“Did you think that was me?” Roxy’s voice caused me to turn around.
She stepped out of the shadows from the side of the building, arms wrapped tight around her middle. Her lips were more pouty than usual.
“I—I thought maybe that guy …”
“I wouldn’t just go home with some stranger,” she said through ground teeth.
“I didn’t think … I don’t know what I thought.” I shook my head and stepped closer to her. “I was just worried about you. I didn’t like how he looked at you.”
Her arms dropped to her side and she took another step closer. In the light of the lamppost her eyes had little black smudges from her makeup underneath them. She looked tired and mournful, and swayed a little as she stood there. “Take me home?”
I swallowed. “Of course.” I went to her side and slipped my arm around her middle. At first she stiffened, then she relaxed and put her head on my shoulder to let me guide her slowly to the rental.
Once in the car, I bent forward to buckle her in. As I clicked the buckle into place, the heat from her body wrapped around me. She inhaled deeply. I pulled back slightly to study her face. She blinked up at me slowly. Her gaze moved to my mouth.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
She shrugged and her bottom lip trembled. Then she shook her head, sucking in her lips.
“Let me get you home, hey?”
She nodded before I gently shook her fringe back in place. Her mouth pulled to the side in a sad half smile.
We drove in silence as I followed the map on the car’s GPS through winding backroads to a small cluster of apartments just on the edge of town. Silence encased us as I put the car in park. Neither of us moved. The silence rang loud in my ears. I thought she might have fallen asleep, but when I looked to her, she was blinking out the window.
“Why did you leave the bar?” I asked. “It’s like all I do is chase after you,” I admitted softly. I hadn’t meant to say that but I wanted an answer. I was confused and tired.
She turned to face me. “Why did you bring Skip tonight?”
“I-I wasn’t sure about … I was trying to respect the friend boundaries.”
She nodded with a small smile. “I did think about going home with that guy. He would have been my type. Old Roxy would have.”
I frowned. I hated the jealousy that burned me. A man like that wouldn’t know the gift they had in her.
“There’s a lot you don’t know about me, Sanders.”
I waited a moment. “I’m trying to change that,” I said.
She let out a small sigh. “Why didn’t you tell me your dad died?”
I snapped to look at her. “I did,” I said slowly. Technically.
“Skip told me it wasn’t even a month ago. Have you even had a funeral for him?”
“It’s not exactly something I like to talk about.” I felt my temper changing. “He shouldn’t have told you.”
“He didn’t mean to. It slipped out. Why didn’t you tell me?”
“When would I have told you? That night we first met? ‘Hi, my dad just died and I’m a complete fuckup.’ Not when we weren’t sharing details. Not when you looked at me like …”
“Like what?” she asked softly.
“Like I was something special,” I answered honestly.
“You are special.”
“Yeah, well, so are you.” I wasn’t sure why it came out so accusatory. “You’re a fucking miracle and yet you refuse to let anybody in.”
