Page 188 of Smoke and Fire
She grinned. “I know.”
The calm silence filled me with a little more courage. For all she had to say on video, she didn’t put pressure on me now. Or maybe she had her own thoughts to battle. I certainly hadn’t forgotten the man she'd been halfway embracing. It gave me all the more reason to speak.
“Tomorrow and the next day will be my 48 hours off," I said.
“Will you return to the same fire afterward?”
She had a sip of a sugary strawberry drink, while I drank a root beer. Something in the classic flavor always drew me back to happy times with Inessa and Dad.
“Probably. We won’t know for sure until we go active when the 48 hours is over.”
“Huh.”
“Do you have to work tomorrow?”
“Not at the coffee shop, but I have this other boss that’s super sensitive about my work hours and makes me slave over his computer. I also have to take care of his cat, so he’s pretty needy these days.”
She sent me a sidelong glance that I pretended to ignore while I edged a piece of broccoli around my plate.
“You should refuse to work for him and play hooky with me all day.”
If possible, she brightened further. She already sat over there like a star. I couldn’t fathom what made her so happy. Her hands planted on the arm rests and she pushed herself up a little.
“Really?”
Until I’d extended the invitation, I hadn’t realized how much I meant it. How much Ineededit. Despite the piles of smoky laundry that awaited me at home, I had nothing to go back there for.
Why face it all alone again? Although it would go fast, the 48 hours of quiet in that house would feel interminable now that Dahlia wandered out in the world.
I swallowed hard, feeling as if this decision counted for more than just a day together. Whatever subtext it meant, I’d take on. It meant more Dahlia, so it would be worth it.
“Really.”
Her smile grew, lopsided at first, until it wreathed her whole face. It lit something inside me like fire.
“You got it.” She leaned back in her chair again, still smiling. “I’ll just tell him that I’m on my period or something. That scares all males.”
I sprayed root beer in front of me, unable to help myself. She dissolved into laughter.
It felt so very, very good.
21
DAHLIA
My eyes fluttered open early the next morning.
I groaned, but rolled out of bed and forced myself away from the groggy cocoon of blankets.
Heat already radiated up from the baked ground outside and wavered into the RV. It would be hot, hot, hot today. For more reasons than just smoke and fire.
Images from yesterday still whipped through my mind. Jakob. Katrina. Bastian. Pictures from my warm life in LA with old familiar friends and my favorite taquería just down the street.
The way Bastian swept into the Frolicking Moose and took all the air out of the room.
Today, I focused on Bastian.
Jakob’s final holds over me had dissolved yesterday, and the relief that rolled through me as a result felt buoyant. Inner Me gave a little sigh of relief at the thought.
