Chasing Her (Dark Love 3)

***

Settling into Hazel’s is exactly the kind of therapy I need. I don’t allow her to spoil me, and often we work together in the kitchen preparing dinner. One night she asks me to prepare another two place settings, and before I know it, the doorbell rings.

The voice filters through the hall, and my heart skips a beat. Before I can fully register what’s happening, Adriana pokes her head into the kitchen and greets me with a warm smile.

The tension which has built up releases when I see her. It’s stupid for me to jump to conclusions, assuming she’ll hate me for my sordid past.

Her face looks different, a slight glow perhaps, a redness to her prominent cheeks. Although the dark circles still surround her eyes, there’s a warm shade of brown illuminating her face. Wearing only a T-shirt which reads ‘In Training For The Zombie Apocalypse,’ her arms are no longer covered in raw cuts. Unfortunately, the scars still remain.

Penny’s high-pitched holler enters the kitchen. She leans over and kisses Adriana on both cheeks and comes to my side, reaching out her hand, followed by a manly, “How’s it going, pal?”

We burst out laughing at her feeble attempt to portray a man. Penny is all woman, despite the giant pecker sitting between her thighs.

The night is spent eating the meal we prepared, which, if I say so myself, turns out fantastic. After dinner, we settle for playing charades. It’s one fail after another as Adriana and Penny team up against Hazel and me. Penny is the one who brought the game tonight, and after a few turns, we discover that it’s adult charades. Surprisingly, Hazel isn’t offended and enjoys the crude humor.

“Cat? Uh… butt? Oh my God, Penny, what the hell are you doing?” Adriana asks in frustration.

Penny is bending over doing something ridiculous, and not even I can figure it out.

“Um… kangaroo? I don’t know,” Adriana bellows.

The buzzer goes off.

“Doggy style!” Penny blurts out in annoyance.

“What? Really? Why the hell are you jumping like a kangaroo, then?”

“That isn’t jumping! That’s getting done from behind,” Penny shouts.

Hazel and I are in stitches.

Penny clearly sucks at this game.

It goes on for a few more rounds before Hazel calls it a night. Penny gets a call from one of her friends, who she admits is a friend with benefits, and goes on to clarify that when she says benefits, she means he gives great head.

It’s way too much information for me without any alcohol in my system.

Alone with Adriana, we move around quietly cleaning up. The seconds pass and feel like hours until we both try to break the silence at the same time.

“You first.” I grin.

“I was going to ask how your week was, but I realized it probably sucked, you know, ‘cause you’re staying with Hazel.”

“You know what? I’m really enjoying it here. It’s giving me time to think about my next step,” I respond at ease. With the room back to normal, we sit on the floor, picking at the leftover dessert. “How was your week?”

She lets out a sigh, followed by a hiccup. “I’m sorry. For some reason, ice cream does this to me.”

“I think it’s cute,” I reassure her.

“Cute is bunnies and fluffy kit

tens. This is embarrassing.” She hiccups again, and her face turns bright red.

We change the subject, moving our conversation onto Penny and how much she has in common with Eric.

“Just because they’re both gay, we probably shouldn’t assume they are a perfect match,” I point out.

“Eric’s taken, anyway,” she says.