Not yet.
“Washing your car? Don’t you have a bazillion servants to do that for you?” Marco asked.
“Yeah, I totally do because I’d trust anyone to wash my car.”
“When did you start washing your car? I thought you liked to go through the drive-thru. Manual labor has never been your forte,” Nick said.
His friends had been with him less than ten minutes and they were already pissing him off. There was a time he didn’t mind hanging out with them—before he knew how fucking fake they were, of course. They were only here because of the money, and what he could provide them. He gave them an easy fucking life, and now all he wanted to do was to see how Pru was doing.
They had been hanging out at her home last night, watching a movie, eating popcorn, and just spending time together. Of course, they’d also made out, and he’d even gotten her shirt off and had some tit action, but nothing too far that made her uncomfortable.
Most chicks would have pissed him off by now, but he had yet to get annoyed with their slow pace. Besides, he happened to like hugging and holding her. He’d never taken the time to simply enjoy a girl’s company, and Pru, she didn’t want anything from him.
When they weren’t arguing about something, she was amazing for just listening to him talk or speaking about their futures. She never pushed him for information, always allowing him to go at his own speed. It wasn’t lost on him that the most comfortable he’d been in years was with the girl he’d spent a lifetime bullying.
“Dude, what the fuck?” Carl asked, snapping his fingers in front of his face.
He shoved Carl hard. “Get out of my face.”
“Okay, now you really do need to spill. What’s your problem?” Nick said.
“Nothing is my problem. I’m cleaning my car and now you’re pissing me off.”
“You got a girl?” Marco asked.
“Seriously? I clean my car and you think I’ve got a girl.”
“You’re cleaning your car. The only reason for you to do that is because there’s a chick somewhere.” Marco shrugged. “And you’re blowing me off.”
“Yeah, I’m blowing you all off, so get the fuck off my porch.” He picked up the hose, pointed it at his friends, and aimed the blast of water right at them. It was the only way he could figure out to get them off his lawn and away from him.
“Fuck off,” he said.
He was tired of their bullshit and with their constant, never-ending questions. He wanted a break.
This thing with Pru, it was crazy but it was also true to him. He didn’t have to put on any kind of show with her, and she didn’t expect anything from him, which was refreshing. Of course, it meant he still had to deal with her hanging around with that piece-of-shit coward Sean.
He’d just have to live with it.
When his friends were gone, he finished washing the car and headed back into his home. Pulling out his cell phone, he found her name.
Drake: What r u doing?
Pocketing his cell, he grabbed a bottle of water out of the fridge and downed half of it before the text came in.
Pru: Working. You should try it.
Drake: Nah, sounds kind of boring. I’ve got more important things to do.
Pru: Like what? Play video games? Do you have a high score?
Drake: Do u even know what a high score is?
Pru: Nah, got more important things to do like study, work. You know mature adult stuff. I don’t have time to play being a kid.
Drake: I’m not a kid.
Pru: If you say so.
Drake: I can have u screaming in a way no kid could.
Pru: Gross. You took it to the gutter. Why are you texting me?
Drake: It’s not against the rules.
Pru: But what if someone steals your phone?
Texting bored him. After closing the message, he dialed her number, holding his cell phone to his ear, waiting for her to pick up.
“You know this isn’t any better,” she said.
“I don’t care. What are you doing?” he asked.
“I’m working.” She released a sigh.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. Just … it’s nothing.”
“Tell me.” He could imagine her biting her lip, wanting to tell him anything but. “You know, you could learn to trust me and open up to me.”
“It’ll go against everything I know,” she said.
“I’m not going to hurt you. What do you have to lose?”
“My sanity.”
“I don’t want your sanity.”
She chuckled. “Yeah, I know what you want.” She let out a breath. “I’m just tired of the way people talk to me, you know? As if I don’t matter. I can’t stand it. I hate being treated like shit. It’s not something I enjoy.”
“Who has done this to you?”
“Besides you?”
“Yes. I’m allowed now, remember? Tell me.”
Pru did. She told him about the women who’d been in the shop, throwing clothes at her, screaming at her because they didn’t fit.