“Then he and I are even now.” She kept the pace of running her finger along his knuckles as his hand lay in her lap.
“You’re not going to tell me what he did, are you?” He pulled his eyes off the road for a second to look at her.
“No, I’m not.”
“Why not?”
Elle thought about those two words. ‘Why not?’ After these last years, she had never told a soul about what happened to her in school, and had never revealed to anyone about what had happened to Chloe. Then, just two nights before, she had seen someone murdered and had instantly been certain she was never going to tell anyone in her life. So, why not? Elle felt like maybe she was wired that way—to keep secrets, to keep her mouth shut. She was always like that. It was in her DNA. She pictured the boss in her mind and that brought her to exactly why she would never tell.
“Because I’m not a rat.”
As Nero looked at her at that last word, she looked back at him and felt like he was almost smiling on the inside; his eyes, at least, looked like he was.
“All right, I can respect that.”
The car ride was nice. She was very comfortable there, holding his hand. They didn’t have to force conversation; they both liked the silence at times.
When they were about halfway to her house, he asked her, “Can I take you out sometime?”
“Like on a date?” Elle hadn’t been expecting that.
Nero laughed. “Yeah, like on a date.”
Elle didn’t know how to respond.
“Let me guess, you’ve never been on a date before?”
“Uh, no, I haven’t. I work, you know, so I don’t know if I can.”
Nero removed his hand from hers. “Give me your phone.”
“Why?”
When Nero gave her a look to not question him, she reached in her bag and then handed him her phone. It was perfect timing because he had stopped at a stop sign.
“What the hell kinda phone is this? It has fucking buttons.”
“You mean a keyboard, yes.”
“Yeah, I can see that.” He punched in some buttons and she heard his phone ring. “All right, add that number in your phone.”
She took her phone back and started saving his contact. “Okay, A-S-S-H-O-L-E. Got it.” She smiled really big, proud of her quip.
“Very funny. Text me your schedule later so I can decide when we can go out.”
“We’re not going on a date.”
“And why is that?”
“Because you’ve dated every girl in school since this semester started.” Sure, she might have been exaggerating, but only a little. He had practically dated every girl in school, and three within the last week. The three that made her life a living hell every day.
“I don’t date them, Elle.”
“Like that makes it better!” Elle crossed her arms. He is literally an asshole.
His voice became dark. “Elle, did I ask to fuck you?”
Elle became uncomfortable, refusing to answer him.
“No, I asked to take you out on a date. Something that I haven’t asked any girl before.”
Elle turned her head toward him. She knew he wasn’t lying. Nero wasn’t the type to take a girl out on a date; he was the type to take them to his bed. She still wasn’t going to respond to him, however.
“I’m done with those girls. I know you don’t believe me, and that’s fine, but I’m telling you anyways.”
“It’s still a no.”
“You know, that’s really hard for me to believe when you’ve been holding my hand for practically the whole car ride.”
Elle didn’t care, she wasn’t holding it now.
He pulled up to her curb and jumped out before she could even put her hand on the door handle. He opened her door and she stood up from the car while he blocked her with his body, his hand holding the door so she couldn’t move.
“What are you doing now?”
“I need another thank you.”
She put her hands on his chest to protest, but before she could say anything, his lips planted on hers.
This kiss was different than the one before. This time, he was greedy and tried to take more, but Elle wouldn’t open her mouth. He grabbed the back of her head to position her face higher, hoping she would slightly open. She didn’t. His tongue outlined her bottom lip right before he pulled away.
She noticed her hands had continued resting on his chest when she was brought back to reality. She wasn’t quite sure if she’d even kissed him back. She was actually pretty sure he had done all the work. The butterflies from earlier had returned the moment his lips had been on hers, and they were still there.
“I’ll pick you up tomorrow morning for school.”
“What?” Her mind was still jumbled after the kiss.
“Chloe can’t pick you up tomorrow with her car in the shop. I doubt whoever drives her to school tomorrow will want to come out of their way to pick you up.”
Yeah, they weren’t. “So, I can catch the bus.”
“Really, Elle? The bus?”
“Yes, I ride it practically every day to the diner downtown.”
Nero’s face looked shocked almost. “You ride the fucking bus that goes downtown, at night?”
“Yeah. So?”