Page 37 of Only You

‘I don’t want him coming up to my school!’ She pointed to Demir sharply. ‘He looks like a street rat. I can tell my classmates that you pick me up as a favour for your boss but how do I explain him ?’

‘Why are you explaining anything? Everyone knows about us.’ Jack ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. ‘Just let them think whatever.’

‘I can’t,’ Selene yelled. ‘If I arrive with you, it looks like I have a job. I arrive with him and suddenly everyone’s wondering what the hell I’m up to. If they find out what I’m doing, they’ll kick me out.’

‘No, they won’t. They have no reason to!’

‘I’m practising medicine without a license, something the professors don’t approve of. If they find out I’m “helping” you, I’m screwed!’

‘Well, maybe if you stopped making a fucking scene and just shut up, you wouldn’t draw so much damn attention,’ Jack barked. ‘Fuck being a doctor. Your ass should try Broadway with all these goddamn dramatics.’

‘ I’m dramatic?’ Selene sneered. ‘When they kick me out for this, I don’t even want to imagine the shit show you’d put on “on my behalf”!’

‘You need to fucking calm down,’ Jack said in a low voice. ‘I don’t need you doing this every time he gives you a ride or we will get caught.’

Selene glared, catching Demir’s gaze. A similar look of confusion lingered in his eyes. ‘The hell do you mean every time?’

Jack sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

‘Well, I wasn’t sure until you left for class,’ Jack said.

‘But I got a gig at another garage. It’s for a few days a week on the other side of the city.

It pays better than Moe’s but their schedule’s different, which means I can’t pick you up.

I’ve worked it out with a co-worker that I can catch a ride with him but D’s gonna have to pick you up from now on. ’

‘What?’ Demir asked the same time Selene said, ‘No.’

‘I second that. I’m not dealing with her childish ass every day.’

Selene scowled at him. ‘This “child” is getting a degree while you’re fighting lowlifes in a basement,’ she snapped.

‘Okay, enough!’ Jack declared. ‘Look, this isn’t easy but with this garage, I get better connections.

Better connections equal better fights and better pay, all right?

I’m just asking you both to work with me !

’ Jack gestured between them. The pair looked at each other sceptically.

‘D, we’ll split it seventy-thirty from now on if you do this. ’

There was an instant shift in Demir’s face, and her jaw dropped. And to think they had been on the same page for once. Why had she thought he could be useful?

‘Fine,’ he agreed reluctantly.

‘Not fine. The answer is still no,’ Selene said. ‘I mean it, Jack. I’d rather walk—’

He suddenly grabbed her arm, pulling her into his chest. ‘Stop being a brat and take the favour,’ he ordered through his teeth.

She tensed and, for a moment, wished she could reach the blade in her bag. A second later, Jack’s eyes cleared, and he loosened his grip. She snatched her arm back and turned away from him, rubbing her forearm as she sat, not looking at anyone.

‘Okay, D,’ Jack said. ‘Let’s go through the combos one more time.’

Selene pulled her book back onto her lap, but she could no longer concentrate. Her arm throbbed, and she jumped at the sound of every hit. Each strike brought memories she wished she could forget.

When practice was over, she practically jumped from her seat, not waiting for Jack before heading to the car.

She stared straight ahead as Jack got in.

They said nothing as they drove home. Jack tried to pull her into conversation with some inane comment, but Selene didn’t budge.

She was still concentrating on keeping her hands still.

Jack didn’t say anything of consequence until they parked in front of the apartment.

‘I know you and D don’t get along,’ he started. ‘But I promise it’s all for the best. I need you to trust me on this.’

It was ironic how she had to hold back the urge to slap him. Trust him? After what he did? He touched her arm, and she flinched.

‘I’m sorry for grabbing you like that,’ he said finally. ‘You know I hate that.’

‘I know.’

‘My daddy—’

‘I’m not like him. You know I’m not,’ Jack jumped in.

‘But a lot of men can be, you know that,’ she said, voice wobbling as she finally looked at him. His face fell, and she knew they were both thinking of their fathers. ‘You went to war, too. You could be like that…’

‘Okay, okay. Hands off from now on. I got it,’ he told her. ‘I’m sorry, Sel.’

Despite the anger coursing through her – or maybe because it – Selene’s eyes welled with tears, and she pulled back so she could wipe them away. She refused to fall apart. She refused to show any weakness, as if he could apologise his way into her good graces.

‘You better prove it,’ she said. He nodded with remorseful eyes. He took her hand as gently as possible and kissed the back of it.

‘I’ll do whatever it takes. You mean everything to me,’ he vowed. Guilt practically radiated off him and she let herself relax into his touch. Jack pulled her into his arms, whispering ‘Sorry’ over and over until she believed him.