What We Called Therapy After Dark novel · Chapter 20 of 24
Chapter 20: After the Guests
Neither of us could sleep in the quiet house.
At one in the morning we went back out and sat on the grass among the tipped chairs.
The white sheet hung from the oak, and the projector's fan had stopped.
Somebody's wineglass lay on its side by my foot.
Mitch had taken off his ironed shirt and wadded it up under his head.
I lay beside him in the champagne dress with my shoes off, looking up through the lantern strings.
"Say something," I said.
"I'm trying to think what."
"Anything. The first thing."
He turned his head.
"I should have taken your side," he said. "In March. In June. The first time she told me about the doctor. I knew it was wrong, and I said fine, and I let her pick."
"You said fine because you thought I was the one who wanted you gone."
"I said fine because it was easy." His jaw worked. "She decided things, and I let her, for six years. You were twelve, and she decided you'd call me Mitch and not Dad. I let her do that too."
I hadn't known he minded.
"I'd have called you Dad," I said, after a moment. "If you'd asked."
"I know."
"I'm glad you didn't."
He laughed, a short, rough breath.
"I'm taking your side now," he said. "Every time. I'd like that to be on the record."
"It's on the record."
"Good."
He rolled onto his elbow and looked down at me.
The lanterns lit one side of his face.
"Come inside," he said.
"Why?"
"Because I want you in a bed, and I want the door open, and I want nobody to be listening."
My whole body answered.
Keep reading free with an account. Start What We Called Therapy After Dark from Chapter 1, then sign up free to read the rest of this chapter.
← Chapter 19 · All chapters · Chapter 21 →
Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend