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I had no idea what it meant, but after the first night he’d thrown a temper tantrum, I’d stayed out later, and woke up earlier. I wanted to be in that house about as much as I wanted inside an active volcano—although, the similarities between the two places were uncanny. Either could erupt at a moment’s notice.
It had been two days since I’d showered at Brody’s place, and the water still hadn’t been turned on, but I honestly couldn’t give a shit anymore. I was tempted to ask Hut what was going on, but the last thing I needed was the mood he’d been in to be directed at me, so I’d kept my mouth shut. The bathrooms at the college had done a sufficient job for the time being, but I knew I’d have to broach the subject with Hut at some stage.
I leaned against the wall outside the diner, ready to be done with this shift. My eyes burned, my muscles ached, and my body just wanted rest. That’s what getting up at 4 a.m. will do to you.
“You good, Lola-Girl?” Sal’s deep voice asked, the bell over the door ringing as he stepped out and stopped beside me.
“Yeah.” I nodded and pushed myself up, pasting the fakest smile on my face as I turned to stare at him. “Just tired.”
His eyes took me in, scanning my face, most likely seeing the bags that seemed to be living under my eyes permanently at the moment. “You look like you haven’t slept in a week.”
I laughed because he wasn’t far from the truth. “I’ve been staying up late.” I coughed, knowing I was about to fill him with bullshit. “College work.”
“Ahhh.” He dipped his head back like he understood. “I don’t know how you do all the school stuff. I barely graduated high school.”
“Yeah?” I smiled a real smile this time. “I take it school wasn’t your thing.”
He shook his head. “Nope.” One side of his mouth pulled up into a knowing smirk. “If it weren’t for the ladies who walked the halls, I probably wouldn’t have gone at all.”
/> I stepped past him and pulled open the door. “You were a ladies’ man then, huh, Sal?”
He followed me back into the bustling diner and barked out a laugh. “Hell yes, I was.” He paused, then said, “I still am. They flock to me like a fly does to shit.”
I snorted. “Great analogy,” I told him.
“Hey!” he called after me as I went behind the counter, and he stopped at the entrance to the kitchen. “I told you school wasn’t my strong suit.” He winked and pushed through to the kitchen. “Now get to work. You have milkshakes to shake, and plates to deliver.”
I rolled my eyes and spun around, taking over from Jan so she could go on her break.
The evening went as it always did, fast and then slow with an influx of people at certain points. By the time Sal and I were locking up, I felt like I could sleep for a week, and the thought of walking from the station to my house had me expelling a breath.
“Get some sleep,” Sal told me as he started the walk to his trailer that lived around the back of the building. “You’re off tomorrow, so use that time to rest. Can’t have my best worker breaking on me now, can I?”
I shook my head and waved. “Yeah, yeah. I’ll see you in a couple days.”
I saluted him and started the walk to the station, only having to wait a couple of minutes before my train pulled in. I allowed myself to shut my eyes on the way, but not enough that I’d fall asleep. Doing that at any time of the day was bad, but at night, it would just be calling for trouble.
The train shuddered to a stop, and I pried my burning eyelids open, hoping and praying for a decent night’s sleep. I stumbled off the train and out onto the street, pulling in a deep breath of the biting cold air. It filled my lungs, waking me up more than the overly hot train. I’d been lulled into that space where I was all warm and fuzzy, my body starting to succumb to the heat, but now I was wide awake and ready for the walk home.
I was a few houses down from the house when the sounds of partying drifted through the air. A door slammed, and the music quieted. Footsteps pounded, and then a body appeared on the sidewalk, a body I seemed to sense whenever it was around. Darkness covered half of his face, leaving the other half basked in light. He emanated a danger I’d never witnessed in anyone else before—not even Hut.
“Hey,” Brody’s gruff voice greeted, and damn if it didn’t do things to my body. I squeezed my thighs together, trying to act unaffected.
“Hi,” I murmured, flicking my gaze to the house. “You heading out?” I didn’t know why I was so sad from that thought, but I wasn’t going to dwell on it, not when I was this goddamn tired.
“Just heading home,” he said, his gaze flitting over my face. “Hut’s on the rampage again, only this time it involves a lot of other people.”
I huffed out a tired breath, my shoulders sagging. “Damn.” I swiped my hand over my face, not caring I was probably smudging the little makeup still left on my face after the full day. I’d been awake for twenty hours, and all I wanted was a little peace and quiet and my bed.
The silence stretched between us, but I couldn’t look away from his face. The way his jaw seemed to pulse with each tense of his muscles, and his hand that opened and closed into a fist beside him.
“Guess that means no shower or sleep for me tonight then.” I sounded sorry as fuck for myself, but right then, I didn’t care. The woe-is-me act was getting rather tiring, and not for the first time in the last month, I mentally calculated my savings—still not enough for me to move out on my own just yet.
I was on the edge of a cliff, about to dive off, but my rope wasn’t fastened properly, so there was no way I’d take the leap. I needed to loop it a couple more times and tie a few knots. Only then could I soar.
I had to bide my time, make sure that everything was in place before I could walk away from home. It didn’t matter that the four walls hadn’t contained a family. It didn’t matter that the grown-ups that used to live there hadn’t taken care of the people they’d created. It had still been my home, one I was terrified to walk out of because of the repercussions that could come with it.
“You could crash at my place.” His words were at odds with how his body was acting. He blew out a breath and turned to face me fully, allowing the light to stream over his whole face. “I have water and a bed, but most importantly”—he raised a brow—“I have quiet.”
