Tainted Black - Williams Shanora - Страница 40

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"I'll be back as soon as everything is handled."

"Okay," I murmured, but I felt somewhat disappointed—not with him, but with myself. He was going to see Izzy. I could have tagged along, but I didn't quite trust myself with Theo around. I would have been self-conscious of every little thing, like if she noticed me staring or if she saw how he looked at me, or maybe even caught him standing too close. I missed the hell out of her, but I was going to have to wait to see her... alone. No hot daddy around to distract me.

Anything could have gone wrong, so I kept my distance. "Tell her that I'm glad she's okay. I mean I called her last night to check in, and she said she was fine and all, but I'm sure she'd love to hear it in person."

"I will." Theo was quiet for a moment. At first I thought he was thinking negatively— reconsidering all we'd done only hours ago on his boat. But that thought quickly vanished as he sighed. "When I get back, it's you and me. I'm packing everything up. Think you can drop by and help?"

I laughed, crossing my legs on top of my comforter. "Duh. You know I will. Just make sure you keep the chair aside. I'm really taking it."

"Of course." I heard the smile in his voice. "Gonna miss you, Chloe." His voice was gentle, maybe the softest I'd ever heard it.

"I'll miss you too, Theo."

"Mmm," he groaned.

Giggling, I asked, "What?"

"I love it when you call me by my first name."

"Theodore," I said, rolling his name off my tongue. "Theodore Benjamin Black."

He chuckled. "You know way too much about me, Knight."

I smirked on my end. "Not my fault you're a blabbermouth around me.

"Take it as a good thing, babe. Not many get to know me like you do."

I paused. "You say that like you're a bad person."

He was silent for a moment, allowing my words to sink in. Finally, he said, "You'd be surprised. There's shit about me that only Janet and my mom know about. Shit that... I can’t exactly take back. Sometimes I think my last name mocks me because of how dark my past was."

"What do you mean? What happened?"

"Long story, sweetheart." I heard his keys jingle. "But when I'm back, I'll be sure to fill you in. Pun intended."

I laughed out loud. "Whatever. I'll talk to you soon."

I heard a door shut on his end. He didn't respond, so I waited on the line, assuming he hadn't heard me. "Come to your window," he commanded lightly.

I stared ahead, listening to his car honk when unlocking. Gradually, I climbed off the bed, walking towards my window. I hesitated for a moment but quickly realized I had no reason to hold back. Pulling the curtain aside, I saw him standing right in the driveway, looking straight up at my window.

"There's my girl." He put on a beautiful smile, those light lines forming around his eyes. Those lines were the only things that gave his age away. Other than that, he was absolute perfection. With the phone glued to his ear, he lifted his left hand and waved, like he was just some regular, normal neighbor.

Blushing, I waved back, and then pressed my palm to the cool windowpane. "Get some rest, Little Knight."

"Have a safe drive, Mr. Black."

I saw him laugh silently, pulling his car door open. Then, I pulled the phone away from my ear, watching as he did the same, slipping into the driver's seat.

The car cranked, and he reversed his way out of the driveway, pulled onto the main road, and then drove away but not before looking up at me once more and winking.

I missed him already, and it'd only been four hours. I know, I sounded needy and desperate, but I seriously couldn’t wait until he got back. I had many questions I wanted to ask him. I knew there was a darker side to Theo; I'd just never truly witnessed it. Other than watching him almost destroy Ol' Charlie with a hammer after Mrs. Black died, I'd never seen him spiral deeper. The desire to destroy something he loved seemed logical, considering he'd just lost the love of his life.

But I wondered about him—wondered what he could do and how he did it. I wondered if I could trust his darker side, a side that I’m sure not even Izzy had witnessed. If she had, she would have told me all about it.

I blew a breath, pushing out of bed and going towards my window for the second time that day. I looked at his home, and when it occurred to me that he would no longer be living there after two weeks, I had the urge to cry. I couldn't imagine not having him there. I couldn’t picture another family in that home because, to me, that was the Blacks’ home.

The first real, genuine people I met. A family that accepted me—took me in with welcoming arms and put a smile on my face every single day. They were my friends. My life wouldn't have been as much fun without them.

I hated change.

No matter how awful I felt or how heavy my heart would get when I thought of Izzy, I missed her like crazy. I felt awful about the wreck. It was my fault Theo didn’t pick up the first few times. He was too busy trying to secure time with me, considering her phone call just another weekly conversation that could wait.

I called her immediately, and when I did, I spent almost an hour with her on the phone. Luckily, Theo had just left to handle some car business, which left her lounging in her dorm room on her twin-sized mattress. I remembered how her dorm looked: pink everywhere. Pink sheets, pink rugs, pink pillows, a pink lamp, even pink magnets to go on her mini fridge. Izzy loved pink just as much as I loved purple.

“But seriously. Are you okay, Iz? I got your pic of the car. That thing is totaled. You’re lucky you made it out alive, girl.”

“I’m fineeee. Trust me. Even though the accident was totally not my fault, they’re trying to pin it on me. That guy hit me!”

“Yeah, but at least you made it out safely. That’s all that matters.”

“You sound like a parent,” she laughed.

“Because I care?”

“Ehh.” She made a pfft noise through the phone, as if she were exasperated. “So, I’m not sure about this whole summer relationship thing anymore. Dylan is starting to get clingy,” Izzy said out of the blue.

“Why do you say that? Because he kisses you and actually cares unlike Marco did?”

She scoffed. “Oh my god, Chloe! Did you really just go there? The Marco card? What a bitch.”

I laughed. “You know it’s true. If a guy doesn’t treat you like shit, you get bored. A terrible thing to want, Iz.”

“Yeah, but even though Marco was a total dick, he made up for it… with his beautifully big dick.” She busted out in a laugh, and someone in the background shouted something. “Oh, bite me, Jessie,” Izzy spat.

“Holy shit! Jessie the Prude is still your roommate?” I was rolling with laughter now. Jessie went to Bradshaw with us. The biggest geek of all. There was nothing wrong with being a geek, but when you’re a geek that snitches and lies… well… it’s simple. You get shunned.

“Yes! And she’s so fucking annoying!”

“Right here!” Jessie shouted in the background.

“Duh, Prude, I see you.” Izzy snickered.

I shook my head. “You are so mean to her.”

“Well, maybe she should find another roommate. She’s lucky I agreed. She’s still a liar. I don’t know why I still put up with her. Why are you even here? Why aren’t you home for the summer with your family or something?!” All of her questions to Jessie were rhetorical, and I was dying on my end, as in laughing my ass off. Izzy groaned. “Let me stop before she snitches on me. Anyway, back to Dylan… I don’t know. He’s always calling and texting, and when he’s around I have, like, no space to fucking breathe. Yesterday morning, I asked him to buy me a donut and an iced latte from Dunkin Donuts, and he bought me a whole dozen. I was grateful, I really was, but then he spent the whole day in my dorm after I specifically told him it was my girl time and I wasn’t up for cuddling. God, Chlo, you know how I get around this time of the month. Bitchin’ it out to the max.”

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