between Johnny and Elle. Whatever their relationship is, I can’t change it. Her happiness is what’s important.
They both rise to their feet in sync with one another. My gaze passes over Elle taking in her long golden brown, tanned legs. They look so smooth - they are so smooth. I remember. I couldn’t forget if I wanted to and sometimes I want to more than anything. If I could block out the memories from that night, maybe the permanent ache in my chest would ease. I’d finally be able to move on to someone who wants me all the time.
“We’re going to hit the road. Johnny needs to give me a ride to my car.”
“Drank a little too much last night, did ya?” Janny questions.
“Yeah, a bit.” Elle giggles and smooths her hand over the dark blue shirt she’s wearing. B.P.D. is written in white on her chest. Boston Police Department. Fuck. The shirt is way too large for her, hanging to mid-thigh. If it wasn’t for the frayed edges of her jean cutoff shorts showing at the bottom, she’d appear naked underneath. Why is she wearing his shirt? My eyes return to Lily. I don’t want to see Elle in anything of his. I can’t bear to think about the two of them fucking.
Johnny and Elle say their goodbyes to Kyle and Janny and then Elle walks around the bed, pausing in front of me. “Bye baby girl. Auntie loves you.” She leans forward, placing a kiss on Lily’s forehead. When she straightens our eyes meet, calling up the heart racing memory of yesterday. What a difference less than twenty-four hours can make. Last night I was feeling encouraged and now I’m simply disappointed.
“See ya, Josh.”
“Bye, Elle.”
Keeping my eyes averted until they’ve both left the room, I stare out the large window. There’s a great view of the helipad with the Life flight helicopter parked on it.
“You two need to just screw and get it over with,” Janny announces.
“Been there; done that.”
“Well, do it some more because the tension between you is unbelievable.”
“Can we please not talk about Elle? I’m here to visit with you guys and enjoy my niece. The problems she and I have aren’t going anywhere.”
Five days later
“Two more hours until closing,” Tatum sniffs. “I don’t think I can make it. I feel like shit.”
“Hang in there. You can leave after my next client checks in,” I tell her.
“No, it’s okay. My favorite talk radio show, Tell E, is about to start. Have you ever listened to it?” she asks, animatedly.
“Nope, no idea what you’re talking about. The only talk radio I listen to is The Sports Hub.”
“Tell E is on every Friday night at ten o’clock and it’s all about relationships and sex. It will be a great distraction from how miserable I feel and maybe I’ll learn something useful.” She winks at me.
“Sure.” I give her a thumbs up.
“Am I sensing, skepticism?” She raises an eyebrow. “I challenge you to listen tonight and I bet you’ll learn at least one thing you never knew before.”
“What are we betting?” I want to know, what I’m going to win.”
“Oh, funny guy, you won’t be laughing tomorrow when you’re vacuuming my car.”
“I’ll let you vacuum my place instead.”
“You’ll let me? Hmm, we’ll see how this works out for you.”
Glancing at the clock, I notice there’s thirty more minutes until my next appointment. I had a cancellation and I’m using the time to eat a late dinner since I’ve been going full throttle since eleven a.m. with no breaks.
Adjusting my position on the stool next to Tatum’s, I bite into the thick, juicy cheeseburger that was delivered. “Hmm, wow. This is fucking delicious.” I catch the grease running down my chin with a napkin.
“Gross, Josh. How can you eat that? It’s barely cooked,” she says, with a shudder.
“What are you talking about? It’s perfection. Want a bite?” I ask, holding it in front of her mouth.
“No,” she yells, pushing my hand to the side and averting her face. “Get away from me before it moos.”
“You’re funny, you know that? When it’s pink, it has the most flavor.”
She giggles. “Is this where you insert some cheesy pussy eating reference?”
“I wasn’t going to. I was merely referring to my burger. But I will if you want me to? I can think of a few.”
The song pounding out of the surround sound speakers ends and a sexy female voice begins to speak. “Good evening listeners. On tonight’s edition of Tell E,