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I didn’t know what to say to that, and I figured that if he wanted to expand on it he would. He wasn’t exactly the shy and retiring type. We moved the conversation onto safer and more neutral territory, talking about the shows we’d watched earlier.
I woke up hours later, lying on my side on the couch, and it took me a while to realize why I couldn’t move, and had lost feeling in my leg. Drew had fallen asleep lying on his side also, but resting on my hip, and his hulking frame was a dead weight on top of me. Shit.
I had no idea what time it was, but I could tell it was late. I would need to pull another Cinderella stunt to get out, without disturbing him. I shifted slowly and gently so that I could maneuver out from under him without waking him. No mean feat, given that he weighed a ton and my leg was basically dead.
I managed it though, and I gathered my clothes, and tiptoed to the bathroom to dress.
“Going to turn into a pumpkin again?”
“Jesus Christ!” I jumped just about a foot in the air. “You scared the living shit out of me!”
“I’m not surprised, given that you were clearly trying to do a disappearing act, again.”
“I was doing no such thing. I’m not a fucking cat burglar, or a bad tenant trying to duck out without paying the rent.” I winced at my totally dumb choice of analogy, given the circumstances.
“Well, given your fondness for sneaking out on me, I wouldn’t rule it out.”
“You were sleeping. I didn’t want to wake you. It’s been an eventful day, and I figured you needed your sleep.”
“How very considerate of you.” His voice dripped with sarcasm. “And what was your excuse last night?”
“Oh, no excuse. The reason was that I wanted to get the fuck out of Dodge, because as much as you know the right buttons to press when we’re fucking, I didn’t want to be around you a second longer than I had to be when we weren’t.”
For a moment he looked as though I’d slapped him in the face, but he recovered quickly, his tough-guy mask sliding back into place.
“Nice try Cinders, but if that was the case, what was today all about? Nobody made you, or even asked you to stay, yet there you were doing your sexy nursemaid routine while I slept, which, by the way, is hot as all hell. I’m thinking of getting into another fight just to have you tend to me like that. I was as hard as I’ve ever been.” He tilted his hips toward me suggestively, grinning lasciviously.
Asshole.
“I wouldn’t if I were you. You’re right. What the fuck was I doing here? Call it a shock-induced loss of mind, but I’ve come to my senses again now. Speaking of which, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go and grab some sleep, so that I can actually concentrate in class tomorrow.”
“Actually, I’ve been meaning to ask—what’s the story with that?”
“With college? It’s this place where people go to further their education with a view to hopefully securing a better job, thereby creating a better future for themselves. Or in the case of people like you, somewhere to spend a few years getting wasted and fucking anything that moves, before taking up their ‘rightful’ place, running the world in some way, shape, or form. But given you attend one of the country’s most prestigious seats of learning, I’m not really sure why I need to explain this to you. What part don’t you understand?”
“Oh, I totally understand the concept of college when applied to the population at large, but ‘thanks’ for your sarcasm. What I don’t understand is how you’re planning to put yourself through college with all your other commitments—jobs out the wazoo, your dad, the case—it’s a lot.”
“Yeah, well, rich boy, we can’t all be handed this shit on a plate like you and your friends. The rest of us have to work hard at this stuff, and do our best to make it work any which way we can. Maybe you should consider that before you sit in judgment of the things I do to make money, and juggle college part-time the best way I can—you’re so out of touch with the reality of the way most people live, it’s not even funny.”
“Touché. I’ll wear that. I get that we’re living in a bubble. Pre-Law of all things, that’s no easy ride. But knowing what I do about you, I’m guessing that’s no coincidence.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean I find it hard to believe that you’re studying law and also just happen to be taking out a class action suit against Cavanagh Corp. There’s no way that’s a coincidence or ‘happy’ accident.”
“Actually, that’s debatable—it’s a bit of a chicken and egg situation. I’ve been interested in law for as long as I can remember, but then I have also been a kid living with a sick parent at the hands of Cavanagh Corp for that long too, so it’s hard to say which came first. Anyway, it’s ended up being just as well that I have an interest…” Ugh.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“Bullshit. What were you about to say?” He got the look of determination in his eye that I was learning meant that he wasn’t about to back down. Shit.
“It’s not important.” I knew that saying those words was like waving a red rag at a bull, but it was the best I could come up with in that moment.
“I’ll be the judge of that.”
