Free Innocence Tempted by Samantha Blair

fuck her. She was really pissed.
    I took her wet clothes and tossed them in the dryer while she ranted about her lost job. Personally I didn't think it was much of a loss. She was too good for that place anyway. She seemed embarrassed by it though, and it was clear she needed some closure on the matter. The flat tire hadn't helped either.
    When I returned to the kitchen she had wrapped the towel around her shoulders, and her hair was considerably dr i er.
    "Let's go in the living room," I said, leading her. I sat down on the couch and pulled her into my lap.
    "I'm sorry," she said. "I don't mean to be such a downer. It's just been a hard week."
    "It's okay. Everyone goes through that. You're allowed to get upset sometimes."
    "Yeah, well I usually don't. I mean I was always pretty good at controlling my temper. It just makes me so mad that this fucking small town has such stupid boys—"
    I pulled her to my chest and threaded my fingers into her damp hair. "Shhh, it's okay."
    "And it makes me so mad that I can't tell anyone about this. I mean, I'm not mad at you, but I feel like no one else understands, and it would have been a lot easier if Mike would just realize that I want something that he can't give me. Are we the only people in the world who feel like this? Don't you ever feel lonely?"
    "Whoa, slow down, sweetheart. Let's start at the beginning, okay?"
    She nodded and quieted down in my arms.
    "It's okay to lose your temper. Okay? You're allowed to get angry. You're allowed to cry. It doesn't make you weak to show emotions, all right?"
    "It just seems so pointless. It never solves anything."
    "That's not entirely true, Kat. It may not fix the situation but it is healthy to get those emotions out. When was the last time you cried? Like really cried?"
    "I don't know. What kind of a question is that?"
    "Don't get defensive with me, Katlyn. Answer the question."
    "I don't know. It's been a while I guess."
    "Be more specific," I pressed. I really felt like there was a larger root issue here. She was bottling up her emotions, and it seemed like she'd been doing it a really long time. I was guessing that she probably couldn't answer me because she really couldn't remember. It had been that long.
    "Why are you pushing this?" she asked. "I don't know. Okay? I can't think of the last time I cried."
    "Think of a time that you remember crying. Any time. Doesn't have to be the last one."
    "I don't know." Her tone was short and aggravated. She stood up from my lap and paced the room.
    I sat calmly on the couch watching her. "Think, Kat."
    "Fine! My mother's funeral. I cried at my mother's funeral."
    "Did you?" The way she said it, I didn't really believe her. She couldn't remember if she had cried or not. She just knew that she was supposed to. It was a reasonable answer.
    "Of course. What kind of a child doesn't cry at her own mother's funeral?"
    "The kind that has learned to repress her emotions," I answered flatly.
    "I do not repress my emotions!"
    I raised my eyebrows at her. I thought it was very clear that she did. "Were you sad? You said that you didn't know her very well."
    "Of course I was sad. She was my mother."
    "Did you talk to anyone about it? See a coun selor ?"
    "I don't want to talk about it!" She was very nearly yelling. There was a lot of old pain there that she'd never gotten out.
    "Come here," I commanded. I did not raise my voice, but I wasn't gentle either. She was going to need some help getting through this.
    "No." That was the first time she’d ever refused me. I almost smiled . Good girl. Get it out.
    "I won't ask you again," I said as coldly as I could. "Safeword or sit the fuck down."
    Her eyes got wide, and I could see her pulse racing. She didn't know what to do. She hesitated a moment longer and then came to me. This was going to be messy.
    I guided her into the position I wanted. I took the towel from around her shoulders and laid it over the arm of the couch. She rested her head on it. She was face