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“You want a drive home?” he asked, gazing at me with concern.
He’d driven me a few times before—once when I’d gotten two nosebleeds over the course of my shift and again when I’d developed a fever one time.
“Could you? That would save me falling asleep on the bus…”
“Of course. Don’t worry about it.”
“Thanks…really.”
He dropped me off in front of the ratty bungalow in Vanier without a comment, checking his rear-view mirror obsessively in case of hooligans. There were worse places to live and less appealing bungalows. It wouldn’t have been so bad if I hadn’t once gone to a staff party at Sebastian’s and Jacob’s gorgeous house in the Glebe. Compared to that place, this was skid row.
My soul left my body as soon as I’d gotten out of his car, and we’d waved good-bye. I took a deep breath and went up the walk.
Her car was in the driveway and the door was unlocked, so she was here. I’d told her to keep it locked, because I always had my key with me, but she was careless about that and many other things. Too much on her mind, she said, to deal with trivialities. But I made sure to lock it behind me after I went inside.
Most of the lights were off, and I didn’t hear the TV, so she must have gone to bed. I tiptoed past the kitchen, through the living room and up the stairs, slipped into my bedroom and closed the door. I breathed a sigh of relief as I used the moonlight to guide me to my desk lamp. I switched it on as quietly as possible and pulled my curtains closed, setting my backpack by the door.
I was glad I’d gone to the trouble of making my bed and tidying up before I’d left the other day, so that now, all I had to do was strip off my jeans and T-shirt and climb under the covers. I’d showered at the hotel, so I swiped some antiperspirant under my arms. I didn’t want to risk waking up my mom by running the water at this early hour.
I opened my window a crack and lit up a cigarette, remembering how stern Alastair had been when he’d caught me at the hotel. Fuck, that was hot. As I smoked, I thought about the way Alastair’s hands had felt on my body, the way he’d eaten me out like he’d been waiting to do it, and how he’d looked at the moment of orgasm. If I hadn’t been so tired I’d have jerked off to the memories, but I didn’t have the energy.
I must have fallen asleep pretty soon after I lay down because the next thing I knew, someone was banging on my door, and there was light leaking into my room around the edges of my curtains.
“Tobias! Why did you lock your door? I need those cigarettes before I go to work! Jesus, why didn’t you give them to me when you got home? You could have left them downstairs!”
Chapter Eight
Rude Awakening
I dragged myself out of bed and hobbled over to my door, unlocking it and opening it a crack. Mom stood there, right in front of my door, with a murderous look on her haggard face.
“It’s six a.m. I got back at one. Can’t you just let me sleep?”
“Where are my cigarettes? I told you to get me cigarettes.”
Fuck.
“I forgot. Sorry.”
I wasn’t sorry, except that now I’d have to deal with her rage.
“Jesus, Tobias. Get your head screwed on. Why are you like this?”
I stared at her, emotionless, trying not to buy into her bullshit.
“Do you need money?” I asked, because that was always a good deflection. “I can give you some, and you can buy your own cigarettes.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Who do you think you are? Who do you think has paid for everything in this house since your fuck-up of a father took off? I just asked you to do something for me, that’s all. Jesus.”
“I said I was sorry.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Where were you last night?”
I pressed my teeth together. It was none of her damn business, and I didn’t have to explain. I was twenty years old, for fuck’s sake.
“Nowhere. It doesn’t matter.”
“Nowhere? What the hell, Tobias?”
