“I am far too young and fabulous to be your dad.” Eli flips his head to the side with a flourish.
“Are you hungry?” I ask Nova.
“Um, yeah. I want a burger.”
“Coming right up,” I tell her, and spin around to enter her order into the system.
Eli hops off his bar stool. “I’m going to be in my office. Try not to kill Matilda while I’m gone.”
“No promises,” I call after him.
I get Nova a glass of water without her asking.
I tend to the other people at the bar. The place is packed, and it’s not even our busy time.
I’m curious as to what Nova needs me to do to help with her project.
Something tells me I don’t want to know.
Nova?
?s burger is ready about fifteen minutes later and I bring the plate to her.
“I have to eat and run,” she says. “I have to get over to the record store.”
My brows furrow. “I thought they were closed by this time.”
She nods. “Normally, yes. They’re doing some kind of special promotion thing—trying to get people to buy records and sign up for guitar lessons. It’s like a party of sorts. Food. Drinks. You get the idea. I said I’d come in and help keep the place organized.”
I nod. “Ah, I see.”
She bites into her burger. “Oh, man, that’s good. I was starving. I skipped lunch.”
I look at the time. “It’s six-o-clock. You have to eat,” I scold.
“Didn’t have time.” She shrugs.
I shake my head. I don’t have time to stand and chat but I let her know with my eyes that I’m going to make sure she eats every bit of food on her plate.
She salutes me mockingly, and I try not to laugh.
She was starving because it isn’t long until her plate is clean.
“Thank you,” she says, laying some cash on the bar. I growl. I hate it when she pays. I always take care of her bill. “I’ll see you later.” She dashes away before I can give the money back. I take it and shove it in my pocket. I’ll figure out a way to get it back to her later.
I know she knows that I never cash her checks for rent. She never asks why, and I never comment on it. She keeps writing them, and I keep taking them only to rip them up and throw them in the trash.
I hate my dad, but I don’t hate the money he gives me.
Every month like clockwork he deposits ten-thousand dollars into my account. I never spend that much, so I have a ton saved up. I know Nova doesn’t have a lot so taking rent money from her isn’t necessary. I’d rather her have money for other things.
Sometimes I get pissed at myself for accepting the money from my dad, but then I remember all the shit he put me through as a kid, and I think I fucking deserve that money.
He’s used me my whole life, I might as well use him too, right?
***
The apartment is dark when I get home, and I half-expect to find Nova asleep, but instead she sits in the middle of my bed with her legs crossed in the tiniest pair of black underwear and a loose white top that falls over one shoulder. I can see her nipples through the thin cotton, and I’m instantly hard.