AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter Eleven
Theo
Helen exited the building in a baggy hoodie and fishnets.Her silky hair was pulled in a high ponytail, red lipstick firmly in place. Her head swiveled side to side before she locked on my car. Hitching her bag on her shoulder, she took her time making her way across the parking lot. I was holding open the passenger door by the time she got to me. She slipped into my car without a word.
I pulled out of the lot and drove toward campus. Helen tucked herself by the door, turned away from me.
“You strip, Tiger?”
She dragged a finger down the glass. “I’m a waitress. I serve drinks in a skanky outfit to horny dudes.”
The exhale that shot from my lungs was filled with relief. I didn’t know what I would have done if her answer had been yes, but I’d have been more than disappointed. She was too fucking good to give that part of herself up for a few bucks. Way too good.
I couldn’t stop myself from pressing it.
“Do they touch you?”
In my periphery, she shrugged. “It’s not a big deal, dude. Can you just drive me home? I’m really tired and not in the mood for a play-by-play.”
“I’ll drive you home.”
“Thanks,” she mumbled, her head knocking into the glass.
My grip on the steering wheel tightened. I couldn’t let this lay between us. “I’m not trying to encroach on your independence, this is me showing you concern.”
She knocked her head twice more. “It feels like judgment.”
“I promise you it's not. I saw your and Luciana’s situation. This is what you feel you need to do and—”
She twisted in her seat. “Theo, I make bank working there. Triple what I made at Wheelz. I keep my sister in nice clothes and food that’s not made entirely of chemicals. One day, this place will be in my rearview, but today isn’t that day. It’s a necessity.”
“I get it, baby.” Reaching across the console, I grasped her leg, squeezing to reassure me as much as her. She covered my hand with hers in an attempt to push me off, but I stayed, and she relented with a heavy sigh. “What happened to the job you had last year? You said you worked somewhere els—”
“Can we listen to music? I don’t really want to talk right now.”
Helen was quiet and still the rest of the drive. I almost thought she’d fallen asleep, except as soon as her dorm came into view, she grabbed her things, ready to bolt.
I parked. She hopped out, and I followed. At the door to her building, she turned to me.
“I’m good. I can take it from here.”
Reaching around her, I took her key card, scanned it to unlock the door, and pulled it open. Laying a palm on her belly, I walked her backward until we were both inside, the door falling shut behind us. She frowned at me, her brow crinkling. My mouth twitching, I wrapped my arm around her waist to grip her hip and guided her to the elevator. She scowled at me in silence all the way up to her floor, down her hall, and into her room.
There, I kissed the fucking frown right off her face, pressing my tongue inside to restake the ground I’d claimed that she was trying to take back. Helen shoved at my chest, not hard, but enough for me to pull back.
“I’m tired, Theodore. Go home.”
“No. I’m not leaving. We had a spectacular day. I’m not letting you take tonight to build up your walls because you showed me something you didn’t mean to.”
Her head dropped onto my shoulder, and she sighed. “I don’t do this.”
“What?” Hooking my knuckle under her chin, I dragged her gaze up to mine. “What, baby?”
“I don’t, you know, fuck around. I mean, I used to, but I don’t now. You need to know that and not expect it from me because you’re not going to get it. I shouldn’t have let you touch me today, but I was caught up, because you’re right, we did have a spectacular day. But now we’re back, and this is reality. I’m not having sex with you, so you can just go now.”
I couldn’t stop my flinch. “Fuck, baby. What happened to you?”
Helen’s face went hard. She backed out of my arms, walking straight to her dresser. “I’m putting on my pajamas, washing my face, and climbing into bed to go to sleep. That’s all I’m doing for the short time I remain conscious. You decide what to do with that.” She disappeared into her en suite bathroom, pajamas in her arms.
