Page 60 of Waste of Worth

She could have slapped him, and he was sure it would have felt better than those words.

“I’m not—”

“Everything about you screams differently,” Karen interrupted before he could deny her statement. “The way you act, how you see yourself, and the way you go about life like you’re constantly closed off. It’s the only thing that makes sense.”

Dino wasn’t willing to delve into that topic very far. “And you think I should talk to someone about it.”

“I asked if you considered it.”

“No.”

“Would you—”

“No,” Dino interjected firmly.

Karen pursed her lips, staring up at the ceiling as if she wished it would swallow her whole. “Okay.”

That was it.

That was all she said about it.

As quick as the conversation had come on, it seemed like Karen was over it. Without a word, she leaned over Dino, turned the lamp off, and then settled into the bed, tucking herself back under the blankets.

For a long while, Dino sat where he was, never moving and staring at the dark wall across from him.

He knew she had a point.

The majority of his life had been spent in the belief that he was disposable.

Forgettable, even.

Worthless.

It was hard to believe anything else, when that was all he’d ever been told and shown.

But it was a place he understood—somewhere he felt comfortable.

It was only with Karen that he didn’t feel so entirely disposable, forgettable, or worthless. She’d never treated him like he was a passing moment in her life, one that she could toss away without care, and not think about again.

Not once.

It was exactly why he kept coming back even though he was constantly reminded she was not one of the things given to him, she was something he had taken himself.

“Dino?” Karen asked in the darkness.

“Hmm?”

“Who is Julia?”

Dino stiffened, feeling a familiar spike of dread drive hard into the base of his spine. “Why?”

“Curious.”

He was pretty sure he knew exactly why she was asking him about Julia. His dream that she’d woken him up from had been about her—he’d probably talked in his sleep and mentioned her name.

“There’s nothing to know,” Dino said quietly.

“Nothing at all?”