Page 25 of Meet Me at the Metro (Gildenhill #1)

25

BE MY GUEST

T H E O

A misty, unrelenting breeze rushes past Nora and me as we make our way to the train station. After our little display of public indecency in the music room, I nearly begged Nora to stay at my place tonight, but she somehow convinced me to stay at hers instead. It’s not that I feel entirely opposed to staying with Evie and Harvey; it’s just that the half-boner inside of my pants—which Nora’s been making fun of me for—is pleading for some more privacy.

The train carriage is packed full as we step into it. I pull Nora’s arms around my waist and keep her close as I steer us through the chattering sea of bodies. The train begins to take off down the tracks before I’m given a chance to grab hold of the overhead handlebars, and my feet stumble. Nora breaks out in a fit of giggles and steadies my body from behind.

“Oh, how the tables have turned! City boy can’t even stand on his own two feet.”

“ I think I can handle myself just fine ,” I mock, in a horrible attempt at an American accent.

“Is that what you think I sound like?” she laughs, loud and unrestrained. “Because that was just awful.”

“Oh, please. My American accent is fucking sublime.”

“You mean fucking pitiful? ”

I’m starting to think I’m a bad influence on this girl. She’s getting quite the foul mouth on her.

“You’re getting it as soon as we get off this train,” I growl into her ear.

A rush of goosebumps courses along her neck, and someone near us clears their throat. My eyes follow the sound, scanning the bodies of people around us. I find two grown adult men staring at Nora, their eyes raking down her body, and my blood immediately boils.

“ Fit, isn’t she? ”

The man’s friend laughs and decides to gawk at her backside. “An American dream.”

Nora glances back, and there’s an awful look of discomfort on her face. I instinctively pull her to my side and block their view. “Can I fucking help you two?” I snarl.

They both look away immediately, but Nora nudges me with her elbow. “Theo, don’t.”

“What the hell was that for?”

She just returns me with a warning glare and a slight, disapproving shake of her head. I’m just about to speak to her again when my phone chimes with a text message.

Hey Theo, it’s Kim. You never got back to me the other night, so I thought I’d send you a message to see if you were still up for having dinner with us.

Fuck me.

Nora glances up at me and then at the phone in my hands. “Who is it?”

“No one,” I answer curtly, my body tensing.

Nora releases a loaded breath and turns to look out the train window. While she’s not looking, I quickly type back a response.

Been busy with school and work. What about sometime next month? I might have some free time during fall break.

If I was completely honest with myself, I could find time sooner to go and have dinner with Kim and her son, but I think I’d be more mentally capable of coping with that stress once I’m free from the responsibility of school. October is only a few weeks away anyway. So, whether I truly want to or not, I can manage to squeeze in time during the term break to fulfill my stepmum’s wishes.

I owe Kim for all of her help with Nora’s schedule.

That’s perfect. I’ll message you closer to then. We’re eager to catch up with you.

I roll my eyes at the text and shove my phone back into my pocket, trying not to dwell on the tentative plans I’ve just made. I’m given a distraction when I hear another set of non-discreet whispers and chuckles across from me.

“ I’ve always wondered what American food tastes like.”

“Say another vulgar thing about her,” I growl, taking an angry step toward them. They both flinch. “I fucking dare you!”

A series of beeps sounds through the carriage, and Nora bolts for the train doors. I hurry after her as she elbows through the crowds of the platform outside. When I reach her, I attempt to lace my hand in hers, but she pulls away like she’s been burned and storms up the train station stairs. She keeps up her quick, defiant pace even as we step outside onto the pavement of the bustling city street.

“Nora, wait! What’s the matter?”

She stops, pivots on her heel, and scoffs. “ What’s the matter? You know exactly what the matter is.”

“I’m so confused right now?”

She stares at me for an agonizing beat. “You know what? Just forget it.”

“Nora, come on.” She stomps off again.

I dodge body after body to keep up. When I finally reach her again, I gently steer her into an outside alcove of a closed bookshop. “Don’t be upset.”

“I will be upset.” She defiantly crosses her arms against her chest and settles back against the storefront’s glass windows. “I said don’t. ”

“You’re upset about that? What I said to those men?”

“Why even engage with them? You gave them the attention they wanted.”

“What they were saying about you was fucking disgusting. Did you not hear them?”

“Of course, I heard them, which is exactly why I didn’t want you to say anything, Theo. It’s easier just to ignore men like that. It was embarrassing as is.”

“I wasn’t going to sit back and listen to them talk about you like that.”

“I wish you could have. Everyone was staring.”

“ They were staring. Seriously, the way those two men were looking at you made me sick to my fucking stomach.”

She glances down at the ground, avoiding my eyes altogether. Where we stand is darkened with the night’s shadows, but with the radiance of the lamp posts lining the sidewalk, I can make out how flushed her cheeks have become.

I feel terrible. My intentions were never set on embarrassing her.

“I saw how uncomfortable you were about the things they were saying. You don’t deserve to have anyone talk about you like that. I’m sorry if I embarrassed you, but I’m not sorry for what I said to those fucking wankers.”

She snorts, her angry, blue eyes finally softening. “You love saying that word, don’t you?”

“I do,” I chuckle. “You still pissed at me?”

“A little.”

“Well, what can I do to make you not pissed at me?” She breaks eye contact like she’s hesitating on whether or not she wants to give me an answer. “What can I do, stubborn thing?”

“Tell me who you were texting back there,” she says timidly like she’s ashamed even to ask.

“It was Kimberley.”

Her shoulders relax. “Kimberley? Your stepmom? ”

I nod. “She wants me to come over and have dinner with her and my stepbrother.”

“That’s great, right? It’s been a while since you guys have caught up. Won’t it be nice for you to see them again?”

“I—I don’t know.”

“You don’t want to go?”

“No, not really,” I mutter, settling back against the brick wall beside her. I look up at the awning above us and let out a weighted exhale. “Shit’s just been complicated between the three of us since my dad passed.”

“Complicated in what way?”

I take another deep breath. “In every way.”

“Maybe it won’t be so bad. I mean, you’ve seen Kim recently.”

“Yeah, but not my stepbrother. I haven’t spoken a word to him in years . I don’t really want to change that either. Kimberley, I can deal with, but he’s another story.”

Nora laces her hand in mine and gives a comforting squeeze. As her thumb circles around my skin, I’m beginning to realize that I’ve never known a comfort like this before—one that comes from just existing in a moment like this with her.

“W-would you come with me?”

“To dinner? Y-you want me to come?”

“Yeah, I do,” I nod adamantly. “I really want you there. That is if you want to come.”

“Of course I do, but is Kim okay with me being there?”

“Yes.” I didn’t ask her, but it’ll be fine.

I pull Nora into my arms, feeling calm for the first time since I read Kim’s first text. After a long moment passes, I ask, “Can you answer me a question?”

She pulls back from our embrace, nodding. “Yeah.”

“Who did you think I was texting?”

“No one…”

Nora pushes off the wall and continues down the busy sidewalk. I hurry after her and join her side. “You’re a terrible fucking liar.”

“Am not,” she giggles.

The lights are off when we make it to Harvey, Evie, and Nora’s flat, so we remain as quiet as possible and make our way back into Nora’s bedroom. She shuts her door as soon as we slip inside.

I scan the small space that used to be mine, quietly admiring it. A warm glow illuminates the room from a string of lights messily hung along her ceiling. They’re a new addition since I was last here, along with the three new posters she tacked against one of the walls.

She’s brought a lot more life to this space than I ever could.

Nora is tending to her record player when I glance back at her, setting it up against her bedside dresser. She opens its case so the turntable is on display and puts on a vinyl. The first song of Funny Girl begins playing with a warm crackle.

She watches it spin, looking so proud and grateful. “It’s so perfect, Teddy .”

I smirk. “I thought you’d think so.”

I plop down against her small, springy mattress and stretch out my limbs until my entire length takes up the bed. I chuckle at the way my lower legs and feet dangle off of the edge.

“What’s got you so tickled back there?”

“Oh, nothing. It’s just your bed...”

“What about my bed?”

“It’s made for a fucking hobbit,” I laugh.

Nora turns, and her eyes sparkle with amusement when she sees how terribly disproportionate the bed and I are. “I think it’s plenty big enough.”

I can’t take my eyes off her as she shimmies her skirt off of her legs and crawls onto the bed. She slips beneath the covers underneath me, stretching out dramatically and smooshing me until my head thumps against the wall.

“Ahhh . See? Plenty big enough.”

“You’re an arsehole, you know that?”

She giggles. “Have you ever realized that you say ‘ass’ with an ‘r’ in it?”

“It’s the correct pronunciation, thank you very much.”

“It’s not!”

“It is, you arsehole!”

“There’s no ‘r ,’ Theo!”

“In the British vernacular, there is,” I argue, climbing overtop of her. I pin her arms to the mattress, leaving her defenseless as I relentlessly attack her neck with kisses. I won’t stop until she’s laughing so hard she’s completely breathless. “You done picking on me?”

“I haven’t decided yet.”

I draw my head back, ready to strike again.

“Okay, fine! I’m done! I’m done!”She swears.

“That’s what I thought,” I smirk. A few beats of silence pass between us, and I can’t help but wonder why she asked me about who I was texting. I decide to ask again in hopes of quelling both of our curiosities. “You gonna tell me now?”

“Tell you what?”

“Who you thought I was texting? You seemed relieved when I told you it was Kimberley.”

She averts her eyes, suddenly growing shy. “I don’t know.”

“ Nora ,” I prod. “Do you think I was messaging some other girl or something?”

“ I don’t know, ” she whispers. That immediately verifies my suspicions.

“I wouldn’t do that, Nora.”

“I’m sorry. I just—I got worried.”

So quickly, I remember that night I ran into her on the train—the same night of the Star Flyer when she was so torn up about her ex because she found out he was cheating . My gut coils at the thought of her believing I could do the same thing.

“You don’t have to be sorry,” I tell her. “I get it.”

She shields her face with her hands and groans.

“ What?”

“I’m embarrassed.”

I pry her palms away from her face to see her again. “Why are you embarrassed?”

“Because I like you so much that I’m acting like a freaking fool.”

I smile hard at that. “ Do you, now? ”

Her face turns a bright shade of red. “Never mind, actually, I hate you!”

I squeeze back onto the mattress beside her, wiggle an arm underneath her back, and scoop her against me. “You’re contradicting yourself, Miss Nora.”

“Then I contradict myself!”

Our laughter settles until nothing but the soft music of the record player and our breathing fills the room. “Are you sure you want to come to that dinner with me?”

“I’m sure.” Another moment of silence lingers between us before she softly tells me, “I’m proud of you, Theo.”

I swallow the sudden lump in my throat. “For what?”

“For even agreeing to have dinner with them in the first place. I know that wasn’t easy.”

She has no damn idea how much I needed to hear that.

I’m dreading this dinner with my stepmum and stepbrother, but maybe having her there with me will make it a little more tolerable.

Suddenly, her bed doesn’t feel so small anymore…

Because being able to have Nora this close feels so fucking right.