The Second Girl(91)

“I’ll do my best to be good. Can we have dinner sometime soon?”

“That would be nice,” she says.

“There are a couple of new spots I’ve been wanting to check out.”

“Me, too. Maybe the end of the week. Give me a call.”

“I will.”

She reaches up and kisses me lightly on the cheek. I want to make a turn for her lips, but don’t. It’ll just f*ck up the moment.

“It’s getting cold. Winter will be here soon,” she says. “Then, before we know it, Christmas and a new year.”

She turns and walks toward her car.

I step out on the porch.

“I’ll call you at the end of the week,” I say.

She turns to me and says, “Okay.”

I watch her get into her car and drive. She makes a left on W and disappears.

The holiday season is right around the corner. Thanksgiving, Christmas, and especially New Year’s Eve are the only holidays I don’t like spending alone, and I’m thinking she doesn’t either. She’s got a family like mine—pretty much nonexistent. Maybe she threw me a hint that we’d be spending this one together, too.

So I feel damn good, and it’s not because I’m high or because of the nice stash I have tucked away. I have more than enough so I don’t have to worry for a while, but still, where’s the hope in that?