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THIRTEEN
My phone'salarm went off early, since I had to get up in time to drive to the campus for my classes. Fridays were always the longest day of the week for me, even though I had the same Friday schedule on Mondays and Wednesdays too.
My face jerked up off the carpeted floor of Jesse's room, and I looked around blearily. I hadn't meant to fall asleep there.
Jesse licked my face, and I groaned.
My tired fingers struggled with the zippers on my suitcases. When I finally got them open, I grabbed the first clothes I touched and got dressed awkwardly on the floor.
I was starting to wonder if my feet would ever heal.
Obviously that was a bit dramatic, but the pain was horrible, and I couldn't avoid walking.
I put on my athletic shoes before shuffling to the bathroom to do my hair.
A few minutes later, with my hair in a messy ponytail and dark circles beneath my eyes, I made my way down the stairs. Makeup was the last thing on my mind. As long as I wasn't naked or stinky, I looked good enough for my classes.
Jesse walked beside me, keeping my pace until we reached the kitchen. He licked my leg—which was mostly bare, thanks to the flowy blue shorts I wore with a white tank tucked into them.
After swallowing pain meds, I grabbed Jesse's car keys off their hook. Someone had put them back since I'd been there last; probably whoever plugged his phone in.
Jesse barked, and I looked over at him. He was crouched in front of the fridge door.
"You're hungry?" I asked.
He shook his head.
"Why else would you bark at the fridge?"
My stomach took that moment to rumble.
He looked pointedly at me, and I realized he was growling because he wanted me to eat.
That was thoughtful, in a wolfy way. I was sure wolves shared food, so him telling me to eat before I left was pretty much the same as a wolf proudly nudging me toward an animal carcass and telling me, "The first bite's yours!"
"Thanks, but I don't usually eat breakfast. Two meals a day costs less than three. I'll drink some water on the way there," I told the wolf.
He growled.
I put a hand on my hip. "I just quit my job and moved to a place where I need to have gas money. There's about three hundred bucks in my bank account right now, and the semester just started. That means I've got a hundred bucks a month for both gas and food, so unless you're going to go out and get a job, two meals a day is going to have to cut it."
I hadn't seen any disposable water bottles in the pantry, so I went to the cupboard I'd found cups in. On the top shelf, there were a couple of water bottles laying on their sides. I pulled one out and filled it up, waving it toward the wolf pointedly.
Jesse barked again. He lifted his head toward the top of the fridge, and I knew he was pointing at the money up there.
"I'm not spending money that belongs to someone I've never met. If I'm between starving and spending his money, I'll go out and get a new job. Don't know how I'll work it with you following me everywhere, but I'll figure it out."
I headed toward the garage. Jesse whined but followed me out.
Jesse's car had me lifting my eyebrows when I saw it. Not because it was expensive or anything—because it was the exact same car my mom had driven for the past ten years.
A silver Honda Civic.
I hadn’t really noticed it the last time I was out there, but now that I had, it was impossible to ignore. It looked like it might even be the same year as my mom's, which was fifteen years old.
The paint was faded and the windshield had a crack running along the bottom of it. Most people would've been turned off by that, but to me, that made me feel more comfortable. I would've felt awkward driving an expensive car when my laptop and phone were the only things I owned that had cost more than ten bucks.
Except during a getaway, like when I’d driven Ford’s sports car.
