“How many of them involve me?”
“What makes you think any of them do?” She turned to me with her own raised eyebrow.
I wasn’t sure how to respond, so I didn’t. She turned back to the window, and we drove in silence until she asked for me to put on Iron Maiden, which I did.From Here to Eternitycame on, and she reached for my hand. I wasn’t entirely sure what to think of that if anything, but her touch was everything to me.
I passed by my hotel and drove her to her apartment. When we reached the parking lot, she turned with furrowed brows to me.
“I thought we were just gonna leave.”
“You wanted to grab whatever you have here. Go for it. You want to go alone, or can I join you?” I asked as I parked the car and undid my seatbelt.
“You can come up. You haven’t seen it yet. I mean, it’s nothing spectacular, but it was shelter for a few months.”
I snickered. “Oh, I’ve seen it quite a bit, actually.”
“What? How?” Her eyes went wide as her thoughts went wild.
I cringed. “Remember that night you saw me in the room when you were with— those two?”
“Yeah, but that wasn’t here.”
“Well, I saw you and the bartender fucking just about everywhere. Cars, apartments, the back room,” I grimaced.
She shook her head. “That wasn’t real. We only had sex one time—with Paulo.” She looked away from me, and I furrowed my brows.
It looked so real.
“I wonder if that’s why I could talk to you that time. All the other times, I was a ghost.”
“I think you may have been seeing…my dreams.” Embarrassment flooded her face, and I scowled.
“More like nightmares. I guess that makes sense,” I laughed. “Even in your dreams, he barely satisfied you. I started to feel bad for you, honestly. The threesome.” I grinned. “I had better orgasms by myself than you did the entire time you were fucking them.”
“I don’t doubt that even a bit,” she laughed and leaned forward over the center counsel to kiss me. Again, another simple act of affection that I had spent months starving for. There was no way I’d let her go again.
We got out and went up to her apartment. While I had seen it while I was in that weird corporeal form in her dreams, seeing it in real life was… sad.
“I know. I feel like I’m a teenager again. Broke and just starting out,” she chuckled as she began shoving what little clothes she had in a duffel bag. “I’m going to go change.” She eyed me up and down. We were both still in our damp clothes. “I don’t have anything for you. Sorry.”
“All good. I wouldn’t wear it if you did. I’ll change at the hotel.”
She scooped up some clothes, and there was a hesitation when she looked at me, then hurried to the bathroom to change. I cocked my head in confusion. Since when was I not allowed to watch her dress?
She returned a moment later with a dry band tee and pleated skirt. Her hair was drying in clumps, her makeup was running, and her lightly tanned skin was still splattered in blood. She was beautiful.
She smiled and reached for a small stack of sketchbooks. She stuffed them into the bag and then tossed it over her shoulder. “Ready?”
“Are you? This is goodbye.” I looked around the studio apartment. “We aren’t coming back.”
“Consider this place forgotten. Let’s go.”
We left, and I drove to the hotel I’d been staying at, only to find that I’d been checked out. Elvie too.
“Well, can I get a new room then?” I asked the clerk, a little more harshly than I’d intended. He shook his head.
“I’m sorry, sir. Ginata called us herself and told us to. We actually have to ask you to leave.”
“Ginata runs your fucking hotel?” I snapped.
