AllFreeNovel
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“Mellie?” Ty says from the other side of the shower curtain. “Can I get in with you?”
“Umm…I don’t…”
“Please?” he says. “I won’t…touch you.”
“Okay,” I almost whisper.
A couple of minutes later, he steps into the shower. I swallow hard and fight the urge to bring my arms up to cover my chest.
“Hi,” he says.
“Hi.”
“Turn around.”
I do as he asks and relax just a little when he starts rinsing my hair. I close my eyes and try not to think about my body, try to focus on something else. The fingertips on my scalp, how quiet it is aside from the ambient noise of the water hitting the bottom of the old clawfoot tub. It works, but only a little.
“I love you, Mel,” he says once he’s finished, kissing the top of my head.
I turn to face him, my eyes meeting his. “I love you, too.”
“You keep me warm, and I’ll keep you—” he pauses and places a hand over my heart, “—here.” He taps the side of my head. “And out of here. Okay?”
I nod. “Okay.”
I wrap my arms around him and lean against his bare chest, trying to steady my breathing.
“I can feel your heart pounding,” he says, concern in his voice. “Mellie, I’m so sorry. You’re safe with me; you know that, right? I'll do whatever I can to help you.”
“I know,” I tell him. “I can’t help it.”
“We’re going to be okay, Mel.”
He holds me there until the water runs cold.
“Are you hungry?” he asks. We’d spent the last few hours on the couch in front of a fan watching daytime TV shows—the kind where they’re exposing cheating spouses with lie detectors and taking paternity tests. “I’m hungry. We can go pick something up before I have to work.”
“I don’t…no. I don’t want to go anywhere.”
I don’t think I’m going to want to go anywhere for a long time. But I don’t like being in here, either.
I open my mouth to try and explain just that when the front door opens and closes. “Hello,” my mom chirps, setting a couple of to-go boxes from the café down on the table. “I brought back some food if anyone is hungry.”
“I’m hungry,” Ty says.
“Ty, it’s good to see you’re a free man again,” she says. “Heard you were pretty broody about it from your mom, but we’re glad to have you back nonetheless.”
He picks up a Styrofoam container from the table, opens it, and takes a bite of a grilled cheese sandwich. I see the wheels turning in his head, but ultimately, he decides not to respond and returns to the couch with his food.
“The wire transfer went into your bank account this morning,” she says. “And this is for you, too.”
She hands me yet another ominous envelope, and I open it, pulling out my University of San Francisco Welcome Packet.
“You’re registered for general classes this semester, and your housing is all arranged. Move-in is on Saturday.”
Shit.
“You aren’t actually going, are you?” Ty asks. “You realize you don’t have to go.”
