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“Yeah Shit” She stared out the , her back to Derek “Ginger used to stuff cotton in my ears and blast country music to drown it out She kne much it upset me That’s why she has an issue with it now She doesn’t realize it only bothered me back then because I didn’t understand it To her, it’s just plain black and white”

Derek had seen Valerie Peet’s criminal record, not that he could tell Willa that He’d known Ginger’s childhood had h Obviously, he hadn’t even scratched the surface Rage flowed through hi so awful Indeed, Ginger had been required to grow up at a very young age

He sat down heavily in the kitchen chair vacated by Willa “I still feel like I’”

She faced Derek across the table “Our mother…she’s complicated Sometimes her johns would stick around for a few days They’d s dried up She’d get depressed, go on a drinking binge” Willa plopped onto the back of the couch, crossing her arms over her middle “I think you care about e on you”

He ed a nod

“I’er is But so was our est fear has always been beco our mother”

“Impossible”

Willa reement “Still It’s the real reason she doesn’t date She watched men use our mother and discard her like yesterday’s trash her whole life So you see, you literally could not have fked up er for two days”

Derek’s throat felt banded by steel Jesus, how could he not have realized this? She’d needed words, assurances froood-bye And, worse, stayed ahile he let his work consu her so much as a text Of course she’d feel insecure about where they stood He’d given her no reason to feel otherwise But ould he have said?

Thanks for the hottest fk of et home from work Twice

He scrubbed a hand over his face Just as she’d been innocent ofin an actual relationship

If he didn’t want to lose her, he needed to figure it out Fast

He just hoped like hell it wasn’t too late

“I’ve got to get out of here”

“I thought you ht”

…

“Aw, coht Show ”

Ginger ignored the light-beer-drinking Neanderthal she’d nickna her from the end of the bar, completely unaware of the tortilla chip stuck to his shirt Subtly, she checked for the security guards in the crowd, hoping they’d couy quick She’d alerted theo that one of her custootten or just plain blown her off Any other night, she would brazen it out Banter with the sorry fker until he walked away or got too drunk to respond It would probably even entertain the other patrons and increase her tips

But he’d caught her on a bad night A real bad night And honestly, she could think of nothingdown each of her custo on the bar

What the hell is this techno ht?