“The hell you can.” Just the thought of it makes my stomach clench. “Do you have any idea what kind of crap is littering this street?”
She arches a brow and I dive on the silent challenge.
“Rocks. Rusty nails. Broken bottles.” I tick them off on my fingers for emphasis. “Hepatitis B.”
She snorts. “Pretty sure that’s an STI.”
“Exactly.”
It wouldn’t be the first time some douchebro tossed a used condom by the wayside.
Before she can lob another protest my way, a dark Toyota Corolla glides to the curb, an Uber decal displayed on the windshield.
Thank Christ. If it had taken any longer, she really would have tried to walk home barefoot.
I confirm the driver and license plate match the details in the app and then I open the rear door. “No point walking when there’s a perfectly good car right here.”
Indecision flares in her eyes and I watch, transfixed, as she worries her bottom lip, teeth sinking into the tender flesh.
“It’s the least I can do,” I say, stepping away from the car to give her space. My size makes people edgy and the last thing I want to do is scare this girl. “No strings.”
She nods, a quick, decisive jerk of the chin. “What the hell.”
I avert my gaze as she climbs into the back seat and just as I’m about to close the door, she looks up at me from under her lashes, a brilliant smile lighting her face. “Thanks.”
“Anytime.” At least, that’s what I try to say, but she’s so damn pretty when she smiles that my tongue gets twisted in knots and it comes out sounding like Klingon.
She pulls the door shut and I watch as the car pulls away from the curb.
It’s only as the red glow of the taillights grow smaller that I realize I didn’t even get her name.
3
PIPER
Worst birthday ever.
The Uber driver, a Black woman who can’t be much older than me, types my address into the GPS as I text Jenna. She’s going to kill me for bailing, but what choice do I have? It’s not like I can strut around in one four-inch heel all night.
My legs are strong, but they’re not that strong.
I press send and relax into the headrest, letting my eyes drift shut as the car pulls away from the curb.
The night wasn’t a total bust.
Ha. It’ll take more than one well-mannered stranger to restore my faith in men.
Says the woman who left her knight in shining armor in the dust.
I did not leave him in the dust. There was a sidewalk.
And it’s early. Chances are, he’s staying to party.
Or…he just used his last ten bucks to get you an Uber.
Doubtful. Waverly’s an expensive school. Most of the students are solidly middle-class, if not affluent. Besides, it’s not like I asked him for a ride.He’sthe one who insisted on being all chivalrous.
So that makes it okay for you to behave like an entitled asshole?
