Page 36 of Hodge
“Well, you clearly have Duke’s attention.”
“I’m not looking for any attention.”
“That’s too bad because he definitely was checking you out,” she adds as I throw my bag up on the bed.
“I didn’t come here for that.”
“What did you come here for? I mean, I know you’re in some kind of trouble, but that’s all they would tell me.”
“Honestly, I needed a way from Hodge. My family is pretty fucked up, but then I was there with Hodge and he branded me and-” Dezzy cuts me off there.
“Branded you? How?” I turn around and pull the top of my jeans down, letting her see what he did to me. “Holy shit, Kemah.”
“Yeah. I wasn’t happy about it.”
“Why did he do it?”
“He said to give me a family and people who would care about me.”
“He wasn’t wrong. You can go anywhere you want and have a home,” she says.
“He said the same thing.”
“And you ended up here?”
“Yeah. It was the furthest from him at the time,” I explain, causing her to laugh a little.
“You have a thing for him?”
“No.”
“You don’t have to hide it. He fucked up letting you go, but he’ll come back. They always do,” she says as she drops onto the edge of the bed.
“He isn’t coming for me,” I tell her.
“How do you know that? Do you think he cared about you?”
“I wouldn’t know. I’ve never been in a relationship like that before,” I softly respond, feeling the embarrassment creep over me.
“It’s okay. You’re here now. You can start over, have a life. Find someone new and move on,” she says, waving her hand through the air.
“I’m not really looking for anyone.”
“That’s okay, too. Come on.” She stands and grabs my hand.
“I’d kind of like to be alone,” I tell her.
“Too bad. That isn’t an option here. We’re going to drink and have a great time. Besides, it’s Friday, and no one is going to bed early on a Friday.”
I reluctantly follow her out into the main room, where she leads me straight over to the bar. She quickly moves behind it and starts making drinks, sliding one across the counter to me.
“What do you think? Anything like back home?” Sly asks me.
“It’s nice. It was nice back there, too.”
“But?”
“But nothing. It’s nice here. Thanks for letting me come stay,” I tell him.
