“Dandy,” a feminine voice says. “Are you home? Your light is on. Why didn’t you call me or your dad to come pick you up?”
“Dandy?” I whisper.
I smile, but Eden is not amused. She jumps off the couch and looks around.
“Uh, coming, Mom.” She gestures for me to stand and points to the back of the apartment.
After taking the guns from the table, I go to her bedroom. She shoves my back a few times. When I get to her room, I start to fold her clothes.
I hear hushed voices, but I can’t make out their words. They chat for about fifteen minutes, long enough for me to fold the clothes, put them away, and make the bed.
She barges in just as I finish. She looks around and flares her nostrils.
“What the hell, dude?” she asks. “Are you going through my underwear?” She opens the top drawer of her dresser.
“I had to put them away. I don’t like mess.”
“You don’t live here. It’s not your mess.”
“If I lived here, it would be clean. And I have a much bigger place than this shoebox.” I leave the room, and she follows me. There are two Tupperware bowls on the table, and I put them in her small fridge. There’s nothing in it but bottled water and ketchup. When I inspect the ketchup bottle, I note that it expired a year ago. I toss it in the trash can, but she retrieves it.
“It’s expired.” I snatch it from her and throw it back in the garbage.
“Expiration dates are only suggestions.”
I gape at her in shock.
“And you can’t come in here and throw my condiments away. Who do you think you are?” She puts it back in the fridge.
I yank the door open and take it out, but instead of putting it in the trash, I unscrew the top and pour water into it. I dump the liquid in the sink and toss the bottle in the garbage again. I glare at her, daring her to do or say something.
“What the fuck?” she yells. “You don’t run shit in here.”
“Looks like I do.”
“What do you want with me?” she asks. “Do you just like scaring me?”
“I don’t hurt women. You have no reason to be scared, and you know what I want.”
“Really? Because the night we met, you managed to scare the shit out of me and my friends. You did it again the next day at Seven Heaven. I’m not going to sleep with you, so you can forget it.”
“The night we met, I saved you from a predator.” She opens her mouth but promptly closes it. She probably realizes she can’t argue against that. “You think I’d be here if all I want is to sleep with you?”
“Well, thank you for the ride and the food. I’m home now and would prefer it if you don’t speak to me again.” She stands tall and does her best to sound authoritative. “Whatever it is you think you want with me, I’m not interested. My life is already a mess. I don’t need to be associated with—”
I arch an eyebrow, and she shuts up.
“With?” I prompt.
Ignoring me, she leaves the bedroom. I follow her, and she has the front door open and her head sticking out of it. She thengestures for me to go, but all I do is sit on the couch and lean back. I go so far as to take my phone out of my pocket and put it on the couch next to me.
“Trust me, you don’t want any of this.” She gestures at her body. However, she doesn’t realize how wrong she is. I want all of that. “Did you not hear a word I said? I have no money and—”
“Good thing I’m not here for your money,” I scoff. “Only a useless pussy goes after a woman for her money.”
“Well, my life completely fell apart in Boston. And I’m not going to tell you what happened, so don’t ask, but know that I’m beyond broke.”
I don’t tell her that I can and will find out on my own.
