Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 73828 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 369(@200wpm)___ 295(@250wpm)___ 246(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73828 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 369(@200wpm)___ 295(@250wpm)___ 246(@300wpm)
“Everything okay?” I ask.
“They keep sending this, and I’ve been trying to tell the hospital the insurance company is supposed to cover this shit.”
He sighs, and even though we haven’t been together that long, I recognize it from when I’ve caught him looking at other bills.
“It’s my fault,” Kitty says. “When Henry and I moved here back in the ’90s, I relied on him to take care of everything. He didn’t have the best credit, so we bought the house under my name. Didn’t realize that when he left, he’d be leaving behind all the debt…and a mortgage that he didn’t tell me wasn’t being paid. I thought he was, but he was just spending that money on blow.”
Tim looks to me uneasily.
I’m sure if she knew what he was up to, she’d have a fit, not just because of what he’s doing, but because of her own experience and Tim’s experience with drug addicts.
“And then I dragged Timmy on into it,” she says.
I like it when she calls him Timmy. It makes him seem less like this big, macho man and more like a kid. He even gets this playful look in his eyes—one that reminds me of a look he gets when we’re having a lot of fun fucking.
“None of that’s your fault, Nanna,” Tim says. “It was that asshole Henry. If he hadn’t spent all those years lying to you, everything would have been fine.”
“I just figured he was being honest,” she adds. “I trusted him.”
I share another glance with Tim. We both seem uneasy about it.
Trust.
I’ve never trusted anyone, and I don’t think—from what Tim’s told me—he has, either.
There’s still a part of me that keeps warning me not to trust him. But in a way, I have ever since that first fuck. Even before I had any reason to. I trusted him with my body. Trusted him not to take things too far. Not to hurt me physically. Although I wasn’t as worried about that as I am now about him hurting my heart.
After we finish breakfast, Kitty heads to the store, and Tim calls the insurance company to follow up about the bill. I sit on the couch in the living room, making my way through some homework on my laptop. I can tell by his shouting that it isn’t going well, and soon he’s storming into the living room, his face red.
“What happened?”
“Now they’re saying it’s not a mistake,” Tim says. He’s just in sweats, the light from the front window illuminating his beautiful body.
“They said they’re not covering it because technically they didn’t authorize the fucking tests,” he continues, “even though the representative I talked to last time said that it was all covered.”
“What? Have you called your doctor?”
“Yeah. They’re about as useless. Giving me the run-around. And I can hardly pay off the fucking house with business like it is.”
He sounds disappointed, not with the situation, but with himself.
“You’re doing everything you can.”
“It’s some fucking bullshit. I thought I was going to get ahead of things this year. I’ve knocked two liens off this house, and I thought with one to go, we’d be caught up in no time. And with how well things were going two years ago, it felt like a fucking no-brainer, but this year is so fucking bad. You’d think kids had stopped doing drugs.”
“Well, I know that’s not true,” I joke.
“The market’s changed so much. I don’t want to have to…”
His words trail off. “Have to what?”
“My supplier told me I could get in on a pretty good deal—one that sounds pretty lucrative. I’d probably be able to pay off some of my debt if I did. Maybe even if I just did it for a little while.”
The way his gaze drifts off, I can tell he’s seriously considering it.
I set my laptop beside me.
“Come here,” I say.
He shakes out of his thought and approaches me, slumping down on the couch.
I take his hand, interlocking our fingers.
“I’m here, regardless of what you need to do,” I continue. “I got into this relationship with a drug dealer, and I know what that comes with.”
The way he eyes me, it’s clear he knows better. That I don’t know the half of it.
“You know what I mean,” I add.
“Yeah. No, I appreciate that. When I got into this business, I kept saying I’d be careful. I’d keep it small-time. I don’t want to get in over my head. That happens to a lot of guys in this business, and then you can’t really ever turn back. The money gets good, and this shit becomes your whole life.”
“You’re not going to do this for the rest of your life,” I say.
He smiles, and even though I detect his skepticism, I can tell he’s just glad to have someone here with him right now.