Page 68 of The Home Grown
“Hang off your arm? You mentioned that already. The big deal is … this is my life. I’m not here for you to play with and use and?—”
“Wait, is this about Langer?” Disgust creeps across his face as his expression turns sour. “Are you into him?”
“No but if it was, it’d be none of your business,” I say. “This has nothing to do with Rick and everything to do with you using me. Find someone else to hang off your arm—I’m pretty sure you can pay someone these days.”
“Could I not?—”
“No,” I snap, pre-empting his question.
“Okay, okay … what if I get you a fancy ring to wear—one of those bridal sets? The extravagant ones,” he says.
“What part of ‘no’ don’t you understand?”
“What if I?—”
“Mike. Stop it. You’re not buying me anything. This is completely ridiculous. You’ll have to come clean and tell your coach. Tell him you made a mistake.”
Mike nibbles his thumb nail. “Nah, I don’t think he’d like that.”
“Well, that’s not my problem.”
He rubs his eyes before groaning into his hands. “This is a fucking nightmare.”
“I’m sorry that you’ve got yourself in such a situation, but it’s?—”
“Yeah, yeah … not your problem. I get it. But will you at least think about it?”
“No.”
“Okay, okay,” Mike says, “what if there was something in it for you?”
“Still, no.”
I turn back to the steering wheel and start the engine of my car, throwing it into gear before I speed off the forecourt.
Luckily, we’re not all that far from his parents’ house.
My tyres screech as I come to a halt outside, and I flash Mike the angriest of looks.
“So, will you?” he says, reaching for the door handle.
“I already told you, no,” I say.
“I mean think about it. Will you at least think about it?”
“Mike—”
“What if?—”
“No,” I snap.
And he nods once before opening the door and stepping onto the pavement.
BETTSY
I hardly slept last night,though not through lack of trying.
Usually, I lie down, close my eyes and count back from one hundred, drifting off somewhere after the seventies—I never remember, and I guess that’s the point. Last night I reached zero. Three times. My mind reeling over the conversation I had with Ellie several hours ago.
