Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 78142 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 391(@200wpm)___ 313(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78142 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 391(@200wpm)___ 313(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
I tug on my lip a minute, thinking about how to respond. I’ve never had my heart broken. I’ve never really cared enough about another human being that it was even an issue. I’ve dated. I’ve even been sort of serious on occasion. The relationships always ended, and it was usually a mutual decision. I was sad for a day or two, took the excuse to eat a pint of ice cream even though I knew I’d regret it, and then moved on without too much trouble.
Something tells me I wouldn’t be able to move on that easily from Dragon…
“You still there?”
“Yeah, sorry. I was just thinking. What you said about emotion.”
“Love stinks,” Teddy says.
“I’m not sure I would know,” I say.
She gasps. “You’ve never been in love? How have we never talked about this before?”
“Because we’re usually talking about your exploits,” I tell her. “I’m a good girl, remember?”
“Correction,” she says with a chuckle. “You were a good girl. That train has officially left the station.”
She’s not wrong.
“Maybe. But I don’t think it will leave the station again. For either of us.”
“Hey, never say never, babe.” She laughs. “Anyway, I’ve got to run. But call me tomorrow, okay? I want to hear about your first day.”
“Absolutely. Will do.” I end the call.
I’ve already taken my shower, and my damp hair is hanging around my shoulders. I’m sitting around in my bra and undies, so I pull on a pair of leggings and a large sweatshirt.
The time has come to face the music. I breathe in deeply and open my door.
Not that I expect to see Dragon. He’s probably in his room. He was taking a shower when I sneaked out of his room following our tryst.
I pad out to the kitchen to get a drink of water, and I notice a few crumbs on the kitchen island counter.
He must’ve had a sandwich or something. Maybe that means he’s still here.
I should eat too, but I filled up on pizza last night. I’m not even that hungry yet.
“Dragon?” I say, not loudly.
No response, of course. If he’s in his room, he wouldn’t have heard me, and if he were anywhere else in the penthouse, I would’ve seen him.
I walk to his door and knock lightly.
And again, no response.
“Dragon?”
I turn his doorknob. It’s open, which means he’s probably not here.
I crack the door. “Dragon, are you home?”
No response, and the door to his bathroom is open and the light is off.
He’s gone.
Well, what did I expect? He was ready to leave this morning. I merely waylaid him.
A wave of sadness settles over me as I gaze around the room. Then—
His backpack. His duffel bag.
They’re still here.
I smile despite myself.
Dragon will be back.
I have no idea what to expect when he gets here, but he will be back.
And though I hate to admit it, I feel kind of giddy about that.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Dragon
I like walking.
I always have. Helps me clear my head.
I need to find some work.
I don’t have much cash on me, as I gave most of it to that hooker last night. The rest is in a checking account that I access from a debit card. I also have a credit card, but it’s linked to my Snow Creek address, so that’s where the bill would go.
Jesse was lecturing me all about how I should just download a mobile banking app and pay all my bills online, but I don’t trust the tech companies with all that info. I mean, I’m sure they have it already, but they sure as hell are not going to get it from me. Plus, I feel like I’m a little more responsible with my money when I actually have to write a physical check every month to pay my bills.
I mostly deal in cash anyway. My last job—other than odd jobs and drumming for Dragonlock—was at a dispensary in Barrel Oaks.
Marijuana is legal in Colorado—has been for a while. But Donny Steel, Diana’s older brother and the city attorney for our small western slope town of Snow Creek, has made it his goal in life to keep the dispensaries out. Well, it’s not actually Donny. His mother, Jade Steel, was the city attorney for decades before she retired. I don’t think Donny cares one way or another, but keeping Snow Creek pot-free means something to his mother, so he hasn’t let any dispensaries in.
The city attorney of Barrel Oaks, however, had no qualms about selling weed. “Tax the hell out of it and funnel that money to our schools,” she famously declared when the state first passed the constitutional amendment to legalize.
Working at a dispensary meant that I was paid in cash. Because marijuana is still federally illegal, most banks won’t touch the businesses, so they operate on a solely cash basis. Sometimes I took my payment in some of their primo weed.