Page 127 of The Virgin Romance Novelist Chronicles
“Thanks, is that all you wanted to say?”
“No, it’s Monday, and Jenny said if you don’t show up to work tomorrow, Gladys is going to have a coronary.”
“I have pneumonia.” I fake coughed.
“No, you don’t. Now come on. We’re going to get you showered because, damn, girl! And then we’re going to go out for dinner. I don’t think you’ve eaten for days.”
“I had some saltines I found under my bed.”
Derk’s nose crinkled at me as he studied my getup. I was wearing long johns, a purple oversized shirt, one sock, and my hair was plastered to my head since I hadn’t taken a shower in two days. Not my finest hour.
“You’re done moping around. Let’s go.”
Without my permission, Delaney gabbed my hand, and led me to the bathroom where she turned on the shower and stared at me. I held my hands up as I backed into the wall.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
“Taking your clothes off. I don’t care if I see you naked; you need to be cleaned.”
“Well, I care,” I squeaked.
“Then be a big girl and take a shower yourself or I will do it for you. I’ll have clothes picked out for you when you get out. Hurry up, because Derk and I are hungry.”
“Fine,” I said, and waited for Delaney to leave, but instead of exiting the bathroom, she sat on the toilet and covered her eyes.
“Go on, I won’t look.”
“Why aren’t you leaving?”
“Oh, so you can lock me out of the bathroom and drown yourself? Yeah, I don’t think so.”
“I wouldn’t drown myself,” I said, as I quickly took off my clothes and got in the shower. “Ahhh. It’s freezing.”
“Yes, I know. I thought it would wake you up.”
Frantically, I turned the water to hot, knowing full well I couldn’t hop out of the shower because Delaney would see me naked . . . that evil, evil girl. Once the water warmed up, I started my shower routine, trying to ignore that Henry’s razor was no longer there. Nope, I would not think about it.
I showered like a boss, taking only two minutes to cleanse my entire body. The longer I stayed in there, the longer I felt myself start to weaken and want to crawl into a fetal position at the bottom of the tub.I just missed him so much.
I turned the shower off and grabbed the towel hanging on the bar.
“Did you even clean your vagina? That was a pretty quick shower,” Delaney stated.
“Yes, I cleaned my vagina. God, I’m not a Neanderthal.”
“Pretty sure Neanderthals cleaned their nether regions.”
“You’re making this such a joyous experience,” I said sarcastically as I wrapped the towel around my body and pulled back the shower curtain.
“I thought you were going to have clothes ready for me.”
“Oh yeah. Well, come on, let’s go to your room. You can comb your hair there and put on at least some mascara.”
Rolling my eyes, I followed Delaney into my room while Derk sat on the sofa, watching sports highlights. My mind went to many nights where Henry and Derk had watched highlights together, talking about their teams of choice and their wins and losses.
My heart ached.
“You’re kind of depressing to be around,” Delaney said after moments of silence of me brushing my hair and picking out an outfit.
