I couldn’t believe True.
The burgundy 2016 Accord that was my Uber pulled up. I glanced back just in case True had followed, but nope—just me and the bouncers. I guess True had decided to stay. Why should I blame him? It was what I’d told him to do, and if anything, True was great at following directions.
The driver turned around and looked at me. “Lu Carlisle?”
I nodded and went to the car door and slid in. The quicker I got away from here, out of these shoes, showered, the quicker I could start to wash this night from my memory. But the door was suddenly wrenched back open and there I was, looking up at True.
“Do you mind?” I said.
“Of course I mind. How are you just going to run off and leave without me?”
I tugged at the door. “I told you I was going.” I pulled at the door again. It didn’t budge.
“Um, do you mind?” the driver chimed in. “Either get in or don’t.”
I scooted over and True slid in next to me with a big sigh.
Satisfied enough, the driver pulled away from the curb with a hard left and headed up Tenth Avenue. The silence between True and me was as thick as the traffic.
“Why are you being like this, Lu?” he finally said. “I know you’re disappointed not getting to see Keanu yet again. I’m sorry that didn’t work out, but I’ll get in touch with my guy and maybe he’ll have more info.”
“How’s about screw you and your guy.”
He looked at me, now shocked and hurt, and for a moment I felt guilty. But only a moment. I was tired and mad and couldn’t get past how he was considering a whole new life on the other side of the country and hadn’t even told me about it.
“Is anything you tell me the truth?”
True’s mouth fell open and his brows pulled together. “What are you talking about?”
I tilted my head at him. “What the hell is with all the secrets, True? Were you ever going to tell me about LA, or would I just wake up one morning and you’d be gone?” Suddenly that awful VR experience came to mind, and my eyes welled with tears again. I just knew any moment they would overflow. Dammit! I turned away from him and looked out the window. The cars, buildings, lights of the city going by in a watery blur.
“Are you serious right now?”
Something in his tone had me turning my head back, but looking at him made me feel weak. It made me want to reach for him. To tell him I needed him. And right now I didn’t want to need him. “You know what? It doesn’t matter. It’s not like I expected you to be all forthcoming or anything. You never were. Sharing is not what you do.”
True looked down and I could see his walls coming up, being built brick by brick, and I was mixing the cement.
He let out a breath. “Okay, I know you’re upset about hearing about me getting that job offer the way you did. I’m sorry. That piled on top of the Keanu disappointment must be a lot.”
“That right there. That judgment thing you do. Where you act like you’re better than me by psychoanalyzing me, all the while deflecting. That’s the problem. You didn’t have to come with me tonight. And you didn’t have to come with me to Coney Island.”
“You wouldn’t have known about Coney Island if it wasn’t for me.”
I paused. “Well fine, I’ll give you that, but you didn’t have to come.”
“You would have overslept.”
I stared at him. “Well, you can be sure I won’t oversleep next time. So don’t worry about me while you’re on the way to LA.”
True sighed. “When did I say I’m going to LA?”
“When did you say you weren’t or any damned thing about it at all?”
True rubbed his hands over his head. I knew he was getting to his frustration breaking point. Good, because I was past mine.
“You’re off the hook, True. You don’t have to come with me on any more wild excursions or”—I searched for the most True-like words—“flights of fancy or however you think of them.”
“You know you’re being unfair. I never said I was going to LA. And when have I ever uttered words like ‘flights of fancy’? You make me sound like someone’s grandpa.”
“You may not have said it, but you thought it.”
He looked at me way too seriously. “You’d be surprised to know some of the things I’ve actually thought, Lu.”
I felt a sudden tingle and a heat in my chest. “Like what?”
He looked away and I practically deflated. “I’m sure they’re offering you a lot of money.”
“Yeah.” He sighed. “But money isn’t everything.”
“But it’s not nothing.” I shrugged. “And hell, it’s not like you’re the only one in demand. As you can see, your old friend is pretty keen on getting me under his employ.” True stilled and his lips went firm. I knew I was being petty, but it served him right.
“Yeah, under. That sounds about like Lim.”
I let out a snort. “Screw you, True. Can’t you even consider that he wants me for my art and not something else?”
His brows furrowed. “Well, aren’t you doing the same here? And I don’t even know why. It’s not like you have to keep tabs on me. I’m not a child.”
“Then why were you acting like one and keeping this offer a secret?” I shot back. “And not just this one but the one from your dean. You’re always full of silence and secrets. The unflappable Mr. Erickson.”
True let out a frustrated moan. “I didn’t say anything, Lu, because neither thing was a big deal to me.”
“Come on, True. It’s big. And you know it. Maybe you even dressed extra nice, knowing that Pilar would be at the party tonight. It’s amazing how she would casually talk about upping her price after seeing you looking like a right snack and good enough to eat.”
He laughed then. “A snack. You really have jumped the shark. I don’t know what was in those drinks, but they must have been potent as hell. I don’t know what you want to hear. Yes, I got a job offer. It’s not a big deal. I get feelers all the time since my book came out. And yes, I got a new jacket and a new shirt. I bought them because I thought tonight was important to you. Fuck, woman, I’m even wearing designer drawers tonight to complete the image all because of you.”
I sucked in a breath. “Well damn.”
Hearing that was better than running into Chris Evans in the toilet. Not as good as Keanu, but it was still nice. I turned away, not knowing what to do with the feeling, and looked out the window.
“I’m sorry,” I finally said. “I’m still mad, but I am sorry, I shouldn’t have ridden you about the jacket. The offer, yes. You should share more. Stop keeping everything to yourself. I can’t promise anything, but I’ll try and not fly off the handle so much. I mean, what does it matter that that tigerish Pilar woman was pawing all over your new jacket every chance she got? I shouldn’t have let it get under my skin.”
True turned me toward him and tilted my head up to his face. He grinned as we pulled off the highway and onto our block.
“What are you over there grinning about?”
True wiggled his brows. “So I looked good tonight?”
I rolled my eyes and hit his knee with my own. He nodded and licked his lips, giving a wink. It was cheesy and a little gross, and dammit if I didn’t clench a little where I definitely wouldn’t be admitting to him.
“Yeah, I did look good,” he preened. “Yeah, nope, not going for that job. Pilar won’t be harassing my fine ass all up and down the halls. Better to keep all this fine here in New York where it’s safe, with you.”
I mimed gagging. “Okay, now you’re drunk. Good thing you’re home.”
He looked at me, eyes going sexy. “You know I’m not drunk, but we are almost home.” His voice was way too on the edge of not playing.
“Sometimes you can be frustrating as all get out,” I said.
True nodded. “And I can say the exact same thing about you, right?”
He continued to stare at me, as if he knew exactly what I was thinking.
“Of course. I know I’m a lot. But this frustration is new. I don’t know quite what to do with it,” I said, my voice softer than I meant it to be.
True grabbed my hand. “You don’t have to do anything with it, and you don’t have to be frustrated. We just have to be us.”
Then he leaned in and brushed his lips softly across mine. It was sweet and seductive and sent a jolt right to the center of my thighs. I was about to lean in and tip my tongue out when we hit a pothole and our teeth and noses banged together. Hard enough to have us both pulling back and wincing.
“Fuck!”
“Shit!”
“Sorry about that! I don’t know what’s happened to the infrastructure of this city,” said the driver.
True and I stared at each other, him holding his nose and me my mouth as we both wondered what to do next. Continue or pretend it didn’t happen? For the life of me, I wanted to straddle the man.
But he spoke first. “Are you hungry? In all that drama and gabbing, we didn’t even eat. Wanna get changed, order up some food and figure out the next steps on this plan of yours?”
Huh? What did that mean in True speak? I know so much about him and yet so little. On any other guy, “wanna order up food and eat” was clear for “hey, you go get ready, we grab a quick bite, and I’ll see you naked in twenty.” But this was True, he could be deflecting and putting me right back in my friend zone. Maybe he really wanted to eat.
Gah!!
Before I could figure out a reply, his phone rang just as we were pulling up to our building. I caught a glimpse of Aimee, phone to her ear, but True hadn’t spied her yet.
“Nah,” I told him. “I think I’ll be ordering for one. Looks like your night is not over. Seems to me you’re still in very high demand.”
He looked at Aimee and then at me with an apology in his eyes that I knew was about to roll off his lips. I didn’t want to hear it. “It’s fine,” I told him. I said goodnight to the driver and left him a great tip.
I only spared a quick wave to Aimee and tried to ignore the way her eyes shined as she looked at True as I hustled into the building.
If only she didn’t look so cute. I hated myself, but I glanced back as I pulled open the door to our building. Why was she blinking so much? Jeez, was she crying? Damn, True. He was making women swoon all up and down NYC tonight. How much more could I have underestimated my dear Mr. Erickson?
I shook my head and willed the elevator to hurry so I wouldn’t have to ride it with them. This was not my business. True had made it clear tonight that so much of his life was not my business, and it was probably best that way.