Page 16

With the car turned off and the blackout curtains up, I lie down in the back seat and pull the fluffy blanket over my shivering body.

I still feel cold enough that my teeth might start chattering any second, but this is better than being outside or worse, Luke’s apartment, so maybe I should count my blessings.

Not that I have many left to count these days.

I snuggle into the makeshift pillow and try to force my brain to shut down long enough for sleep, which is hard after the day I’ve had.

Cade knows. He has to know. How can he not?

The way he looked at me in class, and those loaded questions about Luke…

It’s so obvious he’s figured out my pathetic secret, and I was too chicken-shit to even look him in the eye, let alone talk to him about it.

Another item for the ever-growing list of reasons I hate myself.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

I open my eyes and hold my breath, every muscle locking into place. Did someone knock on my car? My heart is racing, my breathing coming in shallow gasps, and I don’t know how to make it stop. This has never happened before. When I put my curtains up, I didn’t see anyone else in the parking lot.

Shit.

Did I lock the door? Does it even matter? I remember watching a horror movie once where the guy still managed to get in despite the locks and slaughtered everyone inside.

“Savannah?”

I scramble to the other side of the car, staring at the black curtain, not knowing what to do.

The potential murderer knows my name. But how?

“It’s me, Cade. You know, the guy who asked you to his hockey game?”

“Cade?” I breathe out his name, not sure what I’m supposed to do. The star of my fantasies is outside my car/home at midnight, and I'm wearing threadbare pajamas with holes in embarrassing places.

“Are you in there?”

He knocks again and I shake the nerves from my limbs.

Then I lean forward, pull the curtain back with trembling fingers, and roll down the window.

I nearly lose my breath when I see his face illuminated by the harsh streetlamp.

The unforgiving light carves shadows into his angular features, and his eyes look darker than usual.

“Uh, hi, Cade. What are you doing here?” I try to play it cool, which is a little hard when I’ve been caught sleeping in my car.

“Well, I had a hankering for some late-night chicken, and I saw your car here. I thought I’d check you were okay?”

“I’m good,” I squeak out.

“You sure? Looks like you’re having a little car trouble.”

I shake my head and offer him a tight smile. “No, my car’s working just fine.”

His thick brows knit together, his eyes studying me. “Then why are you sleeping in it?”

“I’m not sleeping.”

“No, but you’re lying in the back seat with a blanket and have curtains up. Feels like you might be trying to get some privacy.”

Privacy that he’s taking away, I might add.

“Yeah, well, my apartment’s being fumigated, so I can’t go back there until they’ve cleared it for entry.”

Did he believe the lie? It was the first pathetic excuse that popped into my head.

He nods before looking around the deserted parking lot and then back at me, his green eyes piercing me in ways that make me feel completely exposed.

“So you’re sleeping in your car?” he asks, and I hear it. The mild disgust in his voice that confirms what I already know. He’s disgusted by me and how I’m living. I can’t say I blame him. I am too.

“I had nowhere else to go.”

“What about Luke’s? Can’t you go to his?”

“Luke’s?”

“Yeah.”

Without warning, Cade opens the car door and shuffles inside, leaving me no choice but to move over and make space for him.

My car is pretty small, but with Cade sitting in it, it feels like I’ve suddenly been transported into a clown car.

His broad shoulders make it impossible to move and his body heat radiates toward me like a furnace I want to press myself against.

“Isn’t Luke your boyfriend?” he asks, staring at the headrest. “Isn’t that why you gave him those tickets I got you?”

“No,” I answer too quickly to come up with an excuse for how I know him. “I just sold them to some guy for the money.”

Gosh, it sounds harsh when the truth hurts more.

“Savannah,” he says my name bluntly, glaring at me with disbelief clear across his face. “Are we still going to pretend I don’t know where you work?”

“Um…”

“Scarlett?”

The name makes me tremble, which I try to hide by gulping. Cade’s still staring and my stomach drops, embarrassment filling every limb.

“H-how did you know?”

“Your dumb act is cute, but I like girls who don’t patronize me. You know how I know.”

I drop my head in defeat. I always knew those fantasies I had in my head about us would never come true, but to be faced with the reality of them hits differently.

“How long have you known?”

“Since I got two black eyes for trying to say hi to you.” He says it so casually, as though getting his face rearranged was just a minor inconvenience rather than assault.

I gasp and look at him with confusion. “What?”

“Did you forget about that? Luke called me in for a meeting. Wanted me to stage one more fight for him, and I said no. Then I saw you again and couldn’t leave without saying hi.”

“He told me they dragged you out because you stole some money.”

“Ah, so you do remember. Yup, if I wasn’t going to fight for Luke, then I wasn’t allowed to talk to the girls Luke hired, apparently. Thankfully, my friend Henry had followed me there and managed to get them off me.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Not your fault. Besides, Luke’s backed down a little since then. He’s trying to butter me up for another fight. You know how it is. He’ll keep pushing, pushing, pushing until I finally give in. I guess I’m luckier than you, though.”

My eyes connect with his mossy green ones.

“He knows I can knock the shit out of him if he tries to force anything on me.”

God, I wish I had the strength to get away from him.

“Have you been back there since?” I ask meekly.

“I was there tonight.”

“Oh.”

“I followed you after class. Figured it might be a good time to clear the air. Now I’m pretty sure there’s a lot more going on than I thought.”

He peers over my seat, noting the bag in the front, the makeshift bed he’s currently sitting in, and something in his head clicks together.

“Luke keeps telling me you’re special to him.”

I try to hide the disgust I feel when he says that. Special. I’m definitely special to him, but not in the way anyone wants to be special to a man.

“Made it sound like you were together. I’m surprised he hasn’t taken advantage of you having nowhere to go.” His words drip with suspicion.

I stay silent, hating how easy it is for him to read me like I’m written in large print.

“Does he know you’re out here sleeping on your own?”

I shake my head, my hair falling into my face. “No.”

“Should I let him know? Maybe he’ll up your pay to help out.”

“No!” I yell it, the very idea making panic claw at my throat. Then I huff out a breath and try to compose myself. He’s testing me. Gauging my reaction. “The less he knows about my circumstances, the better.”

Cade nods, and I feel like he’s judging every decision that led me here, but it’s not something he’d ever say out loud. “Don’t worry, Sav. You can trust me. I won’t say anything.”

I believe him. I barely know him and the last time I put my blind trust in someone, I ended up homeless and dancing for strangers, but with Cade, it feels different. He's unassuming and for some reason, I feel like he'll protect me rather than destroy me.

“Thank you,” I say quietly.

“On one condition.”

I hide my grimace. That didn’t take long at all. Should I be surprised that Cade is like everyone else? He just wants to take, take, take. Always trying to barter with me even though I have nothing to give.

“Come home with me tonight.”

Except that.

All the blood drains from my body as it dawns on me what he wants. Sex. How could this be? I thought so highly of him. He’s the face I imagine when I’m up there, protecting me from all of this and now he’s just as bad as the rest of them.

“I’m not sleeping with you, Cade.”

He balks at the suggestion, pushing himself back until he’s leaning against the car door. “Whoa, wait. You thought I was propositioning you?”

I stay silent, hoping that’s enough of an answer.

He shakes his head. “Wow. What the hell has Luke done to you?” It’s another question I don’t want to answer. “I have a two-bedroom apartment just off campus. I’m offering you the spare room.”

“Spare room?”

“Yes.” He gets his phone out and flips through pictures. “I was late to the rental market and all the single apartments were taken. So I have space. You need space. I’m just offering it to you.”

He flips his phone over, and I’m immediately surprised at how clear and bright the pictures are on his screen. Wow. I knew I had a brick, but this thing is beautiful. It’s only when he tips it to swipe across a few more pictures that I focus on what he’s actually showing me.

A room. A beautiful light and spacious room with white bedsheets on it and a fluffy purple pillow on top. Who decorated it? I can’t imagine Cade picking out such beautiful bedding.

“No.”

“Why not?”

“I can’t afford it. I still have to pay rent on the apartment that’s getting fumigated,” I lie as it’s my default setting at this point.

“Did I say anything about payment? I don’t want you to pay. I just want to make sure you aren’t out here in the cold.”

I hesitate.