Page 39 of Vallaverse: Twist
“Why did you pick this house?”
“I liked the long driveway.”
“Do you pay Mrs. Richards enough?”
“I pay her as much as she'll let me.”
“Where is your office?”
“Down the hall?”
“Why didn't you find someone else?”
“Are you trying to pick a fight with me?”
I stab my fork into a pile of egg and lift it a few inches off the plate so I can watch it slide off the end of the fork. “Maybe.”
“Why? Did I do something wrong?”
“No,” I grumble. “I mean... no. You didn't do anything.”
“Don't lie to me. We're adults. If I've done something, you need to tell me so we can talk about it.”
I put the fork down on the table with a thud. “Fine. You should be angry with me.”
His brows furrow. “You're upset because I'm not angry with you?”
“Maybe.”
“Don't worry, baby. I am angry with you.”
My mouth falls open. “Why haven't you said anything? Why can't I feel it?”
“What good will it do either of us?” he asks. His voice is very level, very careful. “Do you want me to scream at you? Tell you everything you've done to hurt me? Obsess about the life we could have had if you hadn't left? Call you everything but your name?”
I nod.
“Well, I've already done that. I did that for the better part of eight years. I'm still so angry with you that sometimes it's hard to breathe, but that isn't what I want to focus on, so I don't. I don't want to act on those feelings. I want to move forward. With you.”
Stupid, infuriating tears fill my eyes, and I blink them away. “How can you just... How can you just move forward?”
“Therapy,” he deadpans.
I gape at him for a few silent moments. The Brooks who I knew before would not be moving forward, and he most definitely wouldn't be in therapy.
“What?” he asks. “I'm allowed to grow as a person. Just because I feel angry doesn't mean I have tobeangry.”
I'm still staring.
He rolls his eyes. “And you might as well get used to the idea because you start next week.”
“What?”
“You heard me.”
“Therapy? Are you serious?”
He levels me with a look. “Do I look like I'm joking?”
