#Hater (Hashtag #2) (20 page)

She fell silent again. It wasn’t an uncomfortable silence, but silence all the same. I knew she was awake by the way she would occasionally stroke her thumb across my bicep.

“You pissed again?” I finally asked.

“No. He deserved it.”

“Damn.”

She lifted her head and rested her chin on my chest. “You wanted me to be mad?”

I gave her a lopsided smile. “I was hoping for more make-up sex.”

She laughed. But then her eyes turned serious and she tucked her hand beneath her chin. “You need to stay away from him. No more games.”

I stared at her levelly without saying a word.

“I mean it, Romeo. I know you want to pay him back for everything he’s done, but it only makes things worse.”

“Sign the restraining order.”

“Okay.”

I lifted an eyebrow. “Just like that?”

“I’ll sign it if you stay away from him.”

“No.”

She twisted my nipple.

“Ow!” I hollered.

She laugh and I rolled to pin her beneath me.

“Say it,” she demanded.

“Or what?”

“Or I won’t kiss you anymore.”

I grinned and lowered my head to do just that. She turned her face so my lips brushed her ear.

“I have ways,” I said darkly, “of getting what I want.”

“So do I.” She matched my tone.

I made a frustrated sound and rolled off her. She sat up and all her hair fell over her shoulders, creating a curtain over her bare chest.

“Please, Romeo,” she said sincerely. “No more of this. I’ll get the restraining order and that will be the end of it.”

I could tell she wasn’t going to give in. I wanted that protective order in place. I couldn’t be with her twenty-four-seven, but that paper would be. “Fine.” I agreed grudgingly.

Rimmel smiled brilliantly and leaned over to kiss me. “Thank you.”

Somewhere in the room, my phone went off. I jumped up and fished it out of the pocket of my jeans. It was a text from my father.

PAPERWORK IS DRAFTED. NEEDS SIGNED.

WE’LL BE RIGHT OVER.

I tossed the phone on the bed. “Paperwork is ready.”

Her eyebrows shot up. “That was fast.”

“I told him we’d be over.”

She frowned.

Shit. Did she seriously change her mind already? “What is it?” I asked, slightly irritated.

“I don’t want to put that dress back on.”

I threw back my head and laughed.

She glared at me. “Do you have any idea how uncomfortable those stupid tights are?”

“Well, you looked hot.”

“Who cares?”

I chuckled. “I sure as hell don’t. You look good in anything.” Then I realized I was wrong. “Well, except that lesbian sweater you have. That’s not attractive on anyone.”

She threw a pillow at me. I caught it.

“C’mon, you can wear one of my shirts.”

That seemed to make her happy, and she quickly pulled on a pair of fuzzy pajama pants, the slippers I gave her, and one of my shirts. I dressed in a pair of sweats and a T-shirt. At the door, I crouched down and pointed at my back.

She jumped on and I lifted her with ease. God, she weighed practically nothing at all. Her legs wound around my waist and her arms hooked around my neck.

I carried her between the houses and into my father’s office.

He grinned when I walked in with her on my back. From behind his desk, he turned the paperwork toward us, and I handed a black pen over my shoulder.

When Rimmel patted my back to put her down, I didn’t listen. Instead, I bent over so she could reach the papers. She laughed but put the pen to paper. After she signed her name, I stood.

“Thank you for doing this, Mr. Anderson,” Rimmel said.

“Tony,” he corrected.

“Tony,” she echoed.

“My pleasure,” he replied. Then he glanced at me. “These will be served in the morning.”

I knew that was his way of warning me in front of Rimmel.

He wanted me to be prepared, because we both knew Zach—and Zach’s father—wasn’t going to be happy.

Rimmel

He wouldn’t stop laughing.

My death glare was so not working.

In fact, it was only making him laugh more.

I crossed my arms over my chest and climbed out.

“Smalls!” he yelled after me, then started laughing all over again.

“I’ll show you Smalls,” I muttered. I walked over to the nearby grassy area and bent, scooping up some of the snow that was piled on the side of the pavement.

I ignored the sting in my fingers as I packed the frigid mush into a tight ball.

“Baby,” Romeo said, coming up behind me. “C’mon, I’m sorry.”

I stood up and launched the snowball as I was turning. It hit him between his neck and shoulder. White ice burst apart and some of it slid down the inside of his jacket.

I started laughing.

He didn’t look amused.

I admit it made me laugh harder.

Calmly, Romeo reached up and brushed away the remaining snow that was sticking to his shoulder.

I snorted.

He lunged at me, and I squealed. Before I could dodge him, he picked me up by the waist and flipped me over so my head was facing the ground. I had to press a hand to my glasses to keep them on my face.

It seemed like the easiest thing in the world for him to walk while I dangled above the ground. He stopped beside the very snow pile from which I made my snowball. He stretched out his arms so I dangled over it and then lowered me down.

I began wiggling and fighting, trying to get free. “No!” I screeched. “That’s cold!”

“You mean you don’t want me to dunk your face in this here bank of snow?”

“Romeo,” I warned.

“Payback is only fair,” he sang.

“You had it coming and you know it!” The blood was rushing to my head and making me feel funny. “Put me down!”

He chuckled and swung me up so I was back on my feet.

“You suck,” I said and stuck my tongue out at him.

“Usually, that tongue would distract me, like I know you want it to, but not today. We’re busy.” He draped an arm across my shoulder and steered me back in the direction of the idling Hellcat.

It was spotless. The lime-green exterior barely had a spot on it. Romeo washed it constantly. He hated how the snow and salt on the roads got it so dirty all the time.

“This really isn’t necessary.” I tried for like the five millionth time.

“Yes, it is. Knowing how to drive a stick shift is something every girl needs to know.”

“I’m not every girl,” I grumped.

“No. You’re
my
girl. And my girl needs to know how to drive a Hellcat.”

“Why couldn’t you have gotten an automatic like everyone else in the country?”

“Real men drive stick shifts.”

I snorted.

“Come on,” he said, a smile already creeping back onto his face.

“Stop making fun of me!”

“I can’t help it, Smalls. It’s the first time anyone has ever needed a stack of books to see over the dashboard in this car.”

I gave him a scornful look. “It has bucket seats.”

He nodded gravely. “I knew my textbooks would come in good use sometime.”

I rolled my eyes and he gently pushed me toward the driver’s seat. With a sigh, I gave in and sat down on my stack of books.

Frankly, I thought this was a crime against the written word.

I might as well dog ear the pages and write notes in the margins while I was at it.

Once I was in, Romeo jogged around and got in the passenger seat. We were sitting in an empty parking lot of some business that had shut down. The asphalt was cleared of snow, and Romeo had come here earlier in the day to throw salt around just to make sure there wasn’t any ice. There wasn’t a ton of snow on the ground, just enough to cover the grass completely.

I knew any day now we were likely going to get a huge storm that would make the few inches out there now look like nothing.

As if he could read my thoughts, Romeo said, “I need to teach you now before the roads gets too bad and we have to wait ‘til spring.”

It was almost enough to make me wish for snow.

Almost.

“Fine,” I muttered. “Let’s do it.”

He bit back another smile as he explained how I needed to drive with two feet. Frankly, I was amazed he was teaching me this. I could barely walk without falling, let alone drive a car with both my feet at the same time.

I was a disaster waiting to happen, and he was letting me learn on his precious baby the Hellcat.

“This is the gear shift.” He went on, taking my hand and placing it on the thing that stuck up between the seats. “Start out in one,” he said and then went on to explain the rest. I listened, because the faster I learned, the faster we could be done.

Even though I listened, it was confusing.

“Okay,” Romeo said when he was done. “Now you try.”

“What if I wreck?” I worried.

“There’s nothing here to wreck into, Rim.”

I gave him a look that promised I could find something to run over.

He laughed but then shook his head. “Let’s go.”

With a sigh, I pushed in the clutch and brake at the same time. I turned the engine over and put my hand on the gear. The car lurched forward, then stalled out.

“It’s okay,” he said patiently. “Try again.”

I tried again.

And again.

On the fifth try, I got the car to move a couple feet before it stalled out.

Romeo was holding on to his patience, but I wasn’t. “I’m a failure,” I said.

He smiled. “Nah. You just need more practice.”

“What I need is the number of a good cab company.”

He grinned. “Don’t try and go anywhere,” he quipped and jumped out of the car.

“Ha-ha,” I muttered.

He pulled open the driver’s side door and leaned down. “Get out.”

“With pleasure.”

I stood back as he threw all the textbooks I’d been sitting on in the passenger seat and slid in. He adjusted the seat and then patted his lap.

I looked at him like he was insane.

“Let’s try it this way.”

I snorted. “You just want me to sit on your lap.”

“Hells yeah.” He winked. “Come on.”

How he thought we were going to drive with me sitting in his lap was beyond me, but I did it anyway.

Maybe I just wanted to sit in his lap.

“All right,” he said, his voice close to my ear, “put your feet over mine.”

I did, but they barely reached so I scooted forward on the edge of the seat between his legs and put my feet over his. Then he took my hand and put it on the stick shift.

Little shivers of electricity raced up my arm and down my spine when his large, warm hand covered mine.

“I’m gonna start out. You can feel how the car moves beneath us, get a feel for how your feet work.”

“‘Kay,” I replied, breathless.

I felt his leg muscles work as he pressed in the pedals and started the car. With ease, he pushed the car into first gear and let off the brake slowly. The car rolled forward. His foot moved over and touched on the gas. The car responded and purred to life, going forward.

He shifted again, my hand sandwiched between his and the gear shaft. He spoke quietly as he drove and shifted, explaining everything as we went. We circled around the lot more times than I could count, and eventually, I got into the rhythm with the car.

“Are you ready to try by yourself again?” he asked as the car rolled to a stop.

“Maybe,” I said, settling back against him. He was so warm and so strong. Maybe car lessons weren’t so bad after all.

His arm slid around my waist and he pulled me tightly against him. His teeth scraped over my earlobe, and I groaned.

“You trying to distract me?” he asked.

“Says the boy with my earlobe in his mouth.”

“You like it,” he whispered.

“Oh yes,” I whispered back.

I could feel him stirring against my backside, and the inside of the car was filled with lusty desire. Romeo groaned. “C’mon. One last try before we go.”

“Fine.”

Once he was settled in the passenger seat and I was back on my stack of books, I tried again, remembering how it was when he was driving and trying to match that.

I got halfway through the parking lot before the Hellcat stuttered and shut off.

“I did it!” I exclaimed and threw my arms around his neck.

He chuckled and tugged on the ends of my hair. “Wanna drive yourself to the shelter?”

I made a face. “You really want me to drive out on the road with other people?” I asked and tilted my head to the side.

He grimaced. “Maybe I should drive. Besides, the poor transmission is probably screaming for a break.”

I had no idea what a transmission was, but I agreed just so I didn’t have to drive anymore.

Outside the shelter, I turned to him. “Wanna come in for a while?”

“Can’t. I’m meeting Braeden at the gym,” he said and leaned forward to kiss me.

“If you need a ride back to campus when you’re done, call me.”

“I can walk. It’s only a couple blocks.”

He frowned. “It’s cold out.”

“It’s not so bad,” I replied. I wasn’t going to call him to stop what he was doing just for a ride. I used to walk all the time when Michelle couldn’t give me a ride.

“It’s probably gonna be dark. I don’t want you out walking at night. It isn’t safe.”

That made me think of Zach. “Do you think they served him by now?” I whispered.

Romeo’s face hardened. “I sure as hell hope so.”

It was supposed to be done first thing yesterday, but he wasn’t there when the courier went to the frat house. They tried again later, but he still hadn’t been there. Romeo was convinced he somehow got tipped off about the order and was purposely avoiding the frat house so he couldn’t be served.

As far as we knew, he’d yet to be served today either. It was making me a little nervous. Zach was sort of like a loose cannon. I had no idea what he was going to do, and if he really did know about the restraining order, he might be really mad.

“You know what?” Romeo said. “Just wait for me tonight. I’ll pick you up.”

“I’ll get a ride from Michelle.”

“Rim,” he half growled.

I sighed. “Fine.”

There was no use in arguing. Until we knew what’s Zach’s reaction was going to be, we couldn’t be too cautious.