After You (Because of You 2)

“Hey, someone has to save me from my own bad taste. You can be my hero.”

“I’ll take it,” he tells me.

I smile at him and he settles a hand around my waist, escorting me down the hall toward the auditorium where our movie will be playing in just a few minutes.

Henry can’t talk to me about much regarding the specifics of his work, due to confidentiality, but while we ignore the on-screen movie trivia, he tells me as much as he’s able about the pain in the ass client he is currently working with. Not so much with me, because he knows better, but when he’s at work Henry has a touch of arrogance, so he has pissed off this one file clerk and he thinks she’s trying to sabotage him. It sounds like he was a dick and deserves to be sabotaged, but I don’t tell him that. That’s his business, not mine.

The lights in the theater dim a little, giving us a five minute warning that the movie is about to start. People are still filing in. So many people. I actually don’t enjoy going to movies on weekends because there are too many peo

ple, but I know Henry made time to make this gesture, so I’m not going to tell him, “Next time, how about a Wednesday?”

As more people take their seats, I do my best to look unfriendly in hopes of keeping them all away. It’s working so well until someone drops into the seat next to me. I slide an annoyed look at Henry, but he doesn’t mind when people sit by him, so he doesn’t know why this annoys me.

I jerk backward as a paper bag full of popcorn is thrust at me from my left hand side—not the side Henry is on, but the side where the body just dropped into the seat.

“Don’t worry, I brought extra napkins,” Derek states, handing me a stack of them.

Derek?

My jaw drops open and stays there.

“Got you a Diet Coke, too,” he says nonchalantly, tapping the plastic lid on the drink he put in my cup holder when I wasn’t paying attention. “The suit is really bad at taking you out. Doesn’t even know to get you snacks when you pretend you don’t want them. Can’t believe you’re wasting your time with this guy,” he says, shaking his head in disbelief.

My heart attempts to gallop out of my chest and my mind goes completely blank. I have absolutely no idea what to do in this situation, but I know it’s going to get unpleasant really fast. I wish I had a sheet or a coat I could throw over Derek’s head and pretend he isn’t here, because I know there can only possibly be seconds before Henry looks over and sees him.

His tone harder than I’ve ever heard it, Henry demands, “What the fuck is he doing here?”

Butterflies swarm my stomach, the desperate flap of their wings causing a tidal wave of unrest. “I have no explanation,” I state.

Henry isn’t having it. Eyes wide, caught between shock and fury, he asks, “Did you know he would be here?”

“Of course not. I don’t have Spidey senses that alert me to that kind of thing, Henry.” Looking over at Derek, I demand, “What the hell are you doing here?”

“Taking care of your needs, since Prince Charming over here clearly isn’t. Eat your popcorn,” he says, casually turning his gaze toward the big screen. “What are we watching? Gotta be honest, I wasn’t paying attention. Pull out your phone, let me see a trailer.”

“Leave,” I tell him, eyes wide.

“All right, fine, I’ll go in blind. That’s more fun anyway,” he says, reaching over into my bag of popcorn and grabbing a few pieces, then popping them into his mouth.

Henry stands. I shrink as he moves in Derek’s direction, then the dumbest, stupidest, most ridiculous thing happens—completely without my consent, my arm shoots out in front of Derek, as if to protect him.

Henry stops moving and stares at me. I draw my arm away and grimace, but it’s too late. “Can we please not get kicked out of the movie theater? You guys can let your testosterone run wild after the movie. This theater is packed, and no one here cares about our drama.”

Jabbing a finger in Derek’s direction, Henry states, “If he stays, I go.”

“Ultimatums never work,” Derek advises Henry.

Henry’s furious gaze snaps to him. “You shut the fuck up.”

Smirking, Derek lifts his hands in mocking surrender. “Relax, dude. It’s just a movie. There’s no need to duel.”

“Henry, please sit down,” I say as I sit forward, reaching out a hand to touch his arm in a gesture I hope is placating. “I’ll get rid of him.”

“Ouch,” Derek says, grabbing his heart and shooting me puppy dog eyes. “You don’t want me to stick around, Nikki?”

“You are the devil. Get up and follow me to the lobby right now.”

Henry surprises me by speaking. “Absolutely not. If you think I’m letting you go off alone with him, you’ve lost your damn mind.”