” I said, digging inside the bag and pulling out the cheeseburgers. I handed one to him and unwrapped my own, taking a huge bite.

It was dark now, and I could barely see anything in front of me. It felt like we were in our own little world.

I took a deep breath.

Garrett watched me for a beat, and I pretended not to notice.

We ate mostly in silence.

It wasn’t until we had the wrappers thrown back in the bag that I asked, “Do you ever feel like getting out of here?”

“Out of the mountains? You want to go home already?”

I shook my head. “No, I mean, Sacramento.”

I handed him a water bottle before I took a swig of my own, to get the taste of the food out of my mouth.

He shrugged, holding the bottle between his hands. “Not really.”

I nodded.

Right.

He had a nice little business set up there. I doubted he would want to move elsewhere and go through the trouble of finding a new drug dealer.

He cupped my face suddenly and turned me towards him until I was looking over at him.

I shot him a small smile as he leaned in and kissed me.

I closed my eyes and tried to get into the kiss, but the problems that awaited me at home seemed like a pebble in my shoe that I couldn’t ignore. And it felt like it was pressing in deeper and deeper into my sole with each second that passed.

Plus, Garrett hadn’t taken a drink of the water, and I could taste the onion from his cheeseburger.

I wrinkled my nose and pulled away.

He looked at me with dazed eyes.

“What, babe?”

I opened my mouth to say what I didn’t know but didn’t get the chance.

He cupped both my cheeks with his large hands and pulled me back into the kiss, the silver rings he wore on each of his thumbs pressed in on my skin.

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