AllFreeNovel
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“What shows?”
“You’ll probably think they’re silly.” She waved her hand in the air, brushing my question off. “I have a few plastic forks we can use but not any napkins. I can run to the kitchen to grab some, but it would take a few minutes to get there.”
“Auds, sit your cute ass down.”
She froze and lowered herself onto the ground, where I set our to-go boxes. “Do you not like to answer questions about yourself?”
She shrugged. “I’m not used to being asked them.”
My heart fucking broke for her. I made a mental note to ask about her day and her classes and her homework, daily. My entire life was question after question, all about hockey, but with her, she just let me be. She gave me the space I needed to be myself, and the more I was around it, the more I craved it.
“Get used to it then.” I winked and passed her a few rolls. “I want to know everything.”
“But I’m boring.” She took a bite of the roll without butter, and I filed that away. Did she not like butter, or was she nervous and needed to put something in her mouth?
“Who told you you’re boring? I think you’re fascinating.” I dug into my chicken and mushrooms. They were lukewarm, but I was starving.
“I’m not, Theo.” She played with one end of her hair before meeting my eyes. “I don’t want you to think I’m playing you or anything. I’m not cool at all.”
“Do you think I care about cool?”
I didn’t get where this was coming from. It was like once she put on her comfy clothes, her attitude changed.
She shrugged. “You probably do. Probably should.”
“Audrey Hawthorne.” My tone caused her to stare at me with wide eyes. “What just happened? I thought we were on the same page with us, but you’re…fuck.” I pinched my nose, annoyed that I didn’t pick up on her mood faster.
She shoved away thoughts at dinner with our attraction, but now that was over, so her emotions returned, and she was prickly. I knew she would push away instead of opening up about their hurt.
“What do you need right now, honey? Do you want to talk about what happened?”
“No. I’d like to be alone when I think about… what we saw.”
“Well, that’s not happening.” I took another bite of my food. “You’ve been there for me in so many ways, so I’m not leaving this dorm until you talk to me about what you’re feeling.”
“I didn’t invite you to spend the night.”
“Okay, I’ll sleep on the floor.”
“You can’t. It’d injure you. I won’t do that.”
“Then we share your bed.” I went for another roll and met her eyes. “I can do this all night. Banter with you, hold your hand, push you. But I’m not leaving.”
“Theo.” She stood and paced the small area near her door. “My family doesn’t even care about me. I have two people left, and they don’t even want to see me despite everything I do for them. I can’t be with you. You have the best siblings, and what am I? Alone. I’m not enough for my own mom and brother to invite me to a simple dinner. They use me for cash. That’s it. I’m a bank.”
“Get it out, baby. Be mad. What they did fucking sucked.”
“I don’t understand. I try calling my mom, but she never answers. Doesn’t want to talk because I remind her of him, yet she’ll text or call me and demand more money. Just a hundred bucks for food here and there. I’d tutor like crazy just to send her money because I promised my dad I would help her, even though she’s cruel to me. And my brother,” she trailed off, and emotion clogged her voice. “He bails on me all the time. He doesn’t value me, and I’m so mad about it. I love him. I love him so much, and I’m just nothing to him. Nothing to my mom.”
My heart raced as anger flooded my veins. “You’re not nothing.”
“No one stays in my life, Theo. No one.” Her voice returned with a force. “Tonight proved it.”
I set my plate down and walked up to her, placing my hands on her shoulders. “Tonight proved that your brother and mom are selfish. Unkind. People have a way of showing their true colors, hon, and yours are just the best. Their actions aren’t a reflection of you at all. They’re a mirror of who they are as people.”
She sniffed, and the sound tugged at my heart so damn bad.
“You don’t need them, but they sure need you.”
