“Don’t tease him, Josie.”
Liam looks from Katelyn to Josie. His eyes close slightly. “You messin’ with me, Jojo?”
“Maybe.” She winks.
“You guys are too much.”
“They’re in love.” Katelyn says mockingly.
“Oh yeah, are you suddenly in love with the stiff there?” I nod to the guy behind her. He doesn’t hear me, which is a shame. Katelyn’s face falls and I instantly feel like an ass. “Yeah I’m outta here.” I turn and walk away.
&nb
sp; “Do you think you should drive?” Katelyn yells at my back.
“What do you care?”
I’m shoved from behind. I turn to find the pint-sized Katelyn glaring at me. Her face is red, jaw clenched. “You’re an ass.”
I think about the proper thing to say back to her, but nothing comes to mind. What I want to do is pick her up and carry her off into the trees and show her how much of an ass I can be. I shake my head and turn back to my bike.
“I’m talking to you!”
“Oh you are?” I shout as I close the gap between us. “I hadn’t realized you were speaking to me again.”
Katelyn crosses her arms over her chest, which just makes things worse for me. “I… I…”
“You what?”
“Never mind.”
“Right.” I walk back to my bike and get on. I let the engine roar, spinning the throttle more than necessary. I slide my helmet over my doo rag and fasten my chinstrap. I rev the engine one more time before letting it idle. “You wanna ride, Katelyn? Want to feel what it’s like to take a ride with me, to have your legs wrapped around my waist?”
“You’re an ass, Harrison James!”
“So you’ve said, sweetheart.” I don’t give her an opportunity to respond. I peel out of the field with dirt blowing in my wake. That woman frustrates me to no end.
"HOW are you?”
“Fine,” I reply. My hands are folded neatly in my lap. My ankles are crossed the way my mother taught me. Although, if she knew I was sitting in an old wing back chair under the scrutiny of a therapist, she’d be mortified.
“How are the girls?”
“Fine,” I say again, much to the dismay of Doctor Feelgood, who’s really Dr. Brooks, but was dubbed Feelgood by Liam back in high school because of the way his mom acted after she visited him.
Dr. Brooks sets down his pen and swivels back and forth in his chair. “Katelyn, this is your third visit and each time I ask you a question, everything is fine.” He leans forward and rests his folded hands in front of him. I break eye contact. The threadbare carpet is in dire need of changing after years and years of pacing. I should know. I paced the first day.
“Everything is fine,” I say, shrugging my shoulders. I know he can see right through me. He’s trained for this shit.
“If that was the case, you wouldn’t be sitting across from me wasting your hard earned money.”
When I look up, he knows he’s called my bluff. He picks up again, smiling as he does so.
“Why are you here, Katelyn?”
My fingers pick at the bronze tack holding the fabric to the chair. “I don’t know, really. I um… things with…” I stop and take a deep breath. I’ve told myself I won’t cry, that I’m strong and can do this. He’s here to help. “I feel like I’m going in circles with everything.”
“Let’s start with the girls. How are they adjusting?”