“Uh, nothing.”
Thankfully, from this angle, I had my raging boner trapped between my legs and not at all visible underneath my gray sweats.
Why the fuck did I choose this color out of the dozen I had?
“Who was that guy?”
Shit.
Silas probably completely blew right past her on the way out, too. What a grand first impression.
“My surgeon. Ran into him at the grocery store. He offered to give me a ride home.”
She blinked a few times. “Oh. Did you pick anything up for dinner?”
Fuck me.
Of course I was too distracted to actually do the one thing I went in that shop to do. “Uh, actually I was thinking we could do takeout. Maybe pizza?”
Her nose wrinkled. “Maybe I’ll just make that spaghetti again.”
Oh my god, if I had to suffer through one more night of watery ketchup-tasting noodles, I might actually keel over before my date on Friday.
Date.
“You had a long day. Let’s just order out. I don’t care about paying the delivery fee.”
She eyed me warily. “All right… but don’t you dare complain to me when they charge you half of the total price.”
“Would never dream of it.”
Swinging back up to my feet carefully, keeping my front half pointed toward the closet, I wrenched both doors shut, locking my—and I guess now Silas’s—secrets behind it. Amelia could continue to remain ignorant to my tastes and preferences until I was long dead and she was forced to toss all of my shit into a bag for Goodwill.
“Mama!” Ainsley called, her footsteps followed up with a loud crash. “Oops…”
“Oh, boy.” Amelia darted out of my room. “Ainsley Mae! What did you just do!”
Smiling, I followed her out.
I couldn’t wait for Friday.
CHAPTER 12
Silas
Friday,at exactly seven-thirty p.m., the front tire of my Alfa Romeo hit the sloped curb heading back behind Terran’s house to where his driveway sat.
With the days leading into the winter months, the sun had long set by the time I’d made my way over to this side of town, only soft remnants of the sunset’s orangey rays were still visible and had been rapidly getting swallowed by the dark night sky each minute that ticked by.
A single light was on above the back door, casting an arch of light over the little silver sedan parked close to the house. The back of it was rusting where the plastic trim of the fender wasn’t covered. A crooked license plate with insurance tags still stuck to the corner of it bolted into the slot.
A practical model. Easy to afford. Cheap to insure. A vehicle to get around town easily and share between adults with a small child.
Not exactly safe in the more extreme weather months. Though, from this lot, most everything needed to survive was within walking distance.
Terran was leaning against the back end of the car with his arms crossed over his chest. His thick coat made his frame appear larger, more built, than what I knew lay hidden underneath.
Interesting, I hadn’t given him a time to meet me before leaving and he’d intuitively guessed correctly. Or perhaps, he’d been standing out here since the sun went down, waiting. Either option caused me to flex my hands around the steering wheel, imaging them around his waist instead.
