Dannika Dark - Six Months

“Don’t sweat it, babe. I’ll be there in less than an hour. Just wanted to give you a heads-up so you don’t freak out and pull a machete on me when I come knocking on your door. And by the way, don’t bother cleaning. I’m not the queen.”

I laughed and put my feet up on the sofa. “I have a new friend living with me temporarily, and I don’t know if he’s going to like you very much.”

“Huh?” His clipped tone was serious and a little pissed off.

“Careful,” I said in a teasing voice. “Jumping to conclusions is an Olympic event.”

“I want that on a T-shirt along with my gold medal. So, who’s this friend whose ass I’m going to kick?”

“A dog. Well, I think. Maybe a wolf.”

“A what ? I hope you’re yanking my chain, April. If you brought a fucking wolf home, I swear to God.”

“It’s okay,” I said, getting up to open the door. “He’s just hurt and has macho issues.” I poked my head outside and whistled but didn’t see him. “I’ll make sure he stays outside tonight. Do you want me to wait up for you?”

“Nah. Leave the key in the grill and I’ll let myself in. Are you workin’ tomorrow?”

“Actually, it’s my day off. Um, I meant to ask you something.”

An amused laugh crackled on the other end. “This sounds good.”

“Do you want to go to a thing? I mean, it’s a party. Not the club kind, just a barbecue at a friend’s house.”

“Will adult beverages be served?”

“Probably. It’s a bunch of guys.”

“Magic words, babe. I’m in. Look, I’m going to take a whiz and then head out.”

“Too much information.”

I whistled a few more times, but there was no sign of my wolf. I slipped on a pair of sandals and walked to the grill to conceal the key inside. “Can you pick me up something for breakfast?”

“Don’t you have food?”

I chuckled. “Nothing I’m not already sick of. Might as well get something for yourself while you’re at it and stick it in the fridge.”

“Cool. Don’t wait up for me.”

With Trevor on his way, I put on a thin shirt and a pair of black shorts with a pink waistband. He didn’t care what I slept in, but I wasn’t comfortable enough with anyone to walk around half-naked.

Something roused me from my sleep in the middle of the night and I rubbed my face, staring down the length of my bed and through the open doorway. A dim light was on and cast a soft glow on the couch. Trevor was sprawled out with one long leg on the wall and the other bent at the knee. I couldn’t see his face because he had his nose buried in a paperback.

“Hey,” I said groggily, sliding my bare feet across the floor. “How long have you been here?”

“Ah, shit. Did I wake you, babe?” He set the book down and stood up, giving me a tight hug. “I got in about a half hour ago and holy hell, girl. You’ve been holding out on me,” he said, pointing at my new book.

“That’s book three.”

His brown eyes sparkled. “Good. That means I get to read it again.” He collapsed on the sofa, scrambling his fingers through his hair until it was sexy and all in his eyes. “First thing we’re doing tomorrow is getting you some food.” Trevor’s voice was borderline angry.

I bent down, picked up his leather shoes, and set them by the door. “I’ve been eating out a lot.”

“Don’t lie, April. That shit pisses me off. I know you’re not big on eating out because you have a thing about people putting boogers and spit in the food.”

“They do! I saw a show on it.”

He patted the space beside him and I sat down, curling up against him.

After a few quiet moments, I finally spoke. “It’s been so quiet around here. E-mails just aren’t the same. I miss our coffee-shop trips and our trashy-romance Sundays. Going to those garage sales in search of bad romance novels for a dime just isn’t the same. I missed you, Trevor.”

“Me too, babe. I don’t let go of a good friend that easily. If I moved to Alaska, I’d still be calling your ass. You’re like a ray of sunshine I’ve been missing all these months. Plus, nobody makes a tuna casserole like you do.”

I laughed and poked him in the chest. “You hate my tuna.”

We sat quietly and rain tapped on the roof like the impatient tapping of fingernails.

“It’ll get better,” he whispered. “Everything else going okay? Work?”

“Yep,” I lied. “Sometimes I just want to run out of this place.”

He sighed and held my hand, stroking his fingers over mine. “I can speak from experience when I tell you that running won’t get rid of your problems. They always catch up with you, and if you’ve spent your life running from them, you’ll be too damn tired to fight them off. Nobody’s going to help you in life, April. You’ve got to help yourself.”

“I just wish I had someone to take care of me.”

“Don’t be that girl, April.”

“What girl?”

“The one who needs a man to take care of her.”

I sat up. “Is that so wrong? I don’t want a man to make decisions for me, take away my freedom, and not allow me to work. Sometimes taking care of someone is loving them enough that you want to ease their pain and protect them. I care for these unwanted animals because they have no one to look out for them when they need it the most. Is it so wrong to love something that’s so far gone it can’t be saved?”

“You’re not a pigeon, April.”

I gave him my doe eyes; Trevor didn’t contradict me very often.

He wasn’t seeing my point.

“I’m not saying I’m weak, Trev. I’m just tired. Tired of living like this,” I said, waving my arm. “Tired of working my butt off and walking miles to and from work each day because I can’t afford a car. Do I complain about it? No, you’ve never once heard me complain about how unfair it is that some people get to live on easy street while others are struggling to make ends meet. But you know what? I’m tired of buying food at the dollar store, because the bread there sucks. I’m tired of seeing other girls my age going out every Friday because payday for them means dropping a hundred dollars on dinner and drinks while for me, it means clearing my debt and helping my sister. I’m tired of not having the things I deserve to have because that woman died and left me all her problems.” Tears streamed down my face. “I’m just so tired .”

Trevor wrapped his arms around my shoulders and whispered in my hair. “I’m so sorry, babe. I didn’t mean to make you cry. I get it. Shhh. I get it. It’s late and you’re exhausted. I just don’t want to see you give up so easily that the next guy who comes along thinks you belong to him. That he can push you around and walk all over you because he’s taking care of things. Remember shithead?”

He meant my ex who’d cheated on me.

“April,” he said, holding my face in his hands and wiping my tears away. “I don’t want you to think that you deserve that kind of love. I don’t want you to think it’s okay for a guy to fuck around or talk down to you because he’s paying your bills or letting you stay with him. You see where I’m going with this? If a guy loves you, he’ll buy you fucking Jamaica and walk away. He won’t hold that shit over you so you’ll—”

“I think our conversation train derailed,” I mumbled, sniffling as he looked at me and smiled. “That’s a little deep, Trevor. All I want is someone to take care of me for a change. It doesn’t have to be forever, just long enough for me to catch my breath. I’ve been doing good on my own, but I never wanted to grow up so fast. Even when my grandma was alive, I had to take care of the shopping and cooking. I’ve been more of a mother to Rose than a sister, and it shouldn’t be that way. I just want someone I can count on—a man who will turn the world upside down to help me find a slice of happiness because he loves me that much.”