Sterling Read Online Free PDF Page B

with his left hand pressed against the dash. “Bullshit. Tell me what’s wrong.” His eyes flicked out towards the bus stop. “Did you see something?”
    Shaking my head I pushed him back and relaxed my voice. “I changed my mind about going inside. I just wanted to…well I didn’t want to be left alone in your house. I’m not fit to be seen in public. All I need is a toothbrush and—”
    “I’m on it. Keep the doors locked.”
    Before I could finish, he was breezing through the automatic doors.
    I didn’t know Adam, but I liked the feeling that he wanted to protect me. I never had siblings and always wished that I had an older brother. I wanted someone to protect me and approve of my boyfriends; beating them up if they were a jerk. I used to hear Sunny roll her eyes when she spoke of the long car trips she took with her brother, Kane. How he would pinch her relentlessly until she’d cry out and then she would get the spanking. She called childhood ‘survival of the fittest’. Sunny would say I was lucky that I didn’t have to grow up with a sibling.
    But was I? I didn’t feel lucky. I wanted to have someone I could always count on to look out for me. Maybe if I did, I wouldn’t have gotten in so much trouble with Brandon. I only had my mom and she wasn’t the most loving woman. Sometimes I wondered if she just feared losing me and being left all alone.
    Ten minutes later, Adam reappeared with bags in tote. I couldn’t help but notice the odd way in which he looked around the parking lot as if he were constantly on patrol.
    “Here,” he said handing me a smaller bag.
    My hands pulled the edges apart to reveal a large chocolate bar in colorful wrapping.
    “Oh…you didn’t have to.”
    The key slid in the ignition but he paused before turning it. “You don’t like chocolate?”
    I loved chocolate—but his thoughtfulness caught me off guard. “Thanks, I promise I’m going to pay you back for everything.”
    “The only payment I’ll accept are answers. Let me know when you’re ready to close out that tab.”
    I bit my lip and remained quiet for the trip back. I wasn’t ready to give answers and Adam felt that he was owed them. Maybe he was right.
    He bought a couple of T-shirts, shorts, tank tops, razors and other odds and ends that I needed. But the price of truth was high. That truth could get me wrapped up in a snug straight jacket.
    I claimed the sofa, tossing the bags beside me and crossing my ankles. I felt pitiful, like a lost dog.
    Adam eased into his armchair with a bottle of Heineken. “So, what’s your plan?”
    He lifted the bottle and took a long sip as my eyes watched the slow movement of his Adam’s apple. The light reflected on the green bottle imitating the hue of my new eye color. When the bottle lowered, Adam’s lips hovered on the mouth of the bottle as he noticed me noticing him. A tongue swept across and licked them, snapping me out of my haze.
    “I’ve thought about it and I don’t have a clue what to do.”
    His finger tapped on the bottle as he wedged it between his thighs. “Is there anyone you could call, someone you trust who would believe you?”
    “I don’t even believe me.”
    “You need money. Without access to your apartment or family, what do you think you can do?”
    “Why don’t I just strip for a living, I bet I could wrap these legs around one of those poles pretty good. I doubt they ask for my social security number.”
    “Is that what you want to do, prostitute yourself?” he snapped. I looked up and there was no humor in his face, but a fire lit behind those eyes.
    “Kidding, only kidding. I can’t go back to my life anymore. I can’t risk talking about what happened because they’d lock me up in the funny farm.”
    “I don’t think you need to worry about that,” he said. “You have to be funny in order to get in.” He took another swig and I realized that Adam had a funny bone after all.
     “I just wish I could see Max