Page 214 of My Sweet Dollie, You Have to Love Me
She’s the only person in the world I want to touch.
Shane’s hands move, but he avoids her waist for some reason.
I’m looking into his weird ways too much.
I glance at my phone, avoiding causing more pain by looking out the window. And another twinge catches me right in the heart because there’s still no message.
It’s been almost four weeks since Dollie told me we shouldn’t be enemies, but I’m close to giving her a reason to hate me as Shane steps into my kitchen and leashes up my dog.
Well, Bubbles—Dollie’s dog.
Bubbles, who loves me. Bubbles, whose sad fucking eyes plead to me, begging me to prevent her trip to the park with this loser.
Cereal drips from my lip as my mouth hangs open in disbelief as he looks down on me. I straighten my spine, ready to grant the dog’s wishes and a few of my own, because how the fuck doeshe have the audacity to be looking at me like that while in my fucking house?
Dollie follows Shane into the room, still dressed in her giant hoodie that smells of my anxiety.
“It’s nice today, surprisingly. We’re gonna take her out for a little while.”
“You smell a little. Do you wanna change first?” Shane’s inability to charm Dollie almost makes me choke on a different kind of charm as the sugary thing lodges in my throat.
“I can get another hoodie. I did sleep in this one.” She inhales it at the collar, taking me in slowly while Shane stands at her side. Stepping up to me, a gentle hand pats my arm. So gentle, I barely feel it. “Are you okay?”
A soft smile hides the concern on her face.
I nod, not to make things more awkward than they already are, but my eyes roll when she goes to the reading room to switch hoodies.
It’s nice today, she said it herself. Why isn’t she in one of those dresses she always loved? Why does she want to hide away in a hoodie, like me, who is sweating my ass off.
That thought is interrupted by Shane as he says, “I know there’s tension between us, Ambrose, but I think it’s only right we try to be civil for Dollie. She was just saying she wants to give you a second chance. I’m not sure how good of an idea that is, but we can try, right? I mean, if things go well, maybe you’ll even walk her down the aisle to me.”
I don’t offer a reply. This cunt doesn’t deserve one.
I lick my dry lips, as my cold stare snaps to Dollie as she reenters from the reading room. She flicks through mail that must have arrived while she was out of the room. Giving her back to me, I see the white hoodie she wears, which has some kind of princess castle on the back.
The innocence of that is taken away as she twists around at Shane’s side, both of them standing on the other side of the table from me.
His hand slinks around her waist, and he leans in close.
Pretty blues twinkle my way, yet all I feel is rage, rushing down my flared nostrils.
Not noticing how I feel, her cute, rounded teeth appear in a smile as she looks at me, really looks at me, for the first time since I got home, seeing the man beneath the reminders of our shared trauma.
“Shane has today off and offered to get Bubbles a proper haircut. She’s gonna look like a real poodle.”
Is that why Dollie smiles? Or is it the wedding bells in the distance?
Forcing myself to contain my rage, I nod once and give a tight smile back.
God, I bet I look like my father. Tight smiles were his signature facial expression.
“See, I told you everything would be okay.” She smiles up at Shane, and I smile over at him, too, because her words indicate he’s concerned about me.
Those fading bruises leaving their lingering impact on him make me happier, but I’m still seething and need out of this room.
Shane’s eyes snag on the mail in Dollie’s hands, and my feelings of hate grow when he opens his mouth.
“Doll, look. There’s a letter from Markus Conway and Co.”
