Page 53 of Creep

“Theo.”

“Younger or older?”

“He’s younger than me by two years.”

“You guys sound close.”

“He’s the only man I trust with my life.”

I blinked. That sounded serious. “I’m glad you guys had each other growing up.”

“Me too,” he answered gruffly. “Now, back to my question. Do you want to come home with me?”

I bit my lip. If I went home with him tonight, I wouldn’t have to go back to my apartment. But…

“Don’t you think it might be too soon?”

“There are no expectations. Nothing has to happen tonight if you don’t want it to.”

I nodded. I believed him. It might make me naïve to believe in another man I hardly knew, but I did.

“I don’t have any clothes.”

“You can wear mine. Or nothing at all.”

I shot him a look. He returned it with a playful smile.

“Okay, you can wear my clothes,” he amended.

I laughed. “What about some stuff I need to get ready at night?”

“How about we stop by your apartment so you can pack? I just… I just want to hold you tonight.”

His confession was made softly as if he didn’t know what to do about that statement. And I could feel any resistance I might have built up against him crumbling like a house of cards trying to stay standing against a tornado.

I stood no chance. “Okay,” I said, and much like the time I agreed to our first date, I hoped to God I wasn’t making a mistake. “Let’s go.”

* * *

Everything went by in a blur.Before I knew it, I was standing next to Mael while he held my night bag in one hand and opened the door to his apartment with the other.

He pushed it open, leaned in to flick on the lights, and turned to me. “After you.”

I licked my suddenly dry lips and looked inside the apartment.

He lived in the better part of town.

Therichpart of town.

I didn’t know what I was expecting, but this wasn’t it. I thought I would have been less surprised if he lived in a nearly torn-down building, but this?

And it wasn’t because Mael looked like he did, only that there was this…roughnessto him that didn’t quite match with his posh neighbor we had run into on the elevator ride up.

I shouldn’t be surprised that he had money. His clothes might not be flashy, but the materials were nice and clearly expensive, and when I had left my car back at my apartment after I had packed a small night bag, Mael had driven us here in adifferentcar than the one he’d driven on our first date. I didn’t know how many cars he had, and at this moment, I didn’t really want to know.

“You actually live here?” I asked.

He didn’t look offended. If anything, he appeared amused.

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