Page 11 of Extra Tight

“Just answer the damn question, Goldie!” Nash shouts, making me jump. He pulls to a stop at a light and runs his hands down his face. “Shit.” He sighs and then glances over at me. “I’m not trying to scare you. Not that you wouldn’t have it coming,”

“What does that mean?” I don’t understand half of what this man says.

“You scared the shit out of me. That’s what I mean.”

I stare at him, and the longer I look, the more his words sink in. Anger is a secondary emotion, and I see the fear behind his eyes. My mind flashes back to him bursting into the exam room and the expression on his face. He really was worried about me. I’d been so focused on what was about to happen that I hadn't noticed.

“Why did I scare you? It was a clinic, not a party.”

Nash shakes his head as the light turns green. “That neighborhood isn’t the best.”

His eyes flick up and down my body, and I fight the urge to pull on the edge of my skirt. He’s acting like I’m in some sexy outfit and not the stupid school uniform I’m forced to wear.

“It was fine.” I picked that clinic because I didn’t need insurance. I was worried if I used mine, someone would find out. I guess that was pointless because now Nash knows. Is he going to tell my mom?

“You're naïve.”

“It was a doctor's office,” I grit out.

“Have you seen yourself, Goldie? Have you ever looked in a fucking mirror?”

I must be misinterpreting his words because I have no clue what message he’s trying to convey.

“You’re so full of it.” I roll my eyes. “Don’t try to play that card. You want to yell at me that I’m naïve about being pretty or whatever, but you saw me naked and didn’t bat an eye.”

“That’s what I mean. Fucking naïve. How did you even get there? Did that so-called friend just drop you off?”

“No.” I actually need to text her.

“Who took you then? A guy from school?” He fires off one question after another, each one angrier than the last.

"No, I got a Lyft."

"You're lying."

"How do you know if I'm lying?” Then I remember my question in the exam room. “And you never told me how you knew I was there!”

"You didn't request a Lyft," he says, ignoring the question again.

Okay, that is kind of true. "I don't have the app. Josie ordered it for me." I need to tell her I won't need one to get back home. She couldn't take me because she had to stay after school today.

"Of course she did." Nash pulls into a parking lot.

"She is a good friend." I'm quick to defend her, but Nash is already getting out of the car. I sit there watching him come around before he opens my door for me.

"Out."

"Do you have to bark orders at me?" I step out of the car, seeing we're at a restaurant.

"Do you have to push against everything that I say?"

Well, he’s not wrong. "At this point it’s probably a habit."

"I suppose that goes both ways," he admits before grabbing my hand and leading me toward the restaurant.

"I'm not going to run away." I tug on my hand, but he doesn't release it.

"In case you haven’t noticed, running from me doesn't get you very far."

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